Latest / The Huddle / 10/01/26 - Hour 1

Transcript

10/01/26 - Hour 1 · The Huddle

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Welcome in to the Thursday edition of the Huddle Fox
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Sports Radio, Wisconsin, 920 Milwaukee, 1070 Madison, everywhere on the
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: iHeart app, streaming live when Armin hits the button on Facebook, YouTube,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: and X. I'm Drew Olson. The band is back together.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: Bill Schmidt back in his chair after a couple of
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: days of rainy R & R.
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Hello, Billy. Time to get spooky. How are you guys
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: feeling into the first of Spooktober here on this beautiful, rainy,
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: wet Thursday? Oh, man. Feels like scary season. That's for sure.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: It is. The weather's gross. And it's supposed to be
• 0:31
  Speaker 2: a nice weekend, though. There we go. For Bucky's homecoming.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: OK.
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: All right. Brewers baseball. See, I need to I definitely
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: need to get Armand's gauge on the weather because that
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: that's how I judge if it's nice or not. What
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: the approval rating is of the weather in here. So
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: that's that's good. That means that we'll be we'll be
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: rolling in here.
• 0:46
  Speaker 3: I mean, you know, rainy is never great, but I mean,
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: it is what it is this time of year.
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: You know, the leaves are about to turn. We're about to.
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: But listen, if we do get a nice weather weekend,
• 0:57
  Speaker 3: I'd rather take the rain during the week than on
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: the weekend.
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: That's for sure.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: And if we can get a little sunshine, it doesn't
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: have to be hot, you know, once we get October.
• 1:04
  Speaker 3: But I'm always reminded this time of year as my
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: anniversary is tomorrow when we had like an 80 degree
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: day at my wedding, which was kind of unexpected. You know,
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: you know, Billy always talks about October weddings. Like, what
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: are you doing out there with October weddings? And I
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: think you have a point, especially for sports. But it's
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: also like you don't plan on being that warm. But
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: when it is, you get thrown off. So There's my
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: 30-second take on the weather there for you.
• 1:26
  Speaker 2: That's well put. All right, there we go. Ding, ding.
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: We're off and running. Off and running.
• 1:29
  Speaker 1: So miss a little, miss a lot in this current
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: age when the news comes at you.
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: Fire hose.
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: Bill takes a couple days off to clean up the
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: balance sheet of those vacation days availability, personal days, spirit days,
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: a little load management, a little family time in the
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: middle of the week. a little time to do some
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: honey dues, you know, get some errands done, be productive.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: Oh, that's nice of you to give me that kind
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: of credit.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: And then the Packers just going holy over overturn their
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: offensive line team and bring in a whole bunch of.
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: Veterans, a hundred years of experience. And how rude the
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: one time that you want to talk about the offensive line,
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: the one guy that likes it is gone. Hey man,
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: it is had a lot of time to stew and
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: sit and think about what this all ultimately meant and
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: felt like. And, um, Drew, I was very excited to
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: see Lankan Tomlinson, a 34-year-old guy, come on in here.
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: And obviously, we've been talking about the former Badger and Viking,
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: Wisconsin Lutheran Viking, Kevin Zeitler a couple of different times.
• 2:27
  Speaker 2: Since the first show after the first game. We brought
• 2:30
  Speaker 2: everybody up, yeah. And, I mean, Nags and I sat
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: up on the perch. I want to say it was
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: the second day in pads and mentioned it. He asked
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: Brian Gutekunst, about Kevin Zeitler by name during training camp
• 2:44
  Speaker 2: at one point said, like, I would be tempted to
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: go and get Kevin Zeitler after watching certain things on
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: family night. And I think Goody laughed and some fun.
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: And there's another one in McKay Beckton who's only 27.
• 2:54
  Speaker 2: So he's the spring chicken out of the group, but
• 2:57
  Speaker 2: it's a hell of an admission of guilt of the
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: fumbling of the off season and the setup and the
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: build to then three weeks in and try and somehow
• 3:08
  Speaker 2: reconstruct a plane in midair that while you give credit
• 3:15
  Speaker 2: and absolutely do. And I'm glad that at least there
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: was the realization before the inevitable landing. That's not so
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: comfortable and, and crashy. At least you try to do
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: something with it, but Lord knows these, these moves all
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: could have been done three weeks ago, let alone three
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: months ago, instead of three games in where you sit
• 3:35
  Speaker 2: at one and two.
• 3:36
  Speaker 1: The process is what we're going to pick apart. And
• 3:41
  Speaker 1: the process is you have to recognize you have a problem.
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: You have to admit you have the problem, which is
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: that's where the step where it gets lost.
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure.
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: Anybody who's ever seen football at all can watch tape
• 3:53
  Speaker 1: of the Packers and go, oh, what the hell? The
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: offensive line's an abomination. And then the Packers had to
• 3:59
  Speaker 1: admit it to themselves, and then they admit it publicly
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: by addressing it. And now the admission from admission to
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: addressing i think they did about as well as they
• 4:08
  Speaker 1: could yes we can talk about all the reasons they
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: got to where they had to make this so it's
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: like is this it's it's obviously it's desperation basically 100
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: it's desperation because we they still see this as a
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: super bowl caliber team on the land in the landscape
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: that they did a month ago and they're with jacobs
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: and parsons seemingly on the cusp maybe of On the
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: cusp of maybe being almost ready to come back.
• 4:34
  Speaker 2: At some point being closer, yes.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: So then, yeah, that'll be transformational. And they had to
• 4:39
  Speaker 1: address that, did they? They did the best they could
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: without that. We've been lobbying for Zeitler. He is a
• 4:45
  Speaker 1: plug and play. As long as you can keep him healthy.
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: Now, that's the thing.
• 4:48
  Speaker 1: At the age, without a camp, he's never... you know,
• 4:51
  Speaker 1: never held out. So he's, he's been working out. It's
• 4:55
  Speaker 1: not going to take him long. No, I think, but
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: how long can he go? And if he ramps up quickly,
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: is he more susceptible to injury at his age?
• 5:02
  Speaker 2: I don't know.
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: He's incredible specimen. He doesn't, hasn't missed many snaps and
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: say 14,000 snaps might say otherwise, but yeah.
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: And then that is like, and then will he be
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: high functioning at the end of the season?
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: Because the Packers prefer guys between 25 and 29 when
• 5:16
  Speaker 1: they're at their athletic peak. They generally, as a matter
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: of course, don't go get guys north of 30 or 35.
