Latest / The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon / Brent Blum checks in from Ireland, Lee Sterling's Weekly Picks including Iowa State/K-State & the Voice of the Chiefs Mitch Holthus

Transcript

Brent Blum checks in from Ireland, Lee Sterling's Weekly Picks including Iowa State/K-State & the Voice of the Chiefs Mitch Holthus · The Lunch Rush with Trent Condon

0:14
I'm Hillary Condon, welcome on a Thursday.
0:18
Most talented beetle for a lot of people's.
0:21
Bunny, that is crazy because as I was looking, I'm like, I
0:24
haven't played this one a long time, you know, And I had the
0:28
exact same thought. It's like we've been working
0:30
together for a while because I had the exact same thought.
0:33
Well, not all of my you're not. You're not buying JJ McCarthy.
0:36
Well, yes, we still have our disagreements, but there are a
0:40
lot of things that were connected.
0:41
And George Harrison for my money.
0:42
Mine too. I think he's my favorite Beatle.
0:45
Is that a good way to put it? I'm, I'm with you.
0:47
Paul McCartney's been terrific, obviously a long career, and I
0:50
think he's coming back to Des Moines or he's just in Des
0:52
Moines. Ringo's number 4.
0:55
Yeah, but still part of the Fab Four.
0:57
Yes, good for them and obviously pioneers and we will get to
1:02
sports and do so right now. Here's what's coming up on our
1:04
program in about 10 minutes. We're going to head to via
1:07
telephone to Ireland, catch up with Brent Bloom from We Will.
1:12
The plane landed. They got off the plane.
1:13
I see Iowa State, the football team is in front of a huge
1:17
Catholic Church doing some stretching exercises.
1:20
OK, I don't know what the itinerary is going forward, but
1:25
we'll pick Brent's brain, Brent's brain and do so here in
1:29
about 10 minutes. It was indeed a direct flight
1:31
from Des Moines International to Dublin where they landed 7 1/2
1:35
hour flight. They're there as we'll talk to
1:37
Brent Bloom. Then we're going to talk for the
1:38
first time for, oh gosh, maybe as a 20 weeks or so.
1:42
Lee Sterling joins us from paramountsports.com.
1:45
He's a handicapper. He does sell his picks and we'll
1:48
do at the end of the show, but always puts out a couple of
1:51
freebies if you're interested and then you are so inclined,
1:55
you can take him up on one of his offers or not and listen in
1:58
again next Thursday for the picks that he provides for free.
2:01
But Lee Sterling, by the way, Trenton, I get 0 for this.
2:04
So it's not a paid thing. We just appreciate Lee's opinion
2:08
on some of the things that he opines on.
2:11
Lee Sterling coming up at about 12:30, paramountsports.com.
2:14
He's back for another season at 12:50.
2:18
Mitch Holtis is unavailable Live Today.
2:21
He's speaking at a welcome back Chiefs luncheon.
2:24
One of those deals. So I'm seeing it.
2:27
So he will join us. Sent some tape along.
2:29
We'll get to that at some point. Hour number two, just one guest,
2:32
should be a good one. David Kaplan, who couldn't join
2:35
us yesterday, pushed back to today.
2:37
He will join us to kick off the second hour of the show and with
2:42
Aya with the Cubs and the Brewers set to play ball at the
2:45
Wrigley Field alley of their five game set at 120.
2:50
Imanaga, I know goes for the Cubs.
2:54
Who counters? It is, oh, Priester has been
2:57
really good. Priester rather no L in it.
2:59
Priester he's been really good. So that's a pretty good pitching
3:02
matchup. He's 11 and 2.
3:04
It's unbelievable. He's just one of those guys.
3:06
You know, I'm kind of glad that I focused as much on this
3:10
Brewers Cubs series this week because I we keep asking how are
3:14
these Brewers doing it? Who are these guys?
3:16
And then you see who these guys are and they're really good.
3:20
They got some guys that, you know, you wouldn't necessarily
3:23
come to mind right off the bat, like the the second baseman.
3:28
What's what's his name? Turang, Turang.
3:30
Turang Turang. What a player this guy's turned
3:33
out to be. And he was, I mean, he couldn't
3:35
get him off the base pass last night.
3:37
So this another one, another one. 25 years old, just good,
3:44
solid young guys that are cheap. That's what you have to do when
3:48
you're the Brewers and they're all poppin and then you go out
3:52
and get Andrew Vaughn off the scrappy and what he's doing.
3:54
And Speaking of good players, Contreras that hit last night.
3:58
Yeah. I thought that was destined for
4:00
right center field. And then Nico Horner had other
4:03
ideas and game over and Palencia, who's been kind of
4:06
hair on fire as of late, but he got the job done.
4:09
Anyways, that finale coming up and Cappy will join us here at
4:13
1:00. So I want to start just because
4:15
you tipped me off on it and I watched the 1st 2 episodes of of
4:19
the Cowboys America's Team last night and I loved episode 1.
4:24
I loved episode 1 learning about Jerry Jones and how it all came
4:28
together. And if you're kind of 40506070
4:33
years of age and that and the late 80s into the 90s, Cowboys
4:38
were a thing and they couldn't help but be a thing if you
4:40
watched football because they were on everything.
4:43
If you watch sports, just how it came together.
4:46
And what an A hole Jimmy Johnson was.
4:49
Holy crap he was a hard ass. So I just got through episode 4,
4:53
I believe it was. And this is the beginning of the
4:56
end is what I'm getting into. And you think it's bad that what
4:59
you've seen? Oh.
