Final Colts Week One Thoughts + Fever Playoff Preview! Stephanie White, Stephen Holder, and Scott Agness Join!

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So it's that weird time of year, right, it's that
weird time of year. It happens, it's like a broken clock.
That's correct, twice a day. There are two times per year,
for like a week each where you get up in
the morning and you've got to dress like it's gonna snow,
and then by the middle of the day you're sweating.
What was it like forty five degrees this morning and

(00:20):
it's supposed to be ninety five by four in the afternoon,
Is that right?

Speaker 2 (00:23):
Eddie woke up and I felt like it was in
a cooler, and I was like, oh, yes, that's how
I knew. I got a great night of sleep. Didn't
wake up once, dog didn't wake me up, and I'll
really ooh this is nice.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
Do you you are you a crack the windows on
cold night? Guy? I would if I could, I would
if I could. He yes, okay, Like, what do your
you live in a jail. Here's the thing.

Speaker 2 (00:47):
Olivia likes it toasty. I like it freezing cold. Well,
it's because you've got the insulation. Thank you for the reminder.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Well, she's the one that told you that good afternoon
to you on a Tuesday. My name is Jake Quarry,
Eddie Garrison, the other boy you just heard it is
Quary and Company here on ninety three five and one
oh seven five the Fan on a day when we
still bask in the glory of the Colts starting out
one to Oh, I've already seen the graphics. I've already
seen the tweets, the posts, the Facebook, the instagrams, the

(01:18):
whatever else going around. Repost. If your team is undefeated,
there are two of them in the AFC South, Colts
and the Jags. Off and running. There is one division
that has three unbeaten teams. Actually, there might be two
divisions that have three unbeaten teams. Addie, would you like
to guess three unbeaten teams in one division? Yes, that

(01:41):
would be the AFC or NFC West, That is correct,
the Rams, the Cardinals, and the Niners. Correct, yes, okay.
And then the other one.

Speaker 2 (01:54):
It's not the South, correct, it's not the South of
two the West has three, right, and it's correct.

Speaker 1 (02:03):
That would be the Las Vegas Raiders, right, although I
mean didn't they who did they beat? Did they beat Tennessee, Ma?
Or no? They beat New England? Right? Yes, that was
the battle of which of us said which of us
picked the teams that were gonna have a better year
than people thought. I said the Raiders, You said the Patriots.
I did New England still may who knows. So you

(02:24):
have the Raiders unbeaten, the Chargers unbeaten, and then the
team that's coming to Lucas Oil Stateium coming up this
weekend in the pillow fight of unbeatens, the Denver Broncos
and the Indianapolis Colts. It is the John Elway bull,
it is the Peyton Manning bull. It's the unbeaten in
twenty five ball. And there's a lot to be optimistic

(02:48):
about when it comes to the Colts based on what
we saw Sunday, And we can get further into the
areas that are of surprise, optimism, positive outlook besides the
quarterback position, and we can also get into areas that

(03:11):
are giving us some not pessimism, but keeping an eye
on a possible reality. For example, the injury report. Defensive
backfield is an area that what have I always said,

(03:32):
sell chargers and sunglasses yep, can never have too many.
Just when you think you have the favorite pair, you
realize you either lost them or you're like, where are they? Oh? Gosh,
I didn't realize they fell down in the seat and
oh white, they're cracked. And that kind of holds true
just in terms of for the Colts. You know the

(03:54):
injury report coming off of game number one, and we'll
get into that. The other position that to me is
of intrigue and I think I'm alone on this island.
It's me and a bloodstained volleyball, alone on this island.

Speaker 3 (04:08):
Wilson.

Speaker 1 (04:10):
That's right, that was it. That was not a bad impersonation.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
That wasn't even I wasn't even attempting there.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
Let me just tell you this. There are two scenes
in the acting career of Tom Hanks where he he
has to he gets he has a character that's you
don't hear Tom Hanks, and then finally when he yells
out you can hear the Tom Hanks in him. One

(04:39):
is in Forrest Gump, when he yells yes Drill sergeant.
You're like, well, it's Tom Hanks the rest of it.
You know, he's got for his gum. And then but
that one, yes Drell sergeant, and you're like, that's Tom Hanks.
And the other one is when he yells out Wilson,
because that's the only time he talks like in the
whole movie, other than like once he's back and then
he says and his laugh, Yeah, that's what I mean.

(05:00):
Like that where you now in the movie Castaway, By
the way, I'm bringing this back into the NFL, because
that's what we do, is we intertwine and then you know,
I hook and ladder it back into the NFL. So
in the movie Castaway, I watched that movie in the
theater in the city of Saint Louis. Now, Eddie Garrison,
my trivia question for you. Have you seen Castaway? Obviously
you have because you're familiar with the Wilson line. There

(05:22):
was a scene in the movie Castaway when I saw
it in the theater and I was watching it in
Creeb Court, Missouri, which is basically the Carmel or the
Westfield of Saint Louis. And I'm sitting there watching it,
and there is a line and a scene in the
movie where the entire theater in Saint Louis, Missouri broke
into applause. Would you like to guess what it was?

Speaker 4 (05:45):
Uh?

Speaker 2 (05:45):
No, thank you, I'll let you do it.

Speaker 1 (05:47):
Caleb is in here observing and hanging out. Caleb, would
you like to guess you'll find this out with me, Jake.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
There's a lot of movies I haven't seen, so I
don't have an educated guest.

Speaker 1 (05:56):
Yeah, we'll let you retreat back to your island with
your volleyball. Anybody have a guest, You can text me.
Two thirty nine ten seventy is the text line that
we have set up at the radio station here, or
you can always do it on my personal text as well,
which most people have that number, I think stored into
their phone. Yesterday I got a chance to talk to
Bud from Castleton. He had sent me a text. I

(06:16):
called him up. We had a fabulous conversation twenty minutes
or so last night. Love doing it. But what scene
was it and for what reason that people in Saint Louis,
Missouri broke out an applause when I was watching Castaway.
As it relates to the NFL, it is a direct

(06:36):
NFL correlation, that's my question for you. But I'm alone
on this island in the thought that I think there's
the possibility, and I want to make emphatically clear. My
name is Jay Querium, a radio host. This is not

(06:56):
a report. What I'm about to say, this is strictly speculation,
strictly Tea leaves. I have not been told a single thing.
I have nothing to base this on. I think I'm
probably I admittedly did not hear the guys this morning
on the program. Maybe they brought it up. So maybe
I'm I have company on the island of which I'm unaware,
but I'm pretty certain that I'm alone on this island.

(07:17):
I think the Colts are putting themselves in position or
preparing for the possibility that Jonathan Taylor already through one
game as not one. It's hard to say because they
and to their credit, they were so in control of

(07:38):
that game against Miami that you didn't need him late
in the game. But and I thought, you know, Giddens
is is a promising young player, and I like the
versatility he brings. And then it goes without saying you
got the secret weapon. I mean, if all hell breaks loose,
it goes without saying, right, you've got your thoroughbred. Sure

(08:01):
you've got your stallion there on the polo grounds, but
we all know what the real what the real McCoy is, right, Yeah,
going to stay with them before and find your listens,
bentle and bring him out he's been waiting for the moment,
and yes, he got on the field on Sunday. But
I noticed yesterday, And these things are so inconsequential on

(08:25):
the grain scheme of things usually, but I got super
like intrigued and literally like it popped off the page
to me when I saw that the Colts yesterday signed
a running back to the practice squad, and I thought,
here we go, here we go. This is what they're doing.

(08:47):
They're lining it up because everybody next man up. And
then I saw that in order to make room for that,
they waved a running back. I thought, okay, maybe then
I'm getting a little too excited, but I am curious.
I will simply say that I'm curious. We have a

(09:07):
correct guess by the way, several people figured it out.

Speaker 2 (09:12):
No, there's been a lot of texts coming in on
the text line as well.

Speaker 1 (09:16):
She doesn't say specifically that the Rams won the Super Bowl,
but when he goes back and he says, and you know,
it's supposed to be a comic relief because this guy's
been away for so long and whatever else. Then he
comes back and of course he lived in Memphis because
he worked for FedEx, and he's like, let me get
this straight. We have a football team now and they

(09:41):
used to be the Houston Oilers and now they play
in Tennessee. And she says, oh yes, and it was
so except they almost won the Super Bowl. They lost
by one yard. The place in Saint Louis erupts into
applause because, of course, it was Mike Jones that made
the tackle, a yard shy of Kevin on Kevin Nyce

(10:02):
and a yard shy of or well a couple yard
shy of the end zone, and the Rams won the
Super Bowl. I don't believe they mentioned the Rams specifically,
but the reference to the Super Bowl literally the entire
theater broke into applause. Eddie, the Indiana Fever are on
their way to the w NBA playoffs, but there is
a hurdle before that, and it is a big one

(10:24):
because you would think that because they have secured themselves
a playoff spot, that the final game of the year
is one that is just kind of a dress rehearsal
let's But there is a lot to be played for
because of the seeding in the WNBA playoffs, and they
need to get a win. They then need a couple
of losses for Golden State. But what we know is

(10:47):
the Fever final game is against an opponent that, yes,
they defeated to win the nd season tournament, but it
is a big one in terms of Minnesota, and that
game is tonight, correct, That.

Speaker 2 (10:58):
Is correct, Jake, seven point thirty tonight they on the double.
Your NBA Commissioner's Cup. Not to give me, not to
be confused with the Emirates NBA Cup formerly the season
the n season tournaments. What was the Emirates NBA Cup, Jake,
That's what it's called. Pascalio has already been ruled.

Speaker 1 (11:11):
As do you still say the Willis Tower or do
you say the Seriars Tower in Chicago? When you see
the big building, you say Sears Tower, Willis Tower. I've
only been to Chicago once, and what did you say
the big building was no idea, I don't think. I
don't think I addressed it. It's the serious tower. It'll little,
It'll always be the serious tower. That's surprised. You've only
been to Chicago one time. That is a little surprising.

(11:33):
For what reason were you only in Chicago? What was
the reason that took you to Chicago?

Speaker 2 (11:37):
Went to the Wrigley Field, watched the Reds Cubs and
that was how long ago?

Speaker 1 (11:42):
Oh did you spend the night or just drive in
and out, in and out.

Speaker 2 (11:47):
That's not really doing I had to be in high
school probably, so we're talking seven eight years old.

Speaker 1 (11:52):
So you didn't notice the one big building, like I mean,
that's a big skyline. But the big building they have
that for many years was the tallest building in the world,
like big, big, kind of an attraction. Like when you
did you think it was weird that when you see
like magnets or T shirts that say Chicago, there's like
usually the outline of one big building and it seems
to be kind of a staple. Never saw that. Didn't

(12:14):
notice the big building that has glass cubes on the
top of it, but people can go up and you
know what I mean. No, would you list yourself as
an overly observant person? No? Yeah, okay, you know you're
on Monument Circle, right, I know.

Speaker 2 (12:28):
Known to feast the Collier tonight for Minnesota. They're resting her.
So DJ Carrington also out for the links. So it
looks like they'll still have some of the regular starters.
But how much do they plays to be determined. The
sears Tower is now known I believe, as the Willis Tower,
which is the dumbest thing ever, because everyone still calls
it the Seers Tower. Kind of like with the n
Season Tournament, you can just say, in season tournament, do

(12:49):
you call it Ruolph or do you call it Deer
Creek or Verizon or whatever it used to be deer Creek?

Speaker 1 (12:56):
Okay, yeah, I will asion only say Ruolph now to
differentiate from because if I say, like I have lawn
seats at Deer Creek, then that could be confused with
the lawn at White River, which is now the ever
wise you know. But these these sponsorships, I think there
are still people that say, Canseco Field House? Right? Yeah?

(13:16):
Maybe Who's your Dome? I mean it became the RCA Dome,
but I think people and now is RCA still around
or is that gone too, like along with the Who's
Your Dome? You know what I mean? I get very
confused by all of that. But nonetheless, so tonight Fever
and Action, Stephanie White can to join us coming up
about fifteen minutes from now on the program, and we

(13:38):
will kind of set the scene. I've got a one
of the questions that I want to ask her is
is it difficult? Do you think too? Or how do
you if you're the coach or in a workplace, you're
a manager, you're you know, whatever it might be if
you are a leader of a team, and a lot

(14:01):
of the talking narrative is a for this fever team,
for fans and media, is about who's not there as
opposed to those that are and that have earned this right.
And so if they've earned that right, and if they,
without Caitlyn Clark, have put themselves in position to get
in the playoffs, you know, how do you coach up

(14:25):
a group that has to constantly hear about what they
aren't as opposed to who they are? Does that make sense? Yeah?
Because that is a I mean, what have we talked
about for three I mean, she's probably tired of me
asking her about Kaitlyn Clark. Should I ask her that?

Speaker 2 (14:39):
Do you think she's relieved to not be asked by
Kaitlyn Clark anymore?

Speaker 1 (14:43):
It's a good question. Let me write that down. I'm
writing it down right now as you speaking.

Speaker 2 (14:47):
I wonder if I wonder how the if there was
like a sire relief from the team as well, you know,
not really a sire relief, but like, well, just to god, yeah, clarity,
you're not looking over your shoulder and wondering, hey, she
come back? She come back? But I'm sure deep down
most of the people on the roster knew she wasn't
coming back.

Speaker 1 (15:06):
Now, do you want to know what I think her
answer is going to be? When I ask you this question?
It's a great question.

Speaker 2 (15:09):
Now, did you actually write this down? Or are you
just writing down words to act like you're writing down
the question?

Speaker 1 (15:13):
Are you relieved to not be asked about Caitlyn Clark?
It's right, here's my entire People ask a lot about
show scripts and things like that.

Speaker 2 (15:22):
Let me we can't let them too much. Find we
like Caleb and' that's enough as it is.

Speaker 5 (15:27):
There.

