Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Elite Stanley Cup Game 1, Trent is fired up, Blair Kerkhoff from the KC Star talks Chiefs, Royals & Big 12

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Elite Stanley Cup Game 1, Trent is fired up, Blair Kerkhoff from the KC Star talks Chiefs, Royals & Big 12 · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

• 0:10
  Hi, good afternoon. Welcome to Miller and Condon on
• 0:13
  a Thursday. The Iowa Sports Radio Network
• 0:15
  back with you for the next 6 hours.
• 0:17
  Appreciate you starting your afternoon here with myself, Ken
• 0:20
  Miller and my partner Trent Condon is we will talk sports
• 0:23
  with you for the next couple of hours.
• 0:26
  Here's what's coming up on our program and we will head to
• 0:29
  Kansas City at the bottom of the hour.
• 0:31
  Long time sports writer for the Kansas City Star Blur Kirk off
• 0:35
  covers all the Kansas City teams, Big 12 etcetera and we'll
• 0:39
  do that with Blair coming up here 1230.
• 0:42
  Always grateful when he gives us an opportunity to have him on
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  and we'll do so at 12:30. Our number 2.
• 0:50
  Looking forward to this and don't know why we haven't done
• 0:52
  it prior to this. Shame on us.
• 0:54
  Chad Buchanan, a Valley High School graduates, a Simpson
• 0:59
  College graduates and now the general manager of the Indiana
• 1:02
  Pacers. He will join us.
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  Chad Buchanan coming up here to kick off our number 2.
• 1:06
  Just what, 6 hours from tip off and he's going to find time for
• 1:10
  the hometown radio station. Thank you, Chad Buchanan.
• 1:13
  Hope things work out, that nothing pops up at the last
• 1:16
  minute that prevents him from doing that.
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  And John Bowencamp will join us. We'll talk Hawks with John.
• 1:21
  I'll talk a lot of things with John Bowencamp.
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  Coming up at 125. Trent will make some pick.
• 1:27
  Circus sports sponsor those. That gets to us about 10 minutes
• 1:31
  before 2O clock and then at that time or shortly thereafter,
• 1:34
  we'll turn things over to drive with Heather and Lucas and they
• 1:37
  will take you home to until 5:00.
• 1:40
  Well, game one of the Stanley Cup is come and gone.
• 1:43
  Game one of the NBA tips off in about 7 1/2 hours or thereabouts
• 1:48
  as we're back into the culmination of the winter sports
• 1:51
  as they crown their championship.
• 1:53
  Let's start with game one from last night in hockey before we
• 1:55
  get to the basketball. Looking forward to doing that.
• 1:58
  But game one goes to the home team.
• 2:01
  The Edmonton Oilers win in overtime on the penalty.
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  They were on the power play I should say, and able to cash in.
• 2:10
  Corey Perry to Connor McDavid to Leon Dry Seidel and the
• 2:15
  celebration began. But pretty good game All in all
• 2:18
  I thought was very entertaining. As a hockey noob, that was
• 2:22
  beautiful. I mean that was that was the
• 2:24
  thing of beauty. You could tell you don't have to
• 2:25
  know the sport very well to know and that was pretty high level
• 2:28
  stuff there to finish it off 3/1.
• 2:30
  Yeah, but did you know what when it was 31?
• 2:33
  I'm guessing that unlike me, when he gets between periods,
• 2:38
  you're not glued. No.
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  Right. Absolutely not.
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  So I've got I'm going to soak every single moment of it in
• 2:43
  because I know it's coming to an end here in a couple of weeks.
• 2:45
  So Gretzky is asked, you know what, what do you do?
• 2:49
  The second period was all Panthers, all Panthers.
• 2:52
  So in between in between periods, they hand the panel on
• 2:55
  and and Gretzky opines that the Panthers are clogging up the
• 3:00
  middle of the ice and Connor McDavid is going to have to do
• 3:03
  something by heading behind his net and maybe throwing the puck
• 3:06
  out out out in front from there. So what happens if we start the
• 3:09
  second period exactly how he laid it up?
• 3:12
  There's no television in the locker room.
• 3:15
  You're right, the Oilers aren't watching this.
• 3:16
  This is just the player who saw the ice like none other still
• 3:21
  has that ability. Even though he's not on the ice.
• 3:23
  He's watching it from high above to know what needed to be done.
• 3:27
  He put it out there and was spot on 3/2, then 33 and off to
• 3:31
  overtime. Both teams had, yeah, I mean,
• 3:34
  obviously Edmonton had more chances in overtime.
• 3:37
  Panthers had a couple but I thought Edmonton with the
• 3:41
  exception of the second period, first period kind of even second
• 3:45
  period edge to the Panthers but the third period in the overtime
• 3:48
  was all Oilers and they take a one nothing lead. 46 shots
• 3:51
  against 32 that jumps off the page when you're just looking at
• 3:54
  the box score. And as you said, when I was
• 3:56
  watching and I was not glued for all well, but it would been
• 4:00
  almost 80 minutes of almost. Yeah, you could tell that what I
• 4:05
  always say, at least for my mind, how it seems the ice is
• 4:08
  tilted and it was definitely tilted.
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  Now the Panthers D is good. You know, big.
• 4:14
  The goaltending, though, Bravosky is there.
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  I was the second. He's the second goal, the one
• 4:21
  that Conor McDavid fed from behind the net.
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  Didn't like that one. If you're Babarovski, he didn't
• 4:26
  have his best game. Stewart Skinner, the Oilers
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  goaltender, he. Stood on his head a couple.
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  Of I thought he did 2 Trent this particularly in the second
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  period. And the one with about four
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  minutes left in regulation, I think it was tied at that point.
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  It was yeah, that he had a a flurry.
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  I think there were a couple that were right on on net on him.
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  You're right. That was really, really good.
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  So. So what is it about this guy?
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  Because he's talented, right? Skinner, Yeah.
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  You don't get to that level. Yeah, right.
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  Is it? Between his ears, maybe, maybe
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  it's it's kind of like quarterbacks.
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  They get better as they get older.
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  Goalies get better as they get older.
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  Was he thrust in too early as they kind of didn't have anybody
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  else? Let's try the.
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  It's a good. Question.
