Ep. 2932 Tuesday

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
This is it right here?

Speaker 2 (00:06):
Combining a team of reporters, columnists and commentators.

Speaker 3 (00:12):
Are you serious?

Speaker 4 (00:13):
Jack Ebling has brought thought provoking discussion.

Speaker 1 (00:16):
What are you doing? That's a good coaching, the same opinion.

Speaker 5 (00:20):
Customers, the one who decides when the future gets here?

Speaker 1 (00:22):
Oh no, just check the report?

Speaker 6 (00:28):
Are you curring me that?

Speaker 4 (00:29):
Gameless?

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Next and overall infotainment.

Speaker 7 (00:32):
I'll take Jim Arba, who is He's done?

Speaker 4 (00:34):
Grease Gouda Criminaccia.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
Quiet, please exactly fifteen seconds we'll be on the air.

Speaker 8 (00:43):
Thanks, big fellow.

Speaker 6 (00:43):
Don't you ever come back here again?

Speaker 1 (00:45):
No arguments. Those are called ashtans.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
So buckle up.

Speaker 4 (00:49):
You're talking to me.

Speaker 1 (00:51):
It's time for the Drive with Jack Ebling.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, for some reason or another, who signed a little
Cola Radio.

Speaker 1 (01:00):
Great afternoon mid Michigan and beyond, and welcome to the
Drive with Jack the Spotlight Radio Network. Jack Evlin here
with my producer Boston rob in studio today at one
oh five West Allegan. Big week here. In terms of
so many sports were done with Baseball World Series for
the ages, I think the best I can remember, going

(01:23):
back to nineteen fifty nine, my first one watching the
Dodgers and the Chicago White Sox. But we have a
Lions losing, Michigan State losing both to Minnesota Michigan football
and getting a win. Not the most impressive performance, but
they did have Jordan Marshall over Purdue and college basketball

(01:49):
last night. Michigan and Michigan State in their debuts. Wolverines
with a romp over Oakland University. Michigan State a little
bit of a scare from Colgate power in the Patriot Conference.
Patriot League. Want to welcome in Tom Crawford, Blue Belly,

(02:12):
tom My broadcast partner for more than twenty three and
a half years, Everyone's favorite East Lansing Wolverine, creator of
the Crawford podcasting Network, Brave Cancer battler, and Tom What
do you make of this Wolverine basketball team last night?
Didn't have Yaxel Lindeborg for much of the game. Didn't

(02:36):
seem to matter.

Speaker 4 (02:39):
Yeah, the accident start he got in soon after, he's
got a hand issue. And two other players l J.
Casson did not play and Winter Schradi did not play.
But there was an eight man rotation that was pretty potent,
including seven guys in double figures. And Michigan has some size.

(02:59):
I tell you, with Nors Johnson, this kid from Illinois
to transfer, he has got some broad shoulders. And then Damara,
the very very tall transfer from UCLA, and then and
then the Acts. When you have that that front line
and those three cats together, that's a pretty potent front line.

(03:20):
This is going to be a fun team. It's way early,
you know. And the Grizzlies are you know. I mean,
I don't know how good Oakland is. I mean great
Campy has scrapping teams, but not big ten caliber, so
we'll find out later on. But just optically, as I
like to say, they look really really good last night.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
Yeah, and last year people thought Michigan was gigantic with
the seven footers. But this year it's possible that front
line is going to be bigger, at least at the
center position, and better, I would think. And that was
a strength of the team. Who else impressed you? Who
else looked really good last night?

Speaker 4 (04:05):
Well, Elliot cadell is a is the point guard, and
you know, he was terrific. I mean he had I
think he had like or twelve points and I'm trying
to think of how many assists he had. He was
he had quite a few assists and he was harley
a turnovers. Fact, he had twelve assists one turnover, so

(04:26):
it was a twelve to one ratio. And he was amazing.
He's what was lacking has been consistent guard play. And
I asked Dusty after the game, who is the backup?
And he's got a plan for that, because there really
isn't a legitimate true point guard. I mean most teams
don't have two point guards because it's such a finite position.

(04:50):
It's it's specialized, and so it would be by committee
of you know players you know, doing some high bred stuff.
And and he and you know Dusty and said, the
acts can play point guard. But Frey McKinney, or's your
Lake Saint Mary. We saw him play last year in
the semi finals against these Lancing he's a little thicker

(05:13):
than he's more cut now. He was absolutely terrific at
twenty one points, he had seven field goals and the
team as a whole nineteen to three pointers for the Wolverines.
That was another thing that was missing last.

Speaker 1 (05:28):
Year, right right, you know I've heard that McKenny looks different.
As I watched him last year, I was not impressed
and thought he was maybe a little overrated. But from
what I'm hearing now, maybe the player that some envisioned
he could be. And some of the other players I
think who are back, the veteran players have probably taking

(05:49):
a step forward.

Speaker 4 (05:50):
Right Well, yeah, I mean I you know, when you
talk about leadership, there's no better leader on this team
then Will et cetera. I call him the Max Bredicone,
you know, Max medicine from the football team. He's a
max medicine of the basketball team. In fact, Dusty talked

(06:11):
about that when he's at practice. I mean something like
you might miss a practice for an injury or something,
and you notice it because he brings an energy level
to that team. And I've seen that. This is his
fourth year. He's been a leader from day one, and
he does whatever it takes to help his team. And
he he's improved his three ballski's body, trimmed himself, shaped

(06:35):
himself a little bit. Seven guys in double figures last night,
so that's cool. And then la Mauri Burnett is back.
Namuri back for his third year. He was at Texas
Tech and Alabama prior. Great kid. I like this team already,
but Morez Johnson, I'm telling you what, Yeah, He's the

(06:56):
guy that's going to be the difference man. You know
you talked about last year's team. They were big last year, Yeah,
but they were not physical, and with Glad and Danny
Wolf Glad Golden Danny Wolf, you had tall players, but
you did not have any rim protection. They have rent
protection now, so when the perimeter defenders Mike get burned,

(07:18):
there's always some but they can take a few chances
here and there, maybe create some turnovers because they know
they got a rent protection.

