Tuesday 10/14/25: Purdue #1, Latest on Colts, and IU Thoughts

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Man, it is awesome out. I mean, we know, obviously
this time of year, it's always the weather's perfect, you know.
You just I just heard Kevin Bowen mentioning in one
of his ads there he's right, you know, it's that
time of year where you get up in the morning
and you get going, and then by the middle of

(00:20):
the day it's nice and warm out, and then by
the evening it's crisp and you're back into a jacket again.
It's a little bit helter skelter into terms of the thermometer,
but it's beautiful out. It's gorgeous, and you know, I
was thinking about the Colts and their upcoming game with
the Chargers, and typically Wednesday is when we really start

(00:42):
to kind of turn the calendar towards what's next. You know,
Monday we kind of rehash what happened in a Colts game,
and then today we kind of get a better feel
just from an injury standpoint, and then Tomorrow's when we
really start to look into it. But as I was watching,
and I'm not sure how this came to be, it

(01:04):
seems I don't think this was the case. Maybe it
was the case last Monday. I probably should have looked
this up before it came on. But now we're into
the thing where we gotta have two Monday night games,
not just one Monday night game, but we gotta have
two of them. But yet it doesn't seem like every
Monday that we have two games instead of one. So
as we just have one, then we have two. It's
all over the place, right, It's like it's like the

(01:24):
temperature this time of year, up down, up down, all
over the place. But last night there was it was
the one of those sports viewing orgies, if you will, right.
You got a little of everything going on, got the
Pacers in the preseason, you got baseball, and then not

(01:48):
one but two Monday night games. And I did go
to the Pacers game last night. We can and I
will bring that up later. We'll go over a little
of that. Scott Agne's gonna join us on the show today.
And then there's baseball and again I may die hard.
I mean, I've got the hat. I wore it the
other day. I've been a diehard Blue Jays fan now
for almost seven weeks. And you know, died in the wall,

(02:11):
live die every pitch. I mean, yeah, sure, mid eighties,
I was all in on the Blue Jays early nineties,
all in on the Blue Jays baseball. My fandom kind
of waned a little bit, but this postseason I've gotten
kind of into it again. I mean, I'm being facetious
on my blue but I'm that's who I'm rooting for.
So you had that going on. I was following that,

(02:33):
and then I mean the Mariners, I don't know what's
going on there. They've gone crazy with their bats, but
the big focus. By the time I got home from
the Pacer game and everything else, both games were wrapping up,
and I thought it was an interesting glimpse as to
where we are with the Colts. Talked about it yesterday,

(02:54):
right off the top, the surreal nature, the incredulous nature
by which I absorbed the fact and let it sink
in that the Colts, the Indianapolis Colts, are the number
one seed and the AFC. Yeah, I mean, there's we're
not even a third of the way through it. I
get it. But the best record in the NFL right

(03:18):
there at the top of Indianapolis Colts. And you know,
I was thinking about what is it that has made
this possible. There's a lot of things you can go
to and the defensive backfield is depleted with injury, and
they're still going out and they're getting players where they
can off other people's practice squads and everything else, and

(03:41):
their pass rush seems inconsistent. And that's an area that
I think it shows how hard it is to get
that right in the National Football League, because Chris Ballard
and the Colts have been I mean, that has been
a major point of emphasis for them. And yet still
while yea to La too. You know, when he was

(04:02):
drafted and Ballard going into, hey, we got the best
pass rusher in the league, and you know, laughing to
anybody that would look, that would look and you know
all of that, and he shows glimpses and flashes into
Forest Buckner's a really good player. And you know, they
got some guys that are that are solid, but it's
not a consistent pass rush. That's been an area of

(04:24):
weakness or inconsistency. But as I'm watching last night, I'm
watching Buffalo and Josh Allen and that offense, which is
proficient and efficient at you know, at times clicks on
all cylinders, and even when it's not going on all cylinders,

(04:46):
you're always under the expectation that that Buffalo offense can
jump start at any time because you've got Josh Allen
under center. And I'm watching Atlanta with you know, Michael Pennix,
and again inconsistent word of the day, like the temperature
great certain parts of the day then cools off. There

(05:10):
are so many teams in the NFL right now that
that's what they look like in Atlanta last night was
able to They looked very good defensively, they limited Allen,
and they could control the game and the clock in
the tempo because they could keep the ball on the ground.

(05:32):
And that's the NFL and this cyclical back and forth
theme of the day. One of the things in the
NFL has been the priority of, or the importance of
the running game and having a good running back and
controlling the ball on the ground. And we're back now
that we're back to the point now where the running

(05:54):
game is important. A couple of years ago, it was like,
and listen, I was as guilty as as anyone one
of saying, you know, look, the Colts are building a
roster based on the trenches and a running back. It's
like trying to build an NBA team with In twenty
twenty five, with Charles Oakley and Patrick Ewing. You know,
the game has gotten away from that, but it's kind

(06:16):
of come back now. The way this Colts team was
built are like that favorite sweatshirt you had that like
for a while there was a little outdated and now
it's like retro and cool again. And I'm watching it
Atlanta and I'm seeing the way that they're controlling the
game on the ground and just keeping the ball out
of Allen's hands a little bit and keeping him at bay.

(06:37):
Then I go over to Chicago and Washington. You've got
two quarterbacks that can run the football, that are dynamic
because of the fact that if the pocket is collapsing,
they can get themselves out and make plays. And I
think the world of Jade Daniels. I think he's a
very good player, but the and Caleb Williams is starting

(06:59):
to coming to his own a little bit. But again inconsistency, right.
But the thing that I noticed in watching those games
is the light bulb went off for me. The epiphany
was there. I don't know whether it was the foresight
and the brilliance of Chris Ballard. I don't know whether

(07:22):
it was just holding onto that sweatshirt long enough that
it came back in vogue. But this team, this Colts
team right now is winning in the NFL in twenty
twenty five and off to the start they're off to
because they are able to do the things that are

(07:44):
in its simplistic form, almost elementary and at times archaic
in football. But we've gotten away from the four hundred
yard passing, wild throwing all over the field, you know,
basketball on grass level NFL, and it's come back a
little bit to the old school, which is winning the

(08:04):
trenches and control the football. And as I was watching
last night, I got to thinking about what I haven't
seen this year from the Colts, and what I haven't
seen this year from the Colts that I've seen with
other teams in the league. And then I looked it
up and I was surprised, not shocked, but surprised. Oh wow,

(08:31):
I guess maybe this was right before me and I
didn't necessarily let it sink in. There is an area
in the National Football League where the Colts are dead last,
thirty second, dead last. You sit there and you scan
through it and you're going, Where's Indianapolis And you're rolling

(08:53):
through and you're looking at teams like Baltimore teams that
we since Washington, San Francisco, Buffalo teams that we thought
were going to be at the best, And yet the
Cults are at the bottom of this particular list thirty

(09:14):
second out of thirty two and that is number of
times their quarterback has been sacked. So technically speaking, the
Colts are first because you want to be last. This
is like golf right low score wins. They are protecting
Daniel Jones, and Daniel Jones is taking advantage of that

(09:37):
by making all of the right throws, making the right decisions,
and more importantly, showing the mental fortitude, the moxie to
come back from when a drive doesn't go his way
or a throw doesn't go his way, and resetting and
coming back and being efficient and proficient at times. And

(09:57):
then of course you add to that that Jonathan Taylor
is running the football and keeping it away from other
teams and salting clock at the end of games. The
recipe is very simple. You let Daniel Jones, you protect him,
You let him make some throws here and there, you
get out to a lead, and then you've got Jonathan

(10:18):
Taylor there as your bell cow, and you know what,
try stopping that come and get us, and that line
is playing to the point, and you've got again, you know,
Ryan Kelly, who was a really good player and a
really good citizen and all the things that you would
want within your franchise. But it was not long ago

(10:38):
when we were leading this show by talking about the
fact that Ryan Kelly was open of saying, yeah, I
was interested in re signing, but the Colts told me
that they'd rather wait, and they're not ready to lock
me in just yet. And at the time, you thought,
is Bortolini ready to be the center? Do they have

(11:02):
the solidarity at line? I mean, that's an important piece.
Ryan Kelly's been a quarterback of that offensive line for
a long time when he's been healthy, and yet they
make that plunge in here they are and that group
is protecting Daniel Jones. And you know what group is
not protecting their quarterback. You know what group? You don't
have to look very long when you look at number

(11:23):
of sacks allowed in the National Football League Number one
New York Jets. That group is a dumpster fire. If
Aaron Glenn's is still holding that job by Thanksgiving, it'll
surprise me. We've already seen. You know, coaches in the NFL,
Coaching changes in the NFL, oftentimes everybody's waiting to be

(11:49):
that first frame. You know who's going to be the
first coach fired, Who's going to be the first coach fired?
And unfortunately, you don't want anybody to ever lose their job.
But unfortunately when that happens, then the dominoes start falling
because it's like franchises like, well, okay, others have done it,
here we go. You would have to think Miami probably
also in that mix. But Justin Fields is not being
protected with the New York Jets. Part of that is
on Justin Fields. Part of that's on Justin Fields, but

(12:11):
the New York Jets. Second, Tennessee rookie quarterback and cam Ward.
Part of that's on the quarterback holding onto the football
too long, not going through your reads. Number of different
factors that come into play there. But Tennessee second in
terms of sacks allowed, you don't have to go very
far down right down the list. Right their fifth, the

(12:34):
Los Angeles Chargers and Justin Herbert, who I think the
world of, but the best medicine right now for the Colts,
and that defense might be going up against Justin Herbert
and the LA Chargers And that sounds crazy, big arm
arm talent, right Justin Herbert's like the first quarterback where

(12:54):
we heard about arm talent. But the Chargers are not
protecting him, and that offensive line is porous, and you're
able to get to Justin Herbert and interrupt and disrupt
things and get him out of flow. And that may
be the perfect medicine right now for a Colts defense

(13:15):
that is in need of breaking out and feeling good
about themselves. And this I'm telling you their pass rush
is not incompetent Indianapolis's, but it's not what I think
you wanted to be considering the amount of investment in
terms of time that they have put into it year
in and year out. But it's a simple formula, Like

(13:37):
the Colts are winning with a simple formula. They're protecting
their quarterback, they're running the football, they're making smart plays
when they need to, and they're protecting the football. They're
not turning it over. Pretty simple formula. Can they maintain
and sustain that? The more I think about it, and
the more I look at it and the more I
analyze it, the more I'm starting to feel better. About

(14:00):
the colts chances. On Sunday in Los Angeles against the Chargers,
I think the only game so far that they played,
and I'd have to go back and look at it.
When we make our weekly predictions. I think I might
have predicted the Rams would beat the Colts. I can't remember,
but that was the only game going into it that
I thought to myself, Okay, this is gonna be an up,

(14:20):
and I thought that about the Chargers. When the schedule
came out. I looked at it and thought, that's gonna
be two tough games in LA, the Rams and the Chargers.
And yet are there really games you look at that
jump out at you and you say, that's gonna be
a tough one. No, the Chargers are one that you
thought that was gonna be tough. Now I look at it,
and the more I'm looking into it, the more I'm

(14:41):
trying to find reasons why the Colts won't win. It's
unbelievable to me. Here we are Week six and we
are searching for reasons why the Colts won't win a game,
or Week seven or whatever it is.

Speaker 2 (14:55):
Now.

Speaker 1 (14:55):
I mean they're five to one, right so Week seven,
I guess technically through now, I got to thinking about
this as I woke up this morning. I woke up
this morning and there's something weird about that October sun.
I think it has something to do with the humidity
level or whatever. But anybody noticed this? Am I the
only one? Corbyn. Langenfelzer is in for Eddie Garrison. Eddie's

(15:17):
on vacation. He's down in Florida. He's got himself some
serf side down there. He's living large, you know whatever, Corbyn,
have you noticed that? Maybe it's just me. Maybe it's
the power of suggestion. Maybe it's the thought process of
the harvest sun in Indiana, the autumn, the you know,

(15:38):
the the corn huskin and haunted houses and all that. Right,
is it me, Corbyn? And feel free to disagree with me.
I think it has to do with like the human
I don't know, the humidity levels, is what I'm going with.
The sunrise is more colorful and orange than it is
in the dead of summer in October. Yeah, I agree
with you. Like like when the sun is beaming through,

(16:00):
it's this radiant, radiant orange as opposed to the just
the yellow heat that you feel like in the middle
of August. It's glorious, right it's radiant, it's beautiful, everything,
like you just get up and you're like, let's go.
And this morning I got up and it was this
orange hue that was overcoming through the windows. Gorgeous, beautiful,

(16:23):
and I thought to myself, this is right now being
a sports fan in Central Indiana. Think about it. Sometimes
I'm asking you people right now in Indianapolis, Indiana, if
you're listening to my voice, or if you are mo
in Ohio, or if you are in Colorado. I know
we got people from that live out in Colorado, that

(16:44):
grew up Indiana, that listened to the program Florida occasionally
get stuck people from Florida that will message me, you know, hey,
we listen to the show because we're from Indiana. We
want to know what's going on. No matter where you
are right now, that orange, radiant glo low of a
beautiful sunrise in October and Indianapolis, Indiana is representative right

(17:06):
now of what it means to be a sports fan
of the teams of Central Indiana. Think about this. I
don't know that we've had it like this in a while,
And sometimes I think that, like Ferris Bueller said, life
moves too fast. You got to stop and look around
every once in a while, and people need to do it.
Right now, you have in college basketball the number one

(17:30):
ranked team in the country in the preseason AP Top
twenty five right here, State of Indiana and Purdue Purdue.
Since twenty ten is Gonzaga, Kansas, Kentucky, Purdue, and Duke five.
Those are the five schools in the last sixteen years
that have managed to be ranked number one in college

(17:51):
basketball in five at some point in five consecutive seasons.
And the Purdue boiler Makers right here, Central Indiana number
one in the country. College football. Now, I know that
Nore Dame is not in Central Indiana, but it's kind
of rooted in it because there's a huge fan base here.
It's in Indiana school And I know that Notre Dame

(18:14):
got off to that slow start with two losses, but
I'm telling you right now, they're one of the ten
best teams in college football, and I believe they're going
to be in the College Football Playoff. I think Marcus
Freeman can flat out coach. I think that they are
starting to hit their stride. They got a young quarterback
Notre Dame really good and then, of course, arguably the

(18:35):
best team in the country in college football is fifty
two miles south of here, the third ranked, best ever ranking.
We've talked a lot about it. Kurt Signetti and Indiana
and the best story in college football happening with Indiana
and the rest of the country that we're going to
play for you coming up later in the show. They

(18:55):
are in total disbelief over the Indiana fight and Hoosiers
and the fact that it is still surreal because it
even the biggest of Indiana fans, my buddy, Rob Whittaker.
Rob Whittaker is convinced Indiana could literally start tomorrow Ali

(19:17):
from Hoosiers at point guard. I'm talking today, not nineteen,
I'm talking today Ali, late fifties, early sixties year old love.
He could start a point guard for Indiana. And Rob
Whitaker would send me a text like and I'm telling you,
I think he's pretty good, Like this team's this team special.
And Rob Whittaker is like so many of the guys

(19:38):
I grew up with as an Indiana fan that are
died in the wall, run through a brick wall for
Indiana Athletics. And even Rob Whittaker when I talked to him,
is like, I still can't believe they went in there
and absolutely out Oregon. Oregon outsped, Oregon punched him in
the mouth. Sent a statement to the rest of the
college football world. You better wake up now and take

(19:59):
it for this is not This is not TIMU Alabama.
This is legitimate Indiana Indiana right now is they may
be Ohio State is really good. I'm gonna take Ohio
State out of the equation outside of Indiana, may be
the best team in the country. I'm not kidding you.
Miami's good. Okay, Ohio State again, I'm taking Ohio State

(20:25):
out of the equation. Ohio State's best team in the county.
Really but we're gonna say Indiana right then, You've got
last night the Pacers, and I'm at the Pacers game,
and I'm intrigued by the center by committee variation of
the Pacers, and I want to see between James Wiseman
and Isaiah Jackson and Jay Huff like which one's the guy.

