Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / What happened to the Barnstormers? Tyrese & the Pacers roll, Adam Rittenberg talks College Football's future

Transcript

What happened to the Barnstormers? Tyrese & the Pacers roll, Adam Rittenberg talks College Football's future · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:03
Hi, good afternoon. Welcome to Miller and Condon on
0:06
a Wednesday. The Iowa Sports Radio Network.
0:08
Trent Condon, Kendall are with you for the next couple of
0:11
hours. Thank you for starting your
0:13
afternoon with us. Wherever you're listening in the
0:15
state of Iowa on the Iowa Sports Radio Network or on the iheart
0:19
app. Here's what's coming up on our
0:21
program. We will begin at the bottom of
0:24
the hour. Adam Rittenberg covers college
0:26
football for the for ESPN.com. He'll join honest what do?
0:31
What's the latest with the SEC meetings?
0:33
Is the 511 model seemingly getting it the most?
0:37
I guess backing behind it. We'll talk to Adam Rittenberg
0:40
about that. What does this mean for the ACC,
0:43
for the Big 12, etcetera? That's coming up here at 12:30,
0:47
one o'clock. It's Wednesday.
0:48
That means Centurion Stone of Eye was going to make it
0:51
possible for us to have our weekly conversation with David
0:54
Kaplan. Cubs.
0:55
They come from behind, win last night extra innings and it's the
0:59
young guys getting it done. Kate Horton, quality starts, 6
1:02
inning, 6 strikeouts, PCA doing what he does, swiping bags and
1:07
Matt Shaw, his return to the majors going exceptionally well,
1:10
not only offensively made another defensive gem last night
1:14
at third base. So the youth is being well
1:16
served up at Wrigley Field. We'll talk to Kathy about the
1:19
first place Chicago Cubs and other stuff, Caleb Williams,
1:22
etcetera, when he joins us at one O clock.
1:24
And then Randy Wahofer from the Iowa Cubs.
1:28
We'll talk about the team, certainly.
1:30
But doing our show yesterday and and my headphones on during a
1:34
break, which normally doesn't happen.
1:36
I heard a commercial and there's a Home Run Derby event coming to
1:40
Principal Park with retired Major League ball players.
1:44
And I know nothing about it, how it's going to work and why it's
1:46
here. And it's kind of like, are the
1:49
Savannah Bananas behind it or a group like that?
1:53
So we're going to ask Randy Weihofer when he joins us at
1:56
1:30. It's late August.
1:57
Tommy Birch will be happy. Manny Ramirez is going to be
2:00
here for it. And he gets asked all the time
2:03
about Manny. So Manny will be here.
2:05
Adam Wainwright is that who I saw Rick and Keel, Nick
2:09
Schwischer, Ben Zobrist, Jake Arietta saw some big names
2:15
making their way to. I was capital city in late
2:18
August. We'll talk to Randy Wahofer
2:20
about it because I asked Trent, what do you know about this?
2:23
Looked at me. What?
2:24
He talked. About no I I said I saw it but
2:27
because I was getting hit up with the online ads that were
2:31
coming my. Oh, you've seen?
2:32
Those Yeah, OK. And so I, I just told you, I
2:35
think it's, I anticipate it'll be interesting.
2:37
I want to talk to Randy. You know, events like this, do
2:40
they get a cut? Is it just a straight rental?
2:43
Maybe concessions? Right.
2:45
Is that what you get to keep in park?
2:47
When Iowa was here, beginning of May, the baseball, they didn't
2:50
get anything. Not a nickel.
2:52
Not a nickel, no concessions, probably.
2:55
I don't know that for sure, but all the money went back to the
2:58
University of Iowa, to their baseball program.
3:00
So yeah, fair question for Randy and he'll join us at 1:30.
3:04
But they certainly got some big name power.
3:06
I mean, Jake Area, if you're a Cubs fan and Zobrist, what they
3:09
did for that World championship team.
3:12
And kills got a little bit of money and but kill.
3:15
My favorite part is seeing Kendall Lindemann, who played at
3:18
Ankeny Centennial. Yeah, was an absolute stunt.
3:21
Was she on the softball field? Because there's that.
3:23
There is a female that's part of this.
3:26
I I don't know what the I have no idea about the.
3:28
Rules, yes. And every team's got a got a
3:30
woman. We'll find out a little bit
3:31
more, but I saw Kendall for the first time, so she played as an
3:35
eighth grade of varsity. How many years ago?
3:38
Oh, I mean back when I probably first heard of her. 10, finished
3:43
up her career at University of Florida a couple years ago.
3:46
Nice for her. Yeah.
3:47
And Kendall, I think she was committed to Minnesota, like as
3:50
a 8th grader. Yeah.
3:53
But then I saw, I called a game of hers for the first time her
3:55
freshman year, heard about this girl, high D1 player, yadda,
4:00
yadda yadda. And they're warming up out there
4:03
and I I see this girl that's slaying around.
4:06
I'm like, well, that can't be her because there's no way that
4:09
girl's 14 years old. She looked like she should be in
4:12
college already. That was kind of liniment.
4:14
And she was a multi sport athlete, just an absolute stud
4:17
on the softball field though. And yeah, that's another one
4:19
though that was kind of excited from the local front.
4:21
And what I do obviously at the high school scene, being able to
4:24
see her name, that it's going to be involved in it.
4:26
So yeah, I'm kind of interested in this.
4:28
This is a little bit intriguing. They got the home run zone out
4:30
there in right center field. What that's going to look like
4:33
could be something a little bit different, a little fun.
4:35
Tickets, I think they're $25 and that's the the get in price for
4:39
them. So anyways, more on that.
4:40
And Randy Weihofer, we both kind of in the dark so thought we'd
4:43
go right to the source and we will do so at 1:30.