Speaker 1 (07:25):
So we know what the offense can do. And just
because a team scores points against you, doesn't mean your
defense is bad. I think back to those UNLV teams
Tom and they'd give up eighty five points, but they'd
score one hundred and fifteen and a lot of it
was on pace of play and what the defensive pressure

(07:46):
would produce. So do you think Michigan's going to be
a high scoring team, one of the highest in the
country all year long, or will they settle down and
have some lower scores?

Speaker 4 (07:56):
Well, I mean the two exhibition games against Cincinnati and
Saint John's they're in the hundred range. They're obviously well
over the hundred range. I mean it sure looks like that.
I mean, if there is anything that we will be
a plenty of emphasis is perimeter D and protecting the
ark and they struggle with that the last couple of years.

(08:19):
And you know they I mean Oakland had what eleven
threes last night. But the schedule is gonna be they're
gonna learn about themselves. I mean they go to Well,
they got Wake Forces. It was not a vintage ACC team,
but kind of middlepack. They got them at LCA were

(08:41):
from tonight, I believe it is. And then they they
got TCU in Fort Worth and we go on the
road that might be a little bit to Then they
have Villanova coming at home in early December, and a
couple of other tough games too, So they're they're gonna
they're gonna find out real quick. I mean Michigan States
can find out really quick. I mean with Arkansas is

(09:02):
a good team, but Michigan find out soon enough. And
and this is what you want to do. You want
to find out what your weaknesses are work on them
because Big Ten play starts early, as we know the
last few years, You've got to be ready in early
December for a couple of games before you take a
break from that a little bit before they they then

(09:22):
they play USC on January two in an arbor. But yeah,
a lot tough enough schedule to find out what you're
about and prepare for a good run.

Speaker 1 (09:33):
Would you say Michigan is a favorite to win the
Big Ten co favorite? How do you look?

Speaker 3 (09:39):
Well?

Speaker 4 (09:39):
I mean Perdue is obviously the favorite. I mean that,
I mean that seems universal.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
And come out and pick Michigan win championship.

Speaker 4 (09:51):
That they kiss the death. That means they won't. But
there's a lot of people that think they they can
get to the final four.

Speaker 1 (10:01):
Uh huh.

Speaker 4 (10:02):
I heard them talking about that the Big Ten network,
and that's so hard to tell. But they have depth,
like I mean, they were pretty deep last year. But
this is the quality depth at multiple at all positions.
And you got a nice blend of talent, and then
you have leadership and you have some this flight out experience.

(10:26):
There's these players who play a lot of basketball. What
you get when you have poral kids?

Speaker 1 (10:31):
Right, Well, forty three point win last night, and it's
funny Oakland, losing by forty three, scored seventy eight and
Michigan State only scored eighty in its win and Spartans
were struggling again to shoot and shoot at the foul line,
something they did very well last year. Missed thirteen more

(10:54):
free throws, missed eighteen in the exhibition loss at Yukon
soiry won. Missed free throws in a week. As you
can imagine, tom Izzo was not thrilled by that and
some other things. And I'm sure it was a very
spirited practice today.

Speaker 4 (11:09):
Well, you know, I ran into Larry Lage in the
presser who covers you know, yeah, you're under laying you,
your guy. You were the mentor for Larry ap writer
and he covers both Michigan and Michigan State basketball. He
was not in the fencing, but he watched the first assay. Come,
I go, how they look? You know, well the struggled
and blah blah blah blah blah, And I go, how

(11:31):
many times do we hear this in the early season
for a tom Mezo team? And then the grit and
the termination ultimate polish and productivity comes late January into February,
and then look out for March.

Speaker 1 (11:47):
Yeah. And I have to say, of all the teams
in Michigan State has played in openers, the no name
kind of teams. Uh not when he would open with
the Champions Classic game. But Colkiate has a horrific basketball team,
and Matt Langele, you know, I think he's one of
the top ten coaches in the country. They won the
Patriot League five of the last six years. They beat

(12:09):
Syracuse back to back in the Carrier Dome in the
NCAA Tournament and.

Speaker 4 (12:15):
Seem in the NCAA Tournament. Yeah to me.

Speaker 1 (12:18):
And this game was tied in the second half and
then Michigan said had a run and blew it out
to fifteen. But uh, you know there was a moment
there where you said, they don't get their act together,
They're going to get an l here. I want to
switch gears, Tom and talk about college football and the
first college Football Playoff unveil tonight. Of the rankings, you

(12:40):
look forward to this or do you like it the
way it used to be?

Speaker 3 (12:45):
Uh?

Speaker 4 (12:46):
What do you mean by I like it before fourteen?

Speaker 1 (12:50):
Before we had twelve?

Speaker 4 (12:51):
I got your yeah back yeah or two. I do
like it myself, I really do because and I think
I saw Ryan Day's press conference today. He's not gonna
watch it and they're gonna be talking about his team
because you can't do anything about it. You know, you
gotta go one and know every week. But I think
it's great myself. You're asking the question. I think it's

(13:13):
great because it keeps college football in the newspag but
every Tuesday night, and it kind of builds the momentum
and you're watching this whole you know, chess magical people
going back and forth, and I find it intriguing and entertaining.
And as a fan, there's a lot of me out

(13:35):
a lot of fans out there like me. I think
it's great and I'm looking forward to it tonight. I mean,
my team's not you know, in the far distance and
back of the back of the pile of teams back there,
but who knows. You never know what's going to happen.
But it's always fun to see how many teams from
the SEC are up there in the Big Ten and

(13:58):
you try to grasp on the tendencies where this thing
might be heavy.

