The Show with No Name w/ @JersyJames & @Larsen_ESPN - 7/3/24 - The Bill Riley Show

Episode Transcript
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(00:16):
Back on the air, and weare look at that. We're actually on
the air for the first segment today, Puss, we pushed the right buttons
this time. We apologize for thetechnical difficulties we missed a half hour of
the show yesterday. We we wentthrough Leaf and I leaf Tooleen and I
and James Peterson. We went throughwhat we talked about in the first segment,

(00:40):
so you didn't miss anything content wise, but apologize for that. We
are on the air. You don'teven know if you listen to the podcast
though exactly there you go, andwe want to we want to thank everyone
for all the ways you listen.This is we're calling it the Nameless midday
show. This we're now this weekit will be the Sean O'Connell Show Monday,

(01:02):
July eighth, that's six days orfive days from now. Should we
just start calling it that the nameSean Sorry, we know that you want
to be known as a Sean O'Connellshow, but we've already established this brand,
or we can just start calling theOC show. Just get ahead of
the OC show. Now, SeanO'Connell show is the official name, okay,

(01:23):
and not the OC Register, notthe that's taken. Yeah, it
is the official Sean O'Connell Show,is the official name. He will still
go by OC because that's the nickname. People know him by it, but
he'll be the Sean O'Connell Show forthe show name. July eighth, right
before Big twelve Media Days, JamesPeterson, Porter Larson A crap. We're

(01:44):
supposed to be nameless hosts on theNameless Midday Show. But that's behind the
scenes. Olivia Benyon producing it forus. She produced it yesterday as well.
This is the last live show we'llhave in this spot this week we
will have obviously Tomorrow is the holiday. Happy fourth to everybody, early fourth

(02:05):
of July. To everybody, besafe with the fireworks tomorrow. Do not
start any wildfires. Just don't dofireworks or don't do fire Let the city
do the fireworks. Let the peoplethat are doing them professionally do the fireworks.
Well, I know that a lotof you are not going to listen
to me, but the risk isjust not worth it. It's like ridiculous

(02:25):
fire danger all over. Yeah,my phone, I'm getting getting alerts every
day. It's a red alert onfire warning, which it's as I gather
really high, go to the RSLgame. They've got fireworks. They'll be
firefighters st stadium of fire Rights game. They're still doing that down south right

(02:46):
at Lavelle Edwards. I'm assuming.So anyway, plenty of every city is
going to have fireworks County. Buthave a good time. If you do
fireworks, sparklers, spark just besafe, okay, and heaven forbid,
do not start any wildfires. Okay, he'll blow your hand off. Also,

(03:06):
that's a that's a real thing.On fourth of July, uh Friday,
we will have another best of theBill Riley Show. It'll be best
of kind of through the years.Well, we'll bring back some conversations with
Cam, some conversations with Covey.Probably I haven't quite picked out every single
interview yet, but those are Thoseare a couple that I think we'll do.

(03:28):
We'll probably have a Gordy interview becausethose are always gold, just not
necessarily from this year, probably froma couple of years back. And then
we'll also intersperse some of his bestUtah football highlight calls as well. So
it's gonna be a it's gonna continueto be a celebration of Bill Riley.
The twenty years he spent here atthis station. Two decades. I mean

(03:52):
that that's a long time, especiallyin radio, to stay in one place,
it's an accomplishment in and of itself. So we want to celebrate that.
It's absurd Bill. Bill was tellingme he started his radio career I
think in the summer of ninety four. Yeah, I was born in the
fall of ninety four. He graduates. So I'm a little older than you.
And he's not even that old.He's just been doing this like literally

(04:15):
the entire time. I'm a littleolder than you, not by much,
but I he graduated the year Igraduated college, the year I was born
ninety two. He said that,he said that before, so I'm like,
yeah, I won't say that Iwas born in ninety two because some
people get some people get upset feelingbeing made feel to feel old, like
that we're getting old. I sawtoday, By the way, just what

(04:39):
are you? Jamiir Nelson Junior isin the NBA G League ron James Ron
James jor. But we've been hearingthat name for a long time. But
when you hear Jamiir Nelson Junior,you hear Bronnie James junior or you know,
names like that. It it makesyou feel old. Absolutely yeah.

(05:00):
I mean, are you thirty yetnot yet turning? I'm in my twenties,
that's all I'll say. I'm inmy twenties. Okay, Well,
I mean you did say you're bornin ninety four. I'm in my twenties,
so I mean you kind of youmight have given it away there,
but anyway, in his twenties.So just just wait, just wait till
you're like me. I'm thirty ina very short time. Just wait till

(05:21):
you're like me and you realize,oh, I do not have a two
in front of my age anymore,just a number. Age is just a
number. Though seriously, I'm not. I know. There's a lot of
people that they hit the thank youOlivia Olivia, Olivia Young and one of
the street youths we producing the showfor us today, taking shots at us.

(05:45):
Now. There's people that once theyhit the thirty year threshold or forty
or whatever, it might be oneof those once you hit a new decade,
there's people that are like, ah, life will never be the same.
I have not felt that way.I still feel like I have a
whole lot of life out of me. I don't feel crazy old, but
it is a little bit. Itdoes hit a little bit different once you

(06:06):
get there. Anyway, we aregoing to talk sports, I promise on
the show this show. No,this is not the Cavino and Rich So
doing Dan Patrick this week. Apologiesfor that. That is something we have
no control over. That is allDan and Fox Sports Radio. Thank goodness,
we're an ESPN affiliate. Anyway,we have a great guest list for

(06:29):
you today. Jason is it batacouakiobut takiow. He is the new like
Paquiawattackia rhymes. He is the newUniversity of Utah beat writer for the Salt
Lake Tribune. They hadn't had onesince Josh Newman had left the paper.
So he was hired what a couplemonths ago? Six seven weeks ago?

(06:51):
Yeah, I think he officially startedjust a few weeks ago. Has only
been in Salt Lake for I thinkless than a month, so he's still
getting his feet wet butt a kidwith some some big twelve background, right,
so he knows the conference and knowsthat footprint. And you know,
I've read some of his stuff andit's really good. So regardless of where

(07:12):
it's coming from the kid that's coveringthe program. Is is uh is good
at what he does, so youknow, it's it's uh. It'll be
good to get to know him alittle bit and preview Big twelve Media Day.
Yeah, and continue on the youthconversation. He was on the Oklahoma
Sooners beat for a number of yearsbefore this, so he's got a lot
of experience in covering big time footballbeat. So he brings he brings that

(07:35):
experience here to Salt Lake City andthe University of Utah beat. And he's
a younger guy much like Josh wastoo, So it's uh so yeah,
we love the we love the youthfulenergy when bringing in bringing that into the
market and to go along with theexperience of covering big time college football.
And he'll continue to do that forthe Saltlate Tribune and the University of Utah.

(07:57):
So that'll be at eleven thirty withJason Batakiao, and at noon we
have Josh Furlong will continue the Utesin Big twelve Media Days conversation with Josh
Furlong KSL dot Com Utes beat writersand sports editor. And then at one
we have Andy Larson of the SaltLake Tribune Double Salt Lake Tribune Today guests

(08:20):
today, and then we got KSLdot com sandwiched in between. Andy will
go all over the place with we'llwe'll talk a bunch of NBA and Utah
Jazz, of course, because that'shis beat, but he's he's been helping
on the hockey beat, so we'llget his thoughts on the schedule being released
yesterday and porter, you have beenkeeping an eye on the other hockey story

(08:43):
of note, which is the downtowndistrict. There was an update on that
yesterday. Yeah, this is thisis kind of just a moving story as
it goes right. You're you're tryingto follow city council meetings, You're trying
to follow press releases and renderings andfinal deals. Are are are getting close,
right, The Utah Jazz and theprofessional hockey team or are expected to

(09:13):
okay, spend thirty years downtown.If they're going to get that big tax
break, they're going to get thenine hundred million dollars which we spread out
over thirty years. They're expected tobe downtown for thirty years. If they
were to leave, they would incurra penalty, a big one. They're
also trying to rezone so that youcan build buildings higher than the church office

(09:33):
building, which is currently illegal todo right now. That's that's kind of
the gist of where the two hangups are and where they're still trying to
negotiate. But it seems that thecity council and the county council as well
are part of this. It's interestingbecause I think like Abravnal Hall is County
Council. The rest of it iscity council Palace I believe is county as

(09:56):
well. It's a big it's abig twisted, a big twisted situation,
so it's kind of complicated. Butyeah, the city's Planning Commission is coming
close to an agreement with the Smiths, but there is some concessions that they're
going to have to make and andthe city's going to seemingly also make the

(10:18):
Smiths make a promise that they're stayinghere, because that is kind of part
of the early contention. And ofcourse Andy's been really good on a lot
of that. Yeah, and Andy, there wasn't an updated story from Andy
and the Tribune. That was.It was Robert Girky, who's a political
columnist for a great political columnist forSalti Tribune. He has the updated story.

(10:39):
But Andy has written a ton aboutthis, and you know, we
know that he is on top ofit. So we'll ask Andy about this
details other details that he might knowabout this because he's talking. He's been
talking with Aaron Mendenhall or the SaltLake City mayor. He's been talking with
Jenny Wilson, the county mayor,and all kinds of players in this that

(11:01):
people from the Smith Entertainment Group aswell. So I'm sure there's other details
he might be able to share.We'll we'll ask him about that and just
my thoughts on the on this situation, Porter, My initial thoughts are good
for the city, good for thecounty or holding to try to making the
effort to hold Seg Smith Entertainment Groupto a thirty year agreement, and if

(11:28):
they break it, there's gonna bea significant there's gonna be significant penalties.
Good for them, because what's alwaysbeen in the back of my mind throughout
all this, even with this,even when this legislation went through, that
they're gonna stay at the Delta Center, They're gonna stay downtown. What's been
in the back of my mind iswhat's to stop Smith Entertainment Group from signing

(11:50):
a short, shorter term deal andthen moving to this point of the mountain
in five ten years? Right?And so I I'm glad that they that
the city and the county are saying, no, you got to you gotta
agree to thirty years. And what'sstopping Ryan from holding that over their head
the entire time while he sits ona zero dollar or one dollar a year
lease at the Delta Center. Right. That's something that that I do think

(12:13):
that the city needed to address.And if they are able to come to
an agreement here, there is anothermeeting on July ninth. It looks like
they discussed all of this and we'regoing to vote. Want to discuss a
little more. So there'll be anothermeeting July ninth, another meeting August thirteenth.
Those are our two dates to lookout for. But it does appear

(12:33):
that they're coming closer to an agreement, and it appears the city is not
backing down from at least that sideof it, although they are backing down
from about a billion dollars course ofit. So programming update, we will
only have one day a big twelvemedia days, Spence and OC will be
live at the City Council. No, just kidding, No, maybe we'll

(12:54):
cover we'll cover that story that's goingto be that happens to coincide with the
first day a big told me daysfrom Afar. And I don't know that
the July ninth meeting might not beone that it could be just like yesterday
where they meet together, they discussand negotiate, and then ultimately they may
not vote, they may not finalizethings. So that's just a date where

(13:15):
they will meet. I can't tellyou that there'll be any grand updates on
July ninth, And we can askAndy about that as well. What's the
likelihood of this July next week's meetingor the meeting in August ending in a
vote, and what the timeline mightbe as well. So that's Andy Arson.
We'll talk about that with Andy Arsonat one o'clock. Also, Jazz
Draft and free Agency, Salt LakeCity Summer League gonna be the best Summer

(13:39):
League team ever, perhaps the Jazzwithout Larry. That's the Summer League team.
Josh for Long at noon and JasonBatakio, the new University of Utah
beat writer for the Salt Lake Tribuneabout fifteen minutes from now here at eleven
thirty start out the show. Continuethis opening segment brought to you by Alvirmani.

(14:01):
They'll change your hairline, your confidencelevel, and your life at Alvirmani
Alvirmani dot Com will continue the openingsegment here Porter with the well you talk
there. They are officially now thepreseason favorite tween the Big twelve. The
media poll dropped yesterday. They arenumber one. They're only seventeen voting points

(14:26):
ahead of number two Kansas State,and only one more first place vote than
Kansas stated that surprise you at all, Porter to see it be that close.
No, I thought it would bereally close up top that. The
thing I'm more surprised about is howclose it was, not just one and
two. I actually thought Utah andKansas State would maybe be further away from

(14:48):
the pack. But if you lookat how the voting played out, they're
actually kind of assuming that the tophalf of the conference is going to be
really really close. I mean downto to Iowa State six hundred and sixty
points in the votes. Now,it's hard to if you don't understand how
they're voting. I know, that'sa weird reference, but between Utah and

(15:09):
number six Iowa State, there's onlylike two hundred and fifty voting points.
All the way down to Arizona State, they're at one hundred and forty one,
right, So it's a big gapfrom twelve to seven, and then
the top six are actually really reallyclose in how the voting played out.
Utah had twenty first place votes,Kansas State had nineteen, so it was
actually really close up top as well. Oklahoma State actually had fourteen first place

(15:33):
votes, and then Kansas and Arizonaeach got a first place vote as well.
So there's a lot of I thinkquestions around the big twelve footprint of
who the best team is in theconference. Even if Utah is peyt knabbed
is number one, I think thatthey're expecting the top half of the conference

(15:54):
to be really competitive. A lotof parody in year one, I don't
I don't see any reason to nothave Utah as as the preseason favorite,
not with what they're returning that thereare some question marks with with guys returning
from long hiatuses, you know,doing that and kicking off in in August

(16:15):
and September is a question mark forsure, but there's there's no real surprises
for me on on the Big twelveFootball Media preseason poll. If Utah was
coming back full strength, Cam was, you know, not coming off an
injury. See ony Vaki and ColeBishop are in the fold, then we
have a different story here. Butthere are some questions to be answered for

(16:37):
Kyle and co as we head tocamp. So the confidence is is cool,
The confidence is fine, but butthere's a reason it's close because it
is it is still a good footballconference and Utah does still have a few
questions in camp. Yeah. Isaid this yesterday with Lee Tuleen in this
mid day show yesterday that I thinkwhen it once it plays out on the

(17:00):
field, I think that we willsee at least it by record wise,
that Utah will be We'll see thatUtah is a little further ahead on the
field than what the gap is goingto be bigger on the field than what
it is in the vote there.But I also said that does not mean
that if they meet in the BigTwelve Championship game, because they won't,

(17:22):
they don't play. They won't playuntil the Big Twelve Championship game. If
if both teams make it there thatI would not be surprised if Kansas State
wins that game. Right. Theyare a really good team, They're really
well coached, and at that pointin the season, you're talking about you
know, who's available, who's who, who has had the war of attrition

(17:45):
on them? Where's the momentum rightat that point, It's a completely different
conversation, for sure. Absolutely so. So even though I'm saying I think
that I think that there's actually probablya bigger, a wider gap, Utah
is probably why farther ahead head onthe field, then the vote would suggest
Kansas State could still get them well, and they're a really good team,

(18:06):
and they do. And I thinkthose two teams deservedly so are the top
two teams in the conference are intheir own tier in this voting, and
then it's maybe Oklahoma State and thena tier of three or four after that.
Well, and James, if you'repicking Utah to win the conference,
it's not just about the personnel they'rebringing back. You're looking at their schedule
as well. Yeah, and whenyou look at the Big Twelve schedule,