4:47
Well, since we're kind of on the local front for just a second, I
4:49
learned something today that I had no idea the Iowa
4:53
Barnstormers are playing. Not only that, they're halfway
4:55
through their year. Wow.
4:57
Did you? Have you heard a peep?
4:59
About them, not one. I have not.
5:01
I had no well, I don't get the paper anymore.
5:04
I don't know if I don't think they're covered 'cause I haven't
5:06
clicked on a barnstormer piece. They're certainly not on the
5:09
radio anymore. How are they doing this and why
5:11
are they keeping it such a secret?
5:14
Well, they played eight games. They're not on radio anymore.
5:17
I mean, that's that's our background and that's where it
5:21
was when Joe Stacy is not a part of their broadcast anymore.
5:24
What happened to this, Frank? This franchise was, I know it's
5:26
not the same league, right? But this was as good of a
5:29
franchise. The late John Pettit, you know,
5:32
rest his soul, he was a COVID victim, sadly.
5:35
But they've played eight games. Who knew?
5:39
Not this guy, right? Hadn't heard a word.
5:42
They're one in seven. I'm looking at them right?
5:43
Now, maybe that's why they're keeping a secret.
5:45
They knew they wouldn't stink. That could be the case too.
5:48
God, God. So they their last game they
5:51
took on the Tulsa Oilers. Think we'll get announced in
5:54
tenants in here? Well, if they do, it's in the
5:56
hundreds. That's what I was told.
5:58
Well, it's listed at zero. I'm going to guess that's not
6:02
the. Case No, but it's not anymore.
6:03
But they didn't put it in there. But again, if if you if you
6:07
don't know that they're playing right, you're just going to show
6:11
up at Wells Fargo just in case there's a game.
6:14
Maybe you're going to see something.
6:16
Those were fun games though. Now you were here in the
6:19
Hellsea. Yes, Kurt Warner was a regular
6:21
guest on her show back when he was a barnstormer, when it meant
6:25
something. They used to eat the
6:27
barnstormers. And this Kurt and Brenda Warner
6:30
showed up all the time because they had the quote trainers, the
6:33
table, they had the, the agreement with Victor's.
6:37
Victor's I'm sure got some in game advertising.
6:39
But the team could then go to Victor's and eat, you know, at
6:43
night. That's where they, you know,
6:45
'cause they weren't making that much.
6:46
But but back in the day, Arizona and Iowa with Kurt Warner in the
6:51
late night these games, Was it ESPN or ESPN?
6:54
Two, I think it was big ESPN for the champion.
6:57
I think it was and that was a big deal, but by God, what has
7:02
happened again, eight games into the season and learned this
7:05
morning, not that we'd have done anything on it, but you would at
7:09
least think that it crosses, you know, your plate at some point.
7:14
Who's running the franchise over there and how did they get that
7:17
job? I.
7:18
Isn't it his daughter? Who's Tom Pettit's dog?
7:23
Oh, you know what? I think you're right.
7:24
I think you're right. I think you're right, Yeah.
7:26
Julie, she's She's listed as the general manager over.
7:30
There, Julie. Come on, man.
7:32
Let's go. Haven't heard.
7:33
Haven't heard a peep, no. Don't want to linger on it, but
7:36
just thought it was really rare. And for those of you you know,
7:38
in the outside the capital city, we will move on and we'll move
7:43
on to the NBA because Tyrese Halliburton, Trent, he almost
7:47
had a triple double in the first half.
7:49
Yeah, I think it was 29. And is it 29 and 9 or?
7:52
20 because they mentioned that with like 30 seconds left,
7:55
something like that, right? And it caught my ear.
7:58
What Like I knew he was playing well, but it just, I hadn't
8:01
opened up a lot of times, you know, open up a box score.
8:04
Well, I was flipping back and forth with the Twins game, and
8:06
that was the reason that it wasn't completely you.
8:08
Had the twins last night too, didn't you?
8:10
Yes. So it was a double way.
8:11
We were really invested in that one and so because of that, I
8:15
wasn't as locked in, at least statistically, as I normally am.
8:19
Now he's playing with 29 and 9. One thing last night is he had
8:25
the ball in his hand so much. He always does, but even at a
8:28
different level and the way that he just doesn't waste space.
8:33
How many guys that handle it as much as him?
8:36
Anthony Edwards, a perfect example.
8:38
He's part of the trouble to do nothing.
8:41
There's not wasted movement with Halliburton.
8:45
He just he knows what he needs to do.
8:48
They bring out that double screen and they don't slow down.
8:50
They're so fast with the ball. It's what we talked about
8:54
leading in the series. Who's going to control the pace?
8:56
And it hasn't been close. No.
8:58
Indiana has dominated the pace of this.
9:01
Dog in every Now were they a dog in this series?
9:03
They were in their first place. Just 140.
9:05
I think they were, yeah. I got that one in my back
9:07
pocket. That's right, You did get.
9:09
You did bet that. Remember I told you I won?
9:10
I thought I was better on Mediacom too.
9:12
Yes, I thought we were going to get even better than that and it
9:15
never came. So we just grabbed the plus 140.
9:17
But what do you got? Tom Thibodeau playing 10 guys in
9:21
the first half. I think there's two things to
9:23
show you. This Knicks team is dead.
9:24
Yeah, the lack of depth. And yet they had to go to their
9:27
depth. They're changing line UPS a
9:29
couple games in. That's not what you do at this
9:32
point is. It you wouldn't think.
9:34
I know you're searching for answers.
9:35
You're down to nothing right away.
9:36
You lose both home games. I I guess that's a part of it,
9:38
but put hard on the bench, but. Who's on the bench that's going
9:41
to come back and be an impact? Shamit McBride.
9:45
He looks over. What did Shamit do yesterday?
9:47
Nothing. Yep.
9:49
They were playing these guys because of back to the start.
