Transcript

09/11/26 - Hour 1 · The Huddle

0:00
Speaker 1: Welcome aboard five o'clock clubbers. You are officially in the huddle.
0:04
Speaker 1: Last show of the week. Last show before the Packers
0:07
Speaker 1: begin the 2026 season. Last show before the Brewers and Reds.
0:11
Speaker 1: Last show before the Brewers clinch, we hope, a playoff
0:15
Speaker 1: berth and perhaps the division. Welcome in. I'm Drew Olson,
0:19
Speaker 1: joined by Bill Schmidt, Armin Sarn. Just seems like a
0:21
Speaker 1: few hours ago that we were at Pottawatomie enjoying the
0:24
Speaker 1: Thursday night huddle kickoff of that fine series.
0:28
Speaker 2: Hard not to enjoy that, and hard not to enjoy a, well,
0:31
Speaker 2: at least maybe the first 25 minutes of the game
0:33
Speaker 2: that we got last night, and just the smorgasbord of
0:37
Speaker 2: food over there at the Annex was a great time
0:39
Speaker 2: last night.
0:39
Speaker 1: The best patty melt I've had in a while. Patty
0:41
Speaker 1: melt's underrated sandwich on the marble rye. It really is underrated,
0:45
Speaker 1: because people think of a burger. Yeah, you think of
0:47
Speaker 1: a burger, but patty melt is a different twist. It's
0:50
Speaker 1: a different experience. That's what I went with, and Billy
0:53
Speaker 1: had the chicken dinner. Loaded that bad boy up phenomenal.
0:55
Speaker 1: I went with that delicious quesadilla.
0:57
Speaker 3: Quesadilla was fantastic. When you get all the flavors in
1:00
Speaker 3: there and you boil the salsa. Let me tell you
1:02
Speaker 3: about the salsa.
1:03
Speaker 1: It was delicious. So it was just a great time.
1:04
Speaker 1: Our pal Haley took care of us throughout the day.
1:06
Speaker 1: So good. We had so much fun. So much fun.
1:09
Speaker 2: And everybody that missed out, you got 12 more opportunities
1:12
Speaker 2: to get out there.
1:13
Speaker 1: We'll see you next week.
1:14
Speaker 2: That was the one thing on the talking text line
1:16
Speaker 2: as 5 o'clock clubbers were joining us for double time
1:19
Speaker 2: and overtime. But they were missing out and realizing that
1:22
Speaker 2: the FOMO was real.
1:24
Speaker 1: But.
1:25
Speaker 2: Luckily, there's plenty of opportunities for you to go and
1:27
Speaker 2: still enjoy.
1:27
Speaker 1: Oh, yeah. We got like 15 or 16 or some
1:30
Speaker 1: more of those. So it's going to be fantastic. A
1:32
Speaker 1: lot of good times. A lot of good times to
1:34
Speaker 1: be had. A lot of good times to be had.
1:35
Speaker 1: So every once in a while I wake up and
1:38
Speaker 1: I realize I might not be as dumb as I
1:39
Speaker 1: think I am because I think I'm pretty dumb. There
1:42
Speaker 1: we go. But one of those points was last night
1:44
Speaker 1: when the Rams, like whatever you call it, travel gate,
1:47
Speaker 1: the jet lag bowl, whatever you want to call it.
1:50
Speaker 1: Now I feel validated again. pointing out the idiocy of
1:54
Speaker 1: wasting time and graphics and will the rams go unbeaten
1:59
Speaker 1: this season and i said they have a better chance
2:02
Speaker 1: of going one and two to start the season then
2:04
Speaker 1: they do 17 and oh at the end and i
2:07
Speaker 1: thought you know billy you're right it's the soup that
2:09
Speaker 1: we're in it's the modern media it's that we got
2:10
Speaker 1: to go from a to f but i thought that
2:14
Speaker 1: was dumb discourse kind of like well, the Dodgers, you know,
2:17
Speaker 1: they did this in the off season. Will they be
2:19
Speaker 1: the first team to win 125 games in the season? Like,
2:22
Speaker 1: come on.
2:23
Speaker 3: Right.
2:23
Speaker 1: We can't just enjoy what's happening here. That's how far
2:26
Speaker 1: fetched it was to me. It's like 17 and oh,
2:28
Speaker 1: come on. And anybody who put that into the ether
2:32
Speaker 1: and entertain that as a serious topic, don't they have
2:34
Speaker 1: to take it and wear it today? Don't they? But no,
2:37
Speaker 1: they'll just go on to the next thing. Now, Chris
2:39
Speaker 1: Canty did what? He was the contrarian in all this,
2:45
Speaker 1: and they have their hot take wild predictions or whatever.
2:47
Speaker 1: And he went on the air and got castigated by
2:51
Speaker 1: his colleagues because he said, my bold prediction is the
2:53
Speaker 1: Rams are going to miss the playoffs. Which everybody's like,
2:58
Speaker 1: come on, what are you, an idiot? They treated him
3:00
Speaker 1: the way everybody should have treated them for saying that
3:02
Speaker 1: they were going to go 17-0. Oh, yeah. But the
3:05
Speaker 1: group think machine does not. Yeah, exactly. It doesn't roll
3:09
Speaker 1: that way, but that was dumb discourse. It was a
3:11
Speaker 1: waste of time. And it's not that Billy 80% of
3:15
Speaker 1: the graphics in the quote, we have the sound off,
3:17
Speaker 1: but when you watch first taking those shows, if you
3:19
Speaker 1: just watch the Chiron and read the question, that is
3:22
Speaker 1: the launching point for their discussions. They're always dumb. Who's
3:25
Speaker 1: under more pressure this year, LeBron or the Sixers? Like
3:29
Speaker 1: what they're intertwined. It's stupid. Like, come on. Like, Those
3:33
Speaker 1: are the kind of dumb things. But this to me
3:35
Speaker 1: was especially dumb because the people that were in the discussion,
3:39
Speaker 1: they know that it's very unlikely anybody's going 17 to
3:43
Speaker 1: even project that and talk about it in August is folly. Yeah.
3:47
Speaker 2: But Drew, how many times will they talk about Justin
3:50
Speaker 2: Herbert winning a playoff game? And winning the MVP. My
3:56
Speaker 2: man plays his worst game of the year in all
3:58
Speaker 2: the biggest games. So again, I understand that this act,
4:01
Speaker 2: the discourse is always just so crazy. Until he does
4:04
Speaker 2: win one, sure. But that's been the last five years.
4:08
Speaker 2: But every single year they queue it up and tell
4:10
Speaker 2: you that he's going to win the MVP.
4:12
Speaker 1: It's different than when.
4:13
Speaker 2: I struggle to think that this is so much different
4:15
Speaker 2: than all the other sports discourses because when we were
4:20
Speaker 2: 15 games into the NBA season... And the question was
4:23
Speaker 2: not of, you know, the Oklahoma City Thunder stay healthy
4:26
Speaker 2: enough to win the NBA finals. It was, will they
4:29
Speaker 2: best the Bulls all-time wins or the Warriors all-time wins record?
4:33
Speaker 2: We always go to the furthest. We always go to
4:35
Speaker 2: the nth degree. So, like, I don't see this being
4:38
Speaker 2: a crazy deal just because of this year. I think
4:40
Speaker 2: we've asked the question a number of different times. I
4:42
Speaker 2: definitely remember them asking if the Chiefs were going to
4:44
Speaker 2: go 16-0 or 17-0 just two years ago when they
4:47
Speaker 2: were trying to win three consecutive titles.
4:50
Speaker 1: But this one, you saw it. So we never learned
4:52
Speaker 1: the lesson? We never learned? Well, it's definitely not new. No,
4:55
Speaker 1: but we got to do something for six months. No
4:57
Speaker 1: one has to wear that tag. No one has to say, boy,
4:59
Speaker 1: that was dumb of us.
5:00
Speaker 4: Well, hold on.
5:01
Speaker 1: Maybe some people will today. No, they won't. I don't know.
5:04
Speaker 1: It's on to the next.
5:04
Speaker 4: Well, maybe.