(18:29):
it actually plays fairly well for Utah. I think the games that you look
at is real you know, threatsto you or real obstacles are at Oklahoma
State. It's a good team ina historic venue. It is technically your
first Big twelve game as a conferencemember. I then look at the rivalry

(18:51):
game. I don't know that it'sgoing to be like you said, close
on paper as far as the rostersgo, I think Utah has a better
roster than being at that point,right. But if BYU comes into that
game five hundred and Utah has oneor two losses, I still expect that
to be like a ten point game. That's just how the rivalry is still.
That's it's just how it is is, you know, in my brain,

(19:14):
that's just how it it translates whenwhen we talk about the rivalry and
then you have, uh the finalgame of the season in late November.
You're traveling from Salt Lake City toOrlando for a conference game. On November
twenty ninth, just after Thanksgiving,just after a weird kind of half week
off, you fly to Disneyland toplay UCF. I don't see UCF as

(19:41):
a like a great team this year. I think that they're I don't know,
probably middle of the pack is asfar as the Big twelve goes maybe
dead dead middle, But that's athat's a road trip, that's a that's
a type of game that none ofthese kids on this roster have really played,
right, I mean you think ofthe footprint that Utah has played in

(20:03):
the last three or four years,that the games that they've had, even
the Bowl games. You finish offthe season, you win a pac twelf
title in Las Vegas and you goto California, right, you're in this
footprint for the last two three years. You're flying to Orlando and I you
know, I don't know how longor how much a flight impacts you.
I don't know how much travel reallyimpacts you when you're you're flying on a

(20:26):
nice plane and you're staying in anice hotel. But there's something to be
said, I think for traveling acrossthe country and doing in the last week
of the year. Yeah, andthere there's also something to be said for
there is a number of the numberof players on this roster, including Cam
Rising and Brant Keithy. They've playedin Gainesville a couple of years ago.
Yeah, so they had so anumber of these guys have have made the

(20:47):
trip to northern Florida right northern centralFlorida, and then and are we gonna
is humidity gonna be as much ofa talking point this time around? You?
I mean, it'll have a wholeoff season in between the hum I'm
sure it is November instead of Septembertwo, so it won't be near as
hot. The November in Orlando ishonestly gonna be perfect, so I don't

(21:08):
think it will do so weather probablywon't be too much of a factor anyway.
Yeah, I agree with you onthat. Plus UCF is could be
a sneaky good ish team this year. I mean, I'm not, as
you can tell, I'm not verycomfortable definitively saying how good they will be
yet. I want to see howit plays out on the field. But

(21:29):
they've got a They got a numberof good talented transfers this offseason. Gene
Chiswick is a national championship winning coach. It's now been a while it was
with Cam Newton's Auburn team, buthe still got it done. So you
so you can't underestimate them that teamon the field either. Plus you,
plus you factor in, like yousaid, the road trip and all those

(21:52):
other things, it's a it couldbe a closer game than you would expect
at this point in the season.I also look at Arizona at home right
after Oklahoma State, just because eventhough no Jedfish, they still brought a
lot of their talent back, alot of their key players back, including
Noah Fafida and McMillan the wide receiverthere, and they they brought in a

(22:18):
good coach, at least a coachthat was good at the at the group
of five level to replace Jedfish.I don't think that they should be anywhere
near expected to win this conference,and then the vote shows that they that
they aren't in the top two orthree to win this conference. The media

(22:38):
doesn't seem to think that way either, But you can't underestimate the talent based
on how they how they played lastyear. That most of that talent is
coming back, you can't underestimate that. And the fact that just the familiarity
right with Utah, they know whatto expect when they play against Utah.
The rest of the Big Twelve doesn't. Utah will not have that advantage on

(23:00):
Arizona. It obviously helps that it'sat home, but I look at that
game too. If they can getthrough those back to back weeks, we
might see an undefeated Big twelve schedule, probably will have a trip up somewhere
if you're if you're gonna hold agun to my head somewhere else. But
but it sets up for them tomaybe run the table in the Big twelve

(23:22):
schedule until the championship game. Andif if your Utah, frankly, if
you do lose to a Big twelveteam this year, you probably hope that
it's Baylor because it doesn't count againstyour conference schedule. That was a game
that was scheduled before Utah announced theirmove to the Big Twelve. I think
it's a little peculiar that they keptit on and instead didn't try to kind
of scale it back to play conferencegames. But they're gonna face Baylor week

(23:45):
two, September seventh, and itwon't be a Big twelve game. So
if there's a slip up, ifthere's you know, maybe some russ to
be knocked off for cam Rising andco. That would be the week to
do it, because then you youreally do have the bulk of the Big
twelve schedule in front of you.The Utah State game the week after.

(24:06):
I wonder what that will even looklike you're going to Logan, which is
the interesting part. You scheduled thehome and home, so you're going to
Logan to face a Utah State teamthat obviously going through it at the moment,
just learned of the dismissal of theirhead coach. They'll have a I'm

(24:29):
sure an exodus there of some form. There'll be guys moving and going to
other schools before camp and what thatteam actually looks like week two, I
have no idea. Is Bryson Barnesgoing to be the starter. Is Ike
Larson going to be there? Idon't know. So for Utah State,
that's a whole different conversation, butone that'll be interesting to kind of preview

(24:52):
going into the first three weeks ofthe season, which is again Southern Utah
non Big twelve Baylor game and thenin Logan against Utah State. Kind of
an interesting way to start the twentytwenty four season. Yeah, to say
the least, an interesting way tostart the twenty twenty four season. And
it got even as you just touchedon, it got even more interesting with
the news coming out of Logan yesterdaywith Blake Anderson's dismissal from the program.

(25:18):
Is it the defensive coordinator that's namedthe Internet coach? Yep as well,
So defensive coordinator takes over and andthey they got to hope that that elevating
someone on their staff will will helpprevent more transfers than maybe you would have
otherwise leaving. But we'll see.Yeah, that's that's the hope if you
are Utah State and really your onlyoption when you fire a coach within two

(25:41):
months of the season, like,there's there's not much you can do.
There's not many guys that are thatare out there waiting for that call.
Did you tell them that you've alwayswanted to be a defensive coordinator? Are
you on your hat in the ring? Listen? My number is available,
they have it, But I didn't. I didn't. I didn't hear from

(26:03):
nor did I reach out. Butyou're like, listen, even though I
don't I know, I don't haveexperience, but you're the head coach.
You can still mostly do stuff.I'll just be your assistant. I'll just
be on the sideline, like reallyreally excited. Yeah, let me grind
tape and just be juiced on thesideline. How about that? I got
you? How about that? Yeah? So a lot of things to keep

(26:26):
an eye on as we as weinch towards big twelve media days. One
other thing we got to touch onhere is by you voted thirteenth in the
media poll. Leif and I talkedabout this yesterday. We both feel like
that's probably about right. But wealso feel like BYU has a good chance
to outperform that and get maybe tothe top ten, maybe maybe ten,

(26:51):
eleven, twelve, maybe maybe eveneight or nine if things go really well.
But thirteen probably feels about right forthe media. And again, it's
hard to kind of delineate between alot of those bottom half teams because of
how good the top half teams are. Right, the way that you separate
yourself if you're a b YU withCincinnati a Houston is probably by winning a

(27:11):
game or two that you're not supposedto. You gotta beata Kansas, you
gotta beat to Utah. One ofthose games is what's gonna, you know,
push a BYU with Cincinnati. Frankly, I think of Colorado up to
five hundred, right, that thoseare the games that they're gonna have to
win in order to be at thatlevel. And and I think there's a
chance of that with BYU. ButI do think right the question marks it

(27:33):
a quarterback. You know, there'sthere's talent in that room. They've they've
got some guys there that they feelconfident with, not that I've seen on
the field, so there's a lotof questions there. I do have faith
that that Kilani will you know,kind of put together a pretty good defense
and that is something that they cankind of hang their hat on and this

(27:56):
year in the Big Twelve, Butman, I don't know if it's gonna
be good enough to have those questionmarks on the offensive side and keep up
with some of the offenses that you'regoing to have to in the Big Twelve.
Not this year, although they weresurprisingly I think productive in year one
in the Big Twelve in some ways. But yeah, I think this will
be a little a little bit ofa upward battle for BYU in twenty twenty

(28:22):
four. And part of that doeshave to do with the fact that at
the top of the conference is reallycompetitive Utah, Kansas State, Oklahoma State.
I think Kansas and West Virginia arebetter than a lot of people think
in twenty twenty four. What throughIowa State as a potential contender at the
top of the conference too in Arizona. Of course, we haven't even discussed.
And then that is without talking aboutthe fact that Texas Tech, TCU

(28:48):
UCFR are kind of down right now, right that those are programs that overall
should be trending upward just because ofthe resources they have, the place in
the Big twelve they have. Thefact that they're down right now is something
that you probably shouldn't get too usedto, especially a school like Texas Tech,
when the money starts being a factorand the fact that the factor that

(29:11):
it is in today's age. Ohyeah, so yeah, again, plenty
to keep an eye on with PACtwelve or excuse me, Big twelve Media
Days, Big twelve with sixteen teams. Yeah, it's the Big twelve,
still the Big twelve Media It's wherewe're at. We will be live,
we will be we is as inSean O'Connell and Spence checkets will be live

(29:33):
at Allegian Stadium a week from today. Will be the second day, six
days away is when it starts hereJuly ninth and tenth. Are want to
shout out our great sponsors for Bigtwelve Media Day, Chipman Roofing, Advanced
Window Products, Silverton Casino Lodge,Las Vegas, Clearwater Distilling, Les,
Schwab Tires, Big Willies, boutTime pub and Grub, Overtime Cards and

(29:55):
collectibles, alvi Armani, Utah,Toyota Dealers, and Budweiser. We'll continue
the media day's preview conversation and morearound Utah football with our next guest,
Jason Batakiao, the new University ofUtah beat Writy for the Salt Lake Tribune.
That's next on The Nameless Midday Show, going until two here on Utah's

(30:15):
number one sports talk and home ofthe Utes, ESPN seven hundred and nine,
growing along here our one. We'rejust calling it the Nameless Midday Show
for one more day at least,as we the Bill Riley shows in our

(30:38):
rearview mirror. We're looking forward andsuper excited to welcome o cback. Starting
on Monday, July eighth. Hewill be down at Big twelve Media Days
as well the next two days afterthat, July ninth and tenth. He
and Spence check Its will anchor ourcoverage down there at Allegiance Stadium, and

(30:59):
our next guest will also be there, Jason Batakio he's the University of Utah
beat writer, basically brand new Universityof Utah beat writer for the Salt Lake
Tribune. Jason, how's it going, man? Going good, going good?
Just preparing for the fourth of Julyand kind of cruising off into the

(31:19):
afternoon. Nothing too crazy going onhere. How about you doing well?
James Peterson, Porter Larson with youhere. We're excited to kind of get
to know you. First time I'vebeen able to talk to you on the
air. I think you've been onwith the Drive. Ye, Porter and
Spence have chatted with you on theDrive before. First off, just let

(31:40):
our listeners know kind of your backgroundcoming here. I know that you spent
a number of years covering Oklahoma Soonersbefore coming here. Were there other stops
and kind of tell us about yourjourney here to Salt Lake. Yeah,
yeah, I have a pretty goodfamiliarity with the Big tolve. I guess
you could say I've covered it forfour years, range of different sports from

(32:04):
OU football that's kind of the pinnacle, to men's basketball, women's basketball,
their softball program that's just one forconsecutive national championships. So I have experience
in all those realms I've made astop at the Arkansas Democrats at and Little
Rock covered a bit of the SECthere, whether it was from NIL or

(32:28):
you know, when Eric mussel Onewas there. Yeah, I did a
few stories on that, and yeah, so I've I have a range of
experience from a team entering the SECor a program entering SEC and a team
that was and still is in theSEC. So yeah, I have a
range of experience and excited to coverthe Uthes now as they enter the Big

(32:51):
Twelve. So yeah, Jason,just being you know, part of that
Big twelve footprint and existing in thatspace for quite some time. What is
your reaction to yesterday's Big twelve preseasonmedia poll in Utah, the team that
you now cover being tabbed as thenumber one team in their first year in

(33:12):
what is now the Big twelve.Honestly, there's no surprise on my end,
you know, I think Utah hasa very talented football team on both
ends of the football. You know. Obviously, Cam Rising is the signature
name that everybody looks to. Imean he's entering what his seventh or sixth
year, It's hard to keep trackof at this point. Six season,

(33:34):
sixth season, Yeah, sixth season. Yeah, he's entering his sixth season,
and you know, everybody knows whatsort of talent he brings to the
table. Probably the top of everyquarterback list in the Big Twelve from what
I've seen. But we all knowthe type of defense that Utah is going
to bring out there as well underKyle Whittingham and the soon head coach and

(33:55):
waiting Morgan Scalley. So it's nosurprise for me. You know, Oklahoma
State I think is going to begood. I think Kansas State are going
to be is really it's going tobe good as well. But honestly,
I go back to this and Ikind of talked with Spence and Porter about
this the last time is on.I think the Big Twelve is really wide
open. You know, there's alot of projections out there that have different

(34:17):
teams, and a lot of timesUtah is at the top of that,
which is expected. You know,they're bringing back a very experienced team,
very talented quarterback, and a goodreceiver corps and et cetera, et cetera.
But I think the Big twelve hasa lot of talent across the board,
a lot of talent, you know, talented defenses as well, and

(34:37):
it'll definitely be exciting to see howUtah and the rest of the team is
panning out toward the end of theseason. So yeah, Jason, I'm
curious also as someone who is brandnew to our market and brand new to
covering the Utes, I'm curious whatyour impressions were going before you got here

(34:58):
and what the talk was in orin Oklahoma and the Big twelve footprint that
you were in about Kyle Whittingham's program. What is it that you that you
had heard in your kind of impressionsof that from Afar before you got before
you got here to Salt Lake andhave been able to see it from much
closer. Yeah, the two wordsthat come to mind, especially when I

(35:19):
was covering you about Kyle Whittingham's programin the Utes, was just consistency and
stability. You know, there's nota lot of turnover that happened obviously,
you know, in the world ofthe transfer portal, people come in and
they go, but there's not alot of coaching turnover, which is very
surprising in the world of college athleticsthat we live in now. But another

(35:42):
thing that kind of I alluded towas consistency. You know, they've been
to two Rose Bowls, They've beenabove five hundred I think for almost a
decade now. I think it's beena long time since Utah has had a
losing season. You know, theythey've beaten marquee teams like USC, They've
been up there with Washington and etcetera, et cetera. So that's just

(36:07):
what comes to mind for me.You know, I know there's a kind
of lore once an undefeated Pac twelveteam comes into Rice Cycles, it can
be a brutal scene from what I'veheard. So definitely, definitely consistency,
instability is what came to mind,And I'm starting to become more familiar with

(36:29):
that now as I cover the teamfor almost a month now. So yeah,
I'm excited to get you in RecycleStadium and you know, to see
that environment and get a real feelof it. Jason, with the Big
Twelve moving into a different era,where do you feel the conference is positioned
without Oklahoma and Texas and with therecent additions they've made, just in the

(36:54):
landscape of college football, and howlong you think this iteration of the Big
Twelve looks like it does today?Yeah, I can't speak too much on
the current iteration of the Big Twelve. I think their speculation that you know,
it could blow up in a fewyears, you know, they could

(37:14):
last a long time. I knowwe we all hear words about the power
to potentially happening, you know,between the Big Ten and the SEC.
But in terms of you know whatthis upcoming season brings in the future,
I think, you know, theBig Twelve, and certainly Brett Yormark has

