Alec Lewis! - Bumper to Bumper 7/8/26 Hour Two

Bumper to Bumper with Dan Barreiro!

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Because summary mystery prize is back. Grab one at any

(00:03):
of our cafe and events, or anytime you see the
Kfan Street team this summer out and about the redeem
It in marl of America. For discounts and exciting prizes,
check out the upcoming events schedule KFA dot com keyword Calendar.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
And now it's time for old to a dead guy. Man.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
This one came right out of left field and we
I just heard about it via that iHeart Sports update.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
A relief pitcher named Phil Reagan.

Speaker 3 (00:41):
Has died at the age of I think did I hear?

Speaker 2 (00:46):
Eighty nine years old?

Speaker 3 (00:48):
And it's a name that many of even old school
fans might not be familiar with here.

Speaker 2 (00:57):
I knew him because he eventually became.

Speaker 3 (01:01):
The closer for the Chicago Cubs back in the late sixties.
In fact, the infamous sixty nine season where the Cubs
blew an eight and a half game lead with like
six weeks to go in the season onto the Mets.

Speaker 2 (01:17):
He was the closer that year.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
But I bring him up not necessarily because a lot
of people here can relate to him, but because of
his nickname. Phil Reagan's nickname was the Vulture and Apparently
Sandy Kolfax, who of course was a teammate of his
when he pitched for the Dodgers, gave him the nickname,

(01:41):
and the concept was the Kofax theory was basically, he's
the guy. Reagan's a guy who comes in late inning
relief and sometimes takes the win away from starting pitchers
or at least gets the save, only having to pitch
one or maybe two innings. And I think he actually
finished with a record as a relief pitcher of fourteen

(02:05):
and one with the Dodgers. And as the story goes,
there was one instance where he Reagan can't comes in
to relieve Kofax, who had pitched eight innings, only eight
brilliant innings, only for the Dodgers to take the lead
and then give Reagan the victory instead. In other words,

(02:25):
the league got lost and he ended up ended up
going to the guy who finished the ballgame.

Speaker 2 (02:32):
We've talked about this before on this show.

Speaker 3 (02:37):
Nicknames, they just aren't very good anymore. They're not very
colorful anymore.

Speaker 2 (02:45):
This is an old subject going way back.

Speaker 3 (02:47):
In fact, I think I wrote about this a few
times too, back in the eastint Retch Days, which is
like another lifetime ago. I mean, how good is that nickname?
The Vulture do not have nicknames now like that because
we're not creative enough. We're too hip with it in

(03:08):
wow to want to participate in that kind of nonsense.

Speaker 2 (03:14):
It's not cool.

Speaker 3 (03:15):
I don't know what it is, but I mean, how
good a nickname is that for a closer the Vulture
come in. Maybe you get two outs or get three
or like I said, you might even give up the lead,
but if your team gets the lead back, you end
up getting the victory even though you Blewe the.

Speaker 2 (03:30):
Same, very very good relief pitcher.

Speaker 3 (03:33):
Unfortunately, as I said, we'll be associated with the collapsible Cubs.
I think the Cubs that year, my recollection is over.
In like a seven week period, they went from being
eight and a half games up to losing the division
by like nine or nine and half many it was.

(03:54):
I think it was like a seventeen game swing. That's
hard to do, and a lot of that was the
Mets literally didn't lose, well, I shouldn't say literally, they
rarely lost, and the Cubs kind of.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
Collapsed down the stretch in that game for sure.

Speaker 3 (04:11):
Bratcheah and Brian Cafe in text line is open at
six four six, eight six. Somebody is texting this is
six one two. Gu I would argue that the street
Clothes is a pretty good nickname. Yes, it is a.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
Little more vicious.

Speaker 3 (04:28):
Most of the nicknames in the old days were men
as compliment, to be complimentary, I think to the player
street Clothes, which I think it was Charles Barkley who
invented that particular nickname for Anthony Davis, a little more pejorative.
I guess one could say. I'm not saying I don't

(04:49):
have any. But what's weird is if you grow up
with players associating players with certain nicknames, you never forget them.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
It's just embedded in you.

Speaker 3 (05:00):
So when I hear the name Phil Reagan, that's the
first thing I think of the vulture.

Speaker 2 (05:07):
I love the name.

Speaker 3 (05:08):
I absolutely appreciate it. It's even more vivid when I
learned and I did not know this that apparently, at
least according to AI, which is always right at this point,
as we know, it was Sandy Kofax who first nicknamed Reagan.
That eighty nine years old. Let me see if I

(05:28):
can give you any more. Pitched for four different teams,
thirteen year career from sixty to seventy two. Then he
became a coach at Grand Valley State. Spent the next
forty seven years either coaching or scouting at various levels.

(05:49):
Also pitched for the Tigers, as I mentioned, the Cubs,
the White Sox, and.

Speaker 2 (05:54):
The Dodgers.

Speaker 3 (05:55):
Let me see, I don't know. I needed to find
the Phil Reagan's stats here to check one other thing
for this for on the Minnesota sports scene, who currently
has I don't know how many nicknames we got, but
who would have the best among sports athletes? Who has

(06:21):
the best nickname? What is the best nickname in Minnesota
right now?

Speaker 2 (06:24):
In Minnesota? Yeah, I mean this is going to shock you.
For my money, it's Corilla Thrill. I feel like that's
a solid one.

Speaker 4 (06:31):
That's solid. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (06:32):
I don't think it's great, but it's solid, I think.

Speaker 3 (06:34):
But what it tells you is there's not I don't
think we just don't even have that many an man,
Yeah that technically, yeah it is. Technically I guess it is.
I don't love it myself, but it is. I think
it would probably be one of them. And then if
we brought it out forget current, what's the greatest nickname

(06:59):
involved any Minnesota sports athlete ever, or it could be coach.

Speaker 2 (07:03):
It doesn't necessarily have.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
To have to be a player. I'm looking at the
sixty nine Cubs, look at it. I mean Reagan had
a well. To be honest, he started strong that year
and I think he liked the rest of the team.
He kind of collapsed. The zeron run average ended up being.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
They got him.

