#92Noon! 11am Hour 7/16 Wendell Epps

Nordo finishes the show with Lynx VOX Wendell Epps as they talk all things Lynx, and Nordo wraps with a homework assignment.

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
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(00:29):
Well, the way things were goingon Sunday at Target Center, it
sounded like the crowd trying to getin for Links Fever was kind of like
Argentina and Columbia. If we're WendellEPP's voice of the Links joining me now
at EPP's underscore Wendell via the XMachine follow him now. You hear his
voice during Links games here on thefan where you're home for the Howl and

(00:50):
the Links, and you've heard himin recent times nine to noon with Max
Fuller. He was on the SundayShow Worst case scenario again, I call
it best case scenario. But howyou doing, man? Nice to meet
you, hey man. I'm doinggreat. Thank you so much for having
me. It was it at alllike that Copa America Final, people crawling
on top of each other and throughventilation, ducks and tearing fences down,
weeping the nash and teeth to getin to see the Caitlin Clark and I

(01:14):
mean fever the appropriate name, itseems like for that team. How cool
was it being part of I thinkthe largest attendance in club history on Sunday
against the with the Lynks in town. Yes, as far as regular season
goes, it was our largest attendeecrowd ever. I mean literally, as
soon as I as I was drivinginto the arena, I just see nothing
but Clark jerseys around Target Center anda lot of Links fans filing in and

(01:34):
on my way in. The skywaywas packed. I could barely breathe as
I was making my way over toTarget Center. But man, the atmosphere
was incredible. I loved what Isaw. Obviously, it was a big
milestone with Caitlin Clark in the buildingfor the first time as a pro,
but even for the Minnesota Lynx,just for everyone to be there to watch
that game it was. It wasa great experience and certainly a fun one
to call. So if it's allright with you, I'm gonna I'm gonna
bring it backwards a bit. Yeah, to then move forward and talk about

(01:57):
this team who is absolutely the afactor in the WNBA standings in the twenty
twenty four season. Cheryl Reeve justhas this thing humming right now, even
with the FISA Collier kind of workingher way on the men at that particular
moment. And we'll talk about thattoo. But you know, how'd you
get here? First season with theLynx? High Point University Broadcasting was the

(02:17):
name of the game for you.And you find yourself in this spot which
is a terrific opportunity with the LynxNorth Carolina. Is that where high Point
is? Yeah? Accurate? Yeap, North Carolina. So are you North
Carolina native then as well? Andno, So, I actually was born
and raised in Fairfax, Virginia,right out south weston DC, so lived
there my entire life. And thenwhen I went to college, that was
my first time going out of state. Went to North Carolina High Point University.

(02:39):
There, pretty small school, butvery fun school. They had just
launched a sports media program at thetime that I went there, so I
got a lot of opportunities right away. Became the play by play voice for
their athletics program, calling every sportyou name it, basketball, soccer,
lacrosse, even did track and field. I just did a little bit of
anything and everything to get my handsdirty, and eventually did that all four
years, called over one hundred game. Was recognized as a university sports Broadcaster

(03:01):
of the Year my junior year,and then that's when I really knew that
I wanted to do this as aprofession. And then ultimately I did some
internships throughout that as well at FoxSports at a local NBC affiliate. I
started freelancing at other schools in NorthCarolina, and then eventually my first job
out of college last year. It'scrazy to take it. It's only been
a little over a year, butAugust of twenty twenty three, I guess

(03:22):
less than a year actually, Ibegan my first really official role out of
college with the Orlando Magic. Iwas a radio graduate associate, so I
worked a full year in the NBAwith the Magic, doing different things like
producing, editing. I was hostinga little bit on pregame and postgame,
and then my big thing with themwas I was working with their g LEA
team, the Ostiola Magic. Ibecame their broadcaster I was doing play by
play analyst siline reporting and I wasable to build a nice reel from that,

(03:46):
and ultimately that helped me get myname in the hat for this Minnesota
Link's job, and fortunately enough Igot the opportunity and it's been a life
changing opportunity. I love Minnesota somuch, and the Links organization's fantastic.
Yeah, they're good people and youfell into a good one with them,
There's no doubt. And the pathto get there interesting to me. And
from a broadcasting standpoint, was italways hoops for you? I mean even
prior you mentioned it, I meanprobably not until high point and getting those

(04:09):
opportunities and doing it all right,Like did you you have a backpack?
There might be a couple of booksin there, but there's also like a
com rex, a pair of hellyeah, everything everywhere. The probably maybe
one textbook Max honestly in the backpack. But yeah, I've always knew and
I wanted to do hoops. Imean, I played AU basketball a lot
growing up. I just I lovebasketball. I love the game itself.
I always was a huge NBA fan, So if I could pick any sport

(04:30):
to do, it was always basketball. And I always had the dream of
working in the NBA. Little didI know is going to be able to
achieve that, having just turned twentytwo last year, But you know,
it's amazing and now being able tostep into avenue like the WNBA because I
covered a lot of the women's sportsteams at high point, like women's lacrosse,
women's soccer, and I got tobe part of the they both went
to their conference championships and actually wonone, so I got to be part
of their championship runs there. Soto be part of this this era now

(04:50):
with the links where I personally thinkthey are a championship contender, it's great
to be a part of it becauseit's a familiar territory for me, but
it's obviously a much bigger stage rightnow, this being the w NBA and
obviously all the popularity around it rightnow. Did you ever have favorite voxes
growing up? Did you ever youknow, just voices? People gravitate the
voices, Yeah, they do,And there's and and you found this there.