5:05
Speaker 3: But maybe in some of these discussions, somebody on the
5:08
Speaker 3: panel will say, ha, ha, ha, I told you it
5:10
Speaker 3: wasn't going to happen. I think it's possible. I won't
5:12
Speaker 3: be listening to every show to know if somebody will.
5:15
Speaker 1: But this... You know, yes, but we have to talk
5:19
Speaker 1: about something. It is football. We do like to talk
5:22
Speaker 1: about it, and it's not new.
5:24
Speaker 3: They were saying this about the Packers, I remember, in
5:26
Speaker 3: 97 after they won the Super Bowl.
5:27
Speaker 1: It's not like.
5:29
Speaker 3: I think the idea of an undefeated season is a
5:33
Speaker 3: sexy kind of fantasy.
5:34
Speaker 1: It's a beautiful pipe dream. It's a sexy fantasy. Is
5:36
Speaker 1: this the year someone has a perfect NCAA bracket? Tune in.
5:40
Speaker 1: Let's discuss.
5:40
Speaker 2: Well, we've seen teams now do this. We've seen two
5:44
Speaker 2: teams do the regular season unbeaten. I mean, like, the
5:49
Speaker 2: one in a million chance of somebody making a perfect bracket.
5:52
Speaker 1: But I get it. I totally do. I also think
5:54
Speaker 1: we're in the world of.
5:56
Speaker 2: Now, social media tells folks on television screens and everything
6:01
Speaker 2: about how wrong they are because people will tell us
6:03
Speaker 2: about how terrible it is, but people tell them that
6:05
Speaker 2: they're wrong on social media. So it's now this rush
6:08
Speaker 2: to make sure that you tell everybody that you're right
6:10
Speaker 2: about different things. And so they will instead go to,
6:14
Speaker 2: you know, somebody said that. George Kittle was only going
6:17
Speaker 2: to have two grabs last night or Debo Samuel was
6:19
Speaker 2: going to be a six catch and a touchdown kind
6:22
Speaker 2: of guy when he returned to San Francisco. So to
6:24
Speaker 2: be this Debo Samuel back to his all pro form,
6:28
Speaker 2: move on to all the different stuff. But the Rams
6:31
Speaker 2: end up dropping one last night. And for everybody that
6:34
Speaker 2: was on that side and luckily enough to see it,
6:38
Speaker 2: You should have been smart enough to roll with us
6:40
Speaker 2: to the Pottawatomie Sportsbook. Enjoy that plus three and a half.
6:42
Speaker 2: All of us on the 49ers. Back up the truck
6:46
Speaker 2: and crush your man. It's also the team that, I mean,
6:49
Speaker 2: they closed out their year more frustrated than anybody a
6:52
Speaker 2: year ago.
6:53
Speaker 1: And you kind of forget. Holy cow.
6:56
Speaker 2: Fred Warner, Trent Williams, Nick Bosa went healthy. Christian McCaffrey,
7:02
Speaker 2: son of a gun. They still got the Avengers. They
7:04
Speaker 2: do have great players. And yeah, when healthy, you do
7:06
Speaker 2: remember that.
7:07
Speaker 1: Oh, wait.
7:07
Speaker 3: And Debo Samuel kind of reached back. He's got the,
7:10
Speaker 3: he's got the red and white Jersey on again. He's
7:12
Speaker 3: got the gold helmet. It looks like the Debo Samuel
7:14
Speaker 3: you're used to see. He made plays last night. You
7:16
Speaker 3: mentioned Mike Evans yesterday, Billy on the show last night.
7:19
Speaker 3: I should say, I say yesterday we had two shows. So,
7:22
Speaker 3: last night, and he showed up as well. Brock Purdy
7:25
Speaker 3: seemed in command of the offense, a guy everyone likes
7:27
Speaker 3: to castigate all the time.
7:29
Speaker 1: He seemed in control of the offense. It looked a
7:31
Speaker 1: lot better than Stafford did last night. He definitely did.
7:34
Speaker 3: Well, it's funny because you talk about conversations, Drew, and
7:39
Speaker 3: you guys talk about storylines and discourse. I just assume
7:43
Speaker 3: it's going to be the travel schedule thing all day.
7:45
Speaker 3: I just assume all day it's going to be, see,
7:47
Speaker 3: told you so. You should have drank coffee for a
7:50
Speaker 3: week in Melbourne like George Kittle did. That would have
7:52
Speaker 3: changed everything. I thought it was funny both coaches kind
7:55
Speaker 3: of downplayed that because they.
7:57
Speaker 1: Knew it was going to be a big one. Because
7:58
Speaker 1: they got another game coming up already. Nine days away.
8:01
Speaker 1: It's going to be another one.
8:02
Speaker 3: That'll be a big discussion. To your point, it does
8:06
Speaker 3: seem like maybe most of the time it doesn't matter,
8:08
Speaker 3: but to get off a flight 15 hours and then
8:11
Speaker 3: Like you said, Billy, the way they got the flight
8:12
Speaker 3: and then having to go play, it does seem hard
8:14
Speaker 3: to do to be at your best. Miles Garrett said
8:16
Speaker 3: this was like the worst performance I put out.
8:18
Speaker 1: Or the worst of myself. Yeah, now his knee is bad.
8:20
Speaker 1: Trying to say he's not healthy. Yeah. Three pressures for
8:24
Speaker 1: the guy who's the defensive player of the year in
8:25
Speaker 1: a sack machine. Trent Williams is like, well, he's still
8:28
Speaker 1: really hard to block.
8:29
Speaker 2: Yeah, Trent Williams and him was a great matchup to
8:32
Speaker 2: watch last night.
8:33
Speaker 1: He's like, he's still really hard to block, even though
8:35
Speaker 1: he says he's the worst version he's ever put on
8:37
Speaker 1: the field and that he's. It was like, what's your
8:39
Speaker 1: goal going into week two to get healthy? Like he's
8:41
Speaker 1: not healthy. So now maybe Aaron Donald will pick up
8:43
Speaker 1: the white courtesy telephone and play. Who knows?
8:45
Speaker 2: Garrett was Garrett was kind of held out of camp throughout.
8:50
Speaker 2: And similarly, so that people thought last year was just
8:53
Speaker 2: them resting Stafford. Maybe it was once you're over the
8:57
Speaker 2: age of 30, you do get more nagging injuries and
8:59
Speaker 2: they are tougher to put, put to bed and put
9:01
Speaker 2: to the side. They gave up a ton to be
9:04
Speaker 2: able to get them and also broke up a part
9:06
Speaker 2: of their defense and Jared versus one of the biggest
9:08
Speaker 2: leaders on that defense. And rightfully so. You trade him
9:11
Speaker 2: for Miles Garrett. No one is questioning that part of it.
9:14
Speaker 5: Right.
9:15
Speaker 2: But you'll start seeing maybe some of the the fruits
9:17
Speaker 2: and they might not always be sweet coming off of
9:19
Speaker 2: that tree. Jared versus a young ascending player and older
9:23
Speaker 2: players generally get less healthy. And that's that's going to
9:26
Speaker 2: be a question mark for this this Rams team that.
9:30
Speaker 1: The 49ers were the geriatric team in the NFL, and
9:32
Speaker 1: the Niners.
9:33
Speaker 2: Just said, hold on, we're going to try to race
9:34
Speaker 2: that way instead of get younger like Seattle.
9:37
Speaker 5: Ended up doing.
9:37
Speaker 1: Exactly. And you know what?
9:38
Speaker 3: History always tells us don't overreact to week one because
9:41
Speaker 3: things will change different. So all these seemingly concerning issues
9:44
Speaker 3: we saw for the Rams last night, it might turn
9:46
Speaker 3: out to not be as bad.
9:47
Speaker 1: As it seems.
9:48
Speaker 3: But you can easily, you know, the excitement of Miles
9:51
Speaker 3: Garrett can turn into nervousness.
9:52
Speaker 1: Is he going to be healthy? To your point, Billy,
9:54
Speaker 1: Jared first. Did we let it go? It's like you
9:57
Speaker 1: get nervous about all those moves not working.
9:59
Speaker 4: I mean.
10:00
Speaker 1: but it but it is.