Speaker 3 (07:23):
I forgot that they acquired him from the Dodgers early,
and then he had it looked like a two point
two to ozho earned run average was very good.

Speaker 2 (07:29):
But I think he had some of the nicknames too.

Speaker 3 (07:33):
It's hard to not Yeah, some of the old timers
are bringing up the name Gary Gayetti, a former outstanding,
slick fielding, clutch hitting third baseman on the eighty seven Twins.
Gary Gayetti, you know his nickname? He probably don't. You
have no reason to know it.

Speaker 2 (07:53):
The rat but men in an affectionate way doesn't seem
like shit, No, it's it's so.

Speaker 1 (08:01):
I did a quick search of the rat great Minnesota
nicknames and sports. Here's here's some of the ones that
came up.

Speaker 3 (08:09):
Tony O, Yeah, Tony O Solid, Tony the Sheriff, Joe
Nathan Denny Green. That's Joe Nathan was the sheriff. That's
what I remember that one. The only sheriff I remember
was Denny Green when he came to town.

Speaker 2 (08:22):
But go ahead.

Speaker 1 (08:23):
Apparently the undertaker was John Randall, according to the search.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
I don't remember that. But then Harry the hit Man,
Harry the Hitman. But then there's there's a d All day.

Speaker 1 (08:36):
Yeah, let's see the cowboy Jared Allen.

Speaker 2 (08:40):
How about Flower Flowers A good A good one.

Speaker 3 (08:43):
It's not just ours, but I think flower is actually
one of the better ones. I I think we're a
little bit nicknamed deprived here, to be honest with you.

Speaker 2 (08:51):
Big ticket, we need big ticket. Solid. That's a good one.
That is a good one.

Speaker 3 (08:54):
That's that was I think Harlan came up with that one.
I'm not mistaken for sure. Can we afford to go
to twenty seven? Or is that going to screw us up?
Because we got we can't. Probably maybe I'm a little
behind here. I should have broken earlier. Let's go ahead
and get break. Let's try to stay somewhat on schedule.
If I take one, now, I take one? Can I

(09:16):
take the next one? At forty two? Leading to Alex
Lewis or do I have to take antle? Yeah, let's
do it that way. We'll pause here, we'll get some
other nicknames. Anybody has any Phil Reagan ideas, let me
know and I will talk about I guess I always
assume that the hockey community was the most sensitive culturally

(09:36):
speaking in North America.

Speaker 2 (09:38):
I think I'm going to have to amend that particular.

Speaker 3 (09:42):
Belief based on my experience with a different community via
X the last twenty four hours, stay tuned.

Speaker 1 (09:49):
Bumper to Bumper with Dan Burrero on the Fan from
the one eight hundred ASK Gary Traffic Center.

Speaker 5 (09:56):
This report is sponsored by Whole Foods Market.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
You already listen, Well, now you can watch the fan.

Speaker 1 (10:04):
You can check out the kf and YouTube channel for
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Speaker 3 (10:45):
A pretty underrated one I think was established by my
former colleague Patrick ROYCEI Eddie Wardotto. Didn't he name him
every day Eddie? That's a great nickname for a relief picture?

Speaker 4 (10:59):
Is it not?

Speaker 3 (11:00):
Every Day Eddie? I think that was his I want
to get to the UH. I wouldn't call it an
online controversy, so to speak. But yeah, how about is
Wall of Saint Paul established enough? Yet it's unusual? I

(11:20):
like it, and it's got a nice rhyme to it,
right nine five two? Guy asked, does nine count? I'm
we're talking about not yet jets. Yeah, he's a huge name.

Speaker 2 (11:31):
I never I never thought the nickname was particularly dramatic.

Speaker 3 (11:38):
And you know what's funny, if you go back into history,
some of the nicknames they were rather disparaging about how
you know they somebody might look, they would do that.
A lot of them weren't obvious or there was a
backstory that had something to do with it.

Speaker 2 (11:56):
Two. So I I.

Speaker 3 (12:00):
Just was minding my own business, and I had a
lot of extra time because we were trying to figure
out you know, we're waiting for flights and we're waiting
to figure out what we're going to do. And let's
see if I can find where this all began exactly. Hold on,
I'll have to find it here. So I follow a

(12:22):
Twitter handle called the Extreme Music Enthusiast and they send
these out every once in a while trying to get reaction.
They're trying to just get people to participate in. The
question they asked is what is the most overrated band
of all time? And I suggested the band that I've

(12:43):
often suggested whenever this has been asked, much to the
chagrin back in the day of the now late great
Bill Walton.

Speaker 2 (12:52):
I just wrote in Grateful Dead, wo wow.

Speaker 3 (13:00):
I have to apologize to fall in this and the
hockey community for suggesting that he as a member of
the hockey community, most insensitive group out there, most defensive
group out there. I don't even think they can hold
a candle to the Grateful Dead community.

Speaker 2 (13:16):
They are well.

Speaker 3 (13:17):
I will add a lot of people agreed, but let
me give you some examples of some stuff that came
in via Ex's response, tell me you're not a music
guy without telling me you're not a music guy. When
people went to see The Grateful Dead for the first time,
there were usually only two possible responses. One, this is

(13:41):
the slowest, most boring, most unrehearsed band in the world. Too,
I'm putting my job or leaving school and going to
see every show on the tour. It's actually very well
articulated those two extremes. He's not taking a position, but
he's laying out. I think reality we're likeori Ish. Most
people don't like it, but they but the people who

(14:02):
like it, well, they really really like it. That's a
quote from Jackass Truther, quoting Jerry Garcia from the band,
and then there's a photo of Jerry Garcia flipping me
the bird. I never thought of them as being rated
at any way. Really, the Debt are kind of a
standalone entity, very unique in its path. I think you
either love them or dislike, have no feeling for them,

(14:24):
ippen to like them. But that's just my unsubjective opinion.
Bill Walton is rolling in his grave right now, Dan
kfan guys are the worst. Get off my for you page.
What other band has over five fifteen hundred bands covering
them and getting gigs left and right. M you're on
the bus or you're off the bus. The first step

(14:52):
to really loving the Debt is learning that they do
indeed often suck, and their fans are nerds, and the
band members were nerds, and they really play crappy music
to stadiums full of people in later years because they
couldn't stop when they should have.