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  I don't recall. To be honest, I don't recall
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  what, you know, his progression through his career because he's.
• 5:13
  Still only 26. He's really young, yeah.
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  And because of that, and because he's been apart, because
• 5:18
  Edmonton's been good now for 1/2 decade, they've been really,
• 5:22
  really good. And obviously with the best
• 5:23
  player in the game, it feels like he's been a big part of our
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  life for a long time. I know the name, I just don't
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  really know kind of the background.
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  But thinking that he's only 26, he's got the reps and maybe it's
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  just as simple as that. He was thrown in there a little
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  bit too early because they didn't have a better option.
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  And now you're finally seeing that growth start to kind of
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  stand forward, if you will. Absolutely.
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  We'll see where it goes. McDavid dry sidle.
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  Unbelievable last night the the Panthers are deep.
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  Are they favored in Game 2? Do you know?
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  I forgot. To look I have not I would.
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  Bet they would be a slight favorite for game #2.
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  Because the teams feel very Yeah, they.
• 5:56
  Do they are? You can get the Panthers at
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  Circus Sports at plus 110 in Game 2 -, 122 on the Oilers.
• 6:04
  Huh. So Oilers are favored again.
• 6:06
  Home ice advantage? Yeah.
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  Rain support. It did.
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  Well, it did in game one. We'll see where it goes that's
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  tomorrow night, then a long break not until they won't play
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  game three until Monday and then they play Thursday.
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  So it's kind of spread out over the next couple of weeks.
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  All right basketball tonight, Game 1 of this one.
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  You know, I'm, I'm not, I'm, I'm, I'm not coming up my off my
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  stance that this is going to be Oklahoma City, right?
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  It's but I'm not so sure it's going to be the drubbing that we
• 6:35
  thought it was going to be. And the reason the reason it is
• 6:39
  is you take a look at this Indiana team and the body of
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  work that they've put out there. Yeah, I get the Cleveland was
• 6:45
  banged up, but do you remember going way, way back to the first
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  round when they were the four, Were they the four or the five?
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  It was a four or five match up against Milwaukee.
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  They were the four. They were the four.
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  Milwaukee was the five, right? Because they had homecourt
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  advantage. The Pacers did.
• 6:59
  And this was going to be a really tough series.
• 7:01
  This could be this could go either way.
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  Well, it did. It was.
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  It was all Pacers. They won.
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  They won the series in five games.
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  Then they get to Cleveland and everybody anointed the Cavs and
• 7:12
  the Celtics as the two best teams in the East, bar none.
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  I get Cleveland has some injuries, but again, here we go
• 7:18
  again. A5 game series, game one and
• 7:23
  two, one by the Pacers in both series.
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  They'd lost game three in both series.
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  Then here come the Knicks, who just knocked off the Celtics,
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  the Celtics, the defending champs, You know, go ahead and
• 7:35
  get your pen out and pen them in to your your bracket as the
• 7:39
  representative of the East. And the Knicks beat the Celtics
• 7:44
  convincingly. And in six games, the Pacers
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  took care of business over the Knicks.
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  So maybe we're selling this team short.
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  Or are we selling Oklahoma City short?
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  Just even bringing up the topic. Well, maybe it maybe.
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  Because. I want to be a good series,
• 8:00
  Yeah. I'm trying to convince myself
• 8:02
  that this is going to be better. I think that's where you're
• 8:04
  going. What's more likely, a game one
• 8:07
  steal or a Game 2 steal? For the Pacers, for.
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  The Pacers, I think game one, you think it's game one.
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  I do got the layoff factor tired legs Thunder for the first time
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  in this spot and. Everybody's talking about how
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  good the Thunder are. Historically good.
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  Yeah, historically good. You look at the margin of
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  victory that they've had this year, you look at them compared
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  to other historic teams, which in general conversations like
• 8:28
  you're not sitting on your bar stool talking about the Oklahoma
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  City Thunder, one of the best teams ever.
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  You're just not. It's because I think a part of
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  it is they're young. They haven't been there.
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  That's a part of it. But when you look statistically
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  they are then. And that's what I keep coming
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  back to because I was slow to come around and throughout the
• 8:43
  course of this regular season, whenever it come up, I haven't
• 8:47
  gone through it, haven't gone through the got knocked off in
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  round two last year. There's still another step
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  there. And now watching this team and
• 8:53
  obviously watching them closer April on, they're just really
• 8:56
  good. And yeah, Siakam, he can put the
• 9:00
  team on the back and Nemhart, what he does on the defensive
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  end of the floor, right? And he's going to be on SGA I
• 9:04
  would imagine, right? They they have to board against
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  Halliburton, but I come back to the Thunders defense and that's
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  what it is. If they're allowed to clutch and
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  grab and hold, this thing's going to be ugly and it's.
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  Going to be if I continues to get, you know, a good So what
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  would you what will you do tonight?
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  Would you I I like I don't bet games.
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  If I did, I would be all over the 9 1/2.
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  Grabbing the 9 1/2. Grabbing the 9 1/2 I would does
• 9:28
  it get to 10? I don't think so, because this
• 9:30
  has been going back and forth all week long between 9:00 and
• 9:32
  9:00 and 1/2 at the pro shops out there.
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  That basically tells you that sharps in Vegas that have had a
• 9:38
  long time to bet on this, their money's just going back and
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  forth, but this is kind of split down the middle.
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  It's a good number, yes. And that both sides, both sharp
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  sides like either the 9 or 9 1/2 and there's no really push and I
• 9:48
  don't think it will get. DraftKings just went to 10.
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  They went to ten. Wow.
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  Not a sharp book though. No, circa Sharp, Book 9 1/2.
• 9:57
  That's super Book 9 1/2. The I just come back if I'm
• 10:01
  going to play something tonight South. .9 and a.
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  Half I will probably play in all total and lay 14 1/2 you really
• 10:08
  will 18 1/2 you. Think this one gets away I.
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  Do the Oklahoma City on top of it.
• 10:14
  Outside of one game against them, they've been so good at
• 10:15
  home. Denver took them to what, 7?
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  And that was the final game was just to mean coronation.
• 10:21
  Bludgeoning, though, yeah, opponents and winning.