10:01
Speaker 3: Going to be a long season and things do change
10:03
Speaker 3: quickly and overreacting a week one is sometimes dangerous but
10:07
Speaker 3: boy there does seem to be some concerns like it
10:09
Speaker 3: went from like Yeah, the excitement of the Rams, betting favorite,
10:12
Speaker 3: all that stuff to like, whoa, whoa, whoa, what's going
10:15
Speaker 3: on here?
10:16
Speaker 2: One thing I didn't see a whole lot of complaining about,
10:18
Speaker 2: which is kind of rare for international games, was playing surface.
10:21
Speaker 1: Was pretty dang good. The feel was great. The feel
10:24
Speaker 1: was gorgeous. Gorgeous on television. 100,000 plus there. That was
10:27
Speaker 1: kind of cool. Friend of show and longtime listener Schwartz
10:30
Speaker 1: Center did hit us on X and said, I hate
10:33
Speaker 1: this camera angle. He didn't like to zoom zoomed in
10:36
Speaker 1: and you can't see the entire field and players on
10:37
Speaker 1: the outside. You can't see plays developer how the defense
10:40
Speaker 1: is playing. OK, I might have been a Netflix thing.
10:42
Speaker 1: You rarely do on television. I was going to say
10:44
Speaker 1: that that we were in the press box for home
10:47
Speaker 1: games at Lambeau and it is a different experience. And
10:49
Speaker 1: then you have to have the NFL plus to see
10:52
Speaker 1: the all 22 and the tape and you get to
10:54
Speaker 1: see quite a different view. of things, but yeah, they
10:58
Speaker 1: follow the ball and it's mostly interior. It's like, I
11:01
Speaker 1: was going to say mostly it's a tighter angle. I
11:03
Speaker 1: thought Luke, Luke Keighley was pretty dang good for his
11:05
Speaker 1: first game. I thought, by the way, I thought by
11:08
Speaker 1: now they, the prediction was, well, you're going to have
11:11
Speaker 1: 15 different screens and like, well, 14 of them will
11:14
Speaker 1: be McAfee, but you'll have 15 different screens and you
11:17
Speaker 1: can pick, you want cheerleader cam. You want the end
11:19
Speaker 1: zone cam. You want, you could be your own director.
11:21
Speaker 1: I'm still waiting for that technology. That TV truck. That
11:25
Speaker 1: was promised to us years ago. Well, and I would
11:27
Speaker 1: like to apologize.
11:28
Speaker 3: Maybe I should have been more adept on what the
11:30
Speaker 3: lineup was going to be for the Netflix panel.
11:32
Speaker 1: I didn't know Clay was going to be on the pregame,
11:33
Speaker 1: all that stuff. I mean, we were focused on without
11:36
Speaker 1: plastic surgery. That was the AI work of him having
11:39
Speaker 1: the massive jaw. My buddy did ask me if that
11:42
Speaker 1: was real thing. Now it's to the point where anything
11:45
Speaker 1: you look at, you have to think it'll work. I
11:47
Speaker 1: thought Aaron's podcast was proven otherwise. I thought Aaron's podcast. Exactly. Well,
11:50
Speaker 1: I saw that stuff floating out there. Everything that comes
11:52
Speaker 1: down the pike, you got to say, well, is this
11:54
Speaker 1: a work? Yeah, but no, Clay was, I thought, pretty good.
11:56
Speaker 3: And, you know, it was the funny thing was how
11:59
Speaker 3: many people had Netflix, how many people watched it. I mean, obviously,
12:02
Speaker 3: if you're with us in the bottom of the sportsbook,
12:03
Speaker 3: you didn't have that problem. But it was interesting to
12:07
Speaker 3: hear if anyone.
12:07
Speaker 1: The one declaration we can make is that the bar
12:10
Speaker 1: is set pretty low for the Sunday games. And Bill's
12:14
Speaker 1: Texans have a runway to be the best game of
12:17
Speaker 1: the week because these first two games weren't great.
12:19
Speaker 3: Yeah.
12:19
Speaker 1: Last day was a little more fun than Wednesday.
12:22
Speaker 2: I mean, well, definitely, definitely more entertaining when you had
12:25
Speaker 2: Stafford and company getting shut down at the goal line.
12:27
Speaker 2: But for the first half, I mean, he was four
12:29
Speaker 2: of 11 for like 50 yards.
12:31
Speaker 1: He's struggling.
12:32
Speaker 2: Definitely not ball being played at its at its highest level.
12:36
Speaker 2: Did enjoy, though, the 49ers just coming out with a
12:38
Speaker 2: lot of piss and vinegar.
12:40
Speaker 1: I mean, they are.
12:41
Speaker 2: And for one that was disrespected, they were more angry
12:44
Speaker 2: than I think anybody about the international game and having
12:47
Speaker 2: to get this draw because it was pretty well known
12:50
Speaker 2: that the Rams had suggested to the NFL, why don't
12:53
Speaker 2: we get the 49ers?
12:54
Speaker 4: Hey.
12:55
Speaker 2: Hey.
12:56
Speaker 1: That's a really good idea. Let's give that. Let's do
12:58
Speaker 1: that for you. By the way, San Francisco is going
13:00
Speaker 1: to host an international game, too.
13:03
Speaker 2: What?
13:03
Speaker 4: What?
13:04
Speaker 2: We got to play two of these things and we
13:06
Speaker 2: got to go further than anybody else. So never underestimate
13:10
Speaker 2: a scorned heart. And the 49ers had this one in
13:14
Speaker 2: the back of their mind all off season long, circled
13:18
Speaker 2: up knowing that the Rams had requested they be their
13:22
Speaker 2: traveling partner and be their opponent halfway across the world.
13:27
Speaker 2: And you could kind of see that last night, whether
13:30
Speaker 2: it was not just them being healthy or But that
13:32
Speaker 2: was an attitude bowl for the 49ers.
13:35
Speaker 1: And they rose the occasion. I don't know that they
13:36
Speaker 1: can do that 17 times. Yeah, that's a good point.
13:39
Speaker 2: With their age, I don't know they can do that
13:41
Speaker 2: 17 times, but Fred Warner playing 17 games, they're going
13:45
Speaker 2: to have a chance because that son of a gun is–
13:47
Speaker 2: Different is an absolute difference maker inside.
13:50
Speaker 1: You know, maybe they want to scale.
13:51
Speaker 3: I mean, they they've been talking for a while about
13:54
Speaker 3: kind of ramping down McCaffrey's. For instance, you talk about
13:57
Speaker 3: the veterans, McCaffrey's kind of workload.
13:59
Speaker 1: He only had like 10 carries. I mean, he only had.
14:01
Speaker 3: So maybe that's their plan is maybe because of the age, Billy,
14:05
Speaker 3: if they can. I don't want to say load managed
14:06
Speaker 3: because you can't.
14:06
Speaker 1: Do that in the NFL, really.
14:08
Speaker 3: But maybe if there's a way they can work different
14:10
Speaker 3: guys in rotation wise to save some of those guys.
14:12
Speaker 2: Oh, Kalen Black was running like a guy that's going
14:14
Speaker 2: to earn a lot of carries running back from Indiana
14:17
Speaker 2: from a year ago.
14:17
Speaker 1: He was really, really good there. And he was really
14:19
Speaker 1: good last night.
14:20
Speaker 3: Concerned for McCaffrey as the owners. That's a whole different story.
14:24
Speaker 3: But yeah, I mean, that will be interesting to see now.
14:26
Speaker 1: Did you take McCaffrey?
14:27
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I thought I was wondering where that one
14:31
Speaker 2: came from.
14:31
Speaker 1: I was wondering where that one came from.
14:33
Speaker 3: He still averaged like seven yards a carry, 6.8, but
14:35
Speaker 3: I mean, it just wasn't a lot.
14:37
Speaker 1: But yes, I mean, you know, a lot of storylines.
14:39
Speaker 3: As we now head into the bulk of the weekend
14:41
Speaker 3: in week one, but you know, we got the two
14:43
Speaker 3: opening games under our belt now.