Speaker 2 (15:12):
What does a deadhead say when he.

Speaker 3 (15:13):
Runs out of pot he says, what the hell is
this crap we are listening to? And by the way,
many people had other suggestions on who the most overrated
should be Comical, writes Jason Burns. There are tons of
reasons why this is false. This is the most obvious
being that they are not widely regarded as being a
great band anyway, so that in itself makes you wrong. Um,

(15:39):
I'd wager if you went to a show with Bill
your opinion would soften. Absolutely agree, total cult following. Otherwise,
their music is mostly unbearable to listen to. This was
my favorite, but I'm proud of myself for not responding
until now. I'm guessing you don't understand jazz or symphony either.

(16:01):
Your definition of music must be a bit more simple,
which is fine.

Speaker 2 (16:05):
Actually, now.

Speaker 3 (16:08):
I kind of want to say, when it comes to
grateful dead fans, I rest my case about their level
of defensiveness, and I might add arrogance it. Once upon
a time was my biggest problem with the soccer community
was well, you're just too stupid.

Speaker 2 (16:27):
It's just too the game's too nuanced for you.

Speaker 3 (16:31):
What I wanted to say to Tweeter Paul is I
understand jazz so much that probably my favorite jazz performer.

Speaker 2 (16:43):
Well, it's really it's a tie.

Speaker 3 (16:47):
And truthfully, one of the two was more of a
musical genius than the other, but they were both they
played together, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. So yeah, I
haven't appreciated of improvisation if it leads somewhere. When I
listened to the jazz greats, when I listened to the

(17:08):
alvind Brothers, for God's sake back in the day, they
went on for days in concert. One song thirty eight minutes,
fifty two minutes, but it had a point, believe it
or not, you can sort of you could pick up
the thread on it. There's no thread in Grateful Dead. Sorry,
it's the old deal of Well there's the famous line

(17:31):
I'll have to clean up where Miles Davis, as I said,
he had Coltrane in several several you know, incantations of
his own band, and then eventually Coltrane went off on
his own. And one of the things the complaints Miles
had about Coltrane was that sometimes he felt like he
went on too long and some of his solos, and

(17:54):
the Coltrane response would be, I sometimes I just have
a hard time stopping, to which Miles Davis said, take
the horn out of your your bleeping mouth.

Speaker 2 (18:07):
That'll stop it. As simple as that. That's what I
want to say to Grateful Dead. Just because you.

Speaker 3 (18:12):
Can go on forever doesn't mean you're obligated to go
on forever. So yeah, I am a big believer in improvisation.

Speaker 2 (18:21):
It's already started on the text line. Here's Cecil from
Maple Grove.

Speaker 1 (18:25):
The Grateful Dead were the most influential and innovative band
in the history of music. Here's another one six to
one two guys. Allegedly, unless you've seen Grateful Dead live,
which I haven't, you really cannot offer up an opinion
on them. Just for the record, Dan, Yeah, well so
you have to see him live or else you have
no opinion.

Speaker 3 (18:45):
Yeah, let me get to a couple more that came
in no doubt you like Dave Matthews the Again, the
insinuation is this music's too deep and too nuanced your
to mainstream. I have happened to not apologize for a
lot of mainstream music. I like, I got over that phase.
You know what happens in your twenties, at least back

(19:07):
in the day, is you end up rejecting bands that
you like because to be considered cool.

Speaker 2 (19:14):
You felt obligated to. Oh it's too that's too accessible,
that's too easy.

Speaker 3 (19:20):
And at some point you mature past that and you
grow up and you say, if I like it, I
like it. I'm not gonna apologize for it. It's some
stuff a little more simple than other things. Yeah, but
too many people end up rejecting good mainstream music for
all the wrong reasons, just because they want to be
in the end group. This is not edgy enough. O're

(19:41):
not complicated enough.

Speaker 2 (19:42):
Get over yourself.

Speaker 3 (19:44):
Good music's good music, I would say, but I there's
plenty of music if you grew up in a house
that plays nothing but jazz and Ray Charles much almost
all the time. Come on, man, this is Dave Matth
views that that's the extent of what I might be
capable of paying attention to.

Speaker 2 (20:08):
There's another good one here.

Speaker 3 (20:11):
Don't forget, by the way, We're not going to necessarily
talk football so much as an interesting poll that Alec
Lewis has put together from Vikings fans as we prepare
for training camp, which is not that far.

Speaker 2 (20:28):
Away now for sure.

Speaker 3 (20:32):
Turning off KFN every day at three PM religiously now,
so that that the the overrated shot was That was it?

Speaker 2 (20:40):
Everybody's got a line shot a head. See you later,
Josh texts or tweets.

Speaker 3 (20:46):
You're getting the hang of this engagement things too smart,
he sees right through me. Get up and get dumb
bleeping answer, he says, Walton again, another Walton rolling over
in his grave. Which is true, it's undeniable. Tell me
you don't know music without telling me. I think that's

(21:08):
another one of those.

Speaker 2 (21:11):
Amen to that.

Speaker 3 (21:14):
Someone doesn't like great music, your loss? Who is this jackass?
Actually he used the a whole word instead. I am
the a hole in the afternoon, insipid and insufferable.

Speaker 2 (21:31):
Does he mean me or does he mean grateful dead?
Or both? Go to bed? Old man.

Speaker 3 (21:43):
One million percent agree, worst take I've ever seen in
this app excellent take.

Speaker 2 (21:51):
Agreed. I agree. You probably worship Bruce Pringsteen. Huh, Actually
don't respect his music.