9:52
The pace is too much, they can't keep up.
9:56
It's incredible what Indiana's able to do.
9:58
And 3131 Thunder Pacers, What kind of price would I have to
10:04
give you for you to bet real money on the Indiana Pacers to
10:08
win this series? Right now.
10:09
Yes, to win the NBA Finals. To win it all.
10:13
What kind of price would you need?
10:15
This isn't a free roll. You got to use your money.
10:17
Well, they're going to. They're going to be a dog for
10:21
sure. How big of a favorite is
10:24
Oklahoma City going to be? -350.
10:29
I was going to say 280, so you might be closer to that than I
10:31
am. I don't know.
10:32
What are you going to get, $2.00?
10:35
You can get whoa, whoa, whoa, Whoa the Thunder right now to
10:39
win it all at Circus Sports. Open up your Circus Sports Iowa
10:42
or Illinois app or wherever you may be.
10:44
And they're minus, what, 600? -455 so you can get the Pacers
10:49
right now, A + 470. Is that intriguing to you?
10:54
Is that a? No, I don't.
10:55
It's still that. I don't think so.
10:57
Sadly, it's. Still, that enough?
10:59
I don't think they're going to. Yeah, I.
11:03
Man, I may. Obviously that's what I'm
11:05
rooting for. I'd love to see Halliburton get
11:07
his reign. It's a wonderful story and I
11:09
hate the way SGA plays, but they're they've he's got a good
11:13
supporting cast and he's unbelievably talented.
11:15
I'm a broken record, but they're going to take care of the the
11:19
Knicks. We thought the only reason they
11:20
got by the Cavs maybe because of the injuries.
11:24
We knew that the Bucks were a little bit banged up going into
11:26
that series, but they're just clobbering teams.
11:28
As I said yesterday, look at the record in these Game 1/3 and O,
11:31
Game 2-3 and O. Game three, O and three-game 4/3
11:34
and O. It's remarkable.
11:36
Nemhardt was terrible last night.
11:39
Offensively, he couldn't, yeah, he couldn't hit the broadside of
11:41
the barn. And yet you get 30 from Siakam.
11:43
Just what a player, what a player going for his second
11:47
ring. Naismith doing his thing, we
11:49
talked about him. Turner McConnell just comes in
11:52
and is able to calm the waters. But the biggest story off the
11:55
bench was what they got out of Matheran.
11:57
Matheran. 20 points to 12 minutes, you don't see that.
12:02
No. And you know what he's kind of
12:03
been because he missed a whole year or almost the entire year
12:07
last year. Was it a shoulder injury?
12:09
I think it was a shoulder injury that kept him out.
12:12
He was really good in his rookie year.
12:14
I think he was all NBA and I know that because where he's
12:17
from. He's Canadian.
12:18
Yep, that's what I mean. That's what you watch him.
12:20
He speaks French. I'm sure that's where he's born.
12:23
I believe in Montreal, but he was he was all all NBA rookie
12:28
team one of those awards missed all of last year or for the most
12:32
part, maybe played a couple of games and then was lost for the
12:35
season. And last night, my God, he
12:38
looked like and was he not the player of the year in the PAC
12:41
12? Oh.
12:42
I'm sure. Yeah, I think he was at Arizona
12:45
years ago. Yes, he's a good player.
12:47
They're deep. Thunder may be deeper.
12:50
But they got as much depth for sure.
12:51
It's offense versus defense. That's what we're gonna get.
12:54
No shot of either team. Coming, I know, but I would like
12:57
to see I I like Rick Carlisle seems like a good dude.
13:00
You know, anytime you listen to him speak seems like he's pretty
13:03
square shooter know nothing about Oklahoma City's coach.
13:05
So maybe I'm being unfair, but I just hope it's a series.
13:10
You know, we may, we may get to this weekend and there's no NBA
13:15
and there's no NHL because both of these sports, I know the
13:18
hockey's gone for at least a week.
13:20
And I'm not sure when the NBA final is slated to begin because
13:24
I mean, do you really in, in your heart of hearts think that
13:27
there's going to be another game in the Twin Cities tomorrow or
13:30
on Friday? No, I don't either.
13:33
I think the. Timberwolves keep it close.
13:35
I think they hang around, but no, I don't see them winning it.
13:38
OK. You don't think there's any way
13:39
that this gets to game six? No, I don't either.
13:43
And we don't start until 8 days from now.
13:45
That's when the NBA Finals that's.
13:46
When it starts 8 days from now. Thursday, June 5th.
13:50
Wow, that's when we'll get game. Back So I'm guessing the NHL,
13:52
The Stanley Cup would start on Friday, June 6th because they
13:56
usually try to keep it apart. Why wouldn't they?
13:59
Why would you go up against the NBA?
14:01
Let's see here. Final Stanley Cup finals.
14:05
June 8th is when they are. And what day is that?
14:09
June 8th. That's on the weekend, Jesus.
14:14
And we could, we could. The East could be decided
14:16
tonight. The West could be decided
14:18
tomorrow. A lot of baseball, a lot of
14:21
baseball. And you looked ahead of the
14:22
schedule this weekend. And yes, there is Dodgers,
14:25
Yankees, and then there's a whole bunch of three, maybe 3
14:29
1/2 stars out of five series. I mean, Saint Louis, I think
14:32
plays Texas if you're trying to, you know, find Minnesota.
14:37
Seattle's got a little cache to it.
14:39
But other than that, Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia.
14:47
By the way, what happened to Bryce Harper?
14:48
Is he hurt for any length of time?
14:50
He got hit in the first inning, his first at bat.
14:52
Strider hit him right in the elbow.
14:54
I was watching the game. It was a perfect start, like
14:57
53540. Love those early start times.
15:00
Strider's on the bum and Bryce Harper took one right off his
15:03
right elbow, which was the elbow that caused him to miss all of
15:06
that time. And I forgot to follow up and
15:09
see if there's any report afterwards.
