Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Chris Williams on his new Cyclone book "Fanatic", Steven M Sipple talks Huskers & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports

Transcript

Chris Williams on his new Cyclone book "Fanatic", Steven M Sipple talks Huskers & Trent's Picks presented by Circa Sports · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

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Hour number two, welcome back Miller and Condon on the Iowa
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Sports Radio Network. We'll take you to the bottom of
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the hour. Still to come, Stephen M Sipple
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from on three media huskerillustrated.com.
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We'll put a bow on the Husker season, what went wrong last
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week and what to expect in the offseason.
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Well, been looking forward to this segment since we bellied up
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to the long bar. That's not long, but it's the
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media. It's the mega bar circus, the
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longest bar in the state of Nevada when we are Big 10 Media
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days earlier this summer and catching up with our guest,
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Chris Williams. What do you got going on?
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How you been, blah, blah, blah. Well, I'm writing a book.
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Oh, are you? And, and that book is ready to
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come out. And, and here's the thing,
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Chris, good to talk to you. I just saw a picture of you
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signing copies. And with all the books stacked
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in front, it's not like this book's 84 pages.
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There's a This is a big book, Chris Williams.
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I think it I think it ended up like 340 pages.
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How about? That good for you?
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Yeah. What was so this kind of got
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from the beginning? Obviously it's it's your 20
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years covering Iowa State etcetera.
1:04
And when you were relaying some of the stories that we don't
1:08
know about, right, with that, you were able to get access to
1:11
these coaches and, you know, kind of go inside what was going
1:14
on. And at the time, I think I told
1:16
you that I'm excited because, you know, I talked about all of
1:19
those stories over those 20 years.
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And I want to see how right or wrong I was once they come to
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print. So when did when did the idea
1:26
pop in your head to do this? And I guess why after 20 years?
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Well, so first and foremost, I just, I really love sports
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writing. It's generally like what I'd
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love to do and I just don't get to do anymore, right?
1:44
Like Cyclone Fanatic, that's what I used to do.
1:46
And now it's podcasting and with IO everywhere and when I was on
1:49
KX&O, it's like it's, it's talk and video is taking over, you
1:55
know, these short form videos. And it's like, I don't ever like
1:59
the very selfish side of me. I love sitting down and
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interviewing and being able to go farther than an inch or two
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deep. And so like from a very selfish
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perspective, it was just a good way for me to be able to do
2:14
that. And it was a good challenge for
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me. I have this sick problem where I
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have to challenge myself every couple of years with something
2:22
new. And, and this was kind of it,
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but it it came to fruition for me when I was sitting at the
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NCAA tournament, Ontelberger's first year in Milwaukee.
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And it was when it was when they beat Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
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And I was just looking around at the scene and it was just so
2:46
special. Like TJ was from there, yet
2:48
Tyrese Hunter from there. You had this.
2:51
I mean, you're at AI would say, actually, this game is featured
2:55
in the book. But like, they're not at a crowd
2:58
disadvantage at a neutral site very often.
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But this game, it was probably like 9010 and it was just the
3:05
really an incredible win when you look at the talent level of
3:09
that team. And I was like, man, like this.
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And I was kind of a pinch me moment because I was thinking to
3:15
myself, I've been in like I've had such a front row seat to so
3:18
many cool moments. And it's not, it's not just the
3:20
games, it's these cool people. And like, I really want to dig
3:24
into this. And I asked Jamie Pollard, he
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happened to be sitting right next to me.
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I was like, do you think people would read a book about
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something like that? Because I was thinking like,
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yeah, this is going to be my 20th year coming up.
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And and he he thought it was a great idea.
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And like, so yeah, they that that was kind of where it came
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to be was just that moment. And then the very selfish side
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of me. It's like, I genuinely love
3:46
sitting down and writing about sports.
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And more than that, you like, that's just an example of like a
3:52
game. But what we do in this book a
3:54
lot is we'll take like a specific moment from a specific
3:58
game or a specific moment in Cyclone time.
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And then we'll we'll go a mile deep on that and it tells a
4:04
bigger story. It's like how, you know, like
4:08
one of my favorite chapters is about Melvin Edgem, the former
4:12
Cyclone, who was just kind of like he was known as like the
4:15
glue guy for all the transfers, right?
4:17
And then he he becomes Big 12 player of the year as a senior.
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And it's like, oh, how did that happen?
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And TJ Altelberger tells me a story about how Edgem punched a
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hole in his office wall and how it kind of started the whole
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evolution of Melvin Edgem. So it's like really in depth
4:36
stuff. There's a lot of stuff people in
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there that people don't know about and then a lot of stuff
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people know about. It's just we just go so much
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deeper than what you've probably heard in the past.
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All right, so when I heard about this, Chris, the first time, and
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I'm thinking the stories and and your inside access that you've
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had during these 20 years as we go back a decade ago as they're
4:57
at the KFC Yum Center against UAB lose and an upset loss and
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Bryce Dejon Jones and trying to get back.