Speaker 3 (22:00):
It's Springsteen's a weird one for me in that I've
never how do I put it, I don't think I've
ever felt the mystical connection.

Speaker 2 (22:13):
To his music.

Speaker 3 (22:16):
And part of it for me is I actually don't
think if you forced me to name my favorite Springsteen album,
it would probably be wild. Uh what is it called
The Innocent in the East Street Shuffle?

Speaker 2 (22:30):
I think that would be it. That goes way way back.

Speaker 1 (22:33):
Now, if I'm not mistaken, you see this text No
six to one to two guys, says Dan, No joke here.
If you listen to the Without a Net album start
to finish and don't change your opinion, I will donate
five hundred dollars to a charity of your choice. Wow,
that's how serious this conversation is. That's controversial.

Speaker 2 (22:52):
It is. Yeah, also meat sauce text to Meet the
Dead Whales.

Speaker 3 (22:57):
But well, the thing that's interesting about it is the
old man thing doesn't work in this case because it's
mainly old men that like the dead men older than me,
and that's pretty old. Or maybe it's another generation, let's see.

Speaker 2 (23:16):
He is.

Speaker 3 (23:16):
Of course this is you want to talk about the
non sequitur, which we get politically. So my tweet again
was overrated, most overrated, bent I say, grateful debt, to
which somebody named Leslie tweets he's of course a big
fan of Aaron Rupert.

Speaker 2 (23:34):
What the hell does that have to do with anything?

Speaker 3 (23:38):
You got to be a Bot, you're insane. Yes, I
will fight you, okay, Nerd, They're there are plenty of
fans already, thanks for listening clickbait.

Speaker 2 (24:01):
So there you have it.

Speaker 3 (24:01):
Yeah, it's quite there are a bunch of them there
coming in. I was a Grateful Dead fan until I
heard their music. As a member of the hockey community,
I accept your apology, Dan, Yeah, I mean these folks
are and this is not my first sojourn in this area.

Speaker 2 (24:20):
We have.

Speaker 3 (24:23):
We don't have oakon as much as we used to.
I know Common has them on I think pretty much
every week, and we used to talk a lot about
Grateful Dead. What now, Oh are you kidding me? Yeah,
he actually caught Oh that's too funny. That's too I
honestly didn't see that. I was just thinking about you.

(24:44):
And then I get a point from Blake Moore and
I look at the screens that there's Brian OHK can't.

Speaker 2 (24:50):
Make it up.

Speaker 5 (24:51):
What the bat signal went out? And just to clarify
on that, I'm on with Common every week every Wednesday.
In fact, I was sitting in that very room that
you're sa with the Echoe headphones just a couple of
short hours ago.

Speaker 3 (25:04):
So refresh, you know, my memory, I sometimes remember what
I want to remember. So my recollection over the years
when you and I have talked Grateful Dead is that
you are not that into them either, and that we've
kind of both gotten ripped for mocking them.

Speaker 2 (25:20):
But maybe that was somebody else.

Speaker 3 (25:21):
I don't know what's the official Oak position on Grateful Dead.

Speaker 5 (25:26):
Well, I'm going to be honest mine has I've tempered
my attitude over the years regarding the Dead because you
cannot disrespect what they created. They were, They're an important
American band, They're an important American music story, and they're
you know, they're the dedication and devotion and near cult
like the dedication over the years across even when people

(25:48):
sobered up and stayed with them, you know. I mean,
you go to a Grateful Dead show, there are people
with real money there and very professional in real lives.
It's not just a cavalcade of Mary pranksters. You know.
I was never a huge fan of the Grateful Dead
when I was a young, burgeoning hippie. I like the
long hair, I like the lifestyle. I like some of
the recreational substances. I'm going to be honest. I had

(26:10):
kind of a soft spot in my heart for hippie chicks,
and so I liked all the trappings of the Grateful Dead.
And then I came to live with four Deadheads, and
as a result, they would be gone for months out
of the year because they would do what you do,
you follow the Grateful Dead on tour, the unfortunate part
of them being so deep, and that'd be nice. I
get the place to myself as opposed to living with
four other hippies, and so it was. You know, I

(26:34):
don't have anything against the Dead per se. I just
I'm going to go out there and I'm trying to
temper this, but I'm still going to get hate mail.
They're boring, They're just not very good the songs at
their best. They've got a couple of decent songs American Beauty,
Workingman's Dead. These are albums that the sort of average
everyday person can get into. But what I might where
I take umbrage is it's one thing to go to

(26:55):
a live show, but another to listen to a live recording.
And pre Internet, there was a very for many many years,
a vast network of people who would exchange tapes because
you know, if you're all into this thing. Well, oh man,
I just got a cassette tape of the Fillmore East
seventy one with hamsa El Dean's on drum going into
space and then they come out into Sugar Magnolia and

(27:17):
scarlet fire, and they would they had their own, you know, language,
their own vernacular. My issue was with on these tapes
is they would were often not board tapes. They were
just crummy crowd tapes because the dead would not only
allow it, but encourage it. And so even then if
you got a decent tape, what happened is people would
share and swamp these tapes incessantly, and they would then

(27:41):
dub that tape, and then that would get dubbed by
a friend, and that would get dubbed. So you've got
these eighth, ninth, tenth generation cassettes of already a dodgy
recording to begin with, and so it just sounded garbled
and burp. You couldn't hear anything, and even the bass
song to begin with not that great. And I understand
the spirit. I understand that it's the unity, the celebration,

(28:02):
the whole bit, but to me, they were dull and
I hated the tape bit and I went to see
them live a couple of times, and I've seen a
lot of shows, and I've taken a lot of the
mind altering substances you're supposed to, you know, when they
say you're on the bus or you're off the bus,
the old Ken Kesey Mary Prancer's reference, I'm afraid I'm
off the bus. But no disrespect to those who love them,

(28:24):
because I know people I have your friends that have
a fire in their heart and their eyes when it
comes to the grateful dead.

Speaker 3 (28:30):
Yeah, well, I I mean, you know again, I do
not have a problem with songs that go on forever.

Speaker 2 (28:39):
I really don't.

Speaker 3 (28:40):
But I do think just because you can make a
song go on forever doesn't obligate you to go on
forever that I even think. You know, for me, some
of the best improvisational stuff I feel like still has
a point, or it still has a thread, or there's
still a discipline to it that I love. In some
of the bands that I would choose, or even jazz

(29:00):
compositions that that that I would be more interested in.
In some cases, I think with this band, it's almost
like we'll just go on forever, and you know, it'll
be cool because no one else does it, or no
one releases as much stuff as we were.

Speaker 2 (29:15):
Not everything you do should be released.

Speaker 5 (29:19):
Well that I couldn't agree with more. Nor should everything
be recorded and shared in perpetuity. You're part of the
I mean, this is the jam band, right, the whole
the whole thing was improvisation. But when we talk about
the jazz greats or the prog rock grades, I hate
to say break it to people. And although it was
a nice moment in space and time, and although they
definitely represented a thing that was happening, they weren't great

(29:42):
musicians or songwriters. And so then we take that song
and with guys who can play but aren't brilliant players
that just start going do do Do Do Do, and
just they're they're they're not jazz greats, right, They're not
following the lead and then taking it off in these
fascinating directions. It's sort of of a noisy, meandering mess,

(30:03):
and certain people have found a way to fall in
love with what they do and listen for these intricacies.
I tried, trust me, I had a front row seat
to Deep Dead experience for many years. I didn't feel it,
you know, I feel like you don't get to pick
what you love. But I never felt that thing, and
so you know, and got I bought the ticket, I
got on on the ride, and I went to a

(30:23):
couple shows in full bloom and in that you know,
you should be able to listen to recorded animal noises
and be lost in the wonder of it all. And
I was still bored. I just I'm not a fan,
but I have no disrespect because they created a thing
unlike anything else that ever existed anywhere in the realms
of American music in terms of this touring circus that

(30:47):
literally was its own minor economy, this nomadic economy that
moved around the country and really around the world. But
there were people that when you talked about how that
guy who commented on your thread are your thing on
X that either you were bored and you left, or
you quit your job, dropped out of school, sold everything
you owned, and followed that band on tour. There were

(31:08):
people who that was their livelihood. They followed the dead
around selling pot parsimon bread out of the side of
their VW bus. And that's not an exaggeration or hyperbole
or a stereotype. I've seen the people I went to
plenty of shows to try to because I had I
wanted to crack the code.

Speaker 3 (31:25):
Man.

Speaker 5 (31:25):
Yeah, sure, maybe it's just too maybe it's too good
for me, maybe it's too deep for me. But I
put real effort into cracking the code, and I never
got there.

Speaker 3 (31:32):
Well, I wish we had more time, and we don't
usually have a guest this late in the five or
in the four, I should say, but we do. We
got Alec Lewis here in a minute after a break,
I will read you this TI. There's a million texts
coming in.

Speaker 5 (31:45):
This is a passionate fan base to say at the
very least.

Speaker 2 (31:48):
So, but here's here's here. I'll give you this one.

Speaker 3 (31:51):
So glad you have OKN love when he's on with
Common and a nice bonus to hear him on with you. Yeah,
we don't do it enough, but you know, on the
other hand, I do know it. So it's every Wednesday,
every single Wednesday.

Speaker 5 (32:04):
You guys, Wednesday in two segments one fifteen and then
again at one thirty five or whatever it is, straddling
the breaks there, but yeah, for forty five minutes we
talk about any of the great rockers we might have lost,
and we also just talk about the news of the day.

Speaker 3 (32:17):
I'm going to find a subject for you to chew
on so that we can have you on again with
a little bit more time without you know, getting in
the way of that big bit. Good to hear your
voice as always. Thanks for checking in man, We'll talk soon.

Speaker 5 (32:30):
That sounds great.

Speaker 2 (32:31):
Thanks Brian Oak, the one and the Only, and let
me see if I can put them on hold. There
we go. We got it.

Speaker 3 (32:36):
We are running a little bit late. We got Alec
Lewis coming up an interesting poll that attempts to get
in the brains of Minnesota Vikings fans. What are their expectations,
what are their perceptions about this organization, about the head coach,
about many other things, the quarterback situation.

Speaker 2 (32:54):
All that covered with Alec Lewis. That's next. You're listening
to Barrera fan.

Speaker 4 (33:01):
Hey, it's meat Sauce here for my friends at Connecticut
and it's time for matter of fact with Meat Sauce
fact stress.

Speaker 1 (33:16):
Stay connected and plugged into everything kfa N sports updates,
take a giveaways, show highlights, and more. You follow k
f A N one zero zero three on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook,
x and YouTube. Stay connected as a sports Leader the Fan.

Speaker 2 (33:43):
All Right, I apologize to our next guest. We're a
little bit late.

Speaker 3 (33:45):
We got a very nice impromptu call from Brian Oak
and he did not disappoint. He also got I'm off
the hook now about ripping Grateful Dead, because now he's
on the hook for ripping the Dead as well. I
don't know if our next guest has they ever even
heard of the Grateful Dead? He's Aftley Young. Alec Lewis
covers the Vikings in the National Football League.

Speaker 2 (34:07):
For The Athletic. Would you classify yourself as a deadhead.

Speaker 4 (34:12):
I wouldn't say so, And also you don't have to
apologize for being a little late, because there's nothing going
on in vikings Land, so don't feel bad at all.
I would say I've listened to Dead and Company a
solid amount because I like John Mayer, which may get
people to rip me, but rip me, but yeah, yeah,
So that's that's the extent that I go.

Speaker 3 (34:32):
Yeah, Well, I've got some good texts continue to come in.

Speaker 2 (34:35):
I will save those for later.

Speaker 3 (34:37):
I had missed this piece because I'd been out of
time for a couple of days, but guards he had
brought this to my attention.

Speaker 2 (34:42):
The the the poll that you do.