Speaker 1 (15:27):
There's my show notes, there's my wrong camera, there's my
script for today three hours right there. I shouldn't be
revealing that to the bosses, but the you know what
her answer is going to be, Well, Caitlin's a great player,
and you know, I think it speaks to what a
great player she is, and it's a testament to her
contribution not only in the WNBA, but are placed in

(15:49):
women's basketball and what she means to this franchise that
I'm asked that a lot, so I understand the questions
and to an extent, it's, you know, part of the job,
and and it's an honor to be able to oversee
this franchise that has such a great player on it.
But at the same time, you know, we still have
games to win, and we still have a great roster
of women that are ready and prepared, and we've had

(16:12):
a lot of players that have stepped up, and that's
what we want to focus on. I'm going to guess
that's her answer.

Speaker 2 (16:17):
Should we play that?

Speaker 1 (16:18):
For yes, we can player player my answer afterwards and
see and then she can grace first the tables, have
her ask you that question. I did. That's how we've
already had it.

Speaker 2 (16:29):
That's on tape and I just played for it.

Speaker 1 (16:31):
I like that. That's not bad, right. Uh. College football,
by the way, we didn't talk a lot about it yesterday,
but we talked a lot about Indiana. I'd like to
give Purdue their flowers because yes, you know what you
can say it. You can look at what Purdue's done
and say, Jake, great, they're two and zero and they've
beaten you know, they haven't gotten into the meat of
their schedule. It gets real for them this week with USC.

(16:53):
I get all that, and they may well was it
a year ago when Purdue got out and it was like,
they're gonna take on Notre Dame or we're gonna see
what's gonna happen. And then Notre Dame was up sixty
three to nothing after the first quarter, right, and never
look back. I'm exaggerating, but you get my point. But
you know what, if you look at where Purdue has
been as a program, and you look at the fact

(17:19):
that they already what have eclipsed last year's win total,
I get it. I get the fact that it's difficult
to gauge where they are based on the two games
that they've played, and they're not playing anybody that equates
to even a mid major necessarily upper tier team. But nonetheless,

(17:46):
you can only play the teams that are on your
schedule and try to play and be who you want
to be and show levels of improvement. And I don't
know how overall, none of us know how overall talented
produced roster is. But what you want is to see
a team that is not going out and underperforming by

(18:08):
beating themselves and so far through two games. I mean,
that sounds ridiculous, and it sounds like I'm literally giving
a pat on the back to the kid that came
home and like, congratulations, you got a seventy on your
spelling test. I get it, but you have to start somewhere.
And you know what, kudos to a group that is

(18:31):
still wearing name tags. They have so many new names
on that roster for them to go out and get
two wins, And is that going to be their only
two wins of the year at maybe maybe, But I
don't know much more any I get the impression that
USC people that follow and or write about and or
support USC feel equally like enigmatic about their team. I

(18:55):
don't know that anybody knows how good you USC was
thought to be. I mean Lincoln Riley when they hired him.
And I don't know if you know this or not,
but the Board of Regents of the University of Southern
California actually owns seventy four percent of the state of
Nebraska or excuse me, Oklahoma, because when they hired him

(19:16):
away from Oklahoma, they bought like literally everything in Oklahoma
to get him to come to California. Oh yeah, I mean,
they bought out his house, they bought everything, they gave everything,
they mortgaged everything to bring him to California. And last
year was certainly a disappointment for USC, not only because

(19:37):
it's the heritage and the tradition of USC, but because
of everything they gave up to Oklahoma to get him there.
But yet, so you know that this is a great
coach and an offensive mind, and they have good talent,
but we don't know just how good USC is going
to be. I mean, it is weird to think that
USC's not even ranked, but yet the branding of USC

(19:59):
is like wow. I think it's a big game for
Purdue just in terms of not only the measuring stick,
but because they're going up against a franch or a program.
It is a franchise to an extent that itself is
trying to figure out who they are. And that would
be Can you imagine, even I don't care if USC

(20:20):
goes to and ten this year, if Purdue is able
to beat USC in raws aide and start out three
to zero with a new coach and all of those
new names, that would be big for them. Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (20:30):
And to your point about USC, Jake, they got one two, three, four,
fifth most votes outside the top twenty five, so that's
in the media, so if you do rankings, they were thirtieth,
and then on the other side for the coach's pull,
they were twenty ninth. So it's a team that's just
on the outside of the top twenty five. So it'll
be a really good test. I don't think USC last

(20:52):
year won a single game in the Eastern time zone.
I think all of their wins were in Pacific time
I would have to double check that, but yeah, it's
gonna be a true test again to see how these
teams adjusted your number two of you know, being from
the West coast and flying out and coming to the
Eastern time zone and vice versa, by how it wants

(21:13):
to respond, by the way the other part of it,
I felt like a lot of the teams that were
in the Eastern time zone struggled in that game after
and returning back. So how does that play into effect too,
teams at the Big ten.

Speaker 1 (21:23):
The Big ten expansion, if you will, Okay, is it's
fascinating to me that already I've seen USC and UCLA,
Oregon and Washington, and I think it was Oregon. I

(21:45):
think it was last year when I went and saw
Oregon play in raw state against Purdue, and shortly thereafter
there was an article done that was about Oregon athletics
and the the travel from the West coast into the
Big Ten area that they underestimated the amount of you know,

(22:10):
the gear, the support staff, the roster, everything else. The
flight they had to take like two flights instead of one.
There was more equipment than they expected. And then you
get into and I do realize that when it comes
to volleyball or cross country or some of the non
you know as we call them the Olympic sports, of
the non revenue sports, they they kind of bundle those up.

(22:34):
I think there's a popular belief that, say Oregon, that
the track team at Oregon is getting on a plane
and flying from Oregon to Maryland on Tuesday and then
flying back to Oregon and then on Saturday flying from
Oregon to Rutgers and then flying back to Oregon. They're
doing it more in in terms of those sports like

(22:58):
invitationals where you go and you're kind of knocking out
several rounds of competition within one trip. But even still
I did wonder about and it's not gonna happen overnight.
But Oregon, as much as they have a recruiting advantage

(23:19):
because of the Nike money and the cool gear and
everything else, and the branding of Oregon and Washington and
you know, playing in Seattle and Husky Stadium and the
gold Helmets, and you know that's a tradition program and
then UCLA and USC. It goes without saying, but I
do wonder if eventually, and I know this sounds crazy,

(23:41):
but I have wondered if eventually, once you go through,
like an entire cycle of players that have gone even
in the NIL transfer era, say four years at a
respective school, if they're if it doesn't dilute out their
recruiting because word starts to travel amongst young people about
what a hassle the travel is of playing for a

(24:04):
program where the majority of your road games are taking
place three time zones away and just I mean, I
mean four hour flights every single away game except for
the one or two that you're playing against your other
brethren that that joined in from the PAC ten does
that eventually begin to hurt it? And I know I
was not like an old man when I say that,

(24:25):
but are there young people that are gonna be like,
you know, I was going to go to Oregon, but
I was talking to a guy that went to my
high school five years ago that was a quarterback for them,
and he was saying, like it just it was such
a nightmare having to constantly get on and fly for
four hours to play a game. So instead, I'm actually
going to go to you know, insert name of school
on the West coast that plays in a more regionalized conference.

(24:50):
And with that, when I think about things that canna
have impact on players wanting to play in a market,
there was something that came to my attention yesterday from
not just football and basketball amongst players, when it came
to this city of Indianapolis. And I hope, because what
they were talking about was a while ago that it

(25:11):
doesn't have impact today. But I think it's something that
we need to listen to nonetheless. And we will get
into that today on the program as well. But when
we come back. She is the head coach of the
Indiana Fever. They are in action tonight taking on Minnesota
and then it's playoffs for the WNBA and for the
Fever themselves. Stephanie White, the head coach, joins us next

(25:33):
you know, one of the main reasons I was excited
to have on coach Stephanie White was because I knew
that we were in debt one of the Taylor Swift
re entries, because we didn't get a chance upon her
request last time. So I just wanted to get that
one out of the way. I have nothing against Taylor Swift.
I think she's a phenomenal performer, and I know people

(25:53):
love her music, but like it, just it ain't my groove,
so to speak. Right joining us now, you're thrilled to
be doing so based on that intro. She is the
head coach of the Indiana Fever, who tonight finished the
regular season with a game at seven thirty. You can
hear the pregame at seven fifteen with Eddie between the
Fever and the Minnesota Lynx, and Stephanie White has her
team bound for the playoffs. After that, coach, how.

Speaker 5 (26:15):
Are you, I'm well, how are you?

Speaker 6 (26:18):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (26:18):
Well? I mean, listen, I waded through the Taylor Swift
thing there. I got through it just okay, right, I
mean that was okay. I don't think any really played
enough of it though, for to really what your whistle? Right?

Speaker 5 (26:31):
No, I mean I can't believe that that catchy tune
that you weren't sitting along.

Speaker 1 (26:35):
It's not bad.

Speaker 5 (26:36):
It's not Oasis.

Speaker 1 (26:38):
But listen now, I have I have somewhat bad news
for you here, coach. I went to the Oasis concert
at the Rose Bowl on Saturday night, and I thought
the the urine flying cups was just a British thing,
and it appears as though it's not.

Speaker 5 (26:54):
It's not. So yeah, that's really bad.

Speaker 1 (26:58):
So if you go to a show to go see Oasis,
just you don't want to be on the main floor.
Up in the stands. You're fine. Down on the main
floor a little bit dangerous.

Speaker 5 (27:06):
It's probably as likely of a chance of me going
to Asis as you go on Taylor's okay.

Speaker 1 (27:11):
It's fair point taking. Okay, let's get to this to
begin with tonight, and that is, you know, you have
a situation here that's unique because Minnesota is very good.
We know that Minnesota may also you know, they may
have some players that are not available, but there's still
a lot to play for. This is not one because
sometimes we see it like at the end of the year,
where you say, hey, we've got the postseason to get

(27:32):
ready for, and so therefore we're maybe going to do
things differently or rest or not show everything. But this
is a big one for you tonight because you still
have seating that is in play. Correct, That's correct.

Speaker 5 (27:43):
Yes, we've got seating that's in play. And for us
again continuing to really mesh our new players and be
clicking as much on all cylinders as we possibly can
heading into the playoffs. So seating implications, yes, certainly, but
also momentum, just just continuing to build strong, positive momentum

(28:04):
with our group.

Speaker 1 (28:05):
I was thinking about this with that, okay, And I
this is going to sound weird the way I ask this,
but with so much talk that has been and I
don't mean within your locker room, okay, but the media,
the fans, you know, anywhere you turn, with so much
of the season conversation being about the question of the

(28:27):
availability of Caitlyn Clark as a coach, how did you
address to your team so that there is not a
resentment of Look, we are defined by who we are,
not who we are not? Does that make sense what
I'm saying? And you know, how did you balance that
to keep the rest of the roster aware of and

(28:49):
on task and on point of the fact that you
are all professionals that have a chance to win in
this league and you can't pay attention to people worrying
and wondering about who's not here.

Speaker 5 (29:01):
Well, I mean we talk about it frequently, just the
being able to you know, for for lack of a
better term, silence the noise, which which it's it's it's
very difficult to do right. There's the noise that are
outside the building, outside the locker room, and and and
you really have to make it a point to set boundaries,
and and you've got to make points to to invest

(29:22):
in in in us and one another. And we talked,
we've talked about that since the beginning of the season.
We knew that there were going to be lots of expectations.
We know that there are lots of fans and and
there are lots of people who aren't fans who have
taken who aren't w NBA fans or Women's basketball fans,
who have taken an interest in our team. And and
so for us, it's it's more about pouring into what's

(29:43):
in our locker room. And so we haven't had to
have outside of just continual reminders, constant conversations. I I
think and I hope and I believe that you know,
for us, the way that we interact with one another
on a daily basis, the way that we prioritize our
team over over indo visual are we over me and
pouring into the relationships on this team that you you

(30:07):
get that, and you know that, and you know that
it's about who's on the floor just as much as
who's not on the floor. But those people who are
not on the floor are still very much a part
of the fabric of who we are. And I think
it's everything from our daily engagement with one another to
their daily engagement with their teammates even though they're not
playing on the floor. It's really about relationship and how

(30:27):
we've continued to build relationship and and at the end
of the day, there are a lot of narratives that
are out there in the media in social media that
absolutely aren't true. And because we know them, we know
what is true. It's able to keep keep our players
engaged in what really matters.

Speaker 1 (30:43):
What player on your roster that is you know that
is going to be playing for you in the playoffs
is the key to your resiliency.

Speaker 5 (30:53):
I mean, I don't know if if it's any one player,
I think it's it really is the the sum is
greater than its parts. Know, I think our you know,
u Aliah Boston is a great communicator and connector uh
you know, Natasha Howard has been a really good leader
for our group. You know, Kelsey Mitchell has put us
on on our on our back. You know, I think

(31:13):
when you have players like that that that have been
on the floor, and then you you look at at
Sidney Colson who's been a part of championship teams, who
is also like a coach on the floor, and now
she's she's on the venture in practice coaching us on
the sideline. And you know Sophie who brings energy and
uh and and and Caitlin who has been working her
way back but still actively involved on the sideline of
pouring into her teammates. I mean, you know, all of

(31:35):
all of it matters, and so I don't know if
there's any one singular. I just think we have a
really good, solid group of women who pour into each
other on a daily basis, and and that allow us
to be allow us to be uh be be better
as a unit.

Speaker 1 (31:51):
By the way, when you talk about Stephanie White is
our guest. She is the head coach of the Indiana Fever.
Fever in Action tonight seven thirty pre game. You can
start this to it seven fifteen on this radio station.
When you talk about seeing narratives that are inaccurate about
your team, give me an example.