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There's so many layers to it. I have my version of my head,
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but I'm sure it's very wrong. So that is the one that I
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definitely want to kind of get the inside scoop and excited to
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dig deep into it. How much of that story, because
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I'm sure you've heard all kinds of maturations that you knew
5:19
were wrong, that story, how that went and and just that day, how
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weird it was. Well, you picked a terrible
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example because that's one of the ones that I didn't actually
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get to, so that's a good job on that.
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That's version 2. You're right.
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And that's it's funny you let me into that because at the end of
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this thing, can you know the length of it?
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There's so much I didn't get to and that's that's one of those
5:45
stories like there he could. Unfortunately, he passed away.
5:50
A lot of people don't remember the one of the biggest regrets I
5:54
have looking back is I don't have enough, I didn't do enough
5:58
Hoiberg stories from those teams.
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I I really didn't. It's a fail on my part.
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But I was thinking about I I think I could write a 400 page
6:06
book on the Hoiberg years in general, honestly.
6:11
You know, there's just so many characters.
6:13
Yeah, the well, and then he was kind of a disruptor, right?
6:17
Like there were people taking transfers, but not at the rate I
6:20
state was they kind of started that thing.
6:25
And like that could be an entire book, but you're it's a great
6:28
example, Trent. And I did, I failed the audience
6:31
on that because that that is one that I know I could get the full
6:37
one. The here's the cool part about
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writing this book is these guys are all willing to talk 1015
6:43
years after much more than they were at the time.
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And I got a lot of good stuff as far as that goes.
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But yeah, I didn't that is one story I didn't tackle.
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And like that it's a cool thing to Canon.
6:55
You're going to have a lot of insight on this too, just
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because, well, first of all, you, you kind of lose track of
7:02
how much actually happens over 2 decades right until you go back
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and you but like a guy who this is crazy is absolutely insane
7:11
that I barely write about Brock Purdy in this book.
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Really. Yeah, it's like he barely even
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makes a mention. So I am going to do a second
7:20
volume. I need a little bit of break
7:22
from this one. There will be a second volume
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where I think I'm going to, I already have a pretty good idea
7:28
and hopefully people like this and buy this one and show that
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there's actually a market for stuff like this.
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I think there is, you know, but there's, there's just so much in
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there that these are more really bigger picture things.
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I mean, there are some specifics, but like the the
7:45
chapter with Jamie Pollard on the Big 12 missile crisis, you
7:50
know? From the Texas, Oklahoma going
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into Friday the the conference is going to that's fascinating.
7:56
Yeah, whole chapter on that. There's a chapter on when I got
8:02
to Iowa State and this, this, there's a lot of research, but
8:05
I, I think it's, it's probably the best reporting I did in the
8:08
book is, you know, when I was when I got to Iowa State started
8:12
covering this program, guys, they were not only were they
8:16
dead last in the Big 12 in donations, so fan donations,
8:22
they could have doubled what they were getting from fans and
8:24
still been dead last by a sizable margin.
8:26
Yeah, that's how bad things were.
8:29
So it's like I, I kind of see it like this volume 1 is like the
8:33
really big picture stuff where were like, you know, Matt
8:37
Campbell is unbelievable in this book.
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Like why hasn't he left yet? And it's funny, it's kind of
8:42
ironic with him being the leader on the Penn State thing
8:44
according to like the prediction markets right now.
8:46
Don't think it'll happen, but it's.
8:48
Still, it's out there, yeah. You know, and Matt's telling me
8:54
about just really personal stuff like his parents divorced when
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he was in high school and like how it's impacted the guy he is
9:00
today. And like it.
9:02
I, I really geeked out with John Haycock on the formation of
9:06
their defense. And like, why did they do it?
9:08
And that that 10 day span between losing to Texas with
9:12
Jacob Park and then when they went on the road as a 30 point
9:15
underdog and win at Oklahoma and beat Baker Mayfield, right.
9:20
Like that. It's, it's really big picture
9:22
stuff. But then again, we we, we bring
9:24
we break it down to a level of like to the point where
9:29
Cincinnati's defensive coordinator Tyson Vite is
9:32
telling me exactly what he remembers about what Matt
9:34
Campbell was writing on the whiteboard that day when they
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got back from the Akron game. Right?
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Like, it really, really interesting stuff.
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And but yeah, I I I about think there has to be a volume to
9:46
because I I I do feel bad. I write this in the last in the
9:48
acknowledgements of the book where I feel bad because there's
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stories that went untold and the design Jones one like I I wish
9:55
it would have brought that up to me about four months ago, Trent,
9:57
because it probably would have been in.
9:59
There the when when we were BS and back in Vegas this summer
10:03
that one of the stories that stuck with me that you said
10:06
you're writing about was TJ the first time, the first go round
10:09
when he didn't get the job. As we know, that didn't happen
10:13
the first time and certainly worked out well the second time.