Speaker 3 (34:45):
That attempts to sort of get some kind of a
handle on perceptions regarding the team as we now the
the you know, the countdown is on pretty much for
for a training camp from the fans as it pertains
to the organization, head coach, the quarterback, the general manager, higher,
et cetera.

Speaker 2 (35:04):
If you had.

Speaker 3 (35:05):
To summarize, would you say there's an overarching theme you
came away with from these particular fan results or pole results.

Speaker 4 (35:17):
Yeah, So we do this every year. I think I
started in twenty twenty three, the summer after I moved
up here, and it was something I did with the
Kansas City Royals before I started covering this team. And
it's just like, you know, you see things on Twitter
all the time and on social media and in passing
with talking to people who are fans of the team
out and about, but rarely do I get a clear

(35:41):
snapshot that you try to get as objective as of
a snapshot as possible of how fans actually view the
current team and where things stand. And so I love
doing it every year and love comparing the results from
past years. And I'd say this year's overarching takeaway was
there there's no question that from twenty twenty three to

(36:02):
twenty twenty five there was an upward trend I would say,
of confidence and the leadership and in the overall direction.
And this would probably be the first year since we
began doing it at the athletic where there was a
clear drop in confidence, and I would say, by a dendum,

(36:24):
a clear want from the fan base to see proof
and a lot of the I would say, narratives and
perceptions that have been created and generated over the last
few seasons. So that was interesting to me.

Speaker 3 (36:37):
It does what strikes me that this is inevitable that,
whether it's a fair conclusion, if you don't have at
the very least playoff victories to fall back on, let alone,
maybe you know, some sort of a push close to

(37:00):
the Super Bowl, right, a run of some sort. It's
going to be the elephant in the room, whether the
coach is viewed as a good coach, capable, whatever the
case may be. Sooner or later, you got to be able.
You've got to have a reservoir that goes beyond goodwill.
It has to be postseason success of some sort, right,

(37:23):
So I'm not surprised, and I can't blame people for saying,
all right, I like so many things, and I keep
being told they got this, they got that, they're good
at this, they do well in the polls in terms
of how players view the organization. But I got to
have some payoff, right at some point. That's that is
the elephant in the room. That shouldn't surprise anybody.

Speaker 4 (37:47):
I mean it's exactly right, like I think the last
line and the piece, and I mean I had it
there purposefully, was a quote from someone that I thought
was representative where it's just like, at some point talk
is cheap and results have to be shown. And I
mean this break period gives a lot of time to
think and study and learn and reflect in all of that.

(38:08):
But I had a conversation with a close friend of
mine who's from here in a long time, you know,
fan of all of the teams in this area, and
they posted an interesting question to me of like, if
you presented the four big team you know, Twins, wild Wolves,
and Vikings head coach, kind of if you presented an

(38:30):
optics of how they're viewed and perceived to like the
national media or the national just fans of those who
sports who would rank the highest you know, their suggestion
to me was.

Speaker 6 (38:43):
Like John Hines or Chris Fitch, those two have won
many I mean it's specifically Chris Fitch has won many
more playoff series.

Speaker 4 (38:56):
I thought that was just an interesting way to kind
of look at and think about the perception.

Speaker 3 (39:05):
HM, we're gonna put Alex on it. Let's try to
get a better connection with Alec. We had them and
then we're losing them. We lost them and then we
had him, and I don't want to miss his major point.

Speaker 2 (39:18):
Six four six eighty six.

Speaker 3 (39:19):
If you have any questions about the pole, you could
play along if you have a subscription to the Athletic.
I think I have three because I can't get rid
of the other two that so I think I'm paying
three times over.

Speaker 2 (39:32):
About what you know?

Speaker 3 (39:34):
Again, there's I don't think there's anything scientific about this pole,
but it does give a little bit of maybe of
a feeling of where fans are and I you know,
the question that a lot of people have is whether
you know there should ever be any sort of hot
seat conversation for the head coach.

Speaker 2 (39:52):
And.

Speaker 3 (39:54):
No, I don't think so. I think that's a little
bit knee jerk and a little bit over simplify you know,
kind of oversimplifying the story.

Speaker 2 (40:01):
On the other hand, I think you got to have
a payoff at some point.

Speaker 3 (40:05):
The complication has been the difficulty at the quarterback position,
Where you say, well, could any coach deal with that
any better? I would still maintain that I think they didn't.
I didn't think the head coach did a particularly good
job navigating some of the JJ McCarthy difficulties. You can't
force him to throw well, but I think early there
were some ways. I think there were some suppositions made

(40:27):
about the ability to ease JJ in that we've learned
we're just inaccurate and maybe a I think the way
Seaffort has put it in the past is that they
misread his floor, his as in McCarthy's floor, not so
much his ceiling.

Speaker 2 (40:47):
All right, we got you back. I don't know where
you were, but we lost you.

Speaker 3 (40:50):
You were making a major point and then it was
you're on, and then you were gone. You're on, you
were gone, So pick up wherever you think you were.

Speaker 4 (40:57):
Yeah, I feel like I'm mimicking levelle years to apologize
three ninety four. It's pretty sought. But no, I just think,
like you know, it was an interesting conversation to have
had with someone who is just a buddy of mine,
and and to talk about just some of the perception
nationally of the coaches in the you know, in the
Twin Cities that I think we're all very familiar with

(41:20):
and and so I think it's very understandable that for
as much as it came very it quick came clear
through the poll that the three.

Speaker 6 (41:30):
Thousand plus people who responded do.

Speaker 4 (41:33):
Like so much about what Kevin O'Connell has brought to
the Minnesota Bikings organization. If there's not the production at
the end, then it's going to be harder and harder
to claim to the reputation that's obviously been built.

Speaker 3 (41:45):
Yeah, that's fair. I think it's it's inevitable. And look,
I mean some of them. What the best organizations do
is they don't overreact or they don't make a change
for the sake of making a change. They say, we
trust what we think we see every day that this is.

Speaker 2 (42:01):
Going to pay off. Now, the complicating.

