Bill Chaves Pod_EP 146

On this episode of the Bill Chaves Podcast, Bill and Alex welcome back College Hockey Inc. Director of Communications Jayson Hajdu to talk all things college hockey, including the reasons behind the growth of the college game and what College Hockey Inc. is doing to help that upward trajectory continue (2:13). The guys then look back at UND Hockey’s successful end to non-conference play and the debut of the Big Sky-Summit League Challenge before previewing the big talking points at this week’s NCAA Convention (21:52). On the B-Side (44:28), there’s talk on the EPL’s festive season, the January transfer window, the NFL playoffs, and the state of the Red Sox post-Chris Sale.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
You're listening to the Bill Shaves Podcast, presented by Mid Coast Sports. With
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(00:23):
Sign up today at midcoasportsplus dot com. This is how we do sports,
and this is the Bill Shaves Podcast. Welcome to another edition of the
Bill Shaves Podcast. It is theninth of January twenty twenty four. First
pod in the new year, AlexSigner, Bill Shaves and special guest who

(00:44):
we're gonna introduce in a sec Bill, Happy New Year. A week or
so into it. How's twenty twentyfour treating you so far? Yeah?
Really good? Alex? How aboutyourself? I know we saw each other.
Did we see each other? No, we didn't see each other,
but I know we've chatted with youeach other. So yeah, how's how's
everything treating you at this point?In to no things are good. Yeah,
I was gonna say I did notget to see you at this weekend's

(01:07):
und Alaska series because CBS stuff hasbeguns. I was. I was in
the other part of the country.I was in Oklahoma this weekend for Summit
League Big Sky Challenge basketball, butwas paying attention to what was happening up
north and excited to see how thingsprogress on a number of different fronts on
the hoops side and the hockey side, which we're going to get into over
the course at today. But yeah, good start to the year. Our

(01:30):
mild winter bill appears to perhaps bebehind us as we've ushered in a cold
snap that's hit the Upper Midwest,though mother Nature just making sure she knows
she's there. Right at the endof the day, still undefeated. Yeah,
well, we're going to sock yepyou and the hockey and hoops and
NCAA stuff coming up in just abit. Plus we got a festive fixture
recap from soccer. Lots of goodthings going on there. First, though,

(01:53):
we got to get to our specialguest, who's man that you and
d fans have known and loved fora long long time. He was out
of our purview for a little bit, and then we welcomed him back with
open arms a couple of years agoto the College Hockey Space. He's coming
to us from his home in KansasCity, Kansas, Missouri. Remind me
again, which side of the borderare you on? We're on the Kansas
side and Shanee beautiful. This is. That's the dulcet tones of Jason Hashdu,

(02:15):
who is now the director of Communicationswith College Hockey, Inc. Hash
thanks so much for being a partof the podcast today. Yeah, thanks
for having me. I should haveasked when I before I committed to do
this. You're not gonna ask meany Premier League questions, are you?
No, that's that's totally a flipon the B side. If you want
to stay for the B side,we would always allow our guests to stay
as long as they want, butthey can also we tend to like to

(02:38):
cut them loose to get on withtheir day. All field Red Sox questions,
but no Premier League if you don'tmind, We're not going to no
al least, we're not gonna We'renot going to assess a least. Let's
just avoid that. We know who'sbeen finishing last recently, Alex. We
sure do. And it's not Hash'sBlue Jays. Oh no, no,

(03:00):
I thought he was going to getshow. He Hatani, but he didn't
seem like there was a hot minutewhere you might have had him. That
was quite a week, wasn't it. And then ever since then, the
whole offseason has just screeched to ahalt. There's not a lot of movement
from anybody really, unless unless you'rea Dodgers fan, unless you're yeah,
the the Los Angeles deferrals. Yes, that's exactly right. That's right.

(03:24):
Well, Hodji, I really doappreciate you joining us, and you know,
give us a little update, youknow, for folks that may not
know what College Hockey Inc. Is, you know, just give us the
background and then of course what youdo with it. At this point in
time, Sure, College Hockey Inc. Is a nonprofit organization and it was

(03:44):
born about fifteen years ago. Reallyis a way to way to try and
keep the best American players, specificallyin the United States, playing college hockey
on their path to professional hockey.But over the years it's really evolved.
We realized at some point and thisclearly predates me. This is my third
year of college Hockey, Inc.But the organization realized at some point we

(04:08):
can do more. We can domore to grow the game. We can
grow do more to market the gameand be a storyteller, a national storyteller
on behalf of at the time Divisionone men's College Hockey and College Hockey,
Inc. Also Got into the growthpart of it, seeking out universities that
may be candidates to add the sportof Division one hockey, men's or women's.

(04:30):
Every time we approach a school,it's always with the goal of adding
both. Sometimes it turns out tobe just women's. Sometimes it turns out
to be just men's, but thatis the goal. And then heading into
this year, we made them reallythe long overdue decision to also bring women's
hockey efforts and initiatives under our tent, so to speak, and we've added

(04:50):
women's Division one women's hockey to ourwebsite. We played a role. I'm
sure you saw the University of Delawareadding women's hockey before Christmas, which was
a tremendous, tremendous development for thesport. And now I can say we're
actually just we're a few days away, I think from announcing our hiring of
our first ever director of women's hockey. I'm not sure when this episode will

(05:13):
drop, but it may even beBy the time this episode drops, we
have our fourth full timer on boardat College Hockey, Inc. So the
growth has been fun to watch,first personally from the standpoint of being a
school sports information director, but nowbeing on the inside and seeing all of
the different I wasn't fully aware ofall of the different things college hockey does

(05:34):
as an organization within the sport,and I'm certainly aware now, but it's
been a blast to be a partof it the last three years. You
mentioned the growth that the game issad. Obviously, you're originally from Sasiatchaw
when you came to und as astudent and then kind of fell in love
with this game. So that wasnineteen ninety five I saw, right,
was your first one associated with collegehockey in some way, shape or form.

(05:56):
How have you seen the game changeand evolve really since then to now,
almost thirty years later. I thinkone thing that jumps out is the
facilities, which certainly wasn't limited tohockey. Over the years in college sports,
we've seen that people call it thearms race. We've seen that evolve
in all sports really in college sports, but it's touched hockey as well.

(06:17):
The facilities. But I think alsothe perception has changed. There used to
be this notion that college hockey wasfor late bloomers. It was for the
guys that weren't good enough for juniorhockey and maybe didn't have the NHL in
their future. But I think thesport has really blown that myth out of
the water in recent years. You'veseen all of the first round draft picks.

(06:40):
You've seen the Cale mccarrs, theAdam Fantilis, the Jack Echels.
People are realizing now that there ishigh end talent coming out of college hockey.
It's the late bloomer narrative itself islargely a myth. I mean,
the average age of an NHL rookieis usually about twenty two or twenty three
years old, So it's not collegehockey players getting late starts. It's just
the natural progression of players. Aswe know from watching sports over the years,

(07:05):
development doesn't always occur on a linearpath, and that certainly applies to
hockey as well. So I thinkthe evolution of the facilities, I think
the shattering of some myths of whatcollege hockey is all about and the ceiling
of college hockey. I think forme, those are the two most stark
changes over the years. Hey Jason, do you have connectivity with the NHL

(07:29):
or professional hockey? How does thatrelationship work? Yeah, good question.
Actually, we are almost entirely fundedthrough the National Hockey League, a grant
from the National Hockey League that comesthrough USA Hockey. That's the majority of
our funding, so we have areally good relationship with them. We meet
monthly with Kevin Westgarth, who isa VP for Growth and Collaboration with the

(07:50):
NHL. We meet with Kevin andhis team at least monthly on a number
of initiatives and brainstorming sessions just tosee how we can better growth a game
and market the game. And asfar as my role personally, I'm in
weekly communication with the NHL with NHLmedia doing a lot of the same things

(08:11):
I did at North Dakota as anSID, just feeding them information and handing
them NCAA related storylines for their gamebroadcasts. So when, for example,
if if ESPN has an NHL broadcast, I'm sending them a specific set of
notes that morning containing a bunch ofcollege hockey related storylines, facts, notes,
data trends, things like that forJohn Buchi, Gross and the gang

(08:33):
over at ESPN, for example,and we do that with TNT as well.
So yeah, we're we work handin hand with the NHL and it's
it's been a fantastic relationship you mentioned. Butchi obviously does college hockey and has
kind of become one of the facesin the media for promoting what college hockey's
about. Now the fact that he'sone of ESPN's lead play by play guys
for the NHL, he has allthose connections already banked up in his memory.