(20:49):
And it's a work in progress for certain, because I
know that Indiana wants to play at a fast pace
and that that is the one area and I don't
think that their long term center is on the roster
right now. I really don't believe that. I think that
you go through this year and then you find out
who your guy is going to be. But that's up

(21:10):
to Kevin Pritchard and Chad Buchanan and Rick Carlisle for
this year. I'm intrigued by those three centers. But I
have to admit last night I was watching it thinking,
please tell me there's more here. But it's the preseason
and Benedict Mathern was the big story because Benedict Matheren

(21:32):
was hitting everything. He's pulling up from three, he's knocking
it down, he's mid range game, he's knocking it down,
He's he was didn't miss a shot in the second quarter,
he goes for thirty one, and I'm thinking to myselfie,
here we go. Now we can talk about the fact
that that does come with a little bit of a

(21:52):
curveball variation of potential issue because if Benedict Mathern had
this massive year, then what do you do? Because it
feels to me like Benedict Matheren is playing his way
into a really lucrative deal with like the Washington Wizards,

(22:13):
or that some other team is gonna come and say
this is our twenty two point per game guy. We're
gonna give him a big time deal. And they're gonna
price themselves above and beyond what Indiana is able to
do because the Pacers are gonna of course, you know,
you got Nim Hardy, got Nie Smith, you got You're
probably gonna have to go and get a center, et cetera.
I mean there's a lot, you know, Siakam, there's a

(22:34):
lot of money tied up in other areas. But nonetheless,
as I'm watching the Pacers last night and I go
walk around during the half, met Brandon really good, dude.
You know, we're standing there going through the gift shop
and they've got all this stuff that's on sale, and
it was cool, and it's just it's like it's just

(22:55):
now sinking in. I'm like, wow, they really were in
the finals. So here you have in the NBA a
team that was an Eastern Conference champion, that represented the
Eastern Conference, that was a half away from winning the
NBA title three months ago. And even though they're down
Tyre's Halliburton, and even though Miles Turner is now in Milwaukee,

(23:17):
there is this optimism and this euphoria about the Pacers
because you have to believe in that vision, and they've
earned the right for us to believe in their vision
of who and what they can be. So I'm like, okay,
college basketball check Indiana, Epicenter perdue number one, college football
check Indiana. The talk of college football people nationwide asking themselves,

(23:44):
who is this signetti guy? What is this? And I
realized that that happened last year as well. But the
reality now that last year was no fluke, and Indiana
is here atop the college football world where everything is
lined up for them to be able to do it
in the nil port world, and Indiana takes advantage more
than anybody else and puts themselves right in the epicenter

(24:05):
and the Colts being the best team in the AFC
and the Pacers being the Eastern Conference reigning champions. That,
you know, I realized a couple of years ago the
Pacer said to us, Kevin Pritchard, Chad Buchanon, Rick Carlisle,
they said to the fan base, and it wasn't long ago.
They said, guys, we just need you to be patient.

(24:28):
We've traded Domas Sobonis. We we have a young player
in Halliburton that we like, we're starting here, we're gonna
build this thing up, and we're going to ask you
to be patient with us. And you know what, it
paid off. And for that reason, this year there's going
to be some adjustment and some acclamation to the fact

(24:51):
of still absorbing how close it was but yet how
far and with Halliburton out and Turner and Milwaukee, but
they've earned a benefit of the doubt of us saying
we're on board. We'll be patient for one more year
because last time you asked for our patients, you arrived
even faster than we expected it to happen. So it

(25:11):
is literally this glorious time in Central Indiana, and we
should soak it all in. We should embrace it. We
should live in the moment. We should enjoy the glorious
shoe of that orange sunrise. It's not a sunset, it's
a sunrise that's taking place right now of sports in
Central Indiana. And I'm here for it. I'm here for it,
and I'm blessed and fortunate to have this job to

(25:32):
share it with all of you and talk about it
every single day. And one of the things we're going
to talk about is the fact that the number one
team in the land in college basketball is right here
just north of us with Purdue. And that's why the
voice of the boil Makers, Rob Blackman, going to join
us on the other side, Steven Holder today will play
for you some of the comments nationally about Kurt Signetti
and the fact that Signetti when it comes to Penn State,

(25:54):
there might be a reprieve for Indiana, but it could
come at the cost of other fans within Indianapolis. We'll
get to all of it over the course of today.
Rob Blackman next, Steven Holder coming up one o'clock today.
By the way, Dave says, Jake, I can't believe you
didn't mention the fever. I was just talking about the
teams that are in season right now. You got and

(26:17):
I realize you know Purdue hasn't started yet, but I'm saying,
you got the Pacers getting ready to start. You've got
Indiana in season, You've got the Colts in season, and
you've got the number one team in college basketball, the
Purdue Boilermakers. Joining us now on the Java House. Peel
and poor guest line. He is the radio play by
play voice of the Predue Boilermaker basketball program. You hear
him on the football broadcast as well, and he shares

(26:39):
a birthday with what is destined to be eventually a
national holiday because we have the same birthday. Rob Blackman
joining me on the show. Rob, how are you?

Speaker 3 (26:48):
That's right, Jake, Rob and Sting Ray, Rob of IndyCar
racing fame all September third birthdays?

Speaker 1 (26:56):
You know who else? By the way, Rob and we
probably we probably have stop there while we w're ahead.
Charlie Sheen as well as September third birthday.

Speaker 3 (27:03):
I believe have you watched the documentary on Charlie Sheen?

Speaker 1 (27:08):
So you know, I interesting you mentioned that I caught
probably the last third of it because I got Shannon
was watching it and I got over to her house
and I'm like, what are we watching here? And then
you know, it was like this vortex you couldn't get
out of once you start watching it. And I will say,
you know, my Charlie Sheen actually, so I assume you've
seen the documentary, correct, Yes, I have, Yes, Yeah, he's

(27:30):
a bit of a wild lifestyle. One of the things
that I don't know if this was covered in the documentary,
but I've got to give Charlie Sheen his Flowers here.
One of the things he did, Rob that I always
thought was cool was do you remember the time when
he bought the entire left field seats at Dodger Stadium.

Speaker 3 (27:49):
I had forgotten about that, but yes, now that you
bring it up, Like.

Speaker 1 (27:53):
He always wanted to get a home run ball, so
he bought the entire left field seats and just sat
by himself. And I don't think anybody hit a homer, right, No.

Speaker 3 (28:01):
I think that was the story, right. That was ended
up being the whole the storyline was the fact that
no one ever hit.

Speaker 4 (28:07):
A home run the day.

Speaker 1 (28:08):
You know, knowing Charlie Sheen, he probably did that when
they were playing the Giants to try to get a
Barry Bonds ball and didn't think about the fact that
he should have bought it in right field instead of
left right, you.

Speaker 4 (28:18):
Know what I mean?

Speaker 1 (28:19):
Yeah, exactly. All right, let's talk about this, Rob. You know,
I don't think it's any big surprise that Matt Paynter's
group is ranked number one. And I think one of
the things, and I've we talked about this with the Corsi,
but but you know, you see it up close and personal.
One of the things about Purdue basketball Rob to me
that makes this so both special and impressive is this

(28:43):
is because of the experience and not that they're not
great players that Purdue has, but the challenge in today's
world of keeping a unit together and having them buy
in and continue to not search greener pastors elsewhere. I'm
not saying they're not getting an ie money, but you
got what I'm saying there. What is it about Purdue
basketball that so far, to this point has been able

(29:07):
to buck the trend of its mainline players constantly coming
and going.

Speaker 4 (29:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (29:14):
So, you know, I've heard Matt Painter speak on this
numerous times this summer because that's been a pretty popular question,
as you might imagine. And I also heard both Trey Kaufman,
Wren and Braydon Smith speak to this at media day
last week, the Big Ten Media Day, and the word
they all kept using was family. And I know it
sometimes that can sound a bit hokey because I understand

(29:35):
that every team atmosphere is trying to try and to
make it family like, but they really do feel like
they're part of the family and that it goes further
than just basketball and what happens on the court, and
there is something to be said for having a coaching
staff and an administration that truly believes in what's best
for you. As Matt Painter likes to say, once the
ball stops bouncing, because as most of our guys figure out,

(29:58):
eventually that ball does stop bounce, you have to do
something else in life besides play basketball. So that's the
word that seems to be thrown around a lot, and
I think it is fair. I think it certainly is
appropriate that it is a family atmosphere that once you're there,
you really feel like you're you're a part of something
bigger than just basketball. Now, Matt Painter has also been

(30:18):
very clear that, you know, Purdue's never had in this
in this modern day now transfer portal stuff, Purdue has
never had a starter that has has entered the portal.

Speaker 4 (30:26):
Now.

Speaker 3 (30:26):
We've had some guys that played some minutes and played
off the off the bench, but as far as a
guy that was in the regular starting lineup, they've never left.
So obviously there's something about coming to Purdue and you know,
not only having a chance to play, but having a
chance to again put yourself in a position where you
can do something with your life. When basketball is all
said and done. So certainly you and you brought it

(30:47):
up there, you kind of hinted at it. Braden Smith
and Trey Coffin Rinn and Fletcher Lawyer. I am certain
they had opportunities this offseason to go play somewhere else
and probably make a little bit more money, if not
a lot more money, and making it for Doe. But
they certainly enjoy where they're at. They love being Purdue
basketball players, and again they feel like they're part of
something bigger than just basketball. So that is at least

(31:10):
with this group of guys, at least the guys we've
seen here in the last really ten or twelve years
or so. That's that's that's been something that's been very
important to them.

Speaker 1 (31:17):
What would you say is Charlie Sheen's signature role Rob.

Speaker 3 (31:22):
Oh? Well, here's the problem. This will be a little
off the wall because it's one of my all time
favorite movies. But so me personally, I go with Young Guns. Okay,
I know he gets killed in Young Guns. I understand that,
but that's one of my all time favorite movies.

Speaker 1 (31:39):
So when I think.

Speaker 3 (31:40):
Charlie Sheen is always the first movie that comes to
my mind.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
Here's what's funny, for me, I mean major league, you know,
like I look at his list and I'm like, oh gosh,
major league, Like how do how do you forget? You know,
Ricky Vaughn? Right? But absolutely, But I but probably because
it was the first time I kind of was introduced
to him, even though it was a cameo that was
very brief, Ferris Bueller's Day Off jumps out at me.

(32:06):
I know, that's crazy. And obviously Platoon is the most
decorated pardon the pun movie that he was in. And
then two and a half minute goes without saying if
you're doing TV, but you know, I don't. I mean,
would it be major league? Is that what the general
population would say, you think? Or Platoon? No?

Speaker 3 (32:24):
I think I think major League would be the especially
the audience that's listening to us right now. But it's interesting.
You really do need to watch the documentary Jake, because
they talk specifically about his role in Ferris Bueller's Day
Off and and really what a breakthrough point it was
for him in his career. I'm not going to ruin
it for you, but you really do need to watch
the documentary because that's that's something they spend I don't

(32:47):
know good four or five minutes talking about by.

Speaker 1 (32:49):
The way, just so so that we're clear rob in
terms of the audience listening, that's listening to us right now,
that's my mom. That's basically yet just so you know,
I know the feeling. Trust me. Hey, what new faces.
So let's just for example, if Braydon Smith and Fletcher
Lawyer and you know, obviously Trey Koppin Rehn, I mean,

(33:10):
if that's your major League two and a half men,
Ferris Bueler's day off right. Bottom line is Charlie Sheen
had other movies where there were complimentary roles. Give me
a player or two that are new cast members to
Purdue that you think actually can have complimentary role or
even become almost a starring role for the Boilers this year,
that we may not be familiar with going into it.

Speaker 3 (33:32):
Well, I think most the general fan base is going
to say omer Meyer. And while I certainly believe, yes,
he's going to be a guy that can help this
team eventually, he's the freshman from Tel Aviv, Israel who
spent his past season playing for Team Israel in the
FEVA Games, and he certainly looks the part, making no
mistake about it, I do think the most important new

(33:52):
piece is going to be Oscar Kluff. He's a young
man transferred in from South Dakota State. Played at two
seasons at Washington State before that too, seasons of junior
college before that, So he's a veteran guy. Been around
the block double double last year, averaged a double double
for South Dakota State and was you know, for those
that follow this kind of stuff, he was picked as

(34:13):
the number one overall transfer portal of all the transfer
guys this past offseason by a number of publications. So, uh,
he's going to really help for two reasons. Number one,
his rebounding. It will be much needed. You know, two
seasons ago, when Purdue goes all the way to the
national championship game, Perdue was the second best rebounding team
in the country at about plus eleven point five eleven
point six somewhere in there per game. You know, last

(34:35):
year that number was down to about one point five
a game, plus one point five. So Oscar Cluff's going
to really help shore up the rebounding. And the second
thing he's going to do is offer some produce an
interior defense. Now, look, Daniel Jacobson is back you know,
he's seven foot four, played only one game last year
because he broke his foot in that game and then
didn't get to play the rest of the season. So

(34:56):
he's going to help in that in that role. But
so will Oscar Cluff, who who was really an underrated
interior post defender. You know, Purdue at the worst two
point defensive percentage defense in the country last year.

Speaker 4 (35:08):
Think about that.