5:00
It is bad. You just wait because it was big
5:05
time. And there's a clip of Ed Werner,
5:07
who I think most everybody remembers from ESPN back when he
5:10
was with the Dallas Morning News and they were at the owner
5:14
meeting after the second Super Bowl.
5:16
And he's getting ready to leave, had a couple drinks, getting
5:18
ready to get out of there. And he is told by Jerry Jones,
5:23
don't go anywhere. He tipped them off.
5:26
I'm going to fire that. Holy mackerel.
5:28
Wow, the whole Tom Landry thing and and how much Landry meant to
5:31
the city of the it's look, I'm not a Cowboys fan.
5:34
If you're if you're a football fan and you lived in that period
5:37
of time, going back and seeing how it all came together, you
5:42
know, I've always said, I think Tom Brady's the best looking guy
5:44
in the world. I think Roy Aikman gave him a
5:46
run for his money. I mean, my God, talk about
5:48
central casting for Aikman and just a quiet dude and Berlin
5:53
taking his spot. And then the Charles Haley story
5:56
that you started to tell and stopped yesterday, how he got
5:59
out of San Francisco. Holy mackerel, that was that
6:03
what you were anticipating was no, I certainly wasn't the last
6:06
thing this guy walked into the gym.
6:10
I'm sure I heard this right. Stop me if I'm going down the
6:12
wrong path. He walked into the GM of the
6:15
Niners office, whipped out his you know what, and took a piss
6:19
all over his desk. It's a good way to get out of
6:22
town. That probably seals your fate,
6:25
right? And the fact that he admits that
6:28
he's bipolar, he's got three different personalities.
6:32
Chuck, Charlie, Charles. Just what a but what AI mean?
6:37
He was unblockable. He was unblockable.
6:40
Oh, what a team and what a fun story.
6:42
It's really well done. But just the whole Jerry Jones,
6:45
how he came up with the money and the the gambles that he took
6:48
and bringing his family into things and going back to the,
6:52
you know, the old Dallas stadium with the hole in the roof and
6:54
that those phenomenal, phenomenal, phenomenal.
6:58
And he couldn't help but watch him right.
6:59
Every Thanksgiving. He knew they were going to be on
7:01
TV and listening to Madden and Summer all damn it.
7:04
That was so good. And it it continues, you'll get
7:08
into the next episodes, the NFC Championship games against the
7:10
Niners. Oh, they were appointment.
7:12
TV that is coming up and hearing the way that they just spliced
7:15
those two in there, the understated Pat Sumrall.
7:18
Understated. Madden doing his thing.
7:22
It is incredible, it really is. It is perfect cinema for what we
7:27
like and because of that I still haven't got the Hard Knocks and
7:30
I want. To now I'm with you and I've got
7:31
I've got recorded as well, but. Because it's going to be the
7:34
Bears game, right? It has to be.
7:36
Is it, can they turn it around that quickly or is it going to
7:38
be man? No, I would think I fair fair
7:42
question. I don't know the answer I.
7:44
That's if it is of. Course you want to see it.
7:47
Your bears took it to him anyways.
7:50
All right, Brent Bloom coming up, we're going to head over to
7:52
Ireland, get the latest on on kind of the lay of the land,
7:56
live vicariously through Brent Bloom as to how he's seeing,
8:00
what he's seen so far. We will get to I think tomorrow
8:04
Heather's going to join us. She, of course, is over there
8:08
4K, X&O and the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
8:11
But let's get the Devon in here. He's been watching the Cowboys
8:15
dock, I'm assuming. Devon, your thoughts on what
8:18
you've seen so far? So I've watched all 8 episodes.
8:22
I actually, I binge watched the last three yesterday.
8:24
I think it was 100% phenomenal. A+.
8:29
Now I wasn't alive from the 90s era, so I didn't get to
8:33
experience any of that, any of that.
8:35
But the documentary made me feel like I did.
8:38
I was watching and it was, it's just incredible.
8:41
And my dad, he was a Cowboys fan in the 90s.
8:44
So I'm talking to him about all this stuff and he's just
8:45
reminiscing and it's, I can't imagine being a Cowboys fan in
8:50
the 90s. Like obviously now it's not what
8:52
it used to be. Probably never will, but.
8:54
Hopefully it was just It was. Great.
8:55
And I love seeing Jimmy Johnston get when he was in the Ring of
8:58
Honor. The last episode's a really good
9:00
episode, so buckle up. It's a really good documentary.
9:03
I think I'm, I can't wait till you guys finish it and to hear
9:07
what you guys got to say about it.
9:08
Thank you, Devin. Appreciate you all.
9:10
Appreciate you listening. Yeah, I'm into it.
9:11
I'm totally into it. It's really.
9:13
Good, I've got you 2 good ones. You have and again, and I said
9:15
it at the end of the show, Give me.
9:17
Something good for once, yeah. And no more.
9:20
We'll be waiting until putting these out right when football
9:22
season's here. I guess it just it gets you
9:25
excited for this season. Jesus, you don't think we would
9:28
have watched this in June? Oh yeah, and the amount of you
9:32
would think what is there 300 and some sports stations across
9:36
the country 400 and. Some It's a huge radio station.
9:39
Oh, I have no idea. There's billions of podcasts
9:42
now. I mean it's.
9:42
Billions, yeah. You're right.
9:45
Why this? Because we're looking for things
9:48
to talk about in the summer. It's king football.
9:50
Now we've got things to talk about, we've got a game on
9:53
Saturday. And and a very important game
9:55
for so many different reasons. And football, real football, is
9:58
almost here. You're exactly right.
10:00
At minimum, move this back a month.