14:44
Speaker 1: One of the guys, I wonder if he'll revise his take,
14:47
Speaker 1: but Bill Barnwell, who kind of the numbers crunching guy
14:50
Speaker 1: from ESPN. Oh, big time, yeah. He did his postseason projections.
14:54
Speaker 1: He does it every year on the dawn of the season.
14:57
Speaker 1: And Interesting takes, and he's a guy that I respect
15:01
Speaker 1: and I like reading. He picks the 14 teams that
15:04
Speaker 1: he thinks are going to make the playoffs, and then
15:07
Speaker 1: he's laying it out. And just for context, last year
15:11
Speaker 1: he had the Packers winning the Super Bowl. I was
15:12
Speaker 1: going to say, yeah. This year he's got them out
15:15
Speaker 1: of the playoffs. Along with the Bears. And along with
15:22
Speaker 1: the San Francisco 49ers. Now that's interesting. Out of the playoffs.
15:28
Speaker 1: So one of the things he said, if you've read
15:29
Speaker 1: this column over the past couple of years, there's a twist.
15:31
Speaker 1: One of the most common mistakes we make as football fans,
15:33
Speaker 1: myself included, is overconfidence in the teams we saw excel
15:37
Speaker 1: last year. Yes. We're collectively too inclined to pick teams
15:40
Speaker 1: that made the playoffs a year ago to make it
15:42
Speaker 1: back in the current season. Ask me to pick the
15:44
Speaker 1: 2026 playoff teams without any constraints, and I'd pick at
15:47
Speaker 1: least nine of the 14 teams that made it in 2025.
15:50
Speaker 1: History tells us that's underestimating the chaos and variance that
15:54
Speaker 1: comes with a 17-game NFL season. So... He there's always
16:00
Speaker 1: teams that go from out of the playoffs to playoffs
16:03
Speaker 1: or deep.
16:04
Speaker 3: Right.
16:05
Speaker 1: Usually.
16:05
Speaker 4: Yeah.
16:06
Speaker 1: Because we we talk every year. There's a worst last
16:08
Speaker 1: year was that no one. And so this year, isn't it?
16:12
Speaker 1: It's almost cheating to say, well, the Chiefs will be back.
16:16
Speaker 1: You would think. Yeah, you got them winning the West, right?
16:21
Speaker 2: He's got the Giants. making the playoffs as an NFC Wild.
16:25
Speaker 2: That is a sexy double your win total team. Our
16:28
Speaker 2: boy Cowherd that you hear on here has been saying
16:30
Speaker 2: that since May. He's got the Bucs making the playoffs.
16:36
Speaker 1: The Ravens. They don't slide down the back of the dinosaur.
16:38
Speaker 1: They should have won the division last year. He's got
16:39
Speaker 1: Detroit winning the NFC North. I was going to say
16:41
Speaker 1: someone has to if the Packers and the Bears are out.
16:45
Speaker 1: Somebody has to. And you were really hoping it wasn't Minnesota.
16:47
Speaker 1: I was praying. I was like, it can't be them.
16:49
Speaker 1: We can't have that type of situation.
16:50
Speaker 5: He's got it.
16:51
Speaker 1: But they could. Does that mean they're a wild card, though?
16:53
Speaker 1: And Barnwell is going. His Super Bowl teams are, you know,
16:57
Speaker 1: brace yourself, Chiefs and Eagles. So not much change to
17:02
Speaker 1: the top, maybe? No, but he is predicting more chaos.
17:05
Speaker 1: And that would be chaos. Like the Niners, Bears, and
17:08
Speaker 1: Packers all missing the playoffs. Not out of the realm
17:11
Speaker 1: of possibility, but seems unlikely. Somewhat unlikely.
17:16
Speaker 2: I got to see it with Sean Mannion for the
17:18
Speaker 2: Eagles before I fully believe it.
17:21
Speaker 1: Them losing A.J.
17:22
Speaker 2: Brown might not be as difficult as you would think,
17:25
Speaker 2: but DP had them going to the Super Bowl, too.
17:28
Speaker 2: I heard him give his big Super Bowl pick just
17:31
Speaker 2: a couple of days ago.
17:32
Speaker 1: Maybe I'm wrong.
17:33
Speaker 2: Maybe I'll sit here with egg on my face. I
17:35
Speaker 2: famously thought a couple of years ago that they were
17:37
Speaker 2: going to be a one and done. They won the
17:40
Speaker 2: Super Bowl. So I've been wrong on Philadelphia a number
17:43
Speaker 2: of times before.
17:44
Speaker 1: Barnwell's got both the 49ers and the Chargers missing the playoffs. Well,
17:48
Speaker 1: the Chargers one is not surprising. That's more of a, yeah.
17:53
Speaker 2: Listen, the Chargers is surprising because it's everybody's favorite quarterback
17:58
Speaker 2: of all time.
17:59
Speaker 1: Goodness gracious. Do you know his date in Madison Pierce?
18:01
Speaker 1: He's famous. Oh, yeah. We got to love him. I
18:04
Speaker 1: don't know if this will sting you also, Billy, but
18:06
Speaker 1: he's got the Jacksonville Jaguars missing the playoffs. Well, it's
18:09
Speaker 1: just a bad take then. And the Panthers missing.
18:11
Speaker 3: It'll be hard to hit that parlay of all those teams,
18:14
Speaker 3: but he might get a couple right, and he probably will.
18:16
Speaker 1: He might, and he is right that there is chaos.
18:18
Speaker 1: That's the way it works.
18:19
Speaker 3: You are predicting, trying to predict chaos, which you can't predict,
18:22
Speaker 3: so it's kind of interesting.
18:23
Speaker 2: People will try to predict one, the worst, the first
18:26
Speaker 2: team in the NFL. History would tell us somebody's going
18:28
Speaker 2: to do it. It's kind of hard to be able
18:30
Speaker 2: to identify this year.
18:31
Speaker 3: Right, and we're going to try and predict, because we
18:33
Speaker 3: love fan fiction in sports. We love to talk about
18:36
Speaker 3: what might happen. That's why we like to talk about
18:38
Speaker 3: undefeated seasons, Drew.
18:39
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely. 877-794-1973, your ticket to interact with us here
18:45
Speaker 1: on the NicoletLaw.com talk and text line. Hunter Baumgart has
18:50
Speaker 1: an interview for us. We're going to listen to that.
18:51
Speaker 1: He talked to Trisha Whitaker, who's on the sidelines again tonight.
18:54
Speaker 1: A masterpiece of an interview. The Pancake Princess. We'll talk
18:57
Speaker 1: to Trisha Whitaker. We'll hear our conversation Hunter had with
19:00
Speaker 1: Trisha Whitaker, who is on the call tonight. It's an
19:03
Speaker 1: Apple TV production for Brewers Reds, opener this evening at
19:07
Speaker 1: American Family Field. Did you hear that?
19:08
Speaker 2: It's just people... Smacking the dashboard on their cars driving
19:12
Speaker 2: into work. Don't worry about one final Apple TV one.
19:15
Speaker 2: One more Apple TV.
19:16
Speaker 1: I had to watch Netflix last night and now I'm
19:18
Speaker 1: back to this.
19:19
Speaker 3: Damn.
19:21
Speaker 1: Gouging. Come on. I used to like the days when
19:23
Speaker 1: games were on Fox or CBS.
19:25
Speaker 2: Yeah.
19:26
Speaker 1: And half of them weren't on TV. Super 8 death.
19:29
Speaker 1: The Brewers weren't on. Super 18 maybe. And on WBTV.
19:33
Speaker 1: The Bucks are back. That lies ahead. And, oh, baby,
19:36
Speaker 1: Packers-Vikings talk with Wayne Larvey, voice of the Packers, joins
19:39
Speaker 1: us at 725. Dolph's in for halftime. We're glad you're here,
19:42
Speaker 1: 5 o'clock clubbers. Get yourself a comfortable chair, a cold
19:45
Speaker 1: or hot beverage of your choice, and saddle up because
19:47
Speaker 1: we're here until 8 a.m. It's the huddle. Fox Sports Radio, Wisconsin. Drew, Billy,
19:52
Speaker 1: and Armand bringing it to you, the Huddle, Fox Sports Radio, Wisconsin,
19:55
Speaker 1: 920 Milwaukee, 1070 Madison, everywhere on the iHeart app, streaming live,
19:58
Speaker 1: Facebook X, and YouTube. Happy to say that this portion
20:03
Speaker 1: of the program brought to us by Game Day Men's Health.