(08:58):
And your notes help not diminishing whatyou're doing, because not everybody has
that. But then I think thosethings help make the link for the common
NHL fan to think about, Ohyeah, that's right, this guy wants
to be you. This guy playedat Quinnipiac, this guy played at North
Dakota. All those things helped makethose connections and raise the profile. Yeah,
that's exactly the aim, because whenyou turn on if you're a college

(09:18):
football fan and you turn on anNFL game, you know where all of
these guys played college football. Sameduring March during the NBA playoffs for example,
you know where all of these starsplayed their college basketball. We want
to get to a position where whenNHL fans turn on an NHL game,
they know Jack Ico played at BostonUniversity, they know Owen Power played for

(09:39):
Michigan. That's the aim, andpeople like John Bucigross with his kind of
platform, we rely on that Divisionone college hockey can sometimes get lost in
the shuffle and overshadowed by football andbasketball, so we rely on people like
John big time with a platform tohelp spread that word. So, Jason,

(10:01):
so you you mentioned fifteen years ofcollege hockey inc. So what's what's
on the what's on the docket movingforward? I mean, what's the thought?
I mean, obviously you want togrow the game, right, you
want I get the broader macro platform, But what other things are you all
working on at the stage of thegame. Growth, like you said,
is definitely a priority. But andthis is a thing I wasn't totally aware

(10:24):
of until I joined, is theeducation efforts we make. And it's it's
twofold. Really, it's it's thefourteen year old aspiring hockey player and their
families and really anyone in their orbitthat informs their decision making, so that
could be their their parents, theiradvisors, their their youth coach. We
want to get in front of thoseindividuals and educate them not only about the

(10:46):
benefits of college hockey, but ensuringyour eligibility on the way to college hockey,
because there are things that can tripthat up along the way, as
we know. So that's that's reallya big priority for us, and also
is getting in front of the playerscurrently playing college hockey and presenting data with
them when they're trying to make theirdecisions. Do I stay, do I

(11:07):
come back for another year, doI make the jump to professional? Here's
the data we have uncovered over theyears. We're not going to editorialize.
We're going to present the data andallow you to make your informed decision,
just like we do with the fourteenyear old aspiring player. Here's the data.
Go ahead and make your informed decision. But we do provide coaches with
this data that they can then passalong to their players when they are struggling

(11:30):
with their decisions come April and May, whether to leave or to stay.
And a lot of the data isvery telling. Unless you're a first round
or second round draft pick, you'redoing yourself a favor by coming back for
as many years as possible. Sothe education piece of it, I think
is really crucial going forward. Lastone for me, Jason is just a
quick follow up is and I knowbetween yourself and Mike Snee you do a

(11:54):
lot of presentations to some degree.I'm assuming that those go over fairly well,
right, I mean, there's probablyan aha or an epiphany moment for
some folks. As a matter offact, my two colleagues Mike and Sean
Hogan, are in Toronto today andthey were going to do a live event
tonight and the weather has the weatherhas thrown a wrench. So they're in

(12:16):
Toronto and they will have to dotheir Toronto event virtually tonight, which is
a bit of a snag, butthey'll make the best of it. But
yeah, they were in British Columbiaearlier this year. We'll be back in
Ontario in February. We did anAlberta event prior to Christmas, and the
technologies post COVID have really helped usget to more places. We can get

(12:37):
to a team in northern Saskatchewan thatwe might not have been able to get
to before overseas it's open doors overseasas far as our presentations, and those
are very popular. They draw bigcrowds wherever we go. It's interesting.
I did my first one last Februaryin Ottawa and it's really telling to see
the parents and the absolute anxiety theywear on their faces when it's decision time

(13:01):
for their for their young hockey player. Should they stay at home, should
they be sent off to a prepschool at age fourteen? Should they should
they move out of state? Shouldthey go to a select camp? Should
they go to these these recruiting camps? And they don't know what to believe.
So it's really important for us,as I said, to present that
data and allow them to make themost informed decision possible once we once we

(13:26):
present the data, it's out ofour hands, of course. What we
do pride ourselves on being a freeresource for these families as they make those
decisions. As a dad going throughit with a youngster that's going through things,
it can be hard. I mean, it really is hard any sport
you're trying to navigate, you know, what is the right path for your

(13:48):
everybody's development path. As you said, it's not linear, right, I
mean at the end of the day. Who knows what transpires. So I
do appreciate what y'all do. Imean, I think you provide really good
data. Good information people can dowith what they want with it. But
at least it's out there, andthere's a lot of there's a pressure aspect
to it, right, Like afourteen year old boy or girl if they
see one of their teammates or friendsreceive a verbal offer at some point along

(14:13):
the way, and this individual doesn'thave that offer yet. Oh, are
we doing it wrong? Are weon the wrong path? There's so much
hurry and rush to hit these mileposts and it's just not necessary. Our
biggest message to these families is thereis no one right path. The most
important thing you can do is playsomewhere. Just play and play well.

(14:35):
That's it. In this day andage, if you play and play well,
coaches will find you. You don'tnecessarily need to leave home. Obviously
it's different based on geography wherever youlive, but for the most part,
stay where you are and play andplay well. That's it. That's the
secret. I think the road's gottenwider in the last couple of years,
where it does feel like more especiallymore Canadians who normally would go play Mayniard

(14:56):
junior are now making their way intod CAA Ross, having an impact from
a young age. As you mentionedearlier, the idea of what college hockeys
has changed, and it's led tosome phenomenal products on the ice, Like
we've had a really entertaining season sofar and some great years the last handful
of years, certainly hash If youwant to look big picture, what has
maybe been your favorite storyliner, someof the favorite things that have popped up

(15:20):
for you over the course of thisseason, or perhaps some that are yet
to come. I was texting withour friend Brad sh Lassman last night that
I am already irrationally excited for theNCAA Tournament this year. I think there
are so many legitimately good teams witha chance to win this thing. And
on top of that, you've gotthe possibility of some new blood in the
tournament this year, some teams thathave bounced back, like Maine. You

(15:41):
might get an Arizona State in thetournament. That some teams that would really
freshen up the look of the bracket. And I just think it's going to
be wide open the skill level aswe know is incredible. I cannot wait
until March and April. It's goingto be an outstanding postseason. I'm pretty
certain of that. And I thinkthink it's going to be a tournament to
remember. I really do. Yeah. I agree with you the depth right

(16:04):
now of understanding which team is goingto make the run. Who knows at
this point. I mean, putabout ten to twelve, I would say
in a bag right now, andI think you could pick any one of
them. I mean I'm just lookingat the pairwise right now, and I'll
just pick out a random team,Western Michigan sitting there at ten, and
if you ask anyone in the NCCHC, that's a team that could legitimately win