(37:34):
really done his best to try andposition this league in the likes of the
Big Ten and the SEC. Obviously, their their media shares and their revenue
agreements with different you know, TVcompanies are lower, but you know your
market and the rest of these teamsand in the Big Twelve have done their

(37:55):
best at the state competitive and inwhatever sport it is. Then I think
getting the four corner schools like theydid once the Pac twelve imploded showed a
sign that Brandon Ormark always says isBig twelve is open for business. And
you know, we've continued to seethat, whether it was you know,

(38:15):
a potential all state Big twelve dealpotentially happening to siphon millions to different programs
inside of the Big Twelve or youknow, potential for private equity sharing to
continue building revenues and so forth.So I think it's it's really cohesive.
But all of that is honestly veryspeculative onl end because we I think it

(38:37):
would be bad for me to sayanything in that regard, especially in the
current world of college athletics, becauseeverything is changing within five minutes, it
seems so. Yeah. Yeah,the only consonant right now in college athletics
is changed and that's what we're learningfast and furious here. So yeah,

(39:00):
absolutely understand your sentiment there. Iwanted to ask you, going back to
the media poll, it seems likethe Big twelve media also really likes Kansas
State. Oklahoma State and Kansas andArizona also round out that top five.
I'm curious, as someone who forthe last four years has covered this conference

(39:24):
in football and other sports, I'mcurious what other team is that the group
of teams or are there other teamsthat you could see making a big challenge
to Utah to win this conference inthe utes first year. Yeah, in
my mind, those five teams thatyou mentioned, I believe are going to

(39:44):
be at the top of the BigTwelve next year. Now, I'm sure
that there will be some surprises.I think one team that's getting really underrated,
and this is purely my opinion,is Kansas. You know, obviously
Jalen Daniels can stay healthy. Ithink they're well positioned for this season and
in the future, especially as aprogram. I mean, they're getting a

(40:06):
new stadium, their donors have startedfocusing a bit more on football. Obviously,
we we all know Canada's has ablue blood basketball school, but you
know they I think they have oneof the best backfield in the Big Twelve,
if not the best. You know, Devin Neils really good. Deuce
high Shaw or Daniel high Shaw isreally good as well. So that's a

(40:30):
team that I have my eyes onoutside of Utah. You know, we
always know what Oklahoma State brings tothe table, Like Kyle Whittingham, Mike
Dundee is the epitome of stability andconsistency. You know, Mike Gun.
You don't know what team he's gonnatrot out there, but you can bet
on them at least having eight winseach season, and I think that's a

(40:51):
testament to the type of program Mike. Mike Dundy's built there. Arizona.
I think they have a really goodquarterback. I think they have a really
good youth, you know, whichis surprising, especially with their head coach
leaving for Washington. But you know, like I said, I think all
five of those teams are very wellpositioned in the new Big Twelve. You

(41:12):
know, like I said, thereprobably will be some surprises. That's the
Big Twelve. You know, younever know what to expect every year.
You know, if you would havetold me two years ago that TCU would
have been in the National Championship Game, I would have thought you're crazy.
But stuff like that happens, andthat's just what makes the Big twall a
fun conference to cover. Jason,We're fifty seven days away from kickoff,

(41:35):
and maybe you need to dial intothe roster a little bit, you know,
more deeply. But if I askedyou today, what questions you still
have about about Utah football. Isit, you know, Cam Rising and
bran Keathy coming back after a yearand a half of no football. Is
it replacing the safeties that are headingto the NFL. What is the big
question mark you have as an outsideobserver coming into Salt Lake City? About

(42:00):
this team fifty seven days away fromkick. Yeah, I think my main
question kind of goes back to CamBrising's hell. You know, we've we've
seen him play at a high levelwhen he's on the field, But can
he stay healthy for a full youknow, slate of of regular season games
and potentially postseason And I think that'skind of what's riding on the success of

(42:24):
Utah this season. You know,obviously they picked up Sam Hewart, who
is a potential backup for them.You know, they have Zach Wilson's brother
if I'm still not if I'm notmistaken there, so you know, there's
there's potential in that quarterback room ifif Cam does get hurt. But I

(42:45):
think for this team to make adeep run and potentially have a berth in
the College Football Playoff, Cam's goingto have to be healthy. And that's
kind of what I point to,you know, kind of like you mentioned
on the back end, I'm intriguedto see how they were play the safety
to the NFL. But yeah,I'm still getting tuned in with the roster
as I go along, just tryingto build up sourcing and talk to people

(43:08):
that yeah, the roster is stilllearning as I go, if I'm being
totally honest, So yeah, noworries. Jason, Thank you so much
for the insights and and belated welcometo Salt Lake City as well. Hopefully
you're settling in just fine. Wewe have a we're kind of we kind

(43:28):
of an unofficial partnership with the SaltLake Tribune with the amount of with the
amount of regular guests we have withthe trips, So we're excited to have
that you guys have have brought thatThey've brought you in to be the beat
writer. That that seat had beenvacant for a while, so we're excited
that we've got that in. We'llcertainly have you on some more. So
appreciate your time and have a goodrest of your day. Man, you

(43:50):
too, appreciate you guys, Thanksfor having me on. Jason Batakio,
the new University of Utah beat writerfor the Salt Lake Tribune. Our friends
at the Tribune. I really like, really like Jason. It was really
interview, good conversation, good insights, and uh, even though he's not
that familiar, he's he's still buildingup familiarity with the with the program and

(44:10):
the roster. I think you hitthe nail right on the head at the
end there to your last question.It really does, starting in with the
quarterback and any football team. Butbut you gotta until we see Camp.
I think we're all confident that Cam'sgoing to be healthy throughout the season,
but until we see it, it'sstill a question mark. Now. I
mean, especially with a quarterback likeCam Rising, who we we watched what

(44:31):
he did against USC, right,we watched what he did in the in
the PAC twelve title runs, andand and the Rose Bull appearances. This
is a player who makes like bigtime plays in big time moments. He's
a he's a he's a gamer inthat way. He's not a player who
is going to go out and throwfor five thousand yards this year, but

(44:52):
he's going to make big plays inbig moments. He's going to uh run
the offense really cleanly. He knowsAndy Ludwigs offense as well as anyone.
So for you taught to reach thelofty expectations that they have, and for
them to maybe reach even the loftierexpectations that some fans and media has,
Cam's got to be healthy. Maybenot for twelve weeks, but at least

(45:14):
ten or eleven, right, ifyou have to, you know, pull
a Bryson Barnes versus Washington State.Hopefully that doesn't come in, you know,
a crucial game down the stretch.But you also have to face the
fact that Cam hasn't gotten through afull football season without facing some sort of
injury like that. So there's partof there's part of this where there is

(45:38):
a hope that Cam stays healthy,but he's also got to maybe look at
how he plays a little bit aswell. Right, a player who is
really not scared of taking contact,not scared of initiating contact when you're not
the size of Cam Newton, thatcan sometimes be a tough place to be.

(46:01):
Uh. And so for Cam Rising, I don't want him to stop
doing that. That what that's whatmakes him the type of player he is.
But you do have to pick yourspots, and you do have to
stay healthy and in order for youtaught to reach some of those goals,
I think he's got to do itfor just about all the season. Yeah,
this would be the time for himto play a full twelve game regular

(46:23):
season, and beyond one would hopeas we get to as they get to
hopefully a Big twelve championship game hopefullyfor them, and and and and the
postseason beyond that. So yeah,this would be this would be the year
with this kind of when you havea team with this kind of expectation,
expectations, this is it's imperative thatthat he has that kind of year health

(46:44):
wise this year. So yeah,until we see him healthy and for for
just about a full season, itwill be it will be a question mark.
But as you can tell from themedia poll, not many people are
are too discouraged by his health oranything else about this team. They were

(47:07):
voted number one, close vote,with Kansas State just behind them at number
two. But there's not not alot of people see huge question marks with
this team, and I think that'sabout right. As we inch closer to
their first Big twelve season Big TwelveMedia Days, we will be live at
Allegiance Stadium next week for that.Spence and o C Sean O'Connell will be

(47:30):
down there anchoring our coverage again.Chipman Roofing, Advanced Window Products, Silverton
Casino Lodge, Clearwater Distilling, Les, Schwab Tires, Big Willi's Bout Time
Pub and Grub overtime cards and collectibles. Alvi Armani, Uta, Toyota Dealers,
and Budweiser are our great sponsors andsupporters of our big twelve media days

(47:52):
coverage. About ten fifteen minutes awayfrom Josh Furlong here on the Nameless Midday
Show. That's we're calling it fornow with me, James Peterson, that
portal, that guy Porter Larson acrossfrom me. We'll have a short segment
next though, continue ut conversation,local and national sports conversation here on the

(48:12):
Midday Show. James Peterson, PorterLarson right here on Utah's number one sportstock
ESPN seven hundred and night, closingout our one of we're calling it.
The name was Midday Show. It'sgot no name right now. Bill Riley's
show, unfortunately, is no more. Alright, Pete, the show with

(48:37):
no name? There you go,Yes, it all connects to the Bill
Ryders. You just need to askme exactly the show with no name?
Uh, Brandon, mark that down, Mark that down, Olive, you
are a great producer. We're gonnaname that on the podcast, the Show
with no Name, Uh, PorterLarson across from me. James Peterson here
in the air chair. Great commversationwe just had with Jason Battakio, the

(49:02):
new University of Utah beat writer forthe Salt Lake Tribune. We are a
few minutes away from welcoming welcoming inanother UTS beat writer, Josh Furlong from
KSL dot com. He's also thesports editor at KSL dot com. So
he's uh, he's got his he'sgot his finger on the pulse of all
of it going on in the sportsworld locally, especially University of Utah.

(49:22):
Will continue the media days preview andand Utah football conversation with him in a
few minutes. Uh. But firstPorter, as we close out our one,
I wanted to the Utah Hockey Cluband NHL schedule was released yesterday.
I wanted to get your thoughts onon the schedule they will start. The
first game will be at home,which I think is awesome season opener at

(49:45):
home at the Delta Center against ConnorBedard, the phenom for the Chicago Blackhawks.
And and I think also another thingthat makes it awesome that we're getting
Chicago coming in is the uh isa shout out to Steve Klouke, big
Chicago Blackhawks fan. It's just sadthat he won't that he's not around,
that you won't be around to seeit. But I think it's one of

(50:07):
those cosmic poetic justice thing that thatthat just happens to be the Utah Hockey
Clubs first opponent at the Delta Center, first opponent regular seas opponent ever,
and it's at the Delta Center.And of course the Chicago Blackhawks one of
the original six right when it comesto the NHL, so it's a historic
club. Tony Parks is a bigfan of the black Hawks too, right,

(50:28):
Tony is a big Blackhawks fan.So yeah, there's there's some those
some local guys that will at leastat least have fun on October eighth.
But yeah, I think it's Ithink it's cool to it's going to begin
the NHL season, I believe,if I'm not mistaken, Clay So,
they actually have some East they havesome European games that will begin this season,
but this will be the first NHLgame this year. Well so they'll

(50:51):
be they will be regular season gamesin Europe that will kick off this season,
but this will be the first.Like in North America, the the
the traditional star the NHL season.A few days before they're there's some games
in Finland and the Czech Republic.I believe because of some newer players that
are and on other teams that aretheir names are escaping me. But they

(51:13):
that are part of that are onin the NHL. Some of the some
of the first few from those countriesgotcha. Well. The NHL is trying
to branch out more in that way. They're trying to kind of emulate what
the NBA did in the nineties andtwo thousands with with some of their great
players. And they're doing that withthe preseason games, the the regular season

(51:34):
games that are that are overseas,but they're also doing with the All Star.
The All Star this year is goingto be completely different and it's going
to be like a nation's thing wherethere's games in Montreal, Quebec, and
Boston and it'll be uh Finland,Sweden, Canada, and the United States.

(51:57):
Those will be gonna be like thefour All Star love it, you
know, uh footprints if you will, and the rosters will be based on
that. It's interesting. I thinkit's kind of cool to to add a
little bit of flair to the tothe All Star matchup. And yeah,
they're they're trying to You can tellthe NHL every every opportunity they get,

(52:21):
they're doing something international. They're they'retrying to to spread those waters. And
I think it's smart. I thinkthat's that's probably a good business move.
Yeah, and we've seen the NFLhave a lot of success doing that as
well. So yeah, I thinkI think it's great and it'll just be
it'll be fun to have the Utahseason opener at the Delta Center against the

(52:45):
Blackhawks, Like you said, anoriginal six team, and and I just
I couldn't help but think of Klokeywhen I saw that too, And so
it's a nice nod to the lategreat Steve Clokey. We got the bobblehead
watch and looking in on us aswe host this show here in the studio.
Other games that other notable games onthe schedule, some potential rivalry games.

(53:07):
Vegas comes in on November fifteenth.They play at Vegas for the first
time on November tewond so that'll bethe first time that that I think will
eventual rivalry will face off on theice. Colorado another eventual rivalry, in
my opinion, will be they'll comein the same week or at least a

(53:30):
couple few days apart October twenty fourthand twenty seventh, and then they'll play
the Stanley Cup final appearance teams EdmontonOilers on November twenty ninth, and the
Florida Panthers, the defending Stanley Cupchampions, on January eighth. So those
are some of the bigger games thatstood out to me on this schedule,

(53:51):
and it'll just be fun to seeanother sport man. It'd be fun to
see some other big name teams andbig dame players come in from a completely
new sport to us. And ofcourse you get the four much like the
NBA, you get your four divisiongames against each of those opponents, right
So, for Utah, if youhaven't looked at it yet, the divisions

(54:12):
are wonky. In National Hockey CentralCentral Western Division. Central Western, which
is Dallas, Winnipeg, Colorado,Nashville, Saint Louis, Minnesota, and
Chicago very spread out. It isspread out. That's how the NHL works.
It's it's more of a national productin that way. But those are
the teams that you'll see most duringduring the course of the year. I'm

(54:36):
looking forward to. In January,they have a seven game homestand I believe
it as you mentioned, it coincideswith the Jazz road swing, as they
do every year they always do.I think it's the longest homestand in the
NHL. I've been looking at otherschedules just to see if I can find
one. The Jazz longest road tripis like four games, but their longest

(54:57):
homestand is seven. So if you'rehere between January eighth and January twentieth,
they're playing seven games and twelve daysall at home. I think that's gonna
be a really exciting one. Andthey're kicking it off, not kicking it
off, they're dropping the puck,dropping the puck against the defending champion Florida
Panthers, face off puck drops.We gotta we gotta learn the new jargon

(55:19):
porter. We're we're we're learning ithere. And by the way, we
just a few days ago, uhinto last week lockdown. We are gonna
be your home of NHL national gameslike we were. You heard Stanley Cup
playoffs and Stanley Cup Final on ourstation. You're gonna hear regular season games
next year as well as the playoffsand final again. And where it's gonna

(55:42):
be it's gonna be us the onlyones that can be able to bring you
that in this market for hopefully foreverfrom now on. So we're we're excited
about that. We have no ideaabout the radio rights for Utah Hockey Club.
We are definitely interested and we've gotour hat in the ring for that,
but if we if we do notwin the bid for that, we
will at least have your national gameshere on the station on ESPN seven hundred

(56:07):
and ninety two one FM, andwe can call ourselves the home of the
NHL. UH that way and breakingnews, breaking news, somewhat breaking news.
UH. Utah Hockey Club just acquireda forward Igor Sokolov from Ottawa in
exchange for Yan Yennick. So Hey, they're making more moves, which is
it's been interesting. They're they're makinga lot of the Sokolava a Russian,

(56:30):
but a good young prospect. Yeah, another potential goal scorer type at forward.
There. They're going after more offense, which is interesting to me.
When when the draft came about,just looking at their roster, it was
like, Oh, they're gonna gofor defense. They're gonna they're gonna get
some defenders. They want some goals, So this is gonna be a fun
team to watch it. I'm surethey'll address it. But most of the

(56:52):
most of their draft picks were stilldefenseman, it just wasn't their first couple
of rounds. And then they didacquire a couple of via trade defense and
via draft night trades as well,so yeah, it looks like they're addressing
both. Yeah, it was theAgainley pick that surprised me, just because,
oh yeah, you have that earlyof a pick and you go with
a goal scorer, which you didreally well with back half of the season.