20:05
Speaker 1: Check them out online, gamedaymenshealth.com. Avail yourself of their services.
20:10
Speaker 1: Go in for that free consult. See if they can
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20:16
Speaker 1: If you have any curiosity about the peptide stacks that
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Speaker 1: people are talking about at the gym, Billy.
20:23
Speaker 2: Game Day Men's Health is the place. And the thing is,
20:25
Speaker 2: they'll talk to you about it and not make you
20:26
Speaker 2: feel like an idiot. Because that guy in the gym
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Speaker 2: is going to be like, listen, bro, I got what
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Speaker 2: you're not doing this, bro.
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Speaker 1: That's right. Go to the experts. All the different services
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Speaker 1: they have available at GameDayMensHealth.com. All right. We mentioned Brewers
20:44
Speaker 1: Reds tonight. It's an Apple TV production. It'll be a
20:47
Speaker 1: fun night at the old ballpark as the Brewers are
20:49
Speaker 1: down to their last, what, two homestands left. This weekend
20:52
Speaker 1: and next week. Final two ones. I'm going to the
20:54
Speaker 1: ballpark tonight. I'll be there as well.
20:56
Speaker 5: Let's go.
20:56
Speaker 3: Let's go.
20:56
Speaker 1: Come on now. Let's take it in. Let's go watch
20:58
Speaker 1: some big league ball. Yeah. As it happens, our baseball
21:01
Speaker 1: go-to guy, Hunter Baumgart. Always there. He had occasion to
21:05
Speaker 1: chat with Tricia Whitaker, friend of the program, former Green
21:08
Speaker 1: Bay TV personality who started there. Who's her? Indiana University
21:15
Speaker 1: adjunct professor of journalism and sideline reporter for Apple TV,
21:19
Speaker 1: famously of the Pocket Pancake show. Pocket pancake fame. Well,
21:24
Speaker 1: Hunter caught up with her, and we are going to
21:26
Speaker 1: share that conversation with you now. Hunter's contribution is brought
21:29
Speaker 1: to us by Import Minded, your trusted source for vehicle
21:31
Speaker 1: care on 27th Street just north of 894. Take it away, Hunter.
21:38
Speaker 6: Tricia Whitaker, who will be on the broadcast for Apple TV,
21:41
Speaker 6: joining us here. And Tricia, great to have you back
21:44
Speaker 6: on the show.
21:45
Speaker 4: It's so good to be back on the show.
21:46
Speaker 5: I love you guys so much that I pulled over
21:49
Speaker 5: on my five hour drive from where I live in
21:51
Speaker 5: Indiana to Milwaukee just to come on the show with you.
21:54
Speaker 5: So I'm sitting at a weird like gas station type
21:56
Speaker 5: of spot right now. So if anybody interrupts me, it's
21:59
Speaker 5: because they're mad I'm parked here.
22:02
Speaker 1: Well, hey, we'll try for the moment.
22:04
Speaker 5: No makeup like road tripping little little segment here.
22:09
Speaker 6: That's fantastic. Hey, road trips are the best. So hopefully
22:12
Speaker 6: everything goes smooth for you. And we're looking forward to
22:15
Speaker 6: having you back in Milwaukee coming up this weekend, Friday night,
22:18
Speaker 6: six 45 brewers and reds on Apple TV. I know
22:22
Speaker 6: it's been a couple of months since you were last
22:25
Speaker 6: here in Milwaukee. I think late June, if, if memory serves,
22:28
Speaker 6: but how, how kind of has your perspective maybe changed
22:33
Speaker 6: or not changed at all about this team that still
22:35
Speaker 6: has the best record in baseball as we sit here
22:37
Speaker 6: in the middle, middle of September.
22:39
Speaker 5: The only way that it's changed is that in my mind,
22:42
Speaker 5: the Brewers have become more legitimate. They were already legitimate
22:46
Speaker 5: back when we had the Brewers Cubs series.
22:48
Speaker 4: I think it was in June or something.
22:50
Speaker 5: But the fact that they have kept winning at the
22:53
Speaker 5: pace that they have and they haven't fallen off.
22:56
Speaker 4: Is unbelievable to me.
22:58
Speaker 5: And also this week, watching the Brewers Cubs series was unreal, right?
23:03
Speaker 5: Watching Jackson Cherio do what he did. I'm watching Laura.
23:06
Speaker 5: If I'm, am I pronouncing his last name?
23:08
Speaker 3: Right.
23:09
Speaker 1: Please say I am.
23:10
Speaker 5: I got to say it 300 times on the broadcast tomorrow.
23:14
Speaker 5: And I've been like, get it right. Trish, make sure
23:16
Speaker 5: you don't say it wrong. I'm watching what transpired with
23:19
Speaker 5: him and Pat Murphy before the walk off Christian.
23:22
Speaker 4: Uh, getting on base before that.
23:24
Speaker 5: And then Jackson's week that he had, it's just been
23:26
Speaker 5: unbelievable to see them with the continued success, right? They've
23:31
Speaker 5: got that young core, but then they've got some of
23:33
Speaker 5: their veterans. They, um, You know, their pitching lab magic
23:37
Speaker 5: has not faded throughout the season. I'm not saying it's
23:40
Speaker 5: always been perfect, but you don't need to be perfect.
23:42
Speaker 5: You just need to be durable. And this team has
23:45
Speaker 5: proved that they are durable.
23:46
Speaker 4: And guess what?
23:47
Speaker 5: That's one of the biggest components to an October team
23:51
Speaker 5: is durability and depth and clutch and able to win
23:55
Speaker 5: in those late inning situations.
23:59
Speaker 4: So it's been unbelievable to watch.
24:02
Speaker 6: They've been able to find ways to win. I was
24:04
Speaker 6: thinking about this the other day. It's, it's, you know,
24:06
Speaker 6: it hasn't been the cleanest game every night. It hasn't
24:08
Speaker 6: been maybe as heroic as maybe some of the times
24:11
Speaker 6: where last year they, you know, winning 14 in a
24:13
Speaker 6: row last year, winning 12 in a row, getting to
24:15
Speaker 6: the best record and ball through that. But this year
24:18
Speaker 6: it's been finding ways to win. And that cub series
24:20
Speaker 6: is a great example of it coming from behind down
24:22
Speaker 6: in the eighth inning. Both of the games come back
24:24
Speaker 6: in the eighth inning on Monday, Tuesday, they come back
24:27
Speaker 6: in the ninth.
24:29
Speaker 1: How much of.
24:29
Speaker 6: That do you think is kind of taking on what
24:32
Speaker 6: their manager always says and winning tonight and just focusing
24:35
Speaker 6: on trying to win that day's game?
24:38
Speaker 4: It's 100% about... I mean, it's about deep talent on
24:42
Speaker 4: the roster, right? A manager can only do so much. However.
24:45
Speaker 5: the belief that Pat Murphy instills in his players, like
24:48
Speaker 5: you saw before Laura stepped up to the plate when
24:51
Speaker 5: he stepped up.
24:51
Speaker 4: I mean, you don't see a manager. I don't recall
24:54
Speaker 4: ever seeing that happen.
24:55
Speaker 5: And I've been covering major league baseball for almost nine years.
24:59
Speaker 4: 10 years now. I don't even know.
25:00
Speaker 5: And I'm watching Murph come out of the dugout and
25:04
Speaker 5: like intercept him.
25:05
Speaker 4: As he's stepping up to the plate, I'm like, is
25:06
Speaker 4: he hurt? I'm like, is everything okay? And then you
25:09
Speaker 4: realize if you know Pat, he was just giving him
25:11
Speaker 4: a pep talk, right?
25:13
Speaker 5: So that belief that he instills in his team and
25:16
Speaker 5: his players, and that's actually what we're focusing on tomorrow
25:20
Speaker 5: in the open pregame part of our show, is Pat
25:23
Speaker 5: Murphy and the way that he coaches and manages his team.