(16:26):
a national championship. Arizona State hasthree losses in twenty five games, and
they're the sixteen. They're number sixteenright now as we sit here in the
pairwise. So I just think there'sthis incredible talent across the board. We
think we at College Hockey Inc.Think there's enough talent for more teams,
for more schools to add Division onehockey and make it and keep it a

(16:48):
viable product. So the talent isplentiful. The number of teams that have
a legit shot to win this thingthis year. I think it's a large
number, and I think fans aregoing to really enjoy tournament. And what
better way to culminate that than theExcel Energy Center in April. Yeah,
that's going to be a ton offun for you and defans. You potentially
have the opportunity to stay within theMidwest if you want, you to catch

(17:11):
the regional castuot Fall South Dakota ishosting. Omaha is the host institution,
but it'll be down the road inStout Falls, and then yeah, the
Frozen Four in Saint Paul two weekslater. There'll be some great crowds,
some great crowds. Yeah, youwould certainly think so, so Haj.
Obviously, this is not the onlypodcast that you are involved with. To
give people a little idea of wherethey can listen to you and Schlass on
a weekly basis. Yeah, CollegeHockey Today, our weekly national look at

(17:34):
college hockey that Schlass and I cohost that usually drops on Thursdays. We
tend to tape those Wednesday afternoon Thursdaymorning, whenever his travel schedule will allow.
That's once a week, and Ithink once we get our new director
of Women's Hockey on board. We'llalso at some point have a women's version
of College Hockey Today as well.That will be out weekly, so comprehensive

(17:56):
look at the national picture on bothmen's and women's sides. We're excited about
that as well. Yeah, it'sa great podcast. That's what I listened
to every week and have for years. I know Nate you Will used to
host, and then of course hewent on to go win Stanley Cups and
things like that and went he wentpro, went pro, and it was
dormant for about it maybe a yearor so, and then Yeah, it's

(18:17):
been great to see that resurrected.I really missed it when it was gone.
But it's if you like college hockeyand love to get a flavor of
what's happening around the country. Hajiand schlasco conference by conference and then give
games to watch, and it's it'sit's really a good overview of what's happening.
So well done on that, Jason, appreciate it. Podcasting has been
in your life for a long timegoing back. Yeah, I have a

(18:37):
relationship. I'd rather I'd rather listenthan host, for sure. My my
subscription feed is a little overwhelming,but it's been fun. It's fun to
hook up with Schloss every week.And I'll tell you what it's When I
was at U and D and Ihad been there so long that everything just
felt natural, and I knew thehistory of the programs and et cetera,
et cetera. Now when you're youneed when you're talking about sixty four different

(19:02):
programs, you got to know yourstuff because if you don't, you're gonna
hear about it. So there's afair amount of homework that goes into this,
not to mention my co host BratchLassman like who knows more about college
hockey than Schloss. So I've gotto be on my toes for sure.
And several diet cokes in before werecord. Oh I love it. Well,
I know you've probably got a fewmore in your future today with chasing

(19:25):
the kids around on a snow day. Thanks, yes, yes, no
caffeine free today for sure. Well, we appreciate you taking some time out
of a busy home day with thecrew and with stuff coming up with another
busy weekend at college hockey on theway, Jason continued the great work and
thanks again for your time buddy,Thank you anytime, appreciate the invite.
Thanks Shach. Thanks again to JasonHajduo, formerly of You and D.

(19:48):
He was here with the University ofNorth Dakota Athletics department for twenty three years,
I mean from ninety five as astudent all the way through twenty eighteen.
Such a big part of what hasmade und athletics it is in terms
of getting information out and promoting theprograms, and like, the guy just
wrote the book on how to bea sports information director and the rubric is

(20:10):
still followed, Like it's just neatto see has his fingerprints still all over
when you get game notes in thosethings, Like it's it's still there,
even if the people running it havechanged. But doing a phenomenal job of
course with college hockey inc. Reallygreat to have him on the podcast today
though. Yeah, it was goodto catch up with Jason, and I
was really lucky to be able tocross over for him for maybe about about

(20:33):
eight nine months, and then heand Amanda get a great opportunity down in
the Kansas City area, so theytook it, and good for them,
but great to have him back inthe college hockey scene. I mean it's
one of the good ones all theway around. And I think his knowledge
of the game and being able topublicize and promote it is incredibly important because

(20:57):
he's just got a level of credibilitythat he's I think what he's doing right
now is couldn't be any better forthe game of college hockey. Yeah,
phenomenal ambassador. With that wealth ofinformation that he preventes and the way that
he provides it, you can tellit. I would imagine if I was
the parents of a young man orwoman who was thinking about going the college
hockey route and has showed up forone of these events, he would put

(21:21):
me at ease, I think withthe information that he would provide and do
so in a way where you wouldthink, you know what, that's pretty
attractive, this college hockey thing.This guy with the beard makes this seem
like a good thing for my childto go do. I think he would.
He's been a great asset I thinkfor college hockey inc And for college
hockey in general. So good thingsto happen in that space. But yeah,
you really, if you do likecollege hockey, give that podcast to

(21:42):
listen. College Hockey Today Weekly withhaj and with Brad Schlassen. Really good
stuff there for Jason, and again, if you're interested in learning more about
the game, go to college HockeyInc Dot com. Uh. Speaking of
hockey, let's just continue in thisfame. U and D was back in
action, real action, not justexhibition play. This weekend. They got
to a very good Alaska Fairbanks teamthat was covering on the pairwise bubble and

(22:03):
both games were physical and tight anda little back and forth early and on
both nights, North Dakota was ableto turn it on and pull away over
the final thirty minutes of action six' four on Friday, six to two
on Saturday, two big wins forBrad Burry's team and non conference as they
finish out that portion of their season. I agree, Alex, you know,
I a couple things that struck me. One is the week before when

(22:29):
you're playing the US team. Youknow, to some degree it has an
interesting vibe to it. That game. I don't know how to really quite
put it in perspective, but it'sit's really ultra talented skaters on the ice,
no doubt about it. But thenit always seems to get a little
interesting because it's competitive at the endbut the real the real win in that

(22:56):
was hobe Headquist being able to getsixty minutes of playing because you know the
way Ludwig had played that whole firsthalf, it was awesome that he got
a game experience and look ahead towhat transpired right this past weekend. Yeah,
loveg Person comes down with an illnesson Friday morning after practicing all week
and just presuming to step back intothe starting role. Hoby again, who's

(23:18):
a freshman who had only played inthe Manitoba Exhibition and then as as you
said, played the full game againstthe NTDP a week before, has to
step in and played really well overthe course of two games. It just
there's something to be said about havinga little depth and goal and you ever
know when someone's going to have tostep in, And that was the big
talking point sort of over the courseof the first half. Lovevig's playing fantastic,

(23:41):
This is great. We just can'tget Hoby in. There's just there's
no opportunity here. Why stop agood thing. In the back of your
mind, you're thinking, but theygot to get him in at some point
because they're gonna probably need him,and they needed him this weekend and he
came through. Yeah, it workedout, you know, very well that
he was able to get that onegame almost kind of like the Manitoba game's
always been for a lot of ouryou know, first years that you know,

(24:03):
kind of get that first Ralph gameout of their system, if you
will, and that helped moving forward. The other thing that was interesting through
this weekend as well is if youlook at Fairbanks's independent schedule, and as
you said, they're kind of theywere certainly on the pairwise bubble coming in.
If you looked at the remaining games, this was this one was highlighted
and circled because if they could makesome hey, at least one night,

(24:26):
you knew you were going to geta desperate, desperate team, and that's
exactly what we got. I thoughttheir first period was excellent on Friday night,
they were really really good, andthen you know, you knew you
were going to get desperation at theend of games, and that's exactly what
we got. So I thought allaround it was it was an awesome showing