10:02
Move it back a month precisely. Middle of July, if this would
10:05
have been released, how huge? And it's already big and and
10:09
reading the feedback from people Rotten Tomatoes, if you're a
10:12
believer in that good numbers, there it is everybody like.
10:16
I'd hate to have to pick which one any given Saturday.
10:19
The SEC, which is really good. Really good.
10:22
But I'm into this America's Team document documentary.
10:27
It is phenomenal if you're into these type of things again,
10:31
don't be a Cowboys fan, neither Trent nor I am.
10:34
But just as Devin said is talking about his daddy just
10:37
takes you back to that era. What a phenomenal time.
10:39
I mean, how many times seriously, how many times did
10:43
you say to each other or say to your friends when the when the
10:46
Niners and the Cowboys were about to embark on the on the
10:51
championship game, the NFC championship, get that this is
10:54
the real Super Bowl, right? Heard it over and over.
10:56
I mean, ESPN Sports Center refer to it that way.
10:59
Phenomenal, phenomenal. I guess call it television,
11:02
right? You know, can't wait to get back
11:04
to it. Alright, let's head to Ireland.
11:06
Don't want to keep this guy waiting.
11:07
Hope he's got a good sell plan. Brent Bloom from we will joins
11:10
us. They're on the ground.
11:11
Brent Trenton. Ken, thanks for coming on.
11:13
How are you A lot of people living vicariously through you.
11:17
Brent Bloom, good to talk to you.
11:20
Good to see you guys good to talk to you guys.
11:22
So I just literally got out of the Jamison tour here in Iowa,
11:25
in Dublin. So no big deal, you know, had
11:28
had to break it off. So to talk to you guys.
11:30
No, we. Appreciate.
11:31
It you guys. So Brent, I've been, I've been
11:33
telling the audience the last couple of weeks since you and I
11:35
ran into each other a couple of weekends ago that you relayed to
11:39
me some of the logistics behind the scenes that you had to get
11:43
special permission from the airport authority, whoever that
11:47
is to for the size of the plane. Because you guys, there was no
11:50
stop. It was wheels up, wheels down. 7
11:52
1/2 hours later I was relaying that story correctly.
11:56
Correct. You got it.
11:58
So if you heard a big noise out of Des Moines last night.
12:01
So we left the morning at 7:30 last night and straight through
12:05
to Dublin. So it's probably the first ever
12:06
charter flight from Des Moines to Dublin in the history of FAA.
12:10
But yeah, so it's great. So we literally landed here at
12:13
9:00 AM this morning, Dublin time, which has been 3:00 AM
12:16
Iowa time. And it's been it's been like
12:19
super seamless. The football players, just so
12:21
you guys know, got the recliner seats.
12:23
I did not. So they don't care.
12:26
They don't care about the admins.
12:28
They care about the football players, which is great.
12:29
So the coaches also set in the economy.
12:32
But yeah, it's been it's been really good of this play.
12:35
I mean, I'm telling you like this is what call football is
12:38
all about. You got great people.
12:40
They said Iowa State fans probably 12,500 each.
12:43
And it's been a great time so far.
12:45
So as we go through and lead up to the game, one thing I thought
12:48
was interesting, seeing pictures of the players getting off the
12:51
bus after they left the airport and they're all wearing these
12:54
kind of goofy looking sunglasses.
12:56
Apparently this was part of the sleep study that was done to
12:59
help acclimate them and hopefully not have a whole bunch
13:01
of layover, obviously fatigue that that most everybody has
13:04
there. Do you know anything about that?
13:06
And some of the steps that Coach Campbell has taken though, to
13:09
try to make this as normal as possible when you're going over
13:12
to Ireland. No, great question, Trent.
13:14
So they've talked to all the NFL experts because the NFL has been
13:17
over here for, you know, 10 years now.
13:20
So what they heard was if you get off the plane, again, I did
13:24
not follow this, but the players did, which is great.
13:27
But if you if you acclimate yourself from a sun perspective.
13:30
So they slept as much as they could in the plane.
13:33
So A7 and 1/2 hour flight, the players all had the recliners.
13:37
They tried to sleep on the plane and then trying to get as much
13:39
adjustment as possible to the time change.
13:42
And you know, they were stretching when I got up this
13:44
morning at the, at the Saint Patrick's Cathedral here in
13:47
Dublin. And yeah, it's all part they,
13:50
they, they have done every single stone they could turn
13:54
trying to figure out how to best acclimate themselves to this, to
13:57
the sleep study, to the, you know, sleep deprivation, all
14:01
that good stuff. And it's been good so far.
14:03
So is it 6:15 over there, 5:15? It is 6:15.
14:08
That's what I thought, 6:15, yes.
14:10
So go ahead, guys. They, yeah, so real quick, they
14:13
had that a little walkthrough this afternoon at the rugby
14:17
stadium near the stadium and they'll have another light
14:19
walkthrough tomorrow on Friday at the same rugby stadium.
14:23
But really all the hard work's been done already.
14:26
So they did all the scrimmages, all the practices and pretty
14:29
much know exactly what they have going into Saturday before they
14:32
got here to Dublin. And then when the game is over,
14:36
you guys will spend the night then or what I guess would be
14:39
the rest of the rest of the night and then fly home early.
14:42
So what time will you leave Iowa?
14:44
Time to come back to Des Moines. Great question.
14:47
So we leave 10 AM Ireland time, so before AM Iowa time on
14:52
Sunday. And so we'll be back to Des
14:54
Moines airport by noon on Sunday.
