December 18, 2025 • 42 mins
Lou Nanne makes his weekly appearance and his first appearance on the show since the Wild made the blockbuster trade for Quinn Hughes. Spoiler Alert: Louie LOVES the trade for the Wild. Dan also discusses the news that Kevin Garnett is now back in the fold as an ambassador for the Timberwolves and his jersey will be retired in the near future.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Well, he sneaks around the world, ride.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
In the world. No, Nanny ain't here. Well, I might
be here, might be in town. I think he is.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Actually he told me he's going to be in town,
which is shocking enough, given how crappy the weather happens
to be.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
But he's not in studio.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Louis joins us via the Connecticot Water Systems hotline. You
usually have such an exquisite sense of timing that when
the weather gets as miserable as it now piers, you
are billions and billions of miles away. How did it
so happen that you got caught up in this this time?
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Well, I had to come home back in see why
family Christmas?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
That makes sense. That's probably a good reason. That's probably
a very good yes. And you know it's a very
I mean, your guy who grew up with I think
there were no palm trees in the Sioux Were there
were there? I mean, I'm assuming it was rather chilly
and snowy, and you know all the things that many
of us who grew up, you know, associated with the
Christmas period, you know, all that winter stuff.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
We had a lot of pines though a lot of
pine trees up there.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Well, that's true. That's a good point, very very good point.
All right, So tell me why.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
I talked to you Saturday, the day after the trade
and about a few different things, but I definitely sensed
a little extra bounce in the Luigi step. So why
from the moment you found out were you so excited
about this move?
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Well, because this is one of the bigger pieces of
getting of the puzzle to get to the Standy Cup,
and I mean the Standy Cup finals, you needed a
real driver back in defense. That when you get a
guy like they got in Hughes, who in many estimation
is the second best defense in the league. Remember toyous
(02:11):
is all of a sudden, the Wild are in a
position only Colorado with McKinnon and mccarr would be ranked
ahead of Caprisov and Hughes to work as a tandem.
I mean, even though you got McDavid, he hasn't got
a defenseman in the quality of those two to work with.
And you go on the league coucher off the same thing.
He doesn't have an offensive defenseman. Edmonds a great defensive defenseman,
(02:35):
but he's nowhere close to them offensively the other two.
So when you look at it, and all of a sudden,
the Wild had that type of defenseman. And getting that
type of defenseman with the corps they got essentially arguably
they got the best defense core when they're healthy that
there isn't a national hockey league. So you got a
team that's got great goldending November December. And if you
(02:58):
can continue like that, the great defense, now you're in
a position to make some noise, and especially if somewhere
along the line. And I don't know how he could
pull it off because I don't see what assets he
could trade to get a top six forward. But the
emergence of eure Off as he's coming along Helpinghi play,
(03:19):
I just think what people don't realize. I love Beim
and I think he's going to be a tremendous defenseman.
But Beam is not what Hughes is now. He might
never be, and even if he was, it won't be
farewell and the Wilds window where you have your your
key core guys would be closing. If you wait three years,
(03:43):
see till Biam gets to that point. If he does
get to that point, now, all of a sudden you
got Caprisos three years old. As the girl is probably gone,
Spurgeon's probably gone. There's a lot of difference in the
core of your hockey club than there is today. The
corps is ready to emerge right now. And when you
get the guy like Hughes who by the way, when
(04:04):
you get the defense problems like the Wild have had now.
I mean physically, he can play thirty minutes a game
like falling off a log. He's so he's so easy
to handle time because of the way he skates and
moves and handles the pucket. And it has made a
difference even in and brought favors ability to move the
puck out of the zone. Brock was good, really good,
(04:28):
but now it can be even much better working with
this guy. So I'm I'm just excited about what that
lineup passed to offer. I don't don't if they can
keep doing what they're doing when they're so short for
six guys now, but I'm just happy where they are.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Is Sydney crossby next.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
I mean I say that half that that would be next.
But how what are you going to pay for a
Sydney Cross. He is thirty nine years old.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Well you tell me.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
I'm telling you you don't have enough to pay the dude,
He's not going to be be sitting there like Santa Claus.
I think Kyle Duba's sure till rollo that.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Here's the Russo quote on I think either a podcast
or something called sports net.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I'm not sure what.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
I think a Crosby trade will be a storyline after
the Olympics, right before the trade deadline, and I have
no doubt in my mind a billy will get in
on that. The question of mine is what do you
give up? What if they ask for Valstett? Are you
giving up Vaalstet for a thirty eight year old center?
So what could the wild package to possibly get him?
Speaker 4 (05:30):
I just finished saying, you don't see it? Yeah, And
I don't say that they're going to give a Valstead.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Either, because you can't give him.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Up and you're seeing gustuson better be good all the
week through. Even if you got Crosby and all of
a sudden Gusts doesn't play well a lot of good.
You can have five Crosby. It's not going to help
all the nets.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah, that's the unfortunate part about it.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
A couple of people had texted earlier wondering whether you
being kind of the hockey his historian. Is there anybody
in NHL lore that he the Quinn reminds you of that?
You say, okay, it's stylistically or the way he moves
(06:15):
or the way he controls the park.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Does anybody come to mind?
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Yes, Stylistically, especially in his own donus.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Bobby Or, And that's how I praise there.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
Bobby Or is a left hand shot. And Bobby Or
was tremendous in escaping checks. And one night I'm walking
out of the rink and we got beat by Boston,
and you know, we had a ramp going down into
met Center there and walking up until he was an
He won't you Or? I says, I'd like to hit Or,
but you can't anyone with ansulo competti, you can't. You know,
(06:47):
you go to hit him, he's not there anymore, and
hues like that. That's what he reminds me of that.
Now he doesn't remind me in Or. It's ability Or
could take the puck to the lengthy ey, beating people
over and over again. Or was better at beating one
one on one stick handle. But that's other than that.
(07:10):
He there's no similar left hand shots. The way they
handle the puck, the way they they are so tough
to hit, the way they they can in tight spaces
escape checks. Uh. And and the head, the smart head
they got they they both see things ahead of time.
And and uh. I mean when you're talking about or
you're talking about you know, in many people's mind number
(07:34):
one or two the greatest, absolutely, but now you're talking
about you, you're talking about a defenseman that's one or
two best that are playing today. So you're you're you're
getting in that kind of hair.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Louis is brought to you by, as always our good
friends at camps. A texture wants to know whether you
keep in your mind favor and hues together.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Oh yeah, definitely. In fact, when they first we're making
a trade, one of my friends called is, who's Ben
playing with? I said, I hope they're playing with his favor.
You already got a shut down pair like Spurgeon and
Brodeine played together last year. They were number one in
the National Hockey League for not giving up goals five
and five. So you don't want to break up that pair,
(08:19):
and then you're going to have the other two in
the top four. So it's just like an automatic to
start with. On top of that, favor is really you know,
he's getting better and better all the time. Defensively, he's
he's been really a tremendous defenseman since they made the
trade to get him here, and it's experience he's getting better.
(08:41):
And then you get the physical two of Middleton and
Gooshan that are both been really good players for a while.
So that's why many people I've heard since then, even
some national people talking about the wild even Lunk was
the same. Henry Blink was that while probably got the
(09:02):
best defensive core in the league.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
What is realistic?
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I mean, what realistically do you think could you add
at center? Obviously, I think it's unlikely it's going to
be a move anywhere near as splashy as this one.
But sometimes you can make subtle moves that are just
as effective. So does anybody come to mind, I got
to believe you think he's going to try something at center.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
I think I really think he's going to have to
wait till till the deadline because I don't see anything
coming up before that where he can afford it. And
you get to the deadline, all of a sudden, some
teams are going to be sitting with a player that
maybe is not going to sign. No matter where he goes,
(09:49):
everybody's going to worry about. And then you might be
able to give a future one or two draft choices
for a guy that you probably gonna lose those draft choices,
but you're content to do it. They add that to
your lineup. So it's going to be who pops up
on which team that you know. People talk about the Islanders.
(10:12):
They might even been in the playoffs. I mean, since
they got the defense shape for they've been terrific. But
barzel are talking about he doesn't have enough to pay
for Barzil right now. I don't think without hurting the
core the team he's got, without breaking that up, because
he's given up the best draft choices, the young players
(10:33):
that he's got outside of the ones that he's using.