15:11
But now that's a blow if Bryce Harper's going to be down.
15:14
But to your point, it's not. It's not a great weekend, not a
15:16
great weekend. WNBA normally maybe at this
15:19
time, yeah. No.
15:20
Caitlin, do you have any interest to watching tonight?
15:23
No, none. No, wouldn't turn on what?
15:26
Do you even turn? It on.
15:26
No, I did look at I'm I'm not an Indian Fever fan.
15:29
I'm a fan of whoever she plays for.
15:31
Yeah, that's what it is. I'm sorry.
15:33
You know what? There's a whole bunch of Mees.
15:35
Absolutely. I just wondered your interest
15:38
because you watch this team. I do now.
15:40
I. Do every game they're on.
15:41
And seeing how they play without her.
15:44
But it's you know what? Maybe that maybe.
15:46
That that's a good point, right? How will they play without her?
15:51
I'll say this, and I don't know what that number would be.
15:53
She made the trip and she got on the airplane and good for her
15:57
because she's going for one reason, in my opinion.
16:00
Sign autographs Sign autographs and.
16:02
Not yeah. And not disappoint those little
16:04
girls that think they're going to get a chance to watch her
16:07
play. They won't get that, but at
16:09
least they'll be in the building with her.
16:10
I mean, how many autographs is she going to sign today?
16:14
I mean, more than normal. And she signs a ton normally,
16:17
but she just gets it. She just does.
16:20
Makes it easy. Yeah, so, so to see how they're
16:22
going to play without her, I mean, I'm not going to linger by
16:26
any means. And I'm going to be back
16:27
watching the watching Caroline, Florida and the Panthers get all
16:30
their guys back tonight. And I'll be watching the T
16:33
Wolves in hopes. Just hope that they can find a
16:36
way to win a basketball game and get this thing back to at least
16:39
Friday. My God.
16:42
No NHL, no NBA conceivably coming up here this weekend and
16:47
the MLB schedule leaves a lot to be desired.
16:50
And that's. Where we are, it's the
16:52
offseason, so. Maybe the Barnstormers?
16:55
Play maybe the Barnstormers. That could be something full
16:58
circle if we could get Can we get back the Prime Time league
17:01
in the Capital City League please?
17:03
That's a great point. And by the way, since you talked
17:05
basketball, the Iowa men's program, basketball program is
17:09
going to make their way back to Des Moines.
17:13
They're going to play Bucknell, just them in and they'll play
17:17
Bucknell. I think it's it's December the
17:19
20th that they're going to be downtown at Wells Fargo Arena.
17:23
Is is it still going to be Wells Fargo Arena at that time?
17:26
It'll be the case season when. Does that start I?
17:28
Think this summer. I think you're right.
17:30
I'm pretty sure it's this summer as well, so they'll be at the
17:33
the Casey Center. It's always going to be the
17:35
well, isn't it? It'll change eventually.
17:37
Eventually it'll get there, maybe July 1st.
17:42
July 1st, yeah, good move, bad move coming back.
17:45
I mean, it's Drake's roster from last year.
17:47
It is. And all right, throw a little
17:49
bit of bone here to central Iowa.
17:51
You bet to Sioux Falls did a couple of years ago, I think,
17:53
and. What would they draw on December
17:55
20th at Iowa City? Right, right.
17:57
It'll be interesting overall what they draw during this non
18:00
conference, but throwing a bone to the capital city have an
18:03
opportunity. People want to invest, people
18:05
that said, well, I'm not going to buy tickets to watch friends
18:08
games anymore, right? All right, put your money where
18:10
your mouth is. Show up.
18:11
It's coming right here. No excuses.
18:13
I wish they're playing Drake. I get it.
18:15
They're not. They're not.
18:16
That's the reality but show. Up I hate reality, by the way.
18:19
In some respects. Show up.
18:21
Yeah, watch them. And support your.
18:23
Team Will there be Big 10 network coverage?
18:25
You think I would anticipate, Yeah, I think that's two years
18:28
ago when they played here, if memory serves.
18:30
I think that's been not BTN. Plus.
18:32
Well, never know. Yeah, you don't.
18:35
So we'll see where it goes. But they are coming back.
18:36
Yeah, you're right. Prime time in Capital City
18:38
League like you don't you didn't get much out of.
18:42
Him. No, we weren't talking about the
18:44
box score. Billy Smith, he scored 47.
18:47
He's going to be an all big. Time for a big year, no?
18:49
No, it was a jumping off point though.
18:53
The guy shows up for the first time.
18:55
Who is this redhead kid throwing alley oop dunks all over the
18:59
place? Aaron White.
19:01
Those are the ones. Tyrus McGee When he What do you
19:04
have like 10-3 pointers? Something like that.
19:06
Yeah, you're right. OK, look at that.
19:08
Those are, again, it's just those little starting points
19:11
where guess what we do here? Guess what newspapers do?
19:14
Guess what all the websites, Iowa and Iowa State do?
19:17
When you have that content, they're right about it and it's
19:19
good for your program and it's good for your connection to the
19:22
state. I know summer basketball rules
19:24
are a lot different. So it was Fran McCaffrey that
19:27
was that was not a big fan of the league.
19:29
Is that what I was led to believe?
19:31
The Prime Time League. Yeah, I mean, the free wanted to
19:33
keep it going. It would have kept.
19:34
Going right and Randy Larson, Randy Larson, right, The late
19:37
Randy Larson, he's passed away now.
19:40
And is there any chance that could come back?
19:43
I don't. I know the rules are different
19:44
and I've heard people say it's a lot more difficult now to pull
19:48
it off, to pull it off where they had the you and I guys for
19:51
a number of years. Does nil make it that that that
19:54
you don't want to play in that for fear of getting hurt?