Speaker 1 (14:02):
Tom, do you think the Big Ten gets any bonus
points for having the last two national champions if it
comes down to a third or fourth team. Let's say,
let's say Oregon gets in and there's a chance for
a fourth team or as you suggested Sunday night on
Press Pass, Iowa beats Oregon. Then does the Big Tens

(14:24):
back to back national champs. Is reigning Kings of College
Football help or does it not matter?

Speaker 4 (14:32):
Well, I mean I don't. I mean, they ran off
four or five in a row or something, and the
SEC had long strings of this. And I think, as
I mentioned on Sunday nine and plus task, when you
have what nine teams in the top twenty five, yeah,
you know, and that usually has some relationship to the

(14:53):
you know, it coincides somewhat to the CFP. I mean,
that's impression. I don't necessarily think this committee looks backwards.
I think they go with a blank canvas. Lisa should,
but I think it's great for the Big Ten that
they've finally broken through that. And good lord, Indiana might

(15:16):
be the third one.

Speaker 1 (15:19):
It could be, certainly could be. It's interesting now I'm
hearing more people say Indiana should be number one based
on the body of work. I guess it depends on
what you make of Texas, But in terms of Big
Ten play, it's really hard to do any better than
Indiana has done to have one scare at Kinnick Stadium.

(15:42):
You know, it happens to everyone, but I would think
that right now, I wouldn't want to play Indiana. And
that includes if I'm Ohio State as team just outrushed
its opponent last week three sixty seven to thirty seven.

Speaker 4 (15:59):
Yeah, the Indian Yeah, and the Indiana road wind at
Austin Stadium in Eugene was still impressive. And you know,
winning in Iowa. I mean, Michigan was number one in
the nation I think in twenty sixteen when they went
to Kinnick and they lost, you know, right before, you know,

(16:22):
right towards the end of the season, and that kind
of got that season a little loft kilder. And it's
tough place to play. And I was good defensively, and
so Oregon is going to be exposed either good or bad.
And you know, but I mean, think of think of
it as this thing goes down to Indiana and Ohio State,

(16:45):
like we think it will, the magnitude of that there
won't be any Big ten championship game in this new
format that will will have any high that will be
off the charge. I kind of as you what the
ticket places would be.

Speaker 1 (17:03):
Hey, you know, Tom, you want to go see that game?
We get credit credentials. Would you want to go down
to Indianapolis. You've been down there for championship games. I
went down and watched to watch Ohouse State Northwestern, so I.

Speaker 4 (17:22):
Will ponder it.

Speaker 1 (17:25):
Here's the thing about it.

Speaker 4 (17:26):
I think it's got a basketball game, so okay, okay, yeah,
So I am kind of leaning towards that as opposed
to going to watch the Buck I just playing football.

Speaker 1 (17:37):
I just think that might be uh, maybe he's got
a big ten football game as we have seen maybe
since two thousand and six, right with Michigan or Ohio
State the one versus two games, and there were others,
but that one particularly stands out to me with.

Speaker 4 (17:51):
Troy Well, you know why the Indiana story is mind boggling. Yeah,
how that's gone And when you really think of it,
I don't remember a two year story since I've been
following college football. Thats going to the going to the
top so quickly as Indiana. You've probably you've got a
deeper depth, you know than me to well.

Speaker 1 (18:12):
Wow, no, I think that's the most amazing turnaround. And
to think that they could in their home state beat
the defending national champs and number one round team oh
then that settles the Big Ten championship. You know, it
settles an awful lot and doesn't mean that teams wouldn't

(18:33):
meet again, could in the National Championship game, but just
just a crazy time no one envisioned. You know, here's
another amazing stat about Indiana. I was thinking about this today,
Tom going on the road. Okay, we know what they
did in Eugene, Oregon, and that's I think the toughest

(18:56):
place to play in the country, even tougher than Kinnick.
But they went to Maryland and played Illinois. Right, so
the two pretty good teams outrushed those teams, uh six
and seventy nine to thirty nine.

Speaker 4 (19:18):
I know, I know, so man, these metrics are are
unbelievable what they've accomplished. And and I listen to Signetti's
press conferences. I get a kick out of him. He's
starting to he's an acquired taste, let's be real, Okay,
but he's acquired me now. I'm just find him. His

(19:40):
attention to detail and the process. He's so saban Ish.
He's like Nick saban It's crazy. And I wouldn't want him.
I wouldn't want to play Indiana. I'd rather play anybody
else right now in the country than Indiana.

Speaker 1 (19:57):
Wow, here's one for you. Mike Griffith, as Texas A
and M very high and it's had them number one
and his Football Writers Association poll. You're very familiar with
college football in the state of Texas, having worked there.
Oh yeah, Texas started out the season rank number one.
What kind of a blow would it be to Longhorns

(20:20):
and they're arrogance if suddenly these upstarts from college station
win the national title?

Speaker 4 (20:28):
Well, yeah, I know Texas is arrogant, but A M
is psychotically arrogant, you know. I mean when you meet Aggie, Yeah,
just me and like, say you're in a business cocktail
party or something something or the tamer of Calmers. When
you meet somebody from Texas A and M, you will

(20:49):
find out that they graduated from Texas A and M.
I'm not exaggerating within sixty seconds of the first word
being spoke. I'm not kidding. It's crazy level of arrogance.
But they got Texas is playing Texas A and M
on the twenty eighth and Austin Tech Door. Taylor will

(21:12):
be at that game. She goes to all the YouTube
games that will be a dynamic environment you watch, that.

Speaker 1 (21:19):
Would be something to see. Well, we won't see that one,
but maybe we can still see another one.