(05:11):
There's an interesting thing for me justas a fan, I am a
consumer. I am never going tobe I don't believe a play by play
guy. But but as a fanof sports, you ingested, there's there's
a combination. You have great voxeswho are the most articulate people on the
planet. They sell you the story, They tell you the story in the
most beautiful way possible. On theother end of it, there's just some

(05:33):
natural given talent from a vocal standpoint, right, I mean, the best,
the best storyteller in the world.If it's if it's got voice.
If there are vocal issues, yeah, sometimes that story gets lost. But
where there's certain boxes maybe growing upwhere you're like, man, this guy,
I have to stop what I'm doingwhen this guy's talking. Yeah,

(05:54):
I mean, obviously for me itwas really two people growing up. Kevin
Harlan and Mike Breen were really thebig ones. Obviously, I mean,
those are the classics. But eventhen, I mean I was always a
fan of local broadcasters as well,a group of big Washington Wizards fans.
So like Steve Buckass was the Wizard'splay by play voice for over twenty years,
and he was just the guy thatI always listened to because I'd watched
eighty two Washington Wizards games and Ihear his voice a lot. And then

(06:14):
when I went to North Carolina EricCollins played by play voice of Charlotte Hornets.
I became fascinated with all of hisenergy. You know, his home
didlid calls and how do you doo? I was like, man, this
this dude's hyped up. Man,I love it so And it's a great
point you make about the voice likethat really, especially on radio, and
it's so important because that's a voiceyou listen to. And with me doing
the games by myself, you know, I try to make sure that I
really put forth the best effort Ican for the fans to make sure that

(06:38):
you know, they're listening to avoice that they want to keep listening to
for all the entire season. Thedoing it, the doing the broadcast by
yourself. And we were talking,we were joking about it off air.
There's there's the good times bad timesof it, right, like you're flying
without a parachute in some ways,there's no safety in that. But in
the same sense, it's like Idon't have to you know, this guy
just shut up. Yeah, yeah, we understand specifically in hoops and it

(06:59):
I always I always find the balanceTV you do radio, but it's always
funny when you watch NBA games wherethere's going to be an elite moment,
right, Like you've listened to yourown highlights, you know, you get
to the opportunity to build it up. Then there's the exclamation point on the
on the end of a big bucketor a foul or a moment. But
sometimes when you're watching NBA on TV, some guys telling you about some you

(07:20):
know, how many assists the guysaveraging is you watch some Tomahawk backboard breaking
slam. So when I play TVNBA highlights, they're about four seconds long.
So I always gravitate to you.Whether it's Alan Horton with the Wolves,
you with the Lynx, I needa little explanation as to what the
hell's going on. So exactly doingthe games by yourself good times, bad

(07:41):
times. But you've fallen into thisrole and you've kind of, I shouldn't
say fallen into my mindset here isyou've gotten the rhythm of doing it on
your own to the point where there'sa comfort level there. No, there
definitely is. I mean it honestly, for those two hours, it's a
mix of the Minnesota Links and theWendell up Show, Like I'm able to
control how we do our broadcast.You know, I came in and this
is what the Links wanted when theyhired me. They wanted me to come

(08:01):
in with ideas of how to spiceup our radio broadcast because this is the
first time we've had it since thetwenty nineteen season. It's been a long
time since the Minnesotans has been there. Yeah, so you know, making
the return to airwaves, it's certainlya big moment here for the Links.
So for me, it was howcan we humanize these players. So every
broadcast that we do you listen toduring our halftime show will air one to
two halftime features. Typically it'll beone on one interviews I do with players

(08:24):
just so you guys can get toknow them off the court as well.
So that way, you know,while I'm describing, oh, listen Pealey
just knocked down at three point orprit ject Carlton Steel run away layup.
You know, that way during halftime, we can take a little bit of
a break from all the fast pacedaction that you hear on the air,
and we can get to sit downwith these players and we'll air snippets from
our podcast Links Unleash, So wedo all these things because we want to
make sure that these players are knownobviously for the on the court talents,

(08:46):
but also their personalities off the court, because we have some great stories to
share about these girls. Well,let's let's jump into some of that then.
I mean the Links at this stage, and again, I mean you
you were out there for the roadtrip and that the sparks just speaking of
lack of spark. This spark rightnow and camera breaks out for the year
and they're on the absolute grind.The only team it seems like they can
beat these days, the Las VegasAces. Yeah, I guess. But