14:57
So I mean, that's the crazy thing is like South Dakota is
14:59
coming up and really good. So you got to be ready to go for
15:03
that. But yeah, we'll be back in Des
15:04
Moines by noon on Sunday and then pretty much that's the
15:08
regular week then after that. So this has all been planned for
15:11
a year and a half like the like the the operations people have
15:15
talked to the NFL folks, Matt's been talking with the NFLGMS.
15:19
They're all in on how to make this as seamless as possible.
15:22
And it was made very clear to us as as guests and admins on this
15:26
flight that this is not a bowl game.
15:29
This is a non conference Rd. game, like, or this is a
15:32
conference Rd. game, excuse me, like we have to treat as such.
15:34
And these guys are booked all the way through till Saturday.
15:37
And you know, I don't think the time change is going to be an
15:40
issue at all really. So we get last night, our first
15:44
ever availability report from the Big 12 is Iowa State and
15:48
Kansas State. Now, Ken and I've been having
15:49
fun time with this. We thought maybe Coach Campbell
15:52
was going to retire before he actually had to do this, but
15:54
here we are. And that was not the case as he
15:56
put one out. I I think the biggest one is
15:58
Trevor Burr on there. Take us in though.
16:01
You obviously know the staff incredibly well.
16:03
This injury report, Matt Campbell.
16:05
But it came out and he was hit. That press conference happened
16:08
like minutes after this was actually released by the Big 12.
16:11
What you've heard from him and that staff as a whole, and then
16:13
the takeaways from the actual report.
16:16
Yeah, I think it's great. Like, I'm all for this.
16:18
I think we the more we get to the NFL model, the better here
16:21
in college athletics. But for Trevor Bora in
16:24
particular, he actually dealt with an illness starting Monday.
16:28
So this was not an injury. This was an illness.
16:30
And this is the thing we have to deal with here.
16:33
And now. How significant is that illness?
16:35
I don't know. He did not travel with the team.
16:37
And so I gave a lot of credit to Matt and the staff, like, hey,
16:40
he's not playing. He did not travel with the team.
16:43
So he will not be available on Saturday and this is part of the
16:46
new deal of like, hey, the more information we release the
16:49
better. What I would say about Trevor,
16:50
it's an illness. So it's not going to be a long
16:52
term deal. We I think I always stayed
16:55
optimistic. We would have him backed by the
16:57
Iowa game here in a couple of weeks.
16:58
But it's not an injury. It's not like a knee situation.
17:01
He had an illness that came up literally on Monday and he will
17:04
be available on Saturday. Brent Bloom from We will is
17:07
joining us. Brent, let's get into the game
17:09
itself. This is such a it really is a
17:12
coin flip, at least to me. I I can make the case for I was
17:15
state. Likewise for K state.
17:17
Maybe I got maybe one or two more chips on K state side of
17:20
the of the Ledger, but it it it absolutely could go either way.
17:23
How do you see it, Brett? What What does Iowa State have
17:25
to do to win this game? Yeah, I think the biggest key
17:28
for Iowa State, Ken, great question, is preventing the big
17:31
play. So we know K State can run the
17:34
ball and Iowa State number one, you know, priority is to stop
17:37
the run. I would say it was second to
17:38
last in the Big 12 despite waiting 11 games and stopping
17:42
the run. So that's number one priority.
17:44
But with Avery Johnson, Jace Brown, all those guys to have on
17:47
K State, they're going to try and suck Iowa State up, throw it
17:50
over the deep end. And that's the big question I
17:52
have is who's that second corner?
17:55
You know, you've got a great corner in John Tennis Williams.
17:59
The other corner is a Trey Bell. There's some talk about Iowa
18:02
State moving Jeremiah Cooper over to a corner and play more
18:05
safeties that are young. But either way, you have a lot
18:08
of experience in a secondary. So my biggest concern for Iowa
18:12
State as they look at it on Saturday is who covers that D
18:15
ball? Can you stop the run first and
18:17
foremost? And if you if you can, how do
18:19
you prevent the big play? But I think Iowa State wise,
18:22
just to give people some some insight here, both towns and
18:26
then Chase so well will play. They're healthy, they're good to
18:28
go. They missed some camp with some
18:30
nagging stuff, but those guys are be good to go.
18:32
And then I keep telling you guys.
18:34
Ben bramer #18 For Iowa State, the tight end is poised to have
18:38
a monster season. So you ask, like, how do you
18:41
replace Noel and Higgins? I think Ben Bramer is a big
18:45
percentage of that because what he can do as a big tight end
18:48
who's basically a a big receiver at his height.
18:51
I've been saying all offseason, enjoy this guy because this is
18:54
the last year, assuming he stays healthy, that he's had the
18:57
league, you know what I mean? You got it.
18:59
He's got that kind of he's right there.
19:00
Like I was up at camp last week and there was multiple NFL
19:04
scouts and they were looking at Ben Bramer in particular.
19:07
This guy is a high level second round, third round pick, maybe
19:11
first round if he has a really good year.
19:13
I, I don't think the Iowa State fans appreciate how good he is.
19:16
And so #18 for Iowa State is going to replace a lot of the
19:19
production from from Nolan Higgins from last year.
19:23
What are the surprises from the depth chart?
19:24
Was the OR between Manske and Moberly at the backup spot?
19:27
Now, it's very unlikely we're going to see either of those
19:30
guys, you would think, on Saturday and he won't have to
19:32
worry about it. But there was some reports, some
19:35
rumblings that Moberly's kind of been banged up here during camp.
19:38
Is that the reason you believe that Pansky's right up there and
19:40
listen, in fact, in front of him with that or with Moberly and
19:43
Mansky a quarterback? Yeah, Trent, you have good
19:45
sources. Yes, that's exactly what it is.
19:47
So, so Moberly missed a couple of days with a nagging injury.