• 10:23
  So if and by the time we get around to about 150, it'll
• 10:28
  probably be something in the portfolio.
• 10:29
  It'll be an all total for me. Laying more than the 9 1/2,
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  that's how. Do you have a, do you have a
• 10:36
  cap? And so how high you will go is
• 10:39
  14. No, I would go higher than that.
• 10:41
  I have in the past I've I've hit that 19 1/2 point threshold and
• 10:44
  20 or more. Well, I know, I know there's pro
• 10:47
  betters out there that that do those all totals.
• 10:49
  They'll take the 9 1/2. They don't take 12 1/2.
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  Fourteen and a half, 16 1/2, they'll keep.
• 10:54
  They'll keep buying, you know, every couple of points or so in
• 10:58
  case the thing does blow out. They're going to cash a
• 11:00
  significant number of tickets on this thing.
• 11:03
  And if it doesn't, you know, if they if they, if they go as high
• 11:06
  as 18 and ends up 16, they're going to yeah, they'll lose the
• 11:09
  18, but cash significant ones before that.
• 11:11
  I saw that there was a prop out there at DraftKings with SGA.
• 11:16
  Will he break the scoring record from Allen Iverson in a game
• 11:19
  one? What is it?
• 11:21
  47 I believe was the record there's.
• 11:23
  No way. They're not.
• 11:23
  He's not going to do that. 13 to 1 if you want to jump aboard
• 11:27
  with that one. Or you can.
• 11:31
  No, I was going to say you could do it here, but I don't want
• 11:32
  people to take me serious. I just dude.
• 11:36
  I mean, what's his total? 3033, 1/2.
• 11:40
  See, yeah, that's, that's fair. I think I was going to say 31
• 11:43
  1/2, so that that's fair. Jalen Williams 22 1/2 now.
• 11:48
  He's a nice player. Trend Here's.
• 11:50
  One other betting angle, we talk a lot about regular season MVP
• 11:54
  awards, right? But the Finals MVP and most
• 11:57
  sports we don't talk about a ton in comparison.
• 12:01
  Now of course, SGA is the overwhelming sure -600 is what
• 12:05
  you got to lay with SG Tyrese Halliburton is plus 675.
• 12:10
  So what does he have to do to win it?
• 12:11
  Does he does the Pacers have to win it or does he have to?
• 12:14
  It have to because McDavid won the Cons Smite last year in a
• 12:17
  losing on a losing team. But the cons Smite is the
• 12:20
  playoffs. It's playoffs, yes.
• 12:21
  So if even if, if the Pacers go seven games and Halliburton's
• 12:25
  the best play Pacer on the floor by a mile, could that.
• 12:30
  I I don't see it. Tip it in his.
• 12:32
  No, I mean, in a when we're talking about a finals, a
• 12:36
  championship MVP, not like hockey is.
• 12:39
  Yeah. When's the last time the Raiders
• 12:41
  defensive player back in the 70s?
• 12:44
  Yeah, it doesn't happen. I mean, the rarity you're
• 12:47
  talking about absolutely threading the needle.
• 12:50
  So that's why I went to Jalen. So.
• 12:51
  What and what's his price? Plus 675.
• 12:54
  What's Holmgren, Chet. Is 50 to 1.
• 12:57
  He is. Jalen Williams is 32 to 1 and
• 13:01
  that's where I zeroed in. If I'm looking for a price, I'm
• 13:03
  looking for a flyer, I'm looking for a lottery ticket.
• 13:05
  Jalen Williams at 32 to one, what would happen for that?
• 13:09
  SGA just struggles, maybe gets. Held below is what?
• 13:15
  What's his What's his series average?
• 13:17
  Do they have that bet? No, I I haven't seen it at
• 13:19
  least, but for SGA it also I think have to be a little bit
• 13:24
  all right, the Thunder winning games, but more the negativity
• 13:27
  that has been building around him, the free throws, the
• 13:31
  flopping the garbage. Doris Brooke's in trouble for
• 13:34
  that comment. Is is that fair?
• 13:38
  What does she call him? A free throw?
• 13:39
  How? Do you remember the term that
• 13:41
  she? Yeah, she used the, she used the
• 13:43
  term in, in, in the last series and got a tremendous blowback.
• 13:48
  In fact, they're thinking about replacing her on the broadcast
• 13:51
  next. Year now where is that according
• 13:52
  to? Awful announcing.
• 13:54
  Where is their reporting coming? From, yes, well, I don't know
• 13:57
  where it's coming, but it's, it's, it's attributed.
• 13:59
  I read it yesterday. Interesting.
• 14:02
  Now you know who it is. It's it's the guy that has the
• 14:03
  podcast, the Old Andrew. A free throw merchant free
• 14:07
  throw. Merchant, what's the guy that
• 14:09
  has the media podcast that's taking off?
• 14:11
  You, you Andrew Marchant, That's him.
• 14:13
  It was from him. OK, come on.
• 14:17
  Well, I'm just telling you. It did a free throw merchant
• 14:20
  you're going to beat. Somebody with that, that's what
• 14:22
  the blowback is. I mean, we got.
• 14:24
  I'm with you. I had.
• 14:25
  Jeff Van Gundy for two decades calling out officials every
• 14:27
  single game and Whiting and complaining about.
• 14:29
  It, yeah, but that's not a player who cares.
• 14:33
  Other players, apparently. The Players Association has that
• 14:37
  much power I. Would hope not.
• 14:38
  I'm I'm you're shooting the messenger.
• 14:41
  You're pissing me off, Miller. Why?
• 14:43
  Even this is idiotic. Free throw merchants got her in
• 14:47
  hot water now. It could be something.
• 14:48
  It could be more than that. That might be the straw that
• 14:50
  broke the camel's back. If this was Bill Burke, this
• 14:53
  would not be happening. Well, don't forget.
• 14:55
  The The basketball broadcast is going to look significantly
• 15:00
  different. Apparently Jefferson's off to
• 15:01
  NBC. Oh really?
• 15:03
  Yes, that's the same. I almost hesitate to tell you
• 15:06
  that before you take my hat off 'cause it's coming from the same
• 15:08
  source. He's headed, he's headed NBC.
• 15:12
  So the booth Breen is under contract.