25:27
Speaker 4: I think that we're.
25:28
Speaker 5: Seeing the college coach in him and all of those
25:31
Speaker 5: characteristics in Translate to the majors so, so well.
25:35
Speaker 4: And that isn't always the case.
25:36
Speaker 5: I'm not going to say names, but we've seen it
25:39
Speaker 5: happen in the majors where the college coach doesn't always
25:41
Speaker 5: make the transition to the majors the right way.
25:45
Speaker 4: Pat has done that seamlessly.
25:46
Speaker 5: And, you know, I love his combination of like tough love, accountability,
25:54
Speaker 5: belief and support. he's going to be the first one
25:56
Speaker 5: to tell the media after the game, Hey, yeah, he
25:58
Speaker 5: shouldn't have done that, but he'll learn. And he's the
26:01
Speaker 5: first one to tell you probably that was the wrong
26:03
Speaker 5: decision to make.
26:04
Speaker 4: And he's got to be better. Right. And, and I
26:07
Speaker 4: loved what he said.
26:08
Speaker 5: I think it was after the, the, the comeback win
26:10
Speaker 5: this week at some point, he said, trusting your team
26:13
Speaker 5: and believing that's, what's going to make them keep coming
26:16
Speaker 5: back to the field every day. And sometimes we think
26:18
Speaker 5: about these major league players and we're like, they're grown men.
26:21
Speaker 4: Yes, they are.
26:22
Speaker 5: Yes, they are, but they're still human beings at the
26:24
Speaker 5: end of the day. So yeah, I've always been a
26:26
Speaker 5: fan of the way that Pat Murphy operates. And I
26:27
Speaker 5: think that's a huge piece of it. Like you were saying.
26:30
Speaker 1: Yeah.
26:31
Speaker 6: And one of the things that's interesting that you bring
26:33
Speaker 6: up the transition from college to, to the pros and
26:36
Speaker 6: something that Pat Murphy has said to us in the
26:38
Speaker 6: past is, I don't know if I would have been
26:40
Speaker 6: ready for this. In fact, he basically said like, I
26:43
Speaker 6: don't know if I would have been ready for this
26:44
Speaker 6: years ago.
26:45
Speaker 1: But this is just such.
26:47
Speaker 6: A great combination of him being ready and the team
26:50
Speaker 6: being as young as they have been. Now, they're not
26:52
Speaker 6: as young this year as they were a couple years ago.
26:54
Speaker 6: Terang and Freelick and Mitchell, these guys have matured. But
26:58
Speaker 6: part of the Brewers' success is bringing up the young
27:00
Speaker 6: guys like Cooper Pratt, like Luis Lara. And both of
27:03
Speaker 6: them have been key contributors since they both came up.
27:07
Speaker 4: Exactly. That's exactly right. And you know what?
27:09
Speaker 5: The other thing is, even though these guys have matured
27:11
Speaker 5: the last few years, Pat Murphy has been with them.
27:14
Speaker 4: That's the thing.
27:15
Speaker 5: You know, it's like not every single one of them.
27:17
Speaker 5: I know they all haven't been here for three years since.
27:20
Speaker 4: 2024, but he has helped them mature, right? And they
27:24
Speaker 4: don't expect their rookies to be perfect. That's the other thing.
27:29
Speaker 5: Pat heavily emphasizes, you know, most players don't really get
27:33
Speaker 5: that clean entry into the majors, right? And accepting their
27:36
Speaker 5: flaws and, you know, being able to work through some
27:39
Speaker 5: of those rough edges that these players have.
27:41
Speaker 4: You know, Churio, He was brought up really early.
27:43
Speaker 5: And they kind of withstood that learning curve with him,
27:48
Speaker 5: which now.
27:50
Speaker 4: they're reaping the benefits of that. Right.
27:52
Speaker 5: And, and I think that, you know, the, the kind
27:55
Speaker 5: of radical accountability and authenticity that Pat brings to the
27:58
Speaker 5: game and to his managing style, you know, I'm not,
28:02
Speaker 5: I don't like it when reporters speak for an entire
28:04
Speaker 5: clubhouse or anything like that. So I'm not trying to
28:06
Speaker 5: do that, but from the outside looking in and just
28:09
Speaker 5: speaking to a few guys in the clubhouse, that is
28:12
Speaker 5: what it seems like works best for this group of guys.
28:15
Speaker 1: It is. And that's, you have to know your team.
28:17
Speaker 6: And Pat Murphy said that after he benched Cooper Pratt
28:20
Speaker 6: a couple of weeks ago, it was, you have to
28:21
Speaker 6: know your team in order to do that. You have
28:23
Speaker 6: to know how this is going to play in the clubhouse.
28:26
Speaker 6: Pratt's been great. And the whole team honestly has been
28:29
Speaker 6: a little bit better since then. And really since they
28:32
Speaker 6: got swept in San Diego, they've been absolutely on a roll.
28:35
Speaker 6: Trisha Whitaker joining us. She'll be on the broadcast on
28:37
Speaker 6: Apple TV Friday night. Make sure to catch not only
28:39
Speaker 6: the game at 645, but the pregame beforehand, digging into
28:43
Speaker 6: Pat Murphy there. When you mentioned Jackson Churio, is he
28:46
Speaker 6: becoming a superstar like in front of our eyes? The
28:48
Speaker 6: confidence with which he walked to the plate before he
28:52
Speaker 6: hit that game-tying home run on Tuesday just absolutely struck
28:55
Speaker 6: me like one of those players that just had the
28:58
Speaker 6: utmost confidence in himself that he can come through in
29:00
Speaker 6: that situation.
29:00
Speaker 4: No, you're exactly right.
29:02
Speaker 5: He's a bona fide superstar at this point, and it's
29:04
Speaker 5: just at 22 years old, which is highly impressive. I mean,
29:07
Speaker 5: the numbers, the milestones, it backs it up, and it
29:11
Speaker 5: backs up his ascension this season. Um, and I think,
29:17
Speaker 5: I think, you know, we're watching one of the young studs, um,
29:24
Speaker 5: not become a young stud at a young age, if
29:26
Speaker 5: that makes sense.
29:26
Speaker 1: Right.
29:27
Speaker 5: He, he almost plays like a veteran. Like you said,
29:29
Speaker 5: I don't know that I, that I phrased that the best,
29:31
Speaker 5: but you know what I mean? Like, especially during this
29:34
Speaker 5: recent tear, like you said, when he stepped up to
29:37
Speaker 5: the plate in that situation and hit the game tying home, run,
29:41
Speaker 5: it's just almost as if those bright lights.
29:43
Speaker 4: And that big moment didn't rattle him at all.
29:45
Speaker 5: And, and here's the thing that I'm going to be
29:47
Speaker 5: interested in seeing in October is how he specifically performs,
29:52
Speaker 5: you know, because now that he's got a few years
29:54
Speaker 5: under his belt or whatever, seeing how he performs in
29:58
Speaker 5: October to me is going to be like, oh, this
30:01
Speaker 5: guy's like, you know, way ahead of perhaps what we
30:05
Speaker 5: expected him to be at at this point at 22
30:07
Speaker 5: years old.
30:09
Speaker 4: And I don't think it's, I think sometimes when a.
30:11
Speaker 5: Guy peaks super early or whatever, then we have unrealistic
30:14
Speaker 5: expectations of them.
30:15
Speaker 4: Like, sorry, did you hear that? My phone ringing, sorry.
30:20
Speaker 5: No worries. I'm on a road trip, so I told
30:23
Speaker 5: everybody this is a great time to call and talk
30:25
Speaker 5: because otherwise.
30:28
Speaker 4: I don't have time.
30:29
Speaker 5: But anyways, you know, we're seeing him come into his
30:31
Speaker 5: own and it's been really, really fun to watch. And
30:34
Speaker 5: the statistical jump.
30:37
Speaker 4: That he's made, especially after he missed. How much time
30:39
Speaker 4: did he miss at the beginning of the season?
30:41
Speaker 1: About a month and 10 days. I think he came back.
30:43
Speaker 6: May 4th was, I believe, his first game of the season.