So it's uh, it's going to be Sony at the
deadline if he gets somebody, I think that he can
afford to waste an unseen waste in a word, that
they might not be a waste if the guy come
in is really effective, but at least take a chance
on something there.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
We had Bill on Sunday morning, and one of the
things he and I talked about was you and I
have talked about this a lot, you know, the taking
the big swing, And I think the quote he gave
me was something effective, Well, you can't go through your
life always bunting, and implied in that, I think implicit
(11:16):
in that is when you take the big swing, it
may not always be the right one. It might come
back and haunt you. But I know it's something you've
thought about a lot, given the GM role that you
had for as long as you did, and even as
a team president when you're in a different role, but
you're still paying attention to what's happening. I'm wondering if
you could speak to just the psychology of that, what
(11:39):
separate Why is it some gms, even at the risk
of maybe failing, are willing to take the big swing,
and others not so much.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Well, because they're not afraid of taking the big swing.
Some people when they look at the deal, they look
at the wrong side of the deal. In other words,
they're looking at, oh, what if it doesn't work, and
what if we're you know, if you start thinking about
making the trade, oh what if we're not going to
be as good as we were, You're never going to
make a trade. You have to be focused on making
(12:09):
the trade, thinking, if I do this, we're a much
better hockey team. It doesn't matter if the other guy
goes off and scores one hundred goals. If he's getting
five for you and he scores a hundred for somebody else,
that doesn't mean he's going to get a hundred for you.
But people that can't make the trade think, oh, he
would have got a hundred for me, and they're and
plus they're worried about the pressure, the media, the press,
(12:31):
what people think. If you're going to do your job
as a manager, you have to do a job to
do the best job. You're doing what you think is doing,
not what people are going to think of you or
think of it. You have to say I'm making this
decision because it's the best thing for the organization. And
if you're worried about protecting your job, it's the same
(12:53):
thing as an athlete going out on the court, out
in the ice, out on the field. Before they're walking out,
the thing you oh, I hope I don't grew up this.
I hope I don't make this mistake. When you worry
about making a mistake, you're going to make a mistake.
And that's why Jordan was so great. Remembering his last game,
he missed six shots in a row and he gets
the winning basket of the clocks going down. He wasn't
(13:14):
afraid to take that seventh shot. And the great ones players,
the great general managers, they don't fear the mistake. They
fear missing out. I'm telling you the worst thing I
could ever think of is That's why during the draft
I got no sleep the draft. I used to try
(13:34):
and find out every deal was coming down. If I
couldn't make the deal, I try and kill the deal
and sour of the guy I'm thinking about if you
make the deal, as you're nuts, you're going to miss this.
You know you instigate you. You got to be in
the fight, and that's where that's where the adrenaline comes from.
That's where you really understand and appreciate the job you got.
(13:57):
You have to be able and like I told you,
and I told people many times, how do you do that?
They said, And they're fund of job where they be
what I mean, without any kind of pressure. You got
to look at the pressures just being part of the job.
But do the job you think you're going to do
to get the best result you want, all right.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
So long after the adrenaline rush wears off, there are
the practicalities of hoping to assign him to an extension
and a texture much earlier. It's send in a note,
Send in a note for you wondering what you think
Quinn Hughes's next contract will look like and whether the
(14:36):
Wild can indeed build a true contender around two massive
deals that would be involved.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Here.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
I can tell you this, if I was a betting man,
a heavy betting man, I go back tomorrow, he's going
to sign. There's no doubt my mind, he'll send at
least three years. And excuse me, there's no there's no
situation where they can't afford it. People aren't realizing you're
thinking about the cap appreciated as much as it's going to.
(15:07):
So you are in a position because you're going to
have one more year at the seven point five. So
now you're essentially looking this year, that next year, in
the following year, the third year down, the line of
CAP's going to be around one hundred and five million
from eighty four. So you not only got all that
extra cap space coming, you've already got your other key
(15:28):
players being Boldie in favor Spurgeon Brotein. They're all in
their contract and so August is it. So there's not
going to be a cap problem. And I think that
he will make fourteen to sixteen million.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Can you but that can all work?
Speaker 4 (15:49):
Yeah? Sure, because you only got one really high paid player, Yeah,
in today's cap world, and that's Capriso.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
What makes you that confident that he'll he'll stand here.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Because I've been to New Jersey, I've seen its situation there.
He's got two brothers. One's a great player, Jack, the
other one is a good player, and they're not in
a position to a Stanley Cup. And I wouldn't want
to be living in that town and worrying about If
you've been around a rink in New Jersey and you've
been around that area, it's not a great place to be.
(16:24):
On top of that, if you wait two years online,
Jack's going to be a free agent. There's a better
chance of Jack coming here than Quinn going there, in
my mind, because you can make things work. And when
you're and when you're a hockey player or baseball player,
football player, you play to win. If you're really a
winning player, which this kid is, He's playing to win
(16:47):
the Stanley Cup, and he's going to look at the
team and the Cory's got here, and he's going to
look at what New Jersey's got, and he's going to say,
I'm standing right where I am because he could come
to where I am. I don't have to go to
where he is because he's going to be a pre
agent another year. Anyway, after that.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Interesting question just came in asking with if you could
expand on some of the differences between being a general
manager and a team president.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Well as a general manager in the way structured when
I was both once the general manager then president, it
is different today today. The president I look and I said,
why do they call him president and general manager? Seems
to me like Rutherford was more involved in the general
manager and the deal a while yeah, and the general
(17:37):
managers today seemed to be having to check with the
president whenever they're making a deal or get the okay
from the president. When I was president, when I was
general manager, I never the president probably found out when
you phone the press when I made a deal. I
never told him a thing. I you know, when I
feel ironed hot, I strike and that's I can't wait
(18:00):
till somebody on the other side by change his mind.
That's the difference what happened in this day and age.
But now I think that the presidents get involved with
the deals. When I was general manager, I never once
consulted with Jack Ferrar. He was the president and on
what deals he's going to make, who he's looking at.
(18:20):
I say, I only stay When I agreed to stay
with the north Starts because I retired being general manager,
I was going to leave and go in the business
i'm in now because I wanted to get out. And
Gordon talked to me in the standards a president, and
I said, on these conditions, you don't talk to me
about wins losses. I don't get involved. And you know,
the general manager's going to have the freedom to run
(18:42):
the way he wants and I don't want to be involved.
And I said, I will oversee the budget and everything
that comes through the operation as the president does. But
the decision makers in each of their positions have to
make those decisions. I'm not making those decisions. And he
understood because he never got involved with the decision with me.
When I was general manager, I never had to check
(19:02):
with Gordon Gunn to trade somebody, even Bobby Smith, he
he was the owner of the team. He said, you
run the way you think you should run it, and
if I don't like it, I'll get so many different
But I'm going to let you run it the way
you want to run it. And I think that's what's
changed today and many of the sport. You think Jerry
Jones now a general manager. But before you think these
(19:24):
guys will get so involved, I mean that you know,
guys got to check three times over before they make
a move, Which is fine. If I'm the order and
I have some money that that might be the way
I want it. That's good. But it's changed the way
it used to be, is all I'm saying. There's a
big difference in how decision making is made today from
(19:46):
how it used to be made. I know, Sammy Pollock,
Bill Tory, they never checked with anybody when they made
a deal, Because I know I've made deals like with
Tory right in the phone. We didn't have to check
with each other's owners UF like that. I mean, that's
just the way it was.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
Did you play trade poker the same way that garn
did in this case, which was starting with his best
offer that the way he explained it to me, was
not going to play around.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
I'm not going to.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
Play that game, but back and forth. I know what
it's going to take to get the deal done. I'm
not and I want to get their attention. So I'm
gonna I'm gonna put it all out there from the beginning,
including including William from the beginning. Did that surprise you
at all or is that the way you played it
or what do you think?
Speaker 4 (20:33):
No? I did that a lot that I mean, as
you know. I mean, I don't know over under trade, probably,
but I I was the same way. I I know
what I want, and tell me what you want and
never agreeable. That's it. I'm not going up down on sideways.
And so I just I was definitely that way. I
(20:54):
mean even when I I was the first guy to
ever go to arbitration in that so I leave that
I went twice, and I went because when I tried
to make the deals with the teams, I told them
what I wanted and I told them what I give them.
They said no, I signed the player because and then
that's when pre agency first came. And then if you
don't agree, you have to go to arbitration and when
(21:16):
I went to arbitration, I got what I offered. That's
why I felt, you know, there's no use going up,
up down unless you're going to add more players in
the deal or you're thinking, okay, I can do that
if you give me this. I mean, sure, there's always
things you work around the deal if you want, but
in this case, Vancouver wasn't going to throw anybody else
in the deal. And Bill knew that. You know, that's
(21:39):
what I want, and that's why I can afford to
giving this as a hell of a package. And you
told me what you wanted, these three things for the
draft choice to the years use three things, and.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
That was it last item on the deal. And to me,
what it represents beyond adding such a high end play
and I think this was important to you when you
are running teams. I look at this deal on another
level and that has to do And I know this
isn't why you make the deal, but I think it's
(22:12):
a benefit of a deal like this that the casual
Minnesota sports fan who classifies himself for herself as somebody
who might like hockey okay, but maybe he doesn't love
it or might like one sport more than the other,
but pays attention to all of them because they're sports fans.