(09:09):
team gets blown out by Seattle andthen into the weekend you have the historic
regular season, historic crowd. Youlose one tough. I mean, they
just it just didn't happen over thefinal five minutes. But overall they're a
factor there in what has looked likea top heavy WNBA the last couple of
years. There's a lot of parodyand teams like the Links are right there

(09:31):
in the mix. What's the seasonbeen like thus far? For you being
able to watch it so closely,it's been incredible. It's more than I
ever could have anticipated. And it'sinteresting because schol Reeve said the same thing,
and I completely agree with her.When I watched the links during training
camp was I was there throughout theentire dration of training camp watching them get
ready for the season. I mean, I couldn't believe my eyes with just
the energy I saw. I remember, you know you realize that Wnba,

(09:52):
it's more than twelvelayers that are intraining camp. You got eighteen to twenty
players, And I was like,who are they gonna cut? Like how
are they going to get down totwelve? Because I was looking in even
I was doing the We did twomock broadcasts for the preseason. I was
calling those games. They weren't airedlive, but I was still calling them,
and I was say, man,everyone is so talented. So it
was tough to see some of thosegood players in preseason that I actually got
to know a little bit get cut. And then eventually once the season began,

(10:13):
I knew right away from those firsttwo games against Seattle. Granted it
was a tough loss up there onthis past Friday, but those first two
games we beat Seattle good. Webeat them in their hometown on opening night,
and then we beat them a doubleovertime in our home opener, and
that's when I was like, thisteam is this team is legit. And
then obviously we won the Commissioner's CupChampionship, which I was so happy because
ESPN preseason power rankings had the MinnesotaLinks number nine. Man number nine.

(10:35):
I mean, no one thought.People thought the Links were going to be
chasing for Page Beckers. And asmuch as I love Page Beckers and I
know she's the Minnesota native, youknow, we got our eyes set on
getting a championship. And this teamis so good. We have the Visa
Collier who And that was why Iwas so confused by the preseason ranking because
I was like, the Visa Collieris a top five player in the WNBA.
How was the team with a topfive player not going to be projected
to be at least competitive in theplace in the playoffs. And then Kayler

(10:56):
McBride, she's having herself an AllStar Season's going to be playing in the
All Star Game this weekend. BridgetCarlton has stepped up, She's having herself
a career year. Atlanta Smith,Courtney Williams, Natisa Idam and you all
name it. They've been great addition. So this Link's team is is very
deep, and there's so many greatplayers that could do a lot of things.
Specific to Nefisa who You're right,she's MVP calt Yeah, but she

(11:18):
she is MVP caliber when she's healthy. Now, this this foot things kind
of worriess and I, you know, planner fasci itis, just kind of
trying to weave our way to theright answer in terms of what's going on
with her and and maybe this isjust something and you know, following it.
I don't know how closely you followother Minnesota sports, but Carlos Carea
one of the best players in theMinnesota Twins. He's now had foot injuries,

(11:39):
uh planners specific the last two yearsin a row. Is just announced
a few days ago he's he's anAll Star who won't be playing in tonight's
All Star Game. Are we arewe worried at all about her just kind
of working her way back? Dowe got to kind of trust the idea
that you know, she knows howto play with this This sounds like it's
not a brand new thing, andwe just we we want her back when
she's ready, of course, butbut at the same time, we're gonna
have to figure out how to trudgeon without her. Yeah, no,

(12:01):
no doubt about that. I mean, obviously it's been tough playing without Fee
these past couple games. We definitelymissed her on Sunday. But the one
thing about Fee and then me reallygetting to know her as a player and
as a person this year, isthat she's a tough cat. She's going
to play whenever she can, butshe's also going to understand that, you
know, we're in it for thelong haul, not the short haul.
You know, this is a marathon, not a sprint. So for example,
like tomorrow's game, we're playing AtlantaTeam below five hundred, final game

(12:24):
before the Olympic break, Fee's playingin the She's an all star because she's
on the Olympic team, and she'sgetting ready to play in Paris, you
know, and cherw Reeve's the coachand scher Reeve has high expectations of what
Fee can do in this year's Olympics. She's going to be her in a
national stage. You know, shewants to make sure that she's healthy for
that. So I think for Feeright now, her sitting out is good
because if you watch any of thosefirst couple games Fee was playing thirty five

(12:45):
to forty minutes a night, andthe game itself is forty minutes long,
so she was out there for alot and not only that, she was
also battling a risk injury at onepoint during the season, so it's been
tough on her. And it's toughon a lot of these players because they
play overseas right before theular season startsand then they come here. We have
one player in Dorka Uas who literallyhave come right from Italy straight to Minnesota

(13:05):
as soon as her season ended.So these players don't get a break.
And Doraca was telling me last weeklike I can't wait to finally get some
relaxation come later this week. AndI'm like, yeah, I don't blame
you. I mean it's the samewith me. I'm coming straight from the
NBA with you Orlanta Magic, soI know what it feels like. They
just continue to be on the grind. But and if he's a call,
heer, she's a talented player,she is going to be back. I
wouldn't worry about her health down theroad. I think she's going to be
perfectly fine for us down the line. So it is you Haas correct,