Speaker 4 (21:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yeah, when you think about Michigan and Michigan State, Tom
the level of satisfaction with last Saturday nights win, Hey,
it counts. It's seven and two and that sure sure
beats the alternative for most teams. But are fans in

(21:44):
love with this team, enamored with it, or just saying okay,
well this probably isn't the year to get Ohio State.

Speaker 4 (21:52):
Well, they care about the team, they're concerned with the team,
and they're still consumed with the team, but their their
optimism is really guarded and the entry bug has a
lot to do with that. Now, some better news came
out of Ann Arbory yesterday. Jimmy Rolder recovery and Cole

(22:12):
Sullivan is moving along a little bit better than anticipate.
Those are critical linebackers in that room and and they
could be back at least by Maryland, if not by
Northwestern and obviously Ohio State. And then the the surgery
of Justice Haynes might open the door. Uh, this is

(22:33):
a miraculous thing of medicine. He might be available to
play the buck Eyes, which he will be everything. Everything
would be me, all hands on deck for that game.
But Bryce underwood situation remains the big question mark, you know.
And then I asked, I asked Sharon the question. I'm

(22:53):
not saying he got defensive, but he's he's really supportive
of his quarterback and make sure there's plenty of blame
to go around Spacey, the wide receivers, the past pro
and everything like that. So but there's there's a lot

(23:14):
of freshman behavior in that quarterback. He's got a lot
of talent. He works hard, but man that he is
going to be under the lights at another level when
they play Ohio State. I know that's and when you're,
as Torono says, you reach game twelve, you're not a

(23:35):
freshman anymore. Right, So let's call that sophomore version of
Bryce on ther Wood and we'll see how that plays out.

Speaker 1 (23:42):
And I thought earlier in the yeartim he had been
victimized by his receivers. But in this last game, you know,
he had a roll out, he had a guy wide
open in the end zone to study, threw it in
traffic for an interception, and then he was trying to
scramble in and he's amazing what he can do with
his legs too, But bumble the ball into the end
zone for a touchback. And he makes a mistake like

(24:04):
that against Ohio State, he's going to be paying for
it for the whole year.

Speaker 4 (24:09):
So you know, it's funny bringing it up because when
every overthrows, I tell my buds, well, an underthrow is
coming up now. And it's true. He touched me. A
lot of you know, thought pros, overly thought process into
it instead of just going out and and and just
playing the game that comes natural to him. And then

(24:32):
he's when he's locked in on a receiver, you know
he'll go over the first progression and he you know,
he had he had his wide out wide open the
end zone for a touchdown. A second read. He's not
picking up the second reads. He's not picking up the
You saw that against Michigan State, where you know your

(24:52):
nickel blitz is from your court, you're not He's not
picking those up. He's got a lot of learning to do.
But I still believe in this kid, and I think
he's be one of the great quarterbacks at Michigan.

Speaker 1 (25:02):
Two more quick questions for you. We saw Michigan State
lose in overtime a game it dominated in Minneapolis, losing
twenty three to twenty another twelve penalties. It's funny Miami
also was upset Saturday, committing twelve penalties. Michigan State now

(25:22):
twenty two penalties in the last two games to its
opponent's eight. Good luck with that when you're at a
talent disadvantage to begin with. Who's going to coach this
team next year?

Speaker 4 (25:36):
Well, gosh, sound like Rico Beer. I'm not Jonathan Smith.

Speaker 1 (25:41):
Ye, maybe anybody but Smith.

Speaker 4 (25:47):
I don't think Jonathan Smith will be coaching. I really
don't have any idea because there are so many moving parts,
and I don't know when Michigan State, I mean im
assume they're going to wait till the end of the year.
I don't see it advantage now of pulling the plug,
But where are they stand in line in terms of
the buying power? And then there's a lot of issues

(26:08):
when a coach takes that job. You know, who's my
general manager going to be?

Speaker 3 (26:13):
How much?

Speaker 4 (26:13):
And I owe money? Am I going to have? There's
a lot of things that Michigan say, pass to de side.
Are we going to provide this level or are we not?
And that's what they got to look at themselves.

Speaker 1 (26:24):
Yeah, and right now I think the alumni, the potential
big big donors are saying, come see me when you
have a real team, when you have a coach and
someone we believe in, And right now that doesn't seem
to be the case. You wonder what the team morale
will be and if it'll splinter and guys will not
want to practice or play the rest of the way.

(26:44):
Last thing is you were as riveted by this World
Series as I was, and you said, you know, we
kindled your love for baseball.

Speaker 3 (26:52):
It did.

Speaker 4 (26:53):
It really did.

Speaker 1 (26:54):
Eleven extra innings, so it wasn't just a seven game series.
It was seventy four innings, the record number of pitches
that we watched. What do you think the Detroit Tigers
learned from this World Series of anything.

Speaker 4 (27:10):
Well, you got to have a good story rotation, you
have to have a good bullpen, and you have to
have timely hitting. I mean how many I'd love to
know the stat of standed runners that the Tigers had
this year and where they stood relative to the rest
of Major League Baseball, the other teams, because I mean

(27:32):
there were some really clutch hitting in this game, and
that added to the drama and guys just you know,
stepping up, and you know, then you got some extraordinary
players obviously, and then Will Smith is a home run.
I mean, think about how that's going to change his

(27:54):
life forever. Oh yeah, you know, I mean he was
a Freddie Freeman, you know, like last year that there's
always that guy who can do that, and I always wonder,
how do they do that? How do they do that?
Under fire? I mean, that's that's what That's why baseball,
I mean, because it's just you and the pitcher. I

(28:15):
mean you're on You're on the under the spot like
like no other sport other than maybe a kicker trying
Scott Norwood trying to win a super Bowl. But I mean,
it's it was really impressive drama and you know, I'm
looking forward to see what the Tires do in the
off season and hopefully they can be in this position

(28:37):
to get back in it. I feel bad for the
Blue Jays, but man, what was a serious Tom.