10:16
But that's a fascinating story that seemingly you go in depth
10:19
on that. I don't think a lot of people
10:20
realize just, you know, the disappointment level that Otts
10:24
had. Yeah, I mean, he he was really
10:27
dejected. I remember that like it was
10:30
yesterday. And he, Fred Hoiberg, you know,
10:35
basically brought him back to. So Fred had to have heart
10:38
surgery. If you guys remember that summer
10:41
and Scott was at Washington, Fred brings him back.
10:46
And basically Fred needs somebody to run the program
10:50
while he's out recovering from his heart surgery.
10:53
But we also all know about the Bulls rumors at that point where
10:56
it really felt like Garth Foreman, the former Iowa State
10:59
coach, was going to bring Fred in.
11:01
And I mean, it was pretty common knowledge that TJ was Fred's
11:06
hand picked replacement. But it doesn't always work out
11:09
that way. You get a new president in
11:11
there. You have, I don't even think
11:15
it's arguable you have the best returning group of Cyclones in
11:18
history with the Ang Long, Monte Morris, Matt Thomas, They're all
11:23
coming back. And new president is, you know,
11:27
pretty boisterous about wanting a head coach and that doesn't
11:30
get the job. And what do you do at that
11:32
point? You know, like you, you know, TJ
11:36
told me he's like, he thinks that's the best coaching he's
11:39
ever done in his life. Was that because you had to make
11:41
a choice at that point? And I give Steve Prohm and
11:44
Ottelberger both a lot of credit because both of them swallowed
11:47
their egos there. You know, Prohm, if Chrome
11:51
doesn't retain Otselberger there, I don't know what
11:54
happened that year, if I'm being honest.
11:56
Like it, it was such a big deal because he had to have the
11:59
continuity with that roster. Like Steve didn't connect with
12:02
those guys very well. And TJ was kind of the glue
12:06
there. And then for, you know, so Steve
12:09
to do that was very selfless for him to do that and put himself
12:13
in that spot. But then with TJ, you know, you
12:17
very easily could have been jaded and burned bridges with
12:20
Jamie Pollard, who didn't pick you.
12:22
Was it Pollard? Or was it Leith, Chris?
12:26
You know, it probably a combination of both, right?
12:28
Like I think that ultimately it was probably Pollard's decision,
12:33
but it was it was lethal. From what I understand, they
12:36
wanted the head coach and Steve was Steve.
12:39
Listen, at the time you think back, he played a similar style
12:43
to Fred Murray was was rolling at that point.
12:48
It did make some sense, right? But, you know, I think it was
12:51
more on the president than it was Pollard.
12:53
But still, TJ had a choice to make.
12:56
Like, do you do you pout about it?
12:58
Do you or do you make the best of it?
13:00
You made the best of it. Went and got a really good job
13:02
at South Dakota State and and finds his way back here.
13:05
But you know the other one too. It's like the chapter I know
13:09
you'll love Ken being a football junkie is the Gene Chizik hire.
13:13
Oh, that. 'D be awesome.
13:15
Yeah. So it's like, listen to this.
13:17
They interview Pollard interviews Jim Harbaugh, Brian
13:21
Kelly, Art Ryles and Gene Chizik for that job.
13:26
And then there was a mystery name that I never knew.
13:27
About did you find out? Yeah, Harry Patterson.
13:31
How about? That and I don't think Gary
13:34
actually officially interviewed because.
13:36
But this was one of those deals where he shows some interest and
13:39
then Pollard talk and it I was led to believe that Gary was
13:45
seriously interested in the job and then had to bail because his
13:47
assistants didn't want to make the didn't want to make the
13:50
move. But this was like the the
13:52
hypotheticals with that. If if Gary Patterson takes that
13:55
job. Is TCU even in the Big 12 right
13:57
now? Yeah.
13:57
Probably not. Right.
14:00
So it's like, that's what this first edition is like.
14:03
It's these big picture, and it's probably more historical.
14:06
It's like there's a chapter called Why didn't Greg McDermott
14:09
win at Iowa State? Wesley Johnson got poached.
14:13
Yeah, well, I mean, and like, Greg was awesome.
14:16
Like he, he basically went through and told me everything
14:19
he did wrong and everything that he learned and how he turned it
14:22
around and it made him a better coach at Creighton, right, where
14:25
he's probably going to be a Hall of Famer.
14:27
So fascinating stuff. And you also just forget how
14:31
many any like big personalities and stuff come through here at
14:34
one point or another. And, you know, just really
14:39
blessed. Like, that's the favorite part
14:41
of my job that I get to do now. It's like when my buddy, my
14:44
buddy Alex Golish, is now the head coach at all, Right?
14:47
I thought of you when he got the job.
14:49
I. Did yeah.
14:50
Like, now I got to get rid of all this South Florida stuff
14:53
that I have, but right. Like it's just catching up with
14:56
all these people. It's just been a really special
14:58
process. Who finished second to Chiswick?
15:00
Did it come down to Chiswick and Harbaugh or Briles Or I mean,
15:05
who was who was Briles? Was it Briles?
15:08
OK. It was Briles because he was
15:10
bringing RG3 with him. Oh my God.
15:14
Yeah, that's in the book. Pollard's quoted on that.