19:56
I'm sure that's a component for a lot of.
19:58
It and now I mean TJ's got his squad.
20:00
Well, Iowa squad starts next or this weekend.
20:04
TJ's team middle of June. So they've got you're allowed to
20:08
practice more with coaches. Than you ever were.
20:11
That's another component. Probably is as big a reason
20:13
maybe is for for it not being around.
20:16
And let's get to the baseball, Benny.
20:18
Then we'll get Adam Rittenberg coming up here at the top of the
20:21
hour. Look forward to catching up with
20:22
him what what's going on in the world of college football,
20:25
etcetera. It seems like 511 is gaining the
20:28
most momentum. We'll talk about Rittenberg with
20:30
that and other topics when he joins us at 12:30 from ESPN.com.
20:34
Hello Benny, how are you? I am doing fantastic Kenny.
20:39
Reports were X-rays are negative.
20:41
Might miss the final two games of the Braves series.
20:44
It was a weird scene last night because, like, this is the first
20:48
time in a long time that he's not wearing the padding
20:51
protecting that surgically prepared elbow.
20:54
You're right. He didn't.
20:54
Yeah. He just had a very small pad.
20:56
You're right. Yeah, he wore it almost all last
20:59
year or the first year coming back off that injury and
21:02
Strider, if you see he was not trying to.
21:04
No, no, no, no he was not, No. He felt devastated.
21:08
He hunched over when it happened.
21:11
He's like, I want to get the guy out.
21:13
I'm a competitor. He's better for the game.
21:16
No matter if you like Bryce Harper, don't like.
21:18
That love, his sweet, love his hair, Yeah.
21:22
Well, because you don't have any hair anymore.
21:24
That's the reason you love his hair.
21:26
He can grow a mullet and. Unfortunately, yeah.
21:28
Anymore. But those were the days.
21:31
It's just. A disappointing night.
21:33
I'm a Braves fan to lose 2 nothing strands 10 more runners
21:37
last night does not coming through with clutch hits, but
21:39
never like to see a player, even if I don't like them.
21:42
Never want to see a player get hurt.
21:44
So just a few games then maybe Benny, yeah.
21:48
I don't know if there's any damage done.
21:50
The X-rays came back negative. You know, with how quickly they
21:53
do the let's say the swelling comes back and it shows
21:57
something more. But right now they're thinking
21:59
it might only be a couple game injuries for the Phillies, then
22:04
for the Phillies, because they've been hotter than half
22:06
that division. With us getting off to that O17
22:08
star, we started to put things together, playing better.
22:10
A team comes back and it's a couple of bombs and, you know, I
22:14
think we're right back in it. And then we just can't get
22:16
clutch it for the last couple games.
22:17
Lose 3 to one to five teams, lose 2.
22:19
Nothing last night. It's going to be an uphill
22:21
climb. So.
22:23
But the Mets and Phillies are playing really well.
22:25
And just the whole National League in general, you're right.
22:27
The American League is puked for others about two teams.
22:30
National League is loaded, yeah. No doubt, Benny.
22:33
Thanks for the info Bradley. Good to hear from.
22:34
You have a good one. Yep, he's the same.
22:36
Well, that's good. Bryce Harper.
22:38
Perhaps not as serious as it looked at the time. 9 1/2 games
22:41
out for the Braves of the division, but they're also
22:45
already 5 back in the wild card race.
22:47
Are they? And there's a ton of teams
22:49
between them. I don't think either of us
22:52
believe in the Cardinals. No.
22:55
Do you believe in Cincinnati hanging around?
22:56
No, I don't. No.
22:58
The Brewers. No.
23:00
The Diamondbacks, they're too talented to be playing this.
23:07
Bad. I think so, yes.
23:08
There's more talent than they played at this point.
23:11
And there are they 500. Game under.
23:13
Game under. Those are the teams that are in
23:16
front of them, though not exactly a collection that
23:19
concerns you. No, I don't think the Giants are
23:22
going to play. What are they playing?
23:23
564 baseball? They're so streaky, this team.
23:27
They might win 8485 games, but not more than that.
23:31
No. There's still a very realistic
23:34
path for the Braves to get into the playoffs.
23:36
I think so. Not to chase down the Phillies.
23:38
No. Both.
23:39
The Phillies going to be the Phillies.
23:40
Phillies or the Mets, right? Right.
23:42
Because both of those teams are not going to come back.
23:43
I don't. Think so either.
23:45
To where the Braves are going to get.
23:46
Maybe the plays, but great Braves play great the rest of
23:49
the way. Maybe they can get to 90 wins.
23:52
Both those teams, both the Mets and Phillies, are not finishing
23:54
below 90. I don't think so.
23:56
One could not both. So you're talking about the
23:59
welcome? Because they're over 10 games
24:00
above 500 now, are they not? Oh, absolutely.
24:03
Yeah. Well, above Phillies are 16
24:05
games above Mets are 13 games above 500.
24:08
So both those teams are are playing at such a level that
24:11
you're looking at it just get in because of the Braves.
24:14
Get in. I would love their shot.
24:17
I would too. I would love their opportunity
24:18
to get there. Then we'll get a home game in
24:21
the first round in the wild card round, then they'll in all
24:23
likelihood get the Dodgers. They'll rather have the Dodgers
24:27
in the short series as opposed to a long one.
24:30
Will The Who? Will the Will the Dodgers have
24:32
their pitchers back by then? Oh, they have Otani.
24:35
He's pretty good. He's.
24:36
Not bad boy that they just can't stay healthy.
24:38
Those the pitching stuff over there.
24:41
And they're still 34 and 20. It's unbelievable, right?
24:44
It truly is. They are.