Speaker 1 (28:42):
Great to talk with you, and uh will give you
a break after three weeks in a row on You'll
be back with Yeah, bye week.

Speaker 4 (28:51):
I got my own bye week.

Speaker 1 (28:53):
That's right. Yeah, Michigan has got games coming up, but
we're going to give Crawford one by week, all right.
We will be right back and we're going to look
at Michigan State rob but not just what happened last
night against the Toothpaste eighty sixty nine win and did

(29:15):
have four players in double figures scoring and had a
fifteen rebound guy at a tennisis guy, but very very
frustrating performance, I think for the most part. We'll also
talk with Dalton Schendler about MSU women's basketball and a
quick look ahead to this weekend at mont Is Arena,

(29:37):
and a lot of people have been waiting for a
series coming up here Penn State. In fact, Steve Klein,
who hasn't been back here, former sports editor of the
Lansing State Journal, but loves women's basketball and hockey, not
necessarily in that order, but he is coming back and
he's going to see the game, so that'd be interesting.

(29:58):
He's actually going to be over at one North Thursday
night for dinner. We will be right back in just
a moment. We'll be talking Michigan State and more coming
up on a drive with Jack Game Day in East Lansing.
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(30:19):
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(30:41):
We're great food and spartan spirit. Callide Go Green.

Speaker 9 (30:51):
So it's been a while since you've had your jewelry
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Speaker 1 (33:47):
I'm your host, Dave Russell.

Speaker 6 (34:04):
Welcome back.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
It is a drive with Jack the Spotlight Radio Network. Yeah,
I do know how you feel that JJ Jackson Rob
when you think about Michigan State.

Speaker 2 (34:17):
We were coming back and break.

Speaker 1 (34:18):
Oh no, I was sending a message to Austin Overman,
deep in thought, deep in thought. Yeah, yeah no. And
sometimes when you play rejoin it, I really like you
just listen. I just like to let it go. Yeah right,
it's okay than you think an extra five seconds? Yeah?
Why not? When you look at what Michigan State basketball

(34:40):
supposed to be this year, ranked twenty second or twenty
first in the polls, and a lot of people would
be stunned if Michigan State won a twelfth a record
twelfth Big Ten championship for time is oh the record
is eleven that he shares with Bob Knight and Ward

(35:03):
Piggy Lambert. But and weren't supposed to win last year either.

Speaker 2 (35:07):
I was gonna say no one thought they were gonna
win last year. So why would anybody be quote unquote,
and I'm using air quotes as you see here in
the studio. Jack surprised if Tom Izzo was able to
and the team were able to do that well.

Speaker 1 (35:20):
As Tom Crawford said, you know, he's seeing these kinds
of first games before Michigan State. Last year when they
beat North Carolina on the day before Thanksgiving in the
Maui Invitational, a lot of people said, hey, they're not ranked.
They're rank at some times, but they're no chance. And

(35:41):
all they did was win the Big ten by three.

Speaker 2 (35:43):
Like we have this conversation, yeah, every time in the
beginning of the year. Yes, Like the song just said,
it's gonna be alright, let's just take a breath.

Speaker 1 (35:52):
From there, you go. I love it. Yeah, all right.
We had a chance after hearing Tom talk about his
team and it was the first time where he has
really blasted.

Speaker 2 (36:02):
Him and with a smile on his face, I'm sure.

Speaker 1 (36:06):
Yeah, yeah, Well, he gave him some ammunition, you know,
he likes to have that. He also had PJ Carlesimo
in the back of the room for the press conference,
and of course PJ the former coach at Seton Hall,
and it's Pj's Son who was the captain Kyle Carlesimo

(36:27):
for Colegate, and you know this, this is an amazing
program up there. A lot of people don't know what exists,
but Colegate has been a power at that level for
a long time. But in Michigan State last night, forty
seven to twenty five edge in rebounds, twenty five to
eleven edge in the second half. Check yep, check check right.

(36:53):
Michigan State started off the game, they weren't getting a
lot of assists, but Jeremy Fears changed that. He had
ten as opposed to one turnover. Correct check correct. I
also had five steals, which was very impressive. He played
thirty four minutes, which is about the most you'll ever
see an Izzo point guard play in a game. And
Jackson Cohler, a leading scorer, was sixteen and also fifteen rebounds.

(37:19):
But Michigan State, and I've seen him shoot free throws.
I've watched this team shoot free throws, and I think
they're going to be good. Maybe not at the near
record level last year's team was, but I think they're
going to be a good free throw shooting team. And
it was nowhere to be found. I mean, they weren't
just rimming out. They were missing, missing wide, missing long
off the back of the rim bracket. Yeah, I guess

(37:42):
if you're going to have problems, that's that's probably a
good one to have. Tom Izzo would say the bigger
problem is it can't play perimeter defense other than Jeremy Fears.
But let's hear from Jackson Cohler last night after his
performance and where he thinks this team is getting ready
for the Arkansas Razorbacks on Saturday. I was just trying

(38:05):
to figure out, Okay, you know, like, let's calm down.

Speaker 14 (38:09):
You know, they're making this a really good game. They
were making shots, and you know, we weren't doing our
job defensively and a little bit of offensively. But in
the second half, we kind of, you know, we grouped
up in here. We saw what we were doing wrong
on you know, on film, and we saw it and
we adjusted and I think that's when we had a
little bit of spark. We have a habit in the

(38:29):
second half to come out stronger and you know, play
with more energy and play better. We just have to
fix that to start the.

Speaker 3 (38:35):
Game with that.

Speaker 14 (38:36):
We can't afford to get these really slow starts against
teams like Arkansas you know, you know whoever, we just
can't do that, and that's not the Michigan State way.
So going forward, that's gonna be our biggest improvement. Started
to start the game playing good defense, rebounding and runner.