(57:14):
Absolutely heading out to a break,we'll bring in Josh Furlong of KSL
dot Com to talk more uts inBig twelve media days. Right here on
The Nameless Midday Show, The Showwith No Name ESPN seven hundred and ninety,

(57:37):
we officially begin hour two of theShow with No Name. The name
was Midday Show whatever whatever you like. Best there, James Peterson, Porter
Larson sitting in with you today.This will be the last live show we
have this week. We're going todo a best of Bill Riley over the

(57:58):
years and mixing some some Utah footballcalls as well. From Bill Riley on
Friday, and then tomorrow we've gotmajor League Baseball and this spot on the
station from about eleven thirty till aboutnine o'clock a doubleheader on fourth of July
for you tomorrow, Happy early fourthto everybody. Be safe as you celebrate

(58:22):
our nation's birthday. Here. JoshFurlong, I'm sure has some great Fourth
of July plans. He's on withus to start hour two. How are
you doing, Josh? How areyou guys doing well? Doing well?
What's the what's the plan for thefourth tomorrow? Man? You're not I'm
sure you got a huge party goingon in the backyard. Oh yeah,

(58:44):
we'll go to my in laws thatlive okay close to us. They have
a big backyard with pick a ball, basketball, that kind of stuff.
So yeah, you know, justenjoying the day and celebrating and just another
day to not have to work.Yeah, good for you, Good for
you. Enjoy that with the family. Big twelve media days now less than
a week away. First Big twelvemedia days for University of Utah. You'll

(59:07):
be down there. I'm sure coveringit all for KSL dot com, doing
a great job as you always do. What is it that uh is there
anything that you're excited about, thatyou're most curious about, and as you
begin to cover a new conference forthe University Utah, for me, I
think it's I'm really curious to seehow Brett or Mark manages, you know,

(59:30):
his conference in comparison to what LarryScott and then obviously, you know,
you know, after him with likeif cough, there we go,
we see we've already forgotten about him. I'm curious to see how how kind
of they manage that and kind ofthe entertainment value there, the fact that
that Utah goes into this at thepreseason's favorite. I'm really curious to kind

(59:52):
of see the conversations around the leagueand kind of what they are around Utah,
right, I mean, obviously that'sgonna be my job is to kind
of figure that out. But Ithink, you know, for a new
team to come into the Big Twelveand immediately get that instant respect, I
mean, there's gonna be some there'sgonna be some hostility for some of those

(01:00:14):
teams that were you know, leftover from the Big Twelve after Texas and
Oklahoma left, and so I thinkyou know, as you've seen on Twitter,
if anybody's denominated. There's there's somehostility there right especially with the fans.
They don't want Utah coming in.It's expecting just to kind of roll,
and that's kind of what the mediapredicts right now. So that's that's
kind of what my interest is,right I'm curious to see how those conversations

(01:00:35):
are and kind of see how theythey work with the players and the coaches
and kind of what those what thatmeans for Utah. Marie Forward. Yeah,
Josh, he who must not benamed, George Koff King George apology.
I affectionately called him King George.You do not speak his name,
Josh. You Todd tabbed as thenumber one team in the Big twelve preseason

(01:00:59):
media. You'll obviously be down therein Las Vegas in about a week to
discuss that and plenty more with allof the conference folks. Give me,
give me an idea of, youknow, how close to reality you think
that poll is and how close youthink the top half of the conference will
be. It looks like there's apretty clear delineation in the Big Twelve this

(01:01:23):
year, at least from what folksare are thinking preseason, between really the
top half and the bottom half ofthe conference. Yeah, I mean,
based on my research that I've doneso far on the Big twelve, honestly,
I see those top five teams Utah, Kansas State, Oklahoma State,
Kansas in Arizona as really kind ofbeing that first tier, right And you

(01:01:43):
could probably argue that Utah, KansasState, and Oklahoma State maybe are the
top tier, with you know,Kansas and Arizona and maybe some other teams
in tier two. I you know, I'm not fully convinced on how you
want to work with that, butI think this is a good indication of
where things are, right. Ithink this time of the year, everybody's
looking at stuff on paper. Yousay, Okay, who's come in,

(01:02:04):
who they lost or they get back, you know, And I think based
on all that, I think thisshakes up really well. Right, Like,
whether you want to say Utah,Kansas State, Oklahoma State, whatever,
in whichever order, I don't fullythink that matters. Utah obviously gets
the respect that they got to beable to know that they were at the
top, but it very well couldhave been any one of those teams.
And so I think I think thisis going to be an interesting battle.

(01:02:25):
I think this shows similar to someof those years in the Pac twelve where
there was a lot of parody andthere's a lot of teams that could kind
of come away with it. Iknow early on everybody was saying, oh,
Utah is going to go roll throughthe Big twelve, and maybe they
do. Right, we haven't seenit, and I'm curious to see how
that works. But there's some solidteams in this league. There's you know,
there's going to be some great competition. Utah has to play Oklahoma State,

(01:02:49):
so that's going to be tough,but they give Kansas State, so
I think, you know, thingsbode well for Utah. I think the
way this shakes up is good,but I think by and large is probably
a good indicator of where things are. To me, TCU seems a little
bit low. I think they shouldhave been closer to that upper tier.
I think they've got a good teamcoming back. They'd rebuilt, Iowa State,

(01:03:10):
got a good defense, can theydo some stuff. West Virginia is
kind of around there. So there'sa lot of teams that can make some
noise. I mean, and forall we know, Colorado could somehow actually
make that jump that everybody expects Coloradoto make with their nine thousand transfers that
they have, So I don't thinkthis is by any means over right.
Obviously it's not because it's before thegames have been played. But I'm really

(01:03:32):
curious to see how this shaped outand if this does come kind of true.
I don't have a full understanding ofthe Big Twelve like I did with
the Pac Twelve, so it's harderfor me to gauge. But from my
research, it feels like this isprobably a good landing spot and kind of
how things have shaped out. Anysurprise Josh about just how close the vote
was between Utah and Kansas State.For me, I said this earlier.

(01:03:57):
It's I feel like once we startplaying in the games, we'll see that
Utah is there's gonna be a bitof a wider gap between Utah and Kansas
State than what this poll would suggest, Utah being a little bit farther ahead
of what Kansas State can do.But Kansas State's no joke either. They
could potentd Utah could potentially see themin the Big Twelve championship game at the

(01:04:19):
end of this year, and that'sa team that you can't count out to
beat. A team like Utah that'sthe favorite toWin the conference. Curious what
you think. Yeah, I thinka lot of these preseason projections go hand
in hand with who a team hasa quarterback, right I think everybody looks
at these and they'll look at thepersonnel. Don't get me wrong, but

(01:04:39):
if you have a high end quarterback, I think that boosts you up that
extra notch. And I think that'swhat's happening with Kansas State, not that
they don't have a great team.I think they absolutely could be in the
Big Twelve championship game. So don'tbelieve it. I don't think that the
clip's already cut sent out on socialmedia. Sorry Josh, can't stop.
It wouldn't be the first time.But I think, you know, the

(01:05:02):
preseason projection for Kansas State has todo a ton with the projection of who
Avery Johnson could be as a quarterback. Right, if he's able to be
the guy that everybody expects them tobe, I think that that's what puts
Kansas State in that upper echelon.Right If if he struggles in his first
full season as the starting quarterback,I don't know that Kansas State have maybe

(01:05:23):
in there Oklahoma State probably has abetter chance in Arizona at Kansas You know,
there's a lot of other teams.You know, there's there's Quarterback play
is so big in the in thecollege game, as we've seen, but
I think especially in these types ofratings, that's where they get that extra
boost. And so I agree inthe sense that Kansas State should be that

(01:05:43):
close to Utah. I think theyactually are pretty similar teams and they could
do well. But I wouldn't allbe surprised if in the season Utah kind
of starts separating from themselves. Barringthem doing what they need to do right
on the obviously injuries and and otherthings have to do that could take place,
but I think Utah has the potentialto really separate from that group if
everything goes to plan. I stillthink Oklahoma State is probably still in line

(01:06:06):
with them, and I think theycould probably be an even more tough competition
than Kansas State simply with who they'rebringing back. But I don't know that
it really matters right like this,I'll get we all find out how this
shakes up in September, October,November and kind of go from there.
So either way, it's fun todebate right now because the gets was talking

(01:06:26):
about football. But I mean,I think it bodes well for Utah that
they are where they are, eventhough they are in close comparison with you
know, a team that's been tothe Big Twelve championship with each a few
times, Josh, you mentioned duringthat answer how important quarterback play is.
Obviously that centers for Utah around oneCam Rising. From your perspective, how
much concern is there with Cam nothaving played football and now a year and

(01:06:51):
a half, also the fact thathe hasn't been able to get through a
full football season. We're a halfdecade through this, and how well is
Utah set up if they do haveto, even for a week or two
step in for a Cam Rising.Yeah, I don't think you have to

(01:07:11):
worry that Cam hasn't played, right. I think he's done enough work in
the offseason. He showed he wasreally crisp in spring game. Can I
understand that stimulated? Right, It'snot perfect, but I don't think there's
any doubt that Cam can be whowe've seen, if not maybe even better.
Right, I think he's had timeto heal from his shoulder. That
time to heal from his knee.I think all these things help and allows

(01:07:34):
him to kind of be a morecomplete player, maybe get more depth in
his throwing motion, that kind ofstuff. Now the area that would concern
me is, yeah, he hasn'tcompleted a full season. Granted he's spent
most of all of his time completinga full season. It's just that last
game that gets him. But Ithink more than years past, they have
the depth that I would feel comfortablewith right and I think that starts with

(01:07:57):
Sam Heward. I think he obviouslyhas experience. You're not coming into now
a situation where you have a guythat is now a walk on that has
earned in his stripes because he wasbetter than you know, freshmen or sophomores.
You have a guy that's been provenon the field. So if something
does happen to Cam, I don'tknow that they have quite the same depth
that they would have with Cam,but I think they have somebody that could

(01:08:19):
absolutely do the job. And forall that, you know, you have
somebody else in waiting, maybe somebodylike an Isaac Wilson. Yeah, he's
a freshman, so he takes themlumps, But I think you've got at
least a higher filling with this groupthan you've had in years past. So
you know Cam Rising. Obviously,if he stays healthy, that allows you
TAW to do everything that they wantto. If he gets hurt, that

(01:08:42):
can change it a bit. ButI don't worry as much this year as
maybe in years past, just becauseI think they have more proven depth,
especially in that second backup spot withSam Jeword, that would get them to
where they need to go. Beyondquarterback Josh Is, there are there other
areas that stand out. Is maybesome question marks or maybe you're just not
as confident in and you won't beas confident in until you see him play

(01:09:06):
out on the field or in fallpractice. Yeah, I think I've always
said that the secondary right, andI think that's more just a depth issue.
I don't worry necessarily as a youknow, watching this as the frontline
guys. The guys are going toget most of the starter minutes. But
I think anytime you get into thisgame you understand how physical it can be.

(01:09:30):
Obviously, last year you saw theinjuries that piled up what helped Utahs
they have the depth. This year, I don't know that they have quite
the same level of depth. Inthat secondary that would allow them to continually
hit that same stride. But withthat said, you know, Morgan Scalley
and Shreef Shah are going to geteverything out of these guys, and so
I don't think there's necessarily worry.It's more just are there going to be

(01:09:51):
times where they get exposed because theymight not have that same experience. Right
Like Zamaia Von, He's going tobe fine. He's improven, he's done
it, he forever you Nate Ritchie, he's getting more into that. It's
more these guys like a sixth Nodenwho has he comes into it and he
developed what is his level? Right, Like you've seen him be able to
have glimpses of success, but hehasn't had those same reps that a cole

(01:10:14):
bishop or a Sioni Baki has had. So to me, until I can
see that that's always going to bethat area, that is kind of the
question. But I don't know thatI worry about that the same way as
maybe in years past, where they'vebeen a lot more inexperienced. Josh Morgan
Scalley was renamed the head coach inwaiting for the University of Utah what do

(01:10:39):
you take away from the development ofthat story, the timeline of that story.
Of course, we now know thata lot of that was agreed to
when USC was looking for a defensivecoordinator, but it didn't come public until
Utah State was about to fire theircoach. I know there's not a direct
line with a lot of those,but we do know in this business,
coaching news is very often related.What do you take away from from that

(01:11:03):
storyline and the timing involved. Yeah, it was kind of one of those
things that was the worst kept secret, right. I think everybody knew that.
We knew that as media that thatwas there. I don't know why
it's suddenly just you know, percolatedup to that on July first, right,
Like why Pete Sammil decided to releaseit then and why that was kind

(01:11:24):
of used as a way to kindof help I understand with kind of the
changing landscape of college football, youneed to kind of keep things going to
me if you were going to releasethis without us, you know, local
media doing it, none of usdecided to do it then. I think
that's just because it was kind ofthe standard story it would have been before
Utah had it official visits, right, You get that ahead of that to

(01:11:46):
say, hey, you know,Kyle's still our guy, but if not,
we've got this proven guy. Oh, by the way, meet him
when you come to take your officialvisit. He'll be your head coach.
YadA, YadA, YadA. Istill think it plays well more to recruiting
than anything else yet staving off youknow, coaching rumors at a Utah stade
or some other places. But tome, this is more a recruiting advantage

(01:12:08):
because these guys can now see youknow that there's going to be stability,
at least in terms of coaching,personnel, the system, the culture,
everything is going to maintain. Youget a guy that's a proven Utah guy,
he has no interest to leave.That's not to say he hasn't been
offered job. USC became harder thanlast fall, right in that sense why
they put that tag back in thereand why things have kind of ramped up.

(01:12:30):
But to me, this is moreon the recruiting front. You're going
into a pivotal time where you're you'recompeting against some of these big schools for
some high level athletes, and themore you can maintain that consistency, take
away any negative recruiting, the betterthat does for you as a program.
So to me, that's where thisfelt as kind of the impetus to it.