(13:28):
Yes, okay, perfect. Seesee you're you're helping me out in a
lot of ways. You're a humanpronunciation. Yeah, exactly what you learned
to be. Yeah, because Ican text Abby works with the LANX.
Yeah, I can text it,and she's always super helpful. But I
just you know it, is itjuhas? Is it jahas? Is there
their pronunciation or an emphasis that I'mmissing there? So the worst is Atlanta
Smith or u haas because a lotof people thought Alana Smith or Elena Smith,

(13:52):
it's Atlanta, like Atlanta Atlanta withthe T. Yeah exactly. That's
how Abby told me how to pronounceit, because I remember when I first
came, I was saying Smith,Alana Smith's well, let me try to
go, let me try to gotwo for two. So it's uhas and
it's Peelee is that after? Soin you follow this, you know she
she's a rookie, she's a selection. Was there was Cheryl got tricky in

(14:15):
the draft. She moved, shemoved out of a spot, finds her
way to Peeley. A lot ofpeople like, well, if you would
have just stayed there, Cheryl,you would have gotten angel rees kind of
playing those games or whatever. Ihaven't heard Peele's name mentioned a ton,
at least in the recent times.How's her development going as the newest,
freshest member of the Links. Ithink Alyssa what she's getting right now is
more so learning lessons that have todo with the longevity of her career.

(14:37):
And I think she's learning probably moreoff the court right now than she is
on the court, only because shehasn't played consistent rotation minutes. But we
see what Elisabethy can do. Shehad a one game against Phoenix. She
scores twenty points career high, knocksdown four to three pointers in that game.
When she wants to be aggressive,she can, and she's a very
active player. I think for herit's just about learning the ropes a little
bit more. And we have somany vets on this team, and I
don't think that I think that wassomething that kind of just came wishing because

(15:01):
Show Reeven her squad made an aggressivepursuit and free agency and they were able
to land. Like I said,Courtney Williams, Alandasmidt and teach A Heideman.
That's three rotational players that you haveto play Chi Chileia, Xanda Lassini
used to play for the Links backwhen they won a championship with the Maya
More days. She just came backthis season. She's got to be in
the rotation. Obviously, Fee hasto be in the rotation. Came back.
So it's just a deep team whereit's hard to get minutes. And

(15:22):
for a list of Peelee, Ithink right now, you know, she's
just she's certainly a great talent.I see her getting better and better.
She's getting more confident as the seasonprogresses. I think for her, really
the big thing is it's just aboutwaiting for the opportunity and she's gonna get
it. She's gonna play, youknow, minutes depending on the matchup and
things like that. But lista,Peeley is certainly great talent. I know
she has a bright future in thew you know, you know, thinking
about Peelee and I mentioned Angel Reesealso a rookie, and in Caitlyn we

(15:43):
just saw her on Sunday, itkind of feels like, you know,
the conversation around women's basketball has alwaysbeen there's been a few stars, but
what's the health of the league.And I know that you haven't spent ten
years following the Links, but you'renot daft to what's happening and what has
happened with the WA. Does itfeel in some ways that there's an optimism
around the next generation or the newgeneration from a health standpoint of a league

(16:08):
that is still asking for eyeballs toget focused on it. Absolutely. I
was just talking about this with afriend of mine the other day and it
was like, Kaitlin Clark, obviously, we know she's number one right now
getting all the attention, but whenis that day going to come where it's
just not Caitlyn Clark talk? Becauseand that day I think is going to
come sooner rather than later, becauseyou look at some of the upcoming draft
classes, for example Page Becker's.I think she's gonna draw a lot of

(16:30):
eyes when she comes to the Wnext year because she is honestly herself a
star and a phenom who's going tobe a great player in the W.
Juju Watkins us, Yeah, that'swho I was thinking of. She She
just won an SB last week forBest Breakthrough Athlete. I mean, Juju
Watkins, in my opinion, isprobably going to put up the same numbers,
if not more than, what KaitlinClark is doing. In a rookie
year. She's that talented. Shedid all this just this past year as
a freshman. So there's certainly alot of bigger names. And also what

(16:52):
I love too with the W isyou're seeing more international players come over.
There's about three or four rookies thisseason that I've I say rookies because seventy
uzon on Dallas, she's twenty sixyears old and she's a rookie coming over
from Turkey. We have Olivia Poopafrom France thirty years old, considered her
rookie because this is their first yearin the w Julie von lu on the
Washington Mystics also thirty years old,rookie out of Belgium. So you're seeing

(17:15):
more of these international players come overhere, and I'm so glad we're going
to get the expansion, the firstexpansion team next year and then following year
with Toronto because we need it.There's too many good players in the w
that I saw during preseason get cut, and also players that are drafted.
There were players drafted in the secondand third round that didn't make a team
and they're not playing in the WNBAright now. So you know, I
just want to see that day wheneveryone that gets drafted in the w should

