Bill Chaves Pod_EP 186

This week, Bill and Alex welcome the NCAA’s Ty Halpin to discuss logistics surrounding the FCS title game for this year and the future, as well as details for the 2026 Men’s Frozen Four in Las Vegas (1:43). The guys also reflect on the successes of the UND Hockey contingent currently on international duty and share excitement around the hire of David Nguyen to lead UND Volleyball (33:35). Then, on the B-Side, there’s a status check two-thirds of the way through the EPL’s festive fixtures, a quick examination of the Red Sox offseason, and a thoughtful dissection of the Patriots’ improbable return to AFC East glory (45:11).  

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Bill Shapes Podcast, presented by Mid
Coast Sports. Give the gift of live sports this holiday
season with Mid Coast Sports Plus, your home for the
Summit League, the CCHA, the NSI C and so much more.
Subscribe today at midcasts Sports plus dot com. This is
how we do sports, and this is the Bill Shaves Podcast.

(00:21):
Welcome to another edition of the Bill Shapes Podcast. We
are taping this on a Monday afternoon, the twenty ninth
of December. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy holidays, Bill Shaves.

Speaker 2 (00:31):
How are you, buddy, I'm doing great, doing great. Welcome
to the last pod of twenty twenty five. So this
is what I think I heard. Last two winters in
Grand Forks, zero blizzards. Last week two blizzards. So we're
starting to make up for it.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
I don't know about zero blizzards. I'm not sure who's
given you that particular count.

Speaker 2 (00:56):
I'm just saying I don't think we name them here,
and I don't think yeah, and I don't think there
was any blizzards named. I'm just I'm going with Paul
Ralston's morning show. I'm just saying, now again, suspect facts
could be there.

Speaker 1 (01:13):
If Paul says there were no blizzards the last two years,
I suppose we'll take him at face value and say
that that is accurate. And yes, we will see what
that means for twenty twenty six. If you've already got
two here in the last week of twenty twenty five.
But manageable, manageable things, getting along with life.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Here's what I'll say. If we have a home men's
basketball game, we'll have a blizzard's Apparently.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
The rule over the last week or so got him in, Doc,
got it, got him in?

Speaker 2 (01:39):
Better get him in.

Speaker 3 (01:40):
Yeah, I gotta get him in. Gotta get him in.

Speaker 2 (01:41):
Look forward to our guest though today.

Speaker 1 (01:43):
Alex fantastic guest, a very relevant guest, some really shared
connectivity between where Undy is at and a lot of
the focus of the folks that listen to this and
what our guest does. Let's introduce him now. He has
been with the NCAA since nineteen ninety nine. He's the
NCAA Director of Champapionships and Alliances. He set to oversee
the FCS national Title game coming up on January the

(02:06):
fifth between Montana.

Speaker 3 (02:07):
States and Illinois State.

Speaker 1 (02:09):
He also has a hand in all things NCAA rules
committee for ice hockey as well. He's Ty Halpin and
he joins us today on the Bill Shaves podcast. Ty,
thanks for being here.

Speaker 4 (02:18):
Thanks Alex, Hello, good good to be with you.

Speaker 2 (02:20):
Yeah, Ty, We're really excited that you're joining us. There's
such good connectivity between what you know, A lot of
our pod listeners like to either discuss or hear about,
but hearing it from somebody in Indy I think is
impressive and important for us. So where do we start out?
Should we start in Nashville?

Speaker 1 (02:41):
I think we should. That's coming up in just a
couple of days. Ty was just there to conduct a
little site visit before Christmas and kind of get things
ready to go. That's obviously the big news is that
the game is in Nashville, back in Tennessee for the
first time since two thousand and nine, Frisco Texas had
been the home. How is it going to make that
transition from a place in Toyota Stadium that you've been
so used to so now going to the home of

(03:02):
the Vanderbilt Commodorees. Uh, just a little bit different this
year with the FCS title game taking place in Nashville.

Speaker 4 (03:07):
Yeah, Alex.

Speaker 5 (03:08):
We're excited about it. Obviously, the site site site visit
makes it a little bit more real when you're really
talking about, Hey, here's you know, Illinois State, You're going
to be in this locker room, Montana State, this will
be this will be your home locker room and and
uh which you know, all the details that go into
a football game that you know, if you don't work

(03:31):
in in the in the business, you may not realize
h need to be taken taken into account. Vanderbilts obviously
renovated their stadium over the past couple of years. Uh,
really impressive space in in a lot of ways. I
do think Uh Frisco, speaking of renovations, is going undergoing
a very similar type of two two and a half

(03:53):
year project start to finish. You know, that's gonna really
remake their space in Frisco. And they've been great partners
for fifteen years help help build.

Speaker 4 (04:05):
The game to to what it's become.

Speaker 5 (04:07):
And and this is a real opportunity I think to see,
you know, what what the demand is for for the
space and and what what sort of expansion could be
there for for the game. You know, normally the past
I don't know non COVID tended to ten to twelve years.
We were absolutely sold out within a couple of days

(04:29):
of of of putting tickets on sale, you know, back
in September.

Speaker 4 (04:34):
Not the case. Not the case.

Speaker 5 (04:36):
Here we're pacing at a little bit ahead of where
we were in Frisco. But we have more space, So, uh,
that's a good problem. It's a it's not a not
a certainly.

Speaker 4 (04:47):
Not a bad thing.

Speaker 5 (04:49):
And with Illinois State being a campus that's drivable to Nashville,
that's that's helpful. We feel Montana stay very strong fan
base and and really about a lot of things going
on with FCS, I think, uh, you know, all too
often the stories are FBS focused in football, and rightfully

(05:10):
so there's a lot of attention and everything else with that.
But our FCS championships so far this year have rated
very highly in the windows that we've had on ABC,
esp and ESPN two, et cetera. Really great great matchups. Uh.
That environment makes a big difference. And then you know
your TV window makes a significant uh play into that.

(05:33):
And I think our Monday night game in Nashville this
year is gonna going to hit.

Speaker 4 (05:38):
A lot of the sweet spots. So we're we're really excited.

Speaker 2 (05:41):
So ty we remind our listeners, so how did we
get to Nashville? And then how long will we be
in Nashville? And then what transpires potentially after that occurs.
And then secondarily, I think what we're trying to do
this weekend is this upcoming weekend is to do more

(06:05):
things than just the game itself. So if you can
go down both paths, that would be great.

Speaker 4 (06:09):
Sure, that's like a four parter bill, which were used
to as a manager.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
No problem.