Speaker 5 (32:11):
I mean, I know, I don't. I'm not on social media,
so I don't really, but you know, just hearing conversations,
you know, I have to tell even my family sometimes
like I don't want to know everything that's out there. Hey,
is this true? Is that true? Is that whatever? So
I think that there are often, you know, narratives about
whether it's players not getting along or whether it's you know,
I who who knows what else? I don't know, but

(32:33):
it's just it's just there are I think it's a
a my product of just our culture right now in
trying to create oftentimes create division where there's not division
and utilizing social media to do that. And whether it's
the reality of its fans, if it's bots, if it's whatever,
it's not exactly sure. But you know, for us, I

(32:56):
think making sure that our players understand how to create boundaries,
you know, how to create separation. The young people don't
get off of social media, right, I mean their brands
are associated with social media. Sould people can do that,
but to be able to keep the focus and keep
the main thing the main thing, and the focus is
on our group, how we come together, how we continue

(33:16):
to to build our culture that is going to set
us up for championship type of culture year after year.

Speaker 1 (33:24):
I do know this. I'm fairly certain of this coach
on my social media, anybody that reacts to anything I
post definitely about I'm convinced of that. I'm like, wait
a minute, no person's actually responding to this. All right,
We're going to do a fun exercise here you ready,

(33:45):
h We thought of a question for you, and then
I thought, you know what, here's how I think you're
going to answer said question. So what we're going to
do is I'm going to ask you the question, I'm
going to allow you to answer it, and then I'm
going to play for you Eddie as the audio of
me predicting your answer, and then I want you to
grade my answer. Okay on coach speak. The question for

(34:08):
you is this, Stephanie White, and that is over the
course of the season, and in particular the second half
of the season. Clearly, a big talking point around the
Indiana Fever was the availability the health of Caitlin Clark.
Now that we have answer to that, even though I
know that you would love to have her as a player,
are you somewhat relieved to have that answer so that

(34:29):
you don't have to continue to answer that question?

Speaker 5 (34:33):
Uh? Yeah, I'm relieved to not have to answer that
question every day, to not have to keep repeating myself.
But you're absolutely right, like not relieve the fact that
Caitlin Clark isn't on the fourth for US.

Speaker 1 (34:45):
Okay, now here's the answer in my coach speak that
I gave and that I want you to critique my answer.
Maybe it's a little too involved. Here we go, Eddie, Well,
Caitlin's a great player, and you know, I think it
speaks to what a great player she is and it's
a testament to her contribution not only in the WNBA
but are placed in women's basketball and what she means
to this franchise that I'm asked that a lot, so

(35:06):
I understand the questions and to an extent, it's, you know,
part of the job, and it's an honor to be
able to oversee this franchise that has such a great
player on it. But at the same time, you know,
we still have games to win, and we still have
a great roster of women that are ready and prepared,
and we've had a lot of players that have stepped up,

(35:27):
and that's what we want to focus on. Okay, how
would you grade my answer?

Speaker 5 (35:32):
I said that was pretty good.

Speaker 1 (35:35):
It's just pretty good. That was that was? I mean,
can I coach? What do you think?

Speaker 5 (35:39):
No? I don't know. There's a lot more that goes
into coaching than just answering questions.

Speaker 1 (35:43):
You know what is the hardest part of coaching?

Speaker 5 (35:48):
You know, it's it's the challenge of number one, how
you build consistency. I mean, you know it's we our
season isn't as long as the NBA season, but it's
still forty four games. And as a coach, want your
players to be at their best every game and putting
combinations of players together that can that can do that.
Not you can't just put the five best players always

(36:11):
just on the floor and expect them to have the
chemistry and the constabuity and the and uh the complementary
assets to be the best unit on the floor. I
think being able to try to stay ahead of the
curve and in in in game planning, execution offensively, defensively
the chess match that that entails that as well. And

(36:31):
and it's a lot about about player management and relationships
and you know, pouring into your players while holding them accountable,
understanding what it takes, you know, managing ego. There's there's
all of those things, because every single person in any
profession has an ego, or you wouldn't be there, right,
And then how do you navigate managing the the individual

(36:52):
ego and appealing to that while also selectively uh the
team ego and and what is best for the team.
And so I think those are all challenging aspects of
putting teams together.

Speaker 1 (37:02):
I wanted to ask you one other thing, Stephanie White,
our guest, I thought about this. I read an article,
Stephanie about Justin Fields, the quarterback for the New York
Jets that was you know, in Chicago before that, of course,
Ohio State quarterback. And I'm going to get into this
later in the show, but I read an article where
he just did an interview about the fact that he

(37:24):
had juvenile epilepsy and then he had to deal with
seizures when he was a kid, and it jumped out
to me because I myself had juvenile epilepsy and I
look back on the time when I was a kid
and just knowing that I was a little bit different
in that regard, and I've always kind of been proud
of it because it made me different and it was
just something, you know, that's part of my story, so
to speak. But I was happy that he was talking

(37:48):
about that because it will give young kids, you know,
that go through that somebody look up to and say, hey,
you know what, like I can achieve my goals and whatnot.
And so I wanted to ask you when you were
a younger player and a younger athlete, was there either
an athlete that you identified with that gave you, like
an aspiration or a hope or was there something that

(38:11):
you went through as a young person that you look
back on and you say, that was something that was
difficult in the time, but maybe somebody young can learn
from what Stephanie White went through.

Speaker 5 (38:21):
Yeah, you know, there were there weren't a lot of
athletes that were visible to me as a young player
that I necessarily looked up to to emulate. Men in
terms of women's sports because women's sports weren't televised like
they are now when I was a kid, you know,
that was a lifetime ago. I mean certainly, you know,

(38:43):
I watched the NBA. I watched college basketball, mostly the men,
you know. But I think the thing that that always
motivated me when I was young. Remember one, I just
I always enjoyed playing sport. But number two, my parents
were barely eighteen when I was born, and you know,
we didn't have a lot growing up. In fact, i've
i've you know, often tell my kids this story about

(39:05):
and I know they rolled their eyes like most kids
do and their parents talk. But like most of the
time growing up, I had one pair of shoes that
I had that had to last meet the entire year. Like,
we just didn't have anything. And I knew that, you know,
for me, the opportunity to go to college was likely
going to come through other means, and I didn't know

(39:27):
that basketball was going to be it, you know. And
then I got into when I got into seventh grade,
I got my first recruiting letter, you know, for basketball,
and it was like, okay, well maybe this is my
way to to be able to go to college, to
be able to to to find my way into you know,
a university and get a free education, and it saved
my parents. My parents had to work incredibly hard. You know.

(39:48):
My mom went back to college when I was in
fifth grade and went on to become a teacher and
showed me a lot of life lessons about what that
meant for hard work and you know, handling things as
a calm, handling university and just didn't have a lot
growing up. And so basketball was always number one my
escape and number two the thing that I thought was

(40:09):
going to get me to college and get me an
education and get me a degree that was going to
hopefully propel me. So whatever was next, I had no
idea what that would be at the time, and little
did I know that it would take me around the
world and give me this profession and these relationships that
I've been able to build because of that. So, you know,
I am a quintessential quote unquote who's your story coming

(40:29):
from a small town, coming from nothing and being able
to fulfill my dreams.

Speaker 1 (40:35):
And then, so, what school was it when you were
in seventh grade? Was it Perdue?

Speaker 5 (40:40):
It was not. Purdue Louisiana Tech was my first college.

Speaker 1 (40:43):
That's a big one. I mean that was a big program.

Speaker 6 (40:45):
Yeah it was.

Speaker 1 (40:46):
That's impressive. All right. Yeah, Well, obviously people are happy
that you stuck close to home and ended up at Purdue,
and we know the story from there. But tonight seven
thirty story continues against Minnesota. Coach will wish you the
best of luck and in the playoffs as well.

Speaker 5 (40:59):
All right, I appreciate it, Thank you.

Speaker 1 (41:00):
All right. Stephanie White joining us, the head coach of
the Indiana Fever. Right when we come back. I do
want to get into that story about Justin Fields, because
I thought it was interesting what I had read. And
Stephen Holder joins us thirteen minutes from now, latest on
the Colts upcoming. I watched the better part of and
I'm not sure why, but well I do know why

(41:23):
because I was on a plane and it was the
one game that was available because I think the satellite
was based out of was through New York television, So
I saw a lot of the Jets Steelers game on Sunday.
And I'm not When I say I'm not a fan
of that doesn't mean I don't dislike him as a person.
I have never been somebody who was a fan of

(41:44):
the team's Justin Fields played on in his career. I mean,
obviously at Ohio State he was a I thought a
phenomenal talent, but he was a phenomenal talent that was playing,
you know, being a myself a Clemson fan, which is
irrelevant to people in this market, but Clemson and Ohio
State had some pretty matchups during Justin Field's time, so
I respected the heck out of his talent. And then

(42:05):
of course he goes to the Bears, and I know
that he was very up and down. But then again,
there are times where I'm fairly certain that if you
went into a Frankenstein lab with you know, Tom Brady,
Peyton Manning, Warren Moon, and Michael Vick, you would come
out with a quarterback that had no timing and could

(42:26):
not run the ball. If you've in fact put him
on the Chicago Bears, Like it just seems like a
place where quarterbacks go to disintegrate. But when I watched
Justin Fields against the Jets, I thought their offense was
fast paced and exciting to watch, and I thought he
he looked very comfortable and it looked like maybe, in fact,

(42:47):
there was still some game there. But the article that
I saw was justin Fields talking about the fact that
he has or had juvenile epilepsy and suffered seizures as
a kid, and what a traumatic that was. And as
somebody myself who had a seizure when I was in
the sixth grade and was diagnosed with juvenile epilepsy and

(43:09):
was put on medication until the better part of my
formidable years, you know, in that moment you, as a
young person, basically have that is a serious diagnosis to
be given. And I'm saying this only in case someone
and I realize right now most young people are in school,

(43:31):
but if there are parents listening who just found out
their child is going through that journey. It It was
something that when I look back on, I realize I
utilized it to my advantage because it made me different,
and I knew it made me different, And I knew

(43:51):
that most people didn't know I had that difference, but
I knew I had it, and I used it kind
of to motivate me or to even though it was
not a huge barrier in my life, I wanted to
be able to think that it was so that I
had something to overcome. It gave me a hurdle by

(44:11):
which to clear. And you know, anybody right now, if
you are somebody whose child has been diagnosed with juvenile epilepsy,
justin Fields is the example of the fact that it
is a juvenile thing. You do outgrow that. Now that's
not to say that if you are epileptic that you know,
I mean, there are adults with epilepsy. I realize that,

(44:33):
But your body does overcome it. Neurologically speaking, you overcome it.
Medication has come a long way as well. But I
commended him for coming out and doing that article because
I appreciated and could respect the fact of that fear
that he had of knowing at a young age that

(44:56):
he had something about him as a label that made
him different than his peace, even if his peers didn't
know it. And you know, he obviously athletically went to
places that very very very few people ever do. And
so that is the example of the fact that you
are not defined by such a thing. And in today's day,

(45:17):
if you are a parent with that terrifying diagnosis, I'm
here to tell you that it does turn out just fine.
Now that's not to say there aren't cases that are
serious and whatever else, but you work your way through it.
And it's no different than being somebody who gets canker
sores or acne or whatever it might be. It's a

(45:38):
part of being a young person that you the worst
part is the first part, and then after that it
does get better. And I just thought it was an
I was when I saw that about Justin Fields. It
made me admire his ability that much more. Stephen Holder
covers the Colts ESPN dot Com joins us next. I'd

(46:01):
like to know between myself and Steven Holder, Eddie, which
one you actually think is the sharp dressed man. Caleb. Okay,
that's caleb 's iversouver. Who's hanging out with us in
here today. He's a coworker, I mean, but he's hanging
out and shadowing. Usually when people shadow it's because Eddie,
you spring on me at the last minute. You're going
on vacation. Are you going on vacation again somewhere next month?

Speaker 2 (46:24):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (46:25):
Next month, next month? Yeah, Okay, that's when you're driving
to You can never have too many pictures in the bullpen, Jake.
It's like sunglasses and phone chargers. Look at you, Eddie
with the quarry analogies. I like it joining us now,
and I'm sure thrilled to be doing so on the
always busy and shockingly unsponsored guest line. Stephen Holder is
with ESPN dot com. Steve, and I'm going to begin
with this coming off of game number one for the Colts,

(46:46):
and we'll rehash that in a second, but from an
injury standpoint, you know, Shane Stike and oftentimes afterwards, we'll
just kind of go over what they found out over
the course of a game, between the game and then
yesterday as well. Where do we stand in terms of
players that may have been dinged up in game number one?

Speaker 6 (47:08):
Well, I think the big one is Shavarius Ward Uh.
He is in the concussion protocol and that didn't really
present or the symptoms didn't present themselves until I think
Monday morning, so they have sidelined him until that gets resolved.
H No, you know, no way to project whether that

(47:29):
lingers into this weekend yet or not, but certainly that's
going to be a big one to watch because they
also are dealing with h Jalen Jones with a hamstring injury.

Speaker 1 (47:40):
You know, he would be.

Speaker 6 (47:41):
The next corner off the bench, and you know behind
you know, the top three, which would be Ward n
Kenny Moore and I guess Xavier excuse me, Xavian Howard,
And so that injury is problematic too, just to pounds
the Ward situation. So corner was was an injury or wasn't?

(48:05):
Was an area of a lot of injuries in the preseason,
and we at least for right now, there's there's a
lot of problems there. Again, So those are the two
spots I think you got to watch for as the
week goes on.

Speaker 1 (48:17):
Okay, here's a wild one and I have this is
literally I just have this weird feeling. There's nothing to
base this on other than he like took a weird
hit and then didn't return to the game, but he
didn't need to. And that is is there any chance
We're going to find out that Jonathan Taylor's not one
hundred percent?

Speaker 6 (48:36):
Okay, So that was asked, and uh, I did not
get the sense that there's anything going on there since
Dykin said he was fine. He said that they pulled
them because the score was kind of offsided and maybe
he was a little dinged up. Not there's a difference
between being dinged up and being, you know, actually hurt.