This to me is the kind of move that gets
the attention of everybody, even a casual hockey fan that says, WHOA,
(22:38):
I mean, we don't know where's where it's going to
end up. We don't know where it's going to go.
It's like, that's that's big time. I'm definitely going to
be paying more attention to that entire operation from this
point forward.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
What do you think.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
I think you're exactly right. It's happened with the Timberwolves
with Coolbert, right, look at that trade. You know, I'm
not following basketball all the time. When he made that
trade right after, I'm watching to see the parts that
went and what he got. Now you know how it
affected Timberlves and you could see that about baseball. You
could see that any big trade and it's going to
(23:13):
get the attention of sports fans. And that doesn't mean
just a football fans. I mean to all sports fans,
and some of them are going to react differently and
or have more interest than they had before because of
the enormity of the deal. And it's no different than
(23:34):
all four sports teams are fighting for sales right in
a while. You know, even though they were hanging in
there and winning November, the backing at the building wasn't
like it was because they had a very slow start.
So you got to build it back. You've got to
get that attention back, and you got to get them
back in the building quick, because every game that goes by,
(23:55):
you can't sell that ticket again that they didn't come to,
or empty seat that you have, So how are you
going to make up the difference of money. You've got
to get the attention quick. And that got the attention
quick of not only their own fans, but other fans
that were casual fans and now probably maybe are going
to go to three games now going to go five
or six or seven. It all makes a difference, and
(24:17):
it certainly makes a difference in the media, in the
press that you get and in the talk talk radio.
You know, with TV shows, everybody talking about this. It
doesn't matter what you do today, you turn on anything
that's got something about hockey, you're still talking about the
huge trade, no question.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Yeah that And obviously if the team continues to performs
as well as they have, especially recently, it'll it'll keep
going it'll build on itself.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
In fact, right, that's the way it works.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
Well, yeah, in fact, build built by making this huge
trade put more oppressure on himself because now everybody's not
even thinking about the first round. All of a sudden,
their opponents have disappeared. They're talking about them in the
Standy Cup final. I mean these guys, I've just seen
you know, someone Twitter and someone Instagram and stuff like that.
(25:10):
They're they're talking about, well, well, should be in the finals. Now.
You don't just pass three three rows of competition here
in the Stanley Cup. You know, who knows what's going
to happen before you get there. But that's that's the pressure.
It's going to rebound back in a while now because
the expectations have been raised a whi uh.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
We appreciate the time as always, and we wish you
and yours are very merry Christmas.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
To my friend. See when you get back.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Yeah, I'm going to be in and out a lot
the next couple of weeks. So you got to you know,
you got to use that.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
They can't.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
They don't let you take that vacation time into the
next year.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
No, I got to get any.
Speaker 5 (25:47):
You don't your whole life is a vacation. Louis, what
are you talking about?
Speaker 4 (25:52):
Them? Says yeah, I'm retired to do what I want
to do when I do it.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
There you go that that defines it. Thanks as always,
my friend. We appreciate you. We'll talk soon. Calay Lou
Nanny brought to you by our good friends at Camp's
Doctor Dan's inbox. In about one hour, are we going
to have to name a Snownami? I'm all confused by
the forecast. We'll get to some other stuff, including some
uh well semi breaking although it's been out for several hours.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Kevin Garnett News State CAFAN.
Speaker 5 (26:21):
Welcomes Trans Siberian Orchestra for two amazing shows at Target
Center December twenty eight a three pm and seven thirty pm,
and tickets are on sale now. Get complete show details,
including a link to buy tickets at kfan dot com.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Keyword calendar.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
So am I seeing some media reports indicating a belief
that a suspect has indeed been identified in the Brown
University case. I have not been following out I don't
believe that individual has been named publicly, but several law
enforcement outlets I think are reporting exactly that, and then
there's some discussion about the possibility of at least the
(27:06):
exploration of a link between that story, those shootings, and
the murder of a is it, I believe an MIT professor,
Although I haven't heard very many details about the linkage
and whether that has even yet been confirmed. We'll keep
an eye on those stories as they develop. What it
(27:28):
does seem to be concerned is that a private plane
crash has left NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his family killed.
They were aboard I think they were among seven people
aboard the business Assessina business aircraft and the plane crashed
(27:49):
while landing at an airport in North Carolina. I believe
it crashed at Statesville Regional Airport, which is located about
forty miles north of Marlot, North Carolina, about ten twenty
Eastern time this morning. And there is video of at
(28:09):
least partial video of said crash. It looks as if
the plane kind of explodes into a ball of fire
fairly quickly. It crashed off the end of the runway.
Too early for information on a cause, et cetera. Biffle
was issued a private pilot certification in March. FAA record
(28:31):
show in the aftermath of last year's deadly hurricane Helene,
Biffle flew aid by helicopter to stranded victims throughout North
Carolina's Appellation Mountains. He apparently often was involved in such
(28:51):
rescue missions. He was a NASCAR named Biffel among its
seventy five greatest drivers in I believe the year twenty three.
But I also think he is he is retired as well,
So a horrific story there.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
As well.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
I asked much earlier in the program. There are a
couple of people who said, hey.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Are you a dan Adan?
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Just tune in the show kind of wondering. We be
mentioning the latest developments in the Land of ten thousand frauds,
and as it turns out, by coincidence, we have. We
discussed it during the first two segments of the program,
and during that stretch I rather impatiently asked, for give
me a Democrat who's been willing, regardless of the political implications,
(29:38):
to say, what are we doing?
Speaker 2 (29:40):
How does this happen on our watch?
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Even if you don't want to attach direct blame to
any single Democrat, it's about the system that is in place.
And we learned a term, like I said, I was
not familiar with. I'd never heard the term that was introduced,
fraud dust, fraud tourists. That was from the US Assistant Attorney,
(30:06):
a guy who's been on this program before, Joe Thompson.
That's some of these latest charges. He's basically saying that
we are people are coming now to our state purely
to exploit and to fraud. It's programs that we have
become a magnet for fraud. We have developed what he
(30:27):
described as a as as a fraud tourism industry.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
So fraud tourists are coming.
Speaker 5 (30:33):
Should we be doing commercials like in our old days
when we had the capabilities, we will do some type
of commercial like do you want money that's not yours?
Are welcome the state of Minnesota. Come on in no
sales sacks and no ramifications.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
Well, somebody reminded me of this particular these comments, and
I think we quoted them at the time. A Democrat
named Anne Rest state senator, and I think it was
in June of twenty twenty four that she had come forward,
and I think the quote her her money quote was
(31:09):
the buck is still running down the streets in everybody's
passing the buck nobody's being held accountable, and that's the
buck has not stopped with anybody exactly. And that's part
to me for the people who say, well, I mean,
how can how directly can you blame the governor?
Speaker 2 (31:25):
It's not so much just that it's would you not agree?
Speaker 3 (31:30):
It strains credulity that more people haven't lost their positions,
that there's been so little accountability at the levels where
you'd say, well, even if you don't want to directly
blame the governor, somebody, you know, Chris Carter Cereberdy's gonna
have a fall guy. But I would say not a
fall guy in the sense of somebody who didn't deserve it,
(31:50):
but somebody who might. And that's I also think part
of the problem here politically. I'll say again that you know, Walls,
I think Walls should have the decency to announce he's out.
I'm done, I really do. I think he won't, but
(32:12):
that's I think what he should do. And I think
privately there's probably a lot of Democrats who would applaud.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
It, they too, won't say it.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
But in addition to that, you know, if the Republicans
don't understand the opportunity that they have here, then shame
on them, because I don't think there's any question that
Walls has never been more vulnerable, and by the way,
(32:40):
so much it might be for the wrong reasons, just
the old how we're tired of him the same voice.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
You know, It's like how he changed coaches. We're tired
of the same voice.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
We want somebody else he's had as a let's move on,
let's try somebody else. But in addition, there's this, you know,
another press conference today involving more medicare fraud from again
Joe Thompson laying it out and basically saying, what was
the number? This is eighteen billion, and he's estimating without
proving it. Yet nine billion or close to nine billion
(33:09):
of that might be fraudulent as well. They just say
the quote I didn't use earlier, see if I can
find it. It got my I should have mentioned it
the first time around. Every day we look under a
rock and find a fifty million dollar fraud scheme. Crazy,
I mean, that's that's just insane. But I'm sitting here,
I'm thinking this out, and I'm going to the Republicans.