Speaker 5 (06:16):
So Frisco came to us as a normal part of
the bid process with the NCAA. You know, FCS being
a little bit unique in that we had Frisco as
a multi year site for the championship. They came to
us kind of in the in the initial bid process

(06:37):
that we were in and and said, hey, just giving
your heads up. We're we're hoping to get a significant
project off the ground. Initially they would have preferred that
we stay and they played the game in Nashville or
and excuse me, in Frisco at the home FC Dallas,
the MLS team that's there. They are continuing to play

(06:58):
in the stadium while being renovated which is totally their
choice and I think it works for them. But if
you notice the Bowl game in Frisco moved to the Star,
which is a facility we looked at as as potentially
hosting our championship game. You know, fewer tickets, uh great

(07:20):
for football, like would have been would have been perfect
for what we needed to run the game. But just
you know, reducing the number of tickets that we had
now at this point consistently sold, would would limit the
number of people that could go watch our championship game
in person. And the environment I think would have been great,
but it also has that drawback. So they did bid

(07:44):
bid for that for the opportunity in in Frisco where
where the where the Star is, and a few other
cities bid in the process, and quite honestly, Nashville initially
looked at it and thought, could we do this at
Nissan Stadium for us, probably is too big a stadium,

(08:05):
but Tennessee State plays there and and you know, has
I think has had a good experience there, but broad
game it's just it's pretty big to host the game there.
And they came back to us later in the process
and said, hey, we've got this opportunity at Manor, but
would that be something you would you would consider they were,

(08:26):
you know, within the bid deadlines, et cetera, And so
we we had a good conversation about that before making
any decisions. We did come down and look at it
and UH and kind of get a sense for the space,
sense for what they were talking about potentially doing, and
came away pretty impressed, as we were with several other

(08:48):
cities that were interested in hosting the game, and ultimately
it just kind of made made a lot of sense
to go to Nashville. Your your question about the timing bill,
So of the part of that process, we felt like
it was important to go to the same place two
years in a row.

Speaker 4 (09:05):
Frisco.

Speaker 5 (09:06):
Certainly you learned a lot about our teams and about
the event from year one to year two, et cetera.
So in doing it, we we we went with two
years in Nashville allows us to sign hotel contracts and
things over a two year period. Gives you a little
bit a little bit more juice when you're negotiating those things.

(09:28):
So that's been that's been a good thing in Nashville.
But then beyond that, we will open up a bid, uh,
cycle after this game this year, for the the third
and and beyond years UH for for the game, and
certainly Frisco UH and other cities will be available to

(09:50):
bid on on those years and we'll see where it goes.
This will give us some some history in Nashville, give
people we do. We do plan on having several potential
bidders at the game this year from different different cities
that we're interested in previous years and some you know,
we're in kind of an odd odd size of stadium

(10:13):
in our country that we don't have many stadiums that
are kind of twenty to forty thousand seats, but there
are more than there were in part because of I
think MLS, but you know, just the there are some
some other city, other places like Vanderbilt that has started
to come on board, so that we'll see what the
interest is.

Speaker 2 (10:34):
So the last question was the weekend. There's some other
things other than the game itself. Obviously that's the most
important part, but I'm kind of excited about some of
the other things that are happening.

Speaker 4 (10:46):
Yeah, thanks Bill, So again part of part of the
opportunity here to re envision what the Championship game weekend
looks like for us, we threw a lot of things
at the wall and some stuck, some didn't.

Speaker 5 (11:00):
But but the o VC, who's our our partner conference,
is running an f CS Forum which is kind of
a you know, ads commissioners, UH folks that are that
are in the industry talking about the challenges really in
the industry and what solutions there might be, what what

(11:21):
should we lean into for FCS. Really focused on f
CS UH level football, but also institutions just what what
the realities are for for higher education these days. A
lot of different different topics will be will be will
be discussed at that forum, and that's going to be
Sunday afternoon, the day before the game.

Speaker 4 (11:43):
One of the big.

Speaker 5 (11:44):
Things that that I was really pleased got off the
ground was working with the NFL. They were very interested
in having more time to look in and meet some
of the kids at the FCS level that may not
get the the invite to the Combine in Indianapolis, but
you know, probably are going to be on practice squads

(12:04):
or free agent contracts, that kind of thing. It's such
a such an important and valuable thing for the NFL
to have time off the field with them that you
don't always get it a pro day or something like
that from a regional scout. So we anticipate all thirty
two teams being represented at a showcase that the NFL

(12:26):
is running in conjunction with our Coaches Association. Really great
partnership there, and Vanderbilt has great facilities to allow us
to do that with their indoor facility and obviously hotel
space in good proximity to the stadium, et cetera. And
then we're actually doing the Titans Tennessee Titans have offered

(12:49):
to do a clinic for kind of a showcase for
women's flag football, so participants high school level that are
interested in in uh in showing showing what they can do,
similar to the NFL showcase that we're going to host.
So they're hosting that again at the at the facilities

(13:12):
at Vanderbilt as part of.

Speaker 4 (13:13):
The part of the weekend.

Speaker 5 (13:15):
And then you know some of the things that Nashville
as a sports council have done a really neat event
with with with a songwriter event. If you've ever been
to Nashville, this is kind of a big, big part
of what they do in music city. But a really nice,
unique thing for fcs they they worked with a part

(13:36):
of the Breathford family if if you know that name
in football, the GM for the Washington Commander's Redskins before
certainly Hall of famer. One of his family members is
also a pretty well known songwriter and ended up writing
writing the song that is now you. If you paid attention,

(13:57):
you heard it on ABC and ESPN this past weekend.
It's kind of an FCS anthem and it's really focused
on FCS and it'll be a big part of the broadcast.

Speaker 4 (14:05):
On Monday night.

Speaker 5 (14:06):
He's going to be there and talk through how he
wrote the song and some of his other songs that
if you're a country music fan you would recognize that
he's written for many of a bunch of top top
ten hits. So it'll be a really neat night for
those two teams and our folks that are going to
be there.

Speaker 1 (14:26):
Yeah, what an awesome weekends. I think you can see
that this is now trying to expand and make it
more of a destination, more of an event for fans
to come versus what's going to take place in between
the lines, which which is probably what you're looking for now.
To expand this and make this into a destination event,
and I should just to follow up from what you
were talking about. I know you're going to be in
Nashville the next two years and things will be open

(14:48):
and you can pass on this question if you'd like to.
But would you prefer it to be a bit like
we see with Frozen Fours or other NCAA championships where
there is a rotating cast and you go from spot
to spot, or did you like the idea of, hey,
this is this place where we go, we go to Frisco,
we go to Nashville, and it has this decade long
plus run in one place. What do you think is
maybe the best model time moving forward?

Speaker 5 (15:10):
Yeah, I really think it depends on the team experience
that that is is there for for obviously the universities
that are represented, and and you know, we have this
unique sort of build up opportunity over the holidays and
our tournament is is truly a tournament where you you

(15:31):
you earn it on the field, and Illinois State it's
a great story for that. I think first time in
a long time that that anybody's well, first time ever
that that since we expanded the bracket to twenty four
that someone has one four straight to get to get there.

Speaker 4 (15:45):
That's a that's a pretty impressive feat.