• 15:14
  Because everybody, not everybody, but the people that
• 15:18
  that I'm reading, we know that inside the NBA is going over
• 15:22
  there. They want Harlan and Reggie and
• 15:26
  they want the broadcast team to join them, and that's not going
• 15:29
  to happen because ESPNABC. Mike Breen's under contract.
• 15:33
  If Jefferson leaves, would it just be Doris Burke or you'd
• 15:36
  take this opportunity to, you know, to replace her on the
• 15:40
  broadcast? That's where they're going.
• 15:42
  I am absolutely baffled by all of this.
• 15:45
  I the the Doris Burke thing. I'm befuddled.
• 15:49
  Do you? Do you like her?
• 15:51
  She's fine, you know? Yeah.
• 15:52
  I've always enjoyed her. Yeah.
• 15:53
  Yeah. I got like her as a as an
• 15:55
  analyst or better as a sideline. I think she's good as an
• 15:58
  analyst, but. Yeah, she's good.
• 15:59
  I'm with you. I don't have a problem.
• 16:00
  Here's my problem with this crew.
• 16:03
  I think my Breen, I don't know if they don't like each other,
• 16:06
  that's not but Breen and Burke, Yes, Breen, I believe.
• 16:11
  And as somebody that does play by play, I think he does a
• 16:14
  terrible job of propping up his new people.
• 16:16
  I thought the same thing when him and Reddick started working
• 16:18
  together. I think the same thing now with
• 16:20
  Jefferson. Jefferson's kind of goofy, you
• 16:22
  know, He's got a little silliness to him.
• 16:23
  Does it? Does he miss Van Gundy and
• 16:25
  Jackson? Grow up, you know, you're making
• 16:27
  millions of dollars a year. You're calling the NBA Finals
• 16:30
  for the 20th straight year. If you got a problem with it,
• 16:32
  grow up or don't. Or just move on because.
• 16:35
  'Cause that was a pretty good. That was a pretty good.
• 16:37
  It was a pretty. Good team, it was a great crew.
• 16:39
  I I enjoyed that and it's a lot better than what we have now.
• 16:42
  I agree. But your job as a play by play
• 16:44
  broadcaster, yes of course paint the picture, but also you need
• 16:47
  to. Elevate was he your color spent
• 16:49
  his analyst. OK, that's why that's what the
• 16:53
  paychecks for. Yeah, see, I, I that's why I
• 16:54
  differ with you, because if, if you're the if you're the guy and
• 16:58
  he is the guy, I mean, you should have say as to who you're
• 17:02
  going to work with, wouldn't you think?
• 17:05
  No, you wouldn't. No, you think bug Shambi should
• 17:09
  be able to pick who he play he works with?
• 17:11
  Well, this is this is the Cubs broadcast.
• 17:13
  We're not talking national. I, I I would.
• 17:16
  Go even. I would think that on a local
• 17:18
  level you'd have more of a say than you want at a national
• 17:20
  level. I just don't like the way that I
• 17:23
  have seen Breen work with. Him like Phil Jackson or Phil
• 17:27
  Sims rather than look what happened there, yeah.
• 17:29
  I don't like it and I think Breen, who I used to really
• 17:33
  enjoy as a play by player, he has taken a couple of steps back
• 17:36
  in my mind from what I've seen with the new people.
• 17:39
  Look, things change. You got to be able to evolve and
• 17:41
  if you can't move on. If you're going to whine, you're
• 17:44
  not going to elevate. He does that with Jefferson.
• 17:46
  Jefferson with that goofy silliness, he just moves on.
• 17:50
  Not a chuckle, not a laugh, none of that.
• 17:52
  And I think the same thing with Doris Burke.
• 17:54
  That for me is why a big part of why this booth doesn't work and
• 17:58
  why this booth hasn't worked since the ESPN made the decision
• 18:01
  to get rid of Van Gundy and get rid of Mark Jackson.
• 18:04
  It hasn't worked and a big reason is the play by play guy.
• 18:08
  We've made you breaking news for our program director.
• 18:11
  Oh really? His white socks have been sold.
• 18:14
  What? The White Sox today announced
• 18:16
  Jerry Reinsdorf and Justin Ishbia.
• 18:19
  Ishbia. That's the guy that owns part of
• 18:21
  the Suns and we and we thought was buying.
• 18:23
  The Twins reached the long term investment agreement that
• 18:26
  establishes the framework for him to obtain future controlling
• 18:29
  interest in the White Sox. This is real.
• 18:33
  Well, I don't want to throw that by you, and last time I did it
• 18:35
  early in the show, it didn't go well.
• 18:38
  Is this from the official White Sox account?
• 18:40
  This. Is from Paul Sullivan of La.
• 18:42
  Lamiche is from Paul Sullivan's Chicago Tribune.
• 18:46
  Good. I've looked at that Chuck Garfin
• 18:48
  also with 64,000 followers and yes, he also has the same story.
• 18:53
  So Justin Ishbi, now that you just got me all riled up, I
• 18:56
  mean, you're just twisting me today, this guy.
• 18:58
  Was going to buy the twin. No, no, no, he never was going
• 19:00
  to buy the twin. Well, he used that for leverage.
• 19:02
  Absolutely, it was all ploy using my team to go and get the
• 19:04
  godforsaken White Sox and that crappy organization.
• 19:08
  You know what? I hope the whole organization
• 19:09
  goes bankrupt. I hope it goes.
• 19:10
  He falls flat in his face. Enough with Ishbi.
• 19:13
  Did you lose a bet? Yesterday.
• 19:14
  So did you have a bad beat? No, nothing at all.
• 19:16
  You just, I don't know. He twisted the knife.
• 19:18
  Heavy today. Let's we'll talk to Blair
• 19:21
  Kirkoff coming up here in about 10 minutes.
• 19:23
  We'll head down to Kansas City. We'll talk Big 12 with Blair.
• 19:26
  Look forward to doing that. I'll bring up the Royals, bring
• 19:28
  up the Chiefs as well because it wouldn't be a conversation when
• 19:31
  we have an opportunity to talk to Blair and what's going on
• 19:34
  with the stadium. Are they moving?
• 19:35
  Are the not moving town? Are they going downtown?