(33:35):
You can't be this stupid to waste this opportunity.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
Can you you can't be well, guess what.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
They're on the track to being that stupid because largely
most of people with name recognition, I just don't think
have much of a chance. And you know the guy
and maybe maybe he's bored with it, maybe he doesn't.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Even want to mess with it.
Speaker 5 (33:58):
The guy who I think think could flat out win
this election on the Republican side and beat walls unseen.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Him is Tipaw.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
I think he's now what Tipaw has said, In fact,
I think he said this in a intera with my
former partner mister Hartman, that well, I've been approached, but
the problem is it doesn't work because I I don't
fit in the Maga Republican Party even in this state.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
It's just it's just it's not a good fit. And
he's not wrong.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
But then I go back to the Republican leadership and
I go, really, whatever conviction you think you're holding on to,
it's going to end in another defeat if you're not careful.
And to me, that's what Tepaw represents right a little
bit less yeah, core righty, but.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
Certainly right of center.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
No one would ever, I think, confused Tepaw with like
the mayor of Minneapolis or the mayor of Saint Paul
for that matter, right, But I don't know, Oh if
they have the kahones to say we're starting our own revolution,
We're just not.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
We want to win, and we got a guy who's
vulnerable as hell. It may not matter.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Let's stay on schedule, actually a little bit behind. We
got Top five at five coming up. I do want
to remind you the inbox will be open at five
point thirty and there's plenty of room according to Guardzie,
so please email him with your latest letters. JG at
kfa N dot com. We'll talk KG as I promised
a minute ago. Next, I'm trying to get excited about
(35:44):
the news that Lori Fisher breathlessly offered to both of us,
both of us, I should say, as we were preparing
what you know, the Friday night said show should look like.
And that was the news that broke was late last
night or early this morning this morning, that Kevin Garnett
(36:05):
is going to be reunited with the franchise that he
once loved and then hated because of Glenn Taylor. And
I think it was pretty much assumed it was going
to happen so I'm not saying it's not a worthy story.
I'm not saying that it should not be celebrated. But
part of it for me was, unless I missed some
of the details, it's so open ended. It's not like, Okay,
(36:29):
on such and such a date, KG is going to
be back at the arena being saluted. Ye, whatever, you know.
And and because it the stories I read were well,
sometime within the next two years, he's going to get
his number retired.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Yes, is jersey retired?
Speaker 3 (36:47):
And I'm going I'm not sure that's the way you
really hit this with a with you know, with pizaz
with voltage to get everybody's attention on it, because I
think we all kind of presumed that it was inevitable
that was going to happen. But that's I don't think
we it's all very vague right now, is it not.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
Yes, we don't. He's basically an ambassador. Yes, he's basically
I think that's what they've called him. And yeah, the
news is that it's now official that this is what
he's going to be around more. They're on good terms.
The jersey's going up. You're right, it certainly did not
need to lead enough set as I think we made
it clear.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
And this will probably sound a little self serving and
wouldn't be the first time on this show for me.
But if they wanted to maximize the announcement, what they.
Speaker 5 (37:36):
Do is.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
At a prescribed time, you tell me, hold on a second,
the hot line's ringing, and the hotline is a pre
arranged phone call from KG.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
San what's that Minnesota?
Speaker 1 (37:55):
The whole bit.
Speaker 5 (37:57):
Announcing it that way on our show live in the
five o'clock hour, that would have some impact.
Speaker 2 (38:08):
Just have something where as opposed to and you know,
a meteor sham's bombing, Yeah, sham.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
I'm basically saying, because this is like a trade, he's
going to be back working within the organization.
Speaker 5 (38:19):
That's how you maximize it, right, you know, along those
lines will annoy you even more. What's that he's been
in town the last couple of days? What I know
he was in town yesterday. My sources say, so he
could have.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
Come right He might be in tom right now. I
don't know. Does he have a key card? I don't
think he does. We could get him one.
Speaker 5 (38:35):
We probably would get I bet you we would get
him key card. We could bring him up the freight elevator. Yeah,
it's fine. Again, I guess you you grew up with him.
This is going to be an awesome night. I'll probably
have to take If it's during the week, I'm probably
gonna have to take the show off.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
Yeah, I understand that, and I'll.
Speaker 5 (38:53):
Be crying, most likely wearing an old garnet jersey with
rubber bands around my wrist.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
That's how that's how it's going to go for me. Yeah.
So again, it's I'm not saying it's bad news. It's
good news.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
It's welcome news, it's inevitable news, and it's essential news,
right it It makes no sense for this, you know,
a period of of I guess you could say bad blog,
this schism that, you know, for it to go on,
and it wasn't good to go on. Everybody knew it
(39:26):
was the worst kept secret ever that the schism was
because he can't stand Glenn Taylor. I'm not even sure
he's completely fair to Glenn in that regard, but didn't matter.
I mean, he's KG and and as long as he
was the owner, the schism was going to be intact.
I think we all understood that. Once he lost the
bid to hold on to the team that there was
(39:47):
inevitably a day was going to come where KG was
back in the building and a big part of it.
I just wanted more of a Okay, leave us out
of it, doesn't have to be about us. Pick another show,
have a presser, where are you in? Reintroduce to the
market who adores him, that loves him.
Speaker 5 (40:04):
That's what I was looking for. I was looking are
you going to see him soon? Because he's coming back
for select games. That's that was part of the announcement
to start increasing fan engagement. So he'll probably, you know,
take some pictures in the member lounge, the whole deal.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Let me get to a couple quick texts before we
prepare for Top five. Every single person I know talk
to is not Magga Trump. People don't even know what
Magga is. Nobody likes Trump. It's the fact that he
does what people want. Yes, he's a boso most of
the time, but he works hard. It's all about the
four oh one k boomers status. This is from China guy.
I met Royce White at the fair. I told him
(40:39):
we need someone like Polenti to beat Walls. He said, bleep,
polenty He's no better than Walls. That's from China. Guy,
uh Dan, you're talking about how Republicans squiring an opportunity
as the Dems are vulnerable due to fraud and the
Walls is done. What makes you think it matters who
the Republican's run. All the loony lefties will vote d
down the ballot no matter what. Fraud with money and
fraud of elections. So glad I moved to the free
(40:59):
state of North Dakota. Is North Dakota free? We're not free?
I guess is that the is that the implication.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
Probably freer than us.
Speaker 3 (41:07):
Today's Republican party is different ideologically than Polenni's replicant party. Well, yes,
that's that would be stating the obvious. We're well aware
of that. As a Democrat, I was planning on voting
against Wall's next election, but if the Republican candidate is
Mike Lindell, I will be voting Walls again.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
This week.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
I'm a Trump Republican Ante pause exactly the right guy,
Minnesota will not go for a Trump Republican. Here's from
Kfen Girl Fraud Blues, Quinn Hughes, snow Shoes, Wolves.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
And five.
Speaker 3 (41:39):
And lastly, uh, your guy, I think it's more Amsterdam guy,
let me find it.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
Where did it go.
Speaker 3 (41:48):
There? It is firing. Someone would admit accountability, which Walls
won't do. Instead, he's portraying Somali's his victims, and remarkably
he'll win again. Republicans will nominate a lunatic and throw
away a golden opportunity. And that's from a hardcore that's alrighty,
we're Amsterdam guy. Right, there's no that makes no bones
about that. He has that same concern.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
So there you have it. A top five will
Speaker 5 (42:07):
Include it will include maybe a little bit more detail
on the KG thing, the Vikings injury report, and the
Quinnisota Wild are back in action.
Well, he sneaks around the world, ride.
Speaker 2 (00:22):
In the world. No, Nanny ain't here. Well, I might
be here, might be in town. I think he is.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Actually he told me he's going to be in town,
which is shocking enough, given how crappy the weather happens
to be.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
But he's not in studio.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
Louis joins us via the Connecticot Water Systems hotline. You
usually have such an exquisite sense of timing that when
the weather gets as miserable as it now piers, you
are billions and billions of miles away. How did it
so happen that you got caught up in this this time?
Speaker 4 (00:57):
Well, I had to come home back in see why
family Christmas?
Speaker 3 (01:00):
That makes sense. That's probably a good reason. That's probably
a very good yes. And you know it's a very
I mean, your guy who grew up with I think
there were no palm trees in the Sioux Were there
were there? I mean, I'm assuming it was rather chilly
and snowy, and you know all the things that many
of us who grew up, you know, associated with the
Christmas period, you know, all that winter stuff.