Speaker 8 (38:53):
That was maybe a theme a.

Speaker 4 (38:54):
Little bit last season as well.

Speaker 3 (38:55):
Starting out.

Speaker 12 (38:56):
So how do you fix that?

Speaker 14 (38:58):
It's really just about focus and getting ready to play.
I mean you just have to, no matter what things
are different like between you know, the practices and the games.
You know, in terms of scouting and everything, you have
to adjust. And the faster you adjust and the more
dial than you are on your coverages and what you're
doing offensively, the better.

Speaker 3 (39:19):
I think.

Speaker 1 (39:19):
Sometimes you know, it is still being early.

Speaker 14 (39:21):
You know, we kind of go in and we you know,
we're a little shocked or we're you know, maybe not
like one hundred percent doll then and that's where we
as a team got to get better.

Speaker 1 (39:30):
Ever been in a game with a thirty seven to
six difference and pretty throw attempts and how did that happen?

Speaker 15 (39:37):
All?

Speaker 14 (39:38):
I don't, I don't think so. I mean we've had
some crazy one yeah, last last games we're a couple
pretty crazy with the free throws.

Speaker 1 (39:44):
And everything like that.

Speaker 14 (39:45):
So but that just shows you that we got to
lock in on free throws. You know, we have some guys,
including myself, you know, not be able to make all
our free throws, and that's something we really emphasize on
because I think, you know, with the big physicality and
ceiling and posting up, you know, drawing. I was a
little bit with our guards getting to the bucking drawn fouls.
We have to be better at free throw shooting. I
think that's something that going forward is going to be

(40:07):
so important to our success. There is games last year
where we won games like straight on free throws, and
you know, there might be opportunities where we lose games
because we don't make enough free throws.

Speaker 1 (40:19):
Twenty five eleven difference in rebounds in the second half.
Was that addressed heavily at halftime?

Speaker 14 (40:25):
I mean, it's it's addressed all the time, to be honest,
I mean, it's all it's it's part of our motto,
you know, like play defense, rebound and run, you know,
and it wasn't quite like that in the first half.

Speaker 6 (40:36):
Yeah, I mean, like.

Speaker 14 (40:39):
I think with the last two games, you know, us
getting out rebounded by the team, it's been something that
we've been you know, locked in on making sure that
doesn't happen again, because we only we we win by
out out rebounding the other team.

Speaker 1 (40:51):
Jordan had a series, just want to pass it in,
got it back to him, got it in again. Love
it man? What does he give this team? I love
it man.

Speaker 14 (40:57):
It gives a spark. It gives us, like you know,
it gives us the motivation do what he's doing to
be honest, like you know, watching that from the from
the bench and sideline like I'm I'm jumping off the
floor like excited because that creates a spark. And then
when you when you when he does that, someone else
is going to do it. Someone else is going to
do it. And then before you know, we're gonna you know,
I rebound the other team by however many?

Speaker 1 (41:22):
Uh, there you go. Jackson Cohler talking about Jordan Scott
the freshman and what he provided as a lift off
the bench. But let's hear from the floor leader Jeremy
Fears junior and he had to play of the night
rob Now he had a steal and then went in

(41:43):
and looked like he was going to lay the ball in,
but he looked over his left shoulder and he just
saw a flying object and that was Cohen car number
fifty five. Yes, and decided that he was just gonna
lay it high off the glass. And here's what happened. Uh,
one of the most spectacular dunks and and one that

(42:05):
I really think shook. Colgate coach Matt Langle said it
was the loudest he'd ever heard an arena. But here's
Jeremy fears last night, was that you.

Speaker 15 (42:16):
Felt like some of the defensive latches tonight maybe communication
based I've seen you.

Speaker 2 (42:20):
Get Arkansas coming on Saturday, building's going to be a
lot louder. How do you pick some of those issues
with a game like.

Speaker 16 (42:26):
That on town?

Speaker 4 (42:30):
Do what we do?

Speaker 17 (42:30):
You know, obviously the coach is gonna have a great
scouter and report and scouting plan for us.

Speaker 1 (42:34):
So just as long as we.

Speaker 17 (42:35):
Make sure we execute that and we're all on the
same page confidently and know what we have to do
want into the game, it should be no problem.

Speaker 12 (42:44):
So when when you're on that break, at what point
did you know you're gonna love that law off the backcard?

Speaker 1 (42:48):
Was it the look over here? Just a quick glance
and saw he was there.

Speaker 15 (42:52):
It was the look to look to the left.

Speaker 17 (42:54):
You know, once I got to steal, I pushed it out,
and you know, I looked to the left and see
who was running with me. I seen obviously I had
their defender. It was me him and I've seen Cohen
kind of get out. So once I looked at Cohen
and Cohen kind of looked at me, he knew it
could potentially be alive somehow, someway so be ready. So
I just didn't know how I was gonna get him
the ball and then last second just throw it off

(43:16):
the glass.

Speaker 1 (43:17):
If he hadn't been there, if you hadn't seen him,
when you have dunk the ball.

Speaker 17 (43:20):
More than likely, you know, I feel a lot better.
So you know I was gonna try to maybe dunk
it and get up. So that was either that or
you know, Cohen, So obviously we needed juice, We needed
energy at that time. So you know Cohen's always a spark.

Speaker 1 (43:36):
Me, No, not at all.

Speaker 17 (43:37):
You know, he he would like the building up me
would have you know, I would have found a way
to just get the two points.

Speaker 16 (43:43):
When we talk to you this time last year, you're
just not then being the start, You're kind of getting
the rhythm there maybe less of a unknown commander who
when people put expectations on them and they know what
to expect you have given year, do you feel more.