(17:37):
be playing. So I'm excited forthe future of no doubt about it.
It's kind of interesting. Last thingand then we'll pause, and then we'll
continue this conversation. Wendell App's voiceof the Links in Studio. We see
this in the in the NBA.It's kind of a story of the sport
of basketball in general. Right now, you imagined twenty six year old rookie
from Turkey, Well, she's arookie here, but she's probably been playing
professionally in Turkey for like six years. You look at the NBA, we

(18:02):
just had Why am I blanking onLuka Doncic he turned you know what,
fourteen fifteen, started playing professionally.But in the NBA draft, four first
rounders were from France. And it'skind of interesting to see the growth and
that comes of course with grand exposurein such the NBA and TV deals.
They've gone through the roof in recentyears, guys getting three hundred million dollar

(18:22):
contracts. WNBA maybe a bit fartheraway from those conversations, but you're seeing
that growth of the sport in generaland organically. That means definitely a hell
of a lot more international diversity onthese rosters. Yeah, absolutely no doubt
about that, And I can't waitfor that to happen because there's so much
talent all over the world, andI think we're only going to see more
and more growth here with the WNBA. So certainly a lot of things to

(18:45):
be excited for, and that's goingto give us more cities to go to,
more eyeballs in the league itself.So definitely very excited future for the
w Well, we're gonna pause andwe're gonna come back. We're going to
talk about the excitement of the factthat, for again a league that has
in the last few years been quitetop heavy. Unfortunately the links not a
significant factor in that mix. Theyare a factor this year, and what
that thing looks like down the homestretch here. We got All Star Games,

(19:07):
we got Olympics, we got thingsto juggle. But the team's good
and I want to talk more aboutCheryl's Cheryl's squad here the links with Wendell
apps follow him via x at appsE P P S underscore Wendell. That's
w A E N D E twoL's in the back end. Is that?
Yeah, there you go. WE N D L. Did you
see my my eyes almost cool?I was maybe like twelve years old when

(19:27):
I learned how to spell my firstname. Say yeah. If we ever
did a KFA and spelling, yeah, I'm not gonna it would be a
race to the bottom. I'll tellyou that. But that's Wendell Apps.
I'm Nordo. More links, conversationin hoops around the corner on the fan
after a little cash giveaway. That'sright, the cash thing the fan at
big deck dot com. I'm gonnagive you shots. Put a grand in
your hand to the national cash contest. Head to cafe dot com and the

(19:48):
keyword bonus for this hour. Thekeyword is bonus Cafe dot com. Keyword
I think defines Minnesota quite like it. Ten thousand lakes and we need to
keep them beautiful. Post on socialmedia using the hashtag choose chill, top
course light, kfe N and ConservationsMinnesota protect the lakes, rivers and waters

(20:10):
we love. Use hashtag choose chill. The final hour nor to win for
PA nine to noon. I cantell you thus far tomorrow We're gonna catch

(20:33):
up after tonight's All Star Game.Dan Hayes of the Athletic. The other
day yesterday was a Strip Vibe StarTribune with Gesslin and Lavelle. Tomorrow's going
to be an Athletic Vibe. AlecLewis of the Athletic. We're going to
catch up on the Minnesota Vikings.It'll be ten days until the first training
camp practice. Will chat with himand then Dan Hayes on the Minnesota Twins
in the midst of a chill beforethey host the Brewers on Saturday, and

(20:56):
we're just gonna get up to dateon Carlos's planter thing. Too much planter
fasci itis in this town. Tobe honest with you, we would like
that all to go away. Butalso now royce Lewis, let's get him
off the i L. What arethey going to do? Is they they
spark themselves into UH into that finalsecond half push towards the playoffs. But
in studio now the Links who havea nooner tomorrow against against Atlanta and Atlanta

(21:18):
and town of Target Center, UHstupidly asking that this is it's a camp
game tomorrow right like kids are goingto be at Target Center and that's why
it's an early game. Is thataccurate. Yeah, exactly, kids are
going to be there. It's goingto be an advocate for women in sports,
for for kids in sports. Soyeah, it's going to be a
nice atmosphere at Target Center tomorrow.That's going to be sweet. So catch
that Atlanta and the Links. NowI mentioned in last segment kind of the

(21:41):
idea of and and you're from You'refrom Virginia by way of North Carolina,
and now you are here. Thereprobably wasn't a lot of time to do
a ton of research on just Minnesotasports in general. You know the Twins,
you know the Wolves, you knowthe Vikings, these other teams exist,
the Minnesota Wild and Saint Paul andso. But but maybe what you

(22:02):
don't know is how heartbroken we areand how sad we are. The Minnesota
Lynx title town, right, Yeah, rings over the course of seven years,
love that the p w h L, the women's squad just house to
house the title in their league.That's right. But Minnesota sports fans,
we are very familiar with heartbreak.We are very familiar with sadness. We
are very familiar with being good enoughto be part of the conversation. We

