Iowa State Wins Farmageddon + Jenny Dell On The Art Of Sideline Reporting

College football is officially underway! We break down Iowa State's 24-21 victory over Kansas State in Dublin, including the sloppy conditions, key fourth-down decisions, and what the Clones' win means for the Big 12 race.

Plus, we're joined by Jenny Dell, the lead college football reporter for CBS Sports, who gives us incredible behind-the-scenes insights from the sidelines. From her 20-second storytelling challenges to Brad Nessler's shocking pre-game eating habits, Jenny discusses the difference between covering the SEC and Big Ten, sneaky injury tent investigations, what it's like to catch players and coaches in their most vulnerable moments, and much more.

We also unveil the most important email to ever grace our inbox, potentially with long-term ramifications for the Solid Verbal family.

Timestamps:
4:50 - Iowa State beats Kansas State
19:26 - Interview with Jenny Dell
58:07 - Important news from the Solid Verbal family

Support the show!: https://www.patreon.com/solidverbal

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the solid verbal hull. That for me, I'm
a man, I'm forty. I've heard so many players say,
well I want to be happy. You want to be
happy for a day? Edith state is that?

Speaker 2 (00:13):
Whoo whoom?

Speaker 1 (00:14):
And then and tie Daniel, welcome back.

Speaker 2 (00:19):
We are recording this right in the throws of week zero.
We've got one game in the books, We've got another
going on right now. There are going to be a
couple more going on throughout the course of the day.
We will, in due course get through those games, give
you some of those lingering thoughts as we get onto
the Tuesday episode. But we wanted to put this one

(00:40):
out now because we've got a schedule to keep people
want this episode on Sunday. By the time next week
rolls around, you know the drill, then we're really in
the weeds. That's what we're doing our live stream at
midnight out on the YouTube channel. That's when we're going
to be kicking everything up into high gear. But we've
only got this a mooz boosh oh five games, one

(01:00):
big one in the books that we're going to talk
through here momentarily farmagedin. We've also got a very big
interview that we're excited about, and we'll intro in a
few short minutes, But welcome back.

Speaker 1 (01:10):
How are you? I'm good. How many times in the
last five to eleven days have you answered a question with, well, technically,
there's an interesting game on Saturday, but it's kind of
like not a real week of football, but there is football,
but the first real week is Labor Day Saturday? Have
you said that four hundred and seventeen times socially in
the past couple weeks.

Speaker 2 (01:31):
I said that before I came downstairs today when Kate
was trying to figure out.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
What exactly is going on here?

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Why is this like something that you need to record about?
But it's not a full on it's a whole thing.
So yes, I'm with you. My guess is that the
verballerhood is with us as well. Thank you for stopping
on back in here. Look, this is a very big
week for us because we are building to week one.

(01:58):
We've got an episode on Tuesday where we're going to
preview some games. We've got an episode on Thursday where
we're going to preview some games. We're going to do
our part to try and keep you up to date
with all the latest storylines to get you prepped and
ready everything you need to go right into Week one
feeling like you're informed, feeling like you can make your
picks if you go on out too verballers dot com.

(02:20):
This is like our big push this week, Dan, you
know it.

Speaker 1 (02:24):
This is a big deal for those of you who
are not afraid of competition.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Continue if you're not afraid of competition, We've got a
game run the board. It's a pick them game, you
pick against the spread. All you got to do is
sign up for one of our paid Patreon tiers at
verbowlers dot com. Once you're in, there's a pinpost gives
you the instructions for how to get in there. I've
been helping some folks who are signing up and want
to know what it's all about. Want to make sure

(02:48):
that their entries are in, So just sign up. If
you're interested in playing. We will unveil our big Week
one prize on our next episode. Yes, but get in
on the action now so that you don't miss your
opportunity again. There is a season long game that runs
alongside the week to week games. If you finish in
the top five at the end of the season, you

(03:09):
get a seat on our coveted board of Trustees.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
And as I've said, if you are one of the
people on the board which turns over a year over year,
you get tie for tech support issues that you might
have in your life. Don't your elderly relatives. Tye will
diagnose printer issues twenty four seven. I don't care if
it's a distant relative. I don't care if it's not

(03:32):
like if it's like, oh, that's uncle Steve. He's not
really our uncle, but we call him uncle Steve. Tye
is here. Especially older printers. Oh my god, that ty
gets That gets ty going, oh okay, okay, that's enough
out of you. Thank Okay.

Speaker 2 (03:44):
Continue anyway, we're going to get into some of the games.
We're going to get into our big interview.

Speaker 1 (03:50):
With Dan Jenny Dell. CBS Sports very excited to have
Jenny on. We I think a long time ago spoke
to a sideline reporter, but we haven't in a long time.
I think she does a great job. The CBS crew
does a great job. And I'm watching more of CBS
Sports than ever because Oregon games are on CBS now,

(04:11):
so I think they did the Oregon Michigan game we
went to last season, so it was very cool. We've
already spoken to her and I think she's great, so
I think you're going to enjoy that. It was terrific.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
Got a lot of really interesting nuggets, Yes, out of
this interview.

Speaker 1 (04:26):
I'm really excited for people to hear it.

Speaker 2 (04:28):
So that's coming up a little bit later on at
the end of the show. We also got an incredible
email that I have to read. Of course, absolutely have
to read. At the end of the show. We need
to figure out what we want to do with it
moving forward.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Okay, could alter the course, I think from a financial perspective,
from a spiritual perspective of the soliverbal moving forward, you
never know.

Speaker 2 (04:45):
Arguably the most important email we've ever received.

Speaker 1 (04:48):
It could be argued.

Speaker 2 (04:50):
So why don't we start here? Iowa State twenty four
Kansas State twenty one. This was the first game of
the college football season. They played it over Ireland at
a Viva Stadium as is like, I guess our new
tradition now on week zero, this is the thing that
we're doing.

Speaker 1 (05:06):
I think Belichick, if he's still with North Carolina, I
think it's North Carolina next year, right.

Speaker 2 (05:11):
North Carolina TCU so this year it's stateside, but next
year they're going to be the ones going abroad and
playing over at Aviva Stadium, so they're getting some good games.
Of course, the one last year was pretty important. The
one that we've had this season so far, I think
is going to have big time ramifications, certainly within the
Big Twelve. It was Iowa State's third straight win over

(05:36):
Kansas State. I believe the fifth and six tries now
for Matt Campbell, who has seemingly had Kansas State's number.

Speaker 1 (05:44):
It was a rainy day in Ireland. Dan.

Speaker 2 (05:46):
We had some very wicked audio delay on the broadcast.
I don't know if you caught that in the beginning,
but it was sort of like they were broadcasting from
the moon.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
Not that great.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
Anytime you got an international broadcast, you have some of
these weird kinks.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
YEP.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
I think they got it fixed. But at the start
score bug by the way, score bug, yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:08):
Pre ESPN. I thought it looked decent. I think it's
still a little bit big, but you know they're working
through it.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
I'd imagine a rather exciting moment for you at the
beginning of this broadcast when when Taylor McGregor referenced coaching Staves.

Speaker 1 (06:21):
Did you catch that? Oh yeah, I didn't catch that.
You told me about it. I was sort of not
half watching this game, but I was audio on, audio off,
so I missed it a little bit. But when you
told me that I'm influencing the influencers, tie once again,
so I'm happy to do it. I played it back.
It was definitely a Staves. It was a hard V.