Speaker 4 (01:22):
We had a lot of pines though a lot of
pine trees up there.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
Well, that's true. That's a good point, very very good point.
All right, So tell me why.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
I talked to you Saturday, the day after the trade
and about a few different things, but I definitely sensed
a little extra bounce in the Luigi step. So why
from the moment you found out were you so excited
about this move?
Speaker 4 (01:49):
Well, because this is one of the bigger pieces of
getting of the puzzle to get to the Standy Cup,
and I mean the Standy Cup finals, you needed a
real driver back in defense. That when you get a
guy like they got in Hughes, who in many estimation
is the second best defense in the league. Remember toyous
(02:11):
is all of a sudden, the Wild are in a
position only Colorado with McKinnon and mccarr would be ranked
ahead of Caprisov and Hughes to work as a tandem.
I mean, even though you got McDavid, he hasn't got
a defenseman in the quality of those two to work with.
And you go on the league coucher off the same thing.
He doesn't have an offensive defenseman. Edmonds a great defensive defenseman,
(02:35):
but he's nowhere close to them offensively the other two.
So when you look at it, and all of a sudden,
the Wild had that type of defenseman. And getting that
type of defenseman with the corps they got essentially arguably
they got the best defense core when they're healthy that
there isn't a national hockey league. So you got a
team that's got great goldending November December. And if you
(02:58):
can continue like that, the great defense, now you're in
a position to make some noise, and especially if somewhere
along the line. And I don't know how he could
pull it off because I don't see what assets he
could trade to get a top six forward. But the
emergence of eure Off as he's coming along Helpinghi play,
(03:19):
I just think what people don't realize. I love Beim
and I think he's going to be a tremendous defenseman.
But Beam is not what Hughes is now. He might
never be, and even if he was, it won't be
farewell and the Wilds window where you have your your
key core guys would be closing. If you wait three years,
(03:43):
see till Biam gets to that point. If he does
get to that point, now, all of a sudden you
got Caprisos three years old. As the girl is probably gone,
Spurgeon's probably gone. There's a lot of difference in the
core of your hockey club than there is today. The
corps is ready to emerge right now. And when you
get the guy like Hughes who by the way, when
(04:04):
you get the defense problems like the Wild have had now.
I mean physically, he can play thirty minutes a game
like falling off a log. He's so he's so easy
to handle time because of the way he skates and
moves and handles the pucket. And it has made a
difference even in and brought favors ability to move the
puck out of the zone. Brock was good, really good,
(04:28):
but now it can be even much better working with
this guy. So I'm I'm just excited about what that
lineup passed to offer. I don't don't if they can
keep doing what they're doing when they're so short for
six guys now, but I'm just happy where they are.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
Is Sydney crossby next.
Speaker 4 (04:46):
I mean I say that half that that would be next.
But how what are you going to pay for a
Sydney Cross. He is thirty nine years old.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Well you tell me.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
I'm telling you you don't have enough to pay the dude,
He's not going to be be sitting there like Santa Claus.
I think Kyle Duba's sure till rollo that.
Speaker 3 (05:07):
Here's the Russo quote on I think either a podcast
or something called sports net.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
I'm not sure what.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
I think a Crosby trade will be a storyline after
the Olympics, right before the trade deadline, and I have
no doubt in my mind a billy will get in
on that. The question of mine is what do you
give up? What if they ask for Valstett? Are you
giving up Vaalstet for a thirty eight year old center?
So what could the wild package to possibly get him?
Speaker 4 (05:30):
I just finished saying, you don't see it? Yeah, And
I don't say that they're going to give a Valstead.
Speaker 2 (05:35):
Either, because you can't give him.
Speaker 4 (05:37):
Up and you're seeing gustuson better be good all the
week through. Even if you got Crosby and all of
a sudden Gusts doesn't play well a lot of good.
You can have five Crosby. It's not going to help
all the nets.
Speaker 2 (05:49):
Yeah, that's the unfortunate part about it.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
A couple of people had texted earlier wondering whether you
being kind of the hockey his historian. Is there anybody
in NHL lore that he the Quinn reminds you of that?
You say, okay, it's stylistically or the way he moves
(06:15):
or the way he controls the park.
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Does anybody come to mind?
Speaker 4 (06:18):
Yes, Stylistically, especially in his own donus.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Bobby Or, And that's how I praise there.
Speaker 4 (06:23):
Bobby Or is a left hand shot. And Bobby Or
was tremendous in escaping checks. And one night I'm walking
out of the rink and we got beat by Boston,
and you know, we had a ramp going down into
met Center there and walking up until he was an
He won't you Or? I says, I'd like to hit Or,
but you can't anyone with ansulo competti, you can't. You know,
(06:47):
you go to hit him, he's not there anymore, and
hues like that. That's what he reminds me of that.
Now he doesn't remind me in Or. It's ability Or
could take the puck to the lengthy ey, beating people
over and over again. Or was better at beating one
one on one stick handle. But that's other than that.
(07:10):
He there's no similar left hand shots. The way they
handle the puck, the way they they are so tough
to hit, the way they they can in tight spaces
escape checks. Uh. And and the head, the smart head
they got they they both see things ahead of time.
And and uh. I mean when you're talking about or
you're talking about you know, in many people's mind number
(07:34):
one or two the greatest, absolutely, but now you're talking
about you, you're talking about a defenseman that's one or
two best that are playing today. So you're you're you're
getting in that kind of hair.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
Louis is brought to you by, as always our good
friends at camps. A texture wants to know whether you
keep in your mind favor and hues together.
Speaker 4 (07:56):
Oh yeah, definitely. In fact, when they first we're making
a trade, one of my friends called is, who's Ben
playing with? I said, I hope they're playing with his favor.
You already got a shut down pair like Spurgeon and
Brodeine played together last year. They were number one in
the National Hockey League for not giving up goals five
and five. So you don't want to break up that pair,
(08:19):
and then you're going to have the other two in
the top four. So it's just like an automatic to
start with. On top of that, favor is really you know,
he's getting better and better all the time. Defensively, he's
he's been really a tremendous defenseman since they made the
trade to get him here, and it's experience he's getting better.
(08:41):
And then you get the physical two of Middleton and
Gooshan that are both been really good players for a while.
So that's why many people I've heard since then, even
some national people talking about the wild even Lunk was
the same. Henry Blink was that while probably got the
(09:02):
best defensive core in the league.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
What is realistic?
Speaker 3 (09:07):
I mean, what realistically do you think could you add
at center? Obviously, I think it's unlikely it's going to
be a move anywhere near as splashy as this one.
But sometimes you can make subtle moves that are just
as effective. So does anybody come to mind, I got
to believe you think he's going to try something at center.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
I think I really think he's going to have to
wait till till the deadline because I don't see anything
coming up before that where he can afford it. And
you get to the deadline, all of a sudden, some
teams are going to be sitting with a player that
maybe is not going to sign. No matter where he goes,
(09:49):
everybody's going to worry about. And then you might be
able to give a future one or two draft choices
for a guy that you probably gonna lose those draft choices,
but you're content to do it. They add that to
your lineup. So it's going to be who pops up
on which team that you know. People talk about the Islanders.
(10:12):
They might even been in the playoffs. I mean, since
they got the defense shape for they've been terrific. But
barzel are talking about he doesn't have enough to pay
for Barzil right now. I don't think without hurting the
core the team he's got, without breaking that up, because
he's given up the best draft choices, the young players
(10:33):
that he's got outside of the ones that he's using.
So it's uh, it's going to be Sony at the
deadline if he gets somebody, I think that he can
afford to waste an unseen waste in a word, that
they might not be a waste if the guy come
in is really effective, but at least take a chance
on something there.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
We had Bill on Sunday morning, and one of the
things he and I talked about was you and I
have talked about this a lot, you know, the taking
the big swing, And I think the quote he gave
me was something effective, Well, you can't go through your
life always bunting, and implied in that, I think implicit
(11:16):
in that is when you take the big swing, it
may not always be the right one. It might come
back and haunt you. But I know it's something you've
thought about a lot, given the GM role that you
had for as long as you did, and even as
a team president when you're in a different role, but
you're still paying attention to what's happening. I'm wondering if
you could speak to just the psychology of that, what
(11:39):
separate Why is it some gms, even at the risk
of maybe failing, are willing to take the big swing,
and others not so much.
Speaker 4 (11:48):
Well, because they're not afraid of taking the big swing.