(22:26):
hear our names on national television.Hey, look, Mack, get in
here. They're talking about us onthe on the national TV channel. We
get to that point and ultimately,one way or another we call it the
Core four. They find their wayfizzilyan out of the postseason, usually in
just awful, trained to railment likefashion. So with the links, can

(22:49):
we can we can we have thehope? Can we allow ourselves to love
again? Can we open ourselves upto this team right now? Because it's
been it's been the Aces world andwe're just been into the last couple of
years in New York, Liberty aredamn good. And as we were talking
about the new generation last segment,the younger players infiltrating the league and doing
so in loud and successful fashion,it is still the Kelsey Plumbs and the

(23:12):
Escues and some big timers in thisleague certainly that have established themselves. Can
the links? Can the links hangwith them? I think they can.
I mean, you just gotta lookback to that Tams again. Yeah,
listen, I'm a DC sports fan, so I grew up not even being
part of the conversation, no,only knowing that once game number eighty two
hits in the NBA season you're done. Yeah, well you're a Nats fan,

(23:32):
right, I don't follow baseball likethat, So Wizards and Commanders.
I know I should have, soI could have been part of one shod
you even fraudulently, I mean,and maybe maybe you're just too honorable.
You're a man of principal. Youwouldn't fraudulently jump on the Natties band.
No I would. And then I'mgonna. I'm gonna basketball, football,
and even soccer. So if youlive, you live in Minnesota long enough,
you will you will jump on anybabe. I will on anything now.

(23:55):
So I've got ties with all thesesports teams. But now, I
mean listen with the with the linksand I this is this is a key
thing to know. Is that ourstarting backcourt both thirty years old or older.
Courtney Williams, yeah, just turnedthirty. Kayla McBride also in your
thirties. Right now. You knowwe're not getting any younger. If we're
gonna win right now, we needto win at this point in this timeline
the next one to two to threeyears. And like I said, the

(24:18):
Commissioners CU Championship game, we beatNew York. That was a stunning win.
On the Crows. That was amazingto be part of that, seeing
the celebration, all the champagne,it was incredible. And we have one
of the best, not the besthead coach ever here in the history of
the w and Cheryl Reeve, whoI know you never can doubt share Reeve.
You know she was going to builda squad of conten It wasn't too
long ago that dynasty was going onwith Maya Moore and Sylvia Fouls and Rebeca

(24:38):
Lamark Brunson. And here with nowto this team, the Fista Collier calam
m Atbride. I think we cannow obviously it's going to be a little
different in the best of three orbest of five series, but the key
for the Links is just stay inconsistent. And I think as long as they
stay consistent, we have everyone healthy. This guy's a limit for us.
I dig that. I must jumpto the text machine text messages sixty four
six eight six, and I'm goingto put you on the spot here.

(25:00):
If you don't know her name,that's okay. Did Win Dell Wendell?
Excuse me? I read his typo. Did wend Dell do anything with High
Point Women's golf. This guy playsgolf in Fargo with Tony Tisasso. That
name sort of sounds familiar. Unfortunately, we didn't broadcast golf, so that's
literally one sport. Yeah, wedidn't broadcast golf. I was like,
man, you're about to say highpoint, us say athlete that I definitely

(25:22):
know. And I'm like, man, golf literally is the only sport we
didn't get to do a high point. So you did baseball, you did
hoops, you did football. Idid every I did every sport, I
at least tried. The only onethat I didn't tick the one where you
get to breathe the most. Yeah, Oh no, you didn't do golf.
No I didn't. I didn't.I didn't get to do golf.
Unfortunately. No, that's okay.I'm just thinking because and you've done it,

(25:44):
and we've we I have Alan Hortonactually Voice of the Wolves in studio
on Thursday and again going back tothe solo piece, but it's so frenetic,
right and again constantly telling that story. Yeah, I mean, picture
the picture of the idea of doinggolf and being able to end it shot.
It's on the green and side.Unfortunately, you're piping in the nature
and you can just go grab somethingto sip on for a little bit.

(26:06):
Yeah, you can two minutes inbetween swings. Yeah, it's true.
But I just I don't know ifmy style would fit golf. I think
anyone who listened to my broadcast knowI bring a lot of high energy,
so it would be tough to justhave to sit there and just narrate it.
But hey, I'm flexible, somaybe one he said, I when
I was in Florida, you know, obviously living in Florida, you getting
the golf, so I definitely was, you know, hitting the top golf
and then checking out the golf coursesthere, so you know, definitely plan

(26:26):
on the back there and getting mygolf swing. Unfortunately, I'm a lefty
though, so a little tougher.We to use those special clubs. Wendell
Epps at Epps Underscore. Wendell viaTwitter is the voice of the Links.
You experienced it on Sunday Caitlin Clarkin Town as part of the New Generation
Conversation, as part of the parodyin the league. As as you see

(26:48):
a team like the Indiana Fever,who at one point it's just they're a
one win operation. And everything's negativeand Caitlin's trying to pass it to people
and they're stone handing and it's goingout of bounds and to complete to Zap,
Well, they've turned things around.They're actually in the playoff mix now.
But the Caitlin Clark effect, Ithought it was interesting last segment when
you mentioned that, you know,it's all about Caitlin Clark, but you