(01:12:51):
Yeah, there are some coaching rumorsthat I think, by and large
this is a good thing. Itwas just to me kind of one of
the weirdest timings because we had knownabout this for a long time and yeah,
we didn't report on it, whichis unfortunate on our part, but
there wasn't anything shocking by any means. Yeah, and following up on what

(01:13:13):
what led to the removal of thatcoach head coach and waiting status. Uh
now four years ago. I'm curiousas you as in your conversations and in
your observations of what of what's goingon there in the program in the last
four years. What's been your impressionof Morgan Scalley's ability to make up for

(01:13:38):
the what the scandal that he thathe found himself in with the with the
use of the racial slur and atext message several years before that. What
is it that you've heard and maybeseen that the Morgan Scalley has done to
kind of build the trust back upand kind of make up for that awful
mistake He made that that got thisremoved from him four years ago. Yeah,

(01:14:00):
Morgan's going to be the first totell you he made a mistake,
right, He owned up to it. He understands the consequences that were there.
It was a tough time for him, right. I mean, I
think anytime you get accused of doingsomething, especially that you know that you
did and it was made public,that's a tought thing. But every conversation
that I've had with people up there, they've talked about how hard Morgan has
worked to really understand that. Right. I think it's really easy to be

(01:14:25):
in a predominantly white culture and tobe able to think that you can do
something that maybe you thought was funny, or or you had a relationship with
somebody that weren't where you were allowedto say that for whatever reason. I
don't, I don't know that situation. Right. He's learned from that time,
right, he understands that this ismore than just you know, casual
fund. This means something to people, and by and large, you know,

(01:14:47):
I've talked to some high level peoplethere that they've said he has done
everything he needs to do to beable to be they give them trust.
Right, this wasn't just giving hima coach in waiting just because they felt
like, Okay, well he's thenext best option, and what else do
we have. This is a guythat, especially since that time, has
worked his butt off to be ableto train himself, to be able to

(01:15:08):
teach himself and go to these classes, to be able to help him understand
what these words mean to people,what they mean for him, you know,
all these different things, and soI think that's helped him become a
more well rounded person. Is hegoing to make mistakes as a head coach
or as a person, of course, I mean we all do, but
I think he's under he understands nowat a higher level what all this means.

(01:15:29):
Right, and especially in your relationshipwith athletes who are relying on you
to be able to be kind oftheir quote unquote father figure. Well,
they're in your tenure. I knowthey're adults, and so that's not necessarily
you need a father figure. ButI think the way that they operate in
this culture, it is a familyenvironment, and when somebody disrespects the family,
even if it's not meant to beas a disrespect, that hurts the

(01:15:53):
family. And I think more thanhis recognized that he understands it. He's
done a really good job of beingable to get to where he needs to
that. I know this is goingto follow him for a long time and
the day that he has made headcoach, that's still going to follow him,
and they're going to be allowed updoorfrom some you know, portion of
people. But I don't doubt hisability to be able to kind of push

(01:16:14):
that aside, not as something thatdidn't happen. He's always going to own
that and he's not going to tryto run away from it. But understand
that he used that as a benchmarkto say, Okay, I need to
be better, and here's how Ihave and I think he has done that.
So I don't know all the intimatedetails like other people in that department,
but everybody that I've talked to hassaid that he is one made those
stripes to become a better individual,especially for his coaching as a person and

(01:16:39):
everything to be able to give themthat full confidence that he can be that
guy. Morgan Scaley now once againthe youth head coach in waiting. Now
my question for you, Josh ishow long are we waiting? Oh that's
a good question. I you knowthat that's one that I've always kind of
gone back on. There was acouple of years ago I honestly thought Kyle

(01:17:01):
was walking away right, and Ithink you could see it kind of in
his demeanor and he was just Idon't want to say the love wasn't there,
because he's always done it. He'sa you know, high intensity guy.
But I think those last few yearskind of grinded on him. But
it's funny because like this last year, even though they went through all of

(01:17:23):
the craft that they went through,I still saw a lot of passion and
love from him. If anything,this spring, I saw the most passion
from him in spring. So Idon't know that you know it's imminent.
I could. I wouldn't be surprisedif it's after this season and you get
them through one season in the BigTwelve, maybe you win the Big Twelve
championship, get to the playoffs.To me, I think he wants to
go out on a highlight that ButI don't know that we're going to know

(01:17:44):
until probably the Steven ends. He'snot the type of guy that's going to
go out there and want to dolike a stadium tour and everybody praise him
or do different things that way.I think it's honestly, you know,
we'll find out the day he's readyto go and that'll be it. But
I wouldn't be surprised if he sticksround for two three more years. But
I also wouldn't be surprised if it'safter this year. So if anybody's guessing
game and it's honestly just going tobe how whitting him films and his lobby,

(01:18:08):
passion for the game and Josh.That actually jogged something in me that
in my memory of Pete Damil's storythere about the contract, I thought it
was curious that the language in thestory was if Kyle were to step away
at the end of this season,Scaley's starting salary as as the head coach

(01:18:31):
would be five million dollars. Thatif he were to step away at the
end of this season stood out tome. It implies that it might be
a different number if if Witt staysaround beyond this season. What have you
have you heard anything about about that? Are we to assume that no matter
when he starts, he's it'll probablybe that five million dollars salary number or

(01:18:54):
or will be different if Witt stayssticks around a little bit longer. Yes,
the way the contract is written isthey have it where if you know,
Wit does retire now through the middleof January, he will make at
minimum five million. They specifically putin their minimum five million, so it
could be more. I don't thinkthey want to put a benchmark on that

(01:19:15):
or a limit, I should say, especially with the changing landscape of college
coaching contracts. But you're going tosee a minimum of five million now the
way it works, every single yearthat Whittingham doesn't retire, that number goes
up by at least one hundred thousand. That's that's trump changed in that realm,
but it still goes up. Andso I think they're kind of laying

(01:19:36):
the groundwork to say, Okay,for the next five years, you have
at least the potential to make atminimum five million. Then it's five point
one, five point two, etcetera, up until Kyle's you know,
times that he leaves. If hestays forever, I assume that number continues
to go up. But I thinkwhat they've done is they've tried to set
a limit there in terms of howlow they will go, which is not

(01:19:59):
low. I mean, he's makingtwo million, now he's going to jump
up to five million. I thinkthat bodes well for him to be able
to say, Okay, here's whatit did. Also incentivizes him to say
if Kyle stays on longer, thatmoney will go up. So it's interesting.
It's interesting to even put that contractdetails. Are the money details in
there right now, especially in hiscurrent contract. But I think that shows
how serious they are about making himthe head coach that they want to be

(01:20:21):
able to kind of put a numberon that to kind of let other teams
know, hey, here's what itis. If you want to come after
Morgan, you can try, buthere's what we're going to throw out there.
Yeah. I thought that was interestingas well. And thanks for the
insight and clarification on that and moreinformation on that part of the contract.

(01:20:43):
Josh. Enjoy the first Big twelvemedia days five days from now at Allegiance
Stadium in Vegas, and we'll besure to talk again soon. Man.
Have a good rest of your day. Thanks, garys appreciate it. Have
a great for us. Thanks Jeff. Josh Furlong, KSL dot com Utes
beat writer, also the sports editorfor KSL dot Com. We love Josh

(01:21:06):
around here does such a great jobcovering the University of Utah and and the
rest of the local sports here inthe market and beyond. For KSL dot
Com on the other side, hadsome big NBA free agent news porter that
trickled down at least the the singthe singular biggest name in the NBA is

(01:21:30):
finally Lebron James has a new deal. We'll talk about that. Also,
they the Lakers added to their coachingstaff with a couple of JJ Redick is
going to have the benefit of acouple of good veteran NBA head coaches as
his as some of his top assistants. And we'll also chat about jazz rumors,
Lowry market and is he on themove and what they've done so far

(01:21:56):
and more. On the other side, this is we're calling it the Show
with No Name, where the NamelessMidday Show. Here We're going eleven until
two here with me James Peterson,that guy Porter Larson on Utah's number one
sports talk and home of the USESPN seven hundred and nine brought along hour

(01:22:23):
two of the Show with No Name, The Nameless Midday Show. Whichever strikes
your fancy best. Here only Namelessfor this is the last day, it'll
be the Nameless Midday Show, theShow with No Name. We will have
a best of Bill Riley Show onFriday. You'll hear the Bill Riley Show,
the Iconic open, all of it, as if, as if Bill

(01:22:45):
is still doing the show live.But it will be a pre recorded best
of interviews from through the years.So well, I'm thinking, I oh
ice Cube, if I can,if we can find that some of our
archives, they are not gonna beWe don't have years worth in our archives
right now. But if if Ican get if I can get hold of
the ice Cube interview, for sure. But I'm thinking conversation with Covey,

(01:23:10):
some of those great conversations, conversationwith Cam from the first season. And
I'm open to suggestions to porter ifyou, if you've gotten the ideas,
maybe we maybe we throw out tothe text line too. Eight seven seven
three five three zero seven hundred.If you've got a favorite interview from the
last we'll call it seven years.I think I'm pretty safe to say we
can. I can find interviews fromthat far back that you can remember off

(01:23:36):
the top of your head, Goahead and text it in eight seven seven
three five three zero seven hundred dishpros text line and be part of I'll
consider making it a part of theBest of the Bill Riley Show on Friday.
Through the years. We're gonna interspersesome great Utah football game calls as

(01:23:56):
well, some touchdown and thick Boyseven in for six just like that.
I think I think that one thatI'm saying that I'm referring to, I
think he gets the numbers switched.I think he says thick Boys six in
for seven. Anyway, it's funny. But we'll interspur some of those in

(01:24:16):
there, and maybe a little ohyeah from Scott Mitchell too in the Best
of Bill Riley Show on Friday.I'm done with the impressions that pro that
was the kool Aid guy. Ohyeah, oh yeah. I mean that's
what Scott sounded like is from thesecond Pact World Championship They excuse me,

(01:24:40):
the first Pactal Championship game. Anyway, he got really excited in that one.
So that you got that to lookforward to after the fourth Tomorrow,
we've got an MLB double header fromabout eleven till nine pm here brought to
you by Les Schwap Tires we areyour home of Major League Baseball. And
then Monday is the debut of theSean O'Connell Show with OC back in the

(01:25:04):
air chair back on ESPN seven hundred. We're super excited about that. As
sad as we are to not haveBill and his show around Porter, I
mean I can be more excited towelcome OC back. Oh yeah, Sean
O'Connell's one for me as a footballand MMA guy growing up in this market,

(01:25:24):
Shawn has always been a guy thatI've been fascinated by and a fan
of and of course now a colleagueof and have got to know him pretty
well over the last couple of years, and just a unique perspective. Number
one, with growing up in SaltLake City, he is a true homegrown
kid. But he also played ona very particular Utah football team and as

(01:25:47):
far as the eras go, rightwith Urban and Alex and Wedell and maybe
the most famous one along with theSugar Bowl team and maybe and one of
these Rose Ball team Rose Bowl teams, but yes, still maybe one of
the maybe the famous most famous Utahfootball team ever, that Oh four team
with Urban Meyer for sure, andthen of course was here at the station

(01:26:12):
for a couple of years, dida show with Bill, did a show
with I think Tom Hackett for amoment, that's right, maybe hands too,
I'm not sure either way. Itwas for a minute, he's a
he's a pro in that regard,spent the entirety of the time after that
in the Pac twelve foot print withthe serious XM stuff, And of course

(01:26:32):
the story of him becoming a worldchampion after coming out of a semi retirement
as a AM radio host is prettydamn cool. So we'll, I'm sure,
get into a little bit of that, and and it'll be a little
different from the Bill Riley Show.You're gonna get more MMA stuff. You're
gonna get some some different sports.He's not gonna be all all that you

(01:26:56):
know versed in juco can this historyin the eighties, right, Like,
there's a different feel you're gonna getfrom the encyclopedia that is Bill and the
character that is Sean O'Connell. ButI'm excited in both regards. But I
think I think there's there's a numberof our listeners that have expressed that maybe

(01:27:16):
aren't is familiar with those see thatthat have expressed some concern that. Okay,
are we still gonna get plenty ofus talks Utes talk in the mid
eight Yes, you are this Asyou said, he was one. He
was on one of the most notableUtah football teams of all time. He
wasn't a big time player on thatteam, but he was on the team.
And he's had a notable enough careersince then in the media to get

(01:27:43):
to continue his ties, his closeties with his alma mater and maybe even
make even deeper and closer ties toto Kyle Whittingham and his program since then.
So and he he's he's got thesame relationship with guys like Sly that
you hear and Bartle that you hearthat you heard with Bill all the time
he's got he's got a very closerelationship with those same guys. So expect

(01:28:06):
to hear some of the same charactersbreaking down Utes games. And I would
say the quality is gonna be aboutthe same, if not better. And
in talking about in the quality ofthe Utes talk as well, this is
we're not losing youth University of Utahfootball talk and University of Utah athletics talk
by losing the voice of the Utes. Bill Riley in the mid days.

(01:28:28):
For sure, we are and weare still the home of the Utes,
and that is still gonna be ournumber one priority here to cover on this
radio station. But super excited towelcome in Sean. That's going to start
on Monday, July eighth, rightbefore Big twelve Media Days in Vegas.
Had some significant NBA free agency newsdropped today regarding the Los Angeles Lakers.

(01:28:51):
Porter Lebron James has signed perhaps hisfinal contract of his career, maybe maybe
he'll have another one here, butit's a it's a two year deal with
a player option and a no tradeclause. And Bobby Marx, it's interesting
he said that the number that's beenreported would put them just above the just

(01:29:14):
into the second apron of luxury taxand then WOJ quote tweeted his colleague Bobby
mars and said, there's still there'sstill a good chance that the number that's
been reported is going to be lowerthan that, so that it's under the
apron. That's what I would expectto happen. But locking down Lebron for
perhaps the last two years of hiscareer, maybe maybe he plays longer than

(01:29:38):
that a big deal for the Lakers. Yeah, I think the the move
here in the strategy here is I'vetried to piece some of it together with
with help from our friend Dave mcmannimuonof ESPN. Is basically, you know,
the the crux of this is thatthe Lakers want to be below that

(01:30:00):
second apron, right Lebron is isvery much working with them to do that,
but they also want to be ableto use their mid level exception.
They also want to be able touse the roster mechanisms available to pick up
another piece. So what they're doingis is kind of slow playing this until
they find out who that may be, find out what that signing may look
like, and then Lebron can finalizehis deal, move on with it,

(01:30:24):
and and they'll be like literally adollar under the second apron there. That's
that's how they're trying to negotiate thisso that they can they can really get
the most out of their roster.In again, what may be the last
go of it with Lebron James,at least with the Lakers if he if
he plays out this two year contractand it doesn't go well, I don't

(01:30:45):
see him necessarily leaving his son inLos Angeles. But I don't necessarily see
the long term thing with the Lakers. I think that if he goes two
years with the Lakers here, nothinghappens of it. I think there is
a last stand probably elsewhere. Ifyou're if that would be very interesting.
I think that would make a lotof Jazz fans that may or may not
be also fans of Lebron a littlebit more happy to follow Lebron if he's

(01:31:10):
not on the Lakers anymore. I'mspeaking for myself. That is more as
much as anyone else. The otherbig moves that they made is on the
coaching staff, and I think thiswas shrud move by them. They are
hiring Nate McMillan and Scott Brooks astop assistant coaches on JJ Reddick's new staff.
Obviously, a lot has been madeabout the lack of experience from JJ
Reddick, and it's all been fairin my opinion. But you bring in

(01:31:34):
Nate McMillan, who's been a verysuccessful head coach for a long time and
a lot at just about every placehe's been, to be one of the
top assistants in Scott Brooks, anotherguy who's had quite a bit of success,
particularly with those Oklahoma City Thunder teams. I don't know that Scott Brooks,
he was never my favorite kind ofhead coach, but as a top

(01:31:56):
assistant, I'm not sure you cando much better than those two guys.
I mean a lot was said aboutJJ Redick not having NBA experience. Well,
his now two head assistants have thirtyone years of NBA head coaching experience
between them. Head coaching experience betweenthem, of course. McMillan eleven playoff
appearances for him. Brooks of course, has been with the Oklahoma City Thunder

(01:32:17):
and the Washington Wizards. He's gotfive hundred and twenty one career wins,
He's got a finals appearance with thewith KD and James Harden the finals appearance
brook and a plus five hundred playoffrecord as an NBA head coach. So
Reddick, you know, signs thefour year deal and then I think quickly
pivots towards getting guys in his lockerroom that have been there before. And

(01:32:42):
I think that's a really really smartmove, whether it's from JJ or from
the Lakers brass, because that's that'sjust an experience you can't replicate, you
can't simulate. You need that inyour in your locker room, and I
didn't really have any doubts about that. I knew that he was going to
sign for that were not just hisyou know, young former player friends.