15:16
Yeah, he RG3 was, he was a package deal with our Briles, so
15:21
he would have been the guy of his.
15:23
Heisman year. Everybody thought it was Kelly.
15:25
Everybody thought it was Kelly. But it wasn't.
15:27
Wow. And that would have been his
15:28
Heisman year. Chris.
15:30
Yep. How about that?
15:31
Well, yeah, I mean, I think he won the Heisman as a sophomore.
15:34
I want to say so, but do you remember RG3's?
15:38
Like first I want to say it was like first breakout game was
15:41
against Chiswick in Iowa State. They went on the road and RG3
15:44
had like 400 some yards. As a true freshman, I want to
15:47
stay in that game. Wow.
15:49
Because he got Baylor instead? Because he went from Houston to
15:51
Baylor. I love those sliding door
15:54
moments when he brought up McDermott.
15:56
Talk about sliding doors. Wesley Johnson doesn't get
15:58
poached. They're pretty good.
15:59
That year definitely is on the right path.
16:02
Then you couple it with Doug, who was going to you and I
16:05
coming on the heels of a Sweet 16.
16:07
They turn into a power program at the mid major level and just
16:11
how different everything could be if it played out in that
16:14
fashion. Absolutely incredible.
16:15
Chris, I want to go to the business side of things.
16:18
Was 2. 1000, a book I've always wanted to.
16:21
Now I don't have the same writing background as you.
16:24
I've never been a professional writer, if you will, outside of
16:26
a couple articles for Bleacher Report 25 years ago.
16:28
But Chris, I've always enjoyed writing myself.
16:31
I've always wanted to do like an embedded type of book.
16:33
How do you sell a book in 2025 and and what is the publishing
16:37
world like now as you've gone through it now for this first
16:40
time? It's, it's not easy.
16:43
And like the one thing Paul Shirley has actually kind of
16:46
coached me a little bit through all this because he's, he's
16:48
written a lot of books and he's, he's a phenomenal writer.
16:51
It's just, it's, it's so hard, especially when you do what we
16:54
do, right? Like if let's say Penn State
16:59
makes a higher right now, it's like, bam, you drop everything
17:01
and you just react and you kind of have that instant
17:04
gratification. And that's what the fans want
17:07
because that's just the world that we live in.
17:09
Everything is at your fingertips.
17:11
And now it's like slowing everything down and like the
17:14
margins like, like, trust me, I'm not going to get rich on
17:17
this. It's not like this is not a
17:18
thing where there's a ton of money in it and it's really
17:22
stacked against the little guy to the you don't get as good of
17:26
like margins on like Amazon that So like if if somebody does want
17:31
to buy it, like buy it from a local bookstore or buy it from
17:35
my website fanaticbook.com. Like it's, it's just so much
17:39
better for the small author. It will be in fairway fairways
17:43
picked it up in 32 of their stores across.
17:46
You'll see it. Yeah, really nice of them.
17:48
I really, really appreciate that.
17:50
So you'll see it in some fairways across the state, but
17:52
it's really kind of on the author and then doing stuff like
17:55
this, right. Like it's I don't have a huge
17:58
company behind me. That's the, the BPC here in town
18:05
Business publications Corporation is, is the one who's
18:07
helping me with the distribution and all that.
18:09
They, they did like our friend Ray Cole's book.
18:12
They've done a lot of books like this in the past, but it's, it's
18:15
definitely a challenge, especially when you're just a
18:19
radio and digital guy. Like, I mean that that was what
18:23
I came up and I, I didn't ever write for a newspaper even.
18:26
I just, I work for websites, I work for radio stations and, and
18:30
now I'm pretty much exclusively digital.
18:31
But that was the fun of it for me.
18:34
I just, I feel like I'm learning like this whole new world at 41.
18:37
And, and that's what it's all about for me.
18:39
I'm kind of a media junkie and in general and definitely glad
18:45
that I did it. Again, nobody's getting rich on
18:46
this, but I'm, I'm very, I had Rob Gray working with me as well
18:50
as my editor, and he's the best in the business.
18:53
And it is a team sport, though, right?
18:57
There's a woman, Lynn, at BPC, who has been completely
19:00
invaluable during all this with her experience.
19:03
It's not as easy. There's a lot of like legal
19:05
stuff too with, with book publishing that I had no idea
19:08
about that You have to go through that process and we'll
19:12
have learned a lot. But if yeah, it's it's way more
19:15
work than I think most people probably can can comprehend.
19:18
Fanaticbook.com best place to buy it.
19:21
By far, yeah. And I actually just found out if
19:24
you get it ordered between now and next Wednesday, you'll get
19:26
it for the. Holidays.
19:27
Oh, good, good. Yeah.
19:29
And then when will it get to Fairway?
19:31
Do you know it? Should be this week, should be
19:36
this week. I know Dog Ear books up in Ames.
19:38
They're doing an event with me and John Walters on Sunday where
19:41
he has his children's book and we're going to do 1 together.