19:51
So Mansky's been really good. Like, this guy is a great
19:53
athlete. Obviously, Texas A&M wanted him
19:55
bad. They just to give you some
19:58
numbers, they offer him about 1010 X when Iowa State did, but
20:01
he chose to go to Iowa State, quite honestly.
20:04
So Mansky's going to be really good.
20:06
But Moberly, it's been a little dinged up.
20:07
They love them both. I think if I was it has an
20:10
injury with Rocco, you know they'll be OK.
20:13
Obviously you want Rocco there, but that's exactly what it is.
20:16
Trend is, is is overly got a little banged up second week of
20:19
camp and Manske kind of took that over.
20:22
And either way, they're pretty comfortable with either of those
20:24
guys. Brent, last thing for you let
20:25
you get back to do what you're doing here.
20:27
What what what's your kind of career path now?
20:30
Are you I know you're still we willing.
20:32
There's been some changes obviously want to fan base to
20:35
keep drinking names lager, needing the pizza, etcetera.
20:39
Kind of give us the lay of the land there, Brent, if you would.
20:43
No, I appreciate that. So from the outside looking in,
20:45
it's all about the same. So we're still doing all the
20:47
Ames Lager, all the Wee Will pizzas and facts.
20:50
We'll breaking news for you guys here on KXNO.
20:52
Hy Vee is going to carry all the Wee Will pizzas throughout the
20:56
state starting next week, if not already.
20:58
That's a big coup. Long time coming.
21:00
Long time coming, yeah? It's going to be huge benefits.
21:03
So their first order honestly was, you know, a massive order
21:06
that will net a lot of dollars to Iowa State through we will.
21:10
So again, appreciate everybody keeping the Ames log or the We
21:13
Will pizzas. But for me, I'm technically
21:15
employed now by Leader Field. You guys know all about that.
21:17
I don't get in the weeds of what that means, but I'll be all in
21:20
the same thing of trying to generate revenue for Iowa State
21:23
and I at the end of the day. So, you know, as far as I'm
21:26
concerned, it's the same old, same old.
21:28
The the check may go a different place, but keep drinking your
21:31
aims lager, your we will pizzas, all the other stuff we got going
21:34
on. And you know, it's pretty crazy.
21:36
You know, for somebody like me who grew up in the 90s watching
21:39
Iowa State, we're coming off an 11 win season, ranks in the top
21:42
25 for the fifth time in seven years in the preseason.
21:46
These are the good times for Iowa State fans.
21:47
So let's keep on keeping on and I think we're have a great day
21:50
on Saturday and hope for the best against the Wildcats.
21:53
Enjoy Dublin. Brent, thanks for popping on.
21:55
Appreciate it. All right, guys, Cheers.
21:57
Yep, good to talk to you, Brent Bloom as we check in from
22:00
Dublin. Fresh off the Jameson.
22:02
To press Jameson. Would that be enough to get you
22:04
to drink a little whiskey? No.
22:06
Still wouldn't do. I know.
22:07
Not even a sip? Nope.
22:10
And I don't think everybody over there is drinking.
22:12
Guinness likes it. I really don't.
22:13
I don't like Guinness. And, and, and I swear to God, I
22:16
think when you see people on a Saturday night having a bourbon,
22:19
they don't like it. They're just doing it for social
22:20
media. Honest to God, it's awful.
22:24
Everybody has different tastes. No, they.
22:25
Don't. Don't yuck people's Yum.
22:27
That's actually pretty. That's what my kids, well, my
22:29
kids say that. I've never heard that before.
22:32
We'll take a time out. Lee Sterling is going to join us
22:35
next. You know how the best way to
22:37
drink Guinness is black and tan? That's how you like it?
22:40
Yeah. I still can't get there.
22:41
I mean, I don't like it. That's how I can.
22:43
You know, choke it down. Right, but I'm not walking into
22:46
a bar that doesn't have a stellar tap.
22:49
Well, you're not walking into many bars anymore anyway.
22:51
Fairpoint, Trent. Good point.
22:52
It's a rarity. Miller and Condon Lee Sterling.
22:54
Next. It's the Iowa Sports Radio
22:56
Network. I'm Hillary Condon, welcome back
23:08
just past 12:30 on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
23:11
Wherever you're listening in the state of Iowa, we are grateful
23:14
that you are. We take you until 2:00.
23:17
At that time off the bench on Roberts Lucas train 2 until
23:20
5:00. Well, for the next 15, whatever
23:25
it is, every Thursday from now until December, this guy's going
23:29
to join us at 12:30 to talk about a handful of games.
23:32
He's back for another year. He's Lee Sterling from
23:34
paramountsports.com, paramountsports.com Lee, things
23:37
have changed since we last spoke.
23:39
We are now statewide on a what, 5 different radio affiliates
23:43
throughout the state of Iowa. So good to have you back.
23:46
Lee Sterling, how are you? Well.
23:47
Well, I'm great. Thanks that, that is great news.
23:50
And I have great news. I married off one of my
23:53
daughter's so one now. Yeah, yeah.
23:57
And he he's a former Kane. So he was a center on the team.
24:01
And if you have to send you put it out on social media.
24:05
So they, they got married July 4th weekend and he keep what
24:09
keeps what's called the notes, things that my daughter says
24:13
that she intends to sound bright, but she doesn't quite
24:17
get there. And he has over 700 things he's
24:20
wrote down in the eight years they've been together.
24:23
So when they were standing there ready, ready to get married, he
24:27
read off some of them and like things like if he had a
24:30
toothpick in his mouth. She goes, oh, I just love that
24:33
pitchfork. And what happened was he put it
24:37
out on TikTok. Someone videoed it and it turned
24:40
out it got over 14 million views.