Speaker 3 (42:02):
Factor that you could say is less about the coach
more about the quarterback. Is the quarterback situation right, because
there hasn't been you know, it's almost to a degree
that this head coach has had to deal with what
several head coaches behind him have that there's not a
guy that you say, Okay, here's the guy for ten years, right,

(42:23):
and that does make this job more challenging. Now, I
would submit to you, I'm not sure that I think
that McCarthy was handled the best way. I think they
made an arrogant assumption that they could ease him in
from the beginning, and they didn't understand how low his
floor could be. Some of that has to be coaching,

(42:44):
I think, But you know, and I know, I mean,
I remember having conversations with Jerry Burns, you know, the
former head coach of the Vikings, and I you know,
we were at times during the time he was, you know,
running the team pretty critical because the team was perceived
as a team that had a lot of talent, big egos,

(43:05):
but it didn't necessarily pay off. And after he finished,
and after you occasionally would have him in studio here,
he say, you know, off the air, he'd say, you know,
do you ever think that some of that might might
have had to do with who we were playing at quarterback?
We were using at the quarterback position and we're playing

(43:26):
Oh I don't know Joe Montana and Steve Young.

Speaker 2 (43:29):
And it was a fair point.

Speaker 3 (43:31):
Because as good as Wade Wilson was kind of coming
out of nowhere as a backup the year that they
kind of emerged late in eighty seven and eighty eight,
he was not a great quarterback. He certainly was not
a Joe Montana. And so a lot of times our
perception of coaches end up really being directly related to
what they had to deal with, what they had at their.

Speaker 2 (43:50):
Disposal at the most important position in the field.

Speaker 4 (43:54):
No, it's it's exactly right. I was having a conversation
with an executive a couple of weeks ago. We're just
talking about bunch of lead things, and they were making
the same point about front officees. The I think the
line that they use is like, if you replace the
quarterback situation in you know, one of the the organizations
like Cleveland or one of those spots, like, what is

(44:17):
the perception then of what that front office is or
can be? And I thought that was a various two point.
The i'd say complicating factor with this specific situation with
Kevin O'Connell and the Vikings.

Speaker 2 (44:29):
And you know this, Dan is the level of.

Speaker 4 (44:33):
Input that this specific.

Speaker 2 (44:40):
Yep yep.

Speaker 6 (44:45):
Went really well in.

Speaker 4 (44:46):
Twenty twenty four to moving off of Sam Darnold because
you wanted to turn you know, the page in twenty
twenty five and then a specific move. And why I
think this season is going to be beyond revelatory, both
you know, for this organization and Kevin O'Connell specifically, is

(45:06):
because of the direction he obviously had without a full
time GM in choosing to bring in Kyler Murray, and
so you know, it makes it I would say Murky
to overall and just broadly evaluate Kevin O'Connell, but there's
no question that he has had a heavy hand in

(45:27):
the quarterbacks who have been brought here, and so there
is you know, it's undeniable to think that that would
be a part of the overall record, regardless of whether
he had final fifty three man say in the end
or not.

Speaker 3 (45:41):
How do the Rubes feel about our general managers higher?
I ask, almost not wanting to get the answer, because
how much do we really know? I mean, we're basing
this generally on you know, reputation a little bit and
the organization that you come from, right, and so I
don't even know I mean, it's a name probably a

(46:01):
lot of rooms had never even heard of until the
Vikings hired them.

Speaker 4 (46:06):
Yeah, I mean, I think people were very positive and
reacted very well to, more than anything, hiring someone from
an organization like Seattle that has produced Super Bowls without
bottoming out, which is the ownership i'd say guideline here
in Minnesota. So there's optimism there. But yeah, I mean,

(46:27):
you hear all the time fan perspectives on executives or gms,
and it's really hard to discern what these people do
individually on a day to day basis when they're not
in that GM role. And then furthermore, when you plugged
someone who wasn't a general manager and leading an organization
into that very role, it's an impossible evaluation or projection

(46:52):
in terms of how that's going to go. So while
there's optimism, I think it's going to be very fascinating
to look back on this a year from now. One
Nolan Teasley has gone through a season, once he's gone
through additions in training camp, once he's once he's gone
through another draft, and and that will be the first,
I think, real tall tale sign of what he's capable of.

(47:12):
Even though people within the industry have definitely given high
marks I would say to ownership making the higher that
they eventually did make.

Speaker 3 (47:22):
All right, let me offer you up a I think
a fairly juicy hypothetical here. Let's just say, for this,
for the argument that I'm about to make, that Kyler
Murray is the starter and has a season very similar
to the season that Sam Darnald did. The Vikings are

(47:44):
they make the playoffs? They they are, they finish with
a strong record, and then let's say they get in
the playoffs and they kind of do what they did
with Donald.

Speaker 2 (47:59):
Are the Vikings this time.

Speaker 3 (48:02):
Obligated to keep Kyler Murray because of what happened the
last time and all the I guess you could say
dot the rather large domino effect to letting him go.
I mean that to me is the most intriguing question.
Is what's gonna do. What's gonna determine whether they go,
all right, yeah, this time we will go three years,

(48:25):
one hundred mil or whatever. Is that gonna be easier
because Kyler has been a starter? Is it gonna be
a necessity because of the of what happened when they
didn't the last time? What's going to go into that
decision beyond this.