(01:33:04):
It was kind of clear when yousigned JJ, you have Lebron, you
knew you were gonna get big namecoaches on that bench. It just was
a matter of who. Nate McMillanScott Brooks I think are two of just
about the best names available that thatyou could bring in. Yeah, and
it's kind of shocking that those twoguys, who have been as successful as

(01:33:26):
head coaches as they have been andrecently too, that they are willing to
take assistant coaches jobs. So well, he's assistant coaching jobs. It's a
different time in NBA coaching circles,right we were talking about a Jason Kidd
who just had a Finals appearance.We're talking about a Joe Missoula who just
won the Finals. JJ Reddick whohas just hired Steve Kerr, although different

(01:33:48):
story player to coach to several NBAFinals wins. So there is a shift
right now happening where what was avery and there's still a lot of nepotism
that's always going to be that way. What was a very like old boys
club NBA coaching circle is now turninginto a little bit of a shift where

(01:34:10):
guys who played for those guys arenow getting the jobs that that were once
reserved for Van Gundy and reserve fora rotating cast of Doc Rivers and whoever
got fired that year. It wasthe same names every year, got hired,
rehired, fired, rehired, andnow there's, uh, it seems
like a motivation from NBA teams tomaybe not stick with that plan and that

(01:34:34):
strategy going forward, and we'll seehow it plays out. I think there's
still a place for guys that havethat experience, but I do also like
the the new blood that's that's comingin and giving a fresh angle to some
of these coaching staff. Yeah.I mean, when you've done something the
same way for so long and you'regetting you start to get the same results,
and that aren't all that successful Lakersand Celtics win every year. It's

(01:34:57):
time to change, It's time tomake it's time to change your thing thinking
and change your paradigm here. AndI don't disagree with with the way that
teams are starting to go about itthe other and we'll had to break here
right after this. But the otherthing that I want to say about it
is it reminds me of the waythe Golden State Warriors and Steve Kerr set

(01:35:17):
up his bench when he was avery inexperienced first time head coach Don Nelson.
Who there he had Alvin Gentry,that's his top assistant. I don't
know that he had another really experiencedNBA head coach slash assistant coach, but
he had Alvin Gentry next to him, and then a couple of years later
he added Mike Brown. He justbarely had Kenny Atkinson on his bench,

(01:35:42):
who was who was a guy whohad head coaching experienced before that with the
natzis now of course the Cleveland Cavaliersnew head coach, so he's It appears
to be that the Lakers had paidattention to how the Warriors who the Warriors
surrounded Steve Kerr with as Steve Kerrwas navigating a brand new thing being an
NBA head coach and obviously had wildsuccess from day one in that range.

(01:36:06):
I think that they watched that,they've watched that closely and are hoping that
they can replicate some of that withtheir guy JJ Reddick, who it's different
because Steve Kerr at least had beena general manager before he stepped in the
head coaching ranks. This will beI mean, no front office experience,
head coach experience at the youth level, as he joked about in his fresh

(01:36:28):
conference. So it'll be fascinating towatch how this plays out. But I
think that they're doing it the rightway, bringing in very experiencing experienced head
coaches in Nate McMillan and Scott Brooksto be on his staff. On the
other side, Porter something that itstruck me as we were talking with Josh
Furlong and reminded me of something thatyou said. He was talking about a

(01:36:51):
story that you've shared before. Hewas talking about a couple of years ago,
Kyle Waitningham looking like from Josh's lookinglike could he be retiring soon?
And I remember a story that you'veshared after one of the Rose Bowl games
where you almost got a similar expressionseeing Kyle and the immediate aftermath of one

(01:37:15):
of those Rose Bowl losses in thelocker room. So I'm curious I would
like to kind of bring that storyback here, and as we kind of
speculate how much longer University of Utahfootball will be headed by an absolute legend
in Kyle Whittingham. Of course,none of us are in a hurry to

(01:37:36):
make that happen, but it issomething that certainly comes to mind, especially
when you hear about a new contractwith coach with Morgan Scally getting the head
coach in waiting tag reinstated here earlierthis week, that and more next on,

(01:37:56):
we're just calling it The Show withNo Name, the Nameless midday Show
right here, Utah's number one sportsTalk ESPN seven hundred and nineteen. Winding
down hour two of The Show withNo Name with its nameless hosts James Peterson

(01:38:17):
Porter Larson, who said that whogave away our names? Now just kidding.
I'm James Peterson, that's Porter Larson. The last live show we will
have this week in this time slotfrom eleven to two. Best of Bill
Riley through the Years will be onFriday. MLB Doubleheader will be tomorrow.

(01:38:39):
That doubleheader will be brought to youby Les Schwab Tires. So we're your
home of Major League Baseball from nowall the way through the playoffs in the
World Series, yeah, so excitedabout that. Then Monday we step aside
and make room for Sean O'Connell.Oh See is back on the mid Days

(01:38:59):
here weekdays from eleven to two onESPN seven hundred and ninety two one FM,
starting on Monday, July eighth,Porter, we were just talking with
Josh Furlong. By the way,our guest coming up next segment will be
Andy Larson. We'll talk to UtahJazz, NBA free agency, a little

(01:39:20):
hockey as well, and some updatethe update that we will ask him about
the update that his colleague Robert Gurkyhas on the downtown district that seg is
trying to get passed in the SaltLake City Council, because he's got his

(01:39:42):
finger on the pulse of that stuffas well. But Porter, we were
just talking with Josh Furlong and whatsomething he said, maye remind me of
something that you've shared on I believeit was probably on the Drive with Spence
you He talked about how a coupleof years ago, from Josh's perspective,
it felt like Witt was starting towind down, wind his career down a

(01:40:03):
little bit and maybe maybe just maybecontemplating retirements and it was around that same
time, at least at the endof that season, probably when you were
a You saw him after the RoseBowl loss to Penn State, right the
second one, and in the lockerroom, and it looked to you like,

(01:40:28):
maybe we just saw the last gameKyle winning. Ahmard coached, right.
Well, it was almost the oppositeof that. Really, it was
the opposite that it was more tocome. Maybe earlier you felt that way,
but after seeing that, yeah,felt like it was to come.
It was more so the fact thatthere was a lot of that noise around
Kyle. There was a lot ofdiscussion around him winning this Rose Bowl and
then riding off into Sunset, right, and I think that would have been

(01:40:49):
a possibility had Utah won. Butgoing into that game, there was a
lot of noise about Kyle's future,about Utah's offseason, about Kyle McDonald,
if you remember, the current Utesrunning back coach, who at that time
was rumored to have taken a jobwith USC. We found out that to
be true literally two minutes after thefootball game, But there was a lot

(01:41:11):
of questions around Kyle Whittingham. Soas that game hit, Zeros I was
very intently trying to track down Kyle, and when I got back to the
locker room, and we at thestation kind of have a little luck here
with as far as the media stuffgoes, because you have your credential,

(01:41:31):
you get your press pass, youcan go and do the interviews. But
at seven hundred, I was atthe Rose Bull setting up the actual interview
for Kyle. So I was notin the press room, not in the
interview room. I was in Kyle'slocker room. And when I walked into
that room, all of those questionsabout how he was he going to retire,

(01:41:54):
was he done? Were answered andI didn't have to say a word
to him. We made eye contact, and you could tell at that moment
that there was still a fire inthat guy's eyes too. Yes, win
football games to MH. Continue building, right. We we go back to
the end of those years. Theylost kids in their locker room to gun

(01:42:16):
violence. They was it was heavy, so you understand why there was a
lot of that talk around the footballprogram. But yeah, those questions were
answered when I made eye contact withKyle and and we we spoke shortly and
confirmed that was not done. AndI think a large part of that has
to do with kind of some unfinished, unfinished business. I think the way

(01:42:42):
that he goes out is important toKyle, not in one moment, but
just and not in you know,cementing his legacy, but winning. That's
that's what his his his whole careerhas been about. He wants to pull
a John l Way and wants towin a championship and right away. And
he grew up in the shadows ofthe Rose Bowl. He grew up as

(01:43:03):
a southern California kid who then cameand built this football program. So for
him to win one, win thePac twelve. I still think the Rose
bul whether it's a playoff game orjust a standalone Rose Bull by itself,
is very high on that list,and I think he wants to get one.
It's changed now with how the playoffis seated and how we'll go about

(01:43:28):
it. But I think at thattime, we didn't know about the conference
re alignment, we didn't know aboutthe expanded college football playoff. I think
at that time Kyle very much hadone thing left to mark off his to
do list, and it was aRose Bull. Now, what a Rose
Bull brings your program now could bedifferent because it could be a playoff game,

(01:43:49):
and I think that still weighs heavilyon Kyle, and I think he
wants to go out on a goodnote and leave the program in a really
good position. And I don't thinkthat after that game he felt that way.
And I could tell instantly, yeah, that that's so interesting that it
was that obvious without even saying aword, that you it speaks to the

(01:44:12):
familiarity you have with with Wit andbeing at practices and other and setting up
these postgame interviews over the years,and being at coaches shows and things like
that, that relationship that you've beenable to build build. But also it
speaks to just what you just talkedabout, just that fire, how obvious
that that fire was still burning withinwithin him after that game. And I

(01:44:35):
guess as a follow up to that, obviously, national championship is the biggest
prize in the sport. But wouldyou say that winning a Rose Bowl might
be even more important to Kyle winninghamthan than winning a national championship or or
obviously or is it just like everyoneelse? National championship is number one?
Now, I think that the nationalchampionship would be the Koupda graph for sure,

(01:44:57):
Like that's that's the number one thingon anyone's list as a college football
coach. But I think from Kylefrom a personal standpoint, growing up in
that area, being in La ramLike, there is a very very real
tie for him wanting to win asuper or win a Rose Bull in southern
California as a utah Ute is avery real thing that he wants to get

(01:45:19):
done and motivating. And whether thathappens in a any playoff form or otherwise,
I think would be uh, itwould be special for him either way.
Yeah, yeah, that makes alot of sense. He is not
done yet, and and I thinkthat people misconstrue this kind of speculation as
oh, we we want to gethim out the door so quickly. That

(01:45:40):
is not the case. It's justyou can't help but think about You wonder
what it's going to look like,when, what it's going to look like,
and when it will be. BecauseKyle's not getting any younger, and
he's already accomplished so much, youwonder how much more there's left for him
to feel like he needs to accomplishbefore he hangs it up. And obviously,
as you said, Porter wrote,Bowl is certainly one of those things

(01:46:00):
and competing for a national championship andhopefully and maybe winning a national championship is
obviously another thing, and winning anotherPower five conference Power four Conference championship as
well. As they enter the Bigtwelve, we will shift gears to NBA
and Utah Jazz a little hockey aswell with our next guest, Andy Larson

(01:46:23):
of the Salt Lake Tribune Utah JazzBeat writer. He's doing a little hockey
riding as well as we gear upfor the inaugural season of the Utah Hockey
Club and the NHL here in thestate of Utah in Salt Lake City.
A quick shout out to our countdownClock sponsors as we had to break here.

(01:46:44):
That is Shields, Stretch Zone,Amplified Health, Big Willis Bar,
and Barbecue Pitstoff. We are fiftyseven days away from kickoff. That's less
than two months away from kickoff ofUtah versus Southern Utah at Rice Echols Stadium
and the twenty four Utah football season. Andy Larson is next here on The
Nameless Midday Show, The Show withNo Name. James Peterson Porter Larson with

(01:47:09):
you here on Utah's number one sportstalk and home of the Utes. ESPN
seven hundred and our three of theshow with no Name, The Nameless Midday

(01:47:30):
Show. I'm James Peterson. Sittingacross from me is Porter Larson sitting in
with the Today the last live showwill have in this space in the mid
days until Sean O'Connell takes the reins. On Monday, July eighth, we'll
have a best of Bill Riley's showthrough the years, maybe some conversation with

(01:47:53):
Coveys, maybe some conversation with camsand others will replay. Oh yeah,
we're still taking suggestions too. Onthe text line eight seven seven three five
three zero seven hundred. If youif there's a favorite interview from let's say
the past seven or eight years ofthe Bill Riley Show that you want to
hear on Friday, drop it,drop us the line eight seven seven three

(01:48:15):
five three zero seven hundred. That'sour dish pros text line. Welcome in
our next guest, Andy Larson.He's the Utah jazz beat writer for the
Salt Lake Tribune, doing a littlehockey writing as well. Both things topical
right now, and we'll discuss itwith Andy right now. Andy, how
you doing man good? How areyou doing good? We'll start with Jazz.

(01:48:36):
Uh, the summer league roster isout. The broadcast schedule just dropped.
I know there's been lots of jokesabout this maybe being the best summer
league roster ever. But as youmentioned on on our shows before that,
Will Hardy's like Oklahoma City ran outtheir entire starting lineup except Shay last year.

(01:48:59):
So I guess your your thoughts onsummer league getting started here soon for
the Jazz and and what they hopeto accomplish with this kind of loaded summer
league roster. Yeah, look atthe best I think it's you can argue
it's the best Jazz summer league roster. Ever, it probably doesn't have the
top tier talent that the one withDonovan Mitchell or Darren Williams did, right,

(01:49:24):
So you know, maybe you sayit's maybe not the best team ever,
you know, because it's missing thattop tier star. But I mean,
one through ten, you have NBAplayers, right like you have the
three guys who were drafted last year, three guys drafted this year. You
have Walker Kessler, who you know, if he plays like he did as
a rookie, is going to bethe best player I think in the summer

(01:49:46):
league. If you if you addin Kenny Lofton Junior, who we've seen
terror parts summer leagues here in SullyCity and in Vegas for the last couple
of years. You've got five yearNBA veteran Darius Baisley. It's a really,
really, really good summer league team. And look if the Jazz are
going down this road and you knowkind of the plan is to be bad

(01:50:08):
for a number of years moving forward, this is the exciting time of year
and so it's drafted and summer leaguetime where it's it's going to be most
exciting for Jazz fans before you getinto kind of the boring part of the
regular season. So uh yeah,that's I think I'm very excited to see

(01:50:30):
what we'll see from the Jazz isyouth next week. And you know,
I think it's going to be areal opportunity for You just made us all
sad. You just made us allsad by saying that Summer league's and the
most exciting it's going to get forthe Jazz this year. No FORO to
go ahead, No, But speakingof Summer League and it being obviously they

(01:50:53):
talk about the Summer League team beinggood. Your regular season team's not great.
Well, more specifically, you havea third year first round pick as
a center who is still playing onyour summer league team. What does that
say about Walker Kessler's development? Andy, And what are your expectations of him
in the twenty twenty four Summer League. Is his third goal at it?