19:44
They have some. I know the Iowa State University
19:47
Bookstore is going to have some and there's a lot of places that
19:50
will have it. Unfortunately, it's just going
19:52
to be after the holiday because, you know, shipping and just, you
19:56
know, everything's slower this time of year.
19:58
But yeah, it's it's. It's just really important to me
20:02
that we we chronicle a lot of these things.
20:05
There's just not a lot of it on a local level.
20:07
There's not a lot of local books because it's so it's so
20:10
challenging to do right. We're not just flipping on a
20:13
YouTube feed and talking or there's just a lot that goes
20:16
into it. And but it's I think it's
20:18
incredibly important that you know that I did a long form Q&A
20:23
with Dan McCartney and I love Dan McCartney like family.
20:26
It's like, I don't know how long he's going to be around.
20:28
We need to get, we need to get his stories on the record.
20:31
These things are super important.
20:33
And I hope that people like it so we can do a few more of
20:35
these. Fanaticbook.com. fanaticbook.com
20:38
Good stuff. So there might be another Matt
20:40
Campbell chapter. Maybe.
20:42
Yeah, there is there. Yeah, 5050.
20:44
I mean, do you think that this is serious for this time, Chris?
20:49
He's had so many chances to go. I I don't here's OK, I think
20:55
that he would be interested in Penn State because who wouldn't,
20:58
right? I think that the athletic
21:00
director is taking a total beating as far as reputation
21:03
goes. What would surprise me is if
21:06
Matt finally leaves Iowa State to what could be a lame duck
21:10
athletic director. That's what would surprise me
21:13
because I know Matt, Matt's had so many.
21:16
He's turned down NFL jobs, right?
21:17
And he's turned down NFL jobs because he may not have a great
21:21
relationship with the GM or ownership.
21:23
And it's just like, do I think that he would be a great hire
21:28
for Penn State? Absolutely.
21:30
The public beating this AD has taken makes me think that he
21:33
would be a little bit hesitant to consider it.
21:38
And I don't know that I'm just going off of the predictions
21:40
market. I know that, you know, everybody
21:43
was up in Ames all day yesterday and he was completely normal.
21:47
There was nothing going on. I'm supposed to drop off a book
21:50
form tomorrow, you know, So like if if there is something going
21:54
on, he's doing a really good job of hiding it.
21:56
Other than that, it's just the typical Matt Campbell smoke.
21:59
But, and it's also like, I don't know if Matt will care about
22:02
this, but do you want to be their 5th?
22:04
Choice. That's just it, right?
22:06
If you want to be their fifth choice with the lame duck AD
22:08
that like that's where I think like man, it makes me.
22:11
I find it hard to believe, but I tell you that and I truly don't
22:14
know. You guys know how these things
22:16
work. There could be background
22:18
conversations. They've botched this thing so
22:21
poorly that I don't know how that AD is even going to be
22:25
there any year, regardless of who he hires.
22:27
I'm with you fanaticbook.com fanaticbook.com 384 is that what
22:32
you said page is worth? 34340 Nice.
22:35
Good stuff. Yeah.
22:36
Chris Williams, good to reconnect with you, Chris.
22:39
I appreciate you coming on, buddy.
22:40
Good luck with this. Thanks, guys.
22:42
Yeah, appreciate you guys. Talk to you soon.
22:44
Yep. Good to talk to you, Chris
22:45
Williams, fanaticbook.com For Chris, some behind the scenes
22:49
stories about Iowa State in his years, his two decades of
22:52
covering the clones. Now he's got to work on his
22:55
picks. Because we got bludgeoned in the
22:56
college contest, we put a entry together.
22:58
Yeah, and how'd you guys do? He drilled.
23:01
We were, you know, within the like shouting range.
23:03
Top one like 1. How far did they pay down?
23:06
Do you remember? Top ten.
23:07
Top ten Yes, Chris Folico was in the top ten.
23:09
In fact, he was in the top three for most of the year and I think
23:12
he fell to 8 at the end. But yeah, it's.
23:15
So it ends at the end of the regular season.
23:16
Yeah, it's done now. So we beat 660 people.
23:19
Yeah, through the Super bug. That's a good way to look at.
23:22
It was yes, we lost to 419, but. Still, you beat 660.
23:26
People, we'll go back to the drawing board next season.
23:29
Did that, did the entry with a bunch of my buddies too.
23:31
And we were really, really good until like the last.
23:35
And you saw how bad my last five weeks were.
23:37
And it was not because that group, we picked one game each,
23:40
There's five of us. And then we kind of worked
23:42
together for the final two and we just absolutely collect.
23:46
Collapsed down the stretch. Those contests, though, when he
23:49
had that little glimmer of hope. Yeah, well, we, we, we had a
23:52
perfect week at the beginning of 1/4 in.
23:54
Circa and he'd start thinking, yeah, we got three more weeks to
23:57
go right and he's still in Circa in those quarterly ones like say
24:00
it's a four week, 1/4, you still have to go like 18 and 2.