Speaker 2 (06:40):
It was a hard V in there, a hard lvace.
Love that so look comedy of airs. First five minutes
of this game, we had a muff punt by Dylan Edwards.
He got hurt on that play and didn't return, which
is a bummer. Pay attention to that one. Then k
State had a key interference call that went against them
deep inside the red zone. It looked as if it

(07:00):
was setting up for a touchdown drive for Iowa State.
They subsequently fumbled A couple plays later. We had four turnovers,
I believe in the first half. It was an incredibly
sloppy first half of football. Dan, Yes, the deeper we
got into this thing though, that's when we started to
see it heating up like this is when we saw

(07:22):
some back and forth. We saw some drama, some gigantic
short yardage situations that I think ultimately decided this one.
A really big balls moment by Matt Campbell late going
forward on fourth and three, trying to ice it. They
connect with Carson Hansen for a fifteen yard first down.

(07:43):
All the yeah almost scored. So this was a very
very interesting game that started off rocky and sloppy and
then picked up a lot of steam as it went on.

Speaker 1 (07:54):
Yes, it was it was a slow start television wise.

Speaker 2 (08:00):
It was to put it mildly, yes.

Speaker 1 (08:04):
And it didn't turn me off, but it was like, Okay,
I'm excited to see how this game grows because it's
a totally forgivable offense. Forget even the conditions on the
field and the slickness of the rain earlier in the day.
You're just traveling across the pond and playing. I think

(08:25):
they got their Thursday, so it's not like they were
fully acclimated. They were acclimated some and in a stadium
not intended for American football, so the site lines are
a little bit different than these guys are used to,
but they have time. Everybody's playing on the same field,
everybody's dealing with the same conditions. But when you watch
the first half of this game, conditions are not. You

(08:45):
understand why coaches prefer scheduling down week one, get in
a rhythm, get the cobwebs off, and there's just plenty
of cobwebs, and the ball security was an issue, the
decision was an issue, and throughout this game, both of
these teams had issues popping bigger plays, at least no
Kansas State did at the end, and I think Iowa

(09:07):
State did a decent job through the air with intermediate passing,
and they ran the ball better in the second half.
It seemed things seemed to be closer to what we
expected from these two teams in the second half. But yeah,
there was a good amount of slop and three and
outs and drops and I'm just I'm not holding it
against either of these teams in terms of my perception.

(09:29):
It's you week zero across the ocean. There were times
where you're just like man, Iowa State not getting anything
done on offense, making mistakes, possibly giving the ball to
the wrong running back in the first half a little
bit too often, and Kansas State really couldn't figure out
things on offense for large swaths of time, though I
think they outgained ended up out gaining Iowa State both

(09:50):
through the air, more efficient through the air thanks that.
I think it was a sixty five yard touchdown pass.
Later on in the game, they ran the ball a
little bit more consistently, even without Dylan Edwards on the field.
But it was those fourth downs. It was the opportunities
that Kansas State had and couldn't capitalize on, and it
was ultimately Iowa State with excelsior near the end of

(10:12):
the game, right it was what it's Mauser. Taylor Mauser,
the offensive coordinator for Iowa State, And thankfully I would
have been yelling at my TV. You don't kick the
ball in that situation. Up three, going up six with
two minutes left doesn't do much for you, just in
terms of the bad outcomes outweighing the good outcomes. So
I was very happy to see Iowa State goal for it.

(10:33):
They had to play that they were pretty confident in.
That's what rock Obec was talking about after the game,
and they took care of business. That was an absolutely
losable game for Iowa State that they pulled out. It
was a well coached, well executed game. I was impressed
with the offensive line. As the game war on for
Iowa State and Kansas State can be just Kansas State
can win this conference, they can be just fine. But

(10:58):
I don't know if I'm a Kansas State fan, if
I'm thrilled with Matt Wells in this particular moment. Well,
here's the thing.

Speaker 2 (11:04):
I mean, I've you know, we track kind of what
people say online, what fans of these teams say online,
and there was a lot of disdain, let's say, for
some of the coaching decisions, especially on fourth down. Fourth
downs were an issue.

Speaker 1 (11:21):
It's not bad to go for it on fourth down,
but you have to seem better equipped and better prepared
to me.

Speaker 2 (11:28):
One of four, not a whole lot of faith in
the kicker. The big one was later on in the game,
about midway through the fourth quarter. They go for it
on fourth and short from their own thirty yard line.
They get stop short that sets up rock O Becked
scoring the touchdown, making it a two score game, a
ten point game twenty four to fourteen at that juncture,

(11:48):
And essentially that's what broke the serve, that gave them
a little bit more wiggle room and they were able
to hold on and win this game. So I Kansas
State fans, I think rightly are questioning the move. I
understand where they're coming from, though, because you got a
guy like an Avery Johnson who seemed to come into
his own the deeper we got into this game. I

(12:11):
don't hate putting the ball in his hands. Just didn't work.
And of course, when it comes back to bite you
like this, everybody's going to call it out so that
you know he's going to have to answer for that,
Chris Climan is, you know. But defensively, I thought both
sides played pretty well defensively. But to your point, Case
State wore down in the second half. They wore down
in the second half, and Matt Campbell in the post

(12:31):
game talked about how he thought his offensive line did
a good job. We saw Carson Hansen get on track
in the fourth quarter, fifty nine rushing yards in the
fourth quarter alone. You tack on top of it that
big fifteen yarder that they got through the passing game
on fourth and three that basically put the game on ice.
They were able to outlast Case State in this one,

(12:52):
and we started to see that become more of a
thing the deeper we got into the game. It just
it started to like feel as if it were going
in their direction more and more with each passing second.

Speaker 1 (13:03):
Agree with everything you said. Really nice win for Iowa State,
Really nice win for the underbetters.

Speaker 2 (13:10):
Oh what an all time bad beat if you took
the over. So we're talking about Carson Hansen fifteen yard gain,
fourth and three.

Speaker 1 (13:20):
Swing pass, a really nice play call, had room.

Speaker 2 (13:23):
Had room, had a linebacker matched up with them. It
was a great call, worked swimmingly, almost got into the
end zone. Was like an inch short.

Speaker 1 (13:31):
Yeah, forearm kind of slid leading up to it. Yeah.
So rather than.

Speaker 2 (13:37):
Try to go for the touchdown and risk a fumble,
rather than do anything that could really put them at risk,
they knew they could take three knees and just bleed
the clock, which is exactly what they did. As such,
twenty four to twenty one is your final the underhits,
So they were right there.

Speaker 1 (13:53):
If you bet the over. Forty nine and a half
I think was where it closed. Incredible. Yeah, point total
and forty five points like a foot from going over.
And I think Iowa State, once again, as an underdog,
does not hit the over and there it's not part
of an overhitting and it's one of the surest things

(14:15):
in college football betting Iowa State, and I believe Iowa
these past few years when they're dogs, they just do
not score enough in a losing effort or as underdogs
to hit that over be part of an over. Kansas
State has some work to do, has some cleaning up
to do. I think they'll be all right. I think
a game like this is act can actually be super helpful,

(14:37):
much more helpful than playing, you know, Missouri State or
something to start the season. All due respect to Missouri State,
well you're able to self diagnose they're going to have a.

Speaker 2 (14:45):
Four game stretch now of very winnable games. They could
get all these kinks worked out. I mean even after
halftime they got better for sure, and so I think,
you know, hopefully Dylan Edwards is okay, then get him
back out there. I mean they ran the ball okay
with joejack I was impressed with Avery Johnson. You know,
I think it took him a little bit to get going,

(15:05):
but I think he did a really good job down
the stretch, was able to create some of those explosive
plays that we talked about on the preview set up.
I think a little bit by the threat of him
running like that's where the double moves come in from
the receivers and people bite down hard and then suddenly
they relind you. So we saw a little bit of
that in this game. They were able to take advantage
of it. I would expect we're going to see a

(15:26):
lot more of it this season. And look, last, but
not least, the best of all, rocos Man the bore.