Speaker 3 (35:09):
They were the worst in the nation of every Division
One team at two point field goal percentage, which meant
obviously everyone's getting to the rim and finishing with either
layups or dunks. So uh that's never good. Uh So
those are the and those so those are the two
areas that absolutely had to be short up rebounding and
defensive field goal percentage in the paint. And that's where

(35:29):
Oscar Cluff, I think, is going to really make the biggest,
the biggest splash for Purdue.

Speaker 1 (35:33):
By the way, I've not seen Young Guns, and you
already spoiled it to me that Charlie Sheen dies early.
Is that a critical part of the movie. Did you
waste the whole thing for me?

Speaker 4 (35:42):
Ah?

Speaker 3 (35:42):
Well, yeah, it's critical, but you haven't seen Young Guns.

Speaker 1 (35:46):
I don't think I have you. I don't think I have.

Speaker 3 (35:48):
The greatest films ever ever made.

Speaker 1 (35:52):
I mean I was reading a list just the other
day that had sound and music, Wizard of Oz, Young
Guns right there, top three, right, great films of all time.

Speaker 3 (36:01):
Yeah, you haven't seen the Wizard of Oz.

Speaker 1 (36:03):
No, I'm being sarcastic. I'm saying you're saying it's one
of the great films of all time. I believe, personally,
Rob this goes back to one of my great radio
segments of all time that I'm shocked didn't win me
a Marconi. I personally believe I did an entire segment
on this one time. Derek Schultzen I got into a
furious debate and argument at this didn't talk to each
other for six months. It was the best six months
in my life. I believe that The Wizard of Oz

(36:26):
is the most widely It is the movie that has
been seen by the highest percentage of living Americans.

Speaker 3 (36:31):
Your thoughts, living Americans, I would say that's probably correct.
I would say if you include those that are living
and those deceased, gone with the wind, might actually take
the honors. But yeah, I would say live in American.

Speaker 1 (36:48):
The thing about Wizard of Oz is like it's one
of those movies though that most people you can't even
remember the first time you've seen it. You just have
all You're just like, I don't know, I've just seen
I've seen it a hundred times, you know what I mean.

Speaker 3 (36:58):
Totally agree, But let's not get sidetracked here. I am
thoroughly disappointed.

Speaker 1 (37:04):
I try, I try to throw you off the scent
there of you're you're a gast of horror with this. Hey,
I want to get back into real quick talking about Jacobson,
And you know, you mentioned the fact that a year ago,
you know, Daniel Jacobson to me is fascinating because we
so often rob think of guys as who it is

(37:25):
that they're replacing. So you look at him and you go, well,
they had Zach Edy and now Jacobson. You know, they
got another seven to four guy, and here goes Matt
Painter again. But to me, he looked like and I'm
not saying Zach Edy wasn't a remarkably fluid player for
his size, because he was, but he wasn't early on.
Jacobson to me, appears to have a natural fluidity about

(37:46):
him from the get go. That we have not seen before.
Am I off base there? What kind of a player
or what kind of use will they will they try
to involve him with.

Speaker 3 (37:56):
Yeah, certainly more fluid, I think, just as a guy
that doesn't play like he's seven foot four can step
out and shoot the three, has done that consistently in practice.
That's obviously something Zach Edy never did. Now it's ironic
that Zach's doing that in the NBA now, but he
made only one three point basket his whole Purdue career.
And also very light and nimble on his feet is

(38:19):
Daniel Jacobson. That's what makes him such a good rem protector. Certainly,
not his physical as Zach Edy, not even close to
the physical physicality that Zach Edy had in the low post,
but nimble on his feet, real, really real good sense
of timing when it comes to blocking shots, really good
sense for that. So again that's where it's Purdue's going
to be looking for help in those areas. As I

(38:41):
mentioned earlier with Oscar Cluff, that's where Daniel Jacobson is
really going to help out. But yes, I would agree,
yes both are you know Zach seven foot four, Daniel
seven foot four. Everyone wants just to make the automatic
comparison that they're one and the same, when when you're right,
there are two really very different players.

Speaker 1 (38:57):
Lastly, Rob, before we let you go, I'd been remissed
by didn't ask you about the football side of things,
because obviously you work on that broadcast as well. Tough
one at Minnesota. I thought, actually Purdue kind of had
that one. It got away from him a little bit.
What areas I guess have even though I realize, I
mean Barry Otems groups lost four in a row, but

(39:18):
I do think that they seem sound you know what
I mean. I think they just seem like a group
that is a little more disciplined than what we saw
a year ago. The area that they need to really
shore up here before they go into Northwestern and then
take on Rutgers.

Speaker 3 (39:32):
Well, if you're going to give, if you want one answer,
it would be turnovers. I mean, Purdue is minus ten
in the turnover game right now, and that's through six games.
It's impossible to win in the Big Ten when you're
minus ten on the season. Perdue has only two takeaways defensively,
one interception, one fumble recovery. As crazy as that sounds,
we're through six games now, but that would be the
one area that absolutely if Purdue could just just flip

(39:55):
the script in the turnover game, even in save this
upcoming game against Northwest, and you feel pretty good that
Purdue could win. I watching that game, and if my
own two eyes on Saturday night in Minnesota, I thoroughly
felt like Purdue was the better team. You know, they
held Minnesota to just thirty yards rushing, and this is
Minnesota team that makes its living by running a football.

(40:16):
Purdue was was able to run the football themselves. Purdue
marched the ball up and down the field all game long,
quite frankly, and other than really two offensive series from Minnesota,
the Gophers didn't do anything offensively. So I felt like
Purdue was the better team. But hey, you know, at
the end of the day, it's all about what the
final score is for who the better team was. But
that would be yes if I'm you know, if the

(40:37):
question is, what's the one thing you start right there
with turnovers? If Purdue could just even get even in
the turnover game, I do feel like produe still has
two or three wins left on the schedule in front
of them.

Speaker 1 (40:47):
Here again, Purdue number one in college basketball college football
for the boiler Makers. It is upcoming at Northwestern this weekend.
Rob appreciate the time as always, Man.

Speaker 3 (40:59):
Yes, now go run young Guns tonight.

Speaker 1 (41:03):
I will. I'll head right over to Blockbuster on my
way home. Yes, I'll even rewind right, don't be fine,
That's right, all right, Rob, appreciate it Rob Blackman joining
us on the program We Come Back. I mentioned in
college football Kurt Signetti has people talking and not necessarily
favorably all the time, and who might be suddenly perking

(41:29):
some ears in state college about Penn State when it
comes to the state of Indiana. I'll explain next. Thank
you to Rob Blackman for his time. Also appreciate, by
the way, the following tweet that was sent to me
from John. Hey, Jake, opening segment was so good. You've

(41:52):
got away with putting things in perspective without sounding fake
or forced. Wishing you continued success and good health, John.
I appreciate that very much. I am both probably fake
and forced depending on who you ask, But I don't know, Corbyn,
what do you think you? Eddie is typically the guy
that has to spend three hours a day with me,
and you are now in here Corbyn Langenfelter, by the way,
who is also the master control operator and producer for

(42:14):
the IndyCar Radio Network. But typically when people, if my
name comes up, you tell them that I'm fake, fake
and forced. Right. Sure, so, John, I'm glad. I I'm
glad I fooled you. No, I appreciate the kind words.
Paul Finebaum is a guy that has obviously been a
long time college football mostly SEC honk. I like Bomb

(42:37):
Fine Bomb. I think he you know, he does a
good job, but he is rooted in the Southeast. He
has long been, and I certainly understand it, an advocate
for the strength of the SEC. And I think that
he is slow to the party of accepting and acknowledging
that Indiana is here and Indiana perhaps might be here

(42:58):
to stay. But I found this interesting. He was on
with Matt Barry The Matt Berry Show, which is presented
by All State on ESPN, where they taught college football
and Fine Bomb has been i'll say, a skeptic when
it comes to Kurt Signetti and acknowledging that Indiana and
what they did last year might not have been a
flash in the pan fluke, but might in fact not

(43:20):
being fake and forced, but might be for real. And
he was asked, was Paul Finebaum about Kurt Signetti, and
notably was asked basically Matt Barry said, look, you don't
like the guy, do you? And Fine Bomb had the
following to say, no, I mean.

Speaker 5 (43:35):
They answered pretty simple, I think you know me, I
should right, I mean, I respect him to no n
But he's brash, he's over the top. He's had the
last laugh, which is a really great attribute for somebody
who is successful, and he's probably laughing right now watching

(43:57):
this guy with no hair gave me no shot. He
laughed at me, and look who's got to laugh now.
Indiana has absolutely nothing going for it, or had nothing
going for it until Signetti got there. And we can
sit here at the rest of the afternoon and try
to find more reasons, but it comes down to him.

Speaker 1 (44:18):
It's that simple. And that's the thing that to me
is curious for Fine Bomb to finally acknowledge Signetti and say, look,
I don't like him. He's brash, he's in your face,
he's arrogant, he's all those things. But he does win
and he is the reason Indiana has turned this around,
and that's significant to me. Because Signetti does have on

(44:41):
his resume, of course, connection to working for Alabama and
Nick Saban And while Alabama has steadied the ship a
little bit here, while a lot of people talk about
Signetti with Penn State, and I don't think Signetti has
any interest in leaving Indiana, but you do wonder if

(45:01):
Alabama ever came open, he would be at the top
of anybody's list. As for Penn State, there is now
speculation that another name, I think Matt Ruhle, is the
clubhouse leader for that job. I mentioned it only because
Signetty has been mentioned, because he's a Pennsylvania native. I
don't think that that's a possibility. But Marcus Freeman of
Notre Dame is now one that there are reports out

(45:24):
of Pennsylvania that perhaps Penn State could place a call
to South Bend. And Marcus Freeman, again, why would you
leave Notre Dame in the situation he has for Penn State.
I guess it all comes down to dollars, right, But
interesting thing to keep an eye on, Steven Holder when
it comes to the Colts. There is one area that
is a big question mark for me, and I'm going

(45:46):
to ask Steven about it next one o'clock hour underway
on a really good looking Tuesday outside. My name is
Jake Querry Corbyn Lingenfelter is the guy pushing the buttons
and putting it all together for us today. Eddie Garrison
on vacation, Joining me now on the Java House Peeling
Poor guest line. By the way, Java house dot com,

(46:08):
you can get twenty five percent off your first order.
I'm talking about Peel and Poor and they are fabulous.
Whether we are talking about the variety of coffees they
have Colombian coffee being my personal favorite in that regard.
But don't forget, especially if you've got kids that are
involved in sports, the liquid science, which is essentially their hydration.

(46:28):
Whether you want the Arctic freeze or the orange flavoring
it is you want to talk economic, you get that,
You add it to water and there you go. For
the kids after practice, or for anybody for that matter.
They have, of course the always popular Wrangler Energy drink
as well, twenty five percent off at Jake twenty five
as the code to use when you check out. That's Jake,

(46:49):
that's my name, and then the number two and the
number five Jake twenty five. Joining me now, on the
Java House peeling poor guest line from ESPN dot Com
Stevenholder joining me. Steven, I'm going to begin with this.
I'm mentioned this off the top of the show going
into the season. I don't know that I anticipated that
the Colts would be right now the top of the

(47:11):
heap in terms of protecting the quarterback. Sacks allowed, the
Colts are giving up the fewest in the National Football League.
Is that because of the solidarity of this line or
because of just the way Daniel Jones is getting rid
of the football and the way Shaneestykeen is designing plays?

Speaker 4 (47:32):
Terrible answer, But it's all of the above. Well, before
I go on, you know you've made it when you've
got your own.

Speaker 1 (47:37):
Discount code, don't you love?

Speaker 4 (47:39):
That's that's big time. Okay, I know people. I can
say that.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
I know people.

Speaker 4 (47:46):
So here's here's why. It's all of the above. Because
any one thing is not enough to achieve that. In
other words, like just you know, delivering the football quickly
is not enough because those throws won't all ways be
available to you, or just an offensive line being really good.
That's not singularly enough. It has to be all of

(48:07):
it and here's why because or here's how that's happening.
I should say they have a situation where all those
things are sort of intersecting, if you will. Right, why
is Daniel Jones able to get the ball out quickly?
To some degree, it's because Shane Stykeen is very skilled

(48:30):
at putting together really good route combinations and getting guys open.
It's also a product of Daniel Jones understanding the coverage
before the snap, which is the most important part, right,
It's what got him the job, is his ability to
understand what's happening before the snap and then what he
does behind closed doors money through Friday too, right, So

(48:53):
that is playing out as well. And then you have
an offensive line that I think has exceeded expectations. I
didn't think they would be bad. I never said that,
but I thought this might be a process, like it
might take some time for these particular five guys to
really gel. They've gelled I think from day one, frankly,
and this has been a really good group. So it's

(49:15):
all coming together. Pass protection is a function of all
of that, and they're getting great performances in all of
those areas.

Speaker 1 (49:25):
Steven, when you look at you know Daniel Jones in
general and what he's done this year. It really is
a great story. I mean, it might be the best
story in the National Football League right now, just the
stability here and whether you know, and I think people
are starting to figure out, gosh, maybe he wasn't the
total problem in New York. But having said all of that,

(49:46):
and I realized this is probably something I'm going to
ask you weekly and it will maybe get tiresome in
that regard. But when do you believe that the Colts
really will sit down and determine whether or not this
is the answer to all of their problems going forward,
or is it in fact a Sam Donald possibility of

(50:07):
a one year turnaround and then you hand it back
over to someone else.

Speaker 4 (50:13):
Well, the first thing I'd say regarding the Sam Donald
part of your question is that is not a comparable situation, right,
because they did have a first round pick who they drafted,
who was waiting in the wings, and you know, we
still don't know.

Speaker 1 (50:29):
A lot Minnesota.

Speaker 4 (50:32):
Minnesota, correct, sorry that we still don't know a lot
about J. J. McCarthy, who they had drafted the in
fact around at the same time the same spring where
they draft where they signed Sam Donald, But I would
say this, they at least knew the player and had
had held him in high regard, so they didn't have

(50:54):
the same sort of calculation that the Colts will have
to make. I think, as we say here today, I
see no reason Daniel Jones won't be back here. But
I also would say you don't have to make that
decision right now, nor will they. I will say that
it has already been broached in like internally, like all right,

(51:17):
this is probably gonna work, like we can probably make
this work beyond this year. That has been broached, but
no one's going to do anything about it like actively
right now. I don't think Daniel Jones is even going
there right now, right I mean, here's why we're six
games in their defensive matchups, the offense coats offense versus

(51:38):
opponent defense. Those matchups are going to intensify. They're gonna
get a lot tougher. I don't know that they're necessarily
playing a really difficult schedule the rest of the way.
I believe I saw the ESPN projections. I believe the
remaining strength of schedule is right in the middle. I
think it's like fifteenth. So they have an average remaining schedule,

(52:02):
not too hard, not too easy, but specifically, the defenses
they are going to face do get better over the
course of the remaining what eleven games, So that will
in turn tell us a lot about Daniel Jones, right,
I mean, he's going to be tested, I think in
some of those games. I don't think this is going

(52:23):
to be a situation where he goes in the tank.
I don't anticipate that happening. I think he's playing too
well for this to completely go the other way. Well,
there'd be some challenges probably, but I don't know that
it's going to be a wholesale situation where it changes
how we see this guy. I think this is real
and it's not only him. Shaang Staken is a huge

(52:46):
part of this, for sure, right, But a lot of
this is Daniel Jones really just being who he always was.
He's just in a better situation. And you know, maybe
the joke's on us, you know who knew?