30:48
Speaker 4: Yeah, and that's not easy to do, especially for a
30:50
Speaker 4: young player.
30:51
Speaker 5: And I think it's been really cool to see how
30:54
Speaker 5: he's rebounded from that and come back from that because
30:57
Speaker 5: that also shows his maturity and his ability to just
31:00
Speaker 5: kind of jump right back into it. So I've been
31:02
Speaker 5: highly impressed. And also when I was there in June,
31:05
Speaker 5: was it June or July?
31:06
Speaker 4: I don't know.
31:06
Speaker 5: But that was right after all of the earthquakes happened
31:09
Speaker 5: in Venezuela. And obviously he's Venezuelan and William Contreras is Venezuelan.
31:14
Speaker 5: You have quite a few Venezuelans Not just on the team,
31:18
Speaker 5: but on the staff with the brewers. And I walked
31:20
Speaker 5: up to Jackson in the clubhouse and I said, hey, listen,
31:23
Speaker 5: you in no way should feel obligated to do an
31:26
Speaker 5: interview with me about what's going on in Venezuela.
31:29
Speaker 4: But I said, if you want.
31:31
Speaker 5: A platform to speak about that, if you want a
31:33
Speaker 5: platform to talk about what's going on in Venezuela, how
31:36
Speaker 5: we can help to make your people back home feel heard,
31:40
Speaker 5: we'd love to do an interview with you. If not,
31:43
Speaker 5: totally your choice. We'll respect whatever your decision is. And
31:46
Speaker 5: immediately he said, yes, yes, I want to, yes, I
31:49
Speaker 5: want to do it. I want to talk about this.
31:51
Speaker 5: It's important to me. And at 22 years old, I
31:53
Speaker 5: just respect that so much that he was able to
31:55
Speaker 5: find the words in those moments to speak. And, you know,
32:00
Speaker 5: I think what we're seeing from him goes beyond just
32:02
Speaker 5: on the field.
32:04
Speaker 1: For sure.
32:05
Speaker 6: And that was one of the more powerful interviews I
32:07
Speaker 6: think of the season. So well done to you on that.
32:09
Speaker 6: I think everybody was quite moved by, by their comments and,
32:13
Speaker 6: And the way you handled that was fantastic. So well done.
32:17
Speaker 6: I want to move a little bit to kind of
32:19
Speaker 6: the broader view. The National League as a whole, really
32:22
Speaker 6: good teams in the National League right now. Obviously, Brewers, Dodgers, Braves,
32:27
Speaker 6: the division leaders, but the Phillies trying to make a
32:28
Speaker 6: run in the NL East, and then the Padres and Diamondbacks,
32:32
Speaker 6: not too bad themselves. How tough is it, you know,
32:35
Speaker 6: even though the Brewers have the best record right now,
32:37
Speaker 6: how tough, and the Cubs, obviously, we just saw them in.
32:39
Speaker 3: Milwaukee, but.
32:41
Speaker 6: how tough is it going to be to get through
32:42
Speaker 6: that NL this year, especially when you compare it to
32:44
Speaker 6: what the AL looks like this year, which is a
32:46
Speaker 6: little bit different.
32:48
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's tough and it's, it's, it's highly top heavy,
32:51
Speaker 5: you know? Um, and I think there it's, they're considered
32:55
Speaker 5: far more dominant right now than the AL for good reason, right?
32:58
Speaker 5: They boast two of the best records in baseball. Um,
33:01
Speaker 5: And the wild card race is absolutely brutal right now
33:04
Speaker 5: for them.
33:05
Speaker 1: Right.
33:06
Speaker 5: But I think it's really good for baseball, especially considering
33:09
Speaker 5: when you look at some of the AL teams, you're like,
33:11
Speaker 5: this isn't competitive in some areas at all. So it's
33:13
Speaker 5: been really, really cool to see what, what, what's going
33:17
Speaker 5: on in the NL right now. The NL East is probably,
33:21
Speaker 5: like you said, the toughest fight right now. It's probably
33:23
Speaker 5: the most competitive division in baseball. You know, the Dodgers
33:28
Speaker 5: and the Brewers, they've locked up their, well, I don't
33:31
Speaker 5: want to speak too soon, but it seems they've locked
33:33
Speaker 5: up their respective divisions. And then you got the Braves
33:35
Speaker 5: and the Phillies. And that's honestly one of the most
33:38
Speaker 5: exciting divisions that I feel like I've watched in a
33:42
Speaker 5: while in baseball. When you look at the NL Central,
33:45
Speaker 5: you know, they're deep. And the NL West, you know,
33:50
Speaker 5: they've got that high-end star power. It's just, it's been really,
33:53
Speaker 5: really fun to watch. Sorry, I'm slightly distracted. Somebody keeps
33:57
Speaker 5: walking up to my car. And I have no idea why.
33:59
Speaker 5: This is what happens, guys, when you try to do
34:01
Speaker 5: a road trip.
34:02
Speaker 4: Podcast to get distracted. I'm not even sure what I
34:04
Speaker 4: just said there to you.
34:06
Speaker 5: Anyways, the NL and each division is incredibly tough right now,
34:10
Speaker 5: and it's incredibly entertaining to watch. But, you know, I think, gosh,
34:16
Speaker 5: I think it's so good for baseball, like I said,
34:18
Speaker 5: especially when you look at what's going on in the AL.
34:20
Speaker 5: So that's going to be the division that I think
34:22
Speaker 5: is the most exciting to watch near the end of
34:24
Speaker 5: September and into October.
34:26
Speaker 1: Go away, guys. Yes, absolutely.
34:30
Speaker 6: Well, and the thing about the NL East, too, and
34:33
Speaker 6: I think, you know, people around here obviously see the Cubs.
34:35
Speaker 1: That's who the Brewers played last year. Dodgers.
34:37
Speaker 6: That's who the Brewers played last year. But how sneaky
34:40
Speaker 6: could the Phillies be in all this? Because obviously, if
34:42
Speaker 6: they wouldn't have had the tough start, the really uncharacteristic
34:46
Speaker 6: start that they had in the beginning of the year.
34:48
Speaker 6: they could be up for the top record in baseball.
34:50
Speaker 6: If they wouldn't have been so woefully bad in the
34:52
Speaker 6: first couple of weeks, that seems like a very sneaky
34:55
Speaker 6: team with some great pitching and obviously the star power
34:57
Speaker 6: on offense.
34:58
Speaker 5: I would be terrified of the Phillies right now. I mean,
35:01
Speaker 5: I would be terrified of the Phillies right now because
35:05
Speaker 5: they got off.
35:06
Speaker 4: To a whole, I mean, it was horrific. I remember
35:08
Speaker 4: covering the Phillies at the beginning of the season. And
35:10
Speaker 4: I was like, what is happening? Like, this is not
35:14
Speaker 4: the DNA of this team. I mean, it was bad.
35:17
Speaker 5: And I think what they've done since then, and obviously
35:20
Speaker 5: I'm so biased towards Kyle Schwarber because he's an Indiana
35:23
Speaker 5: university grad and everybody knows how obnoxious I am about IU.
35:26
Speaker 5: And I mean, he has carried that team in parts
35:29
Speaker 5: of this season and it's been so impressive. And, and, and,
35:33
Speaker 5: and you just, you've got rotation depth there. You've got
35:36
Speaker 5: that veteran playoff resiliency. And I think that's, what's really
35:41
Speaker 5: going to make them exciting and a threat down the stretch.
35:44
Speaker 4: They're not scared of anybody.
35:46
Speaker 5: And I think when you look at the veterans they
35:49
Speaker 5: have on that team, if I'm stepping up against them
35:52
Speaker 5: in October, I'm like.
35:54
Speaker 4: Oh, boy, these guys could do some damage.
35:56
Speaker 5: You know, they're not scared and they've got a bounce
35:58
Speaker 5: back offense. They've got high leverage relievers. And that's really,
36:03
Speaker 5: really tough in October and late September. So and also
36:07
Speaker 5: when you're playing in Philly, good luck.
36:09
Speaker 4: Good luck. That's all I'm going to say. Good luck.