• 19:38
  Does it sound like the case? It's, I swear, every article I
• 19:42
  read is something different, right?
• 19:43
  One day it's. Yeah.
• 19:44
  Kind of like the bears. It's inevitable and that thing,
• 19:48
  it's a mess. It is when it comes to the
• 19:55
  cough, there's not a lot around there.
• 19:56
  I mean, I get why they want to move, right?
• 19:58
  Look at all these. Not all of them, but certainly a
• 20:02
  a a. A good proportion of them have
• 20:05
  all the. Surrounding area, Fenway Park,
• 20:08
  Wrigleyville, all those type of things that they have taken and
• 20:12
  built up and now have ownership in.
• 20:15
  There's nothing around. What's the hotel you stay at
• 20:18
  when you go to Kauffman? It's across the Interstate.
• 20:20
  The Drury, I think it might be. It used to be an Adam's Mark.
• 20:24
  I don't know. I think it did when I first
• 20:26
  stayed there because it's the only hotel, right?
• 20:30
  There are a few more. Now.
• 20:33
  And I say now, this was for me 10 years ago.
• 20:35
  Well, there was the Amoco station.
• 20:37
  That I don't think that's there anymore.
• 20:39
  You don't think that's I believe?
• 20:40
  That thing got taken down I believe.
• 20:42
  So that's where there was the Amoco station.
• 20:44
  Then across that Interstate was the, I think it was at Adam's
• 20:48
  mark before it became a jury. But I think you're right, Trent.
• 20:50
  I think it is. But there's nothing else there,
• 20:52
  nothing last. Time we went for a weekend in
• 20:54
  Kansas City again before kids, so I guess, so 11 years ago,
• 20:57
  probably now, went down for the Twins Kansas City series.
• 21:01
  Probably went to a Friday, Saturday or something like that.
• 21:03
  And we check into that Drury. I'm like, oh, this is perfect.
• 21:06
  You know, we got there middle of the afternoon.
• 21:08
  I have a couple of beers, go into the ball game.
• 21:12
  The computer system was down at the Drury and the computer
• 21:15
  system was down meeting. Not only could we not check into
• 21:19
  our room, us and hundreds of other people.
• 21:23
  So you just drop your bag, but their system that was part of
• 21:27
  their shuttle. They legally couldn't do it.
• 21:30
  So we had to walk across the interstates to get into the ball
• 21:33
  game. You.
• 21:33
  Know life in your own hands. We'll take Jeff and then we'll
• 21:36
  get to a break. We'll get Blair Kirk off in
• 21:37
  here. Hi, Jeff.
• 21:38
  How are you? Doing well, guys, you know,
• 21:41
  first before the NBA Finals, with Tibbs getting fired, you
• 21:44
  know, I'm kind of thinking about it.
• 21:46
  And we know that first the, you know, he got to the conference
• 21:50
  finals first time in 25 years, back-to-back 51 seasons.
• 21:53
  That hasn't happened since 2000. We got all that.
• 21:57
  The comparison I thought of yesterday.
• 21:58
  I've heard no one say this, and I'm not comparing the Knicks to
• 22:01
  this team. I'm just comparing the way Mark
• 22:04
  Jackson got fired with Golden State.
• 22:08
  He brought Golden State to a Western Conference Finals and
• 22:11
  then on a drop of a hat, he got whacked.
• 22:14
  They wanted to go a different way.
• 22:15
  He wanted to play harder defense and then Golden State went on to
• 22:18
  do Golden State things. I am not comparing Jalen Brunson
• 22:22
  to Steph Curry, and New York doesn't have a Tony Thompson.
• 22:25
  I'm just comparing the firing from Mark Jackson to Tibbs.
• 22:28
  It was kind of the head scratcher.
• 22:30
  Could you say the same about Doug Collins to Phil Jackson?
• 22:33
  Absolutely, yeah. And and if you remember, Michael
• 22:36
  Jordan loved Doug Collins because Michael Jordan got to do
• 22:40
  whatever he wanted with Collins. And then there was more
• 22:43
  structure and Scotty Panther and in six rings we got all that.
• 22:46
  But yes, I do agree. Let's move on to the finals
• 22:49
  tonight. And you know, you guys have
• 22:52
  touched on it. First of all, I don't.
• 22:54
  Understand. Can you keep talking about the
• 22:56
  whistle that Shay gets? Doesn't every great fire get
• 22:59
  the? No, not not to that extent.
• 23:01
  They do to to a point point, but seemingly not not not to the
• 23:05
  extent that he does. And even if you give him that
• 23:08
  Wilson, I'm not a shit guy by any means, but when you watch
• 23:11
  him, he's smooth with the basketball.
• 23:13
  He has that old school mid range jumper.
• 23:15
  He can extend the court, beat you off the dribble, get down
• 23:18
  the lane and give it up to another teammate.
• 23:21
  So I understand what you're talking about.
• 23:23
  I don't think it's that blame. But let let's let me move on.
• 23:26
  You talk about the OKC's bench and you talked about you know, J
• 23:31
  Will you know they can beat you in so many ways.
• 23:35
  They can play defense, block you up, move the basketball.
• 23:39
  If they want to score 120, they can score 120.
• 23:42
  That's where it gets confusing. If India wants to run, I don't
• 23:45
  know if that's the that's the right way to beat this team.
• 23:48
  When with that, let's talk about the Miami Heat.
• 23:53
  They played the Dallas Mavericks in the 2000.
• 23:55
  I can't remember finals. Do you know who the coach was
• 23:58
  for that Dallas Maverick team that everybody wrote a Rick?
• 24:01
  Carlisle. It was Rick Carlisle, so you
• 24:04
  bet. You best believe that.
• 24:06
  You would think Rick Carlisle's going to have a great plan.
• 24:10
  He's going to, you know, I'm sure he's going to have things,
• 24:12
  you know, mismatches up for whoever they want.
• 24:15
  Miles Turner can stretch the court.
• 24:16
  We got all that. But if there's one coach, and
• 24:19
  I've been saying this to a bunch of my friends for years, Mike
• 24:22
  Carlisle's, I don't know, probably a top five coach of the
• 24:25
  last, I don't know, Decade 14, years 25.
• 24:28
  Years. 25, Not 100%, but didn't he think Detroit?