(01:51:15):
Yeah? I mean, look,he needs to dominate. It says that
his second year was a very badyear for him. I mean, like,
look, that's relative to expectations,relative to what he did his spurky
season, where he was, youknow, one of the best rim protectors,
if not the best rimt protector inthe league. I think he still
had some of that rim protection lastyear, but didn't have the finishing at

(01:51:36):
the rim. Didn't add to hisgame in terms of screening, had less
control of the ball in terms ofcatching and finishing, and the league figured
him out a little bit, right, Like, I don't know if it
was a fatigue issue. I don'tknow if it was about confidence. I
don't know if it was about kindof what was going on with the Jazz's
point guard position, having you know, a number of either young or bad

(01:52:00):
players or both. But like itwas, it was not what Jazz wanted
to see from Walker Kessler, andso like making him play Summer League and
is a real statement here that like, hey, look, you need to
step up in order to make yourselfa ten year NBA career in order to
be the player that you can be. And if you know, we need

(01:52:21):
to see some development from you inorder to consider you one of the strong
points the footholds of this franchise,right like, and if not, look,
then you're probably if you play likeyou did last season for the rest
of your career, you're a backupcenter. Like and and that limit that

(01:52:41):
means making five to ten million dollarsa year, That means you're getting fifteen
minutes the game. And that's that'sthe deal. I still think Walker Kessler
can be a starting center in theNBA, and I think he it may
even be most likely that he is. But there's a lot he needs to
figure out, uh, in termsof his often the skill, in terms
of his ability to screen, interms of his ability to defend on the

(01:53:03):
perimeter, uh, in order tobe that starting center. And you know,
I think Summer League and these gamesand you know, kind of these
last couple of months since the seasonended, are are good opportunities for him
to develop those skills? And then, along those same lines, Andy,
they drafted Kyle Philipowski, who alot of draft analysts and and maybe scouts

(01:53:26):
a lot of scouts as well,saw as a first round talent and early
in the second round. Could couldthat also be a message to Walker that,
hey, like, we need you, We need you to be the
guy, at least the guy youwere your rookie year, has show some
progression this season, and if you'renot, we've got someone that has a
potential to maybe be our future atcenter waiting in the wings. Look,

(01:53:50):
I mean, Kyle Philopowski was abest player available pick, right Like,
That's not the Jazz didn't draft himto send a message. You know,
the Jazz don't have good enough playersright now to be drafting guys to send
a message. They need just gooddudes on the roster who who might be
good at basketball one day, rightlike? And I think Kyle Philipowski is

(01:54:14):
a really good prospect, right Like. I had a thread on Twitter kind
of before the draft of kind ofmy view of the draft, and I
said, look, he's not asexy prospect, you know, he's not
ever going to be an All Star. He's not going to be a you
know, a NBA star. Butwhat he does I think makes them likely
to be somewhere around like the twelfthbest prospect in the draft. And I

(01:54:35):
think the Jazz got him at thirtytwo, And so that's that's a big
win. That being said, like, you know, it's a it's a
week's draft, And I don't knowthat I expect Kyle Philipowski to be an
NBA starter necessarily moving forward, andhe's still twenty years old and still is
like most he's likely to be rightbad right out of the gate, right

(01:54:58):
like, we'll have to learn alot about how to play NBA basketball,
deal with the physicality, play defense, especially down low. You know,
I think he's a good perimeter defender. I don't know that he's a good
insurior defender right now, even thoughhe stands a sickle leven. And you
know, there's a lot of skillthings putting in stat to his game.
You know, the comparison is KellyLennox, Kelly olyinnocks a lot better a

(01:55:19):
shooter right now than Kyles Philapowski is. And so you know, in terms
of I like him as a prospect. I think he's great value at number
thirty two, But in terms ofkind of threatening Walker Kessler for playing time,
I don't know that I see thatright away. I see him more
likely, you know, either contributingin minor minutes off the bench for a

(01:55:40):
young, developing Jazz team, ormaybe even just playing more minutes than the
G League, playing thirty five minutesa night and getting the chance to work
on his skills down there. Andy. Obviously, there's been a lot of
noise around Lowry markin over the lastforty eight hours or so. What is
the latest there? From my understanding? Obviously the As are not looking to

(01:56:01):
trade a player of that caliber,But if the right offer comes along,
and if the timing is right,you got to think the Jazz, in
the the mindset that they seem tobe in, would be willing to,
you know, part with him withthe right Godfather offer. Yeah, So,
like there are degrees to this now, I think, you know,

(01:56:24):
and I think we have we haveadvanced in these conversations enough that we have
to acknowledge that it's not like,hey, you just bowl us over with
an offer and we'll take it.It's it's and it's not necessarily a best
offer win situation either. It's somethingwhere Lowry is kind of on the block

(01:56:46):
a little bit as they, youknow, evaluate what they can get for
him. And I think, youknow, it's pretty clear that there are
at least three teams significantly interested,that being the one Warriors, the Kings,
and the Spurs. The Pelicans havealso been mentioned as as potentially an
interested team. And those teams areare giving up are offering what I would

(01:57:13):
call significant, but probably not enoughto meet his market value at this point.
And that's not the buzz looking fora god offer that's like market value,
right like mckel bridget set the marketyep with getting that five picks a
pick slop plus boon. Butdanovitch back, Uh, you know, the Warriors

(01:57:33):
have trouble matching that offer, right, Like, they have three first round
picks. They can trade three pickswaps, they can trade Jonathan Kamingez they want
to, but they it sounds likethey don't want to. Uh, Moses
Moody could be in the deal.I'm kind of not convinced Moses Moody is
a good NBA player. Brandon Podzemskiis someone I'd be interested in as one

(01:57:55):
of the best, you know,five or six best rookies last year.
But you know you're you're talking aboutthat kind of offer being to me,
that's market value, not a godfatheroffer. That being said, look,
and I wrote about this in theTribune yesterday, the Jazz can either there's
it's very difficult to see the Jazzbeing good next season with or without Larry

(01:58:17):
market in. And I think evenif you keep lowry marketing, you're like
the thirteenth or fourteenth best team inthe Western Conference and you probably have the
fifth or sixth best lottery odds andyou go from there. And kind of
the question is whether or not that'sgood enough, And it honestly might be
in this draft, and given howflat the lottery odds right are right now,

(01:58:39):
right like, the difference between youbeing the fifth seed and the first
seed in any given NBA draft rightnow, the fourteen percent chance of the
number one pick versus a number anine percent or an eight percent chance at
the number one pick, Like,it's just not that big of a difference,
especially in a deep draft like thisone, where yes, there's a
prize at the top. In CooperFlag but there is significant talent down below

(01:59:01):
where you're still getting a franchise playerbelow that, or you know, if
you can get legitimate, significant assetsback in a lowry marketing deal that you
think can help rebuild the team intoreal true contention, and I think you
think about it. The Warriors offeris tough for me because just because it's

(01:59:24):
hard for me to see those pickswaps being as valuable, because I think
the Jazz will be worse than theWarriors for a number of years still to
come, and that's especially true ifthey have lowery market and who I think
would be a tremendous fit next toSeth Curry. Yeah, and you mentioned
how you've written about the Jazz stillbeing able to be bad enough with lowry

(01:59:45):
marknin to get pretty good draft odds, pretty good odds at the number one
overall pick and at a Cooper Flagor at another franchise type player in next
year's draft. I tend to feelthe same way, And especially since since
we just saw the San Antonio Spurswith Victor Wim and Yama having an all

(02:00:08):
star type year in his rookie seasononly win twenty two games, I feel
like the Jazz can be bad andkeep a star that they might want to
try to build around in the future. Yeah, and you know, I
think they probably could as well.You know, kind of the question is
the Eastern Conference, right, likewhat happens over there with Detroit. They

(02:00:30):
just signed to buy a Paris again. They probably want to win more games
than they did last year, butare they actually going to be able to
They were trying to win games lastyear and had the longest losing streak in
history. Can Charlotte improve with somemore health maybe, you know, And
you're kind of looking at the tankcrace and who's your competition there. I
don't know that the Jazz are betterthan the Portland Trailblazers, right like with

(02:00:53):
the emerging Shana Sharp and and youknow, all these really good players that
they are not really good but youngenough up and coming players obviously Scoot Henderson
as well, that that may takejumps next year, right And that being
said, the same as true forthe Jazz, where they have six guys
who you know are our first orsecond year players and may take unexpected leaves

(02:01:15):
of their own, So we'll see. I mean, I think that you
risk by keeping Lowry the ability totank right Like, there's a chance that
it if you lose lowry market andyou're you're gonna tank next season no matter
what. If you keep him,there's a chance that you're too good and
you kind of end up in thelimbo that they've been in the last two
seasons. And maybe it's just worthit to cut, you know, cut

(02:01:38):
ties and cut that risk completely.But you know there's risk on the other
end too, which is if youtreat him to the Warriors or Kings or
Spurs, you create, you know, you're you're getting picks in the team
late teams and twenties that don't endup having much value to the franchise in
twenty thirty and then you're stuck,you know, in purgatory, not I

(02:02:00):
guess, not even purgatory. Justyou're you're down in hell for a decade,
right like, and you're you're downat the bottom of the Western Conference
for a decade. And obviously that'sworst case scenario too. And do Jazz
have, of course, all ofthose those draft picks and assets upcoming,
they also have a bunch of capspace, and I wonder what you think
they'll do with that. Obviously,the Drew U Bak signing fills up a

(02:02:23):
little bit of that. But ifthey're not trying to make major moves this
offseason to step forward, what dothey do with the money left on the
table, and how much can theykeep, you know, kind of set
aside for potential big free agents afternext year's draft. Yeah, I mean,
I think there are a couple ofdifferent things they can do with it.
One, if you do keep Lowry, you're using a really big tunk

(02:02:45):
of it to renegotiate and extend himright like, and that gets you nearly
to the salary floor if I rememberthe calculations correctly. So it's not like
it used to be the new CBAchange rules on the salary floor where there
are kind of some penalties for notgetting there. It used to be like,
if you don't make the salary floor, you just have to pay the

(02:03:06):
players who are currently on your rostermore money to get to the salary floor.
And so it's not really a penalty. Now it messes with your cap,
you can't do some certain things,and it's you know, you you
probably do want to be at thesalary floor by the time the season starts,
and so yeah, then the obviousthing to do is acquire bad contracts

(02:03:28):
from other teams and get the draftpicks in return that that that costs.
You know, I think if thathappens to Jazz will be one of the
only teams with cap space in orderto do that. And so I think
you can extract some draft pick valuein order to make that happen, or
sign players that you think will havevalue to contenders at the trade deadline.

(02:03:49):
Right, So you know, ifyou want to get a highest Jones,
for example, and sign him toa one year, fifteen million dollar contract
or whatever, and and and thenyou can trade him at the deadline to
someone who really could use him asas a point guard, you know,
whether it's they're backup point guard ora third guard or what have you.

(02:04:09):
Maybe somebody gets hurt, you youhave him to to sell in a trade
negotiation. But you know, theonly name on the market that is kind
of big and made is We'll seewhat he ends up getting, but maybe
a Miles Bridges, but obviously that'sterrible for a number of other reasons,
given the domestic violence, multiple disputesand incidents that that he's committed, right,

(02:04:33):
So yeah, we'll we'll see whathappens with that cap space. But
it's you know, given that we'reon July third now and the the kind
of bigger name pre agents are mostlygone. I think that's kind of what
we're talking about with the cat spaceswitching gears to hockey a little bit here,

(02:04:53):
Andy, the we just we justsaw your colleague Robert Gurky wrote about
an update to the Downtown district proposalby Smith Entertainment Group. Uh. He
wrote that it's closed that the cityCouncil and SEG are close to a deal
on there and then, and thatit would include that what they're pushing for

(02:05:14):
is a is thirty year locked infor thirty years for the Jazz and Utah
Hockey Club at the Delta Center stayingdowntown, among other things. I know
you you didn't necessarily write about thisrecently, but I know that you've been
watching it very closely. Just anyother information you ever in it, or
just your your general thoughts on hon this update that we received about the

(02:05:38):
Downtown district. Yeah, I've beenworking with Turkey on on this kind of
stuff pretty you know at the Tribune, and yeah, it's so the deal
is the participation agreement kind of theexecutive summary of it was presented to the
City Council last night and then we'regetting the full participation and great sometime this

(02:06:00):
week. Let's be honest with theholiday that probably means Friday, and yeah,
so this is kind of the documentthat we've been waiting to see,
like what are public city tax payersactually going to be getting for this nine
hundred million dollars in tax revenue salestax money that they'll be committing. And

(02:06:21):
you know, I think it's ait's pretty much in line with what we
expected. So, you know,it's five hundred and twenty five million dollars
to renovate the stadium, five hundredand twenty five million of the nine hundred
million going to renovate the Delta Center, three hundred and twenty five million going
to things outside of the Delta Center. You know, from a again a

(02:06:44):
viewpoint of what's best for the city, probably the least money they spend on
the Delta Center is better. Soit's a little more than a fifty to
fifty split going to the Delta Centerthere. Obviously, that's a really expensive
renovation project, and I think that'sgoing to be interesting to see all the
all the things that change with theDelta Center. I mean it's it's five
times more expensive than the last one, which I think did make a big

(02:07:09):
impact on how the Delta Center operates, you know, seven or eight years
ago when they did that. Amongthe other changes, I mean, there's
this ticket fee where one, twoor three dollars of any ticket sales will
go back to Salt Lake City tosupport affordable housing in the area. I
think that's good. You know,you're you're literally looking at you know,

(02:07:29):
somewhere probably between fifty and one hundredmillion dollars on that ticket fee going back
to Salt Lake City for those causes, and I think that's important. There's
a public safety element of this wherethey'll be able to create kind of I
don't know if I want to usethe word police station, but a station
for police to be stationed I guesswithin the district, along with SEG security

(02:07:53):
as well. So that's interesting.They kind of pointed out they're going to
be giving five million of it toJapantown and its renovations. They're going to
be giving five million of it topublic art displays within and around the district.
So these are kind of the details. And then I think the most
important detail is what keeps the Jazzand what keeps the NHL team downtown,

(02:08:18):
And the city has three different waysthey can go about keeping them downtown.
If the Smith Entertainment Group would chooseto leave in the next thirty years,
one would be one hundred and twentyfive million dollars fine, One would be
for the Smith Entertainment Group to repayall the sales tax increase that they've they've
revenue that they've gotten. And thenone would be to go to court and

(02:08:39):
we'd see what would happen then.So, you know, I think that's
a little bit soft, where youknow, one hundred and twenty five million
dollars is significant, but maybe notsignificant enough given the Smith's pocketbooks. But
you know, I think overall it'sa relatively good public private agree meant here

(02:09:01):
that that didn't really have any kindof negative surprises, and I think that's
reflective of that. I think they'vebeen negotiating in good faith so far on
the way out, Andy, beforewe we set you loose. Some somewhat
breaking news out of the the NBAworld free agent Joe Ingles has agreed to
a one year deal to join theMinnesota Timberwolves, joining of course, Rudy

(02:09:24):
Gobert, Mike Conley, Nikhil Alexander. Right, yeah, your thoughts on
on, uh, the jazz ofa few years ago playing in Minnesota,
Now, yeah, I I thoughtthat pop up off my phone on as
you guys asked the question. Ilike, it's, uh, you know,