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: And instead, to my count, with a Javon Hargrave, a
• 5:27
  Speaker 2: Benjamin St. Juiced on his fourth contract, but I think
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: he's under 30, you'd bring in, pardon me, Zaire Franklin
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: would also be over the age of 30. now two
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: more offensive linemen over the age of 30. This is
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: not what Brian Gutekunst wants to do, right? So, like,
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: as much as, and as you start looking through, and
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: it's a lot easier to pinpoint, or you can get
• 5:50
  Speaker 2: the splashy ones of, well, Christian Gonzalez was picked five
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: picks after Lucas Van Ness, or Jackson Smith and Jigbo
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: was four picks after Lucas Van Ness. The either easier
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: one that you can look at is, say, at one
• 6:01
  Speaker 2: point during the expected championship window, You signed five 30-plus-year-old
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: free agents. Yep. That would speak to the fact that
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: maybe the loading up of the roster has not been
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: to the degree it needed to be. You expected or
• 6:18
  Speaker 2: thought it was. But I am right there with you, Drew.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: At some point, like hitting the crisis button and hitting
• 6:25
  Speaker 2: the panic button, all of us realized it was right
• 6:29
  Speaker 2: there and lit up. It does take some intestinal fortitude
• 6:33
  Speaker 2: to actually hit the thing and admit the problem. Now
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: we'll see where it goes because rubber will meet the road.
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: The health of these dudes, it is always the number
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: one conversation in pro football, but it becomes a larger
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: one when you sign a 34-year-old and a 36-year-old, and
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: you hope and hope that by the time you're playing
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: the most meaningful games, which they've mentioned a number of
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: times they're building to, this is all building towards... that
• 7:00
  Speaker 2: you're with your best group because if you build it
• 7:03
  Speaker 2: and think the first three preseason first three regular season
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: games and extension of the preseason well then yesterday was
• 7:10
  Speaker 2: cut down day yeah as much as the start of
• 7:13
  Speaker 2: September was the actual NFL cut down day the Packers
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: said we need to see and get these guys actual
• 7:20
  Speaker 2: real live reps because they're not getting any in the
• 7:22
  Speaker 2: preseason and doesn't mimic of what and mirror what our
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: development curve is doing They realized that curve was a
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: flat line. So there was no development. We instantly are
• 7:33
  Speaker 2: going to rebuild it. Now, as Tom Hallion once said,
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: our asses are in the jackpot. And I would think
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: this throws the personnel department squarely into the jackpot. Because
• 7:45
  Speaker 2: as much as it is... a move to get yourself afloat,
• 7:51
  Speaker 2: I think it's a massive admission of guilt as to
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: what they messed up on. And that's not easy to do.
• 7:56
  Speaker 3: I mean, let's be honest, a lot of guys in
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: that position will not want to, by making those moves, saying,
• 8:00
  Speaker 3: all right, well, we have to swallow our ego and
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: say we're trying to do what we.
• 8:03
  Speaker 2: Can to make this team better.
• 8:04
  Speaker 3: Understanding you're putting your target on your back saying, wow,
• 8:07
  Speaker 3: we're the idiots here.
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: We have no clothes. Like, this is what we had
• 8:09
  Speaker 2: to do.
• 8:10
  Speaker 3: But you have to sometimes, you know, you have to
• 8:13
  Speaker 3: take the job you can get if you're unemployed and
• 8:15
  Speaker 3: the Packers... have to take what they can get right
• 8:17
  Speaker 3: now if they're desperate, and they were desperate for a meal.
• 8:20
  Speaker 2: We went from unemployment to debt hungry.
• 8:23
  Speaker 3: If you're serious about trying to make your team better,
• 8:25
  Speaker 3: you have to put yourself in that position.
• 8:27
  Speaker 2: We're going to try and do it. A lot of
• 8:30
  Speaker 2: teams won't do a lot. Think of Joe Alexander. Think
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: about old Bucks moves. He was cut early.
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: Almost never will you see a GM cut his own
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: pick that early, but there's a time when he said, well,
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: sometimes if you have to admit yourself And humiliate yourself
• 8:46
  Speaker 3: to do it.
• 8:46
  Speaker 2: You're doing it for the betterment of the team.
• 8:48
  Speaker 1: We're doing, you know, you're fixing the plane while it's
• 8:50
  Speaker 1: in the air. We're doing the autopsy while the patient's
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: still alive.
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: True. Very true. Yes.
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: And we're like, how did we get here? The pathology shows.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: But if we asked, if you ask the personnel people, well,
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: we got them good guys. The coaches just didn't do
• 9:03
  Speaker 1: anything with them. They didn't develop them. And if you
• 9:05
  Speaker 1: ask the coaches, look at the groceries they're expecting us
• 9:08
  Speaker 1: to give, you know, to make chicken salad out of these,
• 9:11
  Speaker 1: you know. Blake, Blake, Blake, Blake groceries soup that we're
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: sitting with. So that's the thing to me. And now
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: a lot of finger point weird things.
• 9:18
  Speaker 2: Come to your mind.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, these guys are older and what they
• 9:20
  Speaker 1: might look great. And once they get gelling and will
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: they all stay healthy? How many snaps will they be together?
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: And the new guys and how will they mix them
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: in with? And we all know that continuity and cohesion
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: is so important on the offensive line. How long for
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: it to gel? Then does the dynamic change or do
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: they look better when Jacobs arrives again?
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: All those things came to mind, and then I thought, well.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they got old guys, but then now the schedule
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: becomes even, like, you don't think of it, but the
• 9:46
  Speaker 1: schedule at the end of the season when they're home
• 9:48
  Speaker 1: so much, it's like, oh, that's going to make it
• 9:50
  Speaker 1: easier on the older bones so that you're not flying around.
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: You know, cross-country flights and stuff.
• 9:55
  Speaker 1: That might end up being a factor in their favor.
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: Well, Drew, it's a long season. It's still, it's, it's
• 10:00
  Speaker 2: longer than it has ever been. How do you shorten it?
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: Start three weeks in. Right. So like I do.
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 10:06
  Speaker 2: I think there's something to like Kevin Zeitler doesn't need
• 10:09
  Speaker 2: six weeks of training camp.
• 10:10
  Speaker 1: Kevin Zeitler is kind of like, though he didn't play here.
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: He's kind of like Harrison Smith.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: Bring him on in. He'll be ready to roll.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: Harrison Smith was in the scheme and knew everybody and
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: all that and knows where everything is.
• 10:22
  Speaker 2: Zeitler, that's a day. He'll pick up 40 plays within
• 10:27
  Speaker 2: two days. The quote unquote ramp up, that to me
• 10:30
  Speaker 2: felt like Wednesday to Thursday. I would be shocked if
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: he's not in there. I actually was telling my wife that.
• 10:40
  Speaker 1: We'll see. He got in and first practice was Wednesday.
• 10:45
  Speaker 1: Maybe You think he'll be hot for Sunday? I don't
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: think he'll be up on Sunday. I don't think he'll
• 10:50
  Speaker 1: be up on Sunday, but I think he's on the
• 10:51
  Speaker 1: starting line. I think he's running through the tunnel against
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: the Bears.