Speaker 1 (15:34):
The boar got it done, help lead that game winning
drive for the game ceiling drive. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (15:40):
I didn't want to get like too far out over
my skis, but I'm watching this game in like the
second quarter, and it just seems apparent to me, even
though it was all defense in the first half, just
seemed like he was the most in control out there.
You know, it seemed like he knew exactly what he
was doing, where the ball was supposed to go. He
didn't always get a whole lot of protection. That's probably

(16:03):
a secondary conversation down the line, but truly looked like
a veteran in the second half. And you know, there's
still questions about what kind of pop they're gonna have
out wide, but he was just so in control in
this game that I was really impressed. And look, if
they can get a little bit more explosive in the
ground or on the ground. Excuse me, they.

Speaker 1 (16:21):
Weren't really in this game.

Speaker 2 (16:22):
Carson Hansen had a big second half, a big fourth quarter.
They were still like two point eight yards per carry.
So this was not like them blowing the lid off
of this Kansas State defense on the ground or anything.
But if they can get just a little bit more
explosive on the ground, they're gonna be a problem. Man,
They're They're gonna be a problem. They're gonna be a
tough out all year long. This is a veteran team.

Speaker 1 (16:41):
Oh absolutely. My only other complaint was not enough cutaways
to Anthony Beck in the crowd. Can we just get
a shot of him? Can we just see how he's doing? Man,
Anthony Beck got more shots than Matt Campbell. Anthony Beck
needs to sell some some shirt time to visa to

(17:01):
what was the old boxing one Golden Golden Tea's the
video game there was, Remember that the boxers would get
like the tattoos that would stay on during of like
the old casinos. Oh now I'm forgetting that's stupid.

Speaker 2 (17:14):
It's nice golden nugget, It's Uh, I know exactly what
you mean.

Speaker 1 (17:18):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Boxing, Hair Live, Google, Boxing Casino, Golden tattoo.
Yeah that there was Golden Palace, the palace. That's it.
And the other thing that just was frustrating. And it's
not anyone's specific's fault that I can name. It was
like watching a game on a field that was just

(17:39):
in a pasture for like a minute and a half.
And I don't know what the solution is, but if
rain is going to completely wipe wipe out an ability
of a television viewer to see where you are on
the field, clearly we need to go back to do
some some painting R and D or something.

Speaker 2 (17:58):
Well they painted at halftime again, I know they did.
Seconds it didn't make a lick of difference. When guys
were sliding, it was like they were on a slipping
slide out. Some people online were talking about call it
a slip and slide. That's what it was. Yeah, it
looks like they were painting with Alfredo sauce. It did
not stick. It just did at work.

Speaker 1 (18:15):
No, we got to go. The good people at aer
Lingus and Aviva need to get back in the lab
for next year because that was a tough, tough visual.

Speaker 2 (18:25):
That's all as we come on the air today. We're
recording this around dinnertime on Saturday. Still a bit in
doubt with this unl V game, Like we'll talk about
it at some point on our next episode. They have
just now taken the lead. But it was a rough
start for the Dan Mullen era. We saw a little

(18:47):
bit of both Alex Orgin and Alex Calandria. As promised.
I had a lot more on the ground than really
anywhere else, but a bit of a slow.

Speaker 1 (18:55):
Start for Mullen.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
There are, of course, a couple other games that we
will talk about out in passing on our next episode. Fresno, Kansas, Stanford, Hawaii,
Western Kentucky's playing a game as well against Sam Houston.
So we'll get into all that on the next episode,
I promise you. But for now, congratulations saw the Iowa
State people out there is a big farm again win
for you.

Speaker 1 (19:15):
Yeah, a weird opening rivalry game abroad. Was pumped to
see the support of Iowa State fans and Kansas State
fans there in the crowd. Pretty cool, Dan.

Speaker 2 (19:27):
Without further ado, why don't we get to our guest
of honor today? Shall we please all right, Dan, we
are joined right now. First time guest on the show.
Her name is Jenny Dell. She is the lead college
football reporter for CBS Sports.

Speaker 1 (19:42):
Jenny, Welcome to the show. How are you.

Speaker 3 (19:44):
I'm great, happy to be here, Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (19:47):
Absolutely. Are you ready for the season?

Speaker 3 (19:49):
I'm so ready. It's crazy because I feel like this
off season flew by, and yet there's always so much
news and information coming in the world to college football
that I feel like it never really ended. So the
fact that you know week zero is here, Week one
is coming next week and we get to go back
out on the road, I'm itching ready to go.

Speaker 2 (20:06):
So, like, walk us through your prep like right now,
it's kind of like the last week in of freedom. Right,
What is the Jennie Dell prep regimen at this juncture
before things get crazy next week?

Speaker 3 (20:19):
Are you ready for this?

Speaker 1 (20:20):
Ready?

Speaker 3 (20:20):
So? I started prepping for my Week one game probably
a month ago, because you know, that's just the way
my brain works. I think the exciting thing, especially at
the beginning of the year, it's like it's fresh start.
You know, a lot of teams are just trying to
figure out who they are, who are these new players
who are these new coaches. So I'm lucky to have
Penn State again for week one, which is a team

(20:42):
I'm very familiar with, and there are I know, I
got Penn State here, but there are a lot of
returning guys that I'm comfortable with and know their stories,
so it's just diving deeper on them, and then also
figuring out who are we welcoming in what you know,
what new storylines are we going to tell. So I
think that you know, you do your research all off
season to prepare for these games, and then right before

(21:04):
week one of the season, it's just diving deeper into
these programs, listening to the podcast, you know, watching all
the news that rolls out, scouring social media and seeing
if you're missing anything. And then the week leading up,
it's chatting with all the players, chatting with the coaches,
talking to players, old coaches, parents, whoever you can get
your hands on to try to make sure you're telling

(21:26):
all the proper stories.

Speaker 1 (21:27):
So once you get to state college in this instance,
what's the move? What is your strategy once you're there?
Do you have go to questions that you feel like
do a better job getting solid nuggets than maybe you
did five years ago? Is what is the order of operations?

Speaker 3 (21:45):
It's all a progression, right, So any job that you're in,
you know, the longer you do it, the more you
figure out the right ways to do it, and what
also wastes time. So this season, in particular, I'm going
to try to focus in on what's most important and
not just try and learn every little detail of every
single player of every single team, because there's a lot

(22:07):
of information that goes to the wayside. And I look
at some of my scouting reports and my news reports
from years past, and especially you know, this is my
twelfth season, so from a decade ago, and I'm like,
how do I have one hundred pages of notes? When
would I ever get any of this information? And then
instead of focusing in on the most important stories and

(22:28):
really diving deep into those and making sure that you
have the proper elements to make the broadcast better, it's
like you're just overwhelmed with all this information. And I
remember the first time I was doing the sec with
with Brad and Gary my crew, and I sent them
my doc probably a night or two before the game,
and it was like fifty pages long, sure, and they

(22:49):
were like you're not reading this, you can you just
give us your know, your five best stories and we'll
go from there. So just this year, I'm really going
to try to to cut down on the amount and
really focus in on those key storylines. And I know
I'm going to say that now, and I mean my
notes are already twenty pages long for the week one game.

(23:11):
So I'll do my best.

Speaker 1 (23:12):
So what are what are the stories you like? Personally? Right,
there's a number of different angles. So you go to wherever,
you go to State College, you go to jean An Arbor, whatever.
So are you zeroing in on a player because the
player is interesting? Are you zeroing in on a star
because you know that's going to be interesting for viewers?
Are you looking for a feel good story? Are you
looking forward?