(48:56):
I suppose in the minds of NFL people, but I
don't think there's any official injury diagnosis at this moment,
so we'll see. Saw I'm in the locker room. Back
to the game. He certainly spent a lot of time
in the training room, but Taylor tends to do that anyway.
He's always one of the last guys out because he

(49:16):
does have a very intense sort of postgame routine. So
I think he's okay, unless and until you hear differently again.

Speaker 1 (49:26):
Stephen Holder is our guest ESPN dot Com. All right, Steven,
let's get to the game itself. I'm going to ask
this one in elementary form. Did we learn more Sunday
about Indianapolis or Miami.

Speaker 6 (49:39):
That's a great question, because I don't know. It's actually tough,
the tough question to answer. I would say this, the
Dolphins were infinitely worse than I anticipated, at least in
that game.

Speaker 5 (49:54):
Right.

Speaker 6 (49:54):
I don't know what they're going to be all season,
but in that game, they're infinitely worse than I could
have projected. I did think there was a scenario whether
the Colts could be very good, but they were. They
were far better than my wildest expectations. That is certainly true.

(50:15):
But I think we probably learned more about the Dolphins,
but I'm not. But I'm also not discounting what the
Colts did whatsoever, not at all, because I think there
are some things there that you can build on. That
defense is legit. I thought it might be, and I
think it is. I still think that. I think a
couple of things. Number One, Uh, they lou Enarmumo has

(50:38):
a great knack for timing blitzes, stunts and twists different coverages,
you know, like dropping Laatu Latu into a zone drop
at just the right time. I mean that that's just
a knack that a veteran coach, you know, you know,
not to call him old, but he's been around a

(50:59):
long time. You know, a guy like lou An Rumo
just has an axt for those things. So that's something
this defense can build on. And the pass rush was
very good too, So I think that's something that can
you can take with you throughout the season. The other
thing I would say is, I mean, Tyler Warren is
exactly who we thought he was. I mean, I had

(51:19):
no doubts, but it was certainly confirmation. And the other
thing I'd say is, you know, look when Shane Steichen
has a quarterback who he can speak the same language with,
he can get a lot out of him. And I
think we saw that with Gardner Minshew a couple of
years ago, and I wondered if this could be a

(51:39):
better version of that, And it looks like it's possible.
But we'll see this week.

Speaker 1 (51:44):
One, Steven, when you look at let's go to Tyler Warren.
It is my belief. And I want you to tell
me if this if you think that I'm game one
overreaction type stuff. But I think Tyler Warren is going
to be the key, like you know, little floating piece

(52:05):
in the cell here that everything feeds off of, and
they're going to try to establish him early in games
with a couple of looks in the first couple of drives,
because then defenses have to constantly keep an eye on
him more than any other player, and that frees up
everybody else more so than any other player that they

(52:25):
could do that with. Am I overreacting? Well?

Speaker 6 (52:30):
I think there will be games where that's true. It'll
be it will vary from game to game, So I
think there will be games where that player is Jonathan Taylor.
Now that wasn't the case on Sunday because the Dolphins,
as you can see, they shut the run game down,
or at least they made it difficult to run. I mean,
Taylor was I think three point eight or nine yards

(52:53):
per carry, which is not notable at all. I mean
he's he's certainly for his career well above four yards
per carry, maybe.

Speaker 1 (53:01):
Close to five.

Speaker 6 (53:02):
So I would say that wasn't one of those games
for Jonathan Taylor. But I think with Tyler Warren maybe
it was. And this was by design. The Colts came
into that game thinking we have an opportunity to throw
the ball, and so who did they come out throwing
the ball too? Right out of the gate. It was
Tyler Warren. So I do think there was an effort

(53:25):
to do exactly what you just said in the first
certainly in the in the first half I guess of
that game, and then threw out as well. And he
is tonesetter, though, and I think that's a good thing.
I think it's good thinking he's a tone setter. When
he catches the ball, there's more to come after he
catches the ball because now you've got to tackle him.

(53:45):
So he's a real tone setter and the kind of
guy you want to include into your scripted early plays,
because that can get you going.

Speaker 1 (53:54):
Daniel Jones looked I thought very good. And I said
yesterday Steven that Daniel Jones showed why Shane Steichen's an
NFL coach and I'm a radio host, And by that,
I mean he sees all the inner workings and I
think he knew with this offense that Jones is the

(54:14):
guy that can hit the layups and that's what they
need to use Chris Ballard's term. So you got that
like check good quarterback, play good, tight end play good.
You know we know what Johnthan Taylor is. Michael Pittman,
you know, we know who he is. With all of
the positives that came that we talked about, who is
somebody or an area or aspect on Sunday that you

(54:36):
thought was very positive for Indianapolis that got overshadowed by
those other storylines.

Speaker 6 (54:43):
The offensive line, I really thought they did a good job.
Daniel Jones part of the reason he was so successful.
And I'm not saying that he doesn't deserve credit. He
deserves a lot of credit. That was a great performance.
But let's let's give let's give everybody credit. That offensive
line did a fantastic job. I talked to Shaan Stichen

(55:04):
last week and one of the things he told me
was he said, this entire game boils down to whether
we can block those guys up front. He was very
worried about it. Worried might not be the right word,
but he was definitely concerned and wanted to see if
they could hold up. He wasn't entirely sure they did.

(55:25):
They felt they held up beautifully, and I think when
you look at the two new starters on that unit,
there were questions there, and I don't have a lot
of questions today because that was a tough opening matchup
for whatever people might think about the Dolphins today, which.

Speaker 1 (55:40):
Is not much.

Speaker 6 (55:41):
I get that that defensive front, the personnel they have upfront,
You look at the names there, those are legit guys,
and they did not really have much of an effect
on Daniel Jones whatsoever. So the other thing that was
interesting is, I don't know, this might be more of
a Shane stikeing thing, or maybe it's a reflection of

(56:03):
the Dolphins. I don't know, but I don't know that
I've ever seen that many wide open guys. So whatever
he was doing to scheme those guys wide open, or
maybe the Dolphins are just a complete travesty and can't
cover anybody, but for whatever reason, they schemed a lot
of guys wide open. That was a fantastic job by
Shane sykeing. I got to get him some credit there too,

(56:24):
so offensive line and then Shane's play calling chef's kiss.

Speaker 1 (56:29):
Do you, by the way, I noticed you used travesty there?
Do you more often than not find yourself using travesty?
I mean, is that maybe your safety one? Train wreck
or dumpster fire? Which one do you most prefer when
describing a team? I think it's hard to Stephen as
the Colts beat writer for the last decade or so,
you've had plenty of opportunity for all three.

Speaker 6 (56:51):
Yeah, I think I'm partial to train wreck. Yeah, I
think I am, and I've had a lot of practice.
As you said, I don't find myself being dumpster fire
quite as much.

Speaker 1 (57:02):
Dumpster Fire I think is safer because here's the thing.
Dumpster Fire I think is safer because we've never actually
had like human loss due to dumpster fire anywhere. Right, No, right,
No one dies, right right?

Speaker 6 (57:13):
No one? No one dies in a dumpster fire? Right,
train wrecks they can, So that's it's definitely very insensitive
of me to describe the Colt as a train wreck.
There you go, because no one dies when they lose.
You just feel like you want to die sometimes, right
with the way they've played over the last you know,
ten years.

Speaker 1 (57:31):
Or so, based on one game, was there something? And
it's it's been a long time since we've been able
to say this. And that is if you were somebody
who was a professional dumpstered fire seeker and you were
looking at the Indianapolis Colts and you're like, Okay, I
need to find an area to nitpick that was a

(57:51):
negative in game one? Was there one? Was there an
area that might have been forecasting that there could be
a problem this year, but everything else else masked it.

Speaker 6 (58:04):
You know, I would say, I don't think it's going
to be a problem, but you do want to be
able to run the ball with a little bit of consistency.
They got some better runs as the game went on.
I'll give them that, but the dolfine did shut them down.
At the same time, I think you're not surprised by
that because that's the kind of personnel they have up front.

(58:26):
So the question that there is one would be can
this offensive line and the personnel they have and you know,
this composition of the offensive line, can this line create
the running lanes the way they have over the last
few years? And I guess we'll have to wait till
week two to see if that if that is true
or not.

Speaker 1 (58:46):
Somebody asked me this question, Steven, Steveholder, our guest, and
it's a very good question that I wanted to pass
along to you. So let's get background to this to begin.
The NFL Players Association, is it my understanding, I think
this is correct. Each team in the league has a
player that represents that franchise's players within the Players Association.

Speaker 6 (59:07):
Correct, Yeah, there are player reps for every team, at
least one.

Speaker 1 (59:14):
I think most teams even have two, okay.

Speaker 6 (59:16):
And then and then in in addition to that, there
is an Executive Committee of the Union, which is I
don't know, eight to ten guys something like that, and
that is composed of players throughout the league as well.

Speaker 1 (59:28):
And Ryan Kelly was on that executive committee while a
member of the Colts. He is obviously no longer a
member of the Colts. Do we know who is the
Colts representative on the NFLPA.

Speaker 6 (59:39):
Oh, that's a good question. It tends to change every year,
or it can it. Zire Franklin comes to mind.

Speaker 1 (59:48):
But anymore, said did Eddie you believe it's Kenny Wore?

Speaker 2 (59:52):
I think Kenny Moore did an interview at training camp
with The Morning Show and.

Speaker 6 (59:55):
Mentioned of it. Okay, I honestly I haven't. I haven't
followed up on it is this year. Sometimes it's more
than one guy. I mean, I said Zaire because in
the past he has kind of been at the forefront
of some union related things. But it could well become
any more. That makes sense. I honestly haven't followed up
for this new season. They usually decided I think in

(01:00:18):
training camp, so that's probably accurate.

Speaker 1 (01:00:21):
Steven. I know that Chris Ballard, and I also know
the broken record nature of what I'm about to ask,
But I know that Chris Ballard has been very adamant
about the fact that Anthony Richardson is not on the
trade block. I understand that. But if Daniel Jones one
game does not a season make. But if Daniel Jones
is able to play at the efficiency game in and

(01:00:43):
game out that we saw in Week one, does that
change Chris Ballard's tune.

Speaker 6 (01:00:49):
Too early to say, however, I do. I would say this.
When he came out and said he was not trading him,
I thought I understood at that point at least you
have to assume at that point that the uncertainty about
Daniel Jones was at least a factor, if not the
primary factor, it was at least some factor. The other

(01:01:10):
factor was that Daniel Jones does have some injury history,
which they acknowledge. So you know, there's a little, you know,
a little uneasiness about that. But you have to think,
watching that game, it's certainly more likely today than it
was prior to that game. I mean, I'm not saying

(01:01:31):
it's likely at all. I'm saying it's it's at least
a little bit more likely today given what you just
saw from Daniel Jones. Because a big part of any
hesitation in trading Anthony Richardson was what do we have
in Daniel Jones? Because what if you were wrong about him?

Speaker 1 (01:01:46):
Right?

Speaker 6 (01:01:47):
And look, we have we have sixteen games to go.
We know nothing, Okay, we really know nothing yet. I
warned fans. They come up to you, you know, at
Starbucks or Costco, and they hey, we'll you know, what
do you think about this? What do you think about that?
And my advice is always like let's talk after week three,
just because generally after like three or four weeks, you

(01:02:09):
start to see the trends, You start to see some
you know, you start to see the identity of players
and teams and all that. So, you know, we know
nothing after week one. However, that was it was such
a good performance that you have to feel infinitely better
today than you did what you know seventy two hours
ago about Daniel Jones, and that includes the colts.

Speaker 1 (01:02:32):
What's the last thing that you impulse bought at Costco?
Because you were there and you're like, oh my gosh,
this is a deal I can't pass up. It happens
like every third time you go in there, right.

Speaker 6 (01:02:43):
Yeah, you know, I this is such a stupid thing.
I went in there the other day. I buy these
protein bars there because you know, that's what So I
grab a protein bar in the morning and I go
to the gym. That's what I That's like my old
man routine. And so I'm a creature of habit. I'm
at that age, right, and so I go in there,

(01:03:04):
no shopping cart, no shopping cart because I'm just running in, right,
I'm not buying anything. Let me get my protein bars,
go through the self checkout, and I'm out of it.
I'm out of there in five minutes, right. But as
I walk in, they've got that shelf right in the front,
across from the TVs, and it's got all this random stuff,
and they had this like twelve pack of toothbrushes. And

(01:03:25):
I was like, these are amazing toothbrushes. Oh my god.
I mean because you know, people come over, you know,
my daughter has a sleepover, or family comes visit or whatever,
and everybody inevitably needs a toothbrush, right, and you know,
and I'm.

Speaker 1 (01:03:42):
Like, are you treating your house like a holiday inn?
Like if people kids come to spend the night, they
get a free toothbrush out of the deal.

Speaker 6 (01:03:51):
Well, I mean, I guess she's got to pick better
friends apparently, because she has friends that I just don't
care about hygiene because they never seem to bring the toothbrush.
All my extra toothbrushes they're gone. So I said, you
know what, this will last us a long time. And
I got to be honest, they're amazing toothbrushes. So that
was an impulse buy a bargain like eighteen bucks. Man,

(01:04:13):
I got like twenty of them.

Speaker 1 (01:04:14):
It was pretty good. By the way, do you know
how you know that that device was invented in Kentucky?
I do not, because anywhere else it would be known
as a teeth brush. Thank you. I'm here all week.
By the way, Tipsy, that's not bad, right, that's not bad?

Speaker 6 (01:04:28):
Did there?

Speaker 1 (01:04:29):
And actually here's the other thing, Steven, And I've noticed
this from in you know, like, I don't want this
to become awkward all of a sudden for listeners or
for yourself, but I've noticed when you have gone to
pacer games with me, you have very nice teeth. And
I noticed that because primarily when people are in my
company they smile often, and so you're smiling usually when
you're around me. You have very nice teeth. So I

(01:04:50):
would say the costco purchase is paying off, not just
for your daughter's friends, but for yourself.

Speaker 6 (01:04:55):
Well, yes, my Dennis, doctor Foss. She hates me because
I've done a much better job and I haven't had
a cavity in a very long time.