(02:09:45):
it's it's nostalgic, It's it's jazzteme a lot, right, Like
that jazz team with Mike Conley,with Joe Ingles, with Rudy Gobert was
so much fun. Was the mostfun I've had watching basketball in the last
you know, thin twenty years.And I think what Joe and Mike were

(02:10:05):
and how those guys interacted with RudyGobert specifically, and you know, in
the pick and roll especially, it'sgoing to be fun to replicate. Joe's
not the player he once was.Like, let's be honest, he was
not a super duper contributor in Orlandolast year. Mike is still pretty close
to what he was, and youknow that could change any point. But

(02:10:28):
regardless of you know, even ifyou're just signing Joe Ingles to be a
locker room guy, I think thatthat makes sense. I think it's it's
a fun signing. It's a reminderof what this Jazz team used to be.
And you know, I don't thinkit's for anybody's fault necessarily, I
don't, but it's it's cool tosee Joe come back to play with those

(02:10:50):
guys. And you know, obviouslyI think a lot of jazz fans here
in Utah are going to be watchinghim. Yeah, it should be fun
to watch. I was already rootinghard for that Wolves team, partially because
of the the Jazz tides. Connwanted to see Connolly and and Gobert win
a championship or get close to achampionship there. I think I think Jazz

(02:11:11):
fans will root even more for forMinnesota in the playoffs this year, assuming
they get back to where they werelast year. Andy, thanks for hopping
on man. Have a good restof your day. We'll talk again soon.
So good Thanks guys. Thanks Annyand you Larson of the Salt Like
Tribune Utah Jazz Beat writer doing alittle hockey riding as well as we get

(02:11:33):
ready for the first Utah Hockey Clubseason. I like what the additional information
he had and insights he had onthat downtown district proposal that Smith Entertainment Group
is trying to get done, andand the and the city Council is is
ruling on here shortly. They dohave another meeting on the ninth, you

(02:11:54):
said, Porter, right, andthen another one in August, and one
of those may in the end andof vote. Maybe the vote will come
later after that. We'll see.Yeah, of course, the I think
the meeting on the July ninth isthe one they were hoping to get all
the way finished yesterday or the daybefore, So we'll see exactly what comes
about. But yeah, I thinkthe majority of this plan they want to

(02:12:20):
have kind of figured out before theyget into actual hockey, so they can
focus on that once we get intofall. Yeah, so the August thirteenth
or whatever date. That August datewould seem logically as the time that they
might vote on it, but younever know with these things. We will
certainly keep following it for you andgive you updates as we get closer to

(02:12:41):
that being resolved. And like yousaid, Porter, it would makes sense
if they'd want to do that beforethe season starts. Their first season starts
in October. On October eighth.We have the exact start date they'll take
on the Chicago Blackhawks. Before webreak here, help the children at the

(02:13:01):
Road Home start school in style.Stop by the advocates in Ogden, American
Fork or Murray. Pick an applefrom the tree and you can supply shoes,
clothing, and a backpack for achild at the road Home. Every
child deserves an advocate. Stop bytoday. It's so important to help our

(02:13:22):
our children in our community that areexperiencing homelessness and their family from families that
are experiencing homelessness, get the getthe supplies that they need to start school.
Because it doesn't matter what your livingsituation is, You're gonna be going
to school and you need you needthe you need that new stuff. UH
and and all those school supplies thatany other child has and and needs to

(02:13:46):
be able to get through school.So stop by the advocates and pick an
apple from the road Home apple treetoo. To serve our great community that
way today. UH. On theother side, more from the Nameless Midday
Show, The Show with No NameHere going until two right here on Utah's
number one Sports Talk ESPN seven hundredand ninety fifty seven days to kickoff for

(02:14:15):
it. Did you hear that?It's it's coming quickly. I'll tell you
what that fifty seven days it soundslike when you say it, like,
man, that's a drag. It'sgonna be a while when you just forget
about it for like a couple ofweeks. It's it's here before you know
it. We're gonna we're gonna betailgating and talking football and kicking off in

(02:14:39):
a matter of literally in a matterof weeks. And that's a that's an
exciting prospect, definitely exciting. Speakingof Utah football, we are going to
continue the tradition we've had the lastfew years and do classic calls in August,
so play back some of the bestgames from the previous year. And
since last year wasn't there, therewasn't near as many awesome games from last

(02:15:01):
year's season, there's a chance oneof the weeks will be from from a
couple of years ago, but therewas certainly some fun wins last year.
We can pull from the four weeks, the four weekends in August, right
after my show on Saturday Supports Saturdayat ten to noon, we will have
classic calls getting you ready for kickoff. Fifty seven days from now between the

(02:15:26):
Utes and the Thunderbirds of Southern Utahat Rice Echols Stadium. By the way,
our Countdown Clock sponsors Shields, StretchZone, Amplified Health, Big Willie's
Bar and Barbecue Pit Stop. Reallyappreciate their support here on the station and
helping us get people excited and getready for the twenty twenty four Utah football

(02:15:50):
season. Only a few minutes herein this segment, Porter, but that
I wanted to discuss more about that. Breaking news just came through in the
NBA former Jazz man Joe Ingles joininga number of former Jazz men Mike Connelly
and Rudy Gobert, Nikhil, AlexanderWalker and company in Minnesota on a recent

(02:16:15):
free agent signing. I agree withAndy, it's fun. It's it's something
fun for Jazz fans to kind ofdistract them from what probably won't be a
ton of fun this regular season.Yeah, I mean, it's I guess
the team the Jazz can cheer for, Jazz fans can cheer for which we
which is weird for Jazz fans historicallyto be rooting for the Tea Wolves.

(02:16:37):
That was at one point when KGwas there a bit of a rivalries,
but it was I watched I watchedKevin Garnett one time punt a basketball into
the upper deck at the Roster textat the Delta Center. But yeah,
man, I I think it's it'suh, it's cool to see them team
back up. I will say thereis something to be said that the fact

(02:17:01):
that the last time they were together, they were a team that could not
defend on the wing. Right now, you have Nikhil Alexander Walker, you
have Anthony Edwards, you have adifferent roster there, McDaniels, Jade McDaniels
as well, there's a different rosterthat Minnesota has. But there were defensive
issues and there were chemistry issues whenthose guys were in the same locker room
last time they were around. SoI wonder how that plays out. I

(02:17:24):
know that Joe Ingles is a lotof times a fan favorite. I can
tell you from first hand sources thathe is not exactly as well liked in
locker rooms as he may appear,because of the joking in the comedian style
that he goes about, because offrankly, other things off the floor that

(02:17:45):
I won't get into. I don'tknow, because I Joe Ingles is a
fan favorite with the Utah Jazz becauseof his his demeanor, his three pointers,
his the way he plays. Butthere is another side to being a
coworker in the NBA, and I'veactually heard not ideal things about one Joe
Ingles in that regard, which isobviously Minnesota's problem. Yeah, I thought

(02:18:09):
it was interesting that Andy said thatMinnesota may see this as a lock as
him as a locker room guy,And of course he's not. That's not
any sourcing on that. That's justAndy kind of reading the tea leaves and
forming an opinion. But Andy isalso very aware of those things that you're
alluding to that and and as areanyone else that that covered this team,

(02:18:33):
that covered that team that Joe Inglesis on. It's he was not necessarily
as well liked as you said inthe locker room as it appeared he might
have been, because of just howpopularly popular he was with the fans,
and because his his public reputation.His public image is that he's just an
all around good guy. And andthat's not necessarily completely inaccurate, but it

(02:18:56):
is, but it is. Itwas interesting that that Minnesota might look at
this as a locker room him isa locker room glue guy. Because I'm
not sure that they will be I'mnot sure that they will be completely satisfied
with that if that's one of ifthat's the main reason they signed it.
And well, here's what I'll say, because and he's not wrong, Joe

(02:19:18):
Ingles is one of those locker roomguys, and he has been with Rudy
and with Mike. But here's whatI'll say. Joe's a great locker room
guy when things are going well.Yeah, when things are not going well,
there are a lot of players whodon't respond well. There are a
lot of players who you know,aren't exactly great locker room guys. But
I have noticed specifically it's kind ofa fair weather thing with him. But

(02:19:41):
again, that's that's just a fewyears here in Utah. And the good
news is he's going to a teamthat's a potential championship contender. They should
go and so he because the teamwill be doing well, you probably will
get the team will probably get thebest side of Joe Ingles in the locker
room. Maybe not on the floorbecause he is aging on the floor and

(02:20:01):
things, but in the locker roomit's more likely you get the best side
of Joe Ingles, but I'm gladyou bring it up. It's not jazz
fans probably go, oh yeah,of course he's a locker room guy.
Maybe in some sometimes he's not agreat locker room guy. We'll see what
We'll see how the fit is withMinnesota in that regard. Certainly, certainly

(02:20:22):
will be fun for us to follows. As I said, it's it's basically
Utah Jazz North in Minnesota and threeof the most popular jazz players of the
last ten to fifteen years all togetheron the same team again and Mike Connley,
Joe Ingles and one Rudy go Bearon the other side. We have

(02:20:45):
topical trivia for you. Great prizepackage for you. I referenced Greg Oster
Tag punting basketballs in the stands becausethat was kind of a go to move
when he got thrown out of gameswhen he was with the Jazz's. You
mentioned KG doing that in the gamehere at the Delta Center back in the
day. Greg Oster Tag is gonnabe at one of the events we're giving

(02:21:07):
away tickets to. It's the UltimateSports Bash at the Mountain America Expost Center.
Brian Russell is gonna be there too. I'm gonna have to find some
tickets to this Ultimate Sports Bash becausethat was my favorite player as a kid.
It's Brian Russell and obviously those twobig parts starters on those Finals teams
back in the late nineties, Russellbeing the one that was pushed off on

(02:21:33):
that last shot. He'll be therewith Greg Oster tag. That's next week's
the twelfth and the thirteenth. It'sthe Ultimate Sports Bash. Also gonna have
one Cam Rising there. Britain Covey, I believe, is supposed to be
there representing the University of Utah andthe Crimson Collective. Get a chance to
mingle with those guys and some jazzlegends and more at the Ultimate Sports Bash.

(02:21:56):
We got two tickets to that andtwo tickets to see the Post Malone
this September at the Utah First CreditUnion Amphitheater that we'll give away. On
the other side, as part ofTopical Trivia, we're keeping that from the
Bill Riley Show. We're keeping theTopical Trivia name at least for this week.
We'll see if Sean has is gonnachange up some of the names of
these segments. Or not. Well, that'll remain to be seen as we

(02:22:18):
get ready for the Sean O'Connell Showon July eighth. Topical Trivia is next
here on the Nameless midday Show,The Show with No Name, James Peterson,
Porter Larson sitting across from me righthere on Utah's number one Sports Talk
ESPN seven hundred hundred seventh Nation Armybringing us back here. Porter, you

(02:22:54):
know what I think of, andI've said this on the air before,
I think about I think of thissong. Twenty thirteen Miami Heat postseason.
This was their like, right,this is their starting lineups anthem. I
picture Ray Allen the camera panned inclose to him and just bobbing his head
as he's getting jacked for a finalsgame against the Spurs. That's what this

(02:23:16):
song takes me back to. Ijust hear it like every kickoff of a
high school football game that's ever beenplayed. Yeah, that's that's where it
sends me to kickoff. That wasa fun twenty thirteen Heat team. Man,
regardless of your opinion of Lebron atthat time, I know a lot
of people hated it, but man, they were maybe the best player ever

(02:23:37):
as far as If you want totake a single year, so good twenty
twelve, twenty thirteen Lebron and ofcourse the few years that that Jordan had.
If you want to take an individualyear, best basketball player, most
complete basketball player, ever, youwant to argue careers, I'll argue careers.
But I don't think anyone has everbeen better at basketball than that year

(02:24:01):
Lebron Jay. He was fifty sixpercent from the field, forty percent from
three, fifty six and forty fora guy who wasn't known as a three
point shooter. Insane. He shouldhave also won Defensive Player of the Year.
Yeah, he was first team.That was the last year he won
first team All Defense. He wasthey that team was so good. Ray
Allen came off their bench. Okay, Mike Miller came off their bench for

(02:24:22):
most of the year and then wasa very key player in that finals as
a stretch for small ball, stretchfor in the starting lineup. I mean,
that team was so deep. Anyway, love that twenty thirteen Miami Heat
team, But I digress. Uhtop goaled trivia. We've got a pair
of tickets to the Ultimate Sports Bash, Greg Oster, Tag and Brian Russell

(02:24:46):
to Jazz two notable jazz players fromtheir finals teams will be there in person,
and UH Cam Rising and Britain Coveyand others will be there representing the
University of Utah and the Crimson Collectiveas well. So that's that's happening next
week at the Mountain America Expo Center. Fun kind of fan X type sports

(02:25:07):
expo at Mountain America Expo Center inSantiway. Have two tickets to that and
then two tickets to see post maloneSeptember eighth at the Utah First Credit Union
Amphitheater that's the one out in WestValley formerly Usana. You can go see
Posty and get two tickets to theUltimate Sports Bash. If to the first

(02:25:28):
person who answers this trivia question text, we'll have you texted into eight seven
seven three five three zero seven hundredDish pros text line. Let's go with
this porter. We talked about thethe latest developments with the downtown district Smith
Entertainment groups trying to get going.That that includes the the renovations to the

(02:25:52):
Delta Center for the Utah Jazz andUtah Hockey Club and a big change to
the rest of downtown. How manyyears is the City Council trying to lock
Smith Entertainment Group, the Utah Jazzand Utah Hockey Club into playing at the
Delta Center downtown. How many yearswe gave away that specific year number a

(02:26:13):
couple of times on the show.Text that into eight seven seven three five
three zero seven hundred right now andyou can win those two tickets The Ultimate
Sports Bash next week in Sandy andpost malone September at Utah First Credit Union
Amphitheater in West Valley h Porter Alot of fun, man, we we

(02:26:33):
say goodbye to the end of anera a the The Nameless Midday Show,
the Show with No Name. Itwas a good run, but I'm looking
forward to to Sean O'Connell taking takingthe air chair and and what should be
a fun, little, fun littleera at ESPN seven one. Absolutely and
you'll still hear plenty of Bill Rileyon the station. He's still the voice

(02:26:56):
of the Utes. We are stillyour home of the Utes, so we'll
hear You'll hear him on every Utahfootball game, running Utes basketball game as
you always have. He will bea regular guest on with Sean and Spence
going forward, talking Uts as well. And you'll hear him voicing commercials and
doing those endorsements for companies as wellthe ones he's always done, so he'll

(02:27:16):
be a big presence on the station. We'll just have a new Captain of
the Midday with Sean O'Connell starting theShoan O'Connell Show next Monday. If you
missed anything, we had Andy Larsonon, we had Josh Furlong on.
We had new University of Utah beatwriter for the Salt Lake Tribune Jason Batakio
on. That's all up on thewebsite ESPN seven hundred sports dot com.

(02:27:37):
It's also on the app download forfree today in your preferred app store,
the ESPN seven hundred app the ondemand section. We're still gonna put this
stuff in the Bill Riley Show,so you can search the Bill Riley Show
wherever your podcasts for the Nameless MiddayShow, the Show with No Name,
the final edition of that here I'vebeen. I'm James Peterson, that guy's

(02:27:58):
porto Arson. Thank you so muchfor tuning in. Spence and the Drive
and Porter as well. Big partof the Drive will be next from two
to six right here on Utah's numberone sports Talk ESPN seven hundred and Night

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