Speaker 3 (23:32):
Like?

Speaker 1 (23:32):
What is it? All of the above?

Speaker 2 (23:34):
Oh?

Speaker 3 (23:34):
You love? And I think that's the hard part is
because you want My job as a sideline reporter is
to tell the stories of these players, tell the stories
of these universities, tell the stories the feel good stories
that make you want to connect with these guys. I
want to get deeper than just the x's and o's always,
And while that is such a key part to the game.

(23:56):
It's my job to humanize all of these players, coaches,
these programs, these universities. So how do you tell those
stories within a football game and have it make sense?
I think that's that's the key thing. So for for
week one, you know, obviously with Penn State, with Nevada
coming in, it's just honing in on what do people

(24:18):
at home want to hear about? And then if there's
a story that's out there, how can I dive deeper
into that and give you some information that you might
not know. So, whether that's reaching out to a former coach,
you know, whether it's reaching out to Saquon barklay about
about you know, the running back situation and what we
can expect in Singleton and Kitroon Allen is here, whatever

(24:39):
it may be, try to give a different, unique perspective
of something that you might not know just sitting at
home on the couch. That's what I feel like is
my goal.

Speaker 1 (24:47):
How long do you have to tell that story? What
like are your producers saying, take ninety seconds? Take too much?

Speaker 3 (24:53):
Now ninety seconds?

Speaker 1 (24:54):
Or take fifteen seconds to tell us about Seqon Park seconds?

Speaker 3 (24:58):
You have twenty seconds, you're in You're out. You have
to be done before that ball snaps, because of that
ball snaps and there's like a crazy hail Mary pass
or there's a wild year.

Speaker 1 (25:09):
I was thinking pregame, okay, Fair, Oh.

Speaker 3 (25:11):
Yeah, no, I'm talking. I'm talking in game pregame you
have a little bit more flexibility. If you're doing a
studio show, you have a little bit more time. But
in game, I mean, I try to make sure I
can tell the story in under twenty five seconds, which
is not easy. There's a lot of information.

Speaker 1 (25:26):
How many words is under twenty five seconds? Are you
typing this out?

Speaker 3 (25:29):
I should? I should? I should open up now? It
sits all in here?

Speaker 2 (25:33):
Okay, Fair, I've always wondered this, and I imagine you're
the right person to ask, what is the trick to
getting like insider information when you are down on the sidelines,
because for people who haven't been on the sidelines, it's.

Speaker 1 (25:46):
Pure chaos down there.

Speaker 2 (25:47):
You can't see anything, and it's not like Sharon Moore
is pointing to a guy's collarbone and saying, yeah.

Speaker 1 (25:53):
This is what check it out? Yeah, how do you
go about getting all over here?

Speaker 3 (25:58):
Okay? So that's first of all, you learn instinctually you
get trained in a different way to be almost like
the eyes and the ears on the field. Okay, so
you are on the lookout at all times for anything
that could be noteworthy, whether it's an injury. You're like,
that guy was limping off a little bit, I'm going

(26:19):
to go run over and see what I can see.
The hard part is, obviously I'm not a doctor. You know,
I have covered football long enough to understand injuries, but
I never want to report something that's not true. So
it's really just Okay, what are you seeing right now?
And how do you visually explain that to folks at home,
because sometimes our cameras aren't catching what I'm seeing, or

(26:42):
it's too late, and I'm like, they were looking at
the guy's eyes, or they were, you know, checking out
that tweak in his ankle, whatever it may be. But
also you don't want to speculate an injury. So it's
a very fine line of making sure you're not reporting
anything that's not true, but also just being honest with
with what you're seeing. So you have to trust in
yourself and your instincts to say, all right, this is

(27:04):
what's going on. And a lot of it also comes
down to trust with the people that are on the
sideline with you. So whether that's the school SID, which
is you know, almost their PR people. For folks that
don't know what an SID is, it's the school information director.
They're the ones that will give you some information from
time to time. But a lot of these programs are

(27:27):
going away from giving you any information at all, so
it's making the sideline job a lot more difficult. In
the NFL, you'll almost get a report that says, you know,
this player is dealing with a left leg injury, he's
questionable to return. In college, you're not getting anything from
some of these schools, so it's very difficult to make
sure you're reporting on the correct things and that you know,

(27:49):
these kids' parents might be sitting at home watching and
you don't want to ever especially with sports betting now too,
it's like you just want to make sure you're giving
the proper information at all times. And a lot of
that just comes back to trusting what you're seeing and
trusting your own eyes.

Speaker 1 (28:02):
Can you turn that off when you're at a restaurant
and you notice, like a first date going terribly in
the corner? Yeah, are you just constantly scanning for like
life news.

Speaker 3 (28:12):
Life news at all times. My husband's like, what's wrong
with you? I'm like, what do you think is happening
over there?

Speaker 1 (28:17):
Can you just the guy with the weird eye? The
vibe is off one on over here?

Speaker 3 (28:22):
I got to check in. Yeah, no, I try. I
try to chill out here and there.

Speaker 1 (28:27):
Fair enough. When when you're on the sideline, when there
is somebody injured and they go into an injury tent,
I just want to know the mechanics of the injury tent.
I want to know who's in charge of the injury tent.
I want to know if something has ever gone wrong
with the mechanics of launching the injury tent. Has there
been a tent incident?

Speaker 3 (28:45):
There's been tent well, there's been a couple tent incidents.
I continue so again not to date myself, but I
when I started doing sideline reporting, the injury tents didn't exist.
You know, they would just be laying out on the sideline.
I'm like, hey, this guy's dealing with a right shoulder injury.
Now It's like you have to almost be a little

(29:07):
FBI agent and you're trying to walk by, but you
also have to be very aware that you're really not
supposed to be walking by the bench back and forth.
So it's like this little game that we all play
where you have to be respectful of the team and
the player and the medical staff and making sure you're
giving them their space, but you're also trying to do

(29:28):
your job. So you know, I'll do a little pass
by and usually there's the zipper by the injury tent,
so you might just you know, deal, what's happen. Oh
you're listening, You're like, do I hear screaming? Do I
hear yelling? That That became a situation.

Speaker 1 (29:48):
I was, so you can report on screaming, you can.

Speaker 3 (29:51):
You might get some pushback. So I was covering Bryce
Young's injury. Was my first Alabama game, my first season
on the SEC on CBS. It was against Arkansas, and
I had walked by the injury tent and Bryce was
was upset and yelling and I reported on that, and

(30:13):
there was there was a little pushback on, hey, let's
just make sure we're we're reporting on things that we
should be and I was like, I thought that was
my job. So you have to be very careful on
what you're saying, and especially depending on the program and
the university. Sometimes you have to just tiptoe around things

(30:33):
a little bit more.

Speaker 2 (30:35):
I think I watched that clip Jenny before yeah, this interview,
and I did actually have a question sort of related
to that. Like your job is to catch coaches, it's
to catch players at some of their most vulnerable moments. Right,
there's got to be i'd imagine from your side, some
bit of voodoo with what can I ask and get

(30:56):
an answer that adds to the broadcast versus what shouldn't
I ask?

Speaker 1 (31:01):
What might be going a little bit too far?

Speaker 2 (31:03):
Because some of these guys, again, you're catching them after
a loss, after an emotional like it's hard. I'd imagine
it's difficult to walk that balance. So A, what is
your formula for coming up with those questions? Is there
a formula? And B what is it ultimately that you're
trying to get out of these interview subjects when you're
down there on the sidelines in the heat of the moment.