36:11
Speaker 4: You know, advantage Phillies always in Philly. I mean, not always.
36:15
Speaker 5: I know they're whatever, but I mean, they're going to
36:17
Speaker 5: be a postseason powerhouse in my mind.
36:19
Speaker 1: Yeah, for sure.
36:20
Speaker 6: So two quick questions before we let you get out
36:22
Speaker 6: of the gas station parking lot here and move on
36:24
Speaker 6: with your road trip.
36:25
Speaker 4: Please excuse the NL question.
36:28
Speaker 5: When I was highly distracted, no one listened to anything
36:30
Speaker 5: I said during that.
36:33
Speaker 1: The answer was still great. Two questions.
36:36
Speaker 6: One is, I know you spent some time in Green Bay,
36:38
Speaker 6: so how cool was it to see Notre Dame and
36:40
Speaker 6: Wisconsin play a college football game at Lambeau Field? I'm
36:43
Speaker 6: not sure how much you were able to catch of it,
36:44
Speaker 6: but kind of a cool atmosphere for a college football
36:47
Speaker 6: game out there.
36:48
Speaker 4: Oh my gosh.
36:48
Speaker 5: I was, I was, I wasn't like, I had the
36:50
Speaker 5: whole split screen going on between the Wisconsin Notre Dame game.
36:54
Speaker 4: And then what was the other game? Oh my word.
36:55
Speaker 4: I'm losing my mind.
36:56
Speaker 1: It was another game. Louisville Ole Miss. Was that the same?
36:59
Speaker 1: Louisville Ole Miss. Yes.
37:00
Speaker 4: I had the split screen on.
37:01
Speaker 5: So I was kind of bouncing back and forth between
37:03
Speaker 5: the two of them, but playing under the lights at Lambeau,
37:06
Speaker 5: I always tell people, you know, I've covered games in,
37:09
Speaker 5: in so many stadiums across the country in the NFL,
37:13
Speaker 5: the NBA, um, college basketball, um, college football, baseball, everything.
37:19
Speaker 4: There's nothing.
37:19
Speaker 5: And I'm not just saying that because I'm talking to
37:21
Speaker 5: Wisconsin people right now. I know people will be like,
37:23
Speaker 5: you're pandering. I swear to God, I'm not. Lambeau is
37:26
Speaker 5: one of the coolest places on game day. I mean, it's,
37:28
Speaker 5: it's gotta be in my top five. You know, I
37:29
Speaker 5: think games in Philly are amazing. Games in Fenway are amazing.
37:34
Speaker 4: Games at Wrigley. Sorry, Brewers fans. They're amazing. But Lambeau,
37:37
Speaker 4: oh my word. It's unlike anything I've ever seen.
37:40
Speaker 5: So to be a college football player and play there, that's,
37:44
Speaker 5: I loved it. I love the neutral site matchup when
37:47
Speaker 5: it's a place like that, when it's a neutral site
37:49
Speaker 5: matchup where I'm just like, why are you here? Then
37:51
Speaker 5: I'm like, okay, this is dumb. But there, I think
37:53
Speaker 5: that was just, that was awesome to see. And yeah,
37:58
Speaker 5: I loved it. I would go to a Lambeau field
38:01
Speaker 5: neutral site type of matchup any day of the week.
38:03
Speaker 5: Although I don't know how, neutral technically it is since
38:06
Speaker 5: it was wisconsin playing there but.
38:07
Speaker 6: You know what i mean right right but but it
38:09
Speaker 6: was a home game it was kind of yeah kind
38:11
Speaker 6: of strange.
38:11
Speaker 5: In that respect i mean notre dame came out on
38:13
Speaker 5: top so whatever but like yeah.
38:15
Speaker 6: Right yeah no totally uh last question when is indiana
38:19
Speaker 6: gonna have their uh first test of the season we're
38:21
Speaker 6: looking ahead to like ohio state in october here i
38:23
Speaker 6: saw their schedule i'm like they got howard they got
38:26
Speaker 6: western kentucky and then they've got some maybe not so
38:28
Speaker 6: good big 10 uh big 10 foes here. So is
38:32
Speaker 6: that kind of, or are we just taking it a
38:33
Speaker 6: week at a time here at, at over at Indiana?
38:36
Speaker 5: The amount of questions I've had to answer about their
38:39
Speaker 5: schedule to start the season. I know that their schedule
38:43
Speaker 5: to start the season heavily favors them. Trust me, I'm aware,
38:46
Speaker 5: but it's not my job to create the schedule.
38:48
Speaker 1: Right.
38:48
Speaker 5: So I know I was at the, at the, at the,
38:51
Speaker 5: at the North Texas game. I'll be at the Howard game,
38:53
Speaker 5: Western Kentucky, North Western. Let me pull up.
38:56
Speaker 4: I can't remember what's after that.
38:58
Speaker 5: Um, than Rutgers so I think one of their first
39:01
Speaker 5: tests I mean really when you look the.
39:05
Speaker 4: Schedule I mean I'm not saying that like.
39:09
Speaker 5: That like you they couldn't be tested at Rutgers but
39:12
Speaker 5: I don't know that that will be the case so
39:15
Speaker 5: perhaps their first test will be at Nebraska I don't
39:17
Speaker 5: know anything about the Cornhuskers this season but that'll be
39:21
Speaker 5: their first like kind of big road test but really
39:23
Speaker 5: really let's think about it here the big test of
39:26
Speaker 5: the season is Ohio State it's Ohio State BECAUSE IT'S
39:29
Speaker 5: NOT JUST we know what happened in the big 10
39:31
Speaker 5: championship game the buckeyes are coming for blood um and
39:34
Speaker 5: in usc will be a good test for them at
39:36
Speaker 5: michigan's going to be a good test for them but
39:39
Speaker 5: everybody has ohio state circled on their calendars i mean
39:42
Speaker 5: that is the game that you're like this is really
39:45
Speaker 5: the measuring stick here um.
39:48
Speaker 1: It's in Indiana, though, right?
39:49
Speaker 4: I'm nervous, and it's like over a month away. I'm nervous. Yes,
39:53
Speaker 4: it's out of Indiana. It's here. It's home.
39:56
Speaker 1: Got it. Okay, that's what I thought. Trisha Whitaker joining us.
39:59
Speaker 6: She will be on the broadcast Friday night, Apple TV,
40:01
Speaker 6: 645 First Pitch. They'll be on a little bit before
40:04
Speaker 6: that to get you set for the game Brewers and
40:06
Speaker 6: Red Start of a three-game series. Trisha, we always enjoy
40:09
Speaker 6: talking to you, and thanks so much for making time
40:11
Speaker 6: for us on the road trip.
40:12
Speaker 1: We really appreciate it.
40:14
Speaker 5: Even in a gas station parking lot when some random
40:16
Speaker 5: person's walking up to my car.
40:18
Speaker 6: Wow.
40:18
Speaker 4: I'm glad we did that. Pulled it off. Good to
40:21
Speaker 4: see you. Excited for Friday.
40:22
Speaker 1: Thanks to Hunter Baumgart. And thanks to Tricia Whitaker for
40:25
Speaker 1: being delightful. You know, take the girl out of Green Bay.
40:28
Speaker 1: Can't take the Green Bay out of the girl. She's
40:30
Speaker 1: so good. She's very Midwest. She's one of us. Yeah.
40:33
Speaker 2: I got a couple of, I got a couple of,
40:34
Speaker 2: you know, qualms with the breakdown of Kurt Cignetti's Indiana schedule,
40:38
Speaker 2: but I'll save that for the pod.
40:39
Speaker 1: But you are fired up. Save it for the pod.
40:41
Speaker 1: All right, moving forward, we're going to talk to the
40:43
Speaker 1: voice of the Packers, Wayne Larrabee, coming up at 725. Packers,
40:46
Speaker 1: Vikings this week. It starts, and obviously we'll talk to
40:52
Speaker 1: Dolph at halftime of the program. We're glad you're hanging
40:54
Speaker 1: out with us. Where else would you rather be at
40:56
Speaker 1: 5 a.m.? You're in the huddle, Fox Sports Radio, Wisconsin.