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: Yes, 100%. This is for Chicago and Dallas in weeks
• 10:58
  Speaker 2: five and six. And, you know, there's another part of
• 11:02
  Speaker 2: you might have failed the first test, but you can't
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: win this game. You can't win this game on the
• 11:06
  Speaker 2: road against Jalen Daniels, who's the first, like, undrafted rookie
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: quarterback to start from Kansas since the 70s or whatever
• 11:14
  Speaker 2: it was I was reading yesterday. You can't win this game.
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: You don't deserve to have the problems of ramping up
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: Kevin Zeitler and Lincoln Tomlinson. to get ready. Tomlinson probably
• 11:25
  Speaker 2: has the best chance of going this week, right? Like
• 11:27
  Speaker 2: Becton wasn't in a camp. You don't know necessarily how
• 11:30
  Speaker 2: healthy he is. So he might be ready to go
• 11:33
  Speaker 2: by Chicago or Dallas, but Hey man, Jagger Burton, Anthony Belton.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: What's up? Good opportunity to make your probably final impression
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: for now in 2026. One of those guys is absolutely
• 11:48
  Speaker 2: still going to play, right? Cause you, The big elephant
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: in the room is not the 360-pound tackle that they
• 11:54
  Speaker 2: signed in Mekhi Becton. He's a huge human being. But
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: the health question that we mentioned there, these dudes are
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: also still going to, at some point, most likely factor in.
• 12:04
  Speaker 2: So it is, as much as it's a business... And
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: you got to move on and it's not good enough.
• 12:11
  Speaker 2: So let's, let's get rolling. You also have to do
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: a delicate bet. There has to be a delicate balance
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: of not losing the young players that you are going
• 12:21
  Speaker 2: to have to probably count on a Jagger Burton or
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: an Anthony Belton at some point during, during the year.
• 12:27
  Speaker 2: Cause right now you've been told, Hey, thanks, but no, thanks.
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: Jacob monk, not good enough. And, and fair because of
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: how they performed on the field. But y'all are going
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: to be now looking around that offensive line room, and
• 12:39
  Speaker 2: Luke Butkus has an interesting conversation of, wow, we were
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: all hanging out for six months, and now three days later,
• 12:44
  Speaker 2: it's a different squad that rolled on in here. They
• 12:48
  Speaker 2: didn't sign these guys to not have them play football.
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: Jacob Monk's one of the fascinating guys because I saw
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: him have some good moments on the field, both practice
• 12:55
  Speaker 1: field and couple, and he played a lot in that
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: last preseason game.
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: But he didn't play a lot before that. He didn't play.
• 13:03
  Speaker 1: In the game when a bunch of guys got hurt,
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: he's the only offensive line playoff game.
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: Was that Philly? Yeah, Philly game.
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Philly game. He didn't even get off of the bench.
• 13:11
  Speaker 1: And then there were times, and you could hear it
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: in the coaches, he was... He had, like, a Bo
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: Melton effect. They were like, oh, we love the way
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: he gets after it. You know, we love his motor,
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: love the kid. I hope we have him date my daughter. Yeah,
• 13:22
  Speaker 1: but when he got on the field, he couldn't block.
• 13:24
  Speaker 2: Right. It's a big issue.
• 13:26
  Speaker 1: He was great on the practice field. He's a great dude.
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: We love the way he approaches his job. He's just
• 13:30
  Speaker 1: not very good at doing his job. We love his approach, though,
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: his attitude through the roof. And where does that get
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: you in the NFL? It gets you into the not-for-long category.
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: And that's why, like.
• 13:44
  Speaker 2: As much as we've talked about it, then if they're
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: living it, I give at least a little bit of
• 13:49
  Speaker 2: a hat tip and have to at least acknowledge it.
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: They said, first three games, we got to see if
• 13:55
  Speaker 2: the last three years of development has done anything. So
• 13:57
  Speaker 2: we have to let the dude play, even though we
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: might know it will be very ugly. If you see
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: signs of growth, cool. Then dude that we have started
• 14:06
  Speaker 2: to nurture for a while, there is a light at
• 14:09
  Speaker 2: the end of the tunnel. Instead, they then had to
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: make the very difficult conversation and decision of, yeah, that's
• 14:15
  Speaker 2: just not good enough now. And here's the other part,
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: because Aaron Banks and Jacob Monk both out of practice yesterday.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: Yeah. Both out of practice. Monk's healthy. Is he starting
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: on Sunday? I mean, I know that they probably would
• 14:29
  Speaker 2: like him to. I think they would probably like him to.
• 14:31
  Speaker 2: And again, five days might not be enough time for
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: Tomlinson to get in here. He's at least been in
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: a camp. He's probably in more football shape and should
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: be ready to go. Yeah, for sure.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: The question with me is, okay, so take him on
• 14:45
  Speaker 1: fifth round pick out of Duke, right?
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: Yep. Center as well.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: And as a center, move him back to center and
• 14:52
  Speaker 1: put him between two experienced guards. Is that the best
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: case or is that even worth trying? Because then is
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: Sean Ryan become the swing guard or does Sean Ryan
• 14:59
  Speaker 1: start at left guard with Zeitler on the other side
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: or how do they have depth in some options, but
• 15:07
  Speaker 1: is your, it's if. Jacob Monk was a higher draft pick.
• 15:10
  Speaker 1: There might be more urgency to re-implement it in there.
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: Squeeze something out of the bar rag there.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm with you. I think otherwise it's like, well, OK,
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: we tried that. It didn't work. Fifth round pick. You tried.
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: I think, again, do I expect him to get cut
• 15:23
  Speaker 2: within the next three days? No, but right.
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: My first thought when they started making these signs, well,
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: Jacob Monk's going to get released.
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I just, I don't know. I don't know if
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: you do.
• 15:32
  Speaker 1: You need a healthy young body that you've got some
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: investment in.
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: On September 1st, during Cutdown Day, Goody said, we were
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: more worried about people poaching our guys. I don't even
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: worry about that anymore.
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: That's one you got to wear around your neck. You're
• 15:44
  Speaker 1: more worried.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: About them poaching our guys. We weren't necessarily looking at anybody.
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: I don't know. I don't know what you were watching.
• 15:49
  Speaker 2: Might be able to release him and get him into
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: the practice squad.
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: I always wonder if these guys 100% always believe the
• 15:55
  Speaker 3: things they're saying or they're just trying to make themselves believe.
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: It's a hard thing. I think he'll get through it. Well,
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: that's my thing. But you mentioned that Philadelphia game. Jacob Monk,
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: the only active offensive lineman that doesn't play in the game. Yeah,
• 16:07
  Speaker 2: and a bunch of guys were going down. They lost
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: two starters. And then they lost two starters, and then
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: in the offseason, they willingly lost other starters, right? They
• 16:15
  Speaker 2: willingly let Josh Myers go, who got hurt in that game.