Speaker 5 (15:49):
But we do have this unique opportunity to build up
to the championship game. I would say that that my
approach has been kind of one of flexibility.

Speaker 4 (16:00):
It's it was not an opportunity.

Speaker 5 (16:01):
We looked forward to try to try to see if
other cities might be interested, and Frisco has been again
a great partner. They're doing a bunch in no small
part because of our game and the attention that that
it's brought to Frisco to you know, up update and
and kind of retrofit their stadium. Really for some some

(16:22):
great amenities for the fans that that will go to
go to that stadium in the future. So I would
I would say that the opportunity to go both go
back to somewhere that's comfortable and also have an opportunity
for rotation and seeing seeing what other places are out
there that really value FCS football and want to host

(16:43):
it and do a great job with it. I don't
have a preference either way, as long as our teams
kind of get that get that support and that comfort level,
and you know, our folks in Nashville that that that
are hosting.

Speaker 4 (16:56):
The o VC and the Sports Council have really done
a nice job.

Speaker 5 (16:59):
I think it is setting up a great couple of
days for the teams that will be unique and and
and put a put a very much a Nashville flare
on things. I think there's there's other cities that could
could certainly do the same thing. And we know Frisco
ken So it's not a bad not a bad play
either way. And I think it helps, Uh, it helps

(17:22):
sometimes to to move move things around a little bit,
just get a different feel for how people might approach
the event. Like some of the things that that I discussed,
we really hadn't hadn't talked about too much in in Frisco.

Speaker 4 (17:37):
And that wasn't their fault or anybody's fall.

Speaker 5 (17:39):
There's just hey, there's a new opportunity here to think
about it differently.

Speaker 1 (17:43):
Yeah, all about elevating that student athlete and fan experience.
And that's what it sounds like is going to be
the case here coming up this weekend. That's going to
be the case come April at Team Obal Arena at
the n C Double A Men's ice hockey Frozen four.
North Dakota is the host institution. For that competition. Now,
that's not an event that you oversee, but you're very
much in the weeds of what takes place in ice

(18:04):
hockey at the NCUBA level from a rules committee standpoint,
from hiring officials for that competition, et cetera. Just talk
about again, we've touched on some bullet points previously, what.

Speaker 3 (18:14):
Do you what do you do.

Speaker 1 (18:17):
From an nc DOUAA hockey perspective. How big of a
lift is that coming off this huge thing that is
the FCS Championships.

Speaker 2 (18:24):
Hey, and Alex can I just throw this in there
as well? And of course we've had multi pod frequenter
Eric Martinsen on here multiple times. And obviously it's a
huge year for rules as well. So I think Ty
can go any which way he wants to right now.
But right the switch between Nashville to boom thinking about

(18:47):
ice hockey, and we're in full swing once January hits.

Speaker 4 (18:52):
Yeah, we are.

Speaker 5 (18:53):
We are well underway in the planning for the championships,
all the hockey championships that the NCAA runs. I'm probably
most involved in the in the men's Division one championship,
and you know, our four regional sites that have had
kind of monthly calls leading up to leading up to
the holidays.

Speaker 4 (19:12):
But a lot of the a lot.

Speaker 5 (19:14):
Of the things that is Bill noted, uh, you know,
do do end up focusing on the rules.

Speaker 4 (19:18):
And how the how how.

Speaker 5 (19:21):
Some of the new rules have been implemented, what weeks
might be needed in this next cycle. It's it's, you know,
a great time for hockey, honestly, Uh, top to bottom,
I think, you know, with with a lot of the
things uh happening internationally. Obviously we're in the midst of
World Juniors right now, as we're as we're working through things.

(19:41):
The Olympics are coming up, assuming that the arena is
ready for the for the players to take the ice.

Speaker 4 (19:50):
But that's you know, the Nation's Cup.

Speaker 5 (19:52):
All these things are are really fantastic and you know,
top to bottom and at least Division one men's side,
you know, I don't know how many different number ones,
different top five teams we've had in the in the rankings,
and it's it's a lot of parody, which is great
for the sport, a lot of support in different different pockets,

(20:13):
certainly a great great amount in North Dakota, and you know,
being in Vegas and looking at this, I don't remember
how many years it's been that we we awarded Las
Vegas this this Frozen Four, And certainly the hosting Marty's
a big part of what goes on behind the scenes,

(20:35):
and especially when it's a site that isn't in your
traditional college hockey market, the host makes a big difference,
and the school host makes a huge difference just just
pointing out things that that the teams will need, maybe
different from an NHL team coming through, and certainly you
know the plans that the types of things that make

(20:56):
it unique for us, and I think the Frozen Four
for I've been a lifelong hockey fan and played growing up,
so easy for me to say that it's one of
our best events. But for people that don't go and
then get a chance to maybe just you know, check
it out, it's it's an unbelievable experience because you see

(21:16):
almost every jersey represented in in Division one men's hockey
and some Division III and other other areas. I remember
in Boston when when it was the first year back
from COVID, it was there were no Boston teams in it,
and it was sold out with with with a real
high level of interest, just just an amazing event. I

(21:40):
feel like it's, uh, it's one of the more underrated
championships that we have. But but boy, you know, once
you get on site and people old friends see each other,
it's it's like a season ticket base really with our
Frozen four, and that's that's hard to hard to do
over a two or three year period. You know, you're
we're talking. I think we're up to seventeen eighteen years

(22:03):
of our season tickets that they get first priority to
buy every year.

Speaker 4 (22:08):
And it's great, it's wonderful.

Speaker 1 (22:10):
I think that's one of the unique things about that championship,
and you hit on it. It's not so much from an
FCS standpoint. You have the two teams and their fan
bases that will come and maybe some other people that
would want to just experience this. Frozen four just feels
like people are buying their tickets no matter what previous.
Like you said, there are folks that are like, hey,
that's where I'm going, that's why I'm going to spend
my time come the first weekend of April, and it

(22:32):
doesn't matter who's in it. And you do get that,
along with, of course the teams that do make it.
You have a great fan base that comes out, but
you have this great melting pot of college hockey fans
that just want to be there and experience what's happening
on the biggest weekend of the season for that sport.
It is so unique and I feel like you mentioned it,
that's unique to maybe other sports.

Speaker 3 (22:49):
Final four us have that a little bit.

Speaker 1 (22:51):
I'm sure obviously that's a destination thing, but there's just
something unique about a frozen four and that type of
atmosphere and that type of togetherness that the small world
that is hockey brings together.

Speaker 4 (23:03):
Yeah, it's it's wonderful.