Speaker 1 (52:59):
And again probably something perhaps for later. But I have
a feeling on this, Steven, I want your thoughts on it,
and I feel bad for him. I do feel bad
for him because I mentioned yesterday he seems to be
a magnet for the bizarre, but at no fault of
his I realize, But just knowing you know all that's

(53:22):
gone into it, did this injury seal the end of
the era for Anthony Richardson in Indianapolis?

Speaker 4 (53:32):
Well, I mean, I would say at minimum, it brings
us closer to that that likelihood. I think that's what
i'd say. I mean, I don't think this singularly pushes
it over the edge. I mean, I think it was
likely before this, it's likely now that he doesn't play
here next year. I think that's that's where this ends up.

(53:55):
But I just think it probably is another nail in
the coffin. Though I think that's fair. And here's why,
because I don't know how this is going to go
for a sure, but it does seem like they're going
to bring in another quarterback. I don't know who that
will be. If they bring in another quarterback, then that
person now gets all of the reps as the number two,

(54:18):
number two QB. That person gets ingrained. Meanwhile, Anthony Richardson
is not participating, he's not developing, he's not getting that
experience that they say he badly needs. So it doesn't help.
It absolutely does not help.

Speaker 1 (54:33):
You know, Stephen the and again then you wonder, I mean,
this is but does he have value elsewhere? Anthony Richardson?
I mean, is there a team that's going to take
a flyer on him?

Speaker 4 (54:48):
I mean I think, yeah, I think he'll be somewhere
for sure, whether now what it looks like, what his
role looks like, that's harder to project. But there are
worse or less talented quarterbacks and Anthony Richardson, who who'll
get second chances? Who weren't you know, the number four
overall pick. I mean, I do think he has a lot.

Speaker 1 (55:11):
To live down.

Speaker 4 (55:12):
Okay, he has some you know some like Samans not samanthis,
I guess, you know, the the the how people perceive him, perceptions.
I guess right, he has some perceptions that he has
to live down. Whether it's you know, the tap out
or whether it's you know, does he or does he
not work hard enough? You know what I mean? Like,

(55:33):
I think those questions are out there and he has
to confront them. Some of them are fair, some of
them are not. Let's just be honest, right, But but
they're out there and he's going to have to confront them.
But uh, he you it could be something where it
doesn't cost you a lot of money. Let's say, for example,
let's say he gets traded after this season. No idea

(55:54):
if that's going to happen, but you can cut him,
you could trade him. Let's say he gets traded, which
is where I predict this would go. That's just you know,
way too early prediction. Right, You're gonna get him, probably
for not much money. I don't know what the trade
compensation would be, but probably.

Speaker 1 (56:11):
Not a ton.

Speaker 4 (56:13):
And what is the harm? Right, what is the harm?
You know you saw that with the Daniel Jones to
some degree last year in the middle of the season
when the Vikings brought him in, and and when when
when that season ended this past spring, the Giants did
make excuse me, the the Vikings did make a concerted
effort to keep him. They just weren't prepared to pay

(56:34):
fourteen million dollars when they had a viable quarterback in
JJ McCarthy. But they they were serious about retaining him.
So I fail that to say there will be some
kind of market for Anthony Richardson. Whether it ends up
being whether the result ends up being what he really wants,
that's harder to say. But I think he'll be somewhere

(56:56):
and someone will give him a long look and we'll
see what happens from there.

Speaker 1 (57:00):
Stephen holders our guests from ESPN dot com. He is
on the Java House, Piela and poor guest line Stephen.
The pass rush an area that you know, interestingly enough,
the Chargers are fairly susceptible at getting to justin Herbert.
That's one area where they have not been as strong
as Indianapolis and protecting their quarterback. But and the Colts

(57:20):
have had their moments right, but they've invested so much
in pass rush. Is it where you think they thought
it would be at this point? And if not, what
can they do to jumpstart it?

Speaker 4 (57:33):
I don't think it's where they hoped it would be.
It's okay, That's all I can say about right, It's
just okay. And frankly, I think the fact that from
week to week my answer kind of changes it tells
you all you need to know. And what I mean
by that it is like I think a couple of
weeks ago, I was like, well, you know what, Watson's
really taken another step here, and if that's the case,

(57:56):
they're going to be pretty good. But then the next week.
It's kind of feels like Jacobe has all day in
the pocket and you're like, are they even out there?
You know, And you know, Quity Pay did have a
good game, and that was kind of the first time
I really felt like Quitty impacted them in a consistent
way throughout the game. But that's the problem, right, It's

(58:16):
like one game somebody's somebody has some impact. The rest
of the guys are quiet. I'm not seeing that that
across the board. Efforts all come together where everybody's hitting
on the same day, and with what they have, they
should get more of that because they have a lot
of veterans. As you said, they have a lot of

(58:38):
capital invested there, both financial and draft capital. This unit
needs to be more impactful. They are, I believe in
the top five in the NFL, and defensive line spending.
You've got to get more bang for your bucks, period.

(58:58):
That is just unequivocal. And they are going to see
tougher quarterbacks as they go on. So this is going
to be I think front and center for the Colts.

Speaker 1 (59:05):
Where do things stand in terms of their defensive backfield
Because you know, Savarius Mooney Ward really good player, freak
concussion that knocks him out. You've got to consider the
fact that you don't know what the availability is there
and they are still looking at practice, squad plays elsewhere.
That is an area I feel bad, Steven for Chris

(59:29):
Ballard in this regard and the fact that I think
he really did make a concerted effort to strengthen that
defensive backfield, and at no fault of his or anybody
else's due to freak circumstance, they're just not flat out healthy.
Where do things stand down in terms of who may
be in and what they may need to do to
shore that up?

Speaker 4 (59:46):
All right? Where do they stand?

Speaker 1 (59:48):
Well?

Speaker 4 (59:48):
I mean are you available?

Speaker 1 (59:49):
Yeah? No, seriously, I mean I mean it's bad. You know,
I come with a discount code.

Speaker 4 (59:56):
That's right, This is perfect, right, that's right. You know
who has cap money in October? You gotta look for
like bargains, right, So, yeah, it's bad. I mean, look,
think the thing about Ward that you've got to remember
is this is his second concussion in a very short span.
He had he sat out week two, I believe, right,

(01:00:18):
So you know this is tough man, and I don't
know that we can sit here and pretend he's gonna
play on Sunday. I have no idea, but I think
to assume that he has a likely shot of playing
as probably fool's goal right now. Right, So Kenny Moore
than meanwhile, not really seeing any recent progress there. I

(01:00:41):
get tomorrow's the next mile post on him. Well, he
returned to practice. But even if he does practice a
little this week, I mean he's been out three weeks.
Is he's just gonna roll out of bed and play,
I don't know. Does he has to ramp up? You know?
Jalen Jalen Jones. They would kill for him right now,
but I don't know if he's any uh. I mean
he's closer, but I don't know that he's on the

(01:01:03):
verge of returning. So they're nowhere and they're gonna have
to buckle down and get what they can out of
these young guys, you know. So it's the uh, it's
some of these undrafted guys in many cases who you know,
people are just learning their names. Hell, I'm just learning
some of their names, you know. And I think it

(01:01:24):
is what it is. It's it's gonna be tough, and
it's gonna put perhaps more more strain or more pressure
on the offense uh to get the job done because
on the back end of the defense, the likelihood of
them giving up some points is pretty high right now.
And I don't think there are any great and easy answers.

(01:01:46):
They're plucking guys off of waivers right now, and that
tells you everything about what you need to know about
where they are.

Speaker 1 (01:01:52):
Steven, when you are you're sitting at home right You're
sitting there and you're you're reading about Tennessee making a
coaching change, and you're wondering what that means for cam
Ward who came out of the same school as you,
so he've been paying a little attention to the way
he's going to jump start his NFL career. And you're like, man,
this is like Trevor Lawrence all over again. You know,

(01:02:12):
you got a rookie quarterback with a lot of promise,
and there's upheaval in the coaching situation. So you're reading
about all of that and your editor at ESPN calls
you and he says, Steven, Bill here, your editor. You say, hey, Bill.
He says, listen, we got all this stuff going on.
And the Colts are They're five and one, they're the
number one seed. In the AFC, and we want to
really do something original. We want to do something really unique,

(01:02:34):
and we want you to write a column about what
it is about the cults that no one's talking about.
What do you tell Bill is your idea?

Speaker 4 (01:02:43):
H Well, I think it's I don't know if this
makes a great story, but it's definitely important. There's a
confidence right now. And I think Michael Pittman said it
yesterday and maybe I should have picked up on this earlier,
but maybe it just comes from winning. But he said,

(01:03:05):
this feels like twenty twenty when Philip Rivers came here,
and I think Rivers kind of infused that locker room
with the confidence, because you know, there's a swagger when
you're Philip Rivers, right and you've been doing it for
you know, fifteen or sixteen seasons, okay, and have the
resume that he had, so he brought that with him

(01:03:28):
and you know, sort of infused that locker room with
a lot of confidence and raised everybody's level. And right
now they have a little bit of that, he said.
Pittman said, we just expect to win every game. And
it sounds like a cliche line. It's not the first
time I've heard a player say something like that, but

(01:03:50):
I think this was different, and I think you see
it when you're in the locker room. You feel it
like they they are now expecting to win, like they're
not surprised anymore. You know, we were certainly surprised at
they're five and one, But expectations change when you have
success externally, but they also changed internally. And this is

(01:04:12):
a team that right now has like an expectation of
itself that we win, that's what we do. And where
does that come from? I think a couple of places.
Number one, Shane Stikeen. It's weird, like he's not maybe
the most you know, I don't know if he's like
the most raw Raw Coast per se, but he's intense,

(01:04:33):
and I think his intensity and his expectations of his players,
I think that raises the bar. And then there's there's
Daniel Jones. Man, that's just a part of it. Like
when the quarterback is getting it done. Even though Daniel
Jones is quiet and he doesn't say much, and you know,
I don't know what kind of presence he has per
se in the locker room, but when he's getting it done,

(01:04:55):
players respond to that. If they respond to nothing else,
they respond to a guy who's playing really well. And
there's a confidence here that it's hard to capture maybe
in words, but when you're around it, you see it
and you feel it.

Speaker 1 (01:05:09):
You know. Daniel Jones is interesting to me, Steven, because
Stevenholder ESPN dot Com. I guess we still don't know
a lot about him. You know, he's a quiet guy.
And I'm talking about the fan base, even the media.
You know, he's new here obviously, but he doesn't come
in with that Philip Rivers Bravada. Right. So, if if
a quarterback was a was an automobile, you know, like

(01:05:30):
Lamar Jackson's a Ferrari. I mean, he's sleek, he's fast,
he's you know, he looks the part Josh Allen would be.
You know, I don't know what Josh Allen would be.
Probably like a like a Camaro, right, a little bit
more muscle to it, but yet still fast when it
needs to be. What kind of car from a personality standpoint,
from when you've been around him, what kind of car

(01:05:51):
is Daniel Jones? And I'm saying this to illustrate to
listeners just what kind of dude he is?

Speaker 4 (01:05:59):
This actually a great question. I actually think he's like
like alexis SUV, like the small ones, the crossovers. You
know that they can they can run for like thirty years. Okay,
just change the oil. But they're also nice, right, they're
they're not it's not it's not you know, it's it's

(01:06:23):
not a supercar. It's not sexy necessarily but nice, reliable. Uh,
you never have to worry about it. It is. It
blends in right, it's not what did you say, Josh
Allen is a Camaro? Yeah, maybe not supercharged Camaro or

(01:06:43):
or you know, Corvette. But also if you drove it
to you know, if you parked it at the the
valet at Saint Elmos, nobody be looking at you like
really right, so you fit in? Right, It's it's perfect,
It's so, it's it's it's first of all, you can
you can drive to the grocery store. You can drive
it out.

Speaker 1 (01:07:03):
I mean when he's when when Daniel Jones walks into
the locker room, is he the guy that players stop
like Peyton Manning when you walk in the locker room,
like everybody stopped, like, okay, what's the mood? You know?
And Andrew Luck when he'd walk in the locker room
like kind of had a goofiness about him. Of guys
you could tell just they knew he was in charge.
Is Jones that kind of guy?

Speaker 4 (01:07:27):
Yes, in a in a way that I think maybe
you have to see, like for example, like you mentioned
luck and you know the whole awe sucks thing that
I think you know, people on the outside perceived it
was true to a degree. He look he was he
a nerd. Yes, that's true. He would tell you that.
But at the same time, I have seen him two

(01:07:48):
guys out things were Look, I've seen him two guys
out and drop an F bomb and tell them where
they need to be. With my own two eyes, I've
seen that, right. I haven't seen that from Daniel Jones,
but I but there there is feedback from players who say,
like he is demanding and there are the expectations are clear.

(01:08:09):
I think he understands, like what what the expectation is
of a quarterback in terms of how how they should
carry themselves and how they should be demanding of their
of their teammates. Remember, you know he has a relationship
with the Mannings, right, so they understand that and and
they imparted that on him. So I think some of

(01:08:30):
that comes from that, and some of it just comes
from him just being, you know, Daniel Jones, really just
being a someone who has high standards for himself. So
in that regard, I think yes, the answer is yes
to that that he is definitely he's not maybe in
your face and and and maybe doesn't like heads don't
turn when he walks in the room and all that,

(01:08:52):
he's not that guy. But when it's time to work,
you know, like you don't half asked with Daniel Jones.

Speaker 1 (01:09:00):
Stephen, what's new with what you're working on at ESPN
dot com in terms of your coupveroage of the colts?

Speaker 4 (01:09:07):
So I'm writing about this some guy named Jonathan Taylor.
So he's leading the league in rushing, right. But I
think the question for me is or I think what's
interesting for me is there were a couple of seasons,
you know, twenty two and twenty three where you wondered, like,
all right, is he ever going to be that guy again?
He was good, but he kept getting hurt and you know,

(01:09:30):
he had to hold out and all that, and there
was a moment there where I think he was a
little bit forgotten maybe nationally, right, we still appreciated him locally,
but I think nationally people had moved on. Say, Kwon
Barkley's out there running for two thousand yards, Derrick Henry
the second act in Baltimore, right, And what Jonathan Taylor

(01:09:50):
has shown us last year and already this year is
that I'm not done yet, Like I'm still that guy.
And I think it's pretty remarkable to see because it
doesn't always happen with running backs. A lot of times
they flash in the pan for two or three years
and then they're never the same guy. This guy shows
that he is and that's pretty worthwhile.

Speaker 1 (01:10:11):
Stephenholder ESPN dot com appreciate the time as always. We'll
talk to you soon.

Speaker 4 (01:10:16):
All right, all right, you got it.

Speaker 1 (01:10:19):
Stephen Holder, who himself, by the way, uh solid corvette. Stephen,
by the way, drives a super nice car, by the way,
like this this kind of uppity, really his car uppity,
uh you know, four in one of those like you know,
oil change eight hundred bucks, that kind of thing. I
do know that from Steven, which is representative of Stephen
because when you look at him, he just he's not

(01:10:41):
uppity by any stretch. Of the imagination. But but a
but a swave looking guy, right, Corman, what kind of
car would I be? A good old nineties Bronco. Wait
the OJ car? Thanks, I'm the OJ Car. Than appreciate that.
Last night Pacer game, I was there, there were a
couple of things that jumped out at me. One that

(01:11:02):
I saw that I went wow, and one that I
was hoping to be wowed by and it didn't happen.
We'll explain next. So last night I'm at the Pacer
game and they're playing San Antonio and it's pre season.
I get it. So you know there's a and I'm

(01:11:22):
going to repeat what I said earlier. A couple of
years ago, the Pacers, in what was fairly unprecedented, hold
a media just kind of a finger food gathering, like
a social hour. Kevin Pritchard was there. I think Chad

(01:11:47):
Buchanan was there. I don't believe Rick Carlisle was. But
it was a really smart thing for all of us
that cover the team, you know, that are fortunate enough
to cover the team to be down there to just
kind of shoot the ball, meet and greet. And that
was when they had just acquired Tyrus Halliburton, they had
traded away sobonus, and they basically were saying to those

(01:12:08):
that covered the Pacers, and and certainly from a media standpoint,
you know, our job is essentially just as a liaison
between the brass or the coaches, the players and the
fan base. And and admittedly you know that that's that's
a constantly evolving medium. But they were saying, listen, we're

(01:12:36):
asking you, guys and gals, while you're not you know,
obligated to do so, we are asking that you simply
let people know that that that we're going to require
some patience because we're starting this thing over again and
it's gonna be We're gonna take our lumps. And to
their credit, they hit on about everything. They rad Malcolm

(01:13:00):
Brogden for Aaron Nesmith, they traded you know, obviously mentioned
Sabonas for Halliburton, They drafted Matherin, I mean, they signed Topping,
you know, I mean, look, I don't need to go
over every single transaction. They were half away from winning
the NBA title, so you all know how it worked out.

(01:13:22):
So in the preseason, I'm having to remind myself that
they've earned the benefit of our doubt. They've earned it right,
and so the the preseason right now, some of the
lumps that they're going to go through are some of
the things that we're going to wait on. We probably

(01:13:44):
have to be patient on again because it is and
I know that they don't want to say a gap year,
but it is to an extent because you have no
Tyres Haliburton, Myles Turners in Milwaukee, and you don't know
where that replacement's going to come, whether it be the
you know, Jay Huff, James Wiseman, I love Isaiah Jackson,

(01:14:11):
but all of those guys are kind of similar to
one another in the fact that none of them really
stretch out. But I'll get to that in a second.
So as I'm thinking about all of that, and I'm
watching this game, and I'm trying to figure out exactly
who the Pacers are going to be this year, and
I'm having to remind myself that I'm not going to
know that in one game. But they announce at the

(01:14:31):
beginning of the game, They're like, you know, fans, put
your hands together for Rick Smith's and Rick Smith's is
sitting down there and he waves to the crowd, and
I'm looking over at Rick Smit's and I'm going, okay,
Rick SMIs is seven foot four and was a really
good player in his era because he was one of
the first big men that we had seen that could

(01:14:52):
step out and hit a fifteen foot shot and had
a really nice touch. And Rick Smitz was coming right
off of the era of like Mark Eating, where seven
foot four players were just these huge shot blocking bohemos
and that was it. And Rick Smith's had about him
a mobility that we had not really seen from a

(01:15:12):
guy that size, and it made life miserable for Patrick
Ewing and whatever else. But He's still at that point.
When he would hit a fifteen footer like he did
to beat Orlando, it was like, oh my gosh, this
guy's seven forty's hitting that. And I'm thinking about all
of that as I look down back onto the floor
to watch Victor Webermyama get a rebound, go between his legs,

(01:15:36):
bring it up the floor like a point guard, and
then pull up and effortlessly drain a twenty eight foot shot,
And all I could think to myself is, this is
the evolution of the NBA today. The NBA today is
truly positionless basketball, and yet the Pacers made it to

(01:15:58):
one half away from the NBA by playing to some
extent with guys in designated positions, but having a big
that in Miles Turner, would stretch out the defense that
they were playing against because of the fact that Turner
would get a rebound. And then instead of Turner being
the one that would go between the legs and bring

(01:16:19):
it up the floor like a point guard and effortlessly
hit a three, Turner would facilitate transition and then he
would trail and if they were not able to get
a fast transition basket, they kick it back out and
as Turner is trailing, he's able to hit a three,
and defenses have to be aware of that. And it
is going to be an adjustment in the fact that

(01:16:40):
neither Jay Huff, nor Isaiah Jackson, nor James Wiseman has
shown that sort of an exterior capability, and that's going
to be an adjustment. Now. I do believe and I
think that they will go over the course of the
year to assess that the center position to the Pacers

(01:17:01):
is the quarterback position to the Colts. The quarterback position
for the Colts. They had to go out and they
get Daniel Jones, and I think they found their long
term answer. I think the Pacers are looking to see
if one of those three guys is in fact Daniel Jones.
But in reality, they probably this time of year from now,

(01:17:22):
are going to be introducing us to perhaps a free
agent or a player that they've traded for that is
going to be their next Miles Turner long term centerpiece.
And one of the important aspects of that is a
center that, as I've talked about in the high post,
can facilitate through his passing game like Turner would do
with everybody running that kind of weave rotation at the

(01:17:43):
top of the key and facilitating and getting for three
point shooters. And I don't know that that guy's on
the roster right now. Jay Huff, Again, it's one preseason game.
It's one preseason game. But in terms of his passing ability,
in scilitating ability, I did admittedly expect to see a

(01:18:03):
little more than what I saw last night, but it's
one preseason game now. Benedict Matherin was outstanding. Benedick Matherin
was I mean, he was pulling from everywhere. I think
he was twelve or fourteen. He was perfect. In the
second quarter. He finishes with thirty one, okay, And I mean,

(01:18:26):
just for example here on the text line, Jacob is
the local Wizard super fan here in Indy, why do
you hate us so much? We're always the example of
poverty to you that from now I get it. Listen,
I always just mentioned the Wizards because it's like, it's
not poverty. The Wizards, though, are the perfect example of

(01:18:47):
a team that seemingly and actually there was a nice
little rivalry going on between the Pacers and Whiz a
couple a handful of years ago with that team when
the Wizards were healthy and Beale was there and Wall
and I mean, they had a nice team. But it
just feels like with Benedict Matherin, if he is going
to be a point person hardened the pun for them

(01:19:08):
this year and in a guy that is going to be,
as Rick Carlile said, when he is finding his shot
within their offense, he's very effective. But if he's going
to have let's say that that Mathern averages eighteen and
a half nineteen points per game, twenty points per game
this year, that is going to price him into an

(01:19:28):
area where a franchise that is looking for scoring is
going to overpay for him. The Pelicans, the Wizards, the Hornets,
those kinds of a team, you know, all of a
sudden come along, you know, rebuilding Phoenix and it becomes
like a Bradley Beal type player where somebody overpays for
him or prices him out of the market. And that's

(01:19:48):
going to be the fine line for the Pacers right
at not in no way, shape or form as an
indictment on the relationship with Bennedict Mathern, but when you
look at the money that they've got tied up in
halibert In obviously what they're gonna you know, they're gonna
have to extend Nie Smith, nim Hard, those guys, and
so then you can't afford to max deal or close

(01:20:11):
to it mather And if he has a big time year,
it is possible somebody's gonna offer, maybe not a Max deal,
but big time money and it might price Indiana out
of that. And that's one of the storylines I think
this year that's going to be very very interesting to watch.
Speaking of storylines, interesting to watch, another one happening on
West fifty sixth Street with the Colts back into that

(01:20:33):
next look at you, Corbin spinning it out, Baby, You
know there's a I've mentioned this several times before, but
years ago about every two years or so, and I'm
gonna get back into the colts here in a second,

(01:20:54):
but every two years or so this story recedes, and
I always have to be like, no, no, no, no, no,
no, no no, it's not at all what I said. But
Paradise City by Guns n' Roses Axel Rose, Isy Straddlin
from Lafayette right Lafayette JEF High School, and when I

(01:21:16):
was in college, Appetite for Destruction came out when I
was a sophomore in high school. When I was in college,
it was still you know, guns n' Roses were at
their apex. And when I was at Indiana, there became
this like urban legend amongst IU students that Paradise City

(01:21:37):
was written by Axel Rose and Isy Straddlin about Bloomington
and about going down and partying in Bloomington when they
were growing up in Lafayette. Because of course, when you're
at IU, it was like, man, there's no good looking
girls at Perdue. They had to come to Bloomington to party.
That was like this urban legend obviously not true. The

(01:22:00):
song is actually I'm sure about loss. Actually, I take
that back. I know the origin of the song. I
don't think it's actually written about any specific city, but
the lyrics were diffinite different. Originally it was instead of
where the girls are pretty, it was the girls have
big and then you can fill in the rhyme, and
they changed the lyrics. But nonetheless, when I worked at WIBC,

(01:22:23):
and I don't know if people remember this, but I
worked at WIBC in for like three weeks in two
thousand and seven, and when I was doing the morning
show with Terry Stacey, somehow or another, that song came
up and I told that exact story, and I under
the exact pretense of that of like, look, we know
this is not true, but this was the urban legend
back in the late eighties and early nineties from people

(01:22:45):
at IU. Somehow or another. There is a website that
has like it's like songfacts dot com or something like that.
An on said website, somebody, and I have no idea who.
Somebody at that time posted on there about Paradise City

(01:23:06):
and said, according to Jake Querry, a disc jockey at
WIBC Radio in Indianapolis, which a dish. I mean, we
didn't play music. I'm not disc jockey. And then it
says Querry, a close personal friend of Axel Rose's, claims
that this was about when they were growing up in
Lafayette together, and I'm so about every two years when

(01:23:26):
Indiana and Purdue play one another in any sport, somebody
somehow invariably finds that thing and then posts it like
on you know, barstool Indiana or whatever, and it goes
viral and everybody's like, oh my gosh, Jake, like you
knew Axel Rose growing up, and I have to sit
there and give the disclaimer all the time of No,
this was like the old phone drill game of misinterpreted

(01:23:49):
one hundred times over. So if you are just now
for the first time hearing that, let me clarify that, No,
I did not grow up with Axel Rose. No, I've
never met Axel Rose. No I've ever claimed that that
was what the song emphatically was about. It was simply
an urgent legend from back in the day. And likewise,
just so you know, Skyle's test did not really have
a house of blue lights with his wife buried underneath

(01:24:11):
the glass bottom of a pool. You know, we can
go on and on and on. We talked to Stephen
Holder about this earlier. And I know that this is
a subject that is enigmatic and we don't know definitives
about it. But I feel bad for Anthony Richardson. I
really do, because I don't know Anthony Richardson. And I

(01:24:39):
say that because, yes, when we are credentialed to cover teams,
when we're allowed to go and talk. You know, Kevin
Bowen talks to Colts players in the locker room, He
talks to them after practices, he watches them, he talks
to them after games. James Boyd, Steven Holder, et cetera.
We all do. It doesn't mean that we know what

(01:25:02):
their lives are behind closed doors. It's like the old
Roy Kent line and Ted Lasso. You know. As for
why Isaac did what he did, that's none of my business.
As for why or how people are in terms of
their personal lives and what's going on in their life,

(01:25:23):
we have no idea we can get indicators or glimpses
into their lives of who they are. And in Anthony
Richardson's case, I think we've gotten a little of that.
You know, I mentioned that I've seen the documentary or
watched the documentary about him when he was in high school,
and there were a lot of things about him, or

(01:25:43):
are a lot of things about him that were very admirable.
He was essentially a latch key kid that was a
fatherlike figure for his younger brother. He went to a
high school that did not have the you know, elaborate,
financially invested resources from both a facility's standpoint for football

(01:26:08):
and a coaching staff for football. I mean he had
and I admire this where he grew up in Florida.
The documentary that I watched, I mentioned there was a
show that was being done. I think what happened was
there was a film crew that decided that they were
going to do, you know, a reality series following three

(01:26:30):
prime five star high school football recruits for their senior year.
And then they were going to put it together. And
my guess is they were going to sell it to
Netflix or whatever else, and I don't think it ever
got picked up by a major outlet. And then later,
you know, it was dispatched to a smaller website or whatever.
And that's where I watched it, and it was Bryce
Young was one of the players. Anthony Richardson was one,

(01:26:52):
and the third one, I forget the kid's name. He
was from Texas, a big high school in Texas where
football's king, and he ended up going to Iowa, and
I think maybe Texas, A and M or a couple
of other places. But Richardson's coaches that he had were
you could tell, really good guys, I mean really good,
well intended guys, but they were there to coach life

(01:27:13):
more than coach football. And while other players had you know,
Bryce Young was in a big time program at high
school program in California and had a position coach that
was working with him on his footwork and his throwing
motion and his release point in all of those things,
and Anthony Richardson, it was like, you know, these guys
were more just mentoring them as young people and there's

(01:27:36):
a place for I mean, that's great. I commend those guys,
but they weren't specified football coaches. So Richardson was as
raw as raw can be all the way up to
the point where he was drafted. And so I really
have rooted for him and hope and I have always
hoped that he does well. I don't know him personally,

(01:27:58):
but you get those glimpses what happened on Sunday before
the game against Arizona in a freak accident. I don't
know what's going to come of that, but it feels
like that's kind of the beginning of the end of