• 16:19
  Speaker 2: They willingly, maybe the year before, or was that that
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: year where they let John Runyon go? And now both
• 16:25
  Speaker 2: are starting in New York. Both are good NFL starting
• 16:29
  Speaker 2: offensive linemen. And maybe there's a confidence turned to arrogance,
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: and at some point you get bit with it. We
• 16:36
  Speaker 2: can just do this. Yeah, we just turn fifth round
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: picks into good starting offensive lineman every single time. And sure,
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: we did it with John Runyon. We'll do it again.
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: And then last year after you almost I shouldn't say
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: almost you bench the guy in Arizona and Sean Ryan.
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: He's the only one that you end up keeping because
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: he was the only one left in the cabinet. So
• 16:58
  Speaker 2: it's as much as the admission of guilt might feel
• 17:01
  Speaker 2: like just 2026. I think this is you've built the
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: last two to three years to get to this point
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: with with that unit up front. And now you're hoping
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: that you can really get your bacon saved right there
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: on the Blackstone because you cooked it maybe a little
• 17:15
  Speaker 2: too hot. A little bit too much. Interesting stuff.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: And then in addition to all the churn on the
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: offensive line comes the news that Jane reads out for
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: the season season ending surgery, not career ending.
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: Hopefully not. You're threatening when you've got a neck problem. Yeah.
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: They said about Nick Collins, too, the next day. Exactly. So,
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: you know, it's definitely a concern. He's an important piece.
• 17:37
  Speaker 1: Now they're going to probably face Sky more into a
• 17:40
  Speaker 1: lot of that stuff that they had envisioned for Jaden
• 17:42
  Speaker 1: Reed and like.
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: Orbit motions and handoffs and, you know. flanking him out
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: and Armin and Armin's favorite guy. Hopefully coming off. I
• 17:49
  Speaker 2: are soon would be saving on Williams and he'll get
• 17:53
  Speaker 2: implemented in there. But yes, Guy Moore's got some juice.
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: So I would anticipate drew 23 gets the first crack
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: at it. But yeah, I mean, also one's healthy, you know,
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: Paul Melton's going to find his way and got to.
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: So we've got that to talk about today because, and
• 18:07
  Speaker 1: we'll be exploring all of this in more detail tonight
• 18:09
  Speaker 1: at the Thursday night huddle at Potawatomi sports book in
• 18:13
  Speaker 1: the annex.
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: It's our double-header day. I cannot wait. 5 o'clock club
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: meeting in the morning and in the afternoon.
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: Be great to see some 5 o'clock clubbers at the
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: 5 o'clock club at Pottawatomie.
• 18:24
  Speaker 2: Just saying.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: We'll have the phrase that pays that can get you
• 18:27
  Speaker 1: a $ 10 gift card.
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: It might be a good night to be at the
• 18:30
  Speaker 2: Pottawatomie Sportsbook. I mean, we're leading into, yes, Thursday night football.
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: Rodgers against the Browns, but Phillies against the Braves. What
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: a good night. Braves for a win or go home.
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: Yes.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: Come on.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: The other three series ended in baseball, including... The Chicago
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Cubs going down Padres coming to Milwaukee for a seven
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: 30 date Saturday night. We'll talk all about that in
• 18:50
  Speaker 1: the back end of the program. We've got a Hunter Baumgart,
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: our boots on the ground.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: Baseball beat guy.
• 18:56
  Speaker 1: And then Bill Schroeder from brewers TV to look ahead
• 18:58
  Speaker 1: to the swinging friars against the brew crew this weekend.
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: The fun starts Padres steamrolled the Cubs as joyous as
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: it was to see the Cubs get knocked out with
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: barely a whimper.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: I don't think they let it all in the two games. No,
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: they didn't. It was not.
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: It's a little daunting seeing the way that the Padres,
• 19:15
  Speaker 1: but you're one Ms. Game away from a slump. That's
• 19:18
  Speaker 1: the nature of playoff baseball.
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: And that's how we're going to roll into this. And
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: the Pottawatomie sports book. We'll talk about lines later on.
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: They're expecting a dominating Ms. Performance right out of the gates,
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: but they've won 20 of 26 since the month of
• 19:32
  Speaker 2: September started. Yeah. Goodness gracious. Let's get a bucket of
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: cold water. And the only team close to them, the
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: Brew Crew. Come on now. Let's bring it.
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: Champions fear no one. You're in the Thursday edition of
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: the Huddle, Fox Sports Radio, Wisconsin.
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: Rehab starts in the minor leagues, so they know one
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: another really, really well. He curves, straight three. He's going
• 19:53
  Speaker 2: to challenge here, but they look like that pitch got
• 19:56
  Speaker 2: the corner.
• 19:56
  Speaker 4: That's a tough challenge, guys, in the first inning, first
• 19:59
  Speaker 4: battle of the game to lose that.
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: That is a failed challenge by Pete Crow Armstrong.
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: Cubs... What were they outscored, 12-1? That sounds right. They
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: got their one run on a base hit up the
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: middle by Nico Horner, who I think was the only
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: guy to do anything on offense for the Cubbies. I
• 20:21
  Speaker 2: listened to PCA last night or this morning from last night,
• 20:25
  Speaker 2: and he was as dejected as you possibly could be.
• 20:28
  Speaker 2: He said, I don't know, you watch the games. Look
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: at the box score. Not like I did anything.
• 20:35
  Speaker 4: Over.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: At least you admit it, man. Yeah. But I got
• 20:40
  Speaker 2: bad news for you. He's not the first. He definitely
• 20:42
  Speaker 2: won't be the last MVP to have a quick in
• 20:45
  Speaker 2: and out. And Drew, it is easiest said than done.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: But you need your stars to play like stars to
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: win these October games. Brewers have seen it a lot
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: of times. And Pete Crow Armstrong is not the first
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: and won't be the last MVP to go quiet onto
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: a postseason game. That is that's one that Tale as
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: old as time. It's hashtag baseball.
• 21:07
  Speaker 1: We talked about it at length yesterday when Dobe was
• 21:10
  Speaker 1: in here and Hunter. It was that you have the highest,
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: most prolific regular season offense go into a series and
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: got what?
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: Eight hits, eight hits in one run and 18 innings.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: Escort it out quietly. How many times have we talked
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: about it?
• 21:27
  Speaker 3: You need your best guys to do things on those days.
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: And they played in a really tough environment. Man, that
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: is tough. That's a big deal.
• 21:34
  Speaker 3: That is just a crazy, crazy park there. The energy
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: is there. You could hear the energy right away in
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: the first inning. And that was the first inning challenge.
• 21:42
  Speaker 3: And the way it set momentum up again for that crowd,
• 21:45
  Speaker 3: it's going to be very, very tough. 19-3, I think,
• 21:47
  Speaker 3: since September 5th. The Padres have been incredibly hot. So
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: the Brewers had their work cut out for them with
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: this first-round opponent. If they make it all the way
• 21:55
  Speaker 3: to the promised land where we want them to be,
• 21:56
  Speaker 3: they're going to have to pass... through some of the toughest,
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: toughest opponents. You can really ask for the home field
• 22:03
  Speaker 3: advantage drew might be something might not be. I will
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: say it definitely is got to be harder.