Speaker 5 (23:04):
And you know a big part of the rules discussions
that we've been having, you know, how how aligned should
should we be and now that there's many things happening
right now, but the Division one Men's Ice Hockey Oversight Group,
there's a committee for that that will oversee the tournament,
oversee the rules of the sport, the officiating related guidance,

(23:27):
et cetera. And there's a smaller rules subcommittee that that
Eric Martinson's part of now as a as a veteran,
he was the chair of the rules committee back when
it was for all all all college hockey. Yeah, you know,
there's a lot of discussion on on how aligned should
we be with the NHL. I think no doubt, you know,

(23:49):
that's probably gonna get a finer point to it because
it is Division one men's hockey only that we're talking about.
But there's also a sense of, you know, should off
sides be really different in Division one men's hockey versus
Division one women's hockey. Those types of things poor things
where the game probably should be the same unless there's

(24:11):
a great reason for it that that that overlap. We're
still going to have those discussions. Doesn't mean you can't
make a different decision, but it probably probably will will
stay somewhat similar. But things like contact and what what
is what is slashing these days? Or what is uh
a contact to the head penalty which is pretty significant.

(24:33):
Those types of things really are important obviously to the
safety of the game, but also just just the way
the games coached and played and and boy with with
all the different sources of players coming into college hockey
now much different than it used to be, right, we're
seeing different different types of approaches to the sport, approaches

(24:55):
to the game that you know, maybe we we had
had seen more of a u s HL focused level
that those guys coming up through through that system kind
of we're ready to play college hockey and not surprised
by the refereeing that they might see versus some of
the other sources. Now, I think that's taken those those

(25:17):
players a bit of time to adjust, so that's what
we're seeing more. I also think one of the things
that was frustrating for many of us for a long
time was no ability to appeal a penalty when they
had a referees fast game. Referees did, did their best,
couldn't couldn't overturn a call. Let's say it's a contact

(25:38):
of the head penalty or something like that, where really
wasn't the player's fault. They didn't do anything wrong. They
were trying to, you know, hit a player with the shoulder.
There's an ability now to at least look at that
and say, hey, that player probably shouldn't be suspended for
the next game. And even the referees themselves in real
time the video they see they couldn't overturn. But you

(26:01):
go back after the after the game is over, maybe
you can. You can look at those and say either yes,
absolutely they should be out for the next game or hey,
there's there's time to correct them.

Speaker 2 (26:14):
So ty, thanks for the explanation. Remind me, then, since
men's hockey will have its own Division I rule book,
if you will, what's the time frame on that occurring?
Is it for this cycle coming up at this point
in time, so that when you're down in Florida at
the conclusion of the year, when all the conferences are
down there and the coaches have their convention going on,

(26:36):
is that the timeframe that all this is going to happen.

Speaker 5 (26:39):
It is, Yeah, So June is typically kind of the
final proposal phase when our committee meets in as an
annual meeting, but we get a ton of feedback obviously
with each conference. In the late April meetings there, we
may even even bump that up a little bit to say, hey,

(27:00):
while it's fresh for everybody, let's go ahead and meet
because we're meeting virtually for the most part with our
committees now, especially the subcommittee. So we'll see how quickly
that goes. But it's you know that that will be
this year.

Speaker 1 (27:14):
So yeah, changes on the horizon's that's for sure, both
on the FCS championship front and the NCAA Hockey rules
front tire lead in the ship Man. We're excited to
see what comes from in both of those things. Have
a great time in Nashville again, enjoyed that competition coming
up this weekend, and thanks again for your time as
you join us on the Bill Champs podcast.

Speaker 4 (27:32):
Thanks Toy, Thanks, thank you guys. Appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (27:37):
Wonderful to have Tie halping on in the midst of
a really busy stretch for that man. Really appreciate him
taking some time out before the FCS Championships, which are
just days away, actually one week from today he will
be essentially running the show down in Nashville at First
Bank Stadium, So pretty wild. Love all those updates, just
to hear what their thought processes in terms of where

(27:58):
that title game is going to take place in the future,
what's happening on the INCIDABA Hockey rules front. He's a
busy guy a lot on this plate.

Speaker 2 (28:04):
Yeah, I thought your questions was extremely fair about you know,
what makes sense? I would say, though, there's probably a
different ways to look at it, right, And because at
the end of the day, Alex, maybe the reason why
Omaha is Omaha for baseball is because it's there, right
or Oklahoma City is Oklahoma City for softball, but doesn't

(28:25):
necessarily mean it has to be that way for every sport,
and so I'll be interested to see what happens. You know,
obviously our fan base has a lot of connectivity with
the destination game that happened in Nashville, and they're very
adept at running, you know, high level events. So it
should be exciting weekend. And I think the way Tie

(28:48):
put it is fair sometimes maybe good. The way it
all played itself out nothing that Frisco did at all,
because at the end of the day, they may come
in hotter and stronger at the end of two years.
So we'll see what transpires.

Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yeah, watch this space and other spaces of course, as
the bit opens up again after this year, as they
try and determine who will host in twenty twenty eight
and beyond. You could make a case, I think for
both of those models. And I think you said it
right there. The College World Series in Omaha that has
a little bit of that same Frozen four field. People
are just going to that like to watch college baseball
at a really high level. We're Frozen Four's Final Fours, etc.

(29:27):
You're going all over the country it's changing every year
in the FCS. I think we've had such a hegemony
of really just the same teams kind of being there
year in year out, and that has the pros and
cons of like, well, we know exactly what to expect
from making the trip to Frisco again. We're doing this
again the march from whatever, whether from Fargo or Brookings

(29:48):
or from Bozeman or wherever wherever you're coming from. But
there's also been the sense of like, oh, it's fun,
Like we're back into it again. But this year it's
going to be in the Bay Area. This year it's
going to be in this southeast whatever, and you kind
of get that dynamic as well. There's really no wrong answer.
I liked what he talked about how they're just trying
to find ways to make this a unique experience for

(30:09):
every particular year, whether it's in the same space or
it's in a different space, and that's what it's all about.
You want to make it a place and a destination
for fans to come and have the experience of a lifetime,
and certainly the student athletes who have made this championship game.
You want it to be almost even a little more
than the game, even though that's the main focus. They're
doing the right things, they're thinking about the right stuff.

Speaker 2 (30:29):
I thought the committee did a good job last year
of having it for two years as well, because you know,
it hard to do something once and then start thinking
through like all the things you would have done so
and really that goes both ways, because you know, maybe
a Nashville decides, you know what, we thought it would
be X and it turned into why, or it was

(30:52):
why and it turned into X. So I you know,
I think it's I think it'll be an interesting conversation
at the conclusion of this championship cycle.

Speaker 1 (31:01):
We touched just a bit on Men's Frozen for in
Las Vegas coming up that's now four months away, basically,
like that's just almost running the doorstep all of a sudden.
How involved are you in that particular build? I know
Eric Martinsen does a big job kind of running that show.
That's a huge thing to try and set up that. Obviously,
you and these done a great job of doing regional

(31:23):
sites in Fargo over the years, and who falls a
handful of years ago, this is a little bit different.
How has that process been gearing up for Vegas coming up?