(27:10):
feel like that that aspect of thingsthat's going to cool off and end sooner
maybe than anyone thinks. Why whydo you say that in terms of and
maybe it is just the development ofother young players in the league, but
you know, coming into this thing, it was and I'm sure you saw
it, it was, you know, was their resentment by people with the
amount of fanfare around Caitlin, thefact that the stadiums, these arenas are

(27:33):
selling out, some teams are havingto move to other arenas to house the
number of fans that want to seeCaitlin. You know, how do you
how do you see that evening outas as things continue on? Yeah,
no doubt, it's going to takestill a couple more years. But I
think I'm I'm saying that based onwhat I've seen in history in some other
professional sports league. For example,the NBA was pretty much nothing until Larry

(27:56):
Bird of Magic Johnson Game. Theyreally revolutionized the game. Then, of
course Michael Jordan did and then whenMichael Jiman was there, everyone's like,
okay, well, who's gonna takehis rein? Yeah exactly. I was
not alive, so I don't knowwhat what that was like. But then
Lebron comes in, right and theneven now you know, we're sort of
we're entering a different shift in theNBA. Lebron, Curry, Katie,
they're gonna be gone in the nextfive to ten years. And maybe not
Lebron, who knows how long hehas. But you know, you have

(28:18):
got to get his son, Yeahexactly, Yeah, exactly, Anthony Edwards
a future star. But that's whyI remained so optimistic with the W because
I think in a couple of yearswhere you know, we know, obviously
the addition of charter flights this yearjust there was more national television games.
Pretty soon, that's going to becomethe standard. You know, it's just
gonna become a part of it.We're not going to be making that a
big deal, and we shouldn't bemaking that a big deal. But like
I said, when Juju wakins PaigeBeckers and for example, if someone's playing

(28:41):
the Fever in Kayln Clark and theyscored thirty or forty points, they're gonna
get attention more people, a lotmore people are gonna be I need,
I need to watch him play.Like That's why I was. I was,
I really wanted the links and wenton Sunday because I was like,
man, national televised game in frontof those all those fans. If Kayler
McBride can drop thirty points, Imean, look how much attention that's gonna
give to her, more attention thatshe deserves. So that's why it remains

(29:02):
so optimistic because there's so many playersthat I've seen throughout all the games that
I've called. We've seen every team. Now, there's so many talent individuals
in this league. And I think, obviously, yes, I understand,
Caitlin's probably always going to be theface as long as she's in, but
pretty soon there's gonna be other playersthat obviously won't surpass her, but will
least, you know, still beatIt'll be a conversation, Hey, here's
the faces of the faces, notthe face of the WNBA. That's awesome,

(29:22):
man, and I really appreciate youcoming in today. The energy that
you have on the hoops broadcast.You brought it today always Man's twenty four
to seven. Man, it locksit stays locked in. That's what That's
what nine to noon is all about. It's about energy and no, we're
we're loving this season though. Man, it's it's you know, whether it's
you know baseball, the baseball teamright now half the city can't watch them,

(29:44):
so you're latching onto other things.You can gain fans that way.
The team's good, you're gaining fansthat way. But I but I still
that's I'm just I'm fascinated and insome ways just stuck on the idea of
the new generation and when we're seeingit from a talent perspective in the league.
Are you doing great work for theLinks? Thank you up, appreciate
it. That's when Dell Epps,that's at Epps underscore. When Dell via
Twitter is the voice of the Links. You can hear them when we broadcast

(30:07):
Links games right here on the fanand next up noon or tomorrow with Atlanta,
So put that on your calendar.Final segment nine to New Norden for
Pa. That's next. Excited forthe Root Party on Friday, Brett,

(30:52):
I heard you're doing You're doing fiveminutes of stand up comedy on Friday night
on stage. Have forgotten start brewing? Is that correct? I'm still cramming
for it. Yeah, well we'llsee what happens. I'm not looking forward
to that at all I got wasthe Root Part. I can't wait.
Yeah, it's gonna be fun.Absolutely five years since we've done it,
and I'm excited to hang out aforgotten Star. The place sounds amazing.

(31:15):
Troy and Destroit Lakes Nords. AmI crazy? I'm watching every minute of
Wolve Summer League and now I wantDillingham to be our Day one starry point
guard and Conley coming off the benchwith Nas, Nas, Shannon, etcetera.
Troy and in uh Detroit Lakes.No, You're not crazy, that's
the That's the thing is. I'mnot sitting around. This is the first

(31:36):
time in so long just watching everysingle minute of it. I can't help
myself. And tonight I wut alittle bit of homework for the nine and
noon listening audience. This isn't realhomework. You actually don't have to if
you don't want to. But thereis a game on tonight at seven pm.
It's on ESPN two, also thePlus if you can never figure out

(32:00):
how to log into your ESPN Plusaccount. By the way, I don't
know if I'm the only one thathas had this issue, but I have
been trying to watch certain things onthere and something pops up. Maybe there's
an article I got this QB Talkerthat I didn't get into today that is
basically going to be twenty minutes ofme round about getting to Sam Darnold.