Speaker 1 (01:05:03):
So well, there you go. It's off. You're very happy
about this, Okay, it's paying off. I will tell you this,
not make brush shopping around any money off of me.
I've got like, way, way way too many of the
like ankle high puma socks from Costco. Like every time
I go in and that that thing is right there
and I'm like, oh man, I need more of them.
I've got a lot of times to apply that I
need even more. You can never have too many socks,

(01:05:26):
that's correct. That is not a thing that is correct,
not a thing not unlike tooth brushes. All right, Steven,
we will let you get those pearly whites grinning on
ESPN and get back to the regular gig. But we
appreciate the time as always. All Right, you got it,
I'd Steven Oler joining us on ESPN dot com. Eddie yourself,
the last time you went to a Costco, what was
the thing that you impulse bought.

Speaker 2 (01:05:46):
And on shop at Costco.

Speaker 1 (01:05:47):
Okay, we're going to do this again, Eddie, just pretending
for the sake of the radio theater of the mind.
The last time that you were thinking about going to
Costco or any sort of wholesale club, what is the
one thing that you would buy that you normally would
not accept that it's in massive bulk and it's discount,
and so therefore you feel like you need it.

Speaker 2 (01:06:02):
I don't shop at Costco, so I wouldn't know what
to buy, Jake, I don't buy things in bulk, so
I wouldn't know.

Speaker 1 (01:06:08):
Caleb, did you say you're filling in next week? I
don't know when I'm filling in. Well, this has going great,
ye do a class on improv playing along? Would you
just brace yourself for it? Right? Eddie? By the way,
you pointed out you got information on the NFLPA.

Speaker 2 (01:06:21):
Shout out to Caleb. He was the one who actually
found it held now he just looked it up on
the NFLPA website. The representative for the Cold Desire Franklin
Cannymore co Alternate one, CO Alternate two Taekwan Lewis. And
this one shocked me a little bit. CO Alternate three
Alec Pearce. Now, how do you what does the one,

(01:06:44):
two and three mean?

Speaker 1 (01:06:45):
I don't know. So one's in all so obviously primary alternate,
secondary alternate and then third alternate Alec Pearce. Ryan Kelly,
by the way, still vice president. I think you might
have mentioned that.

Speaker 2 (01:06:55):
By the way, Ted Carriss, who will join us in
a couple of weeks. His son is as a vice
president of the NFLPA with Ryan Kelly.

Speaker 1 (01:07:02):
He's joining us tomorrow, isn't he No? A couple of weeks? Okay, weeks.

Speaker 2 (01:07:06):
The only reason why I knew that, Jake is because
he's joining on my birthday.

Speaker 1 (01:07:11):
Oh really, when's your birthday? September the twenty fourth, you're wondering,
and that is birthday number one for you. Let's see,
I was born in twenty seven. You had to think
about that for a second. Yes, twenty seven a significant
number in pop culture. You know why. No, it's not
necessarily a positive thing. But I'll tell you next now, Eddie,

(01:07:35):
I don't want you to be alarmed by this because
you said you're going to be turning twenty seven. But
the twenty seven Forever Club have you ever heard of that?
I have not. I mean, it's a little macab I realized.
But in pop culture it became kind of a quote
unquote thing between nineteen sixty nine and nineteen seventy one,
when Brian Wilson, Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin. There's one that

(01:07:59):
I'm missing here off the top of my head, Jim Morrison,
did I say, Jim Morrison? They all passed away at
the age of twenty seven, and then later Kurt Cobain
dying at the age of twenty seven and Amy Winehouse
at the age of twenty seven. So and then there's
a number of like actors and you know, different people

(01:08:21):
within politics or pop culture that have basically that have
passed away at the age of twenty seven. And now
there's been studies that have done that have been done
that have said, no, a young person passing away at
the age of twenty seven is no more statistically an
anomaly than any other age. It just so happens that
you had a handful of them in unusual Obviously, anytime

(01:08:42):
at twenty seven, it's unusual.

Speaker 2 (01:08:43):
Well, gee, thanks Jake, And now I feel great about
turning twenty seven.

Speaker 1 (01:08:46):
I'm just saying That's why I said, I don't want
you to be alarmed by it, right.

Speaker 2 (01:08:51):
I'm just be looking forward to death now. But I'm
going to go right up my will.

Speaker 1 (01:08:55):
You know, just so you know, one of the more
surreal moments of my life, Eddie. Not to turn this
totally drab. We'll get back into a positive news here
in a second. But I've told the story before that
when I had my heart attack and was waiting to go,

(01:09:16):
you go into the cath lab, you know, they say like, hey,
we're gonna have to take you in for a do
a Hart cath but everybody's on call and we've called
them to get them all assembled. And I remember thinking like,
well on call from where? Like where are they coming from?
But so I was sitting there waiting. I'm just in
the emergency room waiting to go into the cath lab,

(01:09:37):
waiting for them to come get me, and a woman
walked in who was an executive or not executive, but
she was worked for the hospital and said, Hey, I'm
here on behalf of the hospital and I need to
ask you a few questions. And I said okay, and
she said do you have a living will? And I said,
you know, I don't. It's funny you mention that, because
I've got one of my best friends from high school

(01:09:58):
does that for a living as an attorney, and I
keep talking about getting together with them and I probably
should do that, and she said you probably should have.
And that's when I thought, oh, wow, this this seems
pretty serious. And then needless to say, that was like
the first thing I did when I got out. But
you will be fine, Eddie. I promise you that you
will see twenty eight. You'll be fine.

Speaker 2 (01:10:18):
Are you sure?

Speaker 1 (01:10:19):
Yes?

Speaker 2 (01:10:19):
Geez, I don't know now.

Speaker 1 (01:10:21):
I think your lifestyle is slightly different than that of
Jimmy Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Amy one House and to an
extent kurrent combainn.

Speaker 2 (01:10:27):
How would you know? Okay, there's a reason why I
love going to seattles. Okay, well, okay, make me walk
it back. U'm trying to make you feel better. Fever
and Action tonight seven thirty pre game seven fifteen, it
is Indiana and the Minnesota Lynx. Minnesota the best team
in the league and a team that you know. We

(01:10:48):
talked about the fact that coming out of the break
and their final twelve games, three would come against Minnesota.
It is the final of those because it is the
final regular season game.

Speaker 1 (01:10:58):
Tonight. Stephanie White joined us just about an hour ago
on the program UH and talked about the fact that
you know, here is this opportunity before them and Eddie,
they are about as battle tested as a group can
get because when you look at what the Fever have
been able to do and the rosters that they've been
able to put out there. You know, oftentimes you're going

(01:11:20):
with different combinations because they have been so ravaged by injury,
and you know, Caitlyn Clark being the key part of that,
but Sophie Cunningham. You know, they've had a lot of
players go down with injury. Could be a benefit, That's
what I was just going to ask you. You do
the pre and post game for each and every game

(01:11:41):
you see and or listen to all of them. Your
thoughts Could that be in any way a blessing in disguise?

Speaker 2 (01:11:48):
I think at some at some level, it can be.
But I also think, you know, it could be a
detriment just because you don't have a lot of time
on the floor together, so you haven't been able to,
you know, kind of develop some sort of routine in
terms of who's going in at what time. Like with
the Pacers, you know, at that first media time out,
all right, Pascal Siakam's gonna come out, Obie Toppin's gonna

(01:12:09):
come in, Benedict Matherin's going to go in, somebody will
go out. Like That's just how it is, at least
with the Pacers, because there's familiarity because there was there
was good health, so players were available. That's not the
case with the fever, where from a night to night basis,
you don't know first and foremost what it's going to
be like in terms of what is the physicality that's
going to be allowed, So you don't know what the

(01:12:29):
foul situation is going to look like from a night
to night basis. Does Eliah Boston have availability in the
first quarter because they're not calling ticky tack fouls on her?
Or is she unavailable because she's being called for tiki
tak foles? Like, There's just so many different things that
go into it, and I think it's about halfway in
the middle of where I'm at to answer that question,
because if you're you know, Atlanta, or if you are

(01:12:53):
Las Vegas, you don't really know what you're going to
be planning for from a game to game basis, you
have an idea of what you want to execute, but
you don't know what Indiana is going to do in.

Speaker 1 (01:13:01):
Terms of the fever tonight with the game and its
implications on or its implication on the playoffs. The easiest
way to think of this, Okay, the fever do not
control their own destiny when it comes to their seeding tonight,
because they do need some help. If they lose and
Golden State were to win, then the Fever are the

(01:13:22):
seventh seed. If they lose and Golden State is to lose,
Indiana is the sixth seed.

Speaker 2 (01:13:28):
Indiana would have to win. If Indiana loses at all,
then they are the seventh seed. Indian has to win tonight,
Golden State would have to lose.

Speaker 1 (01:13:36):
Theirs says here. If the Fever lose and Golden State loses,
Indiana is the sixth seed. That is, if I typed
that I mistyped, do me a favor. Extend please your
left hand, left hand. Huh, hold up for the camera. Here,
extend your left hand, please hold it out. Okay, take
your right hand. Slap it. Okay, there you go. Slap

(01:13:58):
yourself on the risk because that's what you wrote. I
know I just corrected. Yeah, sorry, okay.

Speaker 2 (01:14:03):
Over winning, the Valkyrie lose their next two games and
the Fever are the six seed.

Speaker 1 (01:14:08):
But a so a Golden State Valkyrie win in Indiana
becomes the seven.

Speaker 2 (01:14:13):
Correct They face Seattle tonight, who is still fighting for
playoff positioning. Los Angeles is still in the mix for
that eight seed. If Seattle wins tonight, they are the
eighth seed. If Los Angeles loses tonight, Seattle is the
eight seed. But it would come down to their games
on Thursday determined who would be in for that final spot.
If Seattle loses to Golden State tonight and if Los

(01:14:36):
Angeles wins, the very high likelihood is that the Indiana
Fever will open the postseason against the Atlanta Dream Correct. Yeah,
because Atlanta lost all three games to Las Vegas during
the regular season series, and the remaining schedule for Vegas
is like a kqwalk. They have Chicago, uh, and then

(01:14:57):
I think they've got They may actually have Chicago twice.

Speaker 1 (01:15:01):
Now, the Atlanta Indiana series and the regular season they
were two and two, right, they split.

Speaker 2 (01:15:09):
Vegas face to Chicago in Los Angeles against against two.
I'm sorry Atlanta. Yes, Indiana was two and two against
Atlanta this year, but they.

Speaker 1 (01:15:17):
Haven't played each other in quite some time.

Speaker 2 (01:15:19):
No, July eleventh, when's the last time you.

Speaker 1 (01:15:22):
Went to Vegas? By the way, you mentioned Vegas and
you enjoyed Vegas, right, I do enjoy Vegas. Yeah, have
you seen like three weeks ago. Everywhere I turned around
there was a different article saying, but nobody's going to
Vegas anymore? Is that true? I'm not sure.

Speaker 2 (01:15:36):
It become like some weird talking point. There weren't a
ton of people when we went there. But also it
was April, right after before March. Well yeah, right after
the tournament, so we're in the whole lot to do.

Speaker 1 (01:15:49):
Anyway, I just when I saw this, this article, I
mean like it became this trend. Everywhere I turned around
there was so many different like man, Vegas is just
dying on a vine, and I'm like, really, I don't know,
Like it always seems like Vegas is packed, but it
is expensive, So I mean maybe people just figured out,
you know what, it's get a head of the riverboats

(01:16:09):
or Anderson for that matter. Right, we come back. Last night,
something happened that I thought to myself, does this tell
us something about the Colts? And they didn't even play.
I'll let you know what I'm talking about, and something
that happened last night in the NFL. We'll do it next.
You know. The funny thing about this intro, because this

(01:16:29):
is a great song from Tribe called Quest and yes
you can kick it and We're glad that you're kicking
it with us. But the lou Reid cover, I mean,
there are so many songs that that could become when that.
As soon as that starts, you're like, okay, is this
lou Reed? Is it? Marquis Mark is a tribe called Quest.
I mean, there are a lot of different That has
to be one of the most sampled songs ever. But

(01:16:52):
it is a great song from a tribe called Quest,
and can I kick it? Two through nine ten seventy
is the telephone number for the program is also, by
the way, the text line and I appreciate every texting,
even if it says this, even when it says the following. Okay.