(01:28:21):
his time in Indianapolis. And at the risk of sounding crash,
it almost seems fitting is the wrong word, but like
a proper illustration of his time here in the fact
that like he's using this band to do his stretch
before the game and then it breaks and snaps and

(01:28:42):
comes back in, you know, tragically, sadly hits him in
the eye, injures him. I mean, you feel for the guy.
It's in no fault, is that his In no way
is that his fault, but simply the point that just
when things were starting to like stretch out, and then
all of a sudden, with one simple snap, everything comes

(01:29:02):
back flying and hits him like right there, and then
it's over. And it almost feels like that is the
summary of his time in Indianapolis, because it seemingly was
happening faster and more like stretched out than even he anticipated.
And then just like with the helmet tap and other
such things, things happened faster and with more immediacy and

(01:29:26):
with more oomph and emphasis and finality than he anticipated.
And now that you look at the fact that and
you know, Daniel Jones is a player that has had
a history of injury and not being able to play
totality of a season, and for that reason, one would
assume that within the next month there are going to

(01:29:46):
be opportunities where Richardson could have gotten in there and
still shown what he can do. And now that's going
to be denied because one would assume he's going to
be out what four to six weeks minimum, I mean,
one would assume at the that'st scenario. And so if
those situations present themselves, unfortunately, it is likely going to
be for someone else's opportunity. And that's unfortunate, but it

(01:30:11):
feels like that's inevitable. Ralph Friefel joined us tomorrow. We'll
get more into kind of the timeline of that injury
and other such things mentioned earlier the Pacers. Last night,
Scott agnesfield House Files joined us recaps next. By the way,
a couple of upsets to report before we get to
Scott Agnes. The field House Files. Number one, Chicago's Pizza

(01:30:32):
is no longer unbeaten in the Quarian Company Fantasy football League.
Now Chicago's Pizza is unbeaten when it comes to pizza quality,
no question about that. But in terms of Nate's fantasy team,
Nade from Chicago's Pizza suffered his first defeat this week.
I think Eddie's team lost as well Eddie Garrison's as

(01:30:53):
I'm looking at the league's standings here. In fact, Eddie
Garrison now at four and two, Chicago's Pizza is at
five and one. Congratulations to Brian who knocked off and
upset Chicago's Pizza. My team two and four. By the way,

(01:31:15):
there's like five of us that are all tied for
last at two and four. But it's not my fault.
I had t Higgins and nobody can throw to him.
And justin Jefferson's been disappointing and you know what he's
supposed to do, right, So that is upset number one.
Upset number two, which is this is the biggest stunner revolved.
You haven't had the breaking news sounder by chance, Corbyn,
if you could please now I want you to hear Corbyn,

(01:31:41):
who is wearing a big trucker hat right now. Just
count to three, if you could into the microphone, Corbyn
one two three, Okay, Corbin is and like Corbyn if
we're talking about cars, he's an F one fifty right.
And so I just asked Corbyn what his what his
favorite style of music was. I said, what kind of
music do you like? Corbyn breaks out with the following

(01:32:02):
and tells me my two favorite artist are Dean Martin
and Frank Sinatra. And is that correct?

Speaker 4 (01:32:06):
That is right?

Speaker 1 (01:32:08):
That's the bit and that's I mean, listen, I'm not
damning you for that at all, and that is a
sign of an extremely extremely like fine taste, right, I
mean exquisite taste and an intellect quite frankly, and I'm
not saying that you don't represent all of those things,
but for a fellow your age, because I'm going to

(01:32:28):
guess Corbyn that you are twenty seven years old, little
high twenty five, little low twenty six. Yes see how
I work on the price is right for twenty six
years old. That is very impressive. By the way, Scott Agnes,
I don't know if Scott Agnes more a Taylor Swift
guy than a Frank Sinatra guy. Joins us now on
the Java House. Peel and poor guest line again, Jake

(01:32:49):
twenty five is the discount code if you want to
get the bundle, whether it be the Wrangler Energy, the
Liquid Science, Hydration, the coffee formulas, all of it at
Java House, Java House dot com. Use that code and
it's a value. I'm telling you right now, you're talking
forty eight drinks you're going to get for like a
buck apiece basically at the rate you're going with the

(01:33:11):
discount code. Jake twenty five, Scott joins us. Now, Scott
last night Pacers, I thought Benedict Mather and I talked
about it, he was really, really efficient. But I'm a
little worried and I know it's just one preseason game,
so I need you, Scott Agnes, to talk me off
of this ledge. I'm concerned about what is going to
happen at the center position and that there is too

(01:33:33):
much similarity between James Wiseman, Isaiah Jackson, and Jay Huff
and nobody really is going to separate themselves in that area.
Tell me I'm wrong.

Speaker 6 (01:33:43):
Yeah, I was going to add it. You need some separation,
and right now we have not gotten that. I mean,
it's tough when you go against bismock Biambo like they
did last year.

Speaker 1 (01:33:50):
You know, it's the presence of greatness. And and he
got in the game late Bis mack Biambo did, And
I mean, listen, he's out there floor general ling. I mean,
you gotta love miss mac Biabo. His seventh team now
with the San Antonio Spurs. And I don't know if
people know this, you're not Scott, but my favorite thing
about him is the fact that his name is Bis Macbiambo. Right.

Speaker 7 (01:34:09):
Absolutely, we'll keep pounding that one.

Speaker 6 (01:34:11):
No, I love it. That's why I had to bring
that up. Actually, but no, you're totally right. I mean,
the center position was the number one concern entering training camp,
and I think now with the new issues at point guard,
given the injury challenges, to me, that becomes number one
because if you can't bring up the ball, you can't
really get into anything on both ends of the floor.
But the center position, I would say right now is

(01:34:32):
a big yellow flag, like it's too early to be concerned.
But at the same time, in a game last night
where you mostly played starters for a big portion of it,
right throw out the second game, there wasn't much to that.
They sat many guys, but to not have a center
make a field goal, to have some guards out rebound
your centers, and in just in other ways how they

(01:34:54):
were beaten back in transition, the rim presence. No, that's
a great big flag right now that they have to
get solved here very quickly.

Speaker 1 (01:35:03):
And Scott, two things here disclaimers that I'm going to
give that I've been given all day here. It's been
like a disclaimer Tuesday on the program. But one of
them is I get it. I mean, it is entirely
possible that once you get Tyree's Haliburton back, and you know,
in a year from now and you're you're ready to

(01:35:24):
kind of make another push, you know, it's entirely possible
that they that the center on that roster is not
on the current roster. That is a possibility. But and
then number two, the pacers have earned the benefit of
the doubt when it comes to asking for our patients,
because in terms of building last year's roster, for example,

(01:35:45):
I mean, they hit on every aspect. Right. Having said that,
and it's it's very early, but Jay Huff to me,
I expected him to be a little bit of a
better thing facilitator and play with and have a little
bit more strength to him than I have seen so far.

(01:36:07):
Am I being too critical there?

Speaker 6 (01:36:09):
No? But I think the biggest thing that stands out
to me is the conditioning aspect.

Speaker 7 (01:36:13):
This is a whole new level of play.

Speaker 6 (01:36:15):
When you're having some players pressure full court, you're trying
to play quicker than anybody in the league. I thought
there was a couple times last game where he was
huffing and puffing no one intended, trying to keep up
and run down the four, And a lot of the
same is probably true with Jackson and Wiseman too, coming
off their injury, and so yeah, you want to give
them some grace, But at the same time, what are

(01:36:36):
we doing here? Like you need a starting caliber center
by Game one, and if not, you're gonna have to
make some tweaks along the way. And I thought the
best lineup last night featured Obi Toppin at that center position,
which does speak to their versatility. But Jay Huff what
they're betting on there is the analytics game with him
that if he gets more minutes, he can be more

(01:36:56):
productive in what he's able to do out on the
But the other big thing with him, I think that
has obviously stood out as foul trouble that's prevented him
from finding any rhythm or maybe confidence out there with
this new group.

Speaker 1 (01:37:09):
Yeah, the you know, the pacing to your point about
conditioning with Jay Huff just for example, the pacing to
me and for that matter, even Jackson and Wiseman, like
I think it's going to be Jackson that's going to
be the starter. I would assume that that's the one
they go with. But even Jackson, who I do like
him a great deal, but it appears as though and

(01:37:33):
he also is having to get into form coming off
of the injury. Isaiah Jackson, he and Wiseman both Scott
the I think we know that they can play at
pace once they have their conditioning back underneath them. The
question that I have for you, and maybe we don't
know this answer yet, is do they have the same
bounce either of them coming off of the injury they

(01:37:53):
came off of, both of them with an achilles.

Speaker 7 (01:37:56):
I'd say it's too early to tell.

Speaker 6 (01:37:58):
I don't really even want to judge that till like
you're a year removed from surgery. I'm actually quite fascinated
that they're playing out there and seemingly not on a
minute's restriction, Jake or anything like that. Like this is
a little bit surprising in a good way that they
are out there. Same thing with Tyrese. He's ahead of schedule.
Now don't expect him back. But that's a positive thing

(01:38:18):
to come out of it. And one of the challenges
I would say two to mention with Huff is I
expected or expect for him to be a little bit
more of a presence from outside. We haven't really gotten
to see the outside shooting that maybe we expected. How
about Jay off the bench, His only three shots are
all three point attempts. I like the balance, I like

(01:38:39):
being a stretch five, but you need some interior threats
as well when you're expecting that from your center, so
you want to see to go back to your first point,
you need some separation. You need these guys to do
a better job to defending without fouling, so that they
can stay on the floor and maybe build some confidence
with these new lineups that they're unaccustomed to playing with.

Speaker 1 (01:39:00):
The Scott Agnes our guest Fieldhouse files. He is on
the Joba House Peel and poor guest line Scott the
point guard position you mentioned it, I mean and for
those unfamiliar, obviously Tyre's Halliburton out for the year. TJ McConnell,
who is going to get significant minutes, is also out
with injury. And I don't think you rush that back

(01:39:20):
at all. I think you let him play his way
back from that. But Cameron payin last night got seventeen minutes,
hit a couple of threes. I think he's got an
unorthodox looking shot. I will say that. But do you
anticipate that Cameron pain stays on roster all year or
is this Yeah, probably just until they don't have that

(01:39:41):
need again and then he falls victim to the numbers game.

Speaker 7 (01:39:46):
Yeah, I would lean more towards the latter, Jake.

Speaker 6 (01:39:49):
I would think, let's assume and hopefully this is the
case that here in the next month, this point guard
position gets a lot more healthier. Right like Ben Shepherd's
training upward, We're not going to see him really probably
in this preseason, which is a disappointment. Same goes for
Cam Jones, who they drafted early there in that second round,
as he's dealing with a back injury. You hope some
of these clear up for next month, because then it

(01:40:10):
goes into what we were just talking about maybe you
need to bring in someone else to challenge at that
center spot. Maybe you don't, and maybe that group can
solidify itself a little bit more. But right now, I
think it was one of many calls the Pacers placed
around the league trying to look into what they liked
from Pain and they liked as him being a veteran,
and they liked that he could shoot the ball, and

(01:40:30):
he did have a stretch I think of eight straight
points maybe in the third quarter of that last game
after not making a field goal in about nineteen minutes
in his debut.

Speaker 7 (01:40:38):
That was two days into his tenure with the Pacers.

Speaker 6 (01:40:41):
So I do acknowledge that a little bit, but you
need a lot more production out of your point guard spot.
I think we know what Nemhart is exactly. I think
there will be some hybrid roles in terms of Mathern
maybe bringing it up and Siakam bringing it up obviously
and getting into the flow. But I mean this point
guard position we've seen over the years, you need depth
in that spot. One because injuries are inevitable, but also

(01:41:03):
because of especially in this offense, how much is leaned
upon the point guards to get get into the offense
to facilitate and to lead Scott.

Speaker 1 (01:41:12):
How and I know that this is not anything new here,
I'm not breaking any news, right, but it was the
first time that I've really sat and watched and I
was surprised the number of minutes that he got. But
conditioning to your point, probably brought into play here. How

(01:41:33):
literally trans like transcendently good is Victor women Yama.

Speaker 6 (01:41:40):
Yeah, it's it's amazing. He makes things so look so seamless.
He can run the floor, as you said, so easily.
He's just a force. And I think the natural comparison
I think is Giannis, and he's far ahead of what
Yannis was in year three.

Speaker 1 (01:41:55):
Yeah, I mean he's twenty one years old, right.

Speaker 6 (01:41:58):
Yeah, and you can tell he's had a training both
physically and from from like his from sorry, from his
basketball standpoint, and physically because there's so many much concern
with big guys their feet, their back, and it seems
like he's doing everything in his power. And obviously he
is surrounded by the right people to prepare like he
is one of the great pregame warm ups. The tension

(01:42:20):
to detail in the little things he does to be
there and on game night and yeah, I thought Rick
Carlisle said it well last night.

Speaker 7 (01:42:26):
Thanks goodness.

Speaker 6 (01:42:27):
We only see him twice a year because he is
a force, and if you want to talk about faces
of the league, I mean he's probably headed that way
here in another year or two. There's a big reason
why National TV, even though the Spurs weren't any good
last year, are lining up to show him on TV
and feature home.

Speaker 1 (01:42:43):
Scott He's and again, I mean, what is he seven?
Is he listed at seven four seven five?

Speaker 6 (01:42:48):
Now, well, that's the funny thing I said all along,
he's seven to six. Last year he was listed as
seven to three. They upped him to seven to five
this year, and I'm not sure they're there yet.

Speaker 1 (01:42:57):
In my opinion, he hit I think, if I'm not
mistaken too separate like pull up threes, I mean effortlessly right,
I mean like he's he's bringing the ball up the
floor and then stopping and pulling up. Listen. That kind
of play is the only thing if you want to
know how good this is all I've got to say.

(01:43:18):
If you want to know. If you are somebody listening
right now and you're like, yeah, I didn't get a
chance to see the game, they're talking about Victor women Miyama.
I know that he was this phenom coming in. How
good is he? All I've got to say to you
is Bismack Biambo only got six minutes last night. That's
how good he is. Right, You're keeping bis Biambo off
the floor, that's how good you are, right.

Speaker 6 (01:43:41):
Yeah, I mean when this is the example of the
evolution obviously of the game. I mean, go back fifteen years,
a guy would like Roy Hibbert back to the basket,
throw it into the post, inside out, protect the rim.
That's what was being asked to that position. And now
years later, whether it's Wimby, whether it's Jokic, whether you
know you name it, Miles Turner, even to go back

(01:44:02):
to a former pacer, guys that can bring the ball up,
can get you into your offense, can can be the
fulcrum of your offense if you want to to play
through them to I mean, they're just multi talented and
have an incredible skill set that yeah, the sky's the
limit truly for a guy like Wemby, who's just twenty one, remarkable,
isn't it.