24:45
They're so good. But you know who's every bit as
24:47
good as them offensively? Their numbers are almost
24:49
identical offensively as the powerful Los Angeles Dodgers,
24:54
the Chicago Cubs. Cubs do it again and this team
24:59
is entertaining. Look what they're doing it with.
25:00
Kate Horton was just here. PCA was here last year.
25:03
We helped. Matt Shaw was just here, right?
25:06
He hits the he knocks in the game-winning runs.
25:09
PCA stealing bag. Kate Horton, Quality starts, 6
25:12
innings pitched. I'm going to ask Kathy, I've
25:16
been my list about the spending like are we talking?
25:20
This before the trade deadline you mean or around the trade
25:23
deadlines? Because we know what the
25:25
ownership group has said, yes, they're they're willing to.
25:29
There's more in spin. It's gutting your farm, but you
25:31
know what? Push the chips to the middle of
25:33
the table. This team, the way they swing
25:36
it, windows close quickly. Yeah.
25:40
Go in, be aggressive, will they? I don't think they.
25:45
Will we'll talk to Adam Rittenberg when we come back.
25:47
Miller and Condon underway writes for ESPN.
25:49
We'll get into college football and one of these SEC meetings
25:52
mean, what's the playoff going to look like?
25:55
What's it going to look like for the ACC in the Big 12?
25:58
Rittenberg next. Miller and Condon underway in a
26:00
Wednesday. It's the Iowa Sports Radio
26:02
Network. I'm Hillary Condon, Welcome
26:04
back, Iowa Sports Radio Network, wherever you are listening in
26:07
the state of Iowa. Grateful that you are.
26:09
As promised, let's get to adamrittenberghecoverscollegefootballseniorcollegefootballwriter@espn.com.
26:15
And he joins us and always only got 10 minutes.
26:17
So let's get right to it. We'll be respectful of your
26:20
deadline, Adam. Thanks for finding time for us.
26:22
I guess let's start right though with what's going on in the
26:25
reverberations that seemingly are being felt certainly in the
26:29
ACC and the Big 12 footprint. They they feel that they're kind
26:33
of on the outside looking in that the SEC and the Big 10 that
26:37
the rumors of them at some point flexing their muscle that that
26:41
time might be here. Do you see it that way, Adam, or
26:44
how are you looking at this? Well, I mean, we're only hearing
26:48
from the SEC this week. And so it's important that
26:51
they've been, you know, to their credit, a very unified front in
26:54
stating their positions and what they feel is, is best for their,
26:58
their league. And so, you know, the Big 10 had
27:00
a meeting last week that we didn't hear anybody from.
27:02
So we don't really know where the Big 10 stands on a lot of
27:05
this, you know, the ACC in the Big 12 or, or certainly in, in,
27:09
in monitoring phase and, and interested in what the Big 10
27:13
and SEC end up deciding. But they, they ultimately just
27:15
don't have as much leverage in the future format as they do in
27:19
the current one where you need a unanimous vote to be able to
27:22
change anything. And so I think it's a very
27:25
delicate situation where if you're Brett, your mark or Jim
27:30
Phillips, the commissioners of those leagues, you certainly
27:32
want to advocate for your league, but ultimately you just
27:35
don't have as much power as you would like to have or as maybe
27:39
some people in your league think you have.
27:41
So it'll be easy to see where where this falls and what the
27:44
format ultimately is. I, I, I still think that a
27:48
playoff is one that that's best when you have representation
27:52
from a number of different conferences, but also the
27:55
ability to play your way in as an at large.
27:58
And I think that's what I mean, that's been lost a little bit
28:00
with the SEC this week and some of the advocacy from Alabama
28:04
and, you know, programs like Ole Miss, like they, they didn't
28:07
play their way in, they played their way out.
28:09
And that should punish you. And I think that needs to be
28:12
kept in mind with whatever format they decide going
28:15
forward. Teams and the two formats that
28:19
are out there, the automatic bids or conference champions,
28:22
five of them are in and then 11 at large for the betterment of
28:25
the sport. Not with the SEC, the Big 10
28:27
watts or even the Big 12 or ACC for the best thing for the
28:30
sport. What is the best structure in
28:32
your mind, Adam? Well, yeah, Trent, I I don't
28:36
favor a lot of automatic qualifiers.
28:38
I understand the benefits financially to having, you know,
28:42
more of a play in weekend, so to speak, on on on championship
28:46
weekend rather than just the championship game, which let's
28:48
face it, we'll almost always feature in the Big 10 and SEC,
28:52
two teams that have already made it into the playoffs.
28:54
And if we're going to expand the playoff to, you know, 16, then
28:58
nobody's even getting a buy. So there really isn't a whole
29:00
lot of incentive there. But but again, I'm not romantic
29:03
about conference championship weekend.
29:05
I'm much more romantic about Week 11 and in Week 12 and week
29:09
10. And I, I worry if you, if you
29:11
increase this automatic qualifier situation, you're
29:14
going to have teams that are just coasting down the stretch
29:17
understanding that they're much more important game is going to
29:20
be the one that plays their way into the playoff or essentially
29:22
ends their season. So I, I think if you really want
29:25
to incentivize, you know, every week, I would, I would limit the
29:31
number of automatic qualifiers. I'm still OK with it for
29:34
conference champions, but once you get to where more than half
29:37
the field are automatic qualifiers, I think you've lost
29:40
something. Will we lose the strength of
29:43
schedules and hopefully is a component of any at large
29:46
process that that becomes more of a factor.
29:49
I want to see teams playing each other regardless.
29:51
Maybe if it doesn't go their way, the willingness to, you
29:54
know, to to put themselves out there, might that factor in more
29:57
so if if we get to this 511 model, the strength of schedule
30:01
is a positive that you're not looking to duck teams that may
30:05
give you a good game. Yeah, I hope so.