• 24:33
  Wasn't he Detroit before they made that run?
• 24:36
  Yes. And won a couple of
• 24:37
  championships. They whacked and they brought in
• 24:38
  Larry Brown. Is that right?
• 24:39
  Yes, yeah, He took them to the conference finals, then he moved
• 24:42
  on to Indiana, took them to a comfort couple of conference
• 24:44
  finals, championship in Dallas. This guy's won a ton of games.
• 24:48
  Great coach, done it a ton of different places.
• 24:50
  Yeah, Carlisle needs to be in that conversation.
• 24:53
  Does he have? An edge on Dags or just his team
• 24:55
  is just so much better. I think that team is just much
• 25:01
  better and it sucks but OK see if you've watched them all
• 25:06
  season. I haven't even named Chet.
• 25:08
  I think Chet can win the. I do too.
• 25:10
  He's 50 to 1. I like Chet, you know, if he, if
• 25:14
  he averages, I don't know what his averages are, but if he
• 25:16
  averages a 20 and 10 and if you've got, I don't know who's
• 25:19
  going to garden on the perimeter.
• 25:20
  I mean, if he's 23 and Turner's on him on the perimeter, good
• 25:24
  night. And then and Chet's hitting and
• 25:27
  still 24 funders. Pierre, good night.
• 25:30
  Yeah, Jeff, we got to get the break, brother.
• 25:32
  Appreciate the call. Yep, bro, I appreciate you
• 25:34
  calling. Appreciate you being patient.
• 25:36
  And by the way, OKC has not shot the ball well in these playoffs,
• 25:40
  even as dominating as it's. Been Blair Kirkoff next Miller
• 25:42
  and Condon, we're going to head down to Kansas City catch up
• 25:45
  with a friend from the Kansas City star, longtime sports
• 25:47
  writer Miller and Condon Iowa sports radio network.
• 25:50
  I'm Miller and Condon. Welcome back.
• 25:52
  It's the Iowa Sports Radio Network, wherever you are
• 25:55
  listening in the state of Iowa. Thank you for doing so.
• 25:57
  I'll come up top of the next hour.
• 25:59
  Chad Buchanan, general manager of the Indiana Pacers will join
• 26:03
  Trent tonight. Let's head to Kansas City.
• 26:05
  Prior to that, our old friend Blair Kirkhoff joins us for a
• 26:07
  few minutes talk Kansas City sports, Missouri, state of
• 26:13
  Kansas, etcetera, etcetera. Big 12, Blair Trenton, Ken,
• 26:16
  thank you as always for finding time for us.
• 26:18
  How you doing, Blair? Doing great, great.
• 26:21
  Good. You guys, great catching up with
• 26:22
  you. Absolutely.
• 26:23
  Right back at you. I guess we're aware.
• 26:26
  I want to start with you is apparently a bill passed in the
• 26:28
  middle of the night that looks as though the stadium's issue.
• 26:32
  I'm not saying it's resolved, but from reading the report as I
• 26:35
  did during the break, it looks as though this was a a fait
• 26:39
  accompli by the state of Missouri to kind of push back on
• 26:42
  the state of Kansas, who wants both of the teams to move to
• 26:46
  their state. Where are we on the stadiums
• 26:48
  before we get into some of the other topics, Blair?
• 26:52
  Yeah, so. We'll start with the two
• 26:57
  stadiums at the Truman Sports Complex, Arrowhead with Chief
• 27:00
  play and of course Kaufman where the Royals play.
• 27:03
  Lease expires in 20/20/31, so the team's kind of looking for
• 27:11
  different stadium situation. Royals have said they absolutely
• 27:16
  want a new stadium and they prefer to have it downtown.
• 27:18
  Kansas City Chiefs would be satisfied renovating Arrowhead
• 27:23
  and of course they would get extra space if Kauffman Stadium
• 27:27
  came down and they could do more with that space out to the at
• 27:31
  the Sports Complex. The problem is there was a vote.
• 27:35
  There was a vote last year in Jackson County where residents
• 27:39
  turned down an opportunity to fund a part of the funding
• 27:45
  package for new stadiums or refurbished Arrowhead.
• 27:49
  So the teams turned to the state of Missouri to look for some
• 27:54
  funding for this because the state of Kansas right across the
• 27:58
  border had offered funding if they teams wanted to cross state
• 28:02
  line and set up shop on the Kansas side.
• 28:05
  So Missouri felt like it had to act.
• 28:06
  And last night, early this morning, they did pass a measure
• 28:11
  that the state could provide up to 50% of the funding for, for
• 28:16
  construction of a new Royal Stadium and a refurbished
• 28:20
  Arrowhead. That doesn't mean that the
• 28:22
  Kansas offer will be refused. Kansas actually offered a little
• 28:26
  bit more money for for for the team.
• 28:30
  So that's kind of where it is right now and kind of, you know,
• 28:33
  all kinds of stadium drama going on here in KC.
• 28:37
  Definitely is. And I'm going to be interesting
• 28:39
  to see the way that it plays out outside of obviously the border
• 28:42
  battle, right, the Missouri side, the Kansas side, people on
• 28:45
  each side of the river obviously want the money coming in.
• 28:48
  In general, what do Kansas City sports fans, what would they
• 28:51
  like to see? What is the best option just for
• 28:53
  the fan, for both the Chiefs and for the Royals?
• 28:57
  Well, that might depend on where you live and how old you are
• 29:01
  because the younger the younger you are, I think the more likely
• 29:07
  you want to see a downtown baseball stadium, the older you
• 29:11
  are. And if you don't live in
• 29:13
  downtown, if you live in one of the Kansas City suburbs, one of
• 29:16
  the great attractions to the sports Sports Complex is it's
• 29:20
  convenience. It's easy in, easy out.
• 29:22
  There's 20,000 parking spaces at the stadium's there and, and,
• 29:28
  and, and Kaufman remains a beautiful baseball stadium, the
• 29:32
  fountains, the, you know, just everything about it is it's a
• 29:36
  great stadium. And now they've got a decent
• 29:37
  product that is, you know, occupying it.
• 29:40
  So I think there's a lot of people in town that say if it's
• 29:43
  not necessarily broke, why try to fix it?