Speaker 1 (01:44:21):
But yeah, I mean honestly, like and again you saw
the video him when he was playing in France, like
stepping over a bench to sign an autograph, so you
knew how big he was, but like to actually see
it last night was impressive. Corbyan, Do you feel a
slight breeze by chance? If you feel it or not?

Speaker 2 (01:44:35):
Oh?

Speaker 1 (01:44:36):
Yes, indeed he appears as the our friend, Robin, the
genie who has not been around for a while has
made his way into the studio. He might have a
question for Scott. Is that right? He's correct? Yes, Sky
diagnis I am robbing the genie? As you know, I
oftentimes allow people to make it pdiction and if it
comes correct, I will give him one million dollars. How

(01:44:56):
about that, Scott? Think about the Taylor Swift.

Speaker 7 (01:44:59):
I don't know I was in for something like this
to that you can go.

Speaker 1 (01:45:01):
To three different Tailor Swift shows with that kind of money, Robin,
what's your question? Yes it is correct, Scott. My question
for you is these I need you to write down
your answer on the sheet of paper and at the
end of the year, if it is correct, that would
give you the sum of money. My question is yes
or no? Will Tyrese Haliburton play a single game for

(01:45:21):
the Indiana Pacers in this regular season.

Speaker 6 (01:45:25):
Well, Jeannie, I would rule that out and put a
hard no on my white piece of paper right now.

Speaker 1 (01:45:31):
Wow, Robin Man, he sounds you sound convinced, there Scott,
no chance at all.

Speaker 7 (01:45:36):
Huh, no plans either for that.

Speaker 1 (01:45:39):
I get it. I get it. You know there are
always people that gonna hold out hope, right.

Speaker 7 (01:45:45):
Of course, and that's fine.

Speaker 6 (01:45:47):
But here's the other thing that I in the big
picture you got to realize too, is this wasn't the
end of the regular season mid April. This was the
end the literal last moment of the season. You're talking
the end of June, which cuts in to rehab time significantly.
That's why you hear Jason Tatum talk about, Hey, my
goals to try to get back. And the other thing

(01:46:07):
too is I think these players need something to motivate them.
They need something, They need something, an end in sight
for this pain. And so I mean with Aaron Rodgers
a couple of years ago, we were all following he
wanted to get back if they were got at that.

Speaker 1 (01:46:22):
And I can't recall did he get back on the
field at the end of that season he kept I
don't think.

Speaker 6 (01:46:26):
So, Nor was it needed right because I think the
game would have been like December twenty sixth or something,
and I think the Jets were far out of contention
at that point. But that's something these professional athletes need,
something to grab hold to, whether it's gonna happen or not. Now,
I do like the fact how the front office came
out and said, guys, no, not returning, not happening.

Speaker 7 (01:46:46):
We want him to be healthy for the long run.
And I think that is the right mentality.

Speaker 6 (01:46:49):
Because let's say, hypothetically, Jake, for your genie here, that
he's able to return in late March, all right, So
when everybody else is a top their game, they've had
all he is easing his way back during the most
pressure packed part, and you're applying all this pressure both physically,
mentally and on that achilles to get back. To me,

(01:47:11):
it doesn't add up whatsoever for anybody's stake in all this,
especially with him being here for the long term, having
the long term contract, and and you want his health
to be paramount, especially this injury.

Speaker 7 (01:47:25):
This isn't an ankle sprain, this is a torn achilles.

Speaker 1 (01:47:27):
No, man, it is so tempting, just because, like for
the peace of mind that you want to see him
out there and I get it. I mean, it's hard
to believe it's and I feel for him because when
you watch it and you look at him and you're like, man,
you know it's only been whatever it's been, I mean
to your point, what four months, and yet Yep, when
he's walking around out there, you feel like the guy

(01:47:49):
can go out and play and you just know that
it's not reality, right, And.

Speaker 6 (01:47:52):
Jake, that's exactly what we saw with Caitlin Clark to
in the regular season. People saw her shooting at shoot around. Yeah,
go figure, that's that's what you do there. But that's
all you're doing. You're not having to anticipate what the
defense is doing. You're not having to avoid fans courtside,
stepping on things, diving for bulls. Like, there's too many unpredictable,
unpredictable things that can come into play. In addition to

(01:48:15):
feeling right, being able to make cuts, it's very different
to go right into a shot that you've done a
thousand times that day versus all the different other things.
And so I think that's actually a perfect example for
a very different injury.

Speaker 1 (01:48:28):
By the way, last night, Tyre's Caliburton wearing the shoheo
Tani Jersey. Is he a Dodgers fan? Do we know
he is not?

Speaker 6 (01:48:35):
That's him playing into his WWE. And so there's a
story he shared a couple of years ago how he
was invited Jake to throw out the first pitch at
a Brewers game and then Pacers kept beating the Brewers,
and obviously Milwaukee is kind of hometown baseball team. He's
not a big baseball guy, I don't think, but now
he's going against him because he's like, wow, we rescinded
the invite.

Speaker 7 (01:48:56):
And then to add a little flavor.

Speaker 6 (01:48:58):
To all this, Jake is mile in. The Bucks have
been attending recent games as well, so there might be
a little such there now to play into it.

Speaker 1 (01:49:07):
I did have somebody asked me last night. They said
they were in Vegas and while they were in Vegas,
they're like, yeah, I turned around and there was this
storefront in Vegas and it was like everything was Tyree's haliburt.
I'm like, well, that had to have been one of
the halle marts, right for Puma. Is that beyond just
Indianapolis where those are popping up?

Speaker 6 (01:49:26):
Not to my knowledge, No, it's probably just a Puma
outlet story or something like that, and he has the
signature shoes, so of course they're going to want to
promote the heck out of it. And it just came
out less than a month ago, so it's a top
of mine.

Speaker 1 (01:49:38):
I was thrilled last night, by the way, to see
that aaron Nesmith was wearing the same, like bright yellow
fluorescent new balanced shoes. I'm going to buy a pair
of those, and I have no idea what I'll ever
wear them with, but maybe to run on the treadmill.

Speaker 6 (01:49:48):
And then report back because I've heard good things. I've
just never worn them.

Speaker 1 (01:49:52):
I mean, I think they're cool looking, as he said,
they pop. I believe aaron Ne Smith said it. All right, Scott,
what's new and exciting at Fieldhouse Files.

Speaker 6 (01:50:00):
Yeah, I think one of the things I'm going to
tackle here is just the golden age right now we're
experiencing in Central Indiana with all the different sports teams
and how even like Caitlyn and Steph White, we're talking
about how it feels like a university, how everyone every
team supports one another.

Speaker 7 (01:50:14):
So be on the lookout for that here soon.

Speaker 1 (01:50:17):
All right, appreciate it, Scott, Scott Agnes joining us on
the Java House Peel and Port guest line from field
House Files, and he mentioned it. I'd mentioned it off
the top, the fact that you've got the number one
team in college basketball right here, Central Indiana and Purdue
the arguably best team, certainly the best story in college
football right here, right now with Indiana. The Colts are

(01:50:37):
the number one seed as it stands right now, they
have the best record in the AFC. The Pacers are
half away, just four months ago from winning the NBA
crown and still a you know a lot of those
pieces back in waiting to see. And then of course,
obviously the Fever season coming to an end, but a
really really good one with Caitlyn Clark coming back next year.

(01:50:58):
We'll see what happens. The Indian with all new uniforms.
I love them. I went over. I got a new
hat for the Indians. Loved their new design. And there's
another team in town that actually has an upcoming event
that they are supporting, historic event taking place at Gambridge
field House. You remember a year ago, and I talked
about this a lot, there was a team that I

(01:51:20):
was intrigued by. I didn't know a lot about. I
was naive too, and it was a team that I
started going into the Fisher's Event Center, which is a
fabulous facility, and watching it and I'm like, holy cow.
This was first off, I was blown away by the
popularity of the sport. I admit my ignorance to it.

(01:51:44):
I surrendered to the fact that I should have known
more and been more aware of it. And I went once,
was captivated by the speed, the athleticism, the hand eye coordination,
and said I gotta go back again, went twice, when
a third time time, and then I realized what I
was missing, and that is that it is a sport

(01:52:07):
that I think is not just you wouldn't even say
rapidly growing. It is already well arrived, in particular for
young people to enjoy. And it's going to be on
display in Indianapolis, not only on the big screen but
also in a big arena. And the new head coach
of the team and a big event taking place will

(01:52:31):
join me next. So it was last winter when I
was introduced to the Indian Night of course, it was
their inaugural season in Indianapolis, and I went out to
check it out and was absolutely blown away, not just
by the support from in particular you know, young people,

(01:52:52):
but families and the number of volleyball players in Central
Indiana includes at the college level, which by the way,
coming up on Thursday at match between twenty second ranked
Indiana and twelfth ranked Perdue in volleyball in downtown Indianapolis.
The Indian Knight, who now have a film about them
and that inaugural season at the Heartland Film Festival. We

(01:53:14):
will get into all of that, but I want to
welcome to the program and to Central Indiana the new
head coach of the Indian Knight, coach Lauren Bertolachi, who
joins me on the Java House Peel and poor guest
line and coach. It has been a circuitous route to
land you in Indianapolis, but let me be amongst many
to say welcome to Central Indiana.

Speaker 2 (01:53:36):
Oh, thank you so much. I'm really excited to be
here and I love it already.

Speaker 1 (01:53:40):
Now I can tell by the accent you're not from Kentucky,
so you are Australian. But you most recently have coached
in Switzerland. Now I want to begin with this. So
you have coached in Europe. You have had a massively
successful coaching career there. How does one end up coming
from Switzerland now to Indianapolis to coach with the Indian Knight.

Speaker 2 (01:54:04):
Oh good recruiting from India right now, I'm kidding. Listen,
they it's volleyball so big here and it was just
a matter of time that they were going to be
kind of I feel like I'm stepping a great career
choice for me and I've landed in a spot that
very professional and really cares what about volleyball and.

Speaker 4 (01:54:18):
The what they're doing.

Speaker 1 (01:54:19):
Here's a really dumb question for you. Okay, I'm almost
embarrassed to ask it. It's so dumb, but I've made
a living coach with dumb questions. It is volleyball. You know,
you grew up in Australia, you have coached, you know,
you've been around, as I'd mentioned you, you know coached
in Switzerland, you've been part of a national team, and
you are a native of Australia and now you come here.

(01:54:41):
Does the game change in different areas or is volleyball
pretty much the same and stylistically regardless of where you're playing.

Speaker 2 (01:54:50):
That's actually a very smart question. I would say stilistic changes. Stilistically,
it changes a little bit country to country. The let's
say look at Japanese versus Brazilian volleyball, different style of coaching,
different style of play. America and really have their own
style as well, So there are small sty stylistic differences,

(01:55:10):
and the end of the day, we still run by
the same rules, so there are a lot of similarities
as well. But I've seen a lot of volleyball, and
I really try to blend a lot of different styles
and find out kind of what works best.

Speaker 1 (01:55:20):
Had you spend a lot of time in the US
before coming here for this job, not at all.

Speaker 2 (01:55:26):
Indiana is my first stop in the US?

Speaker 1 (01:55:28):
Is it really yep? What are your initial impressions?

Speaker 2 (01:55:33):
I love it here. I live up in Fishes near
our events center, and I think it's really beautiful. I'm
here with my dog and she loves all the trailers
and everything, most importantly sport community here. I walked in
the door and pretty much saw how much everybody cares
about volleyball and sport. And I can see that everyone's
really ready to push women's volleyball through the roof, and
that's pretty much what I'm all about.

Speaker 1 (01:55:54):
Yeah, and you know you mentioned this when we started
talking there in terms of and I was surprised by it, coach,
and I you know, I apologize for that in the
fact that I was not dasm for volleyball in this
area and in particular, and I think it's great and
I wanted you to touch on this, in the fact
that Lauren Bertolacci is my guest, the head coach of

(01:56:17):
the Indian Night the example for young girls because I
think sometimes, you know, the saying is sometimes to be something,
you have to see something, and for young girls in
this area to see high level volleyball and professional volleyball
right there as the example as they're just starting to

(01:56:37):
play and growing the sport which already has a popularity
to it. But are you aware of that example that
you're setting for young people and what it can mean
to this community.

Speaker 2 (01:56:50):
Oh, one hundred percent.

Speaker 4 (01:56:51):
I agree with you.

Speaker 2 (01:56:51):
We can't be what we can't see. I think, like
I said, it's been a long time coming that pro
volleyball has come to America and it's a bit of
the tip of the iceberg. So we show what volleyball is,
we show how volleyball can change. People have all eyes
on us, and we are the top of the top us.
So we absolutely must understand our influence and understand how
many young women are going to be watching us every

(01:57:13):
day and the way we play, the character that we
play with.

Speaker 4 (01:57:15):
Who we are.

Speaker 2 (01:57:16):
I think it's very important and something we certainly won't
take lightly at Indian Nightham. And we really wanted to
find what professional volleyball is going to look like in
Indiana and hopefully that can sort of drip down into
the huge club scene we have here as well. And yeah,
I'm very excited for the influence that we can have.

Speaker 1 (01:57:33):
By the way, how cool was it to live in Switzerland?
I've never been, you know. Now, let me ask you, actually, coach,
let me ask you this. I need you've got to be.
I'm going to allow you to be the judge and
jury on a very important question. Here are you ready?

Speaker 2 (01:57:46):
I am?

Speaker 1 (01:57:47):
Okay, I'm flying coming up in a month here. I'm
going on a vacation where I have a four hour
layover in the Geneva, Switzerland airport. That's just a layover,
four hour layover, Okay, So I will get off the
plane and I'll be at the airport. I likely will
not have time to leave the airport. Can I check

(01:58:08):
the box saying that I've been in Switzerland or does
that not count?

Speaker 2 (01:58:12):
Absolutely does not count.

Speaker 1 (01:58:14):
Okay, Hold on, what if I leave the airport and
I just go and get a piece of Swiss chocolate
and then come back into the airport and go back
through security, does it then count?

Speaker 2 (01:58:24):
Yeah? And that's actually all the gatur You got to
get down to the Jeneva like, grab a croissant an?

Speaker 1 (01:58:30):
How far is that from the airport? Will I have time?
This is the this is the stuff I really want
to get to. Will I have time to do that?

Speaker 2 (01:58:38):
Yeah? You'll be able to have a little quick stop
in the city, Yes.

Speaker 1 (01:58:41):
All right, and then then it will count, right, it
will count. Okay. So honestly though, how did you go
from Australia to Switzerland and what you know? I mean,
that's a world away obviously. How did that change you?
How did that grow you? Not only as a coach,
but maybe as a person as well, to be that
far from home?