Some people when they look at the deal, they look
at the wrong side of the deal. In other words,
they're looking at, oh, what if it doesn't work, and
what if we're you know, if you start thinking about
making the trade, oh what if we're not going to
be as good as we were, You're never going to
make a trade. You have to be focused on making
(12:09):
the trade, thinking, if I do this, we're a much
better hockey team. It doesn't matter if the other guy
goes off and scores one hundred goals. If he's getting
five for you and he scores a hundred for somebody else,
that doesn't mean he's going to get a hundred for you.
But people that can't make the trade think, oh, he
would have got a hundred for me, and they're and
plus they're worried about the pressure, the media, the press,
(12:31):
what people think. If you're going to do your job
as a manager, you have to do a job to
do the best job. You're doing what you think is doing,
not what people are going to think of you or
think of it. You have to say I'm making this
decision because it's the best thing for the organization. And
if you're worried about protecting your job, it's the same
(12:53):
thing as an athlete going out on the court, out
in the ice, out on the field. Before they're walking out,
the thing you oh, I hope I don't grew up this.
I hope I don't make this mistake. When you worry
about making a mistake, you're going to make a mistake.
And that's why Jordan was so great. Remembering his last game,
he missed six shots in a row and he gets
the winning basket of the clocks going down. He wasn't
(13:14):
afraid to take that seventh shot. And the great ones players,
the great general managers, they don't fear the mistake. They
fear missing out. I'm telling you the worst thing I
could ever think of is That's why during the draft
I got no sleep the draft. I used to try
(13:34):
and find out every deal was coming down. If I
couldn't make the deal, I try and kill the deal
and sour of the guy I'm thinking about if you
make the deal, as you're nuts, you're going to miss this.
You know you instigate you. You got to be in
the fight, and that's where that's where the adrenaline comes from.
That's where you really understand and appreciate the job you got.
(13:57):
You have to be able and like I told you,
and I told people many times, how do you do that?
They said, And they're fund of job where they be
what I mean, without any kind of pressure. You got
to look at the pressures just being part of the job.
But do the job you think you're going to do
to get the best result you want, all right.
Speaker 3 (14:16):
So long after the adrenaline rush wears off, there are
the practicalities of hoping to assign him to an extension
and a texture much earlier. It's send in a note,
Send in a note for you wondering what you think
Quinn Hughes's next contract will look like and whether the
(14:36):
Wild can indeed build a true contender around two massive
deals that would be involved.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Here.
Speaker 4 (14:44):
I can tell you this, if I was a betting man,
a heavy betting man, I go back tomorrow, he's going
to sign. There's no doubt my mind, he'll send at
least three years. And excuse me, there's no there's no
situation where they can't afford it. People aren't realizing you're
thinking about the cap appreciated as much as it's going to.
(15:07):
So you are in a position because you're going to
have one more year at the seven point five. So
now you're essentially looking this year, that next year, in
the following year, the third year down, the line of
CAP's going to be around one hundred and five million
from eighty four. So you not only got all that
extra cap space coming, you've already got your other key
(15:28):
players being Boldie in favor Spurgeon Brotein. They're all in
their contract and so August is it. So there's not
going to be a cap problem. And I think that
he will make fourteen to sixteen million.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Can you but that can all work?
Speaker 4 (15:49):
Yeah? Sure, because you only got one really high paid player, Yeah,
in today's cap world, and that's Capriso.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
What makes you that confident that he'll he'll stand here.
Speaker 4 (16:01):
Because I've been to New Jersey, I've seen its situation there.
He's got two brothers. One's a great player, Jack, the
other one is a good player, and they're not in
a position to a Stanley Cup. And I wouldn't want
to be living in that town and worrying about If
you've been around a rink in New Jersey and you've
been around that area, it's not a great place to be.
(16:24):
On top of that, if you wait two years online,
Jack's going to be a free agent. There's a better
chance of Jack coming here than Quinn going there, in
my mind, because you can make things work. And when
you're and when you're a hockey player or baseball player,
football player, you play to win. If you're really a
winning player, which this kid is, He's playing to win
(16:47):
the Stanley Cup, and he's going to look at the
team and the Cory's got here, and he's going to
look at what New Jersey's got, and he's going to say,
I'm standing right where I am because he could come
to where I am. I don't have to go to
where he is because he's going to be a pre
agent another year. Anyway, after that.
Speaker 3 (17:05):
Interesting question just came in asking with if you could
expand on some of the differences between being a general
manager and a team president.
Speaker 4 (17:17):
Well as a general manager in the way structured when
I was both once the general manager then president, it
is different today today. The president I look and I said,
why do they call him president and general manager? Seems
to me like Rutherford was more involved in the general
manager and the deal a while yeah, and the general
(17:37):
managers today seemed to be having to check with the
president whenever they're making a deal or get the okay
from the president. When I was president, when I was
general manager, I never the president probably found out when
you phone the press when I made a deal. I
never told him a thing. I you know, when I
feel ironed hot, I strike and that's I can't wait
(18:00):
till somebody on the other side by change his mind.
That's the difference what happened in this day and age.
But now I think that the presidents get involved with
the deals. When I was general manager, I never once
consulted with Jack Ferrar. He was the president and on
what deals he's going to make, who he's looking at.
(18:20):
I say, I only stay When I agreed to stay
with the north Starts because I retired being general manager,
I was going to leave and go in the business
i'm in now because I wanted to get out. And
Gordon talked to me in the standards a president, and
I said, on these conditions, you don't talk to me
about wins losses. I don't get involved. And you know,
the general manager's going to have the freedom to run
(18:42):
the way he wants and I don't want to be involved.
And I said, I will oversee the budget and everything
that comes through the operation as the president does. But
the decision makers in each of their positions have to
make those decisions. I'm not making those decisions. And he
understood because he never got involved with the decision with me.
When I was general manager, I never had to check
(19:02):
with Gordon Gunn to trade somebody, even Bobby Smith, he
he was the owner of the team. He said, you
run the way you think you should run it, and
if I don't like it, I'll get so many different
But I'm going to let you run it the way
you want to run it. And I think that's what's
changed today and many of the sport. You think Jerry
Jones now a general manager. But before you think these
(19:24):
guys will get so involved, I mean that you know,
guys got to check three times over before they make
a move, Which is fine. If I'm the order and
I have some money that that might be the way
I want it. That's good. But it's changed the way
it used to be, is all I'm saying. There's a
big difference in how decision making is made today from
(19:46):
how it used to be made. I know, Sammy Pollock,
Bill Tory, they never checked with anybody when they made
a deal, Because I know I've made deals like with
Tory right in the phone. We didn't have to check
with each other's owners UF like that. I mean, that's
just the way it was.
Speaker 3 (20:02):
Did you play trade poker the same way that garn
did in this case, which was starting with his best
offer that the way he explained it to me, was
not going to play around.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
I'm not going to.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
Play that game, but back and forth. I know what
it's going to take to get the deal done. I'm
not and I want to get their attention. So I'm
gonna I'm gonna put it all out there from the beginning,
including including William from the beginning. Did that surprise you
at all or is that the way you played it
or what do you think?
Speaker 4 (20:33):
No? I did that a lot that I mean, as
you know. I mean, I don't know over under trade, probably,
but I I was the same way. I I know
what I want, and tell me what you want and
never agreeable. That's it. I'm not going up down on sideways.
And so I just I was definitely that way. I
(20:54):
mean even when I I was the first guy to
ever go to arbitration in that so I leave that
I went twice, and I went because when I tried
to make the deals with the teams, I told them
what I wanted and I told them what I give them.
They said no, I signed the player because and then
that's when pre agency first came. And then if you
don't agree, you have to go to arbitration and when
(21:16):
I went to arbitration, I got what I offered. That's
why I felt, you know, there's no use going up,
up down unless you're going to add more players in
the deal or you're thinking, okay, I can do that
if you give me this. I mean, sure, there's always
things you work around the deal if you want, but
in this case, Vancouver wasn't going to throw anybody else
in the deal. And Bill knew that. You know, that's
(21:39):
what I want, and that's why I can afford to
giving this as a hell of a package. And you
told me what you wanted, these three things for the
draft choice to the years use three things, and.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
That was it last item on the deal. And to me,
what it represents beyond adding such a high end play
and I think this was important to you when you
are running teams. I look at this deal on another
level and that has to do And I know this
isn't why you make the deal, but I think it's
(22:12):
a benefit of a deal like this that the casual
Minnesota sports fan who classifies himself for herself as somebody
who might like hockey okay, but maybe he doesn't love
it or might like one sport more than the other,
but pays attention to all of them because they're sports fans.