(24:47):
by our team to be able tokind of withstand all of that. And
then the other the other side ofit is too. It's always interesting during
these holiday games when our student body'snot there, you know, it's just
a different vibe in the building.Too. Awesome fan attendance, I was
great, great on both nights,but there's definitely just a different feel in

(25:07):
the building when our students and band'snot there. It makes you appreciate when
they come back. And they willbe back next week for the Omaha series,
which will be exciting, so youget that opportunity to feel the full
pageantry of what's going on. Butyeah, it's right. It just changes
things a little bit, for sure, when you don't have that level of
atmosphere or vitriol perhaps sometimes directed atthe opposition. But two big wins now

(25:29):
and now NCHD play the rest ofthe way. One third of the conference
season's done, two thirds to go, and they'll get an Omaha team coming
in that kind of like Alaska onthe pairwise bubble. But the Mavericks have
a lot of games against good teamsahead in which they can improve their stock.
And as always, this is anOmaha team that's good. I mean,
Mike Gabinet's done a great job withthat program. They were the number

(25:51):
three seed of course in the postseasonlast year, and you Indy went down
to Baxter Arena and knocked them off, and they played seven games against each
other last year. There's a lotof familiarity between these two programs. Probably
there are fireworks when the MAVs andFighting Hawks get together. We expect no
different coming up this weekend. Yeah, no doubt about it. I mean,
you know when you definitely have hadyou know, kind of the series

(26:11):
that we've had over the course oftime, and you know they're are travel
partner at least for at least thisyear until Arizona State comes in, right
and so but at the end,yeah, I mean, of course,
I mean it's it's going to beone week after another that will just be
a gauntlet, and so it startsthis weekend. It should be a lot
of fun. Yeah. Omaha's comingoff a really narrow defeat in the Desert

(26:33):
Classic. They made the championship gameof that tournament down in TMP and then
lost in overtime to the host SunDevils. So they'll be motivated to come
up here and try and chip awayat the North Dakota team that again currently
is six in the pairwise four inthe country. Should be two really good
games. You indeed, then goeson the road, by the way next
week to the current league leaders,Saint Cloud State, who is phenomenal in
the first half seven zero to wontheir best start to a conference season in

(26:56):
D one history for the Huskies.Saint Cloud, by the way, play
at Denver this weekend, so acouple of big games in a row for
the Huskies, and then Denver ofcourse is who und please the weekend after
that, So it is that senseone after the next, after the next.
No easy weeks ever in college hockey, but certainly from here on out
when you know how important each ofthese nights is going to be in the

(27:17):
quest for another Penrose Cup. Yeah, no doubt about it. It's a
you know, you take each eachseries one at a time each weekend,
but you know it's it starts rightnow here comes really the march to March,
right, I mean, ultimately that'swhat it is. Hockey is very
much gearing up towards that. Youthink march. I think college basketball,
of course, men's and women's bothin a unique state right now because they

(27:41):
started conference play just after Christmas andthen dipped into the Big Sky, summing
the challenge this past week with acouple of games on Wednesday and Saturday home
and road. Just your thoughts,by the way, on how obviously it
was a great in terms of parody. Yeah, even score dead, even
a dead heat after thirty six games, nothing to separate these two. Felt

(28:03):
like it was a pretty big success. Alex. We always kind of say,
sometimes on the b side, atie is fair, you know,
sometimes the ties fair. Now,there was some sort of tie breaking,
and I think we ended up ekingit out to some degree, but it
couldn't have been any closer between thetwo leagues. I mean, it was
tied after day one, it wastied after day two, and so that's
about as even as it gets,you know, I think that. So

(28:27):
it had to get off the ground. So it got off the ground this
year. You know, the datesare going to be early December next year,
and so that's a little bit different. It was just really hard to
get that squared away for this yearbecause people, the schools already had contracts
in place, and so we endedup moving it right now because then you're

(28:48):
only really moving conference games at thatpoint in time, so you had control.
So next year will be a littlebit different, you know. I
liked them. I liked it.It was all in the same week,
and you know, you could focusin on it. So yeah, I
thought it was good. I thinkthe Wednesday Saturday format is going to have

(29:11):
to stay because depending on who you'regoing to play, you're going to need
that extra day to get back tocampus and then be able to prep for
whomever you're playing on that Saturday.I mean, and of course you're either
vice versa on the road coming backor leaving. So I thought it was
good. I thought it was good. And I thought that the fact that

(29:32):
the commissioners and the athletic directors andthe swa's and the basketball coaches were willing
to do this. I think ittakes a lot to get a commitment from
two conferences, let alone one conference. So I thought it was good.
Yeah, I think that's that's thebig thing. Buy in from across both
leagues had to be there or elsethis would not have worked. And I

(29:56):
got to do the game in Tulsabetween Royl Roberts, the Weavers State and
Mindy K. Larson, deputy commissionerwho's been on this podcast before. She
was on the show with us andwe had a chance to interview her and
asked her about that, like,how do you get nineteen schools thirty eight
programs on the same page and tomake this work? Like how difficult of

(30:17):
an ask is that? And shehad said, logistically, yeah, it
was hard. And that's to yourpoint why this schedule had to be what
it was, because this was sortof what worked best after everybody already had
their non conference decisions made. Butshe said, you would be surprised at
how willing everybody was to say,all right, let's figure it out.
This is a good thing for ourleague. This is going to be a
good thing for our programs to getanother home game against a similar caliber opposition.

(30:41):
That's like all those things, andI think there was a willingness to
compromise or to say, yeah,okay, we will go on the roads
to flag Staff, or we willgo to Pocatello, or we will do
whatever. Those things needed to havehappened. Happened, and that there needs
to be more of that in theNCAA. And it was awesome to see
these two conferences do it. AndI think the positive feedback that they got

(31:03):
from the college basketball world as awhole reflected that people looked at this model.
I think on Saturday night, andit was being spoken of in national
news. And you're in the inthe normal college basketball landscape, there's not
a league in the big sky.Don't get a lot of love. People
are not surely talking about these conferencesvery often this time of year, and
this was the talking point. JeffGoodman is talking about this on his Twitter

(31:26):
feed, saying the commissioners need toarm wrestle. This needs to happen.
They're tied. None of those pointdifferentials that like it just shown us.
It showed a bit of a spotlightand I think that's a positive thing for
both of these conferences and the schoolsand the student athletes in them. Yeah,
I agree with you, well saidAlex. And I think it was
you know, good competition, andit bonds the leagues a little bit too,

(31:49):
right like, so you're kind ofunited in a sense doing it.
But then obviously I'm I'm rooting forall of our teams in our league,
right like, So there's there's somethingfun about that. So everyone that competition
piece. So next year will bethe first week of December, and you
know, I think it'd be great. I do. And so you know,
in mentioning, you know, MindyK and Dan Sadder at the Big

(32:13):
Sky they did a lot of theheavy lifting trying to figure out the logistics.
And you know, just like fromour perspective, I had said to
Mindy K, hey, you knowwe do have some returns coming from Big
Sky schools. I was hoping andit worked out this way. She was
awesome, is you know, hey, we've already gone somewhere. I don't

(32:34):
want that to be the return becausethat didn't that doesn't that feels like you're
kind of having your cake and eatit too, right, So I didn't
want the two for one to happen. So with that happening, you know,
they were able to work out someof those types of logistics, which
worked out fantastic. Yeah, it'sso many parts that are moving in a
lot of puzzle pieces because obviously youand the is not the only one that's

(32:54):
making those arrangements. And it wasjust neat to see. I think,
overall a pretty big SSS and it'sgoing to be even better next year.
And obviously I think it helped froma un d perspective, like our fans
know northern Colorado, our fans knownorthern Arizona, our fans know Idaho State,
Like there's there's a little familiarity,even if it's been a couple of
years. You don't know the playersanymore, and you might know the coaches,