24:04
I think the guy that won this last quarter, yeah, he either
24:08
had two or three losses. Like 17, two and one.
24:10
I think that's what he went. Something crazy like that.
24:13
It just takes a hot month though.
24:14
So do you think these college contests cause circus is all NFL
24:17
Yes they will not do a college one.
24:19
They don't want to cut into their business, which I get.
24:23
Is this College 1 going to expand next year 'cause I.
24:26
Think I think it helped. Just over 1000, right?
24:28
Yes, this year and what was the entry 500?
24:30
Yes, so half of what it cost to get into the circle.
24:34
And and I do wonder too, having somebody like Chris Falika with
24:37
obviously the platform that he has and people know him from the
24:40
gambling space of having somebody like that finish up
24:42
there and that's going to help push maybe a few more people
24:45
next season. I'd be surprised.
24:46
I mean 2000 next year, remember they also kind of did it that
24:50
came out there was. Very little publicity behind.
24:52
It and it was weeks before we got out there in July.
24:54
You know, now they're going to have a lot more time maybe to
24:56
ramp it. Up right, Year 2.
24:58
Yes, well, we saw what happened with Circa Survivor.
25:00
They, you know, the jump from year one to year 2.
25:03
By the way, this time tomorrow, Mike Palm from Circle will join
25:06
us. We'll go behind the counter with
25:08
Mike tomorrow at 1:30. All right, we'll head the head
25:11
W, shall we? Let's go to Lincoln.
25:14
We come back, we'll catch up with our buddy Stephen M Sipple
25:16
from huskerillustrated.com on Three Media.
25:19
That's thanks again. Our thanks to Chris Williams,
25:21
fanaticbook.com, Miller and Condon talking sports with you
25:25
on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
25:28
It's time for sin. Stephen M Simple talks with
25:33
myself and Ken on Nebraska football.
25:36
I mean, I have a radio show, we have callers.
25:38
I pay attention to my Twitter notifications and all that.
25:42
There's definitely some frustration.
25:44
We talk Hornhuskers, and you never know what else is going to
25:47
come up with 30 years on the Nebraska beat.
25:53
Here's Stephen M Simple. As long as they're paying me to
25:55
talk, I'm just going to keep doing it.
25:57
I'm Hillary Condon, welcome back.
25:59
Our final statement still to come is actually Trent making
26:01
his plays of the day. Circus sports sponsor those.
26:04
But for the final time this regular season, we will catch up
26:07
with Sip when Nebraska goes bowling.
26:10
For you Husker fans out there, we put a bow on the season for
26:13
Nebraska ends up 7 and 5. Stephen M joins us on three
26:18
Media. Husker illustrated.com.
26:20
How are you? Steven M Pop Good.
26:21
Good to talk to you. Yeah.
26:23
Yeah, a happy holiday to. You guys and thanks for.
26:27
Having me on and what do you got going?
26:29
Guy we want to talk about last week and where Matt rule turns
26:32
and you know sip. I keep coming back to it and
26:34
we'll go get into what we witnessed on Black Friday.
26:38
But since you since Nebraska joined the Big 10 and you'll be
26:42
coming on shows with me it in it seemingly was.
26:45
I don't see it sound like a broken record.
26:47
But you you kept emphasizing how important it's going to be for
26:50
Nebraska to get bigger to get stronger, to get meaner to get
26:54
batter on both sides of the football, in particular in the
26:56
trenches, because that's the Big 10 brand of ball and they're
27:00
still not there sip they still haven't at least to this point
27:04
haven't If they have realized it, it hasn't materialized
27:08
actually happening on the field. Is it?
27:10
Is it now sinking in where they have to maybe focus their nil
27:15
money as much as anything? Yeah.
27:18
I mean, yes, of course it is. I mean, we can identify and
27:23
we're just a bunch of rubes. I mean, look at and it is, it is
27:28
where they're going to focus it. They're going to try to get I'd
27:32
say the number is in the like 5 3D lineman, 2 offensive lineman
27:39
or, or, or you know, 3 offensive lineman, 2 defensive lineman.
27:43
I think they need they need to get a little.
27:46
This is just my opinion. I think they need to get bigger
27:49
up front on defense. They got shoved around too much.
27:54
You don't have to get bigger. I mean, Iowa doesn't.
27:57
I don't think Iowa has anybody. They they weren't playing
27:59
anybody over three O 5, which is that, you know, that's not a
28:03
huge line. But yeah, we've been talking
28:07
about this off and on for some time now.
28:12
Remember last year Nebraska wasn't bad up front.
28:15
Iowa. Again, right.
28:17
Yep. They have I Robinson, Nash, Hop,
28:20
rocker, Jamari. 5th year senior guys.
28:22
Yep, Yep. Yeah, those guys were good and
28:25
they, they, I mean, they held in there really well.
28:29
But off and on, yeah, we've been talking about it for many years.
28:33
You came on before the season talking about the SEC like
28:37
receivers, that this was going to be different.