• 29:46
  But but the Royals owner John Sherman wants to build something
• 29:50
  like what we see in Saint Louis with a, a ballpark in the
• 29:53
  downtown area, with a with a district, commercial districts
• 29:57
  around it, entertainment, restaurant shops, that kind of
• 30:00
  thing. And he thinks that's the way to
• 30:02
  be financially competitive in baseball going forward is to
• 30:05
  have income drawn from an entertainment district.
• 30:09
  And I think that's what's going to end up happening.
• 30:12
  But there'll be a lot of people, especially older folks in in
• 30:16
  around here that this will really miss what they've had in
• 30:19
  Kauffman Stadium for the last 50 years.
• 30:22
  I want to transition to the Big 12, Blair and I want to start
• 30:25
  with basketball because it's really strikes me and has over
• 30:29
  the last, I don't know, year or so.
• 30:31
  Then we're talking about basketball, we're talking about
• 30:33
  Big 10, our Big 12 basketball and we're talking about the top
• 30:37
  of the league, etcetera. And just for decades, right, it
• 30:41
  was, well, there's Kansas and then there's a big gap and blah,
• 30:44
  blah, blah. It seems like the first school
• 30:50
  off someone's lips is never Kansas anymore.
• 30:53
  They've been replaced by a, by a Houston or a BYU or a, an
• 30:58
  Arizona or an Iowa State. And I think it's great for the
• 31:01
  league, quite frankly. But it strikes me that Kansas
• 31:03
  was that school for so long. Yep.
• 31:07
  They're they're not the the the first team in the conference
• 31:09
  basketball wise that people think of anymore.
• 31:13
  Do you kind of get that sense as well?
• 31:16
  Absolutely no, you're you're you hit it And and that's, you know,
• 31:21
  that's based on that's based on performance on the floor for the
• 31:26
  last two years. And the the interesting part
• 31:28
  about that is we're talking about the nation's preseason top
• 31:33
  ranked team falling on, you know, by Kansas standards, hard
• 31:37
  times. And they they've won 44 games in
• 31:41
  the past two years. They're 44 and 24 over the past
• 31:45
  two seasons. That's I have to go back a long
• 31:48
  way to find out. Worst two season record for The
• 31:51
  Jayhawks. They're over 500 in conference
• 31:55
  play both times, but just barely.
• 31:56
  I think they were two over each of the last two years and you
• 32:01
  know, maybe NCAA tournament, but got bounced in the second round
• 32:05
  two years ago and bounced in the first round this year.
• 32:08
  So as a seventh seed, which was the lowest seed and Bill sells
• 32:12
  tenure at KU, it is different. And it was funny three years
• 32:18
  ago, Bill Soft had this heart issue that kept him out of the
• 32:22
  Big 12 in the NCAA tournament. And, and he bounced back from it
• 32:27
  fine. He's really healthy.
• 32:29
  But I remember him saying at the time that, you know, he was, he
• 32:32
  was just coming back with renewed energy and, and couldn't
• 32:35
  wait to attack the the changing nature of college basketball,
• 32:38
  which included the free transfers and the, you know, the
• 32:41
  portal and then NIL. But to be honest about it, that
• 32:45
  Kansas has not fared well in this new world of college
• 32:49
  basketball, college sports, I should say.
• 32:52
  They haven't gotten the right pieces.
• 32:53
  They've gotten pieces, but not the right pieces.
• 32:56
  They haven't fit. They think they've got a better
• 32:58
  handle on it for this season. They've got one of the top
• 33:01
  freshmen coming in and we'll see if it's better, right?
• 33:05
  I don't know if Kansas is ready to to reclaim the top of the Big
• 33:08
  12. I do think that it's going to be
• 33:11
  a better season with what they've had the last two years.
• 33:14
  But listen, if you're a college basketball fan, I think it's
• 33:17
  pretty cool that you've got different teams contending for
• 33:20
  the league and listen, we say different teams.
• 33:22
  Houston's been, you know, they've been such a power their
• 33:25
  two years in the conference. But but you're right, BYUI was
• 33:30
  state, of course, always been there and and others are
• 33:36
  competing. So a great competitive
• 33:38
  conference. I still think it's if it's not
• 33:40
  the best conference in college basketball, it's the most fun to
• 33:44
  watch more good games on a regular basis in the Big 12 than
• 33:47
  any place else in the country. Speaking of the Big 12, we have
• 33:51
  had well, SEC meetings last week led to a whole lot of topics, a
• 33:55
  whole lot of conversation. The 511 model, 5 automatic bids,
• 33:59
  2 conference champions and 11 at large.
• 34:01
  That's what the Big 12 is pushing for as opposed to the
• 34:04
  4422111. How however the numbers go, a
• 34:08
  model that's out there, Blair, when you look at the new Big 12
• 34:11
  and certainly on the football side of things, there are no
• 34:14
  blue bloods. Are you surprised?
• 34:15
  The push back of the two automatic bids that would come
• 34:18
  the Big 12's way. And because there's years,
• 34:21
  including last year, where only one team would be getting into
• 34:24
  the playoff. Yeah, you know, I'm of I'm of
• 34:27
  two minds on this. Let's just, let's just take the
• 34:30
  the four 422-1313. It's like a phone number, right,
• 34:37
  If you took that way, that guarantees the ACC in the Big 12
• 34:41
  two slots and that's more than they've ever been guaranteed.
• 34:44
  And so you might think, you know, that's that's a good deal
• 34:48
  for for the conference. And last year, I guess Iowa
• 34:50
  State would have been as the runner up, right, Likely might
• 34:53
  have been that second team, if not BYU, which had the, you
• 34:56
  know, the really good regular seats.
• 34:57
  But but you know, came apart form at the end.
• 35:00
  But either way, second Big 12 team in the, you know, in the
• 35:04
  playoffs, but that also, you know, every, every conference
• 35:10
  to, to, you know, you eat, you get 4 whether you deserve it or
• 35:14
  not. And, and you know, sometimes
• 35:17
  you're not going to deserve 4 if you're the Big 10 or the SEC.
• 35:22
  And but you've got the, you know, you would have the three
• 35:24
  at larges. But what if no Notre Dame could,
• 35:27
  you know, could take one of those?