(33:16):
but you know the programs, youknow where they're going. And I
think I'd be curious to see,like what an Omaha or a Saint Thomas
that are sort of playing these schoolsmaybe for the first time ever, how
they felt about it. But itwas I think it was fun. I
think for our fans to have EasternWashington back in the building and to how
you know, I think those sortsof things are fun. It just it
just threw it back six or soyears ago when you were doing this weekend

(33:37):
meek out in the Big Skuy.Yeah, no doubt. And I and
I think, you know, Ithink the coaches knowing that, hey,
they've got one on the road,one at home with a like a like
school coming in with a good chanceto be really really competitive to possibly you
know, win a game in eitherplace. Quite frankly, and what we

(33:57):
saw, Alex obviously to some degreeit almost didn't matter if you were at
home around the road. I mean, it was that tight, you know,
across the board Yeah, they dida great job, I think pairing
up schools who were more or lesssimilar caliber, and we saw that,
I mean with with un d scores. Obviously, the men dropped two really
close ones, you know, agame against Northern Colorado that could have gone

(34:21):
either way really even though it wasdouble figures at times but was tight.
And then certainly the one point defeatat Northern Arizona easily could have been flipped
the other direction where Undy had thebig lead early and the Lumberjacks chip away
and find a way to get thewin on their home floor. And then
with the women too, I meana good six point win on the road,
and then a game at home againstEastern that was a one possession game
late and again a coin flip situation. So that was a big piece of

(34:46):
it. It wasn't a bunch ofblowouts. There were a core, of
course some, but for the mostpart, good games down to the wire.
Yeah, so it would be funto see what the kind of debrief
is of it, and in away we go. But I thought it
was really really good. So youknow, now we're back into conference action.
Yeah, yes, we are,so back to that normal home away

(35:06):
cadence between the men and the women. Omaha will come to town from Eloy
Bernhard's squad Kansas City. Also onthe eleventh and the thirteenth, the men
going down to Omaha and Casey alittle bit of breaking news in terms of
a schedule change down in Kansas City. Bill give us yeah there, Yeah,
we were scheduled to tip at seveno'clock on Saturday night. I think
two reasons. I think, aswe heard from Jason Hashdo, who's in

(35:30):
Kansas City right now, they're goingto get a nice little winter storm I
think here in the next several daysand supposed to be I know there's potential
weather on that Saturday as well.And then the chiefs are also at home.
So I think there was an alteration. Yesterday. There was some conversation
going on between certainly the coaches,but of course we were in travel mode,

(35:51):
so we had to think through,you know, what are the travel
logistics and how can we rearrange somethings, And you know, it's not
always just as simple of just sayinglet's go from seven to two. Now,
having said all of that, probablyin the big picture, better for
sure us to play it too,so that maybe we can sneak out of
there, you know, come fiveo'clock or so that night. Yeah,

(36:14):
you'd hope. So that would bethe one positive get back at day early,
get ready to get you're in yourbed that nights. It cracks me
up a little bit that it wouldbe the Chiefs game that would be part
of that reason. But that'd befun. It'll be a good time to
be down there and get a chanceto play a ruse team that's a lot
better this year than people expected.So big, big stretch coming up for
both the men and the women nowas they go into games three and four

(36:35):
of conference play. Yeah, Imean I think both teams, you know,
are trying to figure some things out. You know, the women had
a you know, a better weekthis past week. I think they started
to you know, play play better, certainly on the defensive end, and
then on the men's side. Youknow, I'm kind of going to break
their season up into a third,A third, A third. I think

(36:58):
they got off to a good starton the third. We brought Tyrie back,
and I think he just adds adifferent ingredient to the mix. And
I think they're trying to it's almostlike they're hitting a reset right now in
real time with trying to figure out, you know, how does that all
work itself out? And you're right, I mean, lost a couple close
ones at this point in time,but you know, I'm confident that you

(37:20):
know, they're going to figure out, you know, what's the best version
of themselves to give themselves a shotas as certainly we head you know,
towards March. Yeah, it's aninteresting schedule. I mean because the some
of the league, both the menand the women, do feel pretty wide
open. And so most some yearsyou could look and say, I all,
we should win this game, andthis one's going to be a tough

(37:40):
one, and this one's kind ofan even matchup. I don't know this
year when you look at the oppositionof is this going to be a tough
game? Is this going to bea game that we should win, It's
really hard to know for all ofthese teams. And I'm assuming as the
year goes on, will learn alittle bit more. But right now,
it still feels like anybody you canbeat anybody at this point, I would

(38:00):
agree. I have a sneaky suspicionthat's going to be that way the rest
of the year. I have pointlittle I can tell I agree with you.
Sometimes sometimes conferences tend to separate,you know, even going into conference
play, you kind of have anidea at that point in time. Right
now, it feels like I thinkteams are going to have some highs and
they're going to have lows, andat the end of the day, you're

(38:22):
going to try to minimize the lowsand try to get yourself going as best
as you can. So both teamstrying to kind of find their best spot
right now. Yeah, Well,hopefully Paul and now and the crews can
get things back on the right trackhere. Coming up with some conference games
again Omaha Kansas City for the womenat home. Those games will be live
on Mid Coast Sports as well asstreaming on the some of the network through

(38:43):
Mid Coast Sports Plus. And thegreat thing again for the men, even
though they're on the road, youcan subscribe to the some of the network
on Mid Coast Sports Plus and getthose games as well. And that'll be
the case now the rest of theway. No more worrying about I know
what the big Scott challenge it wasa lot of Was this game on ESPN
Plus? Is this game on thesome of League network where and it just
depended on obviously where the game wastaking place. Now we know the rest

(39:07):
of the way. It's all someof League games, so you can starch
everything. And if it's not onMidco Sports Linear, it certainly will be
on the app. And if itis on television, it'll be on the
app as well. So great,I should say, unless it's not national
television. I apologize. There willbe some games on CBS Sports Network,
like the und NDSU game in Fargolater in February. That game will just

(39:27):
be on CBS SN, but youcan subscribe to YouTube, TV or Hulu
or other things. It's so complicatedanymore. But yes, for the most
part, ninety five percent of thegames moving forward will be on that same
streaming story, few and far between. Like I said, I because that
rotation of the CBS it doesn't impactyou, but maybe a couple of times

(39:49):
a year. So generally speaking,what you're saying is one hundred percent correct.
So but you're right, I meanit is. They're certainly enough streaming
services at the this point in timethat it's a little dizzying right now.
Yeah, it's not some it's notnecessarily perhaps the best model for the majority

(40:12):
of Americans. It feels like weneed some some umbrella to put them all
underneath. If we could just havelike a thing where you just had one
service and then like all the thingsthat you wanted were just there, that'd
be Oh, cable, that's whatit was. That that was what it
was called. That's right. Cable. That's right. Oh, that's right.
We had it's a bundle, that'sright. We had that. Then
we tore it apart. But thething that it's interesting and I've I've you

(40:32):
know, it's just funny. Sometimesyou read some stuff and you know,
folks that must not listen to theB side of this pod obviously don't have
peacock because apparently, if you're aB sider here, you you better have
peacock. And so so there weresome folks, I think on the NFL
side of playoffs that if their teamgot drawn to that little slot on Saturday

(40:57):
night, you'd have to have,uh, peacock. So I've read some
things. My wife, My wifetells me, we have peacock, you
know. So I mean it's likethey don't even know per se. But
at the end of the day,that's just where we are in life.
Oh yeah, that's where we are. Yeah, that Chiefs game. That
is part of the reason why theMen we'll play earlier in the afternoon.
That is the Peacock game. It'sonly on streaming. It is not going