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: It's got to be something different playing in that atmosphere
• 22:13
  Speaker 2: than the one that I watched. I have to go
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: into at at Dakin Park. They're calling it nowadays in
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: downtown Houston where I mean, they're booing my man walking
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: off the mound rightfully. So he didn't even get out
• 22:25
  Speaker 2: of the first inning. But that place was quiet, empty,
• 22:30
  Speaker 2: and mean towards their own crowd yesterday. Let's be honest.
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: Houston fans really didn't believe in their team.
• 22:36
  Speaker 3: And, of course, when they put out that performance right
• 22:39
  Speaker 3: in front of them, it sure didn't help. But it's
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: a 180 in San Diego. I mean, they believe in
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: this team. The San Diego fans are raucous. They're into it.
• 22:48
  Speaker 3: They're packed, obviously. It's a packed house. And you're right, Billy.
• 22:52
  Speaker 3: What a difference it was in Houston.
• 22:54
  Speaker 2: Tatis, Merrill, Milwaukee's favorite player, Manny Machado. Man, they're good.
• 22:59
  Speaker 2: My favorite. Yes, sir.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: They're a good team. They're one of the few teams
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: that won a season series against the Brewers this year, 4-2. Yeah,
• 23:05
  Speaker 1: that's right. But it's supposed to be.
• 23:08
  Speaker 2: Hard, right? They're hot. That's it. They're hot for now. Yeah,
• 23:12
  Speaker 2: that's the thing. They're hot for now, Drew, and I
• 23:14
  Speaker 2: like that you said it that way because San Diego
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: also has the one– they have rolling for them. One
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: thing that you see a lot of different teams do
• 23:23
  Speaker 2: the Brewers best team in baseball all year long, San
• 23:26
  Speaker 2: Diego best team in baseball since September started. But since what,
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: like maybe June is when the swoon really ended for them.
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: Tatis didn't hit a Homer for the first like two
• 23:37
  Speaker 2: months of the year and ended with a two 80
• 23:40
  Speaker 2: average 25 bombs and ended up kind of being the
• 23:43
  Speaker 2: guy that you expect him to be. And they've had
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: it all crammed into like four months. So They've got
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: all the positive, good vibes rolling that you can. One
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: thing that quiets that down is Miz and an excited
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: Brewers crowd. And then you string together three hits. That'll
• 23:58
  Speaker 2: quiet that place down a little bit.
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: So the Cubs didn't have an extra base hit in
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: the series until the ninth inning of game two. Wow.
• 24:05
  Speaker 2: Nico Horner doubled. And this was one of the best
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: offenses in baseball.
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: And Crow Armstrong and Bregman combined to go 0 for
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: 15 in two games. Yeah, that's a recipe to lose him.
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: Good night.
• 24:14
  Speaker 1: Good morning, good evening, good night.
• 24:17
  Speaker 2: So Horner had four of their eight hits in the series.
• 24:20
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 24:20
  Speaker 2: My goodness. Wow. That's right. That's wild. Yeah, that's getting
• 24:23
  Speaker 2: escorted out quickly. And I thought about being the internet
• 24:28
  Speaker 2: meme of my man in the picture, just the dude
• 24:30
  Speaker 2: in the tux fixing the tie at the funeral. I'll
• 24:35
  Speaker 2: do that after the Brewers get past San Diego because
• 24:38
  Speaker 2: that was you didn't even have the chance to spike
• 24:41
  Speaker 2: the football last night.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: And then the Red Sox got vanquished outscored 18 to
• 24:46
  Speaker 1: two in two games. The biggest, most lopsided margin in
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: this two game round since they instituted it.
• 24:52
  Speaker 2: And I don't necessarily would like being that guy, Drew,
• 24:55
  Speaker 2: but I think it was last night. I was in
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: game one. They pulled Thule. Is that how you pronounce
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: his name? Thule. Sweet, sweet mustache. Yeah, they pull him.
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: before he was going to face ben rice and miller
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: comes in and quickly gives one up to the right
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: field bleachers pretty sure the exact same thing happened last
• 25:13
  Speaker 2: night they yanked they yanked sunny gray who was dancing
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: around some trouble and uh miller cat gave it up
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: to i believe it was bellinger who leaned back and
• 25:21
  Speaker 2: put that thing into the bleacher that's a little.
• 25:23
  Speaker 3: Upset a little salty he did not look at um
• 25:28
  Speaker 3: He was upset. He said, how can you pull me
• 25:29
  Speaker 3: after 70 pitches? I'm the best pitcher through three times
• 25:32
  Speaker 3: with lineup in baseball.
• 25:33
  Speaker 2: That's just a fact. Well, there you have it.
• 25:36
  Speaker 3: I'm a highly successful national football. He says it's beyond debate.
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: I don't know how you could pull me. And he
• 25:41
  Speaker 3: definitely wasn't happy. It just shows you how quickly things
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: can end.
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: I mean, in this game and we, two things can
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: be true. Like the playoffs is a new season to
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: clean slate. What happened in the, what happened during the
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: one 62 kind of gets wiped away. such as the
• 25:56
  Speaker 1: Brewers going 7-0 against the Dodgers.
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: And then, like, meaning what? They got swept 0-4.
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: But at the same time, the Cubs slump started, kind
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: of started when the Brewers took, you know.
• 26:10
  Speaker 2: I would totally agree. They kind of, like, squashed their hopes.
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: But then they, you know, and they were in a swoon,
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: and then they kind of rose up, and they punched
• 26:18
  Speaker 1: their ticket. But as my pal Bob Nightingale pointed out,
• 26:21
  Speaker 1: when Nico Horner got that run-scoring single last night, to
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: knock in their only run of the series. That snapped
• 26:29
  Speaker 1: a two for 66 streak with runners in scoring position
• 26:32
  Speaker 1: in the previous eight games.
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there was a lot of questions.
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: And I remember the Brewers when they were at their
• 26:38
  Speaker 1: most brutal and they were so tough to watch and
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: they couldn't get a hit with runners, couldn't get the
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: runs in, couldn't score. They were still winning games, but
• 26:44
  Speaker 1: they couldn't get runs in like for mostly that was
• 26:46
  Speaker 1: like maybe a rough week or something. One of their
• 26:49
  Speaker 1: stretches when they went like three and seven in a
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: 10 game stretch or something.
• 26:52
  Speaker 2: Sounds about right. They couldn't score. And we were ripping them,
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: but two for 66. Game of streaks. That is a
• 26:59
  Speaker 2: wild close. Offense is contagious. So is slumping.
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: And that's why in the snap of a finger, the
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: Padres could come here and the Mojo could go bye-bye.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: And if they go back to San Diego down 0-2,
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: that crowd can only help you so much.
• 27:15
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it can only do so much. And the thing is,
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: you don't let them have a lead into the eighth inning.
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: They don't get to deploy their biggest weapon. And that's it.
• 27:22
  Speaker 2: That's the thing.
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: And The thing is with the Cubs, but the same
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: thing happened last year. The Brewers took their week off.
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: They come out and put up six in the first inning,
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: didn't they, in game one against the Cubs? They cruised
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: through game two, and then they went and.
• 27:35
  Speaker 2: Kind of filled their socks a little bit. That's right.
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: That's the experience that will be pivotal to me.
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: At worst, as it's not really a groundbreaking– hot take
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: of sports radio, but at worst, you leave Milwaukee with
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: a 1-1 split in the blue plate to win a five-gamer.
• 27:51
  Speaker 2: Even then, you're kind of at a disadvantage. Oh, big time, yeah.
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: You don't have to wrestle back to home field.
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: But if you hold serve going into that cauldron, can't
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: be much worse than what they experienced last year when
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: they were haranguing freddie peralta and like everybody the whole
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: brewers team looked rattled well i was.
• 28:09
  Speaker 2: Gonna say quinn priester walked up there and you could
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: i could see the fear in his eyes from 90
• 28:13
  Speaker 2: miles away.
• 28:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah so whoever gets the the rock whether it's uh
• 28:17
  Speaker 1: you know the affable bobby gasser or dustin may or
• 28:20
  Speaker 1: whoever gets that rock in game three or even if
• 28:23
  Speaker 1: it's a bullpen day or whatever it is that you know,
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: you're going to be going into it there.
• 28:27
  Speaker 2: And they know that though, because they were just there
• 28:28
  Speaker 2: last year. Yep. And Drew, I think that's a, that's
• 28:30
  Speaker 2: a really, really good point. Murph talked about it every
• 28:33
  Speaker 2: time he could into a microphone about how much of
• 28:37
  Speaker 2: a hornet's nest that was. They walked into at Wrigley
• 28:39
  Speaker 2: field last year. He's like, you guys understand how tough
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: that was. I don't know. I don't know. You guys
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: understand how tough that was for a young team. Well,
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: now they understand how tough it is to go play
• 28:47
  Speaker 2: playoff baseball on the road in a hostile environment. Will
• 28:50
  Speaker 2: it factor in? Hopefully it helps out. I mean, Bobby
• 28:53
  Speaker 2: Gasser came in and cleaned up that blowout in game four,
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: I think, down in Wrigley last year. So he's had
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: the opportunity. I'm really interested to see if it's Dustin May,
• 29:04
  Speaker 2: because this is the one part where maybe some familiarity
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: is a factor. Maybe it's not. He's pitched in San
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: Diego a number of times, right? Being a former Dodger,
• 29:13
  Speaker 2: that atmosphere, that building is not going to be foreign
• 29:16
  Speaker 2: to him at all. And I kind of like the chances.
• 29:19
  Speaker 1: Two games is the epitome of the small sample, right?
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: And the stats from two games can be misleading. Like
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: we said, the Cubs did eight hits in two games
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: and scored one run in two games. This is the
• 29:31
  Speaker 1: most productive offense in baseball.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: But ops leaders in mlb.
• 29:34
  Speaker 1: As my pal uh robert stanbury only the third aka
• 29:39
  Speaker 1: buzzy from baltimore buster only pointed out during the regular
• 29:43
  Speaker 1: season the yankees like hitting with two strikes is hard
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: and it's hard to be productive the yankees batters in
• 29:50
  Speaker 1: the regular season hitting with two strikes had a 153
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: average Two games against the Red Sox, they hit.
• 29:55
  Speaker 2: 364.
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: It's like they know what's coming. Like, the scouting was
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: that good, or they just, for two games, were locked in.
• 30:02
  Speaker 1: The lefty against lefty platoon generally, you know, reduces the
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: productivity of left-handed hitters facing left-handed pitchers. The Yankees hit, like,.
• 30:09
  Speaker 1: 500 against lefties. They're lefty on lefties.
• 30:11
  Speaker 2: They're raking. And there's no point where we're going to— Now,
• 30:14
  Speaker 2: is that sustainable? Maybe, but— It looked a little flukish
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: to me. Well, and that's the fun part about the
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: baseball playoffs, though. The fluky things can carry you for
• 30:25
  Speaker 2: three weeks or a month into a ride that you
• 30:28
  Speaker 2: never forget. That's right. And we spend so much mental
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: energy and analysis.
• 30:32
  Speaker 3: Trying to figure out what the secret sauce is in
• 30:33
  Speaker 3: the playoffs, and there often isn't one. The secret sauce
• 30:37
  Speaker 3: is your guys have to make those plays in those moments,
• 30:40
  Speaker 3: or they don't, and that's just what's going to decide it.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: I mean, you talk about power, power plays.
• 30:45
  Speaker 3: Well, the Cubs led the NL in home runs. It
• 30:47
  Speaker 3: didn't play when they didn't have them. Yeah, you talk
• 30:49
  Speaker 3: about the splits there. It's just a small sample, and
• 30:52
  Speaker 3: that's the way baseball goes in these small playoff situations.
• 30:55
  Speaker 2: Do you like this one better? Do you like the
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: three games better than the old one game that they had?
• 31:00
  Speaker 3: I did.
• 31:02
  Speaker 1: The one game was unfair because if say you're the
• 31:05
  Speaker 1: White Sox or something, you play on the road, your
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: fans don't get a game and it's like, yeah, it
• 31:09
  Speaker 1: kind of sucks. But the same thing, you can get
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: eliminated in three without coming back without coming home.
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: Right.
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: But it is a little more fair than to put
• 31:16
  Speaker 1: it on one game. But at the same time, I
• 31:18
  Speaker 1: didn't mind the fact of like, you're watching four game
• 31:20
  Speaker 1: sevens across baseball to start the playoffs. It's like, let's
• 31:24
  Speaker 1: get a bunch of game sevens.
• 31:25
  Speaker 2: So it does emphasize the importance of getting the buy too.
• 31:28
  Speaker 1: There are folks like you can't make that first round
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: of five gamer.
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: Cause then the buy becomes like an albatross. Then it
• 31:36
  Speaker 2: becomes the college football playoff buy where you don't want
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: it too long.
• 31:39
  Speaker 1: And then the, you know, you could say, I've heard
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: a lot of people say, well, winning the V the
• 31:45
  Speaker 1: division should get you a buy and just add another
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: wild card. team and let them play it and give
• 31:50
  Speaker 1: all three division winners first round.
• 31:53
  Speaker 3: Then you have the astros who didn't deserve anything even
• 31:55
  Speaker 3: though they won well there's gonna.