30:08
I'm completely with you on that. And I think that that serves the
30:11
fans and serves the sport. But unfortunately, and this is,
30:14
you know, maybe just circumstantial or or I think in
30:16
a lot of people's minds, it's the way to go.
30:18
Your last two national champions didn't challenge themselves in
30:21
the offseason or sorry, in the non conference with Michigan and
30:25
Ohio State not playing a powerful opponent in in in the
30:28
non conference. Now they do this season and
30:31
that's great. Ohio State starts off with Texas
30:33
and Michigan goes out to Oklahoma.
30:35
But you know, teams have looked at that.
30:37
And you know, one of the arguments that has come out of
30:40
Destin this week is is, hey, Alabama challenged itself in non
30:45
conference play and South Carolina obviously plays
30:48
Clemson, one of the top teams in the ACC and in the country many
30:51
years last year. And here's Indiana who doesn't
30:55
play anyone and they're still able to get into the College
30:57
Football Playoff. I would just counter that and
30:59
saying Indiana last year is really an anomaly.
31:02
I don't think we're going to see a lot of situation where it
31:05
lines up the way it did for Indiana last year.
31:08
And I would certainly rather see teams that did challenge
31:13
themselves and played in some cases 10 Power 4 opponents and
31:18
really let that resume stand on its own for selection.
31:21
But but again, the more good teams you play, the more chances
31:25
that you can play your way out. And we saw that with a number of
31:27
SEC teams last season. Adam, we've heard a ton about
31:32
the way they begged 10. The SEC would structure that
31:35
Championship week #3 team against the six four verse 5 and
31:38
get those automatic bids. What if it does get to the ace
31:42
to the ACC in the Big 12 that they do get the two at larges?
31:45
Is it both teams that advance to the championship game would get
31:48
in or would you have your regular season champion award
31:52
them a bid and then have two versus 3?
31:54
Would that make more sense in your mind if it kind of plays
31:57
out in that direction? Yeah, it's an interesting idea.
32:00
I didn't think about that. I, I, I, I, I've given how
32:02
attached a lot of these folks are to having a champion, you
32:06
know, coming out of that game, then, you know, it's hard to see
32:11
that, but it's something that should be considered.
32:13
I think everything should be on the table for these teams if
32:15
there are multiple automatic qualifiers.
32:18
And how do we, how do we as a conference, especially one that
32:21
doesn't have the, you know, the, the depths at the top of the Big
32:25
10 and the SEC, how do we make sure that whoever we send into
32:29
that field gives us the best chance to win?
32:32
And you could certainly have made a case last year in the
32:35
ACC, for example, that Miami would have given them a a better
32:39
chance to win than maybe either of the teams that made it in
32:42
Clemson and SMU. And SMU obviously didn't perform
32:45
very well at all in, in its playoff debut.
32:48
So, yeah, you, you do wonder, you know, will some leagues try
32:51
to rig it so that they really get the the best possible field
32:55
going into the playoff? That would be that would be
32:57
interesting. Will we get an entire new week
33:00
on the beginning of this? I can't see them pushing the
33:03
championship game any closer to, you know, toward the end of
33:06
January, although it's good for business here, more footballs
33:10
stretching out as long as we possibly can.
33:12
But I guess my question is, if indeed, if indeed they do go
33:16
early, how will Army Navy. And and because that's such an
33:20
impactful game to whether you're a fan of either of the teams,
33:23
you watch it just for the pomp and pageantry and and for
33:26
everything that goes along with it.
33:28
But they'll have to share that day and that wasn't the case.
33:31
How will that be received? Well, I think some won't receive
33:34
it well and traditionalists that that like to have that game as a
33:37
stand alone won't receive it well.
33:39
But the bottom line is you're just going to turn away from
33:41
playoff games. No, I mean, playoff games are
33:43
going to be watched. And I think that's been, you
33:46
know, in many ways what's driven the sport.
33:48
But it's also put it in a a place that some people think is
33:52
very tenuous is the interest level and the fact that that
33:55
there's incentive to play more playoff games.
33:58
There's incentive to have automatic qualifiers so that you
34:01
can really stack up championship week, weekend in a way that
34:04
doesn't really exist right now. Your point about moving the
34:06
season, earlier I was talking with Dave Doran, the head coach
34:10
at NC State, about that in his office this spring.
34:12
He'd like to start the football season in mid August and wrap it
34:15
all by January 1st and essentially get rid of spring
34:18
ball. You have a lead up like the NFL
34:21
does, begin training camps in mid-july, play your first games
34:25
in mid August and then you're done much, much earlier than you
34:28
are right now. I mean, there's obviously some
34:29
weather challenges to that. It's certainly not going to be a
34:32
lot of fun to play football in Arizona and places like that in
34:35
mid August. But, you know, maybe there is an
34:37
argument to at least look at moving the season up a week.
34:40
So currently Week 0, which only has a handful of games,
34:43
essentially becomes the the opening to college football.
34:46
And one thing that it would do is that it would give you
34:49
another week removed from the start of the NFL season where
34:52
you're not dealing with the NFL and you are the, the, you know,
34:55
the biggest show in town, so to speak, from a football
34:58
standpoint. Adam, we'll get you out on this.
35:00
A couple months back now you penned a column over at ESPN
35:03
and.com on Hunter Deckers and obviously a name that resonates
35:08
here for his time at Iowa State. Now trying to get that
35:10
opportunity in the NFL. Take us back to that story a
35:14
little bit and and I would encourage everybody out there to
35:16
go back and read a tremendous reporting that you did there,
35:19
Adam. And and a couple of takeaways
35:21
you had after spending time and getting deeper into the story of
35:24
Hunter Deckers. Yeah, thanks, Chad.
35:27
You know, I I did reported on Hunter situation, you know,
35:30
fairly extensively. We did an investigative piece on
35:33
on really a lot of the Iowa State athletes with Paula
35:36
Levine, my colleague and I back in 2024 earlier.