(41:17):
to be on linear television unless youlive in the Kansas City area. Correct.
So that's so there's that. Butanyway, interesting stuff. We're kind
of dipping into the B side.We're going to hold off on that for
just a second because we have onemore NCAA use nugget to discuss. N
Cuba convention bill is coming up thisweek in beautiful Phoenix, Arizona. You

(41:39):
get a chance to go down witha number of people from und What do
you expect coming up? Yeah,this tame crossing crossing my fingers that our
flights get out right, you neverknow, I mean, that's it's a
possibility. I mean here, it'sone of those trips too, Alex.
I'm such in and out that ifany delay happens, you're probably just going

(41:59):
to wipe the I mean, that'sultimately what happens now. Knock on wood
hopefully myself and Eric Martinsen, ourdeputy athletic director, Liz jarn again,
our senior Women's administrator and doctor Armacostwill be down there, which is awesome.
The main day is Thursday, honestly, and there's a lot of division
I happenings that day, including aSummit League meeting in the morning. So

(42:22):
so we'll all be at the SummitLeague meeting, followed by really a day
full of Okay, what is thattrying? What are we trying to do
here? You know? Moving forwardand with a President Baker kind of putting
out his framework back in early December, I think he's going to hopefully expound
upon it a little bit, becauseultimately it really was a framework, I

(42:43):
mean to some degree, you know, it needs some more meat on the
bones. I mean because at thispoint in time, it's a lot of
bones. And so I mean whenyou have a statement, you know,
certain statements on there, you kindof want to dig a little bit deeper.
So what does that mean? Sohow does that affect us at und
How does that you know, ofcourse everyone's going in with their school hat

(43:04):
on and their conference hat to somedegree, and then how does it affect
you from a conference standpoint? Soyou know, we will have we're recording
today on January ninth. We're goingto record again on the twenty third,
and we're lucky enough at least atthis point in time to have doctor armacast
on as our special guest, andso I'll be interested to see what his

(43:25):
take is at the convention. Wefigured that was the right time to have
him on because he'll be in circleswith the presidents and it'll be interesting to
see what his thoughts are. Yeah, I'm fascinated to see what happens this
week and excited that. Yes,we don't have to wait too long to
get a debrief coming up later onthis month on the next edition of the
Bill Shafs Podcast. So hopefully itworks out. Hopefully we otherwise there are

(43:47):
no issues. You can get tothe desert, glean the information, make
your voice heard, and then comeback and tell us what happened. Sense
that's right, and then we'll beon the pod, and the pod we'll
talk about it for sure. Ohgood, that'll be good. Can't wait
for that one coming up next intwo weeks time at the end of the
month. Anything else, Bill undwise and cwa wise before we do a

(44:08):
quick flip, No, I thinkyou know we got enough games coming up.
That should be an exciting weekend forsure. So the Betty and the
Ralph are Warren, so come onin. The doors are open, as
are our arms. Yes, itshould be fun, fun weekend coming up
with women's soups and hockey here athome this weekend and then men's hoops back

(44:28):
home next weekend as well. Bsidewise, we've talked so much pre Christmas
about the Festive period in the EPLand all the games coming up through the
you know, the Christmas through BoxingDay, New Year's, et cetera.
The dust has settled a little bit. Spurs made out, okay, you've

(44:49):
won four of your last five,rebounded a bit after a worrisome troublesome time.
Maybe in the late fall. You'reon thirty nine points, still in
fifth place, but you're just threepoints out of second. You're one point
out of a Champions League spot.It's still very tight near the top.
What were your biggest takeaways from thefestive period film. Yeah, it didn't
seem like many teams really broke away. I know, your Liverpool kind of

(45:12):
snuck themselves up the table a littlebit, and you know, but it
doesn't seem like there's a a dominantteam right af there's one. It's gonna
be Manchester City at some point intime now that they're starting to get healthier.
Once that happens, you just waitfor them to go on a run
in some way, shape or form. But I know Paul Ralston's team is
you know, found a little bitof trouble over the course of here the

(45:37):
last several matches. It doesn't breakour heart in North London at this point,
at least on parts of North London. And so at the end of
the day, yeah, I don'tknow. We're still battling a lot of
injuries, a lot of a lotof hamstrings, Alex, a lot of
ham strings, a lot of hamstrings. They're fragile there at white Hart Lane.
It does feel like reinforcements are onthe way. I saw today again

(46:00):
January transfer window open. You havean opportunity for the month to bring in
new blood or get rid of someof the dead wood. Timo Werner formerly
of Chelsea, so coming back toLondon, just going to put on a
different color blue this time. Obviouslypeople have opinions on Tiemo after his time

(46:20):
with the Blues. Your thoughts onand it feels like it's a good time
because, as you mentioned, injuriesto hit, plus you're gonna lose Sun
high men for a little bit.Sun is going off to the Asian Cup.
Some players are going on to theAfrica Cup of Nations as well this
month, so it's squads are thin. What do you make of the Werner
signing? Yeah, I think whatI heard yesterday and this probably makes some
sense. And he was coaching Celticlast year and so he was in the

(46:45):
same group with RBI Leipzig and watchTimo Werner score and assist on a game
winning goal and I think probably upclose and personal saw the way he I
think can stretch it, stretch ofdefense. Now, you know, you
hear a lot of stuff about thefinishing piece hit with him with Charleston,

(47:05):
it will be fun to watch.But at the end of the day,
if you put if you put ifyou put Son, Johnson and Werner up
top, I'll tell you I that'sgoing to be interesting, that's for sure.
So but I just think they needa depth and you're really, really
it seems like a low cost movefor them in some ways, right,
it does. It does feel likeit's a low cost move. He just

(47:28):
for people who weren't familiar. TimoWerner was a really prolific score in Germany
for a long time with our byLeipzig and then came to the Premier League
and it just didn't quite work outwith Chelsea and it was the finishing was
the issue. The joke was likehe needed about ten chances to score once.
But the work rate was great,like he was a tireless runner.
He ran the channels, he dida lot of little things, and I

(47:49):
think people that really watched it closelysaid, no, he's actually he's contributing.
He's just not scoring the way thathe did in the Bundesliga. So
he goes back to Leipzig. Inever didn't. It didn't quite happen the
way that you kind of would thie. I think people expected him just to
go back and he would just continuescoring against he had done in the league
previously and he hasn't quite hit thoseheights. But Spurs and for their defense,

(48:12):
you're bringing in a high caliber playerthat's played for the German national team
and has a good pedigree, andI think we'll do the things that Ange
will want him to do. He'sgoing to be a part of the press.
He's he's got great pace to getbehind the defense. He will trouble
the opposing goalkeeper. Whether or nothe hits the target, I mean,
we'll see, but he's going todo a lot of the things that Ange

(48:32):
would like to see happen on thepitch. And I think, as you
said, depth wise and potentially tobe another threat up top, this makes
a lot of sense for his firstteam battling for a top four spot.
Yeah, one hundred percent all ofthat, right, So yeah, and
I think most teams are trying tofigure out their situation right now. The
most interesting part to me right nowis is there's still they still have kind

(48:55):
of a hush, I say,a bloated roster, but they've got injury
issues number one for a good chunkof that roster that he actually wanted to
play. And then he's got aportion of players that just don't fit a
system, so he's trying to movethem along. Well, there's a few
people that just don't fit a system. I don't think. I don't think

(49:16):
I regular and Spence. I mean, I think there's some folks that he's
trying to move along. So Ithink that's in that play as well at
this point. The note, bythe way, Werner, it's a loan
deal with an option to buy forabout seventeen million euros, so not a
huge commitment. You're just paying hiswages this semester quote unquote for the second