(01:17:15):
When Jake interviews the Fever coach, I immediately changed the channel.
By the way, it's a station, not a channel's television
radio station. The questions are lame. It's super annoying. I
would rather stick my head into beehive read this on
the air, because I know I'm not the only one
that thinks this. Here's the thing. If I read it

(01:17:36):
on the air, though, if you've already changed the channel station,
then how would you know that I'm reading it on
the air for you? But I thought personally that Stephanie
White's answer of speaking about her upbringing and the opportunities
that basketball presented for her and the opportunities that it
presents for her now was outstanding. So my and I

(01:17:59):
get it. You know, Here's that's the thing about doing
sports talk radio. That is a reality. I've said it before,
I'll say it again. I do understand. I get it.
In this town, you have the Colts, and I'm going
to get back into that and what I saw last
night that could relate to them. But you have the Colts,

(01:18:22):
you have the Fever, you have the Indianapolis five hundred,
you have the Brickyard four hundred, you have the NHRA,
you have Butler basketball, you have Purdue basketball, you have
Purdue football, you have Indiana basketball, you have Indiana football,
you have high school basketball, high school football, you have
Notre Dame football and basketball, Indiana State for that matter,

(01:18:43):
the Pacers. There are a lot of different things to
talk about in sports talk in Indianapolis, Indiana. It's one
of the great matter of fact, when I worked at
Channel six and we were the because Channel six and
ESPN were you know, connected fed back before the age
of the internet. And all that we were the ones

(01:19:04):
that satellite fed anything that came through Indianapolis that ESPN needed,
Channel six is the one that supplied it. And I
remember the assignment desk editor telling me one time that
Indianapolis was the city with the third highest number of
storylines that Sports Center would utilize over the course of
a year because of all the things that come through here.
So it is true that, as I always say in

(01:19:29):
one of my bad query analogies, okay, it is true
that doing I'm sorry, bad analogy sounder. That's that fish.
Those guys are geniuses. When you do sports talk radio,
it's like running a delicatestsen and I totally understand and

(01:19:53):
I totally respect that ninety five percent of the people
that walk into the delicatests and want either or ham,
which would be the Colts and the Pacers. But occasionally
somebody comes in and they want pastrami. Occasionally somebody comes

(01:20:14):
in and they want baloney, and so therefore occasionally we
serve both. And it is my hope that if you
are somebody who is here strictly for a turkey or
ham sandwich, that you simply wait while the person in

(01:20:34):
front of you gets served PISTROMI I totally understand it,
and I respect it, and I appreciate people that sit
through if it's something that's not of their primary interest,
in order to then hear or maybe learn about something
that's not a primary interest, to get back before we
get back to their primary interest. But I do understand it,
and I don't think it's I'm not the guy that's

(01:20:54):
going to sit here and say, fine, go listen somewhere else.
I don't care. That's not the case. I want everybody
to enjoy the show, and so therefore we do a
number of different topics, and I do personally think that
the vast majority of people enjoy stuff aside from just
the primary topic. And I think the conversations with Stephanie

(01:21:15):
White each week, and I thank her for joining us
each week, are awesome. Last night, I was watching Monday
Night Football, and as I'm watching Monday Night Football, I'm
watching JJ McCarthy and I'm looking at the Bears, who
you know, have obviously a promising quarterback in Caleb Williams,
a number one selection, and I'm sitting there saying to myself,

(01:21:38):
are we seeing kind of two different variations of what
you get in the terms of the Colts because Caleb
Williams is a big play guy. Caleb Williams is a
guy that he absolutely can make plays, he can extend plays.
He you know, he's a phenomenal athlete. He's a great passer.

(01:21:58):
You know, there are a lot of things about it
that made him the number one player taken into the draft.
When he was at USC, he was dynamic. I mean,
his vision in particular was really good. And yet it's Chicago.
I'm watching that game and it's like wading through the mud.
And then I look at Minnesota and for the first
half of that game, Minnesota was really kind of stuck

(01:22:18):
in neutral themselves. But JJ McCarthy then throws a pick six,
comes back and immediately responds and takes a huge step
and does so in his debut. I believe I saw
something that he is like the first quarterback to have
a ten plus yard rushing touchdown in a ten plus
yard passing touchdown in the same quarter, in the fourth quarter,

(01:22:39):
et cetera. And he did it in his debut in
the NFL. And that is not to say, because I
don't believe it to be the case necessarily that JJ
McCarthy automatically, that means that he is a better quarterback
with a better future or more promise than Caleb Williams.
I think what you see is that Minnesota has a

(01:23:04):
better supporting cast around and is a more conducive situation
for a young quarterback right now for JJ McCarthy than
was the situation that was presented immediately for Caleb Williams.
And yes, the roster that is in place right now

(01:23:27):
for Daniel Jones is in fact a roster that is
in place for Anthony Richardson because he's still on the team.
But it is a different, I think team than what
Richardson had, certainly as a rookie. And I think when
you add in Tyler Warren and you just look at
the way that the Colts want to run their offense

(01:23:47):
and what they anticipate for the way that they're going
to look this year, it is one that is better suited.
I do think that Daniel Jones is given the key
because of Tyler Warren. That are a better situation than
even Richardson had two years ago. And I think some
of that is the reason why I don't think that

(01:24:10):
they had an offense where they said let's get Tyler warrener,
Let's get an offense and build it around what we
think of Daniel Jones. You know, strong suits, But I
think rather they looked at it and said, the strong
suits of Daniel Jones maybe are better able to take
advantage of what we have around him. And that is

(01:24:32):
as I keep saying, and you folks are gonna get
tired of me saying it, but it has hit the layups.
They don't need this offense with the talent that it has,
doesn't need to rely constantly on just big three point plays.
It can simply do the layups. And I think Jones
does that better. But what we saw last night, I believe,

(01:24:55):
was JJ McCarthy looking very very good and people automatically
saying like, here we go. They made the right pick.
Minnesota waited on him, and I know that he was
a rookie last year, but he sat out because of
the injury. So what I'm getting at is it is
one game. And it was very easy after that game
to make a determination on JJ McCarthy or against Caleb Williams.

(01:25:18):
But we have two quarterbacks in Indianapolis that show you
that it is more than just one game. And in
the case of Daniel Jones, you've got to hope what
we saw in game one carries over into week two,
and you probably need to get into mid October before
you see whether, in fact, this is a Sam Darnold
rebirth or a flash in the pan. Scott Agnes, by

(01:25:39):
the way, joins us, joins us next two o'clock hour
underway in Indianapolis, for that matter, of the two o'clock
hours underway everywhere in the Eastern time zone. My name
is Jake Querry. Eddie Garrison is the producer of this show.
Most of the time. By that, I mean like the
seventy two percent of the time that he's not taking

(01:25:59):
off for his neighbor's birthday or uh, simply having Caleb
fill in. Caleb is sitting in and that's Caleb z
Iver Zuver correct.

Speaker 3 (01:26:07):
Z Iver's over, That's correct.

Speaker 1 (01:26:09):
I noticed, Caleb, by the way that you you rock
a lot of snoopy gear. Are you a big Peanuts guy?
Is that it is that because you moved here from Minneapolis.

Speaker 3 (01:26:16):
Yeah, oh, Charles Schultz home up in Minneapolis. But no,
my uncle was a big Peanuts guy, and I have
a lot of hand me down gear from him, so.

Speaker 1 (01:26:24):
Hand me down. Okay, fair enough. Do you have a
favorite Peanuts character?

Speaker 6 (01:26:30):
Uh?

Speaker 3 (01:26:30):
I like Linus because I used to have an attachment
to my blanket as well. So I that's what age.

Speaker 1 (01:26:38):
Were you when the attachment to the blanket went away?
It hasn't okay, yeah, I will you know what, Caleb,
I will confess this to you. I'm fifty three years old.
I still have my blanket and cow, which was my
stuffed animal when I was a kid. I still have
both of them.

Speaker 3 (01:26:54):
Yeah, I'm the same way.

Speaker 1 (01:26:55):
Still. I don't like to struggle up with them per se,
but I do. Still they are within my possession. They
the cut of the great cut down, of the purge
of my gear, the great purge. Yes, thank you, Eddie
joining us now, and I'm sure thrilled to be doing so.
Based on that segue from Fieldhouse Files, is Scott Agnes
fever in action tonight seven thirty against Minnesota and then

(01:27:16):
into the playoffs, where they, by all account will take
on Atlanta. There are a couple of factors that we
went over earlier that could affect their seating, but let's
begin with Scott. This matchup tonight with Minnesota. The links
are also a team that has dealt with some injury
not I don't think anybody has to the level of
Indiana and what Stephanie White's group has contended with. But

(01:27:39):
the challenge, I guess we'll start with that about this
particular team to close out the year would be what.

Speaker 7 (01:27:47):
The reality is, Jake, I'm it's unclear right now who
I'm on Minnesota will play right Nafisa Collier? Why would
you play her? If you're the Links and the playoffs
are starting this week and I have not seen an
injury report for them for tonight's game. They held shoot
around but have not announced that. I would be surprised
to see them. I would they have chosen to sit

(01:28:07):
some players from time to time over the last couple
of weeks with a five game lead on the two seed.
On the other side, You're exactly right, the Fever are
still playing for spot six and seven and so that
they very much still have something to play for here tonight.

Speaker 1 (01:28:21):
Do you believe Scott that? And maybe I'm just saying
this because it's locally and we cover the Fever. You know,
I paid more attention to the Fever than I do
other teams within the WNBA. I think that Stephanie White
should get a lot of praise for the coaching job

(01:28:42):
she did this year. And I know that people are
going to look at it and say, yeah, but that's
a team that you had Caitlin Clark and Leah Boston,
and you know they had higher expectation at the beginning
of the year than they did to go stay twenty
three and twenty and eke their way into the playoffs.
But when you look at the attrition of roster, to me,

(01:29:03):
she has done top level coaching this year. But am
I simply looking at it myopically? I would agree she's.

Speaker 7 (01:29:12):
Much like Kelsey Mitchell for MVP that she should be
in the conversation. But it's really hard to overlook with
the job they've done with the Golden State Valkyries, an
expansion franchise, a team that selected players that most of
us did not recognize, like why are you drafting them?
They leaned in the expansion draft. To be clear, they
did not make any big trades. They did they leaned

(01:29:32):
on foreigners and are in the playoffs and are right
now six there. But I think Stephanie White should be
probably third or fourth in coach of the year for
all the reasons you laid out just I think so
many times, Jake, we overused, maybe within hyperbole, the unprecedented. No,
this fever season, in the variety of things that Steph

(01:29:54):
and the entire team have dealt with are absolutely unprecedented,
and they've navigated these choppy waters to be in the
playoffs firmly.

Speaker 1 (01:30:03):
How have they had to play differently? How in any
way has their approach offensively changed in terms of style,
if at all, over the course of the attrition and
the things that they've lost.

Speaker 7 (01:30:17):
Yeah, it's absolutely required some adjustment and mostly dumbing it down,
simplifying because you're dealing with a lot of players that
joined less than a month ago. It was just one
month ago when you started to have your first of
five players suffer season ending injuries, and so they've continued
to have to adapt on the fly. I think defensively,
some of their coverages, how they're trying to trap, They're

(01:30:39):
still trying to get out in transition offensively and play
at that fast tempo that gives them their greatest advantage
always has been. But I think some of the play calls,
you're seeing a lot less pick and roll action. I
think Leah Boston, you're not utilizing as much as you
would be normally, and you're leaning a lot more on
your perimitive guards just to create something and try to

(01:31:01):
make a quick action decision.

Speaker 1 (01:31:03):
Scott, you have covered the WNBA, specifically the Indiana Fever
for how many and I don't mean consecutively, but for
how many total seasons?

Speaker 7 (01:31:13):
Yeah, I've covered it, not at this level daily all
the time, but certainly since twenty twelve, and before that.
I was around the franchise since two thousand and three.
It's just the reality is, go back three to five
years ago, there was very little interest. You would spend
two weeks on a feature for five hundred people to
read it. And obviously that dynamic has changed entirely in

(01:31:36):
the last two years because of Caitlin Clark.

Speaker 5 (01:31:38):
Well.

Speaker 1 (01:31:38):
The thing I was going to ask you is just
how has the league itself changed? And I don't even
mean necessarily in the interest of it, but as the
interest of it has increased, you know, the overall I
guess competitive nature of the league. I mean, in what
ways is the WNBA different today, or for that matter,
are there any ways where it's the same today as

(01:31:59):
it was then I would.

Speaker 7 (01:32:01):
Say, no, it's drastically different. I think I would say
the biggest area is more parody. In the year's past,
I feel like it was always one or two teams
kind of every year. Now that might change from time
to time, what two teams it was. I think you
just have more talent to go around. I think the
physicality that a lot of people have been talking about

(01:32:22):
it has always been there. I don't think there will rivalries,
and I think that's more so a systemic thing in
all of sports now as more people root on individuals
and follow players much more than maybe teams perhaps, so
I think that is definitely a relation there. I don't
see any rivalries really within the league from team to team,

(01:32:44):
And then the other aspect in all this is just
how much more it is consumed, how many more games
you're playing it used And this is the big conversation, Jake,
they've got to be having with the collective bargaining agreement,
both in terms of how you schedule and breaks given,
but also how the players are obviously compensated for. Back
when Stephanie was playing and Tamika it was like thirty

(01:33:05):
thirty two to thirty four games. Well, this year for
the first time, they're up to forty four and they're
going to add even more, presumably with two more teams
joining the fold as expansion teams next year. So you know,
now about thirty seasons in, I think you can the
changes just continue on down the line and are inevitable

(01:33:25):
with this growing product.

Speaker 1 (01:33:27):
And this is a dumb question. I apologize for this
in terms of expansion of the league. I mean, I
think the league the WNBA, and we've seen this this year, Scott.
What I what to me is very intriguing about the
league is that because you don't have the high number
of teams that you see in other leagues. When a

(01:33:48):
franchise like the Fever this year have to do mid
season acquisition of free agents, there are good players out
there that you know what I mean, it's not as
watered down. Where do things Stan And I know that
we've seen we have two new teams coming in, but
are they looking to continue to expand or are we
kind of at a cap there?

Speaker 7 (01:34:09):
Yeah, so next year they'll add two more that will
make it fifteen, and they've already promised three other spots.
Those are staggered out, one after one after one, and
so you'll have eighteen teams here by the end of
this ten year period. I think it's by twenty thirty.
I wouldn't be surprised for them to go to twenty,
let's say. But right now you're set on eighteen. I

(01:34:31):
just think you might want to get off that odd number,
having nine and nine or whatever. But eighteen's a nice
round number as well. I just wonder to your point earlier,
you need to expand rosters. That's where the focus needs
to be in my opinion, before you expand these teams,
because all the different players that have gone down from
that instance, a lot of teams have experienced that, just

(01:34:54):
not at this level and for this duration. Certain teams
of experience where they've had to use the emergency hardship
or go to a hardship once or twice a year.
The Fever have signed too many players at this point
to that level, and that's why you need a development system.
I think as well, a player like Bree Hall, who
was drafted by them in the second round. Clearly there

(01:35:15):
was no room for her on the twelve man roster,
but think if she was here from the start of
training camp till today. Both contributing or around or in
this environment where she could develop and maybe now at
the end of the season, she'd be much more comfortable
and certainly confident in what her role is in this
Fever system and all that, whether she's used or not.

(01:35:35):
I'd like to see the rosters expand at least fourteen,
maybe fifteen players.

Speaker 1 (01:35:38):
By the way, do we need to say twelve woman roster?
I don't know.