Speaker 3 (31:25):
I'll answer be first. I think in the heat of
the moment, I always resort back to my dad's a
huge sports fan. That's how I got into sports. I
always resort back to if my dad's sitting at home
on the couch right now. What does he want to
hear the coaches say? What questions does he want answered?
And that's the way that I form my question. It's
almost like, what do I want the coach to say?

(31:48):
How do I get him to say this? And how
do I get him to say it in a manner
where he's not frustrated that I asked a certain question?
And I think a lot of this goes back to
learning the personalities of the coaches and knowing how to
work with them so that you're asking the right question
in a respectful way, because there are a lot of

(32:10):
tense moments down there, especially if it's coming after an
injury to a key player or a loss, and just
making sure that you establish those relationships. And that's something
that was kind of difficult. After working a few years
in the SEC. You grow these relationships with these coaches
and with these schools where they know they can trust

(32:31):
you and they know that you're not out to get them,
because that is the last thing that I want to do,
but I also need to do my job. So when
we first started doing the Big Ten, it's just re
establishing relationships with these coaches so we sit down with
them throughout the week in different meetings. We're usually in
front of them every Friday for production meetings, So they
get to know your personality and they know the ins

(32:54):
and outs of why you're doing what you're doing and
why you're asking the questions that you are. And also
you bond, you know, you form a friendship or relationship.
And there's certain coaches that you can ask questions to
in certain ways, and then there's other coaches that I'm like,
I would never ask a coach this question this certain
way because I know what his response is going to be,

(33:16):
so I need to bard it in a different manner.
So it's just learning the personalities and making sure you
establish a trust with those coaches where you know we're
on the same page here. You know, we're all just
trying to report on what's going on. You're trying to
coach this team to the best of your ability. I'm
trying to broadcast this interview the best way that I can.

(33:39):
So it's like a little bit of a of a
tiptoe with certain guys, but you learn the way to
ask certain questions to certain players and coaches.

Speaker 1 (33:48):
Have you ever asked a question gotten a nothing response
and been caught on camera making a thanks for nothing face.
Because I say this just speaking about myself. I couldn't
help it if I got a terrible and I was like, okay,
thanks so much, Like have you ever been caught doing that?
Because that would be terrifying to me.

Speaker 3 (34:08):
I feel like I have gotten pretty good at internalizing
those total problems. Going back to that the Bryce Young situation.
I postgame Alabama one, I asked coach Saban a question.
I used Bryce's name in the beginning of the question,

(34:29):
but I didn't ask about Bryce. I said, you know,
your heisman when in quarterback goes down and the rest
of this team stepped up, what does that say about
the depth of the verse, resilience whatever? Right, he heard
Bryce Young, and then that's all he heard. So he
came back at me and said, why would you ask
me about Bryce Young? We just won the game. Why

(34:50):
wouldn't you ask about the team?

Speaker 1 (34:52):
Right?

Speaker 3 (34:52):
And inside, I'm like, I did just ask about this game.
I didn't ask about Bryce Young. But you're live on
national television. There's millions of people watching you. So I'm like, yeah,
let's talk about the team.

Speaker 1 (35:04):
Let's go.

Speaker 3 (35:05):
So you know there there are situations like that that
you just kind of have to take a step back
and be like, don't show your emotions on your face,
just just roll with it. But that's hey, that's life, right.
There's so many times that you want to go out
there and say something and you're like, Nope, not going
to get me.

Speaker 1 (35:20):
That's my entire life is stopping myself from saying things
I shouldn't be continued.

Speaker 2 (35:24):
Hi, did Nick Saban have the best camera instincts of
any coach who ever interviewed?

Speaker 3 (35:28):
Oh my god, he's amazing. I love that man. We
have such a ever since that that situation, that game,
we had a we had to sit down, we talked
through it, we got through it, and then we were
we were bonded from that point forward.

Speaker 1 (35:42):
So he's always looking, but you always camera weird, like
you know, he.

Speaker 3 (35:47):
Knows, he knows, he's a genius.

Speaker 2 (35:50):
Another situation of yours that I recall pretty vividly three
years ago, ish, I guess that very specific moment when
you're on the field interviewing Josh Hipel after they beat Alabama,
the crowds out, everyone's going nuts, But you've got a
job to do, right, you're the professional down there. What
is going on in your head trying to operate in

(36:13):
a setting like that, because it looked like you were
having fun, But I got to think you're at least
a little bit concerned, like, am I going to get
trampled here?

Speaker 1 (36:19):
With ready to throw an exit plan? How does this
all work?

Speaker 3 (36:22):
That was one of the coolest moments of my life,
being on that field in one hundred thousand fans storming
the field. There's like fireworks going off, Everyone's jumping up
and down. My only thought is I need to get
to the handshakes, like I need to get to Hypel
and Saban because if I don't run out there before

(36:43):
everyone else does, I'm not gonna find it. There's no shot.
So I just I mean the second that I could,
I'm sprinting out on the field and just running along
all of the players, the fans, everything going. My mom.
If you looked at my tech afterwards, it was like,
are you alive? Are you okay? Oh my god, I'm

(37:03):
so worried about you. Why aren't you responding? They're taking
the polls down right out the post down right now?
What do I do? I'm like, you, we're good so
there's so much going on, and I think in those moments,
it's like you just feel so honored to be a
part of it and to be able to be there,
that you want to make sure you're asking, you know,

(37:24):
the right questions, you're getting to the interview that you
need to get to. And once we finished the interview,
my producer Craig Silver, who's just an absolute legend, is like, Okay, well,
I need you to go find a player. And I
remember jumping up and down being like, Craig, I don't
see any players, Like there's no way I can find
anyone else in this mess right now, and he's like,

(37:45):
just get off the field safely. I was like, if
I find someone on my way out, I'll let you know.
We have security down there that try to make sure
that we're safe. But I just took a moment right
when I finished that interview. And I'm not sure if
you recalled, but I handed Hypel a box of cigars
after that interview, right and I have this like clear

(38:08):
moment that I would just will never forget of him,
just like putting the box of cigars up in the air,
and I just like spun around and took it all in.
I'm like, how freaking cool is it that this is
what I get to do as my job for my profession.
And it'll it'll never just I'll never I'll never forget

(38:30):
moments like that. I just appreciate it so much, and
I I just remember being like, this is going to
be one of those moments that I'll never forget. It's
just it was so special. It was so special. Yeah,
I mean, it's scary when there's there's people coming at you.

Speaker 1 (38:45):
Well, Tennessee fans are notoriously reserved and gracious with their
football views and emotions, so I don't you know, they
get they get riled up, but they're are notably harmless.
That's the reputation, right, Yeah, no, I'm sure that's exactly it.

Speaker 2 (39:02):
Has there been a difference for you in covering Big
ten games versus SEC games, I would.

Speaker 3 (39:12):
Say the biggest difference, and this has nothing to do
with the actual games.

Speaker 1 (39:17):
Warm hats, the weather.

Speaker 3 (39:19):
Yes, that that that's definitely one thing I would say
for me, the biggest difference. So every every Thursday we
fly in to prepare for the weekend, and this is
a tradition that our crew has started. You know, decades before.
But I'll go out to dinner every Thursday night. It's myself,
Brad Nessler, Gary Danielson, our producer Craig Silver, and our
director Steve Milton, and you know, all all four of

(39:42):
those guys are just the best at what they do.
But every Thursday we sit down, just the five of us,
Me and me and the guys, and we have dinner
somewhere in the town in the city of the game
we're covering. I would say the only the main difference
that I've seen is when we were doing SEC game,
those Thursday night dinners were packed and everyone was talking

(40:06):
about the game that weekend. It was like the only
thing that mattered in that town, in that city. That's it.
With the Big Ten, I feel like Thursdays are a
little bit more normal, they're a little bit more chill,
and then Fridays things start getting a little crazy, and
then game Day Saturdays obviously are wild. But I would
say that's really the only the only difference that I
can come up with when when you're thinking about, you know,

(40:29):
the change from the SEC did the Big Ten, So.