Speaker 5 (31:31):
In April.

Speaker 2 (31:32):
Yeah, so Eric has taken a couple of different trips
out to see Las Vegas events, who's running the event
for us, and they continually have zoom sessions and so
so I think we're in pretty good ship. Talk about
you know, you know, an event center that knows how

(31:54):
to put on an event Las Vegas. You know, this
is in the in the scope of events that they do.
I think they feel pretty good about putting this one
on now. Having said that, it is different when you're
putting on something for the first time. And I think
that's where that's where an Eric Martinsen and all of

(32:16):
our valuable experience of hosting regionals has really helped. And
then of course, you know you and d having been
to you know, many final fours during his time here
and and so at the end of the day that
that helps tremendously, and so and then being on the
rules committee, it just makes sense. I'm a big believer, Alex.

(32:37):
I mean, if Eric's in a meeting and I'm in
a meeting, we've over duplicated. So so at the end
of the day, you know, he's kind of running running
with that one and doing a great job. And we're
excited about hosting, and then we have folks on our staff,
you know, I'm thinking off the top of my head,
and Alec Johnson right like, has done the media piece
before and so we're quite familiar with what needs to transpire.

(33:01):
So we're excited about it. But it's an ongoing conversation
for sure. But you know, I think if you're Las Vegas,
I can't imagine how many events they have between now
in the Frozen Four.

Speaker 1 (33:15):
Probably just a few, one or two that are happening, No,
I think, adding the fact that you and U and
D played there just a couple of years ago, and
you're familiar with the facility, and it's gonna be even
though on the surface you think, gosh, how are they
gonna coordinate this, I think it's gonna be just fine.
That's gonna be a tremendous event coming up, which again
not that far away now as we transition into the
second half of the college hockey season, which is maybe

(33:37):
a good place to start as we kind of run
around what's going on around you and d athletics. Hockey
is kind of the word. Ty Alpin touched on it.
World Junior Championships going on the Spangler Cup going on,
even though und Hockey is on this three week hiatus.
They will begin on the second and third of January
against Mercy Hurst. Real games, not exhibitions coming up. A
lot of you and these players, six of you and

(33:59):
these players are involved, current players or future players are
involved in these competitions, and it's been fun to watch.
Out of the last couple of days, I was the
twenty ninth today. Both of those competitions started on Boxing Day.
It just feels like there's there's a lot going on.
When you're following CUSA team Canada and the US College
Selects over in Davos, Switzerland. It's made for a fun

(34:20):
festive season though.

Speaker 2 (34:22):
Yeah, you know the Spangler Cup. You know, congratulations to
Steve Metcalf, the Commissioner of Hockey East, who really was
the person that really, you know, was the force behind
you know, a team going over. And two, for those
of you who are unfamiliar with the Spangler Cup, there's
two pools of three and so two games in your pool,

(34:45):
and each team went one and one in the pool
that the College Selects were in and by virtue of
a tiebreaker, finished first. So you go automatically to a
semi final game which they'll play a team from Chechia,
I believe because they defeated Canada today. So at the
end of the day that is going to be when

(35:05):
this pod drops, hopefully this afternoon, but maybe tomorrow morning.
Tomorrow morning eight ten Central time is that game, so
we'll see. So Jake Levanovich and Abram Weeb have been
prominently playing on that team, coached by Guy Gadowski from
Penn State, so yeah, we'll see what happens. Now they're

(35:27):
in the knockout stage. So at the end of the day,
if they end up losing, you know, our two guys
should be jumping on a plane and getting over here
and hopefully knock on Wood would be here for Mercy Hurst.
If not in a good way, they'd be playing for
the championship, which I think is two days later. I
could be wrong with that, but I think I'm ready.

Speaker 3 (35:45):
Yeah, that sounds right.

Speaker 1 (35:46):
Brad Slosman's done some great reporting on just the experience
these guys have had, and this College Selects team are
celebrities over there. I think the novelty because it's the
first time since the early eighties when UND played in
this competition that a group of legions have featured in
this pro tournament and the locals who love this tournament,
Like if you've been watching this again, it's free to

(36:07):
free to watch on YouTube, like this is a very
accessible tournament to watch. The stadium is the arena is fantastic.
It's this beautiful, unique facility. It's packed all the time.
But the guys have just become rock stars over there.
People are just so curious and interested about hearing their
stories and taking pictures and getting autographs and all these things.

(36:28):
What an incredible experience for Jake and Abram to get
to do this something that college kids have not been
able to do for over forty years.

Speaker 2 (36:36):
Yeah, it's it's definitely a memory for sure. And you know,
with with that many of our guys getting this type
of experience, you know, what an awesome opportunity and then
to come back and then sort of grow both I
would say as a player, but more important culturally. And
I think those are important things. And at the end,

(36:58):
you know who knows they're against. You know, pros that
are in their mid thirties and you know they've they've
had long careers over in Europe, and you know that
could be in their often for many of these guys
that are over there, and this could be the first
time that they actually, you know, went across and said, boy,

(37:19):
I could see myself over here. So that was kind
of neat. But yeah, and for us as a as
a collegiate, I'll call it team Emner Christ Selects whatever
you want to say. To go over there and do
well is huge because I think there were some questions,
you know, how they would fare.

Speaker 1 (37:37):
I think there were, and I think some of those
were answered. They played Team Canada on the first day
and lost by a single goal. It was a very competitive,
close game. And then they beat the hosts HD Davos,
who are leading the They're like the reigning Swiss champions,
like a very good team in that Swiss league, with
a lot of former NHL guys, and they won convincingly
the second game. I think that was sort of like, Okay, no, they're.

Speaker 3 (37:58):
Going to be just fine.

Speaker 1 (38:00):
As you said, winning the bye, moving to the Semis,
having an opportunity to potentially play it for a title,
those are good things. I think that just reflects really
positively on the state of college hockey. How good And
we've seen that of course with guys going right from
college after a year or two and jumping into an
NHL playoff chase and being impactful at that level. We've

(38:20):
seen it that you can put this group together, and
credit again coach Kadowski and the staff that he's got
over there with them, Eric Lammers and some of the
other guys from other other D one programs to make
this work. I think same thing for the World junior
kids as well. It's again a group of all start.
It's an all star team that are just thrown together
and you got to figure it out on the fly
and it's not always pretty, but a lot of the

(38:41):
North Dakota guys having really great tournaments. Will Zeller's with
three goals already for Team USA. Cole Eshnie had the
game winner the other day for Canada. Caleb Hyle future you,
Indy Goltender got the start in Game one for the
Americans as well and played well in the win over Germany.
It just these are we talk about this all the time,
but these are phenomenal life experience as well as playing
experiences for these young men who are going to come

(39:03):
back and carry that with them now as this collegiate
season continues in just a couple of days.

Speaker 2 (39:09):
No doubt about it. It's exciting for a lot of
these guys, and I guess even exciting for the rest
of our roster to watch it and knowing that we've
got you know, we turn the page to twenty six
and we've got a mercy Hurst team coming in that
you know, I guarantee you we're not looking past and
knowing how important all of these non conference games are.

(39:31):
So look forward to getting back on the ice Friday night.

Speaker 1 (39:34):
Yeah, a couple of big ones this weekend. Again, it's
a huge non conference weekend, the final non conference games
of the regular season for North Dakota, and they will
be a little short handed again depending on when people
get back from their various international duties. Going to be
a challenge to get back off the holiday break down.
A couple of guys against a really hungry mercy Hurst
team that has played some good teams close seven if

(39:54):
they've got gotten rewarded this year. But that kicks off
this busy stretch at Colorado College of the f following
week home against Denver, which again is always a phenomenal
occasion when DEU and North Dakota get together. Then on
the road against Arizona State to finish out January, and
then there's just a month left in the regular season,
so the Penrose Cup pursuit begins in full next week,
but some massive non conference games coming up this weekends.

(40:17):
Both of the basketballs are getting set to launch into
conference season coming up on New Year's Day, the men
at home against Earl Roberts, the women on the road Denver.
The season starts afresh for both the men and the women,
and both have actually finished out their non conferences pretty well.
The men with a couple of nice wins, big win
over Winthrop, played Nebraska close for the first half, Beatakota

(40:38):
State at the other The women have now won two
in a row as well. Some positive feelings going into
conference play for the Fighting Hawks.

Speaker 2 (40:43):
Yeah, I think that's right, and I think, you know,
we're excited to get to Summit League play where I
think everyone feels like, you know, they're the board is
wiped clean again and so now you go in and
see what we can do. And you know, I still
think both teams are searching a bit for you know,
some consistency, and I even think on the men's side,

(41:07):
it's more I think, you know, could say, there's played
a lot of guys and so at the end of
the day, it'll be interesting to see what the rotation
really ends up being. And then on on the lady side,
it's it's been pretty clear. If we can shoot it
a little bit, you know we're going to have we're
going to have an opportunity. And you know, there's just
been some games where we've really struggled from beyond the arc.

(41:28):
And when you know, when we have stroked it, you know, boy,
things open up and then there's there's a chance. So
excited about both teams. And here we are Alex January February,
rolling into March.

Speaker 1 (41:41):
Here we are, I know, it's crazy, So that'll be
fun to watch and both of those teams figuring things
out as the conference season begins. I kind of buried
the lead by the way as you run around you
end the athletics. So you have any volleyball coach. David
Wynn hired on to lead the University of North Dcota
a volleyball program. Talk about what made him stand out
in this search that you've been undergoing the last couple
of weeks.

Speaker 2 (42:01):
Yeah, you know, we're excited about David coming to Grand
Forks and if you uh, and again I shout out
to bratch Lassman. He did some good reporting here. If
you read any of his articles in the Grand Forks Herald,
you can see what he did it Fairley Dickinson. And
it's probably and I said it to my quote, nothing
short of remarkable. Really, he took over a team that

(42:24):
was really struggling and turned him around pretty quickly. And
I think you know that was uh, that caught of
our attention for sure, and you know, I can you
replicate that and duplicate it here in Grand Forks? We
sure hope so, And uh, you know, we've got to
support him. We've got to make sure that we you know,
provide the infrastructure that can that can help him be

(42:46):
successful here. But I think he's he's got the tools
to be successful in the in the Summit League and
certainly be very competitive. And so we liked what he
had to say just because he's lived it over the
last four years. And uh, you know, unfortunately we've we've
been out of the tournament, the Summit League tournament for
a couple of years. And you know that's uh, there's
only one way to get to the NCAA is and

(43:08):
let's get into the uh get into the Summit League
tournament to give yourself a chance on a weekend.

Speaker 4 (43:12):
And so, uh, yeah, we're.

Speaker 2 (43:14):
Excited about him coming in. He'll be coming into Grand
Forks uh here actually this week just to kind of
uh do some paperwork and get himself rolling so that
when the actual semester begins, he's uh, he's he's uh
going full bore with the with the team he's got
coming back for spring season because you can do some
spring practices. But of course, you know, he has thoughts

(43:37):
about possibly roster constructions and so those are some things
we need to help him with. So so yeah, excited
about him coming in. And yeah, if you haven't read
you know, Brad stories, you can certainly read it. And
quite impressive.

Speaker 1 (43:50):
Yeah go check that out. Check out Fightinghoks dot com
as well for the full details. But he comes in
after four years at after you two time a NEC
Coach of the Year, got fter you to their first
ever NCAA tournament and as you said, a really remarkable
job taking that little school in Teeneck, New Jersey, and
getting them to the ncuble A's and in a complete
turnaround from where they were prior to his arrival, so
we wish him the best of luck as he gets settled,

(44:11):
he and his wife and their two kids as they
begin life in Grand Forks coming up soon and they
take over this Spiding Hawks program. Anything else Bill from
a un d NC double a perspective into track and
Field's going on.

Speaker 3 (44:21):
You know, it's just kind of this, just getting.

Speaker 1 (44:24):
Ready to launch into the start of the second semester
and all that that brings for our programs.

Speaker 2 (44:28):
No, I think I think we're good, especially as we
come to the to the year end. But as we know,
when it flips to January, it comes as as we
like to say, in Premier League style, fast and furious, right,
thick and heavy, and those festive fixtures they come, they
come fast, and so don't the conference games? And boy,

(44:52):
we start right away January one. No better, no better
day to start summing league play than the first day
of the year.

Speaker 1 (44:59):
It feels fitting in many different respects. Why not start
on New Year's Day the games that will matter the
most for these teams. So exciting to see hockey and
men's women's soups really launch into the most important portion
of their seasons coming up in the next couple of
weeks you mentioned the festive fixtures. Let's maybe flip over
to the B side and let's let's start there. We
were just joking that was a great time to pod

(45:20):
because Spurs are coming off a win yesterday. We haven't
been able to say that very very often really in
the last couple of months. But our teams, I would
like to start here. Our team's played right before Christmas,
just after our last pod, and it was just a
h There were a lot of takeaways from that game.
There was a lot going on. Liverpool won two to one.

(45:42):
Let me just start here. What did you make of
that match? I know it's been like over a week now,
but that was such an interesting competition of two teams
trying to find themselves.

Speaker 2 (45:54):
So this is I'll liken it to what I've said
about my favorite ball team of Steelers.

Speaker 4 (46:03):
Very average.

Speaker 2 (46:05):
Felt like two very average teams going at it. And
I'm not saying neither one of them were trying to necessarily,
oh lose the game by any stretch. It's just did
It was a really odd game. I just Liverpool for
how unbelievably good and dialed and buttoned up they were

(46:27):
last year. They I think there was more opportunities to
even do more against them, and I just think Spurs
were just a bit intimidated by them.

Speaker 4 (46:39):
That's it.

Speaker 1 (46:39):
That's all buttoned up is a good term to use,
like this is Liverpool this season, or like the Untucket company,
like this shirt.

Speaker 6 (46:47):
Shirt's out, just pretty casual out there. They in that match,
they they got the benefit of a red card against
Shabby Simmons in the like half hour in which you
know he guys cleaded Virgil van Dyke midway calf.

Speaker 1 (47:05):
That's a red. And in Liverpool scored a couple of goals,
the second of well, the first of which started coming
when Mickey Vandaven then broke the leg of our star striker.
That kind of summed up the season for Liverpool. It
took this long, really to get Alexander Zach the most
expensive British footballer in history, to just begin to feel
like the return on the investment was coming. He scores

(47:28):
a really nice goal, but he gets absolutely laid out
in the process and breaks his leg and is going
to be out now for however long, and it's like,
well that was nice. That was a nice little moment,
but it came at a cost.

Speaker 2 (47:42):
Many players in the soccer world that probably have thought
about getting to a bigger club for more dollars. The
how you do it, I think sometimes makes a difference,
and his how was not great. How should I say
this in this moment, If you're looking back, it feels

(48:02):
like there was maybe a better way to manage that,
because when he came into Liverpool, I'm not sure he
was ever fully fit to be able to play. And
you know, it's just interesting. He's just had almost a
lost year in a lot of ways, and it's kind
of sums up where your team is.

Speaker 1 (48:22):
Yes, I mean one hundred percent, you've added this really
expensive piece that you feel inclined to play and try
and make the focal point of your team. But he's
coming in after the team's already played four Premier League
matches and he's not ready to go. He was injured
in the summer, trying to get back to fitness and
they've just tried to stick this person into this lineup
and it just hasn't worked. And it finally was starting

(48:43):
to maybe a little bit, and then of course now
he gets certain he'll be out until probably April.

Speaker 2 (48:47):
So we talked about this before you know when you
have players and I'll liken him a little bit to
like Jack Grealish, when you have a Grealish that's at
aston Villa and everything kind of rotates around him, right,
He's the focal point. And Izak had such a good
situation at Newcastle as far as how they played. I

(49:09):
don't know if sometimes these players they go because of
incredible transfer fees and all the other reasons why you go,
but the reality of it is he hit a pretty
good thing at Newcastle, not to say that he should
have stayed there, but his replacement they I don't think

(49:29):
they've plugged and played, but they're at least doing okay
with the gentleman they got from the Bundesliga.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
Right Nick Voltemada. Yeah, it's similar. They replaced their tall,
lanky striker who could score with another tall lanky striker
who could score. And he's been all right, and they've
been I know they didn't. They've had they've had a
bit of a purple patch. They've they've been struggling lately,
but it's worked out okay in that regard for them,
has not so much for mister Esak, but that's that's

(49:58):
the nature of this I think more and more, I
think major international football at the club level really resembles
the NC Douba, Like this is very similar to what
we're seeing with transfer portal. It's not it's not too
dissimilar anymore. Where you have success at a mid major
or a middle level team and you desire a move
to a bigger opportunity, and sometimes it works out, and

(50:19):
sometimes it does not, and there's regret and there's there's sadness,
and sometimes it worked. You know, it comes off brilliantly
and you say that that's exactly the level they should
have been playing at. But it's it's just been interesting
to watch, especially this fact, this festive season, when there
are so many games coming and there is talk of
what's coming in January because there's another transfer window on

(50:39):
the way. There's a month where teams can buy and
sell players, and you know who's going to go in
Frantoine Semeno, and what's going to happen with this person
or that person, et cetera as teams try and strengthen.
It's it's just a unique. It's such a unique sport
and I just feel like more and more and more
we're seeing this in America as well in the NU
based on the freedom of movement with our student athletes one.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
Hundred percent, you're not wrong, and so yeah, it'll be
interesting to see what happens in the January window, although
that normally is not a time where lots of things
happen per se. But uh, yeah, it seems like the
prem has Uh it's it's it's turned you into a
three horse race, right, it feels that way, and uh,

(51:18):
you know, a team like Aston Villa, you have to
give them a lot of credit. They they feel like,
not that they're a team of destiny, but they certainly
have been charmed and I find they find ways to win,
and you know, good good for them. So uh, I
I do enjoy watching my North London neighbors. Uh gonna

(51:41):
be very very how should I say tight throughout? I
think as as the as the spring starts upon us,
I can't imagine how tight they will be on the
tea box.

Speaker 3 (51:56):
We've already seen it a little bit. Again.

Speaker 1 (51:58):
Maybe Arsenaligan runners up there years in a row. They're
currently leading, but it's tight. Nan City's back by two points,
Villa's back by three. Arsenal host Villa coming up in
about twenty four hours from now, as we pied, and
that'll be fascinating tomorrow at the Emirates to see how
that plays out. I would say Villa are the people's
choice if you've ever going to choose me to Arsenal
City and Villa. I think everybody else in the league

(52:20):
would love to see Una Emery and aston Villa find
a way.

Speaker 2 (52:23):
Well, yes, one hundred percent, well, especially tomorrow, there's no
doubt about that, Comma, but my fan base would be
very sad if Villa found a way to win the league,
and then of course Spurs could not, So you know,
there is that. There is that. If you look at

(52:44):
the financial makeup of the Premier League, they always call
it the Big Six and Tottenham is a part of that.
But if you look at the standings today, just take
out Tottenham and put in Aston Villa and then that's
what the Big six is at this stage the game.

Speaker 1 (53:00):
It's been an interesting season, so we'll see lots of
more twists concerns to come in the prem As we
chansitioned to twenty twenty six here, just a couple of
days we.

Speaker 2 (53:08):
Got to get a signing with the Red Sox. We
need a bat. I wonder if it's going to be
Bregman or I still think sneakily it could be Bishep.

Speaker 1 (53:16):
Yeah, fascinated to see how this all plays out in
the next.

Speaker 3 (53:21):
Couple of weeks.

Speaker 2 (53:22):
It'll be one of those two.

Speaker 1 (53:23):
It feels like the money is there. They've opened up
the money now. It feels like and not that you
have to open up money, but it feels like they've
got the opportunity to try and put someone into the lineup.

Speaker 2 (53:36):
Yeah, there's there's actual like ladders of once you reach
certain amounts, you're going to have to pay back in
tax so I but I do think they're willing to
go to a certain point. So uh, and they should.
They should at this point. For them, now's the time.
They've got the young guys, They've got the pitching to
some degree, at least the depth. I'm not quite sure

(53:59):
they have really anyone to go with Crochet at this point.
But the regular season's far different than the playoffs. Got
to get there. Your patriots are doing quite fine.

Speaker 1 (54:08):
Afcas Champs again took a little five year hiatus and
who saw that right back on top. There were some
I did not going into this season I thought they'd
be a playoff team this year, just based on the
improvements from a coaching standpoint. Again, no offense to girod Neo,
but Mike rabil Is is a He's an NFL coach

(54:29):
with experience of winning with a team that maybe didn't
quite have a bunch of superstars, and he's a Patriots guy.
And I think the fact that they had a second
year quarterback, now that it had a year of experience,
they had one of the easiest schedules in the league,
and you had it just felt like as long as
guys are healthy, felt like they had a pretty good draft,
it seemed like they would be Maybe they'd win double

(54:50):
digit games this year. I didn't picture this. I didn't
picture them, you know, pipping Buffalo to the afc AS title.
But they have a great chance to get the two seed.
If Denver screws up, they'll get the one seat, which
would be incredible. So yes, arrow pointing up for New
England's The Steelers had a chance to sew things up
this weekend, could only muster six points against the Browns,

(55:13):
and now you have a do or die game coming
up next week.

Speaker 2 (55:15):
It appears Yeah, I'm not that confident about the Steelers.
I've been saying all year that they're very average, but
sometimes average wins a division based on the division, and
so does Lamar Jackson player or not? Who knows, I
just who knows. I don't think it's going to be

(55:35):
a long run for them. They just they're too flawed.
But having your best receiver out when you really don't
have a second best receiver probably didn't help.

Speaker 3 (55:44):
It's a problem. That's an issue.

Speaker 2 (55:46):
It's a big problem.

Speaker 3 (55:47):
That's a problem.

Speaker 2 (55:47):
Yeah, don't yell at the fans or.

Speaker 3 (55:51):
Or do anything else with the fans. That would be
rule number one.

Speaker 1 (55:55):
In that game against Baltimore, I maybe keep an eye
on that Derek Henry guy. He appears to be pretty decent.
Maybe maybe game plan around trying to slow him down,
especially if Lamar Jackson's not playing every time.

Speaker 2 (56:07):
Every time I flipped and I'm not a big Packer
fan by any stretch, but I'm like, Okay, I got
a root for the Packers tonight. They didn't have a
chance to tackle Derrick Henry. That was it was unbelievable.
I mean, that was just that I didn't see that
one coming either, and they just they figured it out.

(56:27):
They had a good game plan and boy they just ran, ran, ran, ran,
So who knows. But anyways, well, Patriots will be in
for sure. The Steelers not so sure. What next time
we're potting I'm not sure.

Speaker 4 (56:40):
I'm not sure.

Speaker 1 (56:42):
Well that next time will be. It will be in
twenty twenty six. As we closed the book on twenty
twenty five, so excited to see what the new year brings.
Any We'll get you out on this. Do you do resolutions?

Speaker 3 (56:52):
Bill?

Speaker 1 (56:53):
Do the Chaves family put a list of things on
the on the refrigerator?

Speaker 3 (56:57):
No, this is not a this is not a man
who does resolutions.

Speaker 4 (57:01):
No.

Speaker 2 (57:01):
I've always kind of thought that you could make a
resolution on February third if you wanted to. I don't
think January one is any more special than any other day.
It's a it's another day. It's awesome that we get
to go to a new calendar year. But I would
say no, I would say no, I'm about Heiner family.
Are you guys big resolutions? So we did?

Speaker 3 (57:24):
We are not either.

Speaker 1 (57:25):
I think there is something fun about thinking about the
promise of the new year and January first. Yeah, this
is different.

Speaker 2 (57:31):
I know, well, well, Spring training isn't it.

Speaker 3 (57:36):
The calendar.

Speaker 1 (57:36):
Yeah, there's something fun about that. I think you say
goodbye to the old year, and you think about the
great things that happened or the memories that you'll take
with you and the experiences that you had, and then
you look ahead to, well, what's this new you're going
to bring. I think that to us is kind of
what December thirty first slash January first is just the
time to look back and look ahead. But we are
not a big hey this year we're going to do X,

(57:59):
Y and Z. That's just not necessarily been our thing, no,
I would say.

Speaker 2 (58:04):
And as you flip to twenty six and we've touched
on it a little bit already. You know, we have
the opportunity to host as an institution a frozen four,
which is great. It's a World Cup year, there's some
neat things that are going on, and uh, you know
Olympic year right on the on the on the winter side.
So it's going to be a lot of fun for sure.

(58:24):
I still think, and you know, we really didn't touch
on it. Maybe we'll do it at a different pod.
On a B side is kind of the access or
how to get tickets for the World Cup at some
point in time, because it's it's it's there's a lot
of a lot of things out there at this stage
of the game. But I just wonder if you're someone

(58:45):
like just say me, that could care less about in
a lot of ways what game I see, what's the
accessibility to it? To some degree, I just want to
take in the pageantry at some stage of the game.
It just seems, you know, a little hard, but it
seems like it's it doesn't seem cut and dried right now.

Speaker 1 (59:03):
How you get tickets, It's complicated, That's what I would say.
It's very seems to be very complicated. There's a lot
of reinvolved. We will touch on that perhaps.

Speaker 3 (59:11):
In the new year. That'll be a good that'll be
a good topic of conversation.

Speaker 2 (59:15):
Because I'm just I wonder, like I just, I don't
if you got into the FIFA site at this point,
it is not easy and so I and again I
know demand is far greater than ticket supply, but there's
going to be some matches that, let's just say, will
not be as attractive for I would say the American audience,

(59:35):
and there probably won't be a tremendous following from across
the globe for certain countries.

Speaker 1 (59:43):
Peras ouv the Algeria for example, not one necessarily that
is going to be at the top of the list.
This is when dynamic pricing can be a boon to
the local fan who can go maybe for twenty bucks
to go see that game.

Speaker 3 (59:57):
But yes, we will discuss. We will discuss that.

Speaker 1 (01:00:00):
That'll be a good b side conversation some point in
twenty twenty six as we get closer to the World Cup.
But for now we will close the book on the
Bill Shafs podcast for this particular calendar year. Bill, once
again hope you had a great holiday season to this point.
Happy New Year to you, will pod you will pod
with you in the new.

Speaker 3 (01:00:15):
Year coming up soon.

Speaker 2 (01:00:17):
Sounds great, Alex.

Speaker 1 (01:00:18):
Big thanks as always to Bill Shaves the Tie Halpin
for coming on in the midst of the busy stretch.
Best of Black the Tie in the INC DOAA with
their FCS title game coming up on Monday, January the fifth.
Thanks again to Paul Rawlson. Good luck to the Gutters
for Paul as well as Alex Docker Johnson coming up
on the back side. Who puts this pod together.

Speaker 3 (01:00:34):
I'm Alex Sannder. Thank you for listening throughout twenty twenty five.

Speaker 1 (01:00:38):
We wish you the best as we transition to twenty
twenty six, and we'll talk to you soon