Speaker 7 (01:35:43):
I've always wondered about that, Like you talk about you
know what man are you guarding?

Speaker 1 (01:35:47):
Or man to man defense?

Speaker 7 (01:35:49):
We all understand what it references, but I don't know
the right answer to that.

Speaker 1 (01:35:54):
That's a good man to man. I never thought of that.
I mean, it's got to be a woman to woman, right,
I mean what it's worth I guess semantically right, I mean, yeah, okay,
these are the kinds of things that keep me awake
at night. Scott right, I've thought about it. I just
don't know who you know.

Speaker 7 (01:36:09):
I'm I geared towards more simplifying and keeping it easy
and less changes.

Speaker 1 (01:36:14):
Do you buy into the do you buy into the
the soccer version of using team names like the plural,
like you know, Indiana have Indiana have won a playoff
game as opposed to Indiana has won a playoff game,
because it's to.

Speaker 7 (01:36:34):
Me, I've always struggled with fever. From that standpoint, I think.

Speaker 1 (01:36:38):
Yeah, the fever has or the fever have right when
you get into that way, absolutely, these are again the
things that keep me awake at night. Right for what it's.

Speaker 7 (01:36:48):
Worth, Miami Heat's the same way, going back to the
Pacers battles with them and the you know playoffs.

Speaker 1 (01:36:53):
Yeah, I mean won five in a row. Yeah, I
mean absolutely when you look at at this to our
guest fieldhouse files where you can read his work, the
WNBA playoffs in general, I mean, obviously I know that
Minnesota has been the upper echelon team, but is this
a league that has to your point, the parody? Is

(01:37:16):
there the parody there? Or do we expect that the
Indiana and the Atlantas and those teams that the odds
are really really stacked against him, that they can make
playoff noise.

Speaker 7 (01:37:29):
I think there's about I think Minnesota is a clear favorite.
Let's put him in tears. I think Minnesota number one easily.
Then after that I would put your aces in liberties,
your traditional powers, and then the only other team outside
that I could see is sneaking up as Atlanta. So
to me, it's really a three team playoff race as
I look at it. Phoenix doesn't seem threatening the Valkyries.

(01:37:49):
We know what the Fever have been dealing with here.
Keep in mind that Vegas Aces.

Speaker 1 (01:37:53):
They were really.

Speaker 7 (01:37:54):
Going through it last month like the Fever. If I
remember right, they beat him by thirty. It might have
been the worst opponent I've ever seen played. Think about
to the Miami Dolphins this past week. It was worse
than that from the Asis. But guess what now since
that Jake, they've ripped off fourteen wins in a row,
and a team that had won back to back championships
a couple of years ago is the hottest team in

(01:38:16):
the league right now. They're in third in the standings
in New York. We know what they can do if
they are healthy. But to me, I'd be surprised given
Nafisa Collier's health, should she stay healthy. It's Minnesota versus everybody.

Speaker 1 (01:38:28):
Scott, do you, Scott Agnes our guest Fieldhouse files, have
you had a chance to I don't know how much
we've talked about it, but I want to get back
into this on the men's side of things, talking about
the Pacers, you know there has been a change at
the on the coaching staff for Rick Carlile, and I
don't know that a lot of people. By all account,
it seemed to be a mutual parting of ways. Do

(01:38:52):
we know what has gone into the changes on the
bench for Rick Carlile.

Speaker 7 (01:38:58):
No, not exactly unfortunately, which is a little bit odd
because the timing of it wasn't ideal. Right, It was
announced by the team basically a month before training camp,
after Mike Winer you're talking about, was with the team
out in Las Vegas for Summer League, and usually any
coaching changes are made by July and then everybody goes
on vacation there in August. Mike Winer was one of

(01:39:21):
his top assistants. He was Rick Carlisle's basically right hand
man going back to two thousand and eight in Dallas.
He ran the offense, He ran into game situations. He
was the one that drew up that spread five foot
or spread four football play that we all remember Halibert
knocking down the shot for the win over Milwaukee. And
then you bring him in and you replace him with

(01:39:44):
someone that doesn't have a ton of experience. He spent
a summer with the Pacers, spent some time at the
coaching level at UVA. If anything, my biggest takeaway from
this is further belief in Jim Boylan, who was promoted
to the front of the bench and what he is contributed. Obviously,
he has a great experience with the Pacers. He won
a championship in San Antonio and was a head coach

(01:40:07):
with the Chicago Bulls.

Speaker 1 (01:40:08):
But other than natural cynicism, we have no reason to
believe that this was anything other than a mutual part correct.

Speaker 7 (01:40:17):
I would agree, yeah, absolutely, just given all the different
things here, But we have not been given any evidence
to the contrary, and nobody wants to talk about it,
so that's a little bit odd as well.

Speaker 1 (01:40:29):
One of the things that I find interesting, Scott, is
that the Pacers in the last couple of weeks, I
have seen several posts on social media and they do
this with other players, you know what I mean, Like, hey,
it's a been mather an appreciation post or whatever, you know,
that kind of thing they seem to have sent. And
maybe this is me overthinking it, but I've seen a

(01:40:50):
fairly consistent narrative about their appreciation or kind of pumping
up Andrew nimhard. Do you think the thin part of
that is just because andre and Imhart, as good as
he's been, his elevation, his role is going to elevate
in terms of how much they have to lean on him,
and so they're kind of prepping him, if you will,

(01:41:13):
psychologically for that moment. Does that make sense at all?
It does?

Speaker 7 (01:41:17):
I think the number one thing in all this, quite frankly,
is the Pacers reached the NBA Finals, then it went
right to the draft like three days later, right to
free agency, right to summer league, and ordinarily the Pacers
digital team has about a month and a half two
months to roll out into season reviews for each player,
and so they're pumping out one each day leading up
here to training camp, if that's what you're referencing with

(01:41:37):
all that. But Withnmart in particular, I think number one,
the franchise is leaning hard into it because they're going
to need his contributions. And the other thing is I
think everyone's very curious to see what it'll be like
with him having a higher usage rate, with him coming
in as a point guard being so good that they
couldn't play him as backup point guard, but instead the

(01:41:58):
off ball guard and the staring lineup. And now he
has much greater responsibilities and this team's going to go
as far as he and maybe Pascal can lead them.

Speaker 1 (01:42:08):
Scott Agnes, our guest from Fieldhouse Files. All right, Scott,
I assume you've got plenty of coverage coming up regarding
the Fever to end their regular season. Right.

Speaker 7 (01:42:16):
Absolutely, we got the final game tonight fan appreciation Night,
and then we should find out in the next twenty
four to forty eight hours whether it'll be Atlanta or
Las Vegas. Seemingly, and flight prices aren't cheap either way.

Speaker 1 (01:42:28):
Unfortunately, here's the well you can drive to Atlanta right
at the very least. The thing I was going to
ask Atlanta, I know Indiana two and two in the
regular season, if you were to look at it just
in terms of matchups of and that was a different
group for a large part of it, because it's been
well over a month since they've played Atlanta. But if
you were to look at Atlanta and Las Vegas, is

(01:42:50):
there a preference you think for the Fever on in
terms of which one is a better matchup?

Speaker 7 (01:42:55):
Yeah, all along, excluding leaving Vegas out of this conversation,
I've said Atlanta is one of their most difficult matchups
just given the physicality and the toughness in the style
of play for the Atlanta Dream. But it's hard, Jake,
for me to go over go past and look over
the big game experience, the coaching with Becky Hammond on

(01:43:15):
the other side, it's a rookie head coach, and the
fact that they are the hottest team over the last
month and a half. Right now, I would say I'd
prefer the Dream over the Aces given those factors.

Speaker 1 (01:43:25):
All right, we will keep an eye on it in
the way that it all pans out. Fever and Action.
Tonight seven thirty seven fifteen is the pregame show with
Eddie right here on this radio station. Appreciate it as always, Scott,
you bet, Thanks, Jake, Scott Agnes joining us field House Files.
Somebody else had pointed out to me on the morning
show that Rick Carlile may have said that it was
a personal matter with Mike and that's why he moved on.

(01:43:48):
I don't know if that's the case or not, but
either way, it did not look like it was some
sort of you know, a negative or an ugly situation
between the Pacers and that change that took place. Talked
earlier about the Colts and Shane Steichen and Daniel Jones

(01:44:08):
in his decision, and you know, I made a lot
of this yesterday. I realize, but I keep going back
to it. I think it's entirely possible. And several people
have pointed this out to me that we are going
to in a month or two look back on week

(01:44:31):
one and realize, gosh, that was a really big win
for the Colts because they got out to the right
start in terms of the season. But we were really
naive at that time. It's just how bad Miami is
and Miami looks Eddie and I talked about it yesterday.
Miami looks like they are in complete disarray, and now
you have you know, Tyreek Hill is back in the

(01:44:54):
news for the wrong reasons in terms of allegations of
off field stuff. They're the coaching staff looked completely like
Dick Vitalius to say, the all airport team, guys that
look good at the airport and then just don't even
get it done on the field. I mean, they don't
even Mike Bananuel doesn't even look like he's part of
an all airport team. I mean, like, what are you

(01:45:16):
doing here? He's wearing the sunglasses and just the whole
deal and sprinting. Oddities become eccentricities and then become negatives
very quickly when you don't get results. And maybe that's
what we're witnessing with Miami, and maybe we will look
back and say to ourselves, yeah, that seemed great in
the moment, but it is not aged well. But a

(01:45:38):
win is a win. And they are one to oher
in the division. Well, I mean not in the division
but within the conference. But they're one and oh one
of two teams in the division to jump out to that,
and it's entirely possible the AFC South is not going
to have like a year ago, Houston got out to
that big lead in the division and they were able
to just hold on. And I don't know that that

(01:46:00):
this year. Necessarily there's going to be any of those
four teams that just separates totally. So you want to
each and every week get any advantage you can against
the rest of the division itself, and certainly for the Colts,
it gets big with Denver because Denver coming in I
think we expect that Denver is a better team and

(01:46:20):
is going to be a bigger test than what Miami presented.
But then again, they've got a young quarterback as well
that maybe you can disrupt with that Loui Anarrumo defense
and give different looks and keep them guessing and keep
them at bay and keep them off guard. But even
and thinking about all that, and in looking at the
division and looking everything with it, I kept going back

(01:46:41):
to I kept going back to the quarterback spot and
whether or not Anthony Richardson is a guy, what his
contribution is going to be to the Indianapolis Colts, and
what his place is within the franchise this season and

(01:47:02):
moving forward, and how Daniel Jones changes that relationship. And
I know that Chris Ballard has said and is adamant
about the fact that Richardson's not going anywhere. I get that.
I also get that Ballard kind of has to say that.
But what I want to see and only time will tell,

(01:47:28):
you know, I mean, Only Time will Tell is more
than just a great early eighties song from Asia. It's
also a clear statement when you talk about the Colts,
because only Time will tell a couple of things. Only
time will tell whether or not Daniel Jones Week one
was the anomaly or the new normal in terms of

(01:47:49):
the way that he can play, And only time will
tell whether or not what we saw was a forecast
of what they're going to be able to do against Denver,
or against San Francisco, or against Seattle and those teams
outside the division they have to face, or whether Dolphins

(01:48:10):
so bad that we learned nothing from that yesterday and
you're right back to square one with not having any
idea who and what you are. Only time will tell
those things. But there also was one thing that I think,
as I mentioned last week, we can go back and
we can now look at where all of the hints

(01:48:31):
were dropped, and all of the forecast was there, and
all of the verbiage and messaging was telling us very
clearly one thing or certain about this team. And I

(01:48:51):
mentioned that it was like the sixth sense where you
then look back and everything makes sense. And then Shane
Steichen started answering questions and he started making comments about
different personnel within the Colts, and he said something, and
I said, there, it is right there that tells me

(01:49:14):
everything I need to know, and I'll play it for
you and tell you what he said next. So each
and every step of the way along the preseason, from
the time that we all converged on Grand Park, but
that mattered for the time that it was announced there

(01:49:36):
was going to be a quarterback competition. Hear ye, hear ye,
extra extra read all about it, Submit right now your
resume on LinkedIn if you can play quarterback for the
Indianapolis Colts. And you think your chance is now, Uncle Rico,
throw it over the mountains and show up. And they

(01:49:56):
said open competition. And Daniel Jones, the former top ten pick,
the guy that oddly kind of looks like the animation
characters in the Kroger commercials, he's going to come in
here and he's going to compete with Anthony Richardson, our

(01:50:17):
wonder kid, who's our top four pick from a couple
of years ago that when Chris Ballard may or may
not have been mandated that now's the time to select
a quarterback. He took the kid out of Florida. But
we know a little about the SEC because Daniel Jones
came out of the SEC as well, and he played
in the bright lights, Big City in New York and

(01:50:37):
had success got a big contract and then immediately started
to regress. But we believe in Indianapolis that Daniel Jones
should get another chance because he had nobody that he
was throwing to, and he also had the bright lights,
big city, big pressure of the New York media. And
Daniel Jones is more of a small town guy, likes

(01:51:01):
the smaller feel of Indianapolis, just more of a laid
back dude. And so we're gonna open it up and
see who wins. And everybody converged, and I was there
doing the show usually well after practice was over with it.

(01:51:21):
I was alone by myself in one hundred and five
degree field. But I digress. And so everybody's watching and
they're analyzing and critiquing and scrutinizing every move and every
throw and every piece of footwork, and people are posting
it out. Daniel Jones today was seven of eleven on

(01:51:42):
the eleven on eleven drills. Anthony Richardson went five for five,
really nice throw there with great touch, and then everyone
to while Jason Bean was throwing and throw his hat
in the ring, made a nice play. Riley Leonard, Eddie
Garrison screaming it from the back right Riley Leonard's the
guy that's the shelf. Both of them give it to

(01:52:03):
Riley Leonard. But the whole time Shane Steiken was trying
to tell us, he kept saying, it's not necessarily going
to be the guy of everything you see on the
field at Grand Park. It's not going to be the
guy from everything you see on the field in the
preseason games. It's about what takes place organizationally. It's about

(01:52:29):
what takes place in the huddle. It's about what takes
place in the meeting rooms. It's about what takes place
in the cafeteria in the complex. And yes they have,
you know, eating facilities and all of it. And then
after Daniel Jones went out and looked really good against
the Miami Dolphins, Shane Steiken was asked to review and

(01:52:55):
critique his quarterback.