• 31:57
  Speaker 1: Be a losing team in the nfl deserve to host
• 31:59
  Speaker 1: a playoff game because they won the division i say no.
• 32:02
  Speaker 4: They do every year though but you know what's the
• 32:07
  Speaker 4: reward for winning the division if you have to play
• 32:08
  Speaker 4: in the wild card round because i gotta be honest
• 32:10
  Speaker 4: with you the one game was the I thought it
• 32:13
  Speaker 4: was the greatest thing that's ever been.
• 32:15
  Speaker 2: Oh, it was fun. I thought it was so cool.
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: So until the Brewers lost in Washington.
• 32:19
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: Until that ball went right underneath Trent Grisham's leg. I
• 32:22
  Speaker 2: didn't love it as much, but Hey man, it gives
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: and takes that game seven instantly to start sets. No,
• 32:29
  Speaker 2: there's no better tenor and no better way to start.
• 32:32
  Speaker 2: It's great. And then in essence, we did get that too.
• 32:35
  Speaker 2: Cause you know, people forget. Yeah. The Brewers lost that
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: one gamer.
• 32:38
  Speaker 1: Well, they also, uh, they beat, They won game 163, right?
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: And then didn't have to play one of those. Kind
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: of like that was in essence. That was a one game.
• 32:48
  Speaker 2: 163 is yeah. And that's 2018 was the, was the
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: first test run of this three game series. He got
• 32:55
  Speaker 2: two games at home for the Cubs. They lost 163.
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: Then they lost the wildcard game to the Rockies and
• 32:59
  Speaker 2: their season was done by Wednesday. That was just it. Yeah.
• 33:02
  Speaker 1: And as I say, and people will forget this and
• 33:04
  Speaker 1: I will remind people, no matter what happens, you win
• 33:06
  Speaker 1: the series.
• 33:07
  Speaker 2: You don't play. The Brewers are one. I think that's
• 33:09
  Speaker 2: the playoffs right now.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: They didn't spray champagne and put plastic over lockers and
• 33:14
  Speaker 1: hand out T-shirts, but they won a series already.
• 33:17
  Speaker 2: They won a playoff series. That's the overriding theme for me.
• 33:19
  Speaker 3: I mean, when you watch these series and how much
• 33:22
  Speaker 3: that happened irregularly in 48 hours, you need to just
• 33:25
  Speaker 3: put yourself.
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: That's the answer to anybody who says, well, what's the
• 33:27
  Speaker 1: difference in winning the division if you don't win the
• 33:29
  Speaker 1: World Series? Yeah, well, they won a playoff series. They
• 33:31
  Speaker 1: didn't have to play, and they made it easier on
• 33:33
  Speaker 1: themselves to get to where they want to go.
• 33:35
  Speaker 2: Period.
• 33:35
  Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a lot of teams that aren't going to
• 33:37
  Speaker 3: win the World Series in this playoffs. Everybody won. It
• 33:39
  Speaker 3: doesn't mean everything else.
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: You did was wrong. Including the Cubs and the Red Sox.
• 33:42
  Speaker 1: You know, and a Cubs-Brewers, you know, would have been
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: fun to have that series again, but now we're on
• 33:47
  Speaker 1: to San Diego. We'll talk to Hunter Baumgart about that,
• 33:50
  Speaker 1: Bill Schroeder as well. Other than Manny Machado, there's nothing
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: really to hate the Padres about. They're kind of a
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: likable team. They got a chill vibe.
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: They're not the Dodgers, although they spend a lot of money.
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: They spend a lot. Yeah, no doubt.
• 34:02
  Speaker 1: I've always thought, you know how you talk about Stolen Valor,
• 34:06
  Speaker 1: people with the military, or as has been pointed out
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: by one of my friends who works in the trades,
• 34:10
  Speaker 1: anybody who wears a Carhartt to drink a Pabst in Bayview,
• 34:13
  Speaker 1: Stolen Valor.
• 34:15
  Speaker 2: For the working class, the blue collars, that Armin champions. Yeah,
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: Armin walks in.
• 34:19
  Speaker 1: San Diego, in some ways, San Diego over the years
• 34:22
  Speaker 1: and for much of my life has the Stolen Valor.
• 34:25
  Speaker 1: of positioning themselves as a small market team when they
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: ain't a small market team.
• 34:29
  Speaker 2: That was Boston, New York. They ain't a small market team.
• 34:32
  Speaker 2: That was like Boston.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: Their territory goes into Mexico, and they have a pretty
• 34:37
  Speaker 1: big fan base, and that's a pretty big area, and
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: they're like.
• 34:39
  Speaker 2: A one-team town.
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: They don't have the charges anymore, so all the energy
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: and all the resources and juice goes to the Padres,
• 34:46
  Speaker 1: and they're 81 home games in the playoff run, so yeah.
• 34:49
  Speaker 2: And it's always nice. They're not a small market. Yeah,
• 34:52
  Speaker 2: and it's also. At most, a bottom big or a
• 34:55
  Speaker 2: top mid. If there's five places in America where the
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: weather never changes, San Diego is right there at the
• 35:01
  Speaker 2: top of the list. Most people would say they have
• 35:03
  Speaker 2: the best weather in the country. Like the absolute best
• 35:06
  Speaker 2: in the world. Never changes. Oh, my goodness. It's always good.
• 35:08
  Speaker 2: And they got green crosses all over the place. And
• 35:10
  Speaker 2: great fish tacos in the ballpark. Take a quick break.
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: You're in the huddle.
• 35:14
  Speaker 1: Fox Sports Radio, Wisconsin. Drew, Billy, and Armin reunited. It
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: feels so good. First half of a doubleheader for us.
• 35:24
  Speaker 1: We'll be at Pottawatomie Sportsbook in the Annex tonight with
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: the Thursday Night Huddle. Invite you to come and join
• 35:30
  Speaker 1: us in person if you're in the area. What else
• 35:32
  Speaker 1: are you going to do? It's raining outside.
• 35:34
  Speaker 2: It's soggy.
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: Come on inside and watch some sports. There will be,
• 35:37
  Speaker 1: as Billy mentioned, there'll be some college game on, some
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: great things at the buffet, layer investments for the NFL Sunday.
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: Watch everything. the Browns and the Steelers, which two, two
• 35:48
  Speaker 2: and one teams, two and one teams. And everybody's tied
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: in that division at two and one. We mentioned the
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: winner take all game in the MLB, but yeah, The
• 35:57
  Speaker 2: action really is hot in Sin City because I believe
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: it's winner take all fevers and aces tonight. Oh, and
• 36:03
  Speaker 2: that's been a while. That's up there. We're not going
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: to talk about it, but that's been a while series.
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: I don't know. Did you guys talk about Asia Wilson
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: walking into the crowd with the point heard around the
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: world in Indianapolis? Well, I was off yesterday. We didn't
• 36:14
  Speaker 2: talk about that. Oh, my goodness. Walking that guy down
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: there at courtside. His wife pulled him down first, though.