28:38
It didn't feel a whole lot different about this squad this
28:42
year. They're growing, but it's slower
28:44
than you look. I mean, hope at the end of the
28:47
rainbow, right? Hope at the end over the horizon
28:49
that this thing's going to turn and turn into not just good
28:52
enough to make bowl games, but contending, really contending
28:55
come November. Is that a realistic expectation
28:58
here with Nebraska football in today's day and age?
29:02
Of course it is. I mean, there's just yeah,
29:06
there's nothing. Yeah, there's a lot here.
29:10
It's sort of mystifying that the program has dipped to this.
29:15
OK. I would say dip to the level
29:17
that Frost allowed it to dip. They've made some progress.
29:21
I mean, there's 75. They're not.
29:25
This season wasn't a disaster. They didn't make enough
29:29
progress. I think most people would agree
29:31
with that here. Most people in this market would
29:36
agree with that. It's not like they they've been
29:39
devoid of progress. They but here's what happened,
29:44
guys. They didn't beat anybody really.
29:46
They beat Cincinnati, which is duffle down the stretch.
29:50
And besides that, Nebraska's best win is Northwestern.
29:54
So that's that's problematic. And then then what happened is
29:58
they just got clubbed by what I call the heavies.
30:02
There's I still call Penn State a heavy despite the bad season.
30:08
If you go out there, you understand, you guys have been
30:11
there. It's a tough, it's just that
30:13
place is a it's a monster. It's tough, Iowa.
30:17
I don't have to explain to anybody that Iowa is a
30:21
heavyweight and they made it look pretty easy the other day.
30:24
It was sort of jolting, I think, to people how easy Iowa made it
30:29
look, how easy Gronowski made it look, You know, throwing the
30:34
ball. He's tuned up Nebraska and
30:38
that's not what people, I don't know some maybe some people were
30:42
expecting it, but not that's not anything that they want.
30:47
It's beyond old now. Now we have psychological
30:51
problems over. Here, so fired as DC obviously
30:55
in the market for a new defensive coordinator.
30:58
What? What are they looking for?
30:59
Their SIP? What?
31:00
What will rule look for in that position?
31:03
We laid it out yesterday, he said.
31:06
He's not worried about skiing. You once say a coordinator that
31:11
can get all 11 guys on the same page and get physicality and out
31:17
of that group playing with fire. They didn't do that, he said.
31:22
I mean, I'm not this isn't simple opinion.
31:24
This is well, it's my opinion. Just happens to jive with rules,
31:28
He said. They didn't play hard enough in
31:31
the last two games. You know, that's pretty much,
31:34
that's really an indictment, right?
31:37
It's on a lot of people. But you know, the heads of
31:41
groups, they take the fall and John Butler took this fall.
31:46
So that's what it's he's not. The scheme is not as important
31:51
as just connection to players, an ability to draw all you can
31:57
out of players. Then he said something really
31:59
interesting and it probably explains a lot of why he parted
32:04
ways with Butler rule after the Iowa gate made sort of a curious
32:08
comment in the post game when he said he's going to press on, do
32:12
the best he can, work as hard as he can and and try to stay away
32:17
from toxic people. OK, Every I don't know, there's
32:21
there's some people in the media court that caught it.
32:23
We're like, what, what is that? And then we found out it was
32:27
Butler. It's pretty clear yesterday on
32:31
signing day when he was saying that, you know, I can't have
32:35
guys that, you know, tell, tell us that these players aren't
32:40
good enough. And I, he said he just can't
32:44
allow that. He can't allow that on the
32:45
sidelines in the locker room. And it it became pretty clear
32:50
he's talking about Butler. Interesting.
32:53
What can you tell us about Rayola?
32:54
What's the latest? I know there's a ton percolating
32:57
there. What's the latest his decision
32:59
and does it go hand in hand with family decisions?
33:02
Kind of what's going on there? There's it's, there's nothing
33:07
much going on right now except as you can imagine, when a team
33:12
has 2, they kind of have, you know, they have two guys capable
33:17
of starting. So you understand in this world
33:20
that that gets complicated fast because of money, right?
33:24
It's Sean Callahan, whom I work with, says like having, it's
33:28
like your neighbor have two speed boats in his garage.
33:31
Like what? What how's that?
33:32
Why do you want that? How's that work?
33:35
You know, and they don't, they don't, I don't know if they're
33:40
going to press forward that way or not.
33:43
I asked rule about it yesterday and he kind of just gave a non
33:46
answer. He said, you know, you like to
33:49
keep everybody. I don't know if it's feasible
33:52
financially to do it. You know, if there's not
33:56
unlimited money here. So you can't tie a lot of money
34:00
up into a guy that a quarterback is not playing.
34:03
So I don't know what's going to happen.
34:05
Nobody really knows. It's it's Dylan is here.
34:09
He's rehabbing Dylan Riola. He's in Lincoln rehabbing met
34:14
with Rule this week. Seems like everything's, you
34:17
know, it's fine, but that doesn't mean everything's
34:20
settled. That just will happen as the
34:23
bowl as as the bowl game approaches.