Speaker 2 (43:55):
Pressure off of that? And I guess if so, how
do you how do you approach that.

Speaker 17 (43:59):
I don't really feeling pressure for expectations, but I feel pressure,
you know, maybe for making sure that I'm helping the
team be the best they can, such as, you know,
maybe helping her who you know, didn't get a lot
of reps, Helping Trey who new to the program, helping
Jesse didn't play last year. So I feel, you know,
pressure such as making sure I'm able to help those

(44:21):
guys be successful and put them in spots where it's
less thinking and more playing.

Speaker 1 (44:26):
What does it say that the game was tied early
in the second half, and what do you have to
do a lot better?

Speaker 17 (44:33):
You know, credit to them, they're they're actually a great team.
You know, they're won they won their league I think
five out of the last six times. So it's always
good to see a good task that could be a
potential you know, NCAA tournament matchup. So just the fact
that that, you know, credit to them, their great team.
They made a lot of tough shots. But in our part,
I don't think we did the best we can do
for our job, you know, in order to be successful

(44:55):
long term. But the best part is is, you know,
it's the first game and we're still learning, so over
always got to get a lot better.

Speaker 1 (45:01):
And the biggest thing you want for Saturday is.

Speaker 17 (45:04):
I think defense, just making sure our defensive effort and
intensity is all the way there.

Speaker 1 (45:09):
And that is Jeremy Fears junior and a lot of
talk from tom Izzo about the infusion of energy from
freshman Jordan Scott, who frankly was not expected to be
a major part of this team this year. It's going
to be a learning year for him, but I think
that's a better team when he is on the floor

(45:30):
a significant amount. And here's Jordan Scott last night after
his college basketball debut. Just to hearing Tom Izzel praise
freshman a lot, especially when they're one for four from
the field. What did you do that made him happy?

Speaker 15 (45:44):
I think when you're not hitting shots, you got to
be able to do something else. So I thought it
was reminding pretty well, hustling and just like being active
and making my presence known.

Speaker 1 (45:51):
Of the court. Could you feel the crowd and the
reaction to you out there when you went in the
game and when you made him play.

Speaker 15 (45:58):
Yeah, I could definitely hear that is was bumping today.

Speaker 1 (46:01):
What'd your teammates say, Jake, Because when he came out
of the game a couple of times, oklay that they
would gappy up. They were happy.

Speaker 15 (46:06):
Yeah, there's like keep working, keep crashing the boards, keep hustling,
and just keep working on Did.

Speaker 1 (46:10):
You ever see a team out shoot another one at
the line thirty seven attempts to six six.

Speaker 6 (46:16):
I didn't know that. That was crazy.

Speaker 1 (46:18):
How'd you do that?

Speaker 15 (46:19):
I think that's being aggressive, trying to get our big
men touches and everything, trying to get downhill. And I
thought we drew a lot of fouls too. I thought
we were just playing aggressive.

Speaker 1 (46:27):
So how excited are you about Saturday Arkansas?

Speaker 15 (46:31):
Yeah, it's gonna be gonna be a great game. It's
a great opponent and now he's got to focus in
our practice this week and walk in and think about
the game. That's the editors right now.

Speaker 1 (46:38):
What do you have to do better?

Speaker 15 (46:40):
We got to hit shots and defend better. Our defense
wasn't up to what it needs to be, so that's
what we need to focus on.

Speaker 1 (46:47):
That's uh. One of the guys you're gonna be watching
a lot our Michigan State number six, Jordan Scott, Michigan'
date women Rob in Action tonight season nationally ranked as well.
That's right. I want to welcome in Dalton Schettler, the
voice of MSU women's basketball. Dalton, what can you tell

(47:10):
us about tonight a couple hours away? Right?

Speaker 13 (47:14):
Yeah, we're coming up pretty close for about an hour
and a half from maritime hour forty five from zipping
off the new season. And what I can tell you
tonight about Michigan State is quite a bit. What I
can tell you about mercy Hurst not so much. This
is a whole new mercy Hurst team, not many returners,
they got a first year head coach, so there'll be
a lot different about the Lakers. But of course a

(47:35):
lot of people are focused on what Michigan State has
and you mentioned nationally ranked twenty third in the country,
and this looks like a year and a team that
can take the next step for Robin Freelik in the Spartans,
you know, year one you make the NCAA tournament, Year
two you win your first NCAA Tournament game in six years?
What is that next step in the year three. That's
what we're hoping to find out today, Dalton.

Speaker 1 (47:57):
I should know this, and I'm sure you do. How
many schools have teams that are ranked preseason in men's
and women's basketball? I know Michigan does, so that's two
from the state of Michigan. How many others are ranked
in both?

Speaker 18 (48:16):
You know what?

Speaker 13 (48:17):
Leave it to you, Jack to always leave me stone
to something when I'm on here. Now I'm not sure,
but that's a that's a good thing to check out.

Speaker 1 (48:26):
You can let us know your previous.

Speaker 13 (48:29):
I'm gonna say you find your answer an hour and
forty five minutes. But no, Nonetheless, there's only thirteen teams
or thirteen schools that had both the men and women
make the NCAA Tournament from a year prior. Michigan Stag's
one of those as well. So I mean you're you're
funneling down to a pretty elite class.

Speaker 1 (48:49):
It looks like everyone thinks that this will be uc
LA's Big ten championship. To lose Lauren BET's back and
USC getting the blow of not having Juju Watkins for
the entire season but there are some teams behind UCLA

(49:09):
that I think would be dangerous and might be better
come tournament time. And when we spoke earlier, you mentioned
three of them. Do you want to talk about those teams?