This to me is the kind of move that gets
the attention of everybody, even a casual hockey fan that says, WHOA,
(22:38):
I mean, we don't know where's where it's going to
end up. We don't know where it's going to go.
It's like, that's that's big time. I'm definitely going to
be paying more attention to that entire operation from this
point forward.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
What do you think.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
I think you're exactly right. It's happened with the Timberwolves
with Coolbert, right, look at that trade. You know, I'm
not following basketball all the time. When he made that
trade right after, I'm watching to see the parts that
went and what he got. Now you know how it
affected Timberlves and you could see that about baseball. You
could see that any big trade and it's going to
(23:13):
get the attention of sports fans. And that doesn't mean
just a football fans. I mean to all sports fans,
and some of them are going to react differently and
or have more interest than they had before because of
the enormity of the deal. And it's no different than
(23:34):
all four sports teams are fighting for sales right in
a while. You know, even though they were hanging in
there and winning November, the backing at the building wasn't
like it was because they had a very slow start.
So you got to build it back. You've got to
get that attention back, and you got to get them
back in the building quick, because every game that goes by,
(23:55):
you can't sell that ticket again that they didn't come to,
or empty seat that you have, So how are you
going to make up the difference of money. You've got
to get the attention quick. And that got the attention
quick of not only their own fans, but other fans
that were casual fans and now probably maybe are going
to go to three games now going to go five
or six or seven. It all makes a difference, and
(24:17):
it certainly makes a difference in the media, in the
press that you get and in the talk talk radio.
You know, with TV shows, everybody talking about this. It
doesn't matter what you do today, you turn on anything
that's got something about hockey, you're still talking about the
huge trade, no question.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
Yeah that And obviously if the team continues to performs
as well as they have, especially recently, it'll it'll keep
going it'll build on itself.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
In fact, right, that's the way it works.
Speaker 4 (24:49):
Well, yeah, in fact, build built by making this huge
trade put more oppressure on himself because now everybody's not
even thinking about the first round. All of a sudden,
their opponents have disappeared. They're talking about them in the
Standy Cup final. I mean these guys, I've just seen
you know, someone Twitter and someone Instagram and stuff like that.
(25:10):
They're they're talking about, well, well, should be in the finals. Now.
You don't just pass three three rows of competition here
in the Stanley Cup. You know, who knows what's going
to happen before you get there. But that's that's the pressure.
It's going to rebound back in a while now because
the expectations have been raised a whi uh.
Speaker 3 (25:30):
We appreciate the time as always, and we wish you
and yours are very merry Christmas.
Speaker 4 (25:36):
To my friend. See when you get back.
Speaker 3 (25:38):
Yeah, I'm going to be in and out a lot
the next couple of weeks. So you got to you know,
you got to use that.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
They can't.
Speaker 2 (25:42):
They don't let you take that vacation time into the
next year.
Speaker 4 (25:46):
No, I got to get any.
Speaker 5 (25:47):
You don't your whole life is a vacation. Louis, what
are you talking about?
Speaker 4 (25:52):
Them? Says yeah, I'm retired to do what I want
to do when I do it.
Speaker 3 (25:56):
There you go that that defines it. Thanks as always,
my friend. We appreciate you. We'll talk soon. Calay Lou
Nanny brought to you by our good friends at Camp's
Doctor Dan's inbox. In about one hour, are we going
to have to name a Snownami? I'm all confused by
the forecast. We'll get to some other stuff, including some
uh well semi breaking although it's been out for several hours.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
Kevin Garnett News State CAFAN.
Speaker 5 (26:21):
Welcomes Trans Siberian Orchestra for two amazing shows at Target
Center December twenty eight a three pm and seven thirty pm,
and tickets are on sale now. Get complete show details,
including a link to buy tickets at kfan dot com.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
Keyword calendar.
Speaker 3 (26:45):
So am I seeing some media reports indicating a belief
that a suspect has indeed been identified in the Brown
University case. I have not been following out I don't
believe that individual has been named publicly, but several law
enforcement outlets I think are reporting exactly that, and then
there's some discussion about the possibility of at least the
(27:06):
exploration of a link between that story, those shootings, and
the murder of a is it, I believe an MIT professor,
Although I haven't heard very many details about the linkage
and whether that has even yet been confirmed. We'll keep
an eye on those stories as they develop. What it
(27:28):
does seem to be concerned is that a private plane
crash has left NASCAR driver Greg Biffle and his family killed.
They were aboard I think they were among seven people
aboard the business Assessina business aircraft and the plane crashed
(27:49):
while landing at an airport in North Carolina. I believe
it crashed at Statesville Regional Airport, which is located about
forty miles north of Marlot, North Carolina, about ten twenty
Eastern time this morning. And there is video of at
(28:09):
least partial video of said crash. It looks as if
the plane kind of explodes into a ball of fire
fairly quickly. It crashed off the end of the runway.
Too early for information on a cause, et cetera. Biffle
was issued a private pilot certification in March. FAA record
(28:31):
show in the aftermath of last year's deadly hurricane Helene,
Biffle flew aid by helicopter to stranded victims throughout North
Carolina's Appellation Mountains. He apparently often was involved in such
(28:51):
rescue missions. He was a NASCAR named Biffel among its
seventy five greatest drivers in I believe the year twenty three.
But I also think he is he is retired as well,
So a horrific story there.
Speaker 2 (29:07):
As well.
Speaker 3 (29:08):
I asked much earlier in the program. There are a
couple of people who said, hey.
Speaker 2 (29:12):
Are you a dan Adan?
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Just tune in the show kind of wondering. We be
mentioning the latest developments in the Land of ten thousand frauds,
and as it turns out, by coincidence, we have. We
discussed it during the first two segments of the program,
and during that stretch I rather impatiently asked, for give
me a Democrat who's been willing, regardless of the political implications,
(29:38):
to say, what are we doing?
Speaker 2 (29:40):
How does this happen on our watch?
Speaker 3 (29:42):
Even if you don't want to attach direct blame to
any single Democrat, it's about the system that is in place.
And we learned a term, like I said, I was
not familiar with. I'd never heard the term that was introduced,
fraud dust, fraud tourists. That was from the US Assistant Attorney,
(30:06):
a guy who's been on this program before, Joe Thompson.
That's some of these latest charges. He's basically saying that
we are people are coming now to our state purely
to exploit and to fraud. It's programs that we have
become a magnet for fraud. We have developed what he
(30:27):
described as a as as a fraud tourism industry.
Speaker 2 (30:32):
So fraud tourists are coming.
Speaker 5 (30:33):
Should we be doing commercials like in our old days
when we had the capabilities, we will do some type
of commercial like do you want money that's not yours?
Are welcome the state of Minnesota. Come on in no
sales sacks and no ramifications.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
Well, somebody reminded me of this particular these comments, and
I think we quoted them at the time. A Democrat
named Anne Rest state senator, and I think it was
in June of twenty twenty four that she had come forward,
and I think the quote her her money quote was
(31:09):
the buck is still running down the streets in everybody's
passing the buck nobody's being held accountable, and that's the
buck has not stopped with anybody exactly. And that's part
to me for the people who say, well, I mean,
how can how directly can you blame the governor?
Speaker 2 (31:25):
It's not so much just that it's would you not agree?
Speaker 3 (31:30):
It strains credulity that more people haven't lost their positions,
that there's been so little accountability at the levels where
you'd say, well, even if you don't want to directly
blame the governor, somebody, you know, Chris Carter Cereberdy's gonna
have a fall guy. But I would say not a
fall guy in the sense of somebody who didn't deserve it,
(31:50):
but somebody who might. And that's I also think part
of the problem here politically. I'll say again that you know, Walls,
I think Walls should have the decency to announce he's out.
I'm done, I really do. I think he won't, but
(32:12):
that's I think what he should do. And I think
privately there's probably a lot of Democrats who would applaud.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
It, they too, won't say it.
Speaker 3 (32:19):
But in addition to that, you know, if the Republicans
don't understand the opportunity that they have here, then shame
on them, because I don't think there's any question that
Walls has never been more vulnerable, and by the way,
(32:40):
so much it might be for the wrong reasons, just
the old how we're tired of him the same voice.
Speaker 2 (32:44):
You know, It's like how he changed coaches. We're tired
of the same voice.