Speaker 4 (01:52:56):
I think he earned it quickly with his work ethic
in here, grinding early, always the last one to leave.
I think he connected with the guys really well, not
only just the offensive guys, but the defensive guys. The
way he communicates with those guys, and you walk in
in the cafeterias, he's eaten with the linebacker or whoever
it may be and going out with the dvs or
whatever it is. So I thought he did a hell

(01:53:17):
of a job earning their trust, connecting with them, and
then just the way he prepares and the work he
puts in and the performance that he had all through
OTAs and in the training camp, and to see the
performance like he did have you know yesterday on Sunday,
it was awesome. I wasn't surprised because I know the
work he puts in. The guys fought for him like crazy,
and he played a hell of a game.

Speaker 1 (01:53:37):
Okay, let's go back to what he said there. He's
talking about earning the trust and earning the job of
his teammates and of his coaches, and what did he say? Now,
he just had a game, did Daniel Jones? Where he
was very efficient against the Miami Dolphins and he looked good.

(01:54:01):
And literally when I asked people for their three words
to assess game number one, the three words that people said,
we have QB. Jones, slightly better better than expected, those

(01:54:22):
kinds of things, right, That's what everybody was going back
and forth about. And why is that? You ask what
was it that he did? It isn't It wasn't even
necessarily what he did as much as what he didn't do.
Didn't throw the ball away in terms of interceptions, didn't
have costly turnovers, didn't sail it over Tyler Warren's head

(01:54:46):
on a regular basis, didn't underthrow Michael Pittman the numbers
twenty two of twenty nine with a touch. Okay, but
listen again to what Shane Steichen says. I'm gonna play
it one more time, and I'm gonna make notes this time,

(01:55:09):
and I'm going to point out what he doesn't say.

Speaker 4 (01:55:13):
I think he earned it quickly with his work ethic
in here, grinding early, always the last one to leave.
I think he connected with the guys really well, not
only just the offensive guys, but the defensive guys. The
way he communicates with those guys, and you walk in
in the cafeterias, he's eating with the linebacker or whoever
it may be, and going out with the dbs or

(01:55:33):
whatever it is. So I thought he did a hell
of a job earning their trust, connecting with them. And
then just the way he prepares and the work he
puts in and the performance that he had all through
OTAs and in the training camp, and to see the
performance like he did. Have you know yesterday on Sunday
it was awesome. I wasn't surprised because I know the
work he puts in. Guys fought for him like crazy,

(01:55:53):
and he played a hell.

Speaker 5 (01:55:54):
Of a game.

Speaker 1 (01:55:56):
Did he mention his footwork? Did he mention his precision?
Did he mention his progressions? Did he mention his ability
to pick up a blitz? Did he mention his navigation

(01:56:17):
through a defense and finding a fourth receiving option and
extending plays? What he mentioned was this grinding daily showing
up early, last to leave communicates eating with the linebackers

(01:56:38):
in the cafeteria, going out with the defensive backs, earning
the trust of his teammates, getting guys that wanted to
win and fight for him. I'm not saying that Shane
Steiken is indicting or calling out Anthony Richardson, and be

(01:57:01):
irresponsible to me to say I don't know that. But
what I'm saying is Shane Steiken had a young quarterback
that he was assigned and expected to awaken and be
a whisperer for, and he tried whispering all the things
that Anthony Richardson needed to do, show up early, be

(01:57:23):
the last guy to leave, you municate to your teammates,
and eventually he had to start shouting them, and then
he shouted them, and he then came to us and said,
these are the things I'm talking about. That's organizational leadership.
That's doing the things that we the fans don't see,

(01:57:48):
that we the media don't see, that the season ticket
holders don't see. In the lunch room, in the meeting room,
showing up early, and Shane not being surprised that the
teammates were willing to battle for for Daniel Jones. He

(01:58:09):
didn't go so far as to say, unlike how I
didn't see them fight for Anthony Richardson. And I realize,
and I know, and I don't think Anthony Richardson is disliked.
I don't. I think guys thought they respected Anthony Richardson,
but then you bring in Daniel Jones, and I think

(01:58:30):
there were a lot of guys that thought, actually, you
know what, Now, I do know what that respect level
is because I was polling for Richardson and I wanted
him to do well, and he's a nice guy and
he's a mega talent. But I didn't realize what I
didn't realize until Daniel Jones got here, and then I
saw the things that Jones was doing and realized that

(01:58:52):
stuff that Richardson wasn't doing, and all of those things
that Shane Steichen literally just said in that answer to
Matt Taylor, that is the montage at the end of
the movie where you realize that Bruce Willis was shivering
for a reason. And that was the montage at the
end of the movie where you realize that he wasn't
actually in the basement watching his wife cheat on him.

(01:59:15):
And that was the montage at the end of the
movie when you realize that his wife wasn't upset with
him during the birthday dinner when she got up and
walked out on the bill. There was a reason for
all of it, and the director was trying to tell
us the entire movie, and then finally at the end
he just stood up and stood at the front of
the movie theater and said, listen to you, morons, this
is what I'm talking about. And that's exactly what that

(01:59:36):
just was. That was Shane Stiken telling us, this is
what I've been telling you all along. It's the stuff
you didn't see, and you saw the result of it
in Game number one, and now all you gotta do
is follow it up in game number two. I have
a very important question for Eddie and Caleb. I'll let
both of you guys chime in on this if you'd like,

(01:59:58):
before J ANDV comes in for our Love Heating and
Air Crossover talk. As we handed off to John to
see what he's got lined up on the program today,
I have to this is a very I this happens
to me like once a year. I'm kind of like
Steve Martin and the jerk with the new phone book.
Every once in a while, I like to mix it
up and get a different license plate. So my plates

(02:00:22):
are are eligible for you know, I've got to get
new plates. Now. What's going to be interesting is I
just now am ordering them and the little sticker delio
is up on the fourteenth. So if the plates don't
come quick enough, I mean, I guess you can go
into the B and B and take this. Take care
of this, I realize, But I'll have to drive around

(02:00:42):
with the receipt. I guess in case I get pulled
over and I could say no, no, I did up
well the time. I mean, if you get pulled over,
they can pull it up and it'll be up to
day in the Yeah, and get pulled over, you know
what I mean? Just don't get pulled over, Jake. Well,
pretty simply, if they see the sticker, they can pull
you over. Right then if they realize they're expired.

Speaker 2 (02:00:59):
Well if they run your plate, would they would see
that it's been renewed.

Speaker 1 (02:01:02):
That's that's fair before they pull you over.

Speaker 2 (02:01:04):
Even Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:01:05):
So here's the question though, do I get one of
these specialty plates or just go with the standard? Now
when I say the standard, they have a new option
and it is a couple of bucks extra of the
blackout plate, which is just the black license plate. Now
keep in mind i'd drive a black car.

Speaker 3 (02:01:22):
So you're saying the special the specialty plate is cheaper
than the standard.

Speaker 1 (02:01:26):
Place. No, the standard plate. The specialty plates, I believe,
are an additional forty dollars, and those are the different Caleb,
by the way, is newer to Indiana by way of Ohio,
where he grew up in Minneapolis. It's true. So the
specialty plates, Caleb, are the ones you see that have
like there's a Colts. Is there a Colts one?

Speaker 2 (02:01:45):
Actually, there's a FA, there is Pacers, there's IU Purdue Speedway.

Speaker 1 (02:01:51):
Yeah, and then you have different organizations like the Native
American Council has won the juvenile diabetes et cetera. So
do I go with a specialty play? Do I go
with just the standard blue plate? H And by the way,
I did one time design a plate for Indiana that
they didn't select, and I'm bitter about that. Or do
I go with the blackout plate?

Speaker 2 (02:02:12):
Well, knowing you, Jake, well, first and foremost, what do
you have right now?

Speaker 1 (02:02:16):
Standard?

Speaker 2 (02:02:16):
Standard?

Speaker 1 (02:02:17):
Okay?

Speaker 2 (02:02:17):
So I mean you're a special guy, So why not
go with the specialty plate?

Speaker 1 (02:02:21):
Which one would I go with?

Speaker 2 (02:02:22):
Well, you certainly got to go with one that you
know benefits animals, the animal shelter or something like that.

Speaker 1 (02:02:27):
That's that's a good call. That's a good call. I
like that.

Speaker 3 (02:02:29):
I can't see you doing something ordinary, so I feel
like you got to be doing something.

Speaker 1 (02:02:34):
I'm not going to get a personalized plate though, I
can tell you that also, Caleb, I don't know if
you know this Sanaba.

Speaker 2 (02:02:38):
Jake is loaded with that IndyCar job he does. He's
got all the money in the world.

Speaker 1 (02:02:42):
Yeah, don't don't we wish?

Speaker 5 (02:02:44):
Uh?

Speaker 1 (02:02:45):
The answer is, by the way, I opted for the
standard blackout plate. So it's just a black license plate
because I have a black car. U. J ANDB is
a rock. That is a sweet shirt you got on,
Thank you very much. The shop Broad Ripple Carmel downtown
off mass A. Brian Kelly, Alex the Brick Shirt House
right here. That is a good looking got three of them.
Indiana State is right. This is nice though. What's lined

(02:03:07):
up on the big program some guy from Denver, Greg Gregstraw,
which would be some guy from southern Indiana. And then
another guy from southern Indiana me. Have you been to Denver?
I have you like Denver? I think I landed there
once coming back from Alaska. You know they got the
airport's haunted. Did you know that? I did not know
that there's like this the new one, the new airport
in Denver. When they were building it, they had a

(02:03:29):
couple of tragedies that took place. But there's this whole
conspiracy that it's like this hiding place for the Illuminati,
and people think that it's like this underground Delio. People
love Denver, Colorado. A lot of people from here live there.
True story. You know you know whose hometown that is
a person very significant in your life, John, that would

(02:03:52):
be one. Shannon Walls correct went to Columbine High School?
That matter? Did you really? Yeah? I mean before that happened.
Whoa she knew, knew a lot of the people involved
in that. I didn't know she went to Columbine High School?
She did? So did you watch anything last night? And
did you watch JJ McCarthy last night? I thought he

(02:04:13):
was pretty impressive. Well here's what I did. Yeah, I did.
Everybody crept on him and until the end of the game.
The only thing I watched all the game except I
turned over and watched The Rockford Files during the half
because I can't watch that crap. The Rockford Files has,
would you agree the best opening sixty seconds? Yeah, with
the answer machine every time something different, Yeah, yeah, there's

(02:04:35):
no doubt. And then the Deity. Yeah. So last night
Larry Hagman did a guest star role on The Rockford Files.
It was before Dallas started. I think Dallas just was
getting ready to start. If you had to guess, give
me the opening year and the closing year that The

(02:04:55):
Rockford Files was on the air nineteen seventy four to
nineteen eighty, I would say seventy four to eighty three,
is it? Yeah, Okay, I'm pretty James Garner was very
involved in the speedway for years because he drove the
pace car and he was a racing enthusiast. You think
you ever had any hen and she in going on
on the speedway motel. You know, here's the thing about him,

(02:05:22):
and obviously well before either of our time of being
out there, but the one thing I will say is
in talking to different people and being involved in the speedway,
there apparently has never been a better dude, that's what
they said, A nicer person, good to everyone than James Garner.
He apparently was literally the most down to earth, just

(02:05:42):
everybody's friend, never met a stranger, totally polite to everybody.
I've never heard anything other than he was literally the
most decent human being ever. I believe his daughter's active
on social media too. Is she follows me on Twitter?

Speaker 2 (02:05:54):
That's awesome?

Speaker 1 (02:05:55):
And I follow her on Twitter? Yeah, and she's she
does a lot with animals. I know that she puts
a lot of pictures of James Garner. For James Garner
in the mid nineteen eighties, did what film opposite of
Cee Thomas Howell not to be confused with Thurston Holle
see Thomas How the first thing that came to mind,
and I get this confused. I know it's not the

(02:06:16):
correct answer. I he feels to me, James Garner feels
to me like he would have been in like BJ
and the Bear or what was the other one, like
Canniball Runner, one of those movies. But I know it
wasn't that he was in Tank, Remember the movie Tank
was see Thomas How. I will say this, I'm surprised
that we haven't had some kind of reboot of the
Rockford Files in some way, because everything else has been rebooted,

(02:06:38):
has it not to this point? You know? It's funny, John,
When I was just in California, I was driving and
I actually saw a highway patrolman on the bike on
the heart. That's awesome. Its Chips. You call him a chip.
Say hey, John Baker, come over here, Ponge rolling around.
John Baker was straight at an arrow and Punch was
out there. Remember when Eric Estrada got in an actual

(02:06:59):
biking act and like the early eighties and like it
was like hell yeah, updates of it and the whole deal.
The greatest Chips episode of all time, is the roller
boogie episode. Remember when they had all the stars from
NBC kind of raising money for a cause.

Speaker 2 (02:07:15):
And they were all on and they were all.

Speaker 1 (02:07:17):
Roller discoing and it was like Todd Bridges and Dana
Plato and awesome. They must have filled it the same
day as Battle of the Network start. We'll look it
up on YouTube. Sometimes the roller disco episode of Chips
is incredible. John is up next. He will be with
you until six tonight. Correct, yes, sir, oring his Indiana

(02:07:37):
state T shirt. And we're brought to you by Love
Heating and Air three one seven, three five three twenty
one forty one, Love Dash HVAC dot com family O
business for over one hundred years in Central Indiana and
official highle Heating and Cooling dealers. So uh, the heat leaves,
that's me and now John the cool guy comes in.
That's the way we do it, and we do it
next

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