24:45
They were featured on Good Morning America and ABC last
24:49
Tuesday three times. So my phones finally stopped
24:54
blowing up over the last week. But that was fun to be able to
24:57
give my daughter a memorable wedding, which she told me it
25:01
was the wedding of her dreams. That's awesome.
25:03
Well done, Dad. Well done.
25:04
Absolutely. Thanks.
25:05
And now it's fall and that means no weddings not allowed.
25:08
Shouldn't be doing it. Keep your phone charged.
25:10
I also got married in the but that's a different conversation
25:12
for a different day. All right, Lee, it is time
25:14
before we get into a couple of weeks, 0 games.
25:17
We're going to talk about Iowa and Iowa State here.
25:19
I do want to just kind of lay things out the way that you go
25:22
about things. College football also NFL just
25:25
as a whole. We have a lot of new listeners
25:27
out there. Our audience continues to grow.
25:29
Just if you can, your background, you've been doing
25:31
this for an incredibly long time.
25:33
And what exactly is all-encompassing with you in
25:36
Paramount Sports? So this is my 32nd year.
25:40
I'm a former college quarterback, played at Southwest
25:42
Texas State on the FCS championship team in the early
25:46
80s. So I look at things from a
25:48
perspective as a former quarterback, how will one team's
25:51
offense attack the others defense?
25:53
And I have a staff of nine now. And so we're growing also just
25:58
like you, and we're breaking down and each one of these games
26:03
and, you know, the injuries, yeah, just you got to dig a
26:05
little bit deeper. We've won 30 of 31 years and
26:09
that's documented. You can go to our website,
26:11
paramountsports.com. You can see some free pic videos
26:15
that we have each and every week, four or five of those.
26:17
And I put up my results every single time there's a game.
26:22
As soon as the game starts, we put the game out there and as
26:25
soon as the game's over, we fill it in with the score and whether
26:28
we won or lost. So we do things on the up and
26:31
up. And if you're looking for
26:32
someone give you a little bit of help, we do every single sport.
26:36
Just check out all the specials Paramount sports.com.
26:39
Good stuff. Well, let's get into, let's do
26:41
the conferences first before we focus on the the two games that
26:44
move the needle. Well, we'll start in the Big 10.
26:47
In your mind, Lee, from the homework you've done in
26:50
anticipation of the season leading up to it, who's
26:53
overrated in the Big 10, In your mind, is getting way more love
26:56
than they should have or should be.
26:59
Well, I, I would say #1 Penn State, I'm not in love with a
27:04
quarterback. I mean, he is great drool art
27:07
when they're playing nobody big games.
27:09
I mean, he just tightens up. So, you know, they could end up
27:13
going 11 and one and getting bounced in the playoffs.
27:16
So they're just so much more talented than maybe any other
27:19
team. They're really good.
27:21
I think Oregon with a new quarterback and Dante Moore, I'm
27:25
not completely sold on them yet. I mean, they, they lost almost
27:29
half of their starters, so that could be a tough go.
27:32
And then even Illinois, I mean, they return a lot of key
27:35
players. But you know, I, I think they're
27:38
one of those teams they can get up to a certain level and then
27:41
once they get to that level, they have trouble beating the
27:44
big boys. The team to look out for is
27:46
Nebraska, Dylan Rayola. I think with the right offensive
27:49
coordinator with Dana Holgerson. I, I think they're going to do
27:53
some great things this year. Their defense was good enough.
27:56
They allowed under 20 points per game.
27:59
It was the offense that that that just wasn't right until the
28:02
last game. And now they're using their
28:04
running backs and the only other team that that that might
28:08
surprise some people is Washington.
28:11
Damon Williams, our quarterback, if you haven't seen him yet, he
28:14
can do it all. So he's one of those guys that
28:17
their their win totals like at 6 1/2 seven, they could win 8-9
28:20
games. Same question in the Big 12, and
28:22
it's so difficult because seemingly can make a case for
28:25
everybody overrated, everybody underrated.
28:27
Who do you like? Who do you not like in the Big
28:28
12? Well, I, I think the Big 12
28:31
might come down to the last week.
28:33
I mean, we could have three or four teams right there tied.
28:36
Last year we saw Arizona end up winning it, which was an
28:39
absolute shock. But I like Baylor, I like Utah,
28:42
I like Kansas State and I like Iowa State.
28:45
I think that's the cream of the crop there.
28:47
Texas Tech, you know, they, they're going to find a way to
28:50
always blow it. So they get up as an underdog.
28:54
They're not so good as a favorite.
28:56
BYU is going to be without their quarterback.
28:58
Obviously he had to move, move on with the allegations there
29:01
and would had would have been suspended.
29:05
I'm going to give you a absolute shocker here.
29:08
This is going to be a team you want to play an over under.
29:11
It's the University of Houston. Houston has predicted if you
29:16
look in the if you look at the preseason annuals, they're
29:19
predicted to finish 10th, 11th, 12 by almost everyone.
29:23
I think Willie Fritz is one of the top two or three coaches in
29:26
the conference. Look what he did at Tulane in
29:29
his second and third year. Great evaluator of talent and he
29:33
coaches kids up and finally got a quarterback and Connor Wegman,
29:37
who was at Texas A&M. Good stuff.
29:39
Well, fascinating. We'll watch that.
29:41
Just look at Houston. You don't think they're going to
29:43
have much? It's one of those away for
29:45
basketball type of things cuz they're really good.
29:47
They're obviously, well, let's get into a couple of games.