35:40
And so heading into the draft, you know, he was an interesting
35:43
story, a guy that you know, who was had really been cast aside
35:47
essentially barred from playing major college football.
35:50
So his only chance was to go to Iowa Western to a JUCO and try
35:55
to get noticed there without having played, you know, in any
35:59
sort of major stage for a number of years.
36:01
And so, you know, again, you can have your opinions on gambling
36:06
and how bad it was or how, how, how punitive that punishment
36:10
was. But I think he's a guy that's
36:12
pretty easy to get behind once you talk to him, talk to his
36:15
family. There are certainly a lot of
36:18
people. And it's like one thing I
36:19
pointed out in any interview I did about this story, there are
36:22
a lot of people that get drafted that have done a lot worse thing
36:25
than Hunter Deckers has. And, and NFL teams don't think
36:28
twice about, well, they think twice, but they end up still
36:30
drafting them. So, you know, I, I'm, I'm happy
36:33
for Hunter that he's getting an opportunity.
36:35
He knows that, you know, it's a it's a difficult road to, to the
36:39
one he went down to even have a chance to play in the NFL.
36:43
But talent wise, I think he can do it.
36:46
It's just whether he can pick this thing up as fast as
36:48
possible, you know, with a team that's made a very limited
36:51
investment in him. So he's got to go out there and
36:54
perform, but I'm excited that he has that chance to do so.
36:56
I think he's in the right spot to do just that.
36:58
And hats off to Jon Gruden for inviting him to his quarterback
37:02
camp as well. At least put him on the radar.
37:04
Adam, well done with us. Thank you, as always, love
37:06
catching up with the Adam Rittenberg.
37:08
Appreciate your time here today. Yeah.
37:11
Thanks for having me guys. Good to talk to you,
37:12
adamrittenbergespn.com as we talk a little college football.
37:16
Yeah, Rooting for Deckers. It's hard not to, hard not to.
37:19
And he's in New Orleans and they've got nobody.
37:22
And he paid a big, big price. Oh.
37:24
Jeez, did he ever? And hopefully he'll get a big,
37:26
big price coming back his way because, well, we don't then
37:29
enough. We'll take a time out.
37:31
It's an old story. Not that I don't want to talk
37:33
about. It's just an old story and the
37:35
athletes got done wrong. Miller in Condon on the Iowa
37:37
Sports Radio Network. I'm Miller Condon, welcome back.
37:49
Final couple of minutes, First hour of the program coming up in
37:52
hour number two. We'll head to Chicago and I'll
37:55
catch up with David Kaplan, ESPN 1000, Cappy's YouTube channel
38:00
where he's you can find him each and every day.
38:03
And then we're going to talk to Randy Wehoefer about an event
38:06
that's coming to Principal Park in late August.
38:09
It's a Home Run Derby with former Major League players.
38:13
I believe it's the first year of this, but we'll find out from
38:15
Randy Wehoefer who's behind it. Look, Savannah Bananas are
38:20
packing them in still, so I'm not surprised that somebody's
38:23
tried to think outside the box and come up with a another, I
38:26
don't know, just gimmick the right word to trying to track
38:29
some people to to an event. We'll see.
38:33
Is it going to? Work.
38:35
I think there's a chance, yeah. I'm certainly intrigued by it.
38:38
I think it'd be a fun night at the ballpark.
38:40
Are the former players going to be willing to spend some time
38:43
with the fans? I would think so, yeah.
38:45
I would guess ought to be a huge component.
38:48
Don't. You think?
38:49
Meet and greet type of component, yeah, that's got to
38:51
be a piece of it too. And, you know, 25 bucks.
38:55
So there's a concert that new Walkies got a new.
38:59
Amphitheatre. It's a little place.
39:01
Yeah. And there's been concerts there.
39:02
My wife went to one. There was a 90s band.
39:05
I can't even remember who it was off the top of my head.
39:07
Couple of hits that I knew. I'm like oh that that might be
39:09
fun. Looked at the ticket prices get
39:12
in price like 150 bucks. What Yeah, for they weren't a
39:16
one hit wonder. Maybe they're a three hit
39:18
wonder. You know, I I don't know their
39:19
whole catalog of put a musician like that you.
39:22
Can't remember their name. So I think it did stick with, it
39:25
didn't stick with me because I saw the ticket price.
39:27
I said, no, I'm out. But what do you see kind of the
39:30
ticket price just in general? I'm now I'm When's the last time
39:33
you were at a movie? A movie?
39:35
A movie theater? Well, pre COVID.
39:38
How far back before that even? Well, you know what it was?
39:40
Was Dunkirk. When did Dunkirk come out?
39:43
OK Night 2000 the 19/18/20 somewhere around there.
39:47
I would like to see your face, what it would cost you to go
39:52
movie. Bucket of popcorn, soda, maybe a
39:55
little candy. You and Cindy.
39:57
What a night out at the movie theater.
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But we can't take Jet. He can stay home.
40:03
He's a dog, Ken. He's a dog.
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He'll be OK. Yes, my.
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Little guy. He will, I promise, you know.
40:10
You can leave. So what is get in for A to a
40:13
movie now? Is it 20?
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If yes, 1819 bucks to get in before you've had a kernel of
40:20
popcorn. Are they still a thing People
40:22
still go to do they? But now you got the big
40:24
recliners. Oh, but see, we had that.
40:26
That was the last movie that was in Altoona across from the
40:28
track. Yes, that theater out there.
40:31
Anyways, our number 2 is coming up.
40:34
Cappy kicks things off. How about those Cubs?
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We'll get into that with Capper and then Randy Wayhofer.
40:41
Trent will make some pick. Circus Sports sponsor those hour
40:44
to his next Miller in Condon on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.