(32:21):
But I can't log into my freakingESPN Plus account. Who cares, You're
my problem, not yours for alittle homework. The Wolves and Sixers summer
League team. So whether it's Dillingham, that's like the next I mean,
he's the next John Morant as perKyle Rudolph. No, I'm kidding,

(32:43):
but athleticism, and you'll see whatI'm talking about where he's nineteen years old
and he's got to figure it out. But you'll see that in motion tonight.
You'll see the twenty three year oldTerren Shannon Jr. Look like a
freak of human nature and that he'sgot to be with the big club right
away, playing minutes and contributing.But just the run that they went on,
the vibe around this team right now, I can't get enough of it,

(33:06):
So I'm super excited about it.Chris Hines is doing a terrific job.
Wolves assistant Chris Hines is doing agreat job. Chris Finch is just
sitting back and letting his assistant handlebusiness leading the summer league team. To
Shawn Nicks, He's a guy thatyou'll get to know in this process as
well. I don't know what hisultimate trajectory is in the league and even

(33:27):
with this team, but he's beenfun to watch through this process. Josh
Mayne not I was talking about itwith Parker Foxter in the ten am hour.
He's certainly excited to be there,and he's all over the place,
and defensively he's provided some moments.I'm just not sure how he fits into
everything that's happening. But on thetryhard scale, Minnut's off the charts,

(33:50):
there's absolutely no doubt about it.So just really pumped for that. So
a little bit of homework if youare so compelled and so interested, because
tomorrow night to Noone we are goingto talk about it, and as I
mentioned and last segment, there isgoing to be an athletic field to the
mix. Tomorrow. We're gonna havethe athletics Alec Lewis on at ten am
and the Jordan Addison thing's gonna comeup, but camp's gonna come up,

(34:15):
maybe a Justin Jefferson talker in themix, but we'll be ten days from
the first Vikings training camp practice.He's similar to apparently when Dell Epps is
head nowt for the next couple ofweeks, he's going to go hybrid and
eight back home. Alex's been downin Alabama. That must be where I
was getting those spam calls. Igot a spam call about nine of them

(34:35):
from and there were collect calls froma jail in Alabama that may have been
Alec Lewis. So maybe we'll findout if he's been incarcerated at all since
since he went down there a coupleof weeks ago. But we'll talk to
him at ten and then at eleveno'clock we will talk to Dan Hayes of
the athletic and get our updates onthe twins health issues. Supreme Right now,

(34:57):
team's feeling good on the ninety twoto ninety three win. Pay into
the break here you get to hostthe Brewers on the other side of it.
But health is an issue, andthen the evergreen talker, Will the
pole ads try to make this thingbetter? Is there a way to make
this thing better? At the tradedeadline a year ago, they did nothing
and they ended up winning their firstplayoff games in nearly two decades and being

(35:20):
game in that Astro series. Sothat was after doing nothing a couple of
years ago. They tried to makesome moves and they didn't even make the
playoffs. So what's the mindset ofa team that's all about right sizing the
business and scrambling Albeit it seems likein vain at this point to get their
product back on a television somewhere sopeople can watch it. It seems like

(35:40):
this is a spot where maybe nothingis probably the preferred move, at least
from inside the organization. What doU roops think? Probably differently, But
look forward to the Wolves tonight andof course ten days starting tomorrow from Vikings
training camp practices which we will continueto celebrate. Let me see, I
tried to tried to get us tothe finish line. We're not going to

(36:04):
talk about NCAA twenty five today,Brett, Okay, all right, it's
just it's it didn't make the mix. I can't relate. I don't know
how the buttons work. That's fine. I sounds so old when I say
that. Pass the clicker. Ido technically own a PS four, but
I haven't played it. You loveit, though, right, that's the
best thing ever. I'm gonna probablyplay it the rest of the day after

(36:25):
this. It'll be awesome. I'llwatch both of Summer League. Yeah.
I don't have any kids. Okay, I don't have a girlfriend. Shy,
not Summer League in the background,Freedom's mine and who's your who's your
team? I prefer not to sayyou're Golden Gophers. Of course. Duh,

(36:45):
It's Madison, isn't it. It'sthe Golden Gophers home home of your
Gophers. Unbelievable the fan. Thankyou to Wendell Ups for joining. It
was awesome to meet him today andyou get to hear him. He's the
voice of Links Basketball, so appreciatehis time this morning. Thanks to Parker
Fox weekly guest, and thank youto Brett for producing nine to Noon.
He'll be back with me tomorrow andagain Athletic Vibe continue our way through vocal

(37:09):
maintenance days and Sue and We appreciateyou joining nine to noon with your ears
when you choose to do so.The program is next Have a Great Day
Podcast Today's Paul Allen Show. We'relisten back to the previous show and interviews

(37:29):
like going to the iHeartRadio app forgfandot com