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: She's going to kick your ass.
• 36:23
  Speaker 3: Y'all said an 18 winning. I mean, that's the first
• 36:25
  Speaker 3: time an 18 ever won. Beat a one seed in
• 36:29
  Speaker 3: the Liberty, right?
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: Liberty won. And not Liberty Bibberty. No, not Liberty Bibberty.
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: Who is apparently now a thing. I didn't realize Liberty
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: Bibberty was actually a physical being, but now he's sitting
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: with Jason Benetti during a playoff. It's a good spot
• 36:44
  Speaker 2: for him. And Enrique, a.
• 36:46
  Speaker 3: Local hero, I was going to say Rike had 45
• 36:50
  Speaker 3: to stave.
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: Off elimination in overtime. She scored 45 for Dallas. That's
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: a seven against the two. So Rike was, you know,
• 37:00
  Speaker 2: And that game will be played Friday night. Man, we
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: might have to be watching the W. Well, I've been
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: telling you all summer. If you like sweet action, man,
• 37:06
  Speaker 2: it's been pretty good.
• 37:07
  Speaker 3: Well, I'll be betting it tonight. I mean, listen, I've
• 37:10
  Speaker 3: been rolling pretty good on Thursday nights.
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: One of the things they'll be addressing on the Steelers-Browns
• 37:15
  Speaker 1: broadcast is that, obviously, it's the old rivalry, and you've
• 37:19
  Speaker 1: got Rodgers again in a primetime slot, so they'll be
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: talking about him a lot. But the Steelers traded Joey
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: Porter to the Cowboys. Joey Porter Jr. gets dumped to
• 37:26
  Speaker 1: the Cowboys for a second next year. And I'm a
• 37:30
  Speaker 1: sixth next year in the second 28.
• 37:32
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 37:32
  Speaker 2: And a guy that has just been frustrated with his
• 37:36
  Speaker 2: contract ever since the start of the year. And Pittsburgh
• 37:40
  Speaker 2: wasn't going to pay him. And that's the interesting part here, Drew,
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: where you get to a point in the league where
• 37:45
  Speaker 2: it's like, well, at this point, you have to extend me.
• 37:48
  Speaker 2: There used to be a time you played out the contract.
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: And I think you see a lot more of these
• 37:53
  Speaker 2: older school organizations where they're going to pay some. We're
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: not going to pay everybody. We're paying Cam Hayward more
• 38:00
  Speaker 2: money every single year. We're paying TJ Watt money every
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: single year. We're paying all of this front seven money
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: every single year. And they got to trim at some point.
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: Steelers already had the highest price defense in football, like
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: by a wide margin. And, you know, Joey Porter Jr.
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: I think he's a good player. I don't know that
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: he's a great player, but he's a good player. And
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: they quickly said that they can get somebody else. Hey,
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: who knows? If they're putting up 30 a game, Drew,
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: they're just planning on outscoring people. I'll tell you, I
• 38:26
  Speaker 2: think Joey Porter Jr. might have helped them last week,
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: try to slow down Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins a
• 38:30
  Speaker 2: little bit, but they got the win, didn't necessarily matter.
• 38:34
  Speaker 2: I'll tell you who I'm excited to see here tonight, though.
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: Todd Munkin. in Huntington Bank Stadium, Huntington Bank Field once again.
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: Leader of the Browns, 60-year-old first-time head coach, living his
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: absolute best life, trying to move his team into first
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: place here tonight. You know what? It is all of
• 38:51
  Speaker 2: a sudden the NFL will give it in this way, right?
• 38:54
  Speaker 3: When we talk about all the unusual things that happen
• 38:56
  Speaker 3: week to week, that all of a sudden this game
• 38:59
  Speaker 3: is interesting and important. Like, you know, I think we
• 39:03
  Speaker 3: would have looked at this game and saying, oh, Steelers-Browns, like,
• 39:05
  Speaker 3: before the season started, who cares? There's a lot of
• 39:08
  Speaker 3: interest in this game now. It's going to be compelling,
• 39:11
  Speaker 3: and it's an important game, obviously, so it'll be fun
• 39:13
  Speaker 3: to watch. And, yeah, the other thing with Joey Porter
• 39:16
  Speaker 3: is I don't know if that back is going to
• 39:17
  Speaker 3: heal now. That's the big question I have.
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: Well, it's crazy what happens, Armin, when you sleep on
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: a bed of money. Yeah, it's amazing.
• 39:25
  Speaker 3: It's therapeutic. Quickly is able to... fix back, cure back
• 39:31
  Speaker 3: pains very, very quickly. Tempur-pedically, you know, one of those things, yeah.
• 39:35
  Speaker 2: Micah slept on one last year, and he was better
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: for week one. All of a sudden, better to go.
• 39:39
  Speaker 2: But Todd Munkin, one of the reasons why, not only
• 39:42
  Speaker 2: because he's a Division III guy, there's always going to
• 39:44
  Speaker 2: be a little soft spot in my heart for any
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: DIII guys in there. But my man might be one
• 39:49
  Speaker 2: of the more undervalued NFL guys in a long time.
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: He was the leader of the coaching staff in the,
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: I believe, play caller when Georgia won the national title
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: against Alabama in 2021. Same deal in 2022 when they
• 40:05
  Speaker 2: steamrolled and freight-trained TCU, put up 65 against them, and
• 40:09
  Speaker 2: was the offensive coordinator for another one of Lamar Jackson's
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: MVP seasons. So he's been doing this for a while
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: and now finally gets his chance, Drew, and... Steelers better
• 40:18
  Speaker 2: come prepared. Those brownies are ready to play here tonight.
• 40:22
  Speaker 2: That's going to be fun on prime. I'm with you.
• 40:24
  Speaker 2: This used to be, I thought, I think they were
• 40:27
  Speaker 2: planning this to be a shovel game. Yeah. This was
• 40:30
  Speaker 2: the one that if Al Michaels was circling the schedule,
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: he thought Lambeau, Atlanta, Green Bay, that'll be a, that'll
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: be a good game. And then I'll get the snoozer
• 40:40
  Speaker 2: one week later that I'll just have to look forward
• 40:41
  Speaker 2: to my steak. He's just praying. He gets a good one.
• 40:44
  Speaker 2: So he doesn't fall asleep in that fourth quarter. It
• 40:45
  Speaker 2: should be fun tonight.
• 40:47
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: It is.
• 40:48
  Speaker 1: And we'll have fun at Pottawatomie Sportsbook. Annex, come see
• 40:50
  Speaker 1: us for the Thursday Night Huddle. All right, 5 o'clock. Clubbers,
• 40:53
  Speaker 1: make room. The 6 o'clock crew is going to join
• 40:56
  Speaker 1: us next year in the huddle. Fox Sports Radio, Wisconsin.