Speaker 1 (40:32):
Then what are the restaurants in the Big Ten? You
host campus eats, Big ten network. You see that tie.
That's a pro transition. They don't teach you that in
journalism school. You just have to have it in your marrow.

Speaker 3 (40:42):
That was so good.

Speaker 1 (40:43):
Thank you very good. So you're around the Big Ten,
you around the SEC. Are there restaurants that are on
your list that you have not been to? Cities you
have not been to? So you're deep in this world.
So what is what is in your fifty page restaurant talkward?

Speaker 3 (40:59):
It exists, don't you worry. I think that's also one
of the biggest changes too, is when we were doing
the SEC our crew had done the SEC for so
long that they had their restaurants set and then when
it became oh, we're doing the Big ten campus seats
it's every so Thursday nights, I'm in charge of reservations.
That's been another change. It's like, oh, you know, we're

(41:21):
going to ann Arbor, where's dinner? And I'm like, I
got what cuisine are we wanting tonight? Fellas? Yeah, I'm
in charge. And it's honestly one of the best collabs
that I feel like I've been a part of, because
not only am I excited about going to this restaurant,
but from campus seats. I've sat down with the head

(41:43):
chefs and the owners and the weight staff and everyone.
For each episode, we're probably at a restaurant for twelve hours.
So I know the stories of these restaurants and I
know the people that are there, so to go back
and see them it's the best. It makes me so ha.

Speaker 1 (42:00):
So where where in the Big ten were you last year?
Where have you been that? I mean, look, give give
them as much publicity. Being a restaurant owner and operator
is tough in twenty twenty five. So give people one
road place where you're like, if you're going to you know,
Madison or whatever, this is my this is my.

Speaker 3 (42:19):
Spot, okay here. So there's so many places. I would
say one of my one of my favorite spots in
ann Arbor. Have you guys been to Freedom's.

Speaker 1 (42:31):
Yes, that's the Cuban Freedom.

Speaker 3 (42:33):
But Tato, Yeah, a Cuban fusion restaurant. That is one
of my favorite spots. Like the food there is unbelievable.
They're constantly churning things out.

Speaker 1 (42:45):
It's just wind out the door. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (42:47):
Oh, I would crush that right now. There's so many
good restaurants and the best part too, is now with
the four universities joining. Last season, we were able to
do a season five of campuses and really focus in
on Orgon and go to La and wash and do
all that stuff. So I know we're gonna have a
lot of West Coast games this year on CBS. That's
what we're thinking. So I'm excited to check out some

(43:09):
of those spots too.

Speaker 1 (43:10):
Hot Tip and arbor Ty and I went. There's a
breakfast sandwich spot downtown called Iggy's and they're just churning
out breakfast sandwiches and coffee for hungover, like nineteen year
olds and it is killer. It is great, and they're
putting hash Browns on sandwiches. It's everything you need from
like for like a Saturday morning.

Speaker 3 (43:31):
Food. Food is like my love language. I love to eat.
I love to cook. So when Campus Eats even came
about and they're like, we're going to do this fusion
show of sports and food, Hi, yeah, righter, whatever you need,
where do you want to send me? I'm cool, Yep,
let's go. Oh it's best.

Speaker 1 (43:48):
I'm going to bring this. By the way, these two
topics together, What do you eat before work? Right? Like
you don't want to take chances you don't want you
probably don't want to kill her, like greasy breakfast sandwich
before working for however many hours straight and needing to
be but like you don't want your blood sugar to
go like down the toilet. So like, what is the

(44:09):
move for you? For for Brad Gary? Like what is okay?
What is you want? Four months calories?

Speaker 3 (44:15):
You want an inside scoop? And I don't even know
if I'm supposed to really share this.

Speaker 1 (44:18):
But this I'm ready, You're juicing.

Speaker 3 (44:21):
Brad doesn't eat at all before a game at all.

Speaker 1 (44:26):
So if he seems irritable on air, all right, No,
he does not know, I'm saying. If then we now
have this no.

Speaker 3 (44:36):
Which is typically fine for our three thirty kick, but
we get primetime games here and there. He will not
eat all day, all day a seven thirty eight pm kick.
He is not eating a damn thing all day. And
I'm like trying to force feed him and he will
not have it.

Speaker 1 (44:54):
He is not a granola bar, nothing, nothing.

Speaker 3 (44:57):
Wow, I don't know how he does it. It my mind.
I need to eat, I like to eat.

Speaker 1 (45:03):
Is this just stomach fear from him?

Speaker 2 (45:06):
No?

Speaker 3 (45:06):
I don't. I think it's something he started doing forever
ago and now it's just part of his routine.

Speaker 1 (45:13):
Wow, okay, so you go light so.

Speaker 3 (45:17):
Well, it depends. It depends on the mood. I'm I'm
a big bagel person. Like I feel like that's always
like a very easy toss me a bagel in the morning.
We're good to go. Halftime, though, we get food during halftime.
And sometime, I mean I will crush like once once
the open and kickoff, and anyone in sports that works

(45:38):
and on the broadcast knows once you're done with your open,
then you're like.

Speaker 1 (45:44):
Oh okay.

Speaker 3 (45:47):
So there's times where if it's like a big, a
big game, a big ten championship, whatever, I'll eat light
and then I will have food right after the open,
I will run over to my little area and just
chow down real quick and then run back out to
the field.

Speaker 1 (46:04):
I love the possibility of something major happening and they
cut to you and there's like a burrito in your hand.

Speaker 3 (46:09):
He's like, oh, Brett, real quick, I did throw a
burrito in someone's face a few years back. I don't
know if you guys remember that one, but no.

Speaker 1 (46:16):
What happened? Please elaborate?

Speaker 3 (46:17):
Ohoa, wow, yeah, don't look this up. It was a
early kick Arkansas game. I was. It was an eleven
am I think kick off and Eric Musselman was the
basketball coach at Arkansas at the time, and so him
and his staff they ordered thousands of breakfast burritos for

(46:39):
the fans because we were trying, you know, try to
get the fans in nice and early. It's hard to
get a college kid at eleven am kick right, Yeah,
So my whole story at the open of the show
was about how, you know, we're riled up. We're getting
these fans here. It is a crazy environment. We're chucking
breakfast burritos out. And then it and I grabbed a

(47:02):
breakfast burrito and I turned and I went to throw it,
but I was a little hyped up. I don't know
what happened, and I threw it directly into a kid's face.

Speaker 1 (47:14):
Yeah, I mean, welcome to the bigs.

Speaker 3 (47:17):
Well, breakfast burrito into this poor child's face. And then
I didn't know what to do because I was like,
I just did that on national television. So what a
sane person would do would be like, let me go
over and apologize. No, I go and grab another breakfast
burrito to have to and because I had to redeem myself,
I did like show the world that I you know,

(47:38):
I'm married to a former professional baseball player, and I
just embarrassed myself on national TV. So then I had
a show that I could actually throw. And then I
went and apologized to make sure the kid was okay,
which he was totally fine. He was like, yeah, I
mean you just fed me breakfast.

Speaker 1 (47:54):
Did you then report on the injury status of the
student who is questionable with the burrito to the to
the dome?

Speaker 3 (48:00):
I didn't realize how big of a deal it was.
And then my husband messaged me and he was like,
by the way, it was probably five minutes into the game.
He's like, by the way, that clip already has a
million views.

Speaker 1 (48:09):
Yeah, great, welcome to the internet.

Speaker 3 (48:13):
Yay, that's that's terrific.

Speaker 1 (48:16):
I missed that or I watched it and seventy million
things have happened since that all.

Speaker 3 (48:21):
You can find it easily.

Speaker 1 (48:24):
Okay, So what would so from a technology standpoint, from
a football standpoint, from a burrito standpoint, I guess what
would make your life easier doing your job. We've asked
this to broadcasters who've talked about like delays getting the
video to their monitors. What would make like, are you
looking for the return of who was was it? Booker

(48:44):
McFarland who had the like riser on Monday night football,
so he had a better vantage point. What would make
your life easier?

Speaker 3 (48:52):
So this past season I was able In seasons past
I would have a little setup on each side of
the field where we'd have like a little desk with
a tiny monitor that I'd be able to go and
watch replays. And last season they were able to get
me a monitor that would travel around the field with me,

(49:12):
so I have a person a sign to me that
is their only job is to follow me around with
a monitor, which has been life changing because then for injuries,
it's huge because now I can go back and be
trying to find this kid, this player on the sideline.
I can go back and look and say, okay, well
it looks like it was his right ankle. Because injury happens,

(49:34):
you might be on the other side of the field,
you are sprinting, I mean full on sprint to wherever
their injury tent is. You're keeping your eyes on the
field to see what you can see. But again, like
I'm a little person, and these players are quite large
with lots of pads on, so you can only see
so much. So to have that monitor there has been
a game changer for me. And just to be able

(49:55):
to recall certain things or if there's a certain stat
that you're curious about during commercial break, they're able to
put it on my return screen, so I'm able to know,
you know, okay, well this is what's going on, and
we got to get the running game going, whatever whatever
it might be, to help formulat a question for a
halftime interview, whatever whatever it might be. It has been

(50:16):
so helpful. So I'm excited and hoping that we get
that back this season.

Speaker 1 (50:20):
I'm wondering what you're able to see and pick up
on on the sideline, not even injury wise, that it's
just going to be impossible to pick up watching this
from somebody's couch, Like how do you pick up vibes?
Like how do you like look at a sideline, look
at a coaching staff and say there's a nervous energy here.

Speaker 3 (50:40):
Oh you can tell Okay.

Speaker 1 (50:42):
I don't know. I'm a very stupid person.

Speaker 3 (50:44):
No you're not. You're not. So if you're walking past
and again we're not supposed to stand right behind the benches,
so it has to be a stroll. We're strolling past.
I'm not looking at anything. I'm not listening to it.
You're listening and you're watching everything that's going on.

Speaker 1 (50:58):
Right. But it is a subjective thing, right, like connective.

Speaker 3 (51:02):
But you can you can tell the vibe of a
group without question, whether it's you know, coaches being extra animated,
you know, if they're yelling at the guys, or if
they're like, hell, yeah, we're cooking ass right now. You
can tell if there's a difference of like a there
and you know there's certain words that you're not allowed
to tell and say on television, but there's there's a

(51:25):
clear energy, or if it's just dead. You know, there's
been so many games where I'm like, what are these
guys doing? Just wake up?

Speaker 4 (51:32):
You're getting the game, someone gets fired up. Where's the
veteran leadership that needs to get these guys moving like
you You can feel that on the sideline one or
if the places is rocking and you have one hundred
thousand fans screaming and the players are jumping up and down,
you know, the vibe of the team. You would be
able to tell.

Speaker 1 (51:51):
Too, I hope, So I'm I don't know. My brain
isn't what it used to be. I saw have the segues,
I saw the transitions time.

Speaker 2 (51:58):
Still got that. So got that, Jenny. We'll get you
out of here on this. It is a notable season
in the broadcast booth for Gary Danielson. So I don't
want you to be in the position where you're giving
away the game. But all I'm gonna ask is are
their plans to either surprise him, catch him off guard,

(52:23):
slash celebrate before he exits.

Speaker 3 (52:27):
It's funny you asked that. We went on a production
call yesterday, just the five of us, Brad, Gary, myself, producer, director,
and Gary made it very clear, I do not want
this season to be a whole parade about how this
is my final year. That is not what this is about.

(52:48):
And we all said, well, Gary, we're going to have
to do something, sure, and he said, if you have
to do something, you have to do something. I do
not want it to be in every game situation. So,
without giving anything away, there are a few things in
the works. He deserves to be celebrated. He is just

(53:08):
incredible at what he does, and he cares so much,
not only about the broadcast, but about our team, and
we are going to make sure that he feels very loved.
But he has made it very clear he does not
want this season to be about him.

Speaker 1 (53:23):
I like that. I like that he took the attitude like,
if you must.

Speaker 3 (53:27):
Celebrate, see those we're going to.

Speaker 1 (53:29):
Right here are some promo photos that I think really
show me off really well.

Speaker 2 (53:33):
Yeah, like he needs to do what Keith Jackson did
back in the day on the retirement tour, where every
place he went somebody gave him a gift and then
Keith Jackson I think, came out of retirement after all
that a second, but you know, I mean, at least
get your money's worth out of this.

Speaker 3 (53:47):
Yeah, he is not that person. He does not want
it to be all about him. And it's so just
a quick side note. We had our college football seminar
probably two weeks ago at CBS, and if you're in
New York, you go. You know, everyone goes to the seminar.
If not, you zoom in. So there was a question
should we all go to the seminar and CBS was like, no,

(54:09):
you guys can just zoom in from wherever you are perfect. Well,
we wanted to do something special for Gary, so they
put together this incredible presentation just to honor him, and
we had Vern came on, Ali LaForce, Jamie art All,
Tracy Wolfson, all of his former partners just you know,

(54:29):
said a few nice things. Brad and I spoke. I
was an emotional mess, and Gary surprised everyone. He had
flown to New York and didn't tell any of us
because He's like, I didn't want you and Brad to
feel like you had to come into New York. And
we're like, of course we would have come into New York,
but that's just very much him. He was like, I
felt like I should be here, but I didn't want

(54:49):
to make anyone else have to be there. I'm like,
you're ridiculous. He is one of a kind. He's one
of a kind, and he will be celebrated awesome.

Speaker 2 (54:57):
Her name is Jenny Dell, the lead college football reporter
for CBS Sports. Thank you so much for being generous
with your time. Is there a particular place this season
that you are hoping to get to, or even if
it's somewhere you've been before, you're excited.

Speaker 1 (55:11):
To go back.

Speaker 3 (55:12):
I am hoping to get to Madison, Wisconsin. Nice very
special place to me for many reasons. My daughter is
named Madison after Madison, Wisconsin. For it's a long story.
It goes back to campus eats. I love Madison and
I just want to do jump around nice.

Speaker 1 (55:31):
It is fun. He's done it. It's great. Uh, Madison
is an all time place. It's better naming your kid
Madison's better than like cheese curd. So thanks, Yeah, I
think you failed it. Awesome. I'm that note. I'm that note. Jenny.

Speaker 2 (55:48):
Thank you so much for giving us so much of
your time. Best of luck this season. Have fun out
there and we'll have you back soon.

Speaker 3 (55:54):
All right, thank you, love to come back. Thanks guys.

Speaker 1 (55:56):
All right, Dan, there we go.

Speaker 2 (55:58):
Jenny Dell, lead college ball reporter for CBS Sports, gave
us some awesome anecdotes there. The comment about brad Nessler
not eating is going to be bronzed and hung somewhere
in this studio.

Speaker 1 (56:12):
That's marvelous. Mark, I kind of get it. If you're
going on network TV, you got to speak for three
to four hours. You have to have excitement and energy.
You'd like to have your blood sugar maybe accounted for
a little bit more than zero calories, but also the
risk involved in eating the wrong thing I get trying

(56:35):
to play it safe. I just wonder if after the
game ends and he signs off and thanks the crew
and like once again it's ohio say blah blah that
you know they sign off, it goes to like the
whatever drug commercial and he's just wrapped in foil like
a marathon or and handed a meatball sub. All right,
Brad needs a sandwich. We're losing. Brad like he's James

(56:58):
Brown coming off stage after giving it his all. Needs
an IVY B twelve shot. I hope for that's in
my visual than my brain that like, okay, get him going,
get him going, all right, good job, Brat, you did
it again, I hope. So that's all. Oh my god,
night kick. That's brutal. Three and a half hours of

(57:21):
broadcasting on nothing. That's man, it's a lot. Good for him.

Speaker 2 (57:27):
He's a pros pro. I mean, he's guy's a legend. Yeah,
guy needs a turkeyleg. Who's got Prince Turkey leg?

Speaker 1 (57:35):
Yeah? It's great.

Speaker 2 (57:37):
That was awesome anyway, big thanks to Jenny for stopping
on by here, giving us so much of her time,
we'll have to bring her on again sometimes. See that
was great, really enjoy it.

Speaker 1 (57:46):
I meant to ask if she'd ever and we'll have her.
I we'll ask next time if she's ever been wrecked
by like a receiver sprinting out of bounds like I
think it's sort of a rite of passage for media
people working on the sideline. But next time, oh.

Speaker 2 (58:01):
Well, next time, next time. Indeed, big thanks again for
her time. One final note here, Dan, before we let
the fine people go. If that's okay with you, are.

Speaker 1 (58:12):
We done talking football for the congratulations Skippy. You've got mail.
You've got mail on the Solid Verbal.

Speaker 2 (58:19):
You know. We get emails all the time at solid
verbal at gmail dot com. Of course, some are better
than others, some are more preposterous than others. We got
one here that came in You and I were both
sending it back and forth. This might be the best
email we've ever gotten. It's up there, Hi, Solid Verbal.

(58:42):
I hope this message finds you in good health. I'm
Frank Imoff. Definitely not a real name.

Speaker 1 (58:50):
I know it im Hoff. You don't know a m Hoff.
I know it m Hoff.

Speaker 2 (58:53):
The attorney managing the estate of the late Richard Verbal
Solid Comma, I was able to trace you through a
family tree leads. I love that that's not English as
the sole inheritor to the Richard Verbal estate. Yeah, please

(59:15):
contact me so we can schedule a time to talk.
I have many questions about the late great Richard Verbal
that perhaps we should reach back out to this gentleman
and see what he has to say.

Speaker 1 (59:28):
I think we have to hear him out. You know,
you don't want to leave money on the table, tie.

Speaker 2 (59:31):
You know.

Speaker 1 (59:31):
The thing is about Richard Verbal as he founded rivals
dot com and is that an alias for Shannon Terry?
I guess, so does Sanitary Rivals scout one of those?
I think all of them. Yeah, he's all of them.
He is the founder rivals dot com Richard Verbal and
then named particular elements of the site with his last

(59:52):
name so solid like the McRib right, that everything has
that McDonald's flavor, the micflavor. So it's obviously sad to
hear he passed so influential on everything we do, sure
and eager to see if we were fortunate enough to
be named in his will and testament. So I'm going

(01:00:13):
to have to respond to this afterwards.

Speaker 2 (01:00:15):
Yeah, I'm going after we get off here, I'm going
to respond and say, hey, what more can you tell
us about the state of Richard verbal? This is a chapter.
This is only the intro chapter to what could be
a great series of bits on this episode and many episodes.
So yeah, I would encourage the verballer hood out there
to weigh in Solid Verbal at gmail dot com.

Speaker 1 (01:00:36):
And if we have any family law attorneys listening right now,
how we should proceed how, yeah, absolutely, how we should perceive.

Speaker 2 (01:00:44):
What I was going to say is if people out
there have any ideas how we can incorporate the late
great Richard Verbal into the content of the show. I
was thinking, if we had any really bad takes that
sort of die and go to heaven. Oh, we have
teams at some point that we just think are done.
So if we have coaches that are done, so after
a couple of weeks, all of them can go into

(01:01:05):
the great college football beyond. With Richard Verbal, well, and
you hope that at least on his deathbed he patched
things up with Barry Solid and it was you know,
like when Michael Scott met I don't know if it's
done to her or Mifflin. The picture of him coming
back to Scratton that you know they were able to
the accord was able to happen before it was too late.

(01:01:28):
So you know, we named the show after one of
the most successful partnerships in college football media history, and
so you like to see.

Speaker 1 (01:01:35):
It work out. I was sent, by the way, this
is my final thought. I was sent. I had no idea.
There is an author, a writer, and a professor or
associate professor at the University of Minnesota. And her name
and I am not making this up, and I'm sure
she has heard it seventy thousand times. Her name is

(01:01:58):
Elizabeth Wrigley hyphen Field. WHOA, which is pretty great. I
love a good game. It's no Richard Verbal, No, no, no.
I think she writes for Slate or something. Elizabeth Wrigley Hyphenfield.
That's amazing. Yeah, missus Wrigley Field. Perfect.

Speaker 2 (01:02:19):
If you are out there and you have ideas for
how we can incorporate mister Verbal into the show again,
sliverbalotgmail dot com.

Speaker 1 (01:02:25):
But pay respects for Richard verbwel no, he's no longer
with us. He's with all due respect.

Speaker 2 (01:02:31):
Yeah, of course we want to honor him on the show.
But of course, I'm going to have to email to
find out a little bit more about this. It is
a German email address, so I'm sure this is very legit.
Of course, as I said at the top verballers dot com,
the game is spinning up as we speak. We've got hundreds,
if not thousands of people that have already entered. We

(01:02:54):
would encourage you to go out there and see what
it's all about. It is a pick'em game. You're gonna
pick like ten twelve games week somewhere in that neighborhood
against the spread. You get weekly prizes if you finish
at the top. If you finish in the top five
at the end of the season, you get a seat
on a board of trustees. It's one of the most
no brainer fun things we do all year. So check
it out. Provided Dan that they're not afraid to compete,

(01:03:18):
thank you, and look the odds are you are absolutely
going to bash tie into the ground.

Speaker 1 (01:03:25):
I'm alling one already, I'm all in one. We're both
going one actually, but yeah, absolutely so compete compete in.

Speaker 2 (01:03:33):
The game starts up next Saturday, so you have a
whole week to get in to think it over, find
out if it's for you.

Speaker 1 (01:03:38):
Correct.

Speaker 2 (01:03:39):
The first games that we are picking are kicking off
at noon Eastern time next Saturday, so not the Thursday
or the Friday game. See you got a couple extra
days of figure this out.

Speaker 1 (01:03:49):
Yes, hope to see you there.

Speaker 2 (01:03:51):
Okay, big thanks again to our guest of honor Jenny Dell.
Today we will talk a little bit more about some
of these games that we couldn't get to on today's
recording when we do our next episode. But when we
get to our next episode, we've got more games to
preview because it's gonna be a wild week.

Speaker 1 (01:04:08):
Games.

Speaker 2 (01:04:09):
Got five days games Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Labor Day,
weekend it is. It's gonna be awesome. I'm excited Week ones.
Here for that guy over there, my good friend Dan Rubinstein,
for myself, Tyler Real.

Speaker 1 (01:04:23):
Talk to y Allson to stay song Peace,