(49:37):
half of the season and then youcan see how it goes. But yeah,
fourteen appearances for Leipsig this year,just two goals. They'd love the
return to be a little bit betterthan that. But yeah, it's a
good time, good opportunity here inJanuary to get somebody that's not going to
cost you a lot, that couldperhaps give you a bit of a lift
right now. Yeah, no doubtabout it. What about Liverpool, what
are they doing during this window?Not much, they are. They will

(50:00):
probably look to sign a little coverin defense because Trent Alexander Arnold now is
out for a couple of weeks withthe hyper extended knee. They're still missing
both of their left backs. AndAndrew Robertson has been a long term absentee
but should be back maybe by theend of the month, and their backup
left back is out as well,probably out for a couple more weeks.
So they've kind of been in scramblemode back there. It hasn't cost them

(50:22):
much. I mean they've had thisgreat unbeaten run. Still a couple of
ties early in the festive season,but they've won their last couple of games.
They had a nice win over Arsenalin the League Cup. No in
the f A Cup I'm getting givenyou early early FA Cup was there.
They're in the semi finals now inthe League Cup they'll play Fulham this week.
The unique thing now is that there'san international break coming up. Spurs

(50:46):
only have two more games this month, like you've only got two matches and
then it's February. Liverpool have afew more because of the Carabeu Cup two
legged semi but really there's not asmany fixtures now. With Europe in football
on hold till February. The internationalbreak coming up, you almost get a
chance. Obviously, the guys whoare going on international duty you don't get

(51:07):
a break, but you can kindof reset a little bit and try and
heal up and then get ready topress on once February rolls around. I
agree, I agree with all ofthat. And you know, if you're
what's interesting, I find it fascinating, And there's a lot of pieces that
are fascinating to European soccer, butthe FA Cup, which you have to
love that tournament period, I mean, the history of it whatever, all

(51:30):
of that stuff. But is itany worse Again, like a good tie,
but is it any worse when youactually tie and you have to replay
you got to replay it. There'snothing worse. I'm not sure there is.
There's nothing worse for a team inthe Premier League to tie in the
FA Cup. If you are inthe t division, gold mine because you

(51:52):
get another gates maybe and if you'replaying a bigger club you get a chance
to then for sure go to theirplace. That's right. There's a great
story and I'm going to butcher someof the details. But on Men and
Blazers years ago, they had BarryHearn on the podcast and Barry is a
he's kind of a jack of alltrades in England and had been a boxing

(52:13):
promoter and had owned different businesses.But he bought Leyton Orients, which was
his childhood club growing up and theywere a lower division team and for him
it was a there's a crazy It'sa great episode where he talks about the
lessons that he learned from being anowner of a football club. But one
of the years he talked about wasthey made the FA Cup and they got
drawn against Arsenal, and so theystarted I think at home and they drew

(52:37):
with Arsenal. And he said,the euphoria was not just that we got
the result. It was that nowwe know we get to go to Arsenal
and we get half the gates ofthese seventy thousand sea stadium. And he
said, the joy and the excitementaround knowing we're gonna get all that money,
this is life changing for our clubis a big deal. So that's

(52:59):
the only reason why it's a goodthing. So when you flip it back
to the NCAA tournament in basketball,for sure, we have to be really
careful about all the things we're doing. I mean, the n I t
wants the bigger brands to some degree, but you do lose the romance of
the potential tournaments at some point intime. And if everything's driven by I

(53:20):
guess either the brand or not.You know, again, the premier league
would just have its own tournament.I mean, if that were the case.
But you know, it's really theunique stories of those lower level teams
that have that chance, that oncein a lifetime chance that literally the actual

(53:42):
you know who knows what they doin let's call it during Monday through Friday
eight to five. But there couldbe at that level where they're actually then
playing against these these these you know, heroes that they watch on a weekly
basis. It's crazy. I mean, it's awesome. So yeah, I
mean, you got the draw.You got the short end of the stick

(54:02):
draw last time in the third roundand found a way to beat Arsenal.
I think we got the short endof the stick draw for you know,
now, have you said that classhalf full? If we can beat Man
City, we feel like we couldbeat anybody, anybody. Yeah. Yeah,
not a great draw, not agreat job, but it does give
you the out, I guess.I mean, I know Spurs don't need

(54:23):
any fewer games, like you'd liketo go on and try and win a
competition. But ye hey, ifyou win awesome all of a sudden,
you only have to win three moreand you're going to raise a trophy.
And if you lose, you knowwhat, then you just have more time
to focus on the league and tryand put all your resources towards that and
that's okay too. Yeah, winBill, No, it is actually win

(54:44):
win because it becomes this thing,you know, always as we know what
team are you going to select,who's going to be out there? Are
you really trying to win this thing? All of that? Well, hey,
look, if you lose to ManCity, there's a really good chance
that everyone's going to lose to them. So at the end, that much
to be able to say there,now, if you do get bumped,

(55:04):
you know what, You're right,all the eggs are in the basket to
try to get to European back inEuropean play, but hopefully at the top
end that'd be the hope. Godbless the Conference league, but top top
four would be nice. Top four. Yes. Now, next year,
I think the Champions League increases,Is that correct? I think there's more
teams right. The format is goingto change next year. It's hard to

(55:25):
keep track of because they've tweaked themodel quite a bit, so I don't
have the specifics, but basically fiveteams from England could get in if you
finish fifth. They're still sort offiguring out some of the permutations, but
it feels like a fifth team fromEngland will play Champions League Football next year.
So really top five and you're ingood shape, so yeah, just

(55:46):
hold it. But maybe you areyou kind of working your way into the
like a group play at that point. You think that's the part that I
don't know, because it used tobe if you were the four seed,
essentially, if you were the fourthteam from England, you did have a
play in tie with somebody to getinto Champions League proper. Now they've again,
as you said, they've increased thefield. That's going to be a

(56:07):
little bit different. I don't knowif you have to win a two legged
tie against someone just to get intothe group stage if you're the five,
I don't know. We'll figure thatout. We'll get well well more to
come watch this space. That's exactlyright. Last thing for you, speaking
of speaking of May, obviously baseballseason will be in full swing by then.
Pictures and catchers are going to reportabout a month or so, not

(56:29):
that far off, which is wild. Red Sox made a little bit of
news, not the news that we'rehoping for over Christmas, but uh,
a big, big, big tradewith the Braves moving off of Chris Sale.
Yeah, suckering the Braves into takingon Chris Sale perhaps, what are
your thoughts Bill on that transaction?Yeah, I thought that it was good
for both sides. Actually, Imean, hey, I can't blame Chris

(56:50):
Sale that a contract was put infront of him, you know, close
to five years ago, and hesigned it, you know, and then
it hasn't worked out so well sincehe signed it, since he put his
name on that piece of paper,it's been hard. And so at least
we don't have to have him feelthe pressure of having to at least live
up to at least one year ofthe contract, so to speak. I

(57:13):
think I think it was good forboth sides. He gets to go to
Atlanta, closer closer to where he'sfrom down south. He signs an extension
with them. They're easily one ofthe top three teams in baseball, so
he gets to slide into the rotationas a three or four three or four
as opposed to really having pressure beput on him to be maybe the top

(57:35):
or second pitcher in the rotation.So anyways, all that to be said,
and I think they got a youngguy that at least gives him a
chance. He's controllable, and theythey paid a good chunk of sales contract,
mainly because they got a higher endprospect. Yeah, I think in
that sense it was smart. Ithink you pay a little more and you
get someone that can help you.I think they really view this gristome kid
as being someone that can come yeaand be a player for them. Although