Speaker 13 (49:19):
Yeah, you know it's interesting. I do a podcast as
well with the voice for Indiana women's basketball. It's called
The Dribble Drive, and we cover everything Big Ten women's basketball.
In the consensus that we've come up with from talking
to people, everybody believes UCLA is number one of the
Big Ten. To your point, but after that, at least
what he and I believe, you have a group of Maryland,

(49:41):
Michigan State in Michigan shortly behind Maryland. You can never
count out Brenda Freeze, right, I mean, she always has
that program competing at such a high level and so
much talent. Kayleen Smichael is back after having an all
conference type of season a year prior, Bree McDaniel comes
back after having torn an acl the year prior. And
then you add in yard Arizone, the transfer from Indiana

(50:01):
who is their star now is on the turfs as well,
and they picked up Aluchi from Duke who is a
strong defender. So Maryland's got a lot of talent Michigan.
When you and I were talking to Jack, I mean
you mentioned that freshman corps that Michigan had last year
with Silas Swords, Olivia Olsen, Mia Holloway. That is a strong,

(50:22):
strong group. They all came back and they added some
more pieces. And then for Michigan State, you bring back
Grace van Salutan who was averaging fifteen and a half
points a game last year. They're in hall like that
spark plug. But then you start to mix in some
other pieces as well. You bring in Jalen Brown from
Arizona State who is scoring eighteen points a game. Rashunda
Jones who is scoreding ten points a game at Purdue,

(50:42):
but really will be the one counted on to set
the table as the point guard for this offense. You
bring in mire A Dykstra from Montana State who is
a stretch for ISA. Alexander gets still play for the
first time in three years, which plays of physical presence
this team had been missing. I mean, there's a lot
of pieces, and that's a been talking about Emma's shoemate
who was shooting fifty percent from three and big ten

(51:04):
play last year. There's in talking with Robin, and you'll
catch some of this part of the pregame conversation for
the listeners that jump over and tune into that at
six fifteen. When we talk with Robin, we'll talk a
little bit about the depth, because Robin's been able to
do some pretty cool things early during her time in
East Lancing, but she has yet to have a team
that's as deep as the one she has for this year,

(51:26):
and that part's really exciting.

Speaker 1 (51:28):
One of the things that we have come to know
about Freelik ball is that it is frenetic and high octane.
I mean, the pace is incredible, lots of three point
shots going up, lots of pressing around the court. Larry
Lage would love this team, and lots of steals, lots

(51:50):
of touchdowns off turnovers. Tomza likes to say, so when
you when you look at that, is it unreasonable to
think that in a lot of these games, Michigan State's
going to be in triple digits.

Speaker 13 (52:05):
No, I think we saw that quite a bit last year,
and I keep telling people, I think for the month
of November, this squad, I believe is going to be
averaging high eighties, maybe even nineties for a scoring average.
Per night Like that goes to tell you how exciting
and how high octane it is. The exhibition they had
a couple weeks ago against Michigan Tech. They had thirty

(52:27):
eight points in the first quarter. They very much are
going to play the style you talked about. And the
other thing too, Jack. In year one with Robin Freelik,
the Spartan set of school record for most points per
game average at eighty two point eight and also set
a record for the most threes ever made by a
Spartan team in a season. Last year, Michigan State broke
a record for the most steals they've ever had in

(52:50):
a single season. So to your point, those are going
hand in hand and they're looking to still play a
high octane, up tempo system. The other thing that's really
interesting Jack. I asked Robin yesterday, Look, you had a
team that did that with the threes, you had a
team that did that with the steals. I asked her,
did you know your teams were capable of that before

(53:11):
the season's heading into it? And she said no, no,
we didn't find that out until you know, a month
into the season. We started to get some data, some feedback,
and we looked and we said, oh, this is what
we're really good at. And she says, you know about
this year squad, I don't know what that is yet.
We'll find out in the next month as we start
to collect data, and then we'll find out what we're
really strong at and we'll try to amplify that. But

(53:33):
that's going to be one of the interesting things to
pay attention to. What is it for Michigan State that
is so strong that they're going to look to grow
during the course of this season.

Speaker 1 (53:42):
What do you think the starting lineup will be tonight?

Speaker 13 (53:44):
You know, well, the exhibition had Rashanda Jones at the one,
Sarah Hallick at the two, Merret Dykster at the four,
Grace van Slutin at the five, and at the three
was Kennedy Blair. And Kennedy Blair is one of the
best stories you're gonna find around, not just for women's basketball,

(54:05):
not just from Risken State, but collegiate athletics. I keep saying,
Jacket taps into kind of what the spirit of college
sports kind of used to be about. This is somebody
who committed to Robin when she was at Bowling Green.
Then when Robin got the job here said, I want
to come there. I mean, she's from the state of
Michigan and grew up a Spartan fan, so she decided

(54:26):
to jump to MSU as a preferred walk on miss
her entire first season with the stress fracture, never got
to play pat the off season after that, she ended
up putting a lot of work in getting a lot better.
She found a little bit of a role last year
in spots, but that work has even amplified again and
now she's in a spot where she's in the starting lineup.

(54:48):
And not just to get ahead of the narrative, Jack,
it's not because the team just needs somebody to fill
out that starting lineup. I mean she is beating some
of the highly talented players to to be in that
starting lineup. I mean, of course, it's all a team effort, right,
and the starter is an end all be all, But
Jalen Brown scores eighteen points a night, and Kennedy Blair

(55:09):
did something to get in the lineup there.

Speaker 1 (55:12):
Yeah, last thing for you, when we talk about Isa
Alexander coming back, and we don't know how much she
will play, but certainly gives them a different look. There's
another player who had been a starter on this team
and then last year disappeared. And when I saw her
at MSU Madness, I said, Abby Kimball is not only back,

(55:36):
she looks better than she ever has. She looks like
she's having fun again. What can her role be on
this team?

Speaker 13 (55:44):
It's such a good point and it's worth noting too
that Abby Kimball and Grace van Slutn are the two
captