Full Show - 9/13/2025

Full show from the Donovan & Jorgenson Heating & Cooling Studio: Saturday, September 13th, 2025

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome into the Varsity Polic's High School. It's sports show,
presented as always by our local Pick and Save and
Metro Market stores. Coming live from the Donovan and Jorgenson
Heating and Cooling Studios. You gotta you have to turn
that furnace on soon. You want to make sure be
part of the maintenance program with Donovan Jorgensen for under
two hundred bucks. They'll come out twice a year. Make

(00:22):
sure your furnace is ready to go, make sure your
air conditioner is ready to go, and they will identify
small issues before they become major problems. Go to Donovan
Jorgenson dot com. I'm Mike McGivern and and look, high
school football is in full bloom Man. Week four is done,
and I can tell you it's been it's been an

(00:42):
interesting four weeks. There's been some some teams that are
better than I thought, and some teams that might be
struggling a little bit right now that I didn't see coming.
And we're gonna talk to a number of people today.
We've got my co host I only have them for
an hour today. The Appleic director at mesquie Go High School,
Michael Whitlaw, from the Journal Center it's going to join

(01:03):
us for a couple of segments, and then Drake Sortman
had football coach at Homestead along with one of his players,
Blake Wickman, are going to come in studio for the
second hour and we'll talk some Homestead football. And I
got to tell you they're they're rolling right now. They
are rolling, and so we'll talk to Drake a little bit. Hey,
Ryan good win for Mestigo last night, Wakshaw West had

(01:26):
been playing pretty well. And you guys, it looks like
that first half, you guys kind of had your way
a little bit.

Speaker 2 (01:32):
Yeah, they got to thirty five zip at halftime, and
special teams was the difference last night. I think you
could tell the depth of the Muschigo squad versus the
depth of the walks of West squad. And remember that
Jackson Neemick running back. He showed up in a big
way on special teams last night, again with the ball

(01:53):
in his hand. And those guys continually gave our offense
great field position. The defense does what it does and
away went the Warriors with another w.

Speaker 1 (02:02):
Hey any surprises in the conference. A little surprised that
mcgwanagall had their way with with o'condom walk the way
they did thirty five sec.

Speaker 2 (02:13):
At oconom walk right. No, no real surprises for me.
I think the one piece that I did notice and
you think, why'd you notice this? But ketl Moraine got
on the board. They were over. They lost a lot
of kids from last year, they lost their coach from
last year. There's been a lot of change at Kettle Moraine.
And they went and beat Brook Central at Brook Central,

(02:35):
I believe, yeah, scored a bunch of points, had a shootout.
So you know, now they're on the board. So okay,
now now it gets interesting as we roll into the
second half of the season.

Speaker 1 (02:45):
Here percent I was at the Lake Country Lutheran received
Saint Catherine's game down at Historic or Lakefield and it
looks great now. It was a mess there for a bit,
but it looks really good. They did a nice job
down there. My grandson plays for LCL. He's a freshman.
He suited up, got he got in probably ten plays

(03:08):
something like that. Saint Catherine's. They caused so much trouble
with their speed. Lamont Hamilton, I'm telling you Ryan Lamont Hamilton,
who's a really good basketball player, Division one basketball player.
He's the Division one football player, and I don't. I
asked him, Man Wisconsin reached out to you. He said, ah,

(03:29):
they did a while back, but I haven't heard from
in a while. Minnesota has, Illinois has this school has
this school has. He was not only the best player
in the field last night, he was the best player
that I've seen in a bit. He had you know
those plays Hunter Wohler used to make right that they
come out of nowhere, and like, how did he do that?

(03:49):
This kid? And when he gets his hands on the ball,
I mean he had five catches for one hundred and
forty six in a touchdown, two interceptions that he almost
took to the house, return kicks where he almost took
him all the hot right. Every time he touches the ball,
it's like you gotta hold your breath.

Speaker 2 (04:05):
For the electric He's electric. He's going to change the
game and the next things as it gets going.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
And near the end of the game, Brian, he's he's
they have taken him out and he's sitting on the
bench by himself. So I go down and sit next
to him. I go basketball or football. He goes both,
and he goes I'd like to play both at the
next level.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
I hope every basketball player is listening to that what
he just said to you, because it's so cool when
those really good hoopers get on the football field, because
they could do so many things with a helmet and
shoulder pads on it. And as the next football coach,
I would love those kids because you just get.

Speaker 3 (04:36):
Him the ball and let him make plays.

Speaker 1 (04:38):
Let him make plays. And that's what this kid did.
And what's funny is talking to head coach from Saint Catherines.
He said, look, the kid talks a lot when he's
on the field. He talks, but he'll say stuff like,
I think you're running the fly pattern. I got you,
I got you. I think, oh, you're gonna do a
little down and out I got He goes. The kid
just talks, and that in a vicious way. He's not

(05:00):
like he's not saying stuff about your family. He's just
he just talks a lot, and he's confident and he
should be confident. And he said, and I think that
he goes. I hope that doesn't turn off some of
the coaches at the next level. He's a three six student, he's.

Speaker 3 (05:15):
A three to six student. He can run.

Speaker 2 (05:16):
I don't know why every school's not recruiting him in
Wisconsin's but I get their butt down to a scene.

Speaker 1 (05:21):
You know what I did when I introduced him as
our US replayer of the game, I said, Wisconsin Badgers,
are you kidding me? Are you kidding me? This kid
is unbelievable and he just is and he could play
at the four touchdowns last year in the state championship game,
said every Division four record. He had four touchdowns at
Camp Randall and they talking to coach Miller said when

(05:45):
he reached out to them, they said, send us is
forty times.

Speaker 2 (05:48):
Hey, you know the what pops in my mind just
listening to you talk about what's his first name again, Lamont, Lamont,
Melvin Gordon jumps in my head. And everybody in the
world was on Melvin Gordon coming out of the same
area of our state, and Wisconsin wasn't. And somebody went
and kicked beel him on the tail and said, get

(06:09):
your butt down there. He's going to Iowa and he's
gonna be a problem for you.

Speaker 1 (06:13):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
Well, they eventually went down and figured it out, and
the story is written on Melvin Gordon obviously had a
great career and great phenomenal things.

Speaker 3 (06:20):
For the state of Wisconsin.

Speaker 2 (06:22):
I hope this kid is Melvin Gordon, and I hope
like that right, and I hope the Badgers get down
and get him and write the same script because we.

Speaker 3 (06:30):
Need some players up in Madison.

Speaker 1 (06:31):
I gotta figure. Look, I understand that my eye on
some of this stuff might not be correct, but when
somebody jumps off the field, and I've seen a lot
of high school football games, and when a kid like
Hunter Wohler, Melvin Gordon, Joe Schobert, he look, Tom Sweittele
and those guys in the WFCA are the ones that

(06:52):
called the Badger and said, look, this kid in practice
for the All Star Game is the best kid on
the offensive side, he's the best kid on the defensive side,
and by far the best special teams kid. What are
you guys thinking? And they said, we need to take
another look. Here's another one played in the NFL Broadway
Joe right, he man, he this kid. But it was

(07:15):
somebody from here calling and going, guys, you're missing this
You're missing this kid. And that's what I'm telling him.
Because this is Lamon Hamilton from Saint Catharine's. He could
be a problem for teams in the Big Ten. He's
that good and they have not they haven't done much
to reach out to him.

Speaker 3 (07:33):
Well, that's why we got this radio show and get
the word going.

Speaker 1 (07:36):
Man one hundred percent. Hey, this time of year, right
and again, you're a former head coach at oh Creek
and it may seem like a long time ago for you,
not for me, because I'm old and it seems like
it was last week the first time I met you.
This time of year when you're starting to kind of
get an idea and who the direction that your team
is at and whether it's Look, we got a chance

(07:58):
to win a conference, we got we got it. We've
got to do some work to get in the playoffs.
We've got some injuries. What is most important this time
of year to keep the culture of the locker room
and keep this team together, whether you're winning a lot
or losing a lot.

Speaker 2 (08:11):
I think the last piece of what you just listed
in terms of those options, what going to the injury
piece is when do you start to take notice of
the load management and the volume that you're putting on
these kids and how long are you at practice As
the weeks start to stack up on each other. Now
we've been six weeks into this thing, and you know,

(08:33):
now you've played, like in our case, we played four
you know, good football teams.

Speaker 3 (08:38):
We might all four might make the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
So I think they will.

Speaker 2 (08:41):
Based on how everything shakes out in the various divisions
and everything else. But you got to start thinking of
how can we stay healthy, how do we manage certain injuries,
and how do we be able to put our best
foot forward and keep energy and the camaraderie high and
try not to burn them.

Speaker 3 (08:57):
Out if you will. As as the heat turns.

Speaker 2 (09:01):
On this coming week, that'll be a big one for
that we haven't had in the last few weeks. And
that's coming back with you know, uper eighties and humidity
and all.

Speaker 3 (09:08):
That that stuff.

Speaker 2 (09:09):
But kids will be working hard, and academics starts to
kick in a little bit more, especially those that you know.
Now you get to week three and now now it's
time to take tests and have some assessments, and that
grind gets going. The homecoming, you know, getting a date
and all that stuff you always talk about. That stuff's
coming down the road.

Speaker 1 (09:28):
You guys hate football. Guys hate home right, yeah, yeah, and.

Speaker 3 (09:33):
We support it. We don't hate you, No, we manage it.

Speaker 1 (09:36):
They manage it. Joe Cook used to just keep saying,
why don't you boy, you basketball boys take it one
year and you tell me we can't get these guys
to focus on anything other than the float and who
they're bringing and what you know, what they're wearing, and
you know, the whole week of wearing pajamas one day,
or wearing your gear for your favorite football team, you

(09:57):
know that kind of stuff. And yeah, I love that stuff, though,
I do. I had asked the freshman over at LCL.
I took him to a dentist appointment this week and
I said, hey, if you had a chance to go
back and to taith great now. I asked his brother this,
and his brother said, absolutely not, no way. I love
high school. And early on three, four weeks into this

(10:19):
high school, he said, no, I love it. This one said, huh,
I'd have to give that some thought, and I go, really,
he goes high school is different. You know, this is
a different animal for me. And again he's just turned fourteen,
so though he looks like he could be a senior
in high school, he's fourteen, young, young, and he's a
kid that is a perfectionist and that, and he struggles

(10:41):
with time management when it comes to homework because he
will go through it over and over again because he
missed a Commas somewhere.

Speaker 3 (10:48):
Not me.

Speaker 1 (10:49):
I'm like, I'm okay, he plugs. Are you kidding? I
would have got a car from my dad. I don't
even know. But yeah. And and so for him, you know,
he said, he's more of a wait and see guy,
like I want to wait and see. The one thing
that I noticed watching him on the sidelines over there,

(11:09):
he's the only freshman that suits up, and he stands
by himself a lot, and that concerned me a little bit.
Last night is the first time I saw it. And
then I go to when he plays in JV games
and it's him and all these guys, right, but I
know that there's a couple of seniors that have put
their arm around him and say, come on, you know,
we're gonna lift together and we do this drill together.

(11:31):
And I get that, But I looked on the sidelines
and saw him standing by himself a little bit more
than I had hoped.

Speaker 2 (11:39):
That is the uh what you're alluding to, That the
social emotional connection piece and feeling like you truly fit
and belong. That's probably the hardest part of a decision
to move a kid up really in any sport, in
my opinion. And a lot of parents come in the
door and like, yeah, I want my kid on varsity.
You might not, so that you know, the health well being,

(12:01):
the energy and the enjoyment of the kid, and the engagement.

Speaker 3 (12:04):
Of the kid. I guess the best way to say it,
you might not.

Speaker 2 (12:06):
You might want them just to kind of be on
JV and play a lot and have a lot of
fun and be with their peers and grow into it right.

Speaker 3 (12:13):
And sometimes it's a really good fit.

Speaker 2 (12:15):
And sometimes the culture is really strong and positive and
young kids fit right in and the seniors put their
arms around them and they get them going. But it's
not easy. It's definitely not easy. I think people take
it for granted and think, oh, yeah, you're on varsity,
you must have it all figured out. Well, no, no, no,
that's not how they feel, right, you know, And sometimes
it's a great burden on their shoulders that they're just

(12:36):
worried about how do I fit in today and how
will I do?

Speaker 1 (12:39):
What's interesting with him? And we're talking about my grandson,
Logan Bonner plays it at Lake Country Lutheran. What's interesting
is before the year started, I said, what's your goal?
He said, like to maybe get a couple of snaps
on varsity. And he's been doing that. But now he's
gotten a little bit the taste of it, and I
think he wants more. And then I watch him in

(13:00):
this freedom that he has when he plays on JV.
The tough part is he practices with varsity. So now
you go to JV, you're taking somebody's time who is
practiced all week, and so that dynamic. And as a
basketball coach, Ryan, I never figured it out. Is it
better for a kid who is he could should practice
with us on varsity but he's not going to get

(13:22):
a lot of time, but a year from now everything's
already slowed down for him. Or is it better for him?
And I've seen it work both ways to just stay
on JV and get all the reps and get all
the time. But then it's going to be a learning
curve when he comes to us on how we want
to practice and how we get after it and what
it takes to play on varsity or to have him

(13:42):
up with us. And so next year everything's going to
be a little bit easier.

Speaker 2 (13:46):
Yeah, And I think what you just described, I think
is vitally important to their development. I think you see
this in the great programs, regardless of the sport, those
programs that make deep playoff runs, because typically those lower
level schedules will end the freshman the JV. So you
can have a kid stay on JV practice or tail

(14:06):
off all year and then you get five weeks with
him or whatever it might be of time and acclimating
them to what varsity is and trying to speed them
up and have them observe and do all those things
without worrying about the dynamic of coming up, going down,
bumping somebody, et cetera, et cetera. But it's not an
easy decision, and every coach and every person is different.

(14:27):
And that's the art of coaching though too, is some
of that, you know, managing people and setting kids up
for success and knowing what you got and how the
dynamic works around you. And I think the other piece
you alluded to is having great lower level coaches that
manage up to those decisions and help grow the other
kids that might be affected. As you said, if he
comes back down and displaces how your JV coach is

(14:49):
managing that and finding ways to throw the other kid
that might get displaced of bone, whether on special teams
or setting them in a different spot and keeping them
morale and energy. It's a if you got good lower
level coaches, that's a huge blessing and a lot of
people take it for granted and not everyone's great at it.

Speaker 1 (15:07):
Yeah, and and and the better you are at that,
I think the the the better. It is not only
for the kids development, but for the program right one
hundred percent, and you've got it. And the culture of
that locker room, whether it's a JV locker room, a
freshman locker room, seventh grade, it doesn't matter. Locker room
is a locker room. And as a coach, if you
if you don't think about the culture of it and

(15:29):
how we're going to keep kids engaged and happy and
and and and getting better all the time rather than look,
I'm going to practice all week and then game time.
He's taking my time, Like you've got to have those
conversations with kids. Ryan, we're gonna get your break. Other
side of the break, Michael Whitlow from The Journal Sentinel
is going to come in and he is those guys
see a lot of him and Zach Bellman see a

(15:51):
lot of football games. We're gonna talk to him about
a little bit about what their predictions were and how
they've come over and then find out some of the
better teams that he is. And I'm interested to ask
him if he has seen this kid from we're seeing
Saint Catharines And if I'm just overdoing this then yeah maybe,
and I could be. I could be, but he and
he's honest enough to tell us. I can tell you

(16:12):
that we'll get to a break. Other side of the break,
Michael will join us, and then the second hour, I've
got to cut Ryan Luke, you got an event.

Speaker 4 (16:19):
To go to.

Speaker 2 (16:20):
Yeah, I gotta shut the little kid around. That's aw
so she's gotta play some sports and moms with the
older one.

Speaker 1 (16:25):
So we love that. Ye. Yeah, anything, And thank you
for sending that. You're I schedule. You're a busy dude, man,
You are a busy.

Speaker 3 (16:32):
Busy things on the calendar.

Speaker 4 (16:34):
Yes you do.

Speaker 1 (16:35):
This is the Varsity Blitz high school sports show, presented
by your local Pick and Save and Metro Market stores,
only on Fox Sports nine twenty and your iHeart Radio app.
There's a fistfight going on in the studio here. I'm
just kidding. Welcome back to the Varsity Blitz High School
Sports Show, presented as always by our friends to your

(16:55):
local Pick and Save and Metro Market Stores. We're gonna
start the Pick and Save Student app the Week Award
next week. We're going to get that going again and
looking forward to doing that, and I get a chance
to highlight, promote and celebrate student athletes and not just
football players, but hockey players and soccer players and kids

(17:16):
that really take care of their business in the classroom.
And Pick and Save A Metro Market Stores loves promoting
and highlighting those kids and they understand that it is
not your right to be on a sports team. It's
privilege and you earn it by taking care of your
business the classroom. And our local Pick and Save a
Metro Market Stores allow me to go out and celebrate

(17:37):
those kids with an award at different stores, and I
thank them for that. Coming live from the Donovan to
Jordansten Heating and Cooling Studios, my co host, I've got
him for the first hour today. He is the athletic
director at Muskego is Ryan McMillan. And our special guest
for the next two segments, Michael Whitlaw. He is the
preps writer along with Zach Bellman for The Journal Sentinel,

(17:58):
and they do a great job. I see these guys
that like literally every game, I'm Matt. One of these
guys is there except for last night, nobody wanted to
go down to horrorlic Field. I guess to watch We're
Sine Saint Catherine's lclbus the heck of a game. Michael,
how your bed good? Mike?

Speaker 4 (18:13):
You know I you know I want to start this
with I owe you an apology because I was supposed
to be with you in February yep, and I had
some car problem, no problem during the during the end
of basketball season, so I actually missed sectional final Saturday
for the girls. So before we got started with football,
I wanted to apologize for me.

Speaker 1 (18:27):
You don't you know why you have been so kind?
You and Zach been so kind with your time for me.
You never have to apologize to me for that. What
came were out last night.

Speaker 4 (18:36):
So I was at I was at a Konoma walk.
I saw a muskigo or a mosquigo. I apologize. Ryan
mcguanago uh defeat Walk thirty five to six. And I
tell you what that that mcguanago bunch since that Week
one lost to appletson northfolks really really good defensively.

Speaker 1 (18:50):
You said they swarm.

Speaker 4 (18:51):
Huh yes, Noah Dodds. I mean they just they have
kids that just fly to the football. They call it
the graveyard when they when they shut offenses down, and
they have like little green reaper that they carry on
the sidelines as well. They were taking pictures with it
as a defensive unit last night. Very fun group. They
fly to the ball, they're fast, they're physical. They're gonna
make life tough for a lot of teams in the
Classic eight, like it is pretty much every year.

Speaker 1 (19:13):
So on my twenty four for the first time, and
I've asked them number of years, can we flex like
they do Week nine? They're like, no, no, we need
to get set up. We need to get set up.
But now we've been doing this a long time. So
guys like Ryan know that if if Channel twenty four
calls and we're and it's available, he goes, yeah, fine,

(19:34):
come on out, we'll do soundcheck, we'll do whatever. We've
been doing it long enough that we can flex Week nine,
and we can wait till about week five to pick it.
And I'm looking and looking at Msquigo at Mgwanaco.

Speaker 4 (19:47):
Oh man, I think it's safe to say we'll probably
have somebody there.

Speaker 1 (19:51):
Ryan. To be honest, I coach Kanevak, you know we're
doing well. I think we have Themguanna go Pewaukee game.
But we went into this going, look, we normally try
not to have one team on twice, but if we're
going to flex week nine, we've got to be prepared
to have maybe one, maybe two teams that we've already
had on do it again if that's the game that
we need. And you know what, I just looking at

(20:14):
that one over and over again, and I'm like, hey,
I wish it was at Mesquitoe because I know my
best friend would come on out. Coach Keanevak, we might
be calling saying, hey, we need to be out on
the sidelines for that one. That community. And I know
it was in Oklonamwalk last night, but Mgwanago's community reminds
me a little bit of Musquigos community. Ryan, And I

(20:34):
think you'd agree with that, right, Yeah, football.

Speaker 3 (20:37):
Community, Yeah, football community.

Speaker 2 (20:39):
It's a production on Friday night with all the groups
that come out from the school end of things and
the community end of things on highlighting and promoting and
celebrating all the other goodness in the community on the
stage that is high school football on Friday night.

Speaker 1 (20:52):
Do you know how many times I've told a story
about the old creeking. I said, look, they it was
youth night, and they're like, okay, go they have three
seventy kids in their youth program, and people go, what
I go, They have ninety coaches. They have ninety coaches
in their youth program, and they're all running crosy stuff
for sure, from first grade on.

Speaker 4 (21:12):
And I go.

Speaker 1 (21:13):
But I'm seen on the sidelines as team after team
after team after team are going buying these kids with
big smiles and they're waving to their parents in the crowd,
and I'm just shocked. I don't know how many Mcguanaga
has in their youth program, but I've got it. I
just I have the same feeling when I go to
a game, to do the game in Mcguanago that I

(21:34):
have at Muskego, where it is at five o'clock. People
are putting their blankets out, they are getting ready, you know,
they are getting their parking spot, they're tailgating. It's all
of that stuff that people do to make sure that
it's a good event and a very similar feeling that
I get.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
Yeah, if you get the Week nine game and it
comes down to for a conference championship Classic eight at McGonagall,
it's gonna be standing room only five people d and
there'll be helicopters and every police officer and both down'll
be at the game and it'll be awesome.

Speaker 1 (22:05):
And and you know what, even if it's not for
a conference championship, a Muskeigo and mcguanago game at the
end of the year like that, where it's gonna have
implications one way or the other. You know, if if
if Moskeigo's at the top, mcguanaga is gonna want to
knock them off. And if if the opposite, it's gonna
be a game that there's gonna be some juice to.

Speaker 3 (22:24):
They could both be winless in the place would still
be sold out.

Speaker 1 (22:27):
It would be one hundred percent. Hey, the best team
you've seen so far.

Speaker 4 (22:31):
Michael, that's a great question.

Speaker 1 (22:33):
And you don't want to downplay anybody. Look, last night,
the freshest is to see is mcguannage.

Speaker 4 (22:39):
Mcguanago definitely has a case. Franklin looked good against Catholic
Memorial in week one. Obviously it's week one, so there's
gonna be some crampy there's gonna be some penalties and stuff.
But you know, coach Brown's final season, you know they
want to send him out on a high, and you
know they they looked really good. They they're the favorites
to win the Southeast again. Uh, looking forward to see
Miskeigo of course, obviously a big win against Waalkashall West last.

(23:00):
I would say right now, the freshness is probably mcgwanago. I,
like I said, all three phases. They looked pretty locked
in against the going to miuwalk last night. But you
know we're reaching the halfway point here a lot and change.

Speaker 1 (23:11):
Hey do you and I believe this? But I'm wondering
Ryan if you do that. Sometimes a loss is a
good thing for a team. On percent of this, yeah,
it can be catches your attention a little bit. I
told this story one hundred times. But Rob Stoltz Zach
Green deal and he had it going, he had it rolling,
and then they started a year. I think there were

(23:31):
one and two and he he had a Thursday night game,
and then he was at a game on Friday, and
then I asked him coming studio on my Scoreboard show,
and he came in, and pure honesty came out of
this man's mouth. He said, look, I knew we were
going to struggle at the beginning of the year, not
because we're not talented, not because we have really good players,

(23:51):
but because the guys that were coming in didn't put
the work into the offseason. And they because we've had
so much success the last few years, thought all they
had show up with Greendale in the front of their jersey.
And I've told them, I've explained to them that's not
how this works. You've got to put the work in,
doesn't matter what's on the front of your jersey. And
he said, they didn't listen. Now we've lost a couple

(24:14):
of games that maybe we should have won, but they
definitely caught their attention and they're a different team at
practice now than they were a couple of weeks ago,
and we have a chance to be pretty good at
the end of the year. But boy, I told them
coming in and I think that that that part of it,
that honesty part where he said, these losses might end
up to be good things for us if we learned

(24:34):
some stuff for that. And I'm wondering that mcgwonageld lost
ear lyon may have caught their attention.

Speaker 3 (24:39):
Well, I know it did for us.

Speaker 2 (24:40):
I mean we lost the same week that did to
two strong programs out of the Fox Value Right, And I
think one piece, I think it loosens your team up,
because now they play without an to lose. They've lost, right,
is not chasing the undefeated season and the perfect deal
and all that that's now gone. But it all also

(25:01):
allows our coaches to quickly and efficiently remind young men
about that feeling they had just a couple of weeks ago,
and not to forget that when things aren't just right
in practice, we can bring up, oh yeah, I remember
when right, and it clicks with the kids. And now
we get them back and refocus and you're pushing them forward.

Speaker 1 (25:21):
Hey, Michael, a number of years ago, you guys took
over Mark Stewart, right, and Mark was that those are
tough shoes to fill, you know, And you guys came
in and I remember the first year, in fact, you
were you were either my last show over at the
other station, or you were going to be and I
had to cancel. I don't remember.

Speaker 4 (25:40):
You know, we were your last show week, Zach and
I came in on a Saturday morning and then you
texted us was and then you said thanks for canceling
my show or something like that fantastically a text, which
is great. We loved it. We thought it was hilarious,
but we felt bad for you.

Speaker 1 (25:54):
To see if I heard cancers meet like on Monday,
it's you, man, it's you. It might be it's gotta be.

Speaker 4 (26:01):
Hey, at least I didn't wear white sox stuff this time,
so there's not more of a curse on even Notre Dame.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
Thank you. You know a one hundred percent Irish McMillan.
Would you kind of like that that fighting Irish stuff? Hey?
What the difference between early on when you guys took
over and trying to find out more about this market.
What I loved is the amount of people that you
went out and shook hands and the practices you guys.
You guys immediately I think hit the ground running knowing

(26:29):
that this is a different market and you need to
meet people and get them comfortable with you guys. And
I thought, you guys have done a wonderful job with that,
and it is amazing to me that just about any
gym I walk in one of you two. Are there
any feel I'm on? Last night was the first one
I haven't seen one of you guys, And I think
that you guys have done a great job of getting

(26:49):
people very comfortable with your writing, comfortable with Look, you
speak the truth in your articles. You know what You're
okay with that, And I think people here now that
they know you guys, are very comfortable returning your phone
calls and saying, yeah, you want to come outch practice,
come out here, our game, be on the satellines, let's go.
Did that take a while or were people here really accepting?

Speaker 4 (27:10):
Oh, one hundred percent? I mean, Ryan's obviously one of
the best eighties in the area, so you know.

Speaker 1 (27:15):
You rip him behind his back when.

Speaker 5 (27:18):
No.

Speaker 4 (27:18):
I love going out to Msquigo because I know I'm
gonna get great treatment out there. I can walk the sidelines,
shoot my videos, get interviews. Coach Crowsey is one of
the best in the state. I know I'm gonna get
a plus treatment out there. And it's not just there,
it's it's Mguanago. It's the entire Classic eight It's you know,
the Metro Classic, the North Shore. I know I'm gonna
get good treatment because these eighties work really hard at
what they do. We work really hard to try and

(27:40):
get as much coverage out there as we can across
our area. You know, we're only a two man show.
So sometimes it's hard to get down to the Racines,
the Kenoshas out north and stuff. It can be very hard,
especially when we have so many good programs across so
many good sports. But yeah, it was hard to fill
mark shoes because he has meant so much to this
area for so many times.

Speaker 1 (27:58):
He really has and the trust factor that people had
in Mark Stewart and still have and what he's doing.
He's just a really good man and he is. Sometimes
I'm like, how many are there three Mark Stewarts? Because
he would be everywhere kind of like you guys are
how long did it take? Because Wisconsin's different, man, It's

(28:19):
still there are still baseball coaches for me, still looking
across I like, you want me to come in studio
and do what? Like nobody won't reach it out to me.
And I'm still struggling sometimes in the baseball world, football
and basketball have gotten to the point that they understand
when they come in studio, I just highlight, promote, and
celebrate high school athletics. I'm not going to talk about

(28:40):
kids getting kicked off or doing something stupid. I'm not
going to do that. Let's talk about the kids that
made to your team, go that are playing. And it
took a while for people to get that though. Sparky
was like, no, you got to take these people to
task like they're just sixteen year old kid. I'm not
doing that. And so the way I said, look, I'll
do this show, but this is the way I'm going

(29:01):
to do it, and it's worked for me because there's
a trust factor and it's not like I'm hiding anything.
But we don't need to talk about some of this nonsense.
Everybody else can talk about that. You guys don't do
much that either, or I like that.

Speaker 4 (29:13):
Yeah, I mean we obviously we have to report the
news if there's a big story out there, Like did
I want to report about Milwaukee Academy of Science and
Racing Saint Kat's getting into a brawl a few weeks ago. No,
but it's big news. It's the division four state champion,
the defending Division four state champion. It's big news. But
do we like writing about that stuff? Absolutely not. Like
you said, Mike, these kids are sixteen, seventeen, eighteen years old.
They got their whole life in front of them. It's

(29:34):
not fun to.

Speaker 1 (29:35):
Talk about, you know stuff, you know it's funny with
that is the head coach had Saint Catherine. I had
to get in contact with to do the interview for
the pregame show for last night's Kay, and he's the
ad over there too. Yeah.

Speaker 4 (29:48):
And Dan's a good guy. He's a great guy.

Speaker 1 (29:50):
Yeah. And his dad's saying the national anthem last night.

Speaker 4 (29:52):
Really yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:53):
I said, can you send like your daddy goes? Absolutely not.
He was good, right, he was really good. But I
had reached out to him couple of times, couldn't get
a reach back, and then I send him a text
of look, just understand that it's an eight minute interview
and here are the things I want to talk to
you about the fact that you're going to the Hall
of Fame. I want to take congratulations, right, I want
to talk about Lamont Hamilton and this kid and this kid,

(30:15):
and I want to talk about your overall team. I
don't want to talk about the Brown Deer game, and
I don't want to talk about maas. Forty five seconds later,
I'm meant thank you, and I thought, man, being a
former coach, if all I'm talking about from you know,
people in Racine and people that have to report on
that like you, is what happened in this and why

(30:36):
you lost Brown Deer. I don't want to go through
that again. And so I appreciate the fact that he
said one hundred percent, I'm in. And he's a good
guy man, been doing this a long time. And I
just think on the sidelines, I'm watching him and he's
every bit as engaged as he was twenty years ago
and getting after it with these kids. And he man,

(30:59):
he likes these kids. It's up on the sidelines a
little bit. I didn't. I haven't been on his sidelines
in a while. I forgot about it. He lights him
up a little bit when they're doing something wrong. And
then he passed him on the helmet and said, we're good,
go back and just do. I'm asking you to come
and press. I'm asking you to come and bump and run.
Why are you ten yards back? I'll bench you I'll
put somebody else in the kids looking at him, He's like, now,

(31:20):
go do what I'm asking you to do. And so
that part of what you do has got to be
hard to have to report the news of it's bad.

Speaker 4 (31:28):
Yeah, I mean it's like I said, you know, it's
not fun to do. It's part of the job. It
comes with the territory. I mean, obviously we have to
walk that line independently. Obviously, you want to talk about
the good things. You know, you want to talk about
you know, Jarrell Anderson and Colton Lynch from Iguanago. You
want to talk about Lamont Hamilton, like you said, who
had one of the greatest state title game performances we've
ever seen this past fall. You know you want to

(31:50):
talk about them.

Speaker 1 (31:51):
Where was that game played?

Speaker 4 (31:52):
Cambarendall?

Speaker 1 (31:53):
Huh? Where the Badgers are?

Speaker 4 (31:55):
Well, I can't speak for the Badgers because I'm born
and bred Notre Dame football. But if I'm coach Fickle,
I'm making a trip or two the Racine to talk
to Lamont Hamilton. That's just me personally.

Speaker 3 (32:06):
And Harley Field's beautiful. Why would you not go down
that historical food?

Speaker 1 (32:09):
Yeah, you know what it was awesome. It doesn't have
that feeling if you're imprisoned any arkid. I'm just telling
you it used to have that feeling. They've done a
beautiful job with it. With that, and the crowd was
was pretty good last night. It was there was one
guy that no matter where I stood, I could hear him,
and he was a parent, and it was all to

(32:31):
the offensive line. And if I hear tighten it up,
offensive line, tighten it up offensive line one more time,
I was gonna go, dude, you got to come up
with something else. I don't know what that means, and
they don't know what that means. And you got to
come up with something else. And it didn't matter where
I stood. But I got to give the man credit. Man,
he was there supporting his team, supporting his kids, and

(32:52):
other than tighten up offensive line, because I just don't
know what that means. I was hoping he would say
something a little bit different. Hey, what do who do
you have? You have you picked where you're going next
week yet?

Speaker 4 (33:03):
I have not yet. I haven't looked at next week's
schedule yet.

Speaker 1 (33:05):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (33:06):
You know, I obviously love to get out and see mischigo.
Of course, you know, say how to Ryan on the sideline,
you know, see coach Crowsey. But uh, I'll definitely be
seeing them soon. I don't know who I'm gonna see yet.
Uh next week?

Speaker 1 (33:17):
Get next week? Arhead?

Speaker 4 (33:19):
Yeah, I haven't seen an Arrowhead yet either. I got
a good relationship with You're going to that? If you're listening,
I might have to call Dips.

Speaker 1 (33:26):
Yeah, Michael's already called Dips. Is that at Arrowhead? No,
it's at Miskego Man.

Speaker 4 (33:33):
Great place to watch a game too, By the way,
I love going out to Miskeigo.

Speaker 1 (33:36):
Do you know I always get free food? Do you
get free food when do you go too? I don't
get free food. I'm kidding.

Speaker 4 (33:42):
I was gonna say, trying to set the stage for
Ryan giving me a free hot dog and some popcorn
next week. I'm okay with that.

Speaker 6 (33:48):
You know what?

Speaker 1 (33:52):
He has got that hue for you to get to
a break. Michael withlaw. He is the writer alongside Zach
Bellman preps, the writer for the Journal Sentinel, and they
cover all these sports. They cover all of them. Yeah,
you know, I did an hour last year in underwater hockey.

Speaker 4 (34:08):
Do you say underwater hockey?

Speaker 1 (34:09):
Yeah? Yeah, I know about a sport.

Speaker 4 (34:11):
You don't know different Indiana, I'd be getting cross eyed
looks for me.

Speaker 1 (34:18):
Michigan State. I had a kid in from Michigan State.
I'll tell you about it. When his grandmother was at
an event. I went to high school with his grandmother
and Oconomwalk family, and she came up to me and
we hugged, and she said, we listen to your stuff
every Saturday. She was going to tell you about one
of my grandsons. Absolutely, he was born with club feet.
Love sports, love sports. But at about six rate he

(34:39):
couldn't compete anymore, and he went in the basement and
went to a very dark place in his life. Gained
about one hundred pounds, played video games. Forever goes to
Michigan State's new roomate says, hey, we gotta, we gotta,
we gotta meet people. Let's go join a club. And
they go in this big area of all these tables,
and his roommate goes, can you swim? He goes, yeah,
that I can do. Why he goes, look at the
girls at underwater hockey. It's a club sport. They joined.

(35:02):
The kid lost one hundred pounds in the weight room
all the time.

Speaker 7 (35:05):
His hair is real loot.

Speaker 1 (35:06):
I go, don't they have barber's inn o'conomwalk? He goes,
they do, But I'm not getting a haircut. I said,
get a haircut. He goes. The girls like the hair
coming out of the swim underwater. And you know what
that told me? And I think you guys will both agree.
Sports does something. You know what if you get involved
in sports? This kid, his grandmother said, I think this,

(35:28):
this stupid sport of underwater hockey saved this kid's life.
And he's now part of a team and he feels
like he belongs and he's meeting girls and all the
stuff that that sports can do. But he's got himself
physically and mentally ready to compete. And I it's so
underwater hockey, you might want to look into that.

Speaker 4 (35:46):
I'm interested because I am an NHL guy, so I'm
kind of interested. Now you take my interest.

Speaker 1 (35:50):
I'm so dumb, I asked him. Is they're hitting? He goes,
have you ever tried to run into somebody underwater? That's
how foolish I am. Let's get to a break. He
is Michael Whitlaw. He's a writer for the Journal Sentinel
alongside my co host. Each and every week the athletic
director at Muskigo High School. He is Ryan McMillan. This

(36:10):
is the Varsity Blitz High School Sports Show, presented by
your local Pick and Save and Metro Market stores only
on five Sports nine twenty and your iHeart Radio app.
Welcome back to the Varsity Blitz High School Sports Show,
as always presented by your local Pick and Save and
Metro Market stores. Coming from the Donovan and Jorganson Heady
and Colleen Studios. He's Ryan McMillan, the athletic director at Muskego.

(36:34):
I've got my coast for one more segment and then
he's got to go out. He's got father duties and
sports duties, which is great combination. Drake Zortman, the head
football coach at Homestead and one of his senior players,
going to join us for the second hour in studio.
Our special guest Michael Whitlaw if you haven't read his stuff,
along with Zach, who are doing a great job prep

(36:56):
sports for the Journal Sentinel, Go online, JS online, pick
up a paper, read their stuff. They do a really
good job of just kind of giving the idea of
the game they're at and what they saw. You know,
great pictures and do a nice job your favorite sport
to cover, Michael, and stay Wisconsin.

Speaker 4 (37:13):
I feel like you asked me this last time I
was here, and I feel like my answer changes every
time because it really it really does, and that's exactly
what I was going to say. Make It really depends
on the season. Obviously, love covering football. Nothing like football
Friday nights, you know. But I got to give a
shout out to volleyball too, because we have so many
great volleyball programs on the boys and girls side in
the area. And then obviously when winter rolls around, there's

(37:34):
nothing like basketball season. You know, you pack a gym,
you know the place is going crazy. You got two
good teams on the floor. And then obviously in the spring,
you know we got state track and lacrosse. You got
you know, six seven, eight thousand people up there. It
feels like and it's it's amazing. But me personally as
a as a journalist, I've really grown to love covering football.
I never played it because I was more of a
baseball player growing up, But nothing like football Friday nights.

Speaker 1 (37:57):
What's the busiest time of year for you? Is there?
It's always busy, right.

Speaker 4 (38:02):
It depends on when what day you ask me. It's honestly,
it's a never ending job. It really is. You know,
it really is, because you know, we we finish up
football season at Camp Randall in November, then we're hyping
up basketball season. We finished basketball season, then it's time
for baseball, softball and track in the spring. It never stops.
And that's the beautiful thing with the job is we're

(38:22):
always busy. We're always talking to either kids we saw
in other sports or you know, kids that we you know,
saw last season that we're excited to see again this year.

Speaker 1 (38:30):
Hey, getting back to when you when we had that
conversation in the last segment about having to write the story,
whether it's good or bad. How hard is that when
you hear about like, like what happened to m As
and Saint Catherines. You hear about it, and now you
want to dig into what happened. How hard is it

(38:51):
to get the information that you need to write the
article correctly.

Speaker 4 (38:55):
It's hard. It's very hard, Mike and I and I
say that, and not to to to pay point any
one particular thing, but one thing that's really really hard
is getting coaches, getting athletic directors, getting principals and superintendents
to talk about this stuff because they don't want to
put their kids in a bad light.

Speaker 1 (39:11):
Like that ran when that happens. As the ad to Mesquie, going, look,
there's not a school in the country that is immune
to this, Right, You're gonna have kids that these are fifteen, sixteen,
seventeen year old kids. If you looked what I was doing,
then yeah, yeah, like I'm embarrassed by it. Right, So
some of these kids, you know you're gonna make a mistake,
and you have to now kind of not covered up,

(39:34):
but to handle it from within. And then if you've
got a guy like me or a guy like Michael
come to you and say, hey, I need to talk
to you about this, how do you figure out what
you want to be able to say and how much
you can give.

Speaker 2 (39:48):
Well, sometimes you're bound by law, legal and student privacy
and some of those pieces depending on what we're talking
about and what the mistake is or isn't and other pieces.
And in certain spaces and places, as an ad or coach,
you're told what you can say or if you can
say anything at all, by your superintendent for this and

(40:10):
in a lot of instances, a lot of times superintendents
will just take it if it's something very serious, and
they'll address the media. But you know, at the end
of the day, you're in the business to help grow
young adolescents and make them better people. So when we
make a mistake, how can we make that person better?
And what is the next path forward? And where can
we go from here? And can we find a restorative

(40:33):
approach with that person. So if you call me and
you want to know what's going on, I'm gonna tell
you what we're gonna do to help make the kid
better and we're forward.

Speaker 1 (40:41):
Do you get the term off the record a lot, Michael,
Because I do. I get a lot of is this
off the record? And I go, it doesn't need to
be off the record. Yes, okay, I'm gonna tell you this,
but look, you need I need a week to be
able to figure it out for my end before you
talk about it. And you know what, if I say
off the record, I'm going off the record, I'm not

(41:02):
going to talk about it here. And I think that
that's given me a little bit of trust with people
to be able to say, Okay, I'll tell you this
off the record, but give me a week before I
can figure out exactly what happened.

Speaker 4 (41:12):
You get that termalized, Yeah, I get it more in
the in the funny fashion, just in terms of coaches
like hey, off the record, like this kid's a little
banged up, right, Yeah, so like that little bit of gamesmanship,
you know, which is part of the game. I understand
that sometimes it really depends on the story, you know,
because there are some details that probably shouldn't come out,
you know, like like we said, I mean, these they're kids,

(41:35):
you know. It's not the Packers, it's not the Brewers's
the school athletics.

Speaker 1 (41:40):
And I don't care if there's nil stuff going on
or not. I just don't what happens if you disagree
with the wa because I've been on that end a
couple of times where they're like, hey, hold on, three
months ago, you said this about it, and now you
want me to come on your show, and I'm like, yeah, yes,
I do. Do you find that that they've been open?

(42:01):
Do you find that they hold grudges? Do you find
that if you got to write something that not that
doesn't make them look great? You're okay with that?

Speaker 4 (42:08):
I have heard things being said at games about the
WIAA all the time. People have their opinions about it.
I have a good relationship with the folks up there.
In Steven's point, I'm a part of the Media Advisory Committee.
You know, I really haven't had too many issues in
getting in contact with anybody up there personally. Have there
been some decisions that I haven't agreed with, of course,

(42:31):
you know, some of the redistricting of sectionals and regionals
and and some of those things. Those conversations, you know,
can get a little dicey. I mean, I feel like
we might even talk about it when it came to
girls basketball when we had Pewaukee and Hartford and Brookfield
East and Division one State champ Kimberly all in the
same sectional. I don't think that should have happened. But

(42:52):
you know, that's a different discussion for a different day.
But yeah, I mean, you're you're not going to agree
with everything.

Speaker 1 (42:57):
Right, Yeah, I agree with with that. And you have
different relationship with the wia because you can you can
challenge them a little bit.

Speaker 3 (43:04):
I was okay with the girls sectional.

Speaker 1 (43:06):
Joy. There's always two sides to every story, exactly, and
then you you know, to be able to do that
when you have a story that you have to write.
And again, Guy, the two sides to every story. If
you only can get one side and the other side
won't return your call, you got to report what you.

Speaker 4 (43:26):
Get, right, Yeah, basically, I mean it's one of those
things you want to tell both sides and if there's
somehow a third side of the story, you want to
add that as well. Zach and I we definitely do
our best to tell his story as intently as indepthly
as we can. You know, we're not always gonna get
the most cooperation, like we said with them, as you

(43:46):
know Saint Kat's browl. We reached out to just about
everybody under the sun, and nobody replied to us. Nobody
replied to our calls because with the territory, we understand it,
and like Ryan said, maybe there was things they couldn't say.

Speaker 1 (43:58):
How do you then write the story?

Speaker 4 (44:02):
We let the public know that, hey, we made contact.
We tried to get some more detail on what happened here.
You know, we saw the clip of the brawl. You know,
we tried to be able to tell the story from
both sides, and neither side wanted to reply, which is okay.
So we presented a little two three hundred word story like, hey,
our calls, our emails were not responded to, and you know,
if we hear more back, we'll update the story as

(44:23):
it comes in.

Speaker 1 (44:24):
Yeah, and again that could be legal why they're not
reaching out, but it'd be nice if they'd reach out
and say, look, I can't comment right now. Yeah, there's
no comment, but just be able to even via text
to respond back and go, hey, I got your phone calls.
Understand that I'm under order right now, I have no comment.

Speaker 4 (44:44):
And on top of that, Mike, and sorry to cut
you off, but just to kind of throw this in here,
you mentioned coach Miller being the ad down there and say, Kats,
I mean, he's got a million responsibilities. And Ryan can
attest to this. He's got a billion responsibilities to take
care of. It's not just football that he's worried about,
So I get it, you know, and especially and it's
his team, it's his kids that he loves day in
and day out. I understand him not wanting to get

(45:04):
back to me right away, not wanting to talk about
a story like that, because it's tough.

Speaker 1 (45:08):
You know, there's a lot of jobs on this planet
that I could not do right, and that can be
a surgeon anytime soon. I couldn't be an athletic tractor either.
I couldn't. What the I just can't. I have a
hard time with six balls up in the air, juggling them.
I've got to take one, accomplish the goal, move on they.
I mean, I can't imagine. Hey, the bus didn't show up?

Speaker 3 (45:30):
What what buss?

Speaker 1 (45:31):
What are you talking about? I don't know how athletic
directors keep all the balls juggling up in the air
and make it seem really seamless. I've known McMillan a
long time. I didn't think he's smart enough to be
an athlete. Look at him right now, he is.

Speaker 4 (45:45):
He is rolling.

Speaker 1 (45:47):
Hey, when as the as the season gets deeper in
the season, do you start then looking at games that
that are four being played for a purpose, right, like
a chance to win a conference, a chance to get
into the playoffs? Or do you do you always try
to pick teams that you haven't seen yet.

Speaker 4 (46:08):
Especially early in the year. We definitely try to get
out and see as many teams as we can, because
I mean, it's it's basically a two month season. I mean,
it flies by and we try to get out to
as many teams as possible. When you start getting into
week eight, week nine, and then you get into the playoffs,
it's it's time to go see the teams that could
potentially make a run.

Speaker 1 (46:24):
Yeah, one hundred percent. I agree with that. Hey, we
Channel twenty four US talking to Rocky last night. He said, Hey,
we're definitely going to cover that. That that the show
that the playoffs show, right And I said that's great,
And he said, I'm hoping that it goes a little
smoother than it has in the past. And I said, yeah,
I'm sure that it. Well, they've been doing it for

(46:45):
a little bit. Travis Wilson going to still be part
of that, I would think, right, does anybody know? I
honestly have no idea. I asked him last week when
he had them on. Have you been unbound? Have you
been have you looked at any of his stuff?

Speaker 4 (46:58):
It's still it's still a work in progress for them,
but I tell you what, they definitely have some good
information on there. Obviously would love to see some other
sports being included on there as well, but I'm sure
that's probably, you know, a work in progress, like I said,
But yeah, it was so easy for years with with sports.

Speaker 2 (47:13):
Do you see anything with with sports now combining with
max props.

Speaker 1 (47:17):
I saw something about that, but I didn't I didn't
read into it, and I'm trying to look. You go
on with sports and you can get like, Okay, here
are the scores and here are the teams, but there's
nothing on stats. There's nothing on so you got to
go over to bound and it's just a little bit
and for an old grandfather of six to go, you know,
I've got to get through that and go, Okay, wait

(47:39):
where am I going on this thing? And stuff like that.
But you know, Travis's a nice job, so I'm wondering.
I'm sure he'll still be part of all of that. Brother.
It's good to see you, it really is. And I
got to get Ryan out of here to do the
parent thing, and good to see I'm sure later in
the year i'll have you and Zach come in or
Zach and whatever.

Speaker 4 (47:58):
Oh, one hundred percent, we can talk about how much
I'm excited for White Sox baseball next spring because we're
actually looking competent this time around compared to the last
time I talked to you.

Speaker 7 (48:06):
So it'll be right.

Speaker 3 (48:06):
After we're done hosting our World Series.

Speaker 1 (48:09):
Yeah, I know, I know the baseball and then we
see pigs fly. Ye, the pigs are, pigs are flying.
The White Socks are gonna be good.

Speaker 4 (48:17):
Hey, hey man, I tell you what, twenty five and
twenty six since the All Star break. I think they're
tied or had the best record since since August thirty first,
going into last night before they lost to Cleveland.

Speaker 1 (48:30):
We thank you for Andrew Vaughn.

Speaker 4 (48:32):
Oh look good, who's hitting about what one eighty seven
in the last month or so?

Speaker 5 (48:36):
It?

Speaker 4 (48:37):
Trust me, you'll see the real Andrew Vaughan before you know.

Speaker 1 (48:39):
How did how's the picture doing that we sent your
way for him?

Speaker 4 (48:42):
Oh he's not with the cousins.

Speaker 3 (48:43):
Oh no, I knew that.

Speaker 1 (48:47):
So that one eighty six looks pretty good because you
got that nothing at this point White Sox Baseball. I
know Michael looks created you's a big fan of yours.
If you have not read his stuff, do it, do it.
Go to jas Online and Waukee Journal Sentinel. And the
prep side is, Look, they had big shoes to fill
when Mark Stewart moved on and moved up. But these

(49:09):
guys are doing a great job. Ryan's good to CLC you.
Next week, we're gonna get to a break other side
of the break. Drake Zortmann, head football coach at Homestead,
along with Blake Wickman, one of his senior players running
back linebacker, going to be in studio. We'll talk some
hoste at football right now. This is the Varsity Blitz
High School Sports Show presented by your local Pick and

(49:29):
Save and Metro Market stores, only on Fox Sports nine
twenty in year iHeartRadio App. Welcome back to the Varsity
Blitz High School Sports Show presented by your local Pick
and Save and Metro Market stores on Fox Sports nine
twenty in year iHeartRadio App. As always, coming live from
the Donovan and Jorganson Heating and Cooling Studios. I want
to thank Ryan mcmill and my co host. He had

(49:50):
a head out and he's got some some father duties
in the world of sports. Gotta get his daughter to
a hockey rink or something. She's awesome. And want to
thank Michael Whitlaw does a great job with The Journal Sentinel.
In studio for the next hour, we're gonna talk some
Homestead football and they're rolling right now. Head coach Drake
Shortman and one of his seniors, and I can tell

(50:14):
you Blake Whitman. Man, he's a tough kid. He's had
a bunch of tackles last night. We'll talk to him
in a minute. Drake, how you been.

Speaker 7 (50:21):
I'm well, Mike.

Speaker 5 (50:22):
Thanks for having us, Man, this is awesome. I love
hanging out talking high school football with you.

Speaker 1 (50:27):
You guys are rolling, kids are off.

Speaker 5 (50:29):
Kids are off to a good start, really really special group.
And we had a long ways to go yet, but
the first few weeks have been good.

Speaker 1 (50:38):
Did you see it coming? Do you know what I say?
He's always coaches. We look, we start camp and we go, Okay,
we got something here, or man, we got to coach
him up. We might struggle in the beginning. How did
you feel before camp started?

Speaker 5 (50:52):
Well, I think it goes back to you know, winter December, January, February.
It goes back to the spring summer workouts. You know,
June and July. You do your contact days and the
camp starts, and I guess, now, if I had to
reflect back, we had a really good winter, spring summer.

Speaker 7 (51:10):
Kids prepared their bodies. Well.

Speaker 5 (51:14):
You never want to say you saw it coming, but
I knew we had the right collection of kids.

Speaker 1 (51:20):
Boy, your schedule, tough schedule, yeah right, And Germantown's really good.

Speaker 7 (51:27):
Germantown is really good.

Speaker 1 (51:28):
They're really good. And people have been calling me before
the season started and said, next couple of years, you
need to pay attention to Jake Davis and Germantown because
they get a chance to really good. And you guys
went out and you throttle them a little bit. Forty three, fifteen,
ketl Moraine, who got to win last night? Nicole and
Whitefish Bay, and you guys are putting up some big,

(51:51):
big numbers man forty three, fifty six, forty nine and
forty two. I gouts start taking the over run almost
of games. I guess I don't bet on FI school
football play. I'm just kidding. WIA offensively obviously putting a
big points to the defense playing really well too.

Speaker 7 (52:09):
Our defense.

Speaker 5 (52:10):
You know, it feels like teams are doing this or that,
but at the end of the day, you know it's
a little bit ben but don't break. And you know
we only allowed seven points last night. You know, people
want to look at the offensive total, but holding a
white Fish Bait team with a good passing attack to seven.

Speaker 7 (52:27):
Points, it's a really good job lass at baby.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
Yeah. Yeah, And I know from Jake Walter that the
Homestale game is the biggie for him, right. He said,
if I could put an uniform on one more time,
just one more time, this is the game. This is
five years ago. He told me that it was before
the game and he was fired up. I said, he goes,
if I could put it on one more time and
get one more game, I would play against Homestead on

(52:50):
a Friday night right here, and I'd light him up,
and you wouldn't want him to put the uniform on
one more time. He was as good as players there
there was from Tosi. Tell you that, hey, Blake, how
you doing. You're feeling pretty good about this team? Yeah,
they come a little closer if you can't there you go, yep.

Speaker 6 (53:06):
Yeah, So I am feeling pretty good. The group as
a collective is only getting closer and closer, And like
coach said, it started in the summer, winter and spring,
like we've all just been working hard together and getting
closer and closer, which is definitely contributing.

Speaker 1 (53:23):
You're running back and linebacker, Yeah, more linebacker and running
back or more running back in.

Speaker 6 (53:27):
Line back linebacker more linebacker.

Speaker 1 (53:30):
So you'd prefer to hit people then get hit. Yeah, exactly. Yeah,
I guess most people would would like that, but to
be able to run the ball, you know, pretty girls
like guys that score touchdowns. But you're okay, we don't
need to get your homecoming a little bit of both there.
There you go. We don't need to find out a
homecoming date for you. You're okay there. Yeah, I got a
feeling you're doing just fine. How long you've been playing

(53:51):
varsity football at home stairs? So you're on varsity's a
soft Yeah, things slow down a little bit for you.
So as far as software year, everybody's bigger strung or
faster coming off playing JV or freshman. And now all
of a sudden, it's like, man, I'm playing against guys
with My grandson's a freshman, Elsie. He's playing a little
bit of time on varsity. And after the first game,

(54:13):
I said, how to go? He goes. I had a
black a guy that had a full beard. He's fourteen,
you know.

Speaker 6 (54:20):
So I remember going against the we played Arrowhead and
they had the two big Division one linemen. Yeah, and
I remember like being, oh, like these two huge guys,
I'm just a sophomore. But I think like the biggest
thing is being able to like know your stuff to
slow the game down as much as you can. And

(54:42):
once you slow the game down here, it enables you
to make plays. I think that's probably the biggest thing
I've learned over the past my three years in varsity.

Speaker 1 (54:52):
It's like he's been a coach for twenty five years.
With what he just said. It's this is a senior
in high school coach that talks about, look, if you
know your stuff, if you do your homework and you
practice the way you practice and know your stuff, things
are going to slow down a little bit. We could
tell kids that, but when he does it, and he
says it because he's been through it two years ago,

(55:14):
it makes a lot of sense. What a really mature
thing for a kid to say.

Speaker 5 (55:19):
You know, I said last night, I'm like working with
Blake is like working with an adult. He's like a colleague, right.
It's just a super special guy to have out there
running the defense. And he puts in his time, his work,
he studies his stuff.

Speaker 7 (55:35):
It truly is like.

Speaker 5 (55:37):
And I know this is kind of cliche, but having
a coach on the field, I feel that way more
than ever.

Speaker 1 (55:42):
Before, inside or outside Linebackerer, So, do you wish they'd
let you blitz a little more or tell me what
he does?

Speaker 6 (55:51):
Yeah, he didn't mind that.

Speaker 1 (55:54):
That's awesome. I like that who when you were a
sophomore and a june, but when you when you do
the what you just talked about shows really real leadership qualities.
Who taught that to you, Like when you're a sophomore.
I want kids at LCL to take my grandsoner as
a freshmen and put there on ride and say, look,

(56:15):
you're gonna lift with me today. We're gonna do these
shrills together and and show that leadership Like Okay, if
you're gonna get time on varsity, you gotta be up
to speed and you got to go. And I'm wondering
if a sophomore when you came on varsity, were there
guys that were seniors in that that in that program
that taught you what it would be like to be
a good leader. I would say I.

Speaker 6 (56:37):
Kind of watched qualities I liked and did not like
in leadership from sophomore. So like, this is something I
thought about before the show, talking about like looking back
from sophomore or junior or senior year. I reflected on
quality as some seniors that what I liked and didn't
like to saw and so I try to apply equalities

(56:58):
I do like so for example, sophomore are Griffin Bauers.
He really took me on over his wing and showed
me like what it takes to play for like the
intensity of football.

Speaker 1 (57:10):
At home, especially at Homestead. Yeah, it's it's different. There
are schools that are different. Homestead is in that category
with the Mesquigos in the arrow Heads and right and
then in the best programs in the state. And to
play there, especially as a sophomore, it's not easy. It's hard.
And I think, you know what, I think that kid

(57:31):
for putting his arm around you. Are you more of
a vocal leader or a quiet leader? And you're going
to watch the way I go to work and if
you want to be as good as I am, you
going to do the stuff I do.

Speaker 6 (57:41):
I think to be the best leader you can, you
gotta be able to do both. Honestly, I think the
best leaders are able to be vocal and lead by example.

Speaker 7 (57:49):
I think that's that's the way to be a leader.

Speaker 1 (57:51):
It's your mom and dad's name Matthew and ire Did
they come to every game? Yeah? Who do you hear? More?

Speaker 6 (57:57):
And then they got a shout out last night from
Bay The Wakeman family came out to show outright. Yeah,
so that's pretty cool.

Speaker 1 (58:05):
Yeah they get after a little bit. Yeah, who talks
to you about? Does your dad talk to you about
certain plays or does he just say, look, he did
well the night? Does he know the game?

Speaker 7 (58:15):
All?

Speaker 1 (58:15):
He dies?

Speaker 6 (58:16):
I enjoy going through the game and helping him learn
the game even more, like showing him some of the
stuff we're learning, some of the cards, like the statistics
with the percentage of ron pass whatever yours. Yeah, he
enjoys that.

Speaker 1 (58:29):
Do you think you'll coach one day?

Speaker 6 (58:31):
I would definitely consider it. I would.

Speaker 1 (58:35):
You can join his staff. He might have to get
a check for being an assistant coach, now I know
that's illegal. I'm only kidding. W I A. They're not
giving him a check. You gotta smile when when look, Homestead,
you guys have have been blessed with good leaders throughout
the years. But when you've got a kid that says, look,
I took stuff that I learned, both good and bad.

(58:58):
Right as a as a an adult. I took things
from my parents things. I'm a better parent because of
some of the lessons they taught me, both good and bad. Right,
And so for him to be able to say that
you got to smile on that drag and programs in
a good place, huh uh.

Speaker 7 (59:15):
For sure, there's a reason Blake's here today.

Speaker 5 (59:18):
He's he's as good as it gets on the field
and off the field and all the things in the classroom,
in the hallways in our community. I And yes, he's
a very reflective young man. And he he's both vocal
and by example everything he just said. And yes, I

(59:39):
just being around him, I sometimes just sit back and smile.

Speaker 1 (59:44):
And I love its great, great ambassador for his family
in Homestead and in football. Hey when when when you
look at at this team and and look, we can't
you see this side of the studio. Can't have every
senior come in? Can you can you talk to me
a little bit about some of the other kids in
your class that are making this team go? Because I

(01:00:04):
want to make sure that we shout out, so make
sure that this team understands you're here representing that whole
locker room. We can't get everybody in, but give me
an idea if we come watch Homestead play some of
the other seniors that make this team.

Speaker 6 (01:00:17):
I want to off with the offensive line. I think
they are working to get together unbelievably. Luke Ivansovich, Joe Simon,
Luke Gerner, Nick Bennish, Peter Cromy We're good.

Speaker 1 (01:00:30):
Right there you go.

Speaker 6 (01:00:33):
Yeah, those guys they're they're they're just they're dogs. There's
big kids who work hard and they know what they're doing.

Speaker 1 (01:00:43):
Do they come try to get you? I practiced a
little bit. Try to keep them after them.

Speaker 6 (01:00:49):
You're not running from them.

Speaker 1 (01:00:51):
Huh. Hey do you are you a multi sport athlete?
I play lacrosse as well. You do? Yeah? What sports
do you like more? You remember your football coach is
right to the right. It's football football. Does football make
you a better lacrosse player? You think I'd say sell? Yeah, Yeah,
there's some carry over to that, right. My grandson said

(01:01:12):
he's not a bad basketball players freshman Lake Country, literally
six to one a buck ninety five, just turned fourteen.
He goes, pop, I don't want to play basketball anymore.
They call me for they call me for every foul
I go because you won't move those big giants, like
he goes, I just want to play lacrosse and football
because I get to hit people. Yeah, And I'm like,
all right, but I think you should play basketball for sure.

(01:01:34):
No decisions on school. Do you think you're going to
leave the area. Do you want to stay in the
area for next year? If you go, I get getting
in Madison would be great. It's just it's very it's
it's hard. It is hard, it's unpredictable.

Speaker 6 (01:01:45):
But besides that, probably Bowlder it would be my second option.

Speaker 1 (01:01:48):
Have you been out there? Yeah? Yeah, I've been to
Colorado once. Beautiful Airy.

Speaker 6 (01:01:52):
It's pretty cool.

Speaker 1 (01:01:53):
Yeah. I officiated a wedding up in the mountains there
you go, and we're driving and my wife's like, oh,
look at how highway. There's no guardrails. I'm not looking anywhere.
I'm looking straight ahead and trying to keep my car
right here. Hey, Blake, we're gonna get to a break, Drake,
Blake and Drake. It's a rhyme. Drake Sortman. I had
football coach at home Stead not talk Highland or football

(01:02:14):
for a bit, and it's great to have them back
in studio. Blake Wickman, he's a senior linebacker slash running
back linebacker first, because he likes to likes to hit people.
How many tackles you have last night? You know, I
don't even look up. Yeah, I'll take a book. I'll
figure it out. You had a good night, though, I'd
say so, yeah, I mean yeah.

Speaker 6 (01:02:32):
I think our defense played solid, solid as a whole good.
They couldn't move, they couldn't run the ball on us
really at a turn in the passing game.

Speaker 1 (01:02:39):
Hey, Drake, the conference down a little bit this year? Up?
Where where do you think it is?

Speaker 5 (01:02:47):
I think it's hard to tell only through a couple
of weeks. I you know, we're just finished only the
second round of conference games. We'll have to see I
think we'll know more in a week or two. I
got to see some other matchups. I like to watch
the non conference matchups and opponents and things like that.
You know, once we get to week five, week six,

(01:03:07):
we'll be able to tell more. Well, I think the
North you're in and you're out. The North show is
a tough deal now.

Speaker 1 (01:03:13):
It is, you know. And I saw Hartford and Slinger.
I was on the silence for that one. Strappier, you
get your helmets strapped up those guys come hit you.
And I got to tell you Hartford at that point
when Slunger beat him, they were owing three and they
were a really good own three team. I was like, man,
they're gonna beat some teams in this conference, especially if
they look past him and Slinger. You know Jacqueline, he's

(01:03:35):
gonna get him going defending state champs. And and he's good.

Speaker 6 (01:03:38):
Coach always says the North Shore Conference can surprise you
at any given night.

Speaker 1 (01:03:42):
One can. And West Bend West started out three and
O and I'm like, wait, who did they play? And
they they that's a team that is going to surprise
some people as well. And you don't get what You
don't get a lot of great football over the years
from West Bend. But if West Bend is playing well,
you know Hartford and Cedarburg right, and we're gonna have

(01:04:03):
the Cedarburg Whitefish bag game next week on my twenty
four and you know what, new coach, new system, new culture.
But watch out because late in the year, you never
know what those guys And I agree with you and
some really good coaches in that conference. Again he is
Drake Jortmann had football coach at Homestead and Blake Whitman.
He is the linebacker, running back slash assistant coach for Homestead.

(01:04:26):
That's what I'm going with and I'm going to stay
with it. This is the Varsity Blitz High School Sports Show,
presented by your local Pick and Save and Metro Market stores,
only on Fox Sports nine twenty in your iHeart Radio app.
Welcome back to the Varsity Blitz High School Sports Show
is always presented by your local Pick and Save and
Metro Market stores. Next week or the following week, we

(01:04:46):
will bring back the Pick and Save Student Athlete of
the Week and we will highlight, promote, and celebrate kids
that understand student athlete. And if we started this week
our special guest in studio represent Homestead, Blake Wuickman, would
be one of those guys. Wait at four point zero
at a tough school and you're a week early, young man,

(01:05:07):
you would have been our Pick and Save student After
the week, I still say congratulations. By the way, before
we get into what I want to talk about in
this segment is culture and being being that hunted Homestead
team that you are every single year. Your motivation for
being such a good student athlete, Blake, where do you
think that comes from.

Speaker 6 (01:05:28):
I think for myself honestly, like I hold myself ecconnable
to do well in school and sports. I think it's
just a.

Speaker 1 (01:05:35):
Self your self motivated, motivated. That's awesome because it's not yours.
It's not your right to plan on Drake's football team.
It's a privilege you earned by taking care of your
business in the classroom. And I do this each week
when I talk to seniors. I'm gonna do it early
instead of waiting until the end. Don't let any anybody

(01:05:56):
on in this program screw this thing up. You guys
got a really good thing going. You can go to
parties later after you graduate from Homestead. Let's not do
that now. There's been too many teams throughout the years
I coached basketball thirty six years, too many teams throughout
the years that kids screw up and they do something
stupid and now they're ineligible for a game or two,
and it completely the dynamica of the season gets ruined

(01:06:20):
with that. So as a leader, I'm going to ask
you to please arch out these guys.

Speaker 7 (01:06:25):
Drake.

Speaker 1 (01:06:25):
You understand Homestead, right, you understand what it is, and
you guys are circled on people's schedule. You are the
hunted in this conference. You are week in and week out,
year in and year out. Is that just something that
that that you take as look, that's what it is,
That's what I signed up for. Or do you have
conversations with these kids about what it is to be

(01:06:48):
a Homestead football player.

Speaker 7 (01:06:50):
We do.

Speaker 5 (01:06:50):
We we know it, We openly talk about it.

Speaker 7 (01:06:56):
I think it's more.

Speaker 5 (01:06:57):
About it's about our preparation, you know, and and it's
about you. You play football at Homestead High School. We
know every We're going to get everybody's best shot. We
welcome it. And it's more about look in the mirror,
concentrate on us, prepare the way we prepare, and and

(01:07:18):
go be the best version we can be that night,
and then move on and.

Speaker 1 (01:07:22):
Do it all over again, because it's constant, it is,
and there's the number of sports over there. Look, I'm
a big Crider fan. I love the basketball coach at Homestead.
I love having him studio. He will not, he will
not why. He will tell you, and whether it's popular
or not, whether he's taking on somebody or not, he

(01:07:44):
will say, look, we need a chakka and here's why
we need this and here's why. And he's not afraid
and and I love that about him, and he has
that same right. The basketball in the North Shore Conference
is really good. And he might not have that on
on the bulls eye in the back that you guys
have because of the amount of conference and state championships

(01:08:07):
that Homestead has had over the years, but he feels
it too, because the expectations out in that community is
we're Homestead, We're really good academic school, and we're going
to be successful in sports because kids are buying in
the culture that you have in that locker room. It
changes year to year, but when you got kids like
this kid who's sitting in the middle, makes it a

(01:08:28):
little bit easier, right.

Speaker 7 (01:08:29):
Yeah, you know, it starts with all the kids.

Speaker 5 (01:08:31):
And I'll go to our leadership team and we have seniors, juniors, sophomores,
and we rotate those kids through. I think we have
eight guys on our leadership team right now. We meet
weekly throughout the season. We meet monthly or bi monthly
throughout the winter and the spring and the summer, and
it's an ongoing training and guys are going to graduate.

(01:08:53):
Blake's going to graduate, and we're going to bring in
the next class, in the next class, and we do
that from year to year. It's been very, very effective.
I think kids hold each other accountable kids, they welcome
the expectations right, and they do and they thrive.

Speaker 1 (01:09:12):
Years ago, I gave a we used to do an
award the team of the Week, and I didn't know
much about Lake Country Lutheran and I do now, but
I didn't then. And I went out to Bras's practice
to hand this trophy off and we were talking. He said,
hold on, hey, family up, family up right? And I
didn't know, go what is this? And they had groups

(01:09:32):
of seven or eight kids, and the senior was in
charge of that family. That was his family. A couple
of freshmen, a couple of sophomores from juniors, maybe another senior,
but that kid. And what this was is Bras's wife
came up with it and she said, look, you're trying
to teach these kids what it's going to be like
to be an adult, a father, and a husband, and

(01:09:53):
let's start those Let's start that journey now. So what
they did was if the freshman, you know, his girlfriend
broke up with him, he'd go to the head of
his family and go look, my girlfriend broke up with me,
or I missed a homework assignment, or I skipped school,
and I got caught that kind of stuff before it
got to the head coach where brass had to handle it.

(01:10:14):
They were letting these seniors try to take over and
handle their family like we do as fathers, and I thought, man,
that's brilliant. Then I had a public school guy go, look,
I can't do the family, I think, because that's more
of a faith based thing what he's doing. But what
I did is my senior and his group. He's doing
a fantasy basketball thing with the players, and he's got

(01:10:36):
two freshmen and a sophomore and a junior, and he's
going to their games and he's going, you got to
get two rebounds from my fantasy team, right, And he said,
that's my way of getting the senior in this group.
And it sounds to me like you guys understand with
the leadership council that they have to be in charge
of this group.

Speaker 5 (01:10:55):
They are and I say all the time, I'm like this,
this is not by any means my team. This is
their team. This is it is the players who are
in charge of their team. And we have a great staff.
I love I love our coaches.

Speaker 1 (01:11:12):
I was going there. Okay, you gotta buy you got
about twelve former.

Speaker 5 (01:11:17):
Wed coach have alumni, we have former head coaches, We
have a great staff. I absolutely love the guys that
we work with every day. But these players are really
the ones that are in charge of the deal.

Speaker 1 (01:11:29):
Hey, let's talk a little bit about that staff. Right,
You've got some guys who have been head coaches. Al
Moroder now is with you, and and a number of
guys who have been head coaches. There are times where
you bring a head coach onto a staff who is
used to being on you know, sitting six inches to
the left there as the head coach. Do you have

(01:11:52):
to have conversations with them saying, Okay, this is this
is where you are. You're the head coach, but only
of this area, and but you're you're one of my assistants,
and I'm the head coach and we walk out of
the coach's office on the face of the program, do
you have to have that conversation with guys?

Speaker 7 (01:12:09):
I don't, and I don't feel that way. I don't.
My job is to serve them.

Speaker 5 (01:12:14):
My job is to be behind the scenes, make sure everybody
has what they need. Make sure Blake and all the
players like they're getting what they need. I don't look
at it that way. I look at it as a
kind of an upside down pyramid where I'm at the
bottom and I'm just I'm serving all the rest of
the people in the organization. Our guys are amazing, and

(01:12:35):
they're there for a reason. They want to be there.
Al Moroder, former head coach from nicol He's a home set.
He's an alump, Yes he is. All he ever wanted
to do was come home, just come home. That's and
he had made that look.

Speaker 1 (01:12:47):
He had said that off the record, stuff like one
day maybe I'll go back home and if I can
get an opportunity to do that. He's a really good guy,
like I like him a lot, and I've reached out
to him and and and said that I didn't know
exactly where he was, and then I said where he
at now? He's like, man, I went home and I said,

(01:13:08):
if I do an assistant coaches show, I'd love for
you to come on, because I just think that he
does it for the right reason. He loves the sport,
and he loves the kids, and he loves He understands
that football is more than just the game on Friday night.
There's so many lessons that that these kids learned from it.
The rest of the staff.

Speaker 5 (01:13:27):
Yeah, we have a former head coach teaches math in
the building, Andy Colestad. He's coaching our running backs. He's
doing a fantastic job. Our backfield right now is moving
really really quick, and everybody's carrying out their fakes.

Speaker 1 (01:13:42):
And that's a testament to his dad. Is his dad
Yeah still.

Speaker 7 (01:13:46):
I'm not sure, but his father he played for his dad.

Speaker 1 (01:13:50):
Yeah, yeah, and yeah. I was on the sidelines at
Tosa West and his dad was like, hey, throw the ball.
And I'm like, and he's like, he's just't coach. I
love to throw the ball of my dad's telling me
to throw the ball. Another good dude. For sure.

Speaker 5 (01:14:03):
Andy's done a great job. We have our Hall of famer.
Dan yetis former Sheboygan Falls head coach. He's in his
fifty first year of high school football. He's amazing. It's
just such a invaluable resource.

Speaker 1 (01:14:16):
Wealth of knowledge. Man.

Speaker 5 (01:14:18):
And I when I put the headphones on and I
asked Dan a question, I wait for the answer and
I execute exactly what his advice is wow, you know,
and I've we have Matt Wolfe has turned down jobs.

Speaker 7 (01:14:31):
He's our defensive coordinator. You know.

Speaker 1 (01:14:34):
I just you guys were co head coaches for a year.

Speaker 7 (01:14:36):
We were interim co head coaches that first year.

Speaker 1 (01:14:39):
How did that work? That would be hard for me?
Was that hard for you guys at all? No?

Speaker 5 (01:14:43):
And we came up together. We've spent over twenty five
years together. So he took care of his side of things.
I took care of my side of things, and I
don't know, I trust him completely. It was not difficult
at all late. I mean, other than it being twenty twenty,
which had all of the things.

Speaker 1 (01:15:02):
All the issues that had what a weird time in
our world, right, Yes, that was that. I hated it.

Speaker 7 (01:15:10):
We don't need to go back there now.

Speaker 1 (01:15:12):
So I think that that time cost us some kids
I did, not only sports, but in academics and all
of it. And I hope that we're back. I think
we're back, but there's still some lingering issues with that
for sure, for kids that had to stay at home
and didn't have that personal relationship with other kids in

(01:15:33):
the classroom and all that stuff, And that's a whole
different show for a different station down the down the
aisle here, all right, direc right next door. In fact,
eleven thirty can handle that. We don't need to get
into that. Hey, I'm looking at your stats. You've had
a few tackles. Huh yeah, yeah, just a couple. I
think nineteen is what I'm looking at. Sixteen solo. That

(01:15:53):
means your defensive line is is is they're taking some
of the blockers. Right, But let's tell you you talked
about the offensive line. Let's talk about some of the
guys defensive line and some of the guys on defense
that that have You've you've kind of seniors that you've
kind of moved up with.

Speaker 6 (01:16:09):
So we have a fresh defensive line, right we have no, Yeah,
we don't have a returning starting defensive lineman.

Speaker 1 (01:16:16):
Really yeah, and giving up about seven points a game
not bad?

Speaker 6 (01:16:21):
Oh yeah, it's been really they're they're working hard.

Speaker 1 (01:16:24):
Did you make the calls in the in the in
the defensive house, Yeah, yeah, you're you're that guy. Yeah,
I had a boy. You're telling people where to go. Yeah, yeah,
gotta love that. And you don't think you want to
play football at the next level? Huh?

Speaker 6 (01:16:37):
Probably not Uh I think when when my time's up,
it's all I don't guess their four years of high
school football and what.

Speaker 1 (01:16:45):
Are you fifty? You know how mature this? You know
every kid wants not every kid because you don't, but
most kids are like, man, this is so good and
and and it's so fun.

Speaker 6 (01:16:56):
I want to keep it so good and so far.
Like it doesn't get better than Friday night football. It
doesn't like, it does not get better than that.

Speaker 1 (01:17:03):
Like, do you know how many kids over the years
as a basketball coach that say, look, this is the
best and they look at me like, man, you're on
your mind. The kids, you know, those big high level
Division one kids, Yeah, it gets better, it does, right,
But the kids going to play Division three or Division two,
it I don't know if it gets better than what
you're going through right now.

Speaker 6 (01:17:23):
That's perspective through it.

Speaker 1 (01:17:25):
You agree with that, I you know, I don't know.

Speaker 5 (01:17:28):
I think it's different for every kid. And every player's
got their own story. And you know, we've we've had
plenty of great players go on to play at all
the levels, all the levels, plenty of great players that
they decide that they're gonna they're gonna have the best
high school experience they can have, then they're gonna move
on with life.

Speaker 1 (01:17:46):
Yeah. That new to that next chapter, which, hey, how
much has the NIL thing affected you guys touched Homestead
at all yet? No? So as a former basketball coach,
I'm gonna ask your your your opinion on this. I'm
so happy I'm a former high school basketball coach because
my feeling twelve players in the locker room. If the

(01:18:08):
seventh best player's dad owns a law firm and they
did they do an NIL deal with him, and he
walks in my locker room and he's got new Jordan's on.
He's like, Hey, my NIL money, where are yours? To
my first, second, and third player. I think it's going
to kill the culture of that locker room. And I
just feel like I don't know how to navigate through
it because we haven't had it before. I'm sure there

(01:18:30):
is a way, But do you feel like that might
be an issue in yours to come?

Speaker 7 (01:18:34):
I'm not sure.

Speaker 5 (01:18:35):
I haven't really had to deal with anything with NIL yet.
I hope we have some policies and procedures in place
with the help of the WA and if it gets
to the point five years from now where like, holy Kyle,
look at what's happening in NCAA. Now, if we end
up in that space, I hope we have some guidance.

(01:18:57):
I hope we have some people get together and collaborate
and come up with some policies.

Speaker 1 (01:19:01):
And yeah, well, reading through all that, some of it
they're thrown against the wall and basically saying we're gonna
try it like that this year and if it's not good,
we'll we'll change it. But their template they took from
the surrounding states. But then a couple of them, a
couple of these things. I said, we're not quite sure,
and if this happens, then we can maybe change That's

(01:19:23):
what makes me nervous. That makes me nervous, Like you guys,
let's put the rules in place in writing, and this
is the way it is not Okay, we'll do it
this year and if it's not good, then we'll change
it next year.

Speaker 7 (01:19:35):
Yeah.

Speaker 5 (01:19:35):
The unknown is is something that I struggle with. Yeah,
and the fact that it's constantly changing or if it's
going to be organic and grow and like that's hard.
The unknown is something that I'm not a fan of
the unknown, No me.

Speaker 1 (01:19:50):
Neither ever, Hey do you do you miss the seeding meetings.

Speaker 7 (01:19:57):
I don't.

Speaker 4 (01:19:58):
I don't.

Speaker 7 (01:19:58):
I don't miss the seating meanings.

Speaker 5 (01:20:00):
There's some crazy things, man, over the years, I've like
I could, I could share some stories.

Speaker 1 (01:20:05):
Do you remember the one you were online? I think, Dave,
we were driving back and forth from two different meetings,
you and coach, and you were going from and going
this guy all screwed up. I'm going there and he's
coming here, and and I remember that. And I went
down to I went down to the courthouse. I was
there for that.

Speaker 5 (01:20:23):
We were there at twenty eleven. I was twenty eleven.
I think for that whole playoff thing with that was interesting.
I got off the phone, I said, I was wa Yes,
we did. I called my brother. I said, well, I
never thought i'd say this as a high school football coach.

Speaker 7 (01:20:41):
I just parked at the firm. I'm gonna meet with
the attorneys.

Speaker 1 (01:20:45):
You can't handle the truth, you know. It was a
whole that was riveting to me. It was I never
thought that I would be that engaged. A guy next
to you is trying to talk, I go be quiet, like,
are you hearing this? It was guys, I had a
good lawyer By the way, Investment is my alma minors.
So I was out fist pumping like my boys got in,

(01:21:05):
which was awesome. But you took on the WIA and
and they have not held a grudge to you, right.

Speaker 7 (01:21:12):
It's the relationship has been positive.

Speaker 5 (01:21:16):
I go out of my way to try to make
sure and I'm part of some committees.

Speaker 7 (01:21:20):
And I get to go go to.

Speaker 5 (01:21:21):
The boardroom and do some meetings, and it's been positive relationships.

Speaker 1 (01:21:25):
So I don't know if you're going to answer this
question or not, Oh, did you have did you have
anything to do with putting the the format in the
math equation in for basketball or football or any of
that on how what they're utilizing, because I kept hearing,
you know, Jortman did that. Dartman's a guy and I've

(01:21:47):
never looked you in the eyes, said did you help
with that?

Speaker 7 (01:21:49):
Did you the original assist the original auto seating formula
from twenty twenty twenty twenty one.

Speaker 5 (01:21:58):
Yeah, like five years ago. Yeah, I was a part
of that committee and we worked on some things. I will,
I will, and it's public that I was.

Speaker 1 (01:22:06):
And I got to give you guys credit. And I
think that first, I think that first year.

Speaker 7 (01:22:13):
Twenty one.

Speaker 5 (01:22:14):
I think there was some changes that I don't know what,
I don't know what I don't.

Speaker 7 (01:22:18):
Know in the last couple of years.

Speaker 5 (01:22:20):
Now, I believe this particular playoff matrix what we have
in place for this fall. I was not a part
of the math behind that one, but boy, I really
like it.

Speaker 4 (01:22:29):
You do, well?

Speaker 1 (01:22:30):
Do you like it?

Speaker 5 (01:22:30):
The playoff matrix that we currently have for for high
school football in Wisconsin rewards teams winning games the Tier
one points. You win games, if you beat a D
one team, you beat a D two team, these are
your points. And I'm you know what, good teams win games.
I love that, And we want the best teams in

(01:22:50):
the playoffs and we want the best teams to get
the best seats. The next part is, now, who did
you beat? If you beat somebody good that's also winning games.
And I'll just say this, like, I know, German Town's
a really good football team.

Speaker 1 (01:23:04):
They are.

Speaker 5 (01:23:04):
We found a way to beat them in Week one,
and they found a way to win three games since.

Speaker 1 (01:23:09):
Then, and that may and that helps her two points.

Speaker 5 (01:23:12):
So I like we talk about it as a as
a team. The players know it, the coaches know it.
I really, really like this, win some games and who
are you beaten? Yeah, that that's your tier two teams,
so your tier two points.

Speaker 7 (01:23:27):
I think this is really really good.

Speaker 1 (01:23:30):
Yeah, And you and I are a little bit different.
I loved the city meeting because I would I'd like
pretend that I had got popcorn and I'd watched these
guys argue and I'd watch them fight, and then they
took me on a couple of times, and I loved it.
I'd run too controversy like I want to. I want
to be a part of it. I want to see it.
Other people are like, I don't. I don't want to
do that. And there are things that happen in those

(01:23:52):
city meetings, Like you said, we could tell some stories. Man,
we write a book about some of that stuff. Pretty
incredible to me. We're going to get you a break.
Joe Cookie used to say, look, you you basketball guys,
it's all political. US football coaches were not like that.
And then it was like, oh, yes we are, Yes
we are. We had four or four coaches from our conference,

(01:24:14):
and those other guys are all going to get screwed
on this one because we're sticking together. And he's and
and Joe would say, look, it's better the way it
is now. You know where it comes out, and you
sit and wait to see. Homestead's in a word place.
We're gonna get your break other side of the break.
But you never know which way they're taking you, right,
You never know. Yeah, if you're if you're at Kunos

(01:24:34):
Trump or you know where you're at, you kind of know.
Sometimes they'll go west a little bit Homestead, you have
no They could send you north, they could send you south,
they send you west, and we'll have that conversation on
the other side of the break, and Blake, I'm gonna
ask you a question. I want you to think about
your favorite memory so far. Yeah, a lot of football
to be played so far being part of this Homestead program.

(01:24:54):
Could be a practice, could be a dinner, could be
a game. I'm gonna ask your favorite memory being part
of Homestead foot ball. On the other side of the break,
he is Blake Whickman. He is a senior linebacker running
back at Homestead. Undefeated Homestead at Drake Zortman, the head
football coach at Homestead, will continue with them on the
other side. This is the Varsity Blitz high school sports

(01:25:15):
show presented by your local Pick and Save and Metro
Market stores only on Fox Sports nine twenty and your
iHeartRadio app. Welcome back to the Varsity Blitz high school
sports show, presented by your local Pick and Save and
Metro Market stores. Coming from the Donovan to Jorgensen Hiden
Coolean Studios, largest employee owned HVAC company in the state
of Wisconsin. And that's their different right. When you call them,

(01:25:39):
you've got an owner of their company coming out to
your house to making sure that your HVAC system is working.
I've got so much trust in the people there three
locations West Dallas, New Berlin, and mcguonago. Any issues you have,
go to Donovan Jorgensen dot com. Joined in studio Drake Zortman.
He is the head football coach at Homestead, former head

(01:26:00):
football coach at Messmer Messmer Show. We're not around anymore, huh.

Speaker 5 (01:26:04):
I don't think they're playing this year. I'd like to
see them get back going me too.

Speaker 1 (01:26:08):
Last night on our broadcast, they brought up Ron Davy.
I missed the man.

Speaker 7 (01:26:14):
I missed Ron two.

Speaker 5 (01:26:15):
I just I just told it Ron Davies's story not
too long ago, and I smiled and God rest his
soul man. Ron was such super special and so supportive Drake.

Speaker 1 (01:26:26):
He loved you. He loved you. You He I'm telling
you and him and I we love There's some things
we loved and there are some things we're complete opposite on.
And we got after it. Man, we got I'm telling you.
I threw my headset at him once on the air.
On the air, we had Governor Walker on right. He

(01:26:47):
was watching his kids get beat up by Marquette and
Ron goes, we're out of it. Go it's my show.
You're my guest. He's coming out. He's at hard Park
watching his kids. But we're gonn talk high school football
and we're having him on and I said, just don't
say anything. And Ron jumped in. He goes, Governor this
Ron Davies And I'm a liberal, Like, what are you

(01:27:08):
doing after my head? It was really funny to me.
And you know what I did. I spend as much
time with Ron as I could. And and Drake, I
got to tell you behind your back you loved your man.
He said, Look, this is a really good football coach.
So I miss him for sure. Hey, Blake, I said, look,
come give me an answer or two. And you said, man,

(01:27:29):
this is hard. Your favorite memory of being part of
Homestead football? Got a lot of football we played yet,
but so far your favorite memory, and you can give
me a couple. If you can't give me one, I'd.

Speaker 6 (01:27:39):
Say beating last year is a pretty pretty fun game.
Like it was. We lost week one and like we
just our team like determination was just get after them. Yeah,
just get after them every single play. And that's what
we did, and he came out with the wedding. Another
memory that comes to mind is last year's forfeit against

(01:28:01):
the balls? Okay, and instead of playing a game, we
did a karaoke night beautiful, Yeah, And I thought it
was a great team collaboration and I think I had
a great time.

Speaker 1 (01:28:12):
Can you sing?

Speaker 6 (01:28:14):
No?

Speaker 1 (01:28:14):
No, I'm not a saying did you get up and
do it?

Speaker 6 (01:28:17):
Of course I did?

Speaker 1 (01:28:18):
Which song?

Speaker 6 (01:28:20):
Me and quarterback last year Tommy o'hagen, who he's also
someone who really took me under his wing?

Speaker 1 (01:28:26):
He ball?

Speaker 6 (01:28:28):
Oh yeah, yeah, he's a stout athlete. Yeah, and he
really took me under his wing.

Speaker 1 (01:28:34):
Which songs you guys do?

Speaker 6 (01:28:36):
We did a high school musical zac Efron and the
girl I don't remember her name, but we did that
and it was a great time. I always remember that.

Speaker 1 (01:28:46):
Do you hear his two answers? Did you hear him say?
I hit seventeen tackles in this game. I had a
funber recovery for a touchdown. I had an interception. I
carried the ball fifteen times. My mom and dad were
crying because I had two times, didn't talk two stories,
never said one thing about himself. As a team, we
did karaoke, and as a team we came off and lost,

(01:29:08):
and we beat a really good arrowhead. There's a leader,
for sure. So I always wanted to know what my
kids were like when they couldn't spull my cologne. If
his mom and dad were in studio right now, I'd say,
well done, Well done. The kids thank me twice now
for coming in studio. You don't have to thank He's
got to thank you. But that's what he's done. He
shook my hand, looked me in the eye, and he's

(01:29:29):
talking about his teammates, and he's talking about something you
guys did as a team to build culture. He's gonna
be a coach and I would play for him one day.
I would. I got nothing left by the way, like
I'm old I'm broken down. I got nothing. I talk
a big game, can't do. I can't back up any
of that stuff anymore. But I can tell you what
you remember how nice that was to you, Because when

(01:29:52):
you're running some big company and I need a job
to open doors like at Walmart, I'm gonna come to
you and you'll hire me. All right, You got that?
Think about that. I mean, that's got to make you proud.
And I understand why you brought him in. Look, he
wants to talk about the offensive line. He wants to
talk about the defensive line. He wants to talk about
the other linebackers. But on the defensive end, he makes

(01:30:12):
that team go a little bit huh.

Speaker 7 (01:30:14):
For sure.

Speaker 5 (01:30:15):
I think the communication piece between he's a perfect mediator
between coach Wolf and the eleven guys on the field,
and that communication pieces in a really, really good place.

Speaker 1 (01:30:25):
Yeah, I want you to know that he called me
by an hour before you guys came in, and he said, Hey,
would you tell Drake I need the ball more when
I'm in the backfield, He's got to hand me the ball.
He also said I can catch the ball. He won't
throw me. He didn't call me.

Speaker 5 (01:30:38):
He has a couple of two point conversions. I think, yeah,
two for two.

Speaker 1 (01:30:43):
So other teams listening if they need a two point conversion,
you might want to key in on this kid because
he might be getting that.

Speaker 7 (01:30:50):
The film's out there.

Speaker 1 (01:30:51):
The film is, The film is is out there? Are
you better running inside or outside? You got the wheels
to take the ball if they hand the team?

Speaker 6 (01:31:00):
I think I got some wheels, But I like getting
down dirty.

Speaker 1 (01:31:03):
Okay, you don't mind north and south man three yards
and a cloud of dust? What position you're playing lacrosse?

Speaker 6 (01:31:10):
I played midfield, offense and defense.

Speaker 1 (01:31:12):
You're just running all day loant yeah, yeah, and making
sure you're setting up your guys on the offensive side.
My grandson's play a little cross I do know anything
about it, but I go and support them. And then
one kid who runs cross country, he plays mid a midi,
so he can just he just gets to run all
day long. Hey, Drake, when when you get a home

(01:31:32):
Friday night at Homestead is something special? How are the
crowds been? Good?

Speaker 7 (01:31:37):
Good? Good.

Speaker 5 (01:31:37):
We've got a lot of support, a lot of fans out,
a lot of families.

Speaker 7 (01:31:40):
The students doing a great job.

Speaker 1 (01:31:42):
Student sex has never been a problem at a homestead
that's fun and as long as things are appropriate and
they're supporting our team positively like that, and our kids
do a great job with that. Do you still get
nervous before games?

Speaker 7 (01:31:56):
I do?

Speaker 5 (01:31:57):
Yeah, I do, And I just I just trust. I
trust the kids and their training. I trust the staff
and and the preparation, and I with with all of
the great guys around and the and the kids. I
once we get to the Friday at seven, I kind.

Speaker 1 (01:32:14):
Of just go do your deal? Yeah, Hey, how much?
How much film are you breaking down? It's so much
easier nowadays than remember back in the day how hard
it was just to get film. Guys like Tarasco you
want one of mine? Fine, here's you know from the
sideline field view. You can't get anything from that stuff.
Guys would play games now with huddle and and and

(01:32:35):
Steve Roxy is involved with the answers. I don't know
if you're familiar with that, but man, I'll tell you what.
There's there's there's ways to be able to spend a
lot of time breaking down stuff nowadays.

Speaker 5 (01:32:46):
There is, and I obviously things are way more efficient
than they used to be. You're not driving, you know,
I know you were talking about coach Millard down at
Saint Kat's. I remember at Mesmer, you know, back, I
like I drove to the McDonald's and I don't know
where we met Caledonia, Aware and we traded DVDs like

(01:33:07):
on a Sunday night or whatever it was.

Speaker 1 (01:33:09):
Yes, he didn't know what a DVD is. Driving HS tapes? Hey, really,
I'll kick you. Don't be laughing at how you know?

Speaker 5 (01:33:20):
So like it's just so much more efficient and nobody's
driving all over and stuff's just in a league pool
and the reports you can generate and all that. It
gives us time to work on the personal relationships with
the players, with the coaches, and not as much time
with an old VHS tape that's copied seven times, so

(01:33:40):
it looks like junk for the other guy.

Speaker 7 (01:33:42):
Like we're past that.

Speaker 1 (01:33:43):
Hey, we would agree. There's a special place in heaven
for coaches wives. Yes, and your your wife's going to
be in that. She's just saying hanging out with you
for as long as she has. How was dropping out
your daughter off at Minnesota? Who was more emotional? You
or her?

Speaker 7 (01:33:57):
Boy?

Speaker 5 (01:33:58):
That's we were both. It's we're both emotional people. Yeah,
And our daughter. It was all three of us. It
was really really hard. There were there were I'm not
gonna be proud if there were tears all over the place.
And I'm super happy and proud of her and she's
she's going to be just great.

Speaker 1 (01:34:17):
Hey. You know my daughter Katie, when we dropped her
off at Maranatha Baptist Bible College, we got to a
condom walk and she said, don't call it right me
for thirty days And I said, okay. She and my
wife's crying and she said, I'm starting the new chapter
in my life to get her home from things. Giving
was hard. My son went to Marianatha starting point guard,
is a freshman of the basketball team. Came home every weekend.

(01:34:39):
Kids are so different, right, I'm like, Matthew, you're the
starting point guard and he goes, does it bother you?
I said, no, I'm just wondering. Your sister never came
home and he said that I need to decompress. Just
a different kid. He wanted to get in the couch,
watch the showsy film, pet his dog, have a good meal,
my have his mom do all his watch and then
I'll take him back to college. Man. It's hard though,

(01:35:02):
when they leave right.

Speaker 7 (01:35:03):
Oh, I super hard.

Speaker 5 (01:35:06):
I just you know, you like to think that the
family and the faith for eighteen years, that's something's something's
something's with her and she'll be just fine.

Speaker 1 (01:35:16):
She'll be just fine. Guys, thank you. It's it's nice
to meet you, man, it really is. And I understand
why I brought you in. You're a great ambassador for
your family first and I love that, and then for Homestead,
in the Homestead community. Wherever you go next year, you know,
carry that with you and be a good ambassador for
everybody wherever you head out. Oh, it's good to see you.
It's been a while. It's good to see you. Good

(01:35:38):
luck against West ben East West Ben East struggled a
little bit and then Hartford, Cedarburgh Slinger West bed West.
It gets it gets real again.

Speaker 4 (01:35:45):
For sure.

Speaker 1 (01:35:46):
He is Drake Jortman, the head football coach at Homestead.
Blake Wickman, senior linebacker, running back who wants the ball now.
He never said any of it. Why am I causing problems?
He's a linebacker first, and he'll carry the ball if
you want him to, because that's the kind of kid
he is. Spencer a great job today. This is the
Varsiti Blitz high school sports show presented by your local

(01:36:08):
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Speaker 4 (01:36:34):
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