(57:59):
I do find it funny is orit's a chuckle is that apparently it's not
a great defensive player, and itwas like, he'll fit right in.
Welcome to the club, Welcome tothe club. I was going to say.
The ironic thing is that they stillneed pitching help. We traded away
another starting pitcher, so that thatpiece has not been solved yet. Yeah,

(58:22):
there's a lefty from Japan that Ithink is out there that I think
they've been in on. It wouldn'tbe surprising if he potentially could be one,
if not two. You know,I still think Jordan Montgomery will be
a possibility. Now, I guaranteeyou you're just gonna have to You're just
gonna have to swallow hard on theyears. Yeah, I mean, I

(58:44):
mean the money aside. I mean, the money's the money, but it's
the years, and my guess it'sgoing to be minimum of six would be
you know, and is that whatyou want to do? Who knows?
Will he age? Well, noidea, he's thirty, but he does
make starts. There's that that's good. And his wife's doing his wife's doing

(59:06):
a residency in Boston. Oh wellthen there you go. Well there's that
too, so so yeah, SoI don't know. They do have to
get some pitching though, for sure, because and then the other thing that
was weird that caught me off guarda little bit is that there has been
some interest in Kenley Jansen to somedegree to potentially trade him, and that
that, hey, that would bejust fine. I don't know who's going

(59:27):
to close games at that point time. I think they have some possibilities on
that because they're gonna have to figureout who's going to be in the pen.
To some degree, I still thinkWhitlocks is a reliever. He's a
reliever. I think Tanner Hawk's areliever quite frankly, Yeah, I feel
like Tanner is a reliever too,you know, I think those two are.
But help might have to start tosome degree if they don't sign anybody
else, he's gonna have to hecan make starts that you just said that

(59:51):
about the gentleman we're bringing in thatthey need people who can throw at the
beginning of the game. They've gotsome work to do. It's not the
finished pri right now, so I'mcurious to see how it all show you
look at the end, right ButI'll tell you. I think though their
position players, they've gotten a littleyounger, they've got they've got some prospects
on their way. I think theythe future is I think fairly bright.

(01:00:15):
They do have to figure out thestarting rotation because they can't go into what
they did last year. It'll taxablepen too much. I mean, most
guys couldn't get through the you know, the fifth inning. Yeah. I
think the management has an interesting decisionto make on what they feel like their
timeline is. Because if you dofeel like we're probably more suited to contend

(01:00:37):
in like twenty twenty six based onwhat our outfield players look like, what
our lineup looks like the guys comingthrough, maybe then you don't go all
in on trying to sign expensive guysthat are older for your rotation just to
kind of be stop gap people.I think that they've got some interesting decisions
to make in that regard and I'llbe curious to see when they think their
window to win is. It feelslike it might be a year or two,

(01:01:00):
not that I know that to meis probably realistic. The issue is
you have a fan base that's sadbecause you finished third three times, you
finish, you know, in lastplace in four years and so so at
some point and you're seeing what theDodgers doing, which I have no idea
what that is, but I meanit's crazy. But whatever, I mean,

(01:01:24):
they're on the other league. Imean, the only chance we see
him is in the World Series.So so fine, I'm glad they're all
going there. But better than theYankees. Better than the Yankees, I
will say that. Yes, well, we'll see. It's it's fun kind
of a I wouldn't say a hotstove. This year, it's been kind
of a lukewarm stove. Not nota lot of big moves in Major League
Baseball. But things will start topick up and we'll see how things shake

(01:01:45):
out when we start playing for realat the end of March. So I'll
end the pod with two words.Two words, Mason Rudolph, I knew
that's what you were going to say. I knew that congratulations. Unbelievable.
It's just incredible to see the Steelersteam Now. Obviously playoffs will start this

(01:02:08):
weekend's difficult matchup. You probably don'thave a Watt brother on your defensive line
unfortunately, maybe who knows, buthe's out right. I don't feel like
they just they said he's out there. So that's a blow. But again,
you've kind of overcome expectation and realitymore often than not this season.

(01:02:30):
Who's to say that you can't finda way to win a first round game.
So I'll say this, I don'tknow what. I think they're supposed
to get weather in Buffalo surprise,but I do think so. And they've
been able to run the ball lastfew weeks a little bit, so so
you know what, it'll be interesting. It'll be interesting to see what happens.
I say this. Yep, noTJ Watt. But we will play

(01:02:51):
with eleven players on the defensive sideof the ball. That is, we're
not going to play with ten.We're gonna play with eleven. No red
cards. That's Tottenham, that's yourother club. That's my other club.
They love red cards. Yep,that's it. No Romero playing defense for
the Steelers. This weekend. Butyeah, this all started, This all
started right around Christmas Eve when Rudolphtook control of this Pittsburgh Steelers sleigh.

(01:03:17):
And here we go Mason with hisarms so strong leading this Tomlins squad.
So yeah, Buffalo, it's anoon kick coming up against the Bills.
Obviously you were not expected to winthis game, but this has been a
declan hyde Bill's team this year.And if you can run the ball,
and if the weather's bad, honestly, and if Josh Allen makes a couple

(01:03:39):
of mistakes as he's wanting to do, you just never know. You're You're
in the You're in the game still, Bill, You're at the table.
You still have a chance to win, to win another Super Bowl. You
just well, I did send aquick little email on Monday morning to Dan
Joe Hanson our equipment uh goog forfor hockey jam Well, oh yes,

(01:04:03):
and I will just say this.Let's pretend it might have been in Denver.
It was somewhere he was. Hewas given to me pretty good about
how the steel are just falling apart, and I just said, hmm,
here we go. We're coming toyou. You're coming to you. See
anybody that disrespects that towel. Yousaw what happened with the Jaguars. Don't

(01:04:27):
disrespect the terrible towel. That's rulenumber one. That's rule number one.
When you don't go to Pittsburgh andtake that towel and start waving it.
Nope, nope, nope. Sothere you go. They were three and
six after the towel waving episode inPittsburgh. True, hey ball, don't
lie, Bill towel, don't liein this situation. Trevor struggled after that.

(01:04:49):
There was a lot of issues goingon. I've been just telling you,
don't take Myron Cope's terrible towel.That's what I'll say. Don't take
that one. Well, good luckto you and playoffs this week. And
the dumb thing is, if youjust could have beat my stupid team,
we'd have the number two draft pick. So you're good enough to make the
postseason. But you were not goodenough to beat the Patriots on a Thursday

(01:05:09):
night, And now we got that. Now we have to see what happens
in the first two picks. Butall good, no, no ill will,
best of luck to you, Hopeit goes well at Orchard Park.
It's gonna be great, have fun. It'd be great house money. That's
exactly right. Well, we'll wentin with house money. I'll tell you
what this team actually is playing.That's as good as they've run the ball,

(01:05:32):
I would say, literally in thelast three years, in the last
three weeks. And so funny whenyou when it's complimentary when they stretch the
field a little bit, right.And that's why you got to give Rudolph
credit. He's been hanging in thepocket and he's being able to get it
deep. And once you get itdeep, now all of a sudden you
have a shot to run the ball. I mean, it's really pretty simple,

(01:05:53):
right yeah, mm hmmmm. Wellwe'll see. We'll see what you
can do this weekend. So enjoythe ride for as long as it lasts,
Bill, even differently lasts for acouple of hours in the snow on
Sunday, we'll see. We're noton Peacock, We're on CBS. And
on that note, we will endtoday's episode of the Bill Shaves Podcast.

(01:06:14):
Bill, thanks as always for thetime, Buddy, good to chats a
good stuff. Thanks again to BillShaves, to Jason hash Do, our
special guests who are behind the scenesteam of Paul Ralston and Alex Stocker Johnson.
I'm Alex Hyder. Thank you forlistening. Stay warm out there,
stay safe, and we'll chat againin a couple of weeks