Speaker 4 (48:38):
Season, Yeah, I mean the calculus will be different in
the sense that the Vikings wouldn't have behind Kyler Murray,
a young quarterback who had yet to show himself at
all in front of both the staff fan based teammates,

(48:58):
et cetera. I mean that that was one of the
components of the Sam Donald revisis history that is interesting
to me? Or it's a question that I have kind
of asked aloud of as people eternally It's hard to
get a direct answer, but like, was there actually a
path to keeping Sam Donald and then maintaining JJ McCarthy's

(49:20):
I'd say commitment to the organization, Like that is a
question that I have that I don't have a definitive
answer to, and I think it's an important one. Whereas
this time around, if in this hypothetical world Kyler Murray
did perform and produce, you don't have someone waiting in
the wings that everybody's yearning to see. Now, I will
also kind of dovetail the answer and say that and

(49:43):
this is me with an analyst had on, like it
doesn't seem like smart operation to make decisions because of
the result of the last decision you make. I mean,
I just think all people are different, all circumstances are different,
and just because you swung and missed, potentially if this

(50:04):
is the world, that it goes down if you swung
and missed on drafting a quarterback, the idea that you
would refrain from ever doing that again because of how
it panned out the last time, or moving on from
a quarterback because of how it panned out, Like, I
just don't think that's a smart way to operate. And
I also don't think that having a new general manager,

(50:25):
Nolan Teasley, will preclude them from acting in a way
that they feel is best, regardless of what it ends
up looking like. So, I mean, I've told people with
this conversation because I get asked all the time, like
I think it's way far down the road. I think
to expect Kyler Murray to have a similar year is
banking on durability and production at a level that I mean,

(50:46):
Sam Darnold has just proven to be a really productive
quarterback at a level that I mean, for Kyler Murray
to go out and do that would be highly impressive
and I think lofty at this point for me to expect.

Speaker 2 (50:58):
Who do the rooms per quarterback.

Speaker 4 (51:02):
Yeah, say, for twenty twenty six, it was like seventy
percent of the three thousand folks who responded said they
wanted Kyler Murray to be the starter in twenty twenty six,
but that there were like fifty percent of folks who
want JJ McCarthy to be the long term starter of
the organization. Those things obviously are kind of at odds
with one another, but in some form or fashion. But yeah,

(51:25):
I mean, I think it's pretty clear that the majority
would like productive quarterback play, and in many ways, I
think that that will will then alleviate any concern or
questions that justin Jefferson, who handled things very well in
twenty twenty five, would have a harder time doing that

(51:45):
in twenty twenty six.

Speaker 3 (51:46):
And beyond Yeah, that that that certainly makes makes some
sense for me as well. You know, one last thing
on Teasley, and I don't know if we've talked about
this or I've talked about it with other folks that
we have on regularly as well on.

Speaker 2 (51:59):
The vice kings.

Speaker 3 (52:00):
But what What's what I'm struck by already, given the
number of additions and subtractions, is I don't want to
go as far as to say there's a new sheriff
in town, because it's fairly clear here it's an unusual arrangement.
It sounds like the head coach, uh, you know, reports
to the owner, the general manager of the owner. But
we're to me what this says already is this organization

(52:24):
is being changed and there is a new voice that
is going to have impact here on some of these
significant decisions that was not here before and clearly to
me a much bigger way perhaps the Quasi represented.

Speaker 2 (52:40):
Do you agree with that, Yes, there.

Speaker 4 (52:43):
Is no question. I mean, when Quasi Dopaminta took over,
there was a very clear understanding for him and for
those around him that there was just not going to
be a lot of turnover with the the iteration of
the front office that had been set up under Rick's,
you know, and before that. This time around with Nolan Teasley,

(53:03):
he arrived with a clear understanding that he was going
to be able to start to shape this thing from
the outset at an interesting time at a level that
just Quaitiao Famnsa wasn't able to. And that is a
signal that that is important. I'm glad that you mentioned it,
and it's one that's going to be interesting to follow
a year from now to see how he, after assessing

(53:26):
the staff, wants to further kind of morph and shape
and configure those around him.

Speaker 2 (53:32):
But that is one.

Speaker 4 (53:33):
Of the reasons I think that people around the league
have viewed what the Vikes have done. I'd say, I
don't say they're scared, but they're definitely respect the willingness
of ownership to allow Nolan Teasley to build things in
some way the way he wants to, to start to
kind of push the process towards the place that Quaitiodo

(53:56):
fo Menz has just never had to cache internally to
be able to push towards. So I do think it's
a relevant, you know factor as we continue and and
begin really to analyze what he's able to do in
the phone.

Speaker 3 (54:09):
So this survey or the and also the results that
you lay out, Uh, is this a freebie or do
you have to have a subscription to the Athletic.

Speaker 4 (54:17):
I think, you know, if you're a newcomer, I think
there's some freebieis type of opportunities that we've got. I'd say,
you know, this is where you got to ask the
John Krazinski's and the Michael Russo's of the world. You
know what the what the business set up is that
they're much more in tune of these high level conversations.
I just I just, you know, it just kind of
filters to me out.

Speaker 2 (54:39):
That's fair. Well, you know your place. That's good.

Speaker 3 (54:40):
You're you know, it's it's exactly, it's a pecking order.
You and you'll, it's it's inevitable you're gonna get there.
It's just you might have to wait a minute or two.

Speaker 2 (54:47):
That's all.

Speaker 4 (54:48):
Yeah, I mean, it's but there's no wait. I mean
you gotta go out and take it there a single day,
and and you know, fan surveys are the direct act
to to getting there.

Speaker 6 (54:58):
There's no question about it.

Speaker 2 (55:00):
We appreciate the time. Do we have a training camp
date yet? Is it set?

Speaker 4 (55:05):
Not an official one? I believe the rookies report July
twenty sixth, when the veterans July twenty eighth, So I
mean we are coming three weeks out. I'm expecting press
conference around that time, and then, I mean it is
it is all.

Speaker 3 (55:17):
Gas, no breaks standing. Good to catch up, man, We'll
talk soon.

Speaker 5 (55:21):
Thanks danksving you guys.

Speaker 3 (55:23):
Alec Lewis covers the vikings in the NFL for the
athletic interesting piece that is up most recently there. Kessler
will join at the bottom of the hour. I've got
some interest, some very compelling texts to come that are
coming in, including a nickname nomination.

Speaker 2 (55:40):
That I should have remembered.

Speaker 3 (55:41):
I mean, this was my guy, and I didn't name it.
But we'll get to that nickname and some other stuff
when we returned. You are listening to Barrero

Speaker 2 (55:50):
On the fan from the one eight hundred ASK Gary
Traffic Center.