• 35:28
  And in fact, most years, I suspect it would.
• 35:30
  So now you're down to two at larges.
• 35:33
  I kind of like the 511 a little bit better where the at largest,
• 35:37
  just there's more opportunity for, for deserving teams in, in
• 35:42
  that system than the, than the guaranteed, you know, 4422.
• 35:48
  So it's funny how the SEC and the Big 10, by virtue of their
• 35:53
  television contract, have the strongest voices in college
• 35:57
  sports right now. And it's not necessarily based
• 36:00
  on merit. It's based on the size of your
• 36:02
  TV deal. Last thing for me, I'll let
• 36:04
  Trent finish up as we before we run out of time with Blair
• 36:07
  Kirkoff, Kansas City Star. Long time sports writer down
• 36:10
  there. Chiefs trying to obviously get
• 36:13
  back and to finish the job this year.
• 36:15
  Seems like this is going to be it for Kelsey.
• 36:20
  Maybe he comes back, but it seems like more likely that this
• 36:23
  is his final year. Everybody's getting older.
• 36:25
  Does this feel like this is the, you know, the the last time this
• 36:30
  group is going to be together and that they're going to, you
• 36:33
  know, maybe go out on a high note?
• 36:35
  Or might it not end in storybook fashion?
• 36:38
  Yeah, that's, you're, you're right.
• 36:41
  That's that's sort of the sense around here that this will be it
• 36:44
  for for Travis Kelsey. And you know, he's getting ready
• 36:47
  to start his, I believe, 13th season.
• 36:50
  And he's had a he's had a wonderful career and will go
• 36:54
  down as one of the best tight ends in NFL history.
• 36:57
  I think it's the first ballot Hall of Famer.
• 37:00
  But he did fall off a little bit, show his dates a little bit
• 37:02
  last season. And what hurt him and in
• 37:06
  addition to hurting the Chiefs was their wide receiver
• 37:08
  situation. They had injuries and and so it
• 37:11
  wasn't the wide receiver crew they anticipated going into the
• 37:15
  season. And I think that had an impact,
• 37:18
  allowed defenses to spend more time paying attention to Kelsey
• 37:22
  than he than normal and it really impacted him.
• 37:25
  Well, they're going to go into this season, I think with a much
• 37:27
  better wide receiver situation with Rushy Rice and Hollywood
• 37:30
  Brown and Xavier Worthy. So I think that should open
• 37:34
  things up a little bit more for Travis Kelsey.
• 37:37
  I do expect him to have an improved season in terms of
• 37:40
  numbers, catches, yards and touchdowns.
• 37:43
  But you know, if it is his last season, a big part of the team's
• 37:49
  personality will will be different the following year.
• 37:53
  As long as Patrick Mahomes is the quarterback, I think they're
• 37:56
  going to always be a contending team.
• 37:59
  And you know, we said that with Brady and the Patriots and other
• 38:02
  quarterbacks throughout the years.
• 38:03
  And I think that's absolutely true with with with the Mahomes.
• 38:07
  He's the kind of guy that if he's your quarterback, you are
• 38:10
  always a playoff contender and then anything can happen once
• 38:13
  the playoffs begin. Blair Kirkoff Kansas City *
• 38:16
  Blair, we're out of time, brother.
• 38:17
  Thank you for what you did for us here today.
• 38:19
  Appreciate it. And we'll talk to you in the
• 38:21
  months ahead at some point. Thank you, Blair, as always.
• 38:24
  Yeah, great. Talking to you guys.
• 38:26
  Good. To talk to you Blair Kirkoff,
• 38:27
  Kansas City Star. We'll take a time out come back
• 38:30
  Bulls schedule has been published.
• 38:33
  ESPN just put it out. I have to look, but I don't
• 38:35
  think there's any games on the NFL Saturdays.
• 38:38
  Well, that's play. Well, we'll talk, we'll take.
• 38:40
  We'll dive into it. We come back Miller and Condon
• 38:43
  on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
• 38:51
  Mary Condon final couple of minutes first hour of the
• 38:54
  program. Chad Buchanan GM Pacers kicks
• 38:57
  off hour 2 John Bowen camp variety of topics with John
• 39:00
  coming up here at 125 trench plays of the day still to come.
• 39:04
  So the ESPN has put out their Bulls schedule.
• 39:07
  They're the first playoff game will be that Friday night, that
• 39:10
  stand alone game that was in Notre Dame under the snowflakes
• 39:13
  falling as pristine. That was last year.
• 39:17
  So there will be a Friday night game.
• 39:18
  But preceding this year there'll be a couple of bowl games.
• 39:21
  I actually like this, Trent. Yeah, nice little lead in into
• 39:24
  the games. You got some college football
• 39:26
  going on. I think the calendar works out
• 39:28
  pretty well this year. Christmas falls on a Thursday
• 39:31
  This year that means the Hawaii Bowl back and it's traditional
• 39:35
  December 24th slot like that one.
• 39:37
  Nice. And that'll be in the seven or
• 39:39
  an 8:00 kick off. Good.
• 39:41
  I like that a lot. Friday would be a couple of
• 39:44
  games courses to NFL on Friday, isn't there?
• 39:46
  Yeah, I think there is. Or is there an NFL game on
• 39:48
  Friday? Or is it Saturday?
• 39:50
  Friday the 20. 6th. I think if memory serves, those
• 39:55
  are the Saturday games that are TBA that there's so many of
• 39:58
  those. And when we've talked about the
• 40:00
  Circuit contest, that is those six games that fall into that
• 40:03
  window, that might be moved to Saturday.
• 40:06
  Or could be on Friday. Well, there's plenty of football
• 40:08
  and we've got plenty of time to delve into it, but yes, please.
• 40:12
  The first round of the playoffs, the 19th of Friday and then the
• 40:15
  Saturday it kicks in in full speed.
• 40:17
  Concludes January 19th with the National Championship.
• 40:20
  That's the day of the of the natty.
• 40:22
  I like it. I know I'm in the minority, but
• 40:24
  you're you're right, it it kind of gets lost.
• 40:27
  Chad Buchanan kicks off our number 2 Miller and Condon Iowa
• 40:30
  Sports Radio Network.