34:26
You emphasize how important that was the game last week to rule
34:29
and the staff and the majority of the players.
34:31
I read Sean's piece, read all your all your pieces at Husker
34:34
Online. What one of the lines stood with
34:37
me when it comes to Kirk Ference.
34:39
And Sean wrote that Kirk Ference has completely sucked the soul
34:43
out of Husker fans over the last 11 years.
34:47
It's accurate. Does it does it sting more
34:50
because it's your neighbors directly to the east that this
34:53
game has quote Bart as quote, you know, become a rivalry?
34:57
Does it sting more that it was Iowa that was laying the
34:59
whooping last week? Zip.
35:02
Yeah, I mean, I think so. I there's a lot of ways that a
35:07
lot of ways to impact Nebraska fans.
35:10
It's so unexpected and so odd. I mean, how could you?
35:15
How could anybody have anticipated it?
35:18
I coursed Sean. The former AD crushed Nebraska
35:23
with that comment. He did.
35:24
It still resonates over here. Sip.
35:27
I know, I know. It's a lesson I hope that other
35:30
ADS would learn from, but you just can't say that stuff.
35:36
Look at what's happened. Yeah, Iowa takes great pleasure
35:40
in all of this. So I fully understand,
35:43
especially in the context of that comment, that's a that was
35:47
disparaging. Why would you do that?
35:49
I mean, I have no idea why you did it, but it's yeah, still has
35:53
a resounding it's it's doesn't impact, but yeah, no, it's it's.
35:58
Bizarre. I I.
35:59
Find it bizarre. Admire Iowa as a program.
36:03
It's hard not to. Zip.
36:06
We'll get you out of here on this Indiana or Ohio State on
36:09
Saturday. Who do you like?
36:10
I love Ohio State. I think Indiana will hang in
36:12
there. Of course, I think anybody I
36:14
mean it's and to be clear, I haven't seen a lot of Indiana
36:20
this year. I've seen a lot of Ohio State.
36:22
Here's why, because I don't think Indiana can put a lot of
36:27
points on the board against that defense.
36:29
It's one of the best defenses I've ever seen anybody's ever
36:31
seen right. They're they're that's a,
36:34
there's a defense to behold. So can Indiana score 20 points?
36:40
And then I think Ohio State can, I think Ohio State could score
36:43
2427 and win a game like that. Not really a high scoring game,
36:47
I don't think, but something like 27 to 17 seems like like
36:52
the score. But I just, I just don't think
36:55
Indiana can generate enough offense to win it because Ohio
36:59
State's defense, one of those rare kind of defense.
37:02
They're special groups, simple run you down before the bowl
37:04
game. We anticipate that'll be in Las
37:06
Vegas. Thanks for what you do for us
37:08
throughout the regular season. Have a great holiday season.
37:10
Simple top you for the bowl game.
37:11
Thank you pal. Yeah, good to.
37:14
Talk to Steven M simple huskerillustrated.com trends
37:17
plays the day or next. It's the Iowa Sports Radio
37:20
Network. I'm Miller Condon, welcome back.
37:22
Final couple of minutes off the bench coming up top of the hour.
37:25
Trends, plays of the day, circus sports sponsor those.
37:27
Before we do that, I'll give you an opportunity here if you'd
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like to win two tickets to see Iowa and Bucknell at the KC
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It's a 5:00 tip. Caller number 5 right now at
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the Iowa Men versus Bucknell. All right, Trent Plays of the
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day. Circa Sports sponsors, how'd you
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do yesterday? Three and O.
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Oh. You fell out of your.
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Chair over there. Haven't heard those ones for a
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long. Time.
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It has been a long time. By the way, caller five, if I
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did I say that? Caller 5.
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Caller five wins the tickets. And we'll get to you in about a
38:07
minute. Minute and 1/2.
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I got 2 plays. I'm playing the Cowboys.
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I'm grabbing the 3 1/2. Yes, grabbing the 3 1/2 there.
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Look around the market because there's some threes.
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If you want to grab the 3 1/2, shop around, find the best
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price. Our friends at Circo will tell
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you the exact same thing. We're not like some operators
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out there, only bet with us. No, no, no, shop around.
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Get the best price. And I got 1 college play.
38:29
That is absolutely befuddling. Utah State's undefeated, got a
38:34
couple of nice wins, one one of those smaller tournaments, but
38:36
still got some nice wins. They're making their way to the
38:39
Yuengling Center in Tampa or South Florida.
38:42
Waits, who's four and four, has lost three out of their last
38:45
four. This stinks to high heaven.
38:48
What's the number? One 1 1/2 the market says I have
38:53
to grab the bulls. South Florida, Hold your nose,
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have a Yuengling. It's coming to Iowa and we're
39:00
going to be watching in Tampa tonight, South Florida, all.
39:04
Right, that is going to do us. Thanks to all of our guests who
39:07
joined us throughout the two hours that just passed off the
39:10
bench. Coming up next, Miller and
39:11
Condon with you from noon to two.
39:14
Glad you're with us on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
39:16
We'll talk to you tomorrow.