Speaker 3 (32:47):
We want somebody else he's had as a let's move on,
let's try somebody else. But in addition, there's this, you know,
another press conference today involving more medicare fraud from again
Joe Thompson laying it out and basically saying, what was
the number? This is eighteen billion, and he's estimating without
proving it. Yet nine billion or close to nine billion
(33:09):
of that might be fraudulent as well. They just say
the quote I didn't use earlier, see if I can
find it. It got my I should have mentioned it
the first time around. Every day we look under a
rock and find a fifty million dollar fraud scheme. Crazy,
I mean, that's that's just insane. But I'm sitting here,
I'm thinking this out, and I'm going to the Republicans.
(33:35):
You can't be this stupid to waste this opportunity.
Speaker 2 (33:37):
Can you you can't be well, guess what.
Speaker 3 (33:42):
They're on the track to being that stupid because largely
most of people with name recognition, I just don't think
have much of a chance. And you know the guy
and maybe maybe he's bored with it, maybe he doesn't.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Even want to mess with it.
Speaker 5 (33:58):
The guy who I think think could flat out win
this election on the Republican side and beat walls unseen.
Speaker 2 (34:07):
Him is Tipaw.
Speaker 3 (34:09):
I think he's now what Tipaw has said, In fact,
I think he said this in a intera with my
former partner mister Hartman, that well, I've been approached, but
the problem is it doesn't work because I I don't
fit in the Maga Republican Party even in this state.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
It's just it's just it's not a good fit. And
he's not wrong.
Speaker 3 (34:29):
But then I go back to the Republican leadership and
I go, really, whatever conviction you think you're holding on to,
it's going to end in another defeat if you're not careful.
And to me, that's what Tepaw represents right a little
bit less yeah, core righty, but.
Speaker 2 (34:48):
Certainly right of center.
Speaker 3 (34:50):
No one would ever, I think, confused Tepaw with like
the mayor of Minneapolis or the mayor of Saint Paul
for that matter, right, But I don't know, Oh if
they have the kahones to say we're starting our own revolution,
We're just not.
Speaker 2 (35:07):
We want to win, and we got a guy who's
vulnerable as hell. It may not matter.
Speaker 3 (35:11):
Let's stay on schedule, actually a little bit behind. We
got Top five at five coming up. I do want
to remind you the inbox will be open at five
point thirty and there's plenty of room according to Guardzie,
so please email him with your latest letters. JG at
kfa N dot com. We'll talk KG as I promised
a minute ago. Next, I'm trying to get excited about
(35:44):
the news that Lori Fisher breathlessly offered to both of us,
both of us, I should say, as we were preparing
what you know, the Friday night said show should look like.
And that was the news that broke was late last
night or early this morning this morning, that Kevin Garnett
(36:05):
is going to be reunited with the franchise that he
once loved and then hated because of Glenn Taylor. And
I think it was pretty much assumed it was going
to happen so I'm not saying it's not a worthy story.
I'm not saying that it should not be celebrated. But
part of it for me was, unless I missed some
of the details, it's so open ended. It's not like, Okay,
(36:29):
on such and such a date, KG is going to
be back at the arena being saluted. Ye, whatever, you know.
And and because it the stories I read were well,
sometime within the next two years, he's going to get
his number retired.
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Yes, is jersey retired?
Speaker 3 (36:47):
And I'm going I'm not sure that's the way you
really hit this with a with you know, with pizaz
with voltage to get everybody's attention on it, because I
think we all kind of presumed that it was inevitable
that was going to happen. But that's I don't think
we it's all very vague right now, is it not.
Speaker 5 (37:05):
Yes, we don't. He's basically an ambassador. Yes, he's basically
I think that's what they've called him. And yeah, the
news is that it's now official that this is what
he's going to be around more. They're on good terms.
The jersey's going up. You're right, it certainly did not
need to lead enough set as I think we made
it clear.
Speaker 3 (37:25):
And this will probably sound a little self serving and
wouldn't be the first time on this show for me.
But if they wanted to maximize the announcement, what they.
Speaker 5 (37:36):
Do is.
Speaker 3 (37:39):
At a prescribed time, you tell me, hold on a second,
the hot line's ringing, and the hotline is a pre
arranged phone call from KG.
Speaker 2 (37:53):
San what's that Minnesota?
Speaker 1 (37:55):
The whole bit.
Speaker 5 (37:57):
Announcing it that way on our show live in the
five o'clock hour, that would have some impact.
Speaker 2 (38:08):
Just have something where as opposed to and you know,
a meteor sham's bombing, Yeah, sham.
Speaker 3 (38:13):
I'm basically saying, because this is like a trade, he's
going to be back working within the organization.
Speaker 5 (38:19):
That's how you maximize it, right, you know, along those
lines will annoy you even more. What's that he's been
in town the last couple of days? What I know
he was in town yesterday. My sources say, so he
could have.
Speaker 2 (38:30):
Come right He might be in tom right now. I
don't know. Does he have a key card? I don't
think he does. We could get him one.
Speaker 5 (38:35):
We probably would get I bet you we would get
him key card. We could bring him up the freight elevator. Yeah,
it's fine. Again, I guess you you grew up with him.
This is going to be an awesome night. I'll probably
have to take If it's during the week, I'm probably
gonna have to take the show off.
Speaker 2 (38:51):
Yeah, I understand that, and I'll.
Speaker 5 (38:53):
Be crying, most likely wearing an old garnet jersey with
rubber bands around my wrist.
Speaker 2 (38:58):
That's how that's how it's going to go for me. Yeah.
So again, it's I'm not saying it's bad news. It's
good news.
Speaker 3 (39:05):
It's welcome news, it's inevitable news, and it's essential news,
right it It makes no sense for this, you know,
a period of of I guess you could say bad blog,
this schism that, you know, for it to go on,
and it wasn't good to go on. Everybody knew it
(39:26):
was the worst kept secret ever that the schism was
because he can't stand Glenn Taylor. I'm not even sure
he's completely fair to Glenn in that regard, but didn't matter.
I mean, he's KG and and as long as he
was the owner, the schism was going to be intact.
I think we all understood that. Once he lost the
bid to hold on to the team that there was
(39:47):
inevitably a day was going to come where KG was
back in the building and a big part of it.
I just wanted more of a Okay, leave us out
of it, doesn't have to be about us. Pick another show,
have a presser, where are you in? Reintroduce to the
market who adores him, that loves him.
Speaker 5 (40:04):
That's what I was looking for. I was looking are
you going to see him soon? Because he's coming back
for select games. That's that was part of the announcement
to start increasing fan engagement. So he'll probably, you know,
take some pictures in the member lounge, the whole deal.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Let me get to a couple quick texts before we
prepare for Top five. Every single person I know talk
to is not Magga Trump. People don't even know what
Magga is. Nobody likes Trump. It's the fact that he
does what people want. Yes, he's a boso most of
the time, but he works hard. It's all about the
four oh one k boomers status. This is from China guy.
I met Royce White at the fair. I told him
(40:39):
we need someone like Polenti to beat Walls. He said, bleep,
polenty He's no better than Walls. That's from China. Guy,
uh Dan, you're talking about how Republicans squiring an opportunity
as the Dems are vulnerable due to fraud and the
Walls is done. What makes you think it matters who
the Republican's run. All the loony lefties will vote d
down the ballot no matter what. Fraud with money and
fraud of elections. So glad I moved to the free
(40:59):
state of North Dakota. Is North Dakota free? We're not free?
I guess is that the is that the implication.
Speaker 2 (41:05):
Probably freer than us.
Speaker 3 (41:07):
Today's Republican party is different ideologically than Polenni's replicant party. Well, yes,
that's that would be stating the obvious. We're well aware
of that. As a Democrat, I was planning on voting
against Wall's next election, but if the Republican candidate is
Mike Lindell, I will be voting Walls again.
Speaker 2 (41:24):
This week.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
I'm a Trump Republican Ante pause exactly the right guy,
Minnesota will not go for a Trump Republican. Here's from
Kfen Girl Fraud Blues, Quinn Hughes, snow Shoes, Wolves.
Speaker 2 (41:37):
And five.
Speaker 3 (41:39):
And lastly, uh, your guy, I think it's more Amsterdam guy,
let me find it.
Speaker 2 (41:45):
Where did it go.
Speaker 3 (41:48):
There? It is firing. Someone would admit accountability, which Walls
won't do. Instead, he's portraying Somali's his victims, and remarkably
he'll win again. Republicans will nominate a lunatic and throw
away a golden opportunity. And that's from a hardcore that's alrighty,
we're Amsterdam guy. Right, there's no that makes no bones
about that. He has that same concern.
Speaker 2 (42:06):
So there you have it. A top five will
Speaker 5 (42:07):
Include it will include maybe a little bit more detail
on the KG thing, the Vikings injury report, and the
Quinnisota Wild are back in action.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.