29:50
Obviously the game that that maybe not half the state, but
29:54
certainly half of central Iowa keeping an eye on is, is Iowa
29:58
State, K State and you said it earlier, those are two teams in
30:01
your mind that could win the Big 12.
30:02
It's a 3 point line. The numbers got I think to 3 1/2
30:06
totals about 49, but K State giving 3 to the clones and what
30:11
I think is a total toss up game. Your thoughts?
30:15
I think so too. I was a little shocked at the
30:17
line. I, you know, I, you know, I, I
30:19
study so many teams and I kind of forgot that Iowa State had
30:22
won for the last five games and covered all five against Kansas
30:26
State. Then I looked at the metrics and
30:29
their schedule. So near identical schedules from
30:32
last year. Iowa State schedules rated 34th,
30:35
Kansas State 38th. The Wildcats were actually
30:38
better in almost every metric except for record example,
30:42
Kansas State out gained their opponents by 83 yards per game.
30:46
I would say 62. They also held a 1.31 yards for
30:51
play differential over their opponents, while the Cyclones
30:54
had a puny 0.16 edge. So why did Iowa State go 11 and
30:59
three and Kansas State nine and four?
31:01
I think one of the main reasons was turnovers.
31:04
Iowa State was +9 for the year. Kansas State -1 After going plus
31:09
11 and plus 12 the last two years, I think the difference in
31:12
this game might come down to Avery Johnson making a big play
31:16
with his feet. So he he's one of the top dual
31:19
threat quarterbacks out there. Take nothing away from Rocco
31:22
back. I think he's great also.
31:24
But also I think Iowa State's going to miss those receivers.
31:27
They have a couple guys coming in who I think you're going to
31:29
be good. It just might take him a couple
31:31
games. Losing those second, third round
31:33
pick Jaden Higgins and Jalen Noel, who combined for 167
31:38
catches and 17 touchdowns, might be too much.
31:42
I'm not a game I'm probably going to give up to my clients,
31:44
but I like Kansas State. I think they're the right side,
31:47
2720. Let's jump over to another Big
31:49
12 team in action at home as they finally get to go back to
31:53
their old stadium, The Jayhawks they welcome in Fresno State.
31:57
A little bit of steam may be starting to come in on the
31:59
Bulldogs down to 12 1/2 at a couple of different spots right
32:02
now. What do you see with the
32:03
Bulldogs and The Jayhawks down at KU?
32:06
Well, sometimes what happens is a team when they open up a new
32:09
stadium, there's so much hoopla, you know, the focus isn't there
32:14
and they just don't play their best game.
32:15
That could happen here. I'm also looking at Kansas, you
32:19
know of their 8 units, you know like quarterback, offensive
32:23
line, receivers, defensive line and the rest of the units only 4
32:29
of the 8 or in the top 11, you know, so for these 8 units are
32:35
irate between 12th and 16th. So I think this is a transition
32:39
year for Kansas. I like the fact that Fresno
32:42
State brought over a quarterback very experienced throwing the
32:45
football and EJ Warner very good at Temple.
32:47
I think Kansas is going to win the game 3225.
32:50
For Fresno State who likes to play, they use that mantra any
32:54
place, anytime, anywhere. I think they cover the spread.
32:58
Quick on this game, not sure if you have an opinion or not, but
33:00
but Stanford is is not supposed to be good this year.
33:03
It's a quote rebuild year Hawaii.
33:06
You never know what you're going to get the the numbers just
33:08
floored me. Lee the movement that we've seen
33:10
in this line, it's been about a four and a half point swing in
33:13
Hawaii's favor. Do you have any opinion on this
33:15
game at all? You know, I, I favor Stanford
33:18
here. I still think they have the
33:19
better athletes and I think even though it's a transition year,
33:24
obviously Frank Reich is probably not for sure, probably
33:28
only going to be there for a year.
33:30
They are going to start a six year senior, Ben Gulbertson.
33:33
He's a guy that, you know, not flashy, but just gets the job
33:37
done here in Hawaii, even though they have that hotshot
33:40
quarterback look great in one game, like I said, it was only
33:43
one game and they played two years ago.
33:45
Stanford dominated play, so I still think even though Stanford
33:48
is not good, I think there are a cut above Hawaii.
33:51
Unless we see some funny shenanigans like we used to see
33:55
1520 years ago with some phantom holding calls on two or three
33:59
series in a row against opponents, I think Stanford is
34:02
the right side. Good stuff, Lee.
34:03
Sterling be with us each and every Thursday.
34:05
Tell us one more lead. People might want to get
34:07
involved and jump on board with the at the beginning of the
34:10
season season all season long if they're so inclined.
34:13
How did they reach it, Lee? Just go to the website
34:16
paramountsports.com. You want to try us out for six
34:18
weeks to September to remember special use coupon code save 100
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brings it down to 497 for the six weeks, comes out to about
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weekends 8 to 12/8 to 13 plays a week for 71 and 28 on our 40 to
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50 unit Max wagers. And then you want to try us out
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Give us a try for for one of these cards.
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I think you'll be happy. Paramountsports.com Lee Sterling
35:01
with us each and every Thursday. Thank you.
35:03
Lee talk to you in a week. Appreciate it.
35:05
Thanks guys. Take care.
35:06
Good. To talk to Lee Sterling, we
35:08
check in with him for the very first time this year.
35:12
Mitch Holtis not live. He's got an event that he had to
35:15
that will keep him away from joining us today.
35:17
Be back tomorrow, but we'll hear from Mitch on tape.
35:20
The daily Chiefs training camp report brought to us by Papa
35:22
John's throughout the state of Iowa.
35:24
That's next. Miller and Condon talking sports
35:27
with you on the Iowa Sports Radio Network.
35:34
Hi, Miller and Condon, welcome back.
35:36
The Iowa Sports Radio Network. We take you until 2:00.
35:39
David Kaplan kicks off the second hour of the program.
35:43
Free mozzarella sticks for everybody.
35:45
I thought that from like game last.
35:47
Night that corner tapping Cascade.
35:48
Congratulations. They got a little publicity last
35:51
night. They did put up on Marquee
35:53
Sports Network and they were eating those mozzarella sticks
35:56
anyways. Let's for nevermind, though I'm
35:59
sure Papa John's, it's one of some of the locations make
36:03
mozzarella sticks available. We know that they've got great
36:05
pizza and they do great things that Donaldson here in the state
36:09
of Iowa. Mitch Holtis joins us every day
36:12
with his daily Chiefs training camp report.
36:14
Today it's on tape. Here's the voice of the Chiefs.
36:16
Today is always a highlight of the preseason when I get to
36:19
introduce the entire Kansas City Chiefs team in front of 1200
36:23
fans at the annual kickoff luncheon in downtown Kansas
36:27
City. The luncheon was started by the
36:29
Hunt family 4 decades ago. It also features me interviewing
36:32
head coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes,
36:35
tied in Travis Kelsey and others.
36:37
It's also tough because I know that 38 of the players that I
36:40
introduce won't be on the roster by next week. 1 rookie who will
36:44
be on the roster although he is nursing tendonitis in his knee
36:48
and won't play tomorrow night against Chicago, is wide
36:51
receiver Jalen Royals from Utah State.
36:53
Royals was a high school basketball player who was a late
36:56
Comer to the gridiron, but Royals became a star at Utah
36:59
State in 2023. He was the only FBS wide
37:02
receiver with 70 plus catches and 15 touchdowns.
37:07
Now, Jalen Royals has shown a propensity and an instinct as a
37:10
receiver and has been consistent, especially on blitz
37:13
pickups, working with Patrick Mahomes.
37:16
You know, just, you know, learning that other what the
37:18
defense do and you know how to react to culture, culture Reid,
37:21
you know, he's big on that and Patrick Mahomes big on that too.
37:24
So just trying to, you know, read the defense and and just be
37:28
instant instead of just. Trying to think all the time so.
37:31
You're an AU basketball star, Yeah.
37:33
How does that help you in this game?
37:35
But definitely just like releases and stuff like that and
37:37
then just, you know, getting past offenders, you can use
37:39
basketball moves basically, which is basketball moves
37:42
basically when you're doing releases and stuff like that.
37:44
So it can help you and then like doing like misdirections and you
37:47
know, looking off and you know other other types of stuff to
37:50
help you get open so. Royals also have reached 20.4
37:53
yards per kick return last year at Utah State.
37:57
Jalen Royals looks like another value pick and a result of
37:59
excellent research by Chiefs General Manager Brett Veach and
38:03
his staff. A reminder our Papa John's
38:06
special is the five cheese garlic crust, one topping pizza.
38:10
Only 1199 sounds perfect for the weekend, especially that big
38:15
game in Ireland between K State and Iowa State at the kickoff
38:18
luncheon in downtown Kansas City.
38:21
I'm Mitch Holtis, voice of the Chiefs.
38:22
All right. Thank you, Mitch Holt back live
38:25
with us tomorrow as we'll we'll preview who they play the Bears.
38:29
They do. How about that?
38:31
That's a tomorrow night game. I got invited to that game.
38:33
You did. Jack's birthday party.
38:35
Tomorrow you can. You got priorities.
38:37
Yeah, yeah. Got to have the birthday party.
38:38
Got to do that. We went to the trampoline park.
38:41
Today is the actual birthday today, this morning.
38:43
So trampoline park, trampoline party, that's what he wanted to
38:45
do for the birthday, so. Where's that at?
38:47
There's there's a bunch of them around town.
38:49
It's kind of the new thing and I was going.
38:51
To say I've never heard of them before.
38:53
He. Just put it in like a business.
38:54
Put a bunch of trampolines down. Kids hop around.
38:57
Jack's doing flips. Get them good and tired and they
38:59
sleep well. Go to bed early.
39:00
That's the hope. That's the hope.
39:02
Hey, you mentioned the corner tap.
39:03
I'm going to be at the corner tap.
39:05
Not the cascade. One not in Cascade, the West Des
39:08
Moines one on Saturday as the Valley Booster Club is having
39:12
their get together over there for the Iowa State K State game.
39:15
So going to be there if you're a Valley supporter.
39:17
I'll be there emceeing things and we'll be watching on MCK
39:20
State. Starts at 10:30, goes till after
39:22
the game so you can stop out. Help with obviously merchandise
39:25
and everything that goes along with it.
39:27
With the Valley Booster Club 1030, everything will start on
39:30
Saturday at the Corner Tap, not in Cascade in West Des.
39:33
Moines, yeah, good stuff. Valley Dowling week #1 yes, the
39:36
big rumor going around last year's playoffs that this is it
39:39
for Gary Swenson. We're talking about last year.
39:42
Obviously, that wasn't it for Gary Swenson, and I'm not
39:44
pushing him on. I hope he stays till he's ready.
39:46
What a what a great person. Yes, he is, no doubt about it.
39:49
All right, our number two, we will head to Chicago.
39:53
Catch up with David Kaplan. He will join us to kick off our
39:56
number 2. Marie Condon, we're talking
39:59
sports with you. Thanks for being with us.
40:00
We're ever listening in the state of Iowa on the Iowa Sports
40:03
Radio Network.