Speaker 2 (01:59:00):
Oh gosh, yeah. I actually left Australia when I was twenty.
There was no there is still no professional volleyball league in Australia,
so I want to make make my living from that.
It was a necessity to head to Europe, So I did,
and I think it set me on my career path.

Speaker 4 (01:59:15):
It's opened to all my opportunities.

Speaker 2 (01:59:17):
That's exposed me to many many different cultures. And I
don't even think i'd be close to the same person
as I am right now, but it certainly was. It's
been an amazing twenty years that I've spent in Europe,
and I think every every journey I've taken, it's been
really important and wouldn't trade anything.

Speaker 1 (01:59:33):
And your dog is Swiss, Is that right?

Speaker 4 (01:59:37):
Yep?

Speaker 2 (01:59:37):
My dog Swiss yep.

Speaker 1 (01:59:38):
Barks in several languages. Then right, it's impressed.

Speaker 4 (01:59:41):
Yeah, that's impressed, very very very very impressive.

Speaker 1 (01:59:44):
Yep. The one thing I know about Australia and this
is the biggest stereotype of all time. But many people
that listen to this show know of my friends that
I met through the Pacers from Melbourne the ass They've
been here for several games. They brought me vegemite on
several occasions. I pretend, for the sake of, you know,
not offending them, that I really like it, but I
find it horrifically too salty and gross. Do you like vegamite?

Speaker 2 (02:00:08):
Yeah? I mean, then if you don't like it. You're
not using it correctly.

Speaker 1 (02:00:12):
That's what they tell you.

Speaker 2 (02:00:13):
A little bit little yeah, a little bit on the
bread and you you're golden. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (02:00:18):
Well, I have nine pounds of it at home from
their visits, so if you need any you let me know. Also,
now they do bring Tim Tams, however, are awesome Tim Tams?
I'm down with.

Speaker 2 (02:00:28):
Right, I got a Dune Convenion copyler.

Speaker 1 (02:00:32):
And listen, maybe I could get some of the Tim
Tams when I step out to go to the lake
in Geneva so that I can check Switzerland off the
box because it's all chocolate, right, I'm curious of this.
Have you seen Ignite the Fire, which is the Heartland
Film Festival film about the inaugural season of the indie
Ignite and the enthusiasm for them in this community.

Speaker 2 (02:00:53):
Yep, I've seen it. It was very motivating and really
really impressively done, and they captured the the season, so
it made me even more excited. Sif started, are.

Speaker 1 (02:01:03):
You excited to watch this on Thursday at Gamebridge Field House,
the Modern Spike match between Indiana and Purdue, Because I
do think that you know, here you have two college
programs that are from right here in central Indiana that
are both nationally ranked, and again, I think coach that
that kind of illuminates the enthusiasm and the skill set
for this sport and this area. I'm assuming you're pretty

(02:01:25):
excited to be able to experience that coming up Thursday.

Speaker 2 (02:01:28):
Yeah, I mean, I think we have pretty close to
a top twenty matchup right down the road in India
and in a historic place to watch volleyball for the
first time. I think it absolutely shows the community that's
been here for a really long time time, but it's
building and growing and showing a volleyball stands in a match.
Indiana's having a really good start to their season and

(02:01:50):
I mean to do it so historically at a great team,
So I'm pretty excited to watch it.

Speaker 1 (02:01:55):
Twenty second ranked Indiana twelfth ranked Purdue. Lastly, for you guys,
the schedule coming up here, because it's going to happen
quickly now that you're here. I mean you're going to
basically jump into it. Correct me if I'm wrong. Draft
coming up for you guys in a couple of weeks,
then into camp in December, and then everything getting underway
in January.

Speaker 7 (02:02:14):
Correct exactly.

Speaker 2 (02:02:16):
Yeah, We'll actually have an official schedule coming out later
this month, and the draft will happen near the end
of November. Then we'll start our training camp. Draft athletes
will join us sort of as they finish their programs.
I can get a little bit of rest, of course,
because it's a crazy season for.

Speaker 4 (02:02:29):
Them as well.

Speaker 2 (02:02:30):
And then yeah, early January, Dyleice to have our first game.

Speaker 1 (02:02:33):
I'm telling you it's awesome, folks. You need to come
out and see it. I've mentioned before that Lecator member
Mena is one of my favorite athletes in Central Indiana
because the athleticism is incredible. Coach and certainly look forward
to it. Appreciate the time. Welcome to Indianapolis, all right,
thank you so much.

Speaker 4 (02:02:48):
Appreciate it.

Speaker 1 (02:02:49):
Appreciate it again. Joining us on the Java House Peel
and poor guest line. She is the head coach of
the indian Night Lauren Bertalachi joining us on the show
again Thursday night monon Spike match at Gamebridge between Indiana
and Purdue Top twenty five matchup number twenty two Indiana
and number twelve Purdue, and then again Gamebridge Field House
website for ticket information and as well. The film Ignite

(02:03:12):
the fire which is about the India ignites inaugural season. Corbyn,
what do you think does it count? Do I have
to go by her rules? Do I need to leave
the airport and go out and do something in Geneva
and then come back into the airport and go through
security all over again for it to count to say
that I've been to Switzerland, Yes, four out. You don't
think four hours sitting and just like sitting and like

(02:03:33):
reading the local paper or something counts. No, man, but
gene you gotta go. I mean, now, here's the other
buzzkill of it all. And I didn't. I'm not like
some world traveler by any stretch of the imagination. But
if you have a passport, and I'm like a kid
in this regard, I want the stamp on the passport
from the country. Right. What is the total buzzkill of

(02:03:55):
it all is if you go to Europe and you
are going to countries that are all within the European Union.
Now it's like going to the US. If you go
from Kentucky to Georgia to Tennessee, whatever, it's all the same,
so that you only get your passport stamped once. And
my understanding is in Switzerland. When I land there, they
don't typically stamp the passport. You have to ask for it,

(02:04:16):
but then once you go from there to elsewhere, you don't.
So it's possible if I'm flying all the way over there,
I'm passport stamped, right, I mean that is that too
Am I too much a kid there? Or is that
a legitimate point that time?

Speaker 4 (02:04:30):
I'll agree with you.

Speaker 1 (02:04:31):
Well, thank you. So I'm one for two is what
we're getting at. Right, we'll come back. We will hand
it over to John as part of the crossover brought
to you by the good guys at Love, Eating and Air.
He is at a legendary establishment in Indianapolis. Today we
will find out what John's got cooking. We'll do it
all next when we come back here to Quarrying Company
on the Fan. A lot of fun today. Appreciate everybody

(02:04:51):
tuning in. Appreciate Coach joining me, Scott Agnes as well,
Rob Blackman, Stephen Holder. Time for the over to chat
with John about what he's got lined up. Brought to
you by the good guys that love heating and Air.
Love dash HVAC dot com three one seven three five
three twenty one forty one is the telephone number in John.

(02:05:12):
You get the pleasure of going to a number of
different facilities and establishments around Central Indiana, and you are
at one of the coolest and most historic today.

Speaker 8 (02:05:22):
There is no doubt if they're talking about history. Bearringers
Tavern on South Meridian is right there among any of
those establishments here in and around Central Indiana. We're back
here all the time. Rob's going to join us a
little bit later on. I love it, Jay, because I
sit right here in the window, like they have the
garage door window open, and literally there's me in a

(02:05:43):
short sidewalk, and then there's Meridian northbound right here and southbound.
So I like it when people drive by and I
tell them to honk when they drive by this place,
they honk just to make sure people.

Speaker 1 (02:05:54):
Are I love it. I love it.

Speaker 8 (02:05:56):
See if we can get somebody to honk here as
we're we're going. If you're driving down South Meridian right here,
right around Pleasant Round Parkway, you'll see Bearinger's tavern. It's famous.
I want you to hank. I want you to lay
on the horn to make sure that we know that
you're listening right there. No, it's a really fun thing
to do. This is a great place, Jake. I know

(02:06:16):
you've been here before, and you're a history buff here
in Central Indiana and Indianapolis, and this has absolutely all
of it.

Speaker 1 (02:06:23):
One hundred and forty years. Burger's Tenderloins, you name it, right.

Speaker 8 (02:06:27):
Dellinger and Capone and everybody been in this place before.

Speaker 1 (02:06:32):
John you mentioned last night. I thought you made a
really interesting point about watching the Pacers last night. And
you know his speaking of history, I mean historically of
late we have seen the Pacers in terms of a
center that we're used to seeing, being able to draw
a defense out with a high post. And I'm not
saying we won't see it this year, but we certainly
haven't seen it yet.

Speaker 8 (02:06:53):
No, we haven't. It was interesting last night. I watched
it for a long period of time you were there.
I watched it, and it was weird watching the ball
stick as much as it did in one person's hands
and not move around. I know it's the preseason, and
I'll talk about this coming up after three.

Speaker 1 (02:07:10):
Yeah, what's up there? We go, Yeah, and it's weird.

Speaker 8 (02:07:14):
Then it's weird to see guys not give two craps
defensively about being up on the perimeter of a big guy.

Speaker 1 (02:07:23):
Man, I'll tell you what. Those guys can't shoot a
lick right now.

Speaker 8 (02:07:26):
They can one of these days, but Jake, Yeah, I mean,
I know it's preseason, but they don't look like they can.

Speaker 1 (02:07:33):
Shoot a lick now.

Speaker 8 (02:07:34):
It doesn't look like all of a sudden you're going
to be one and it's preseason.

Speaker 1 (02:07:38):
But John, the reality is, between Wiseman, Jackson and Huffy
there's been no separation from any of the three of
them of like, well, this guy's going to be the guy,
you know what I mean? Yeah, right, and that's that's
going to be tough.

Speaker 8 (02:07:49):
I mean, it really is going to be tough if
you're not capable of doing that.

Speaker 1 (02:07:54):
But yeah, the whole ball movement thing, and I again, I.

Speaker 8 (02:07:57):
Know that we're talking about games that absolutely matter, but
those are two things that stuck out to me last night.
They're going to be really weird to watch once the
season officially Jake is underway.

Speaker 1 (02:08:07):
What's lined up on the big show?

Speaker 8 (02:08:10):
Rick Venturi four o'clock hour for everybody's listening enjoyment.

Speaker 1 (02:08:13):
Can't wait for that.

Speaker 8 (02:08:15):
Greg Ragstraw's coming up. And by the way, you saw
Paul McCartney in Denver I did in the weekend. My
daughter is in des Moines, Iowa and going to see
McCartney tonight.

Speaker 1 (02:08:24):
She is actually in the same hotel as McCartney. Oh wow,
because she.

Speaker 8 (02:08:28):
Yeah, she got in the elevator and a guy introduced
himself holding his guitar as one of the guitarists. And
she goes back and looks on her phone and there
he was in a picture with McCartney. So, yeah, they're
in the same hotel with McCartney in des Moines, Iowa.

Speaker 1 (02:08:44):
Of all, is that a high v thing? The day's
end as they say at the days in there in
des Moin Yeah, there's staying at.

Speaker 8 (02:08:49):
The Super eight right overlooking the quarry right off of
four forty six that's right by the way. Because you
got homecoming weekend down in Bloomington. How much do you
think for the Super eight that overlooks that old quarry
on four to forty six right next to Arlington Heights
Elementary right there.

Speaker 1 (02:09:03):
What happened right now to be I haven't looked. It's
got to be high right now with the top five hoosiers, man,
are you kidding me? Like? Bring it on? I mean,
every you know.

Speaker 8 (02:09:12):
They would be like zero to five, and it would
still be like seven hundred dollars a night for homecoming
weekend back then. I can't imagine how much it is now.

Speaker 1 (02:09:21):
Imagine how much it's going to be December sixth. We
might have talked about this yesterday, Indiana Louisville in basketball
downtown Indy and then the Big Ten Football Championship at
Lucas Oroyl Stadium that night, and presumably Indiana on a
path to potentially get there. But we'll see, right, a
lot of football to be played, but still that could
be electric coming up here in what just under two months. Yeah.

Speaker 8 (02:09:44):
I talked to Matt Surfis yesterday and he's a guy
that's been around as a player and then a fan
a lot of IU football in the past, and it
was good to talk with him about that, because those
are the types of folks that are thrilled with the
way this product looks right now, those that have been
a part of it forever and watching it under any circumstances.

Speaker 1 (02:10:04):
Pretty special for those folks too, probably even more so. Yeah,
pretty awesome stuff, all right, John's going to be out
of bearings on again South Meridian. Been there for one
hundred and forty years. It ain't going anywhere, and he's
going to be there for the rest of the day.
If you're going past, give him a honk. We'll hand
it off to you in just a couple of minutes.
All right, John, you got hey? By the way, that's
my version of honk. If you're horny right there, even
do that. Back of the day, Hank, give your hornynk.

(02:10:27):
I lived right off Alison Mill Road. We did all
kinds of stuff and getting people to honk. Are you
kidding me? Right? Seventy third outs Tuesday? All right, we'll
hand it off to you in just a little bit,
and Rick Venturia will be with j MV coming up later.
Somebody had asked earlier, by the way, I haven't given
an update on two things that I probably left hanging
in the balance. Number one if I did not answer it.
He had just mentioned the fact that I was in

(02:10:49):
Denver to see Paul McCartney and the great uber Gate
with Shannon where I was didn't know if I should
be offended or not that she did not, that she
was like, can you just uber from the airport? And
I will say that Denver Airport by square area square footage.
Second largest airport in the world and it is like
forty minutes from anywhere in Denver, huge airport. The uber

(02:11:13):
was one hundred and thirty five bucks. But she did
pick me up. She did pick me up. So I
threw a timper tantrum. I acted like a five year old,
and she finally said, okay, fine, quit complaining, and she
came and picked me up. Concert was really good. A
show was good, as for ubers and cars. Somebody also
asked about the saga that has been my car repair.
It has been since the middle of August that my

(02:11:36):
car had one, albeit under warranty, engine problem that I
took in. They then kept discovering more and more and
more within the engine, all of it under warranty. Got
that all taken care of, and then I drove it
all of a half a day and the engine blew up.
So they are replacing the engine. It is under warranty.

(02:11:57):
I'm getting a quote unquote new engine. Whether that means
new out of the box or that means rebuilt, I'm
not certain, but coming up they tell me that it's
going to be done at the end of this week,
so we shall see. But somebody had asked, and that
is the latest on my car. All right, John's up
next again. As he mentioned, Rick Venturi will be with
them in the four o'clock hour. I want to again

(02:12:18):
thanks Scott Agnes for joining me today, Stephen Holder as well,
and as well Lauren Berdolozzi, the new coach of the
Indian Night. I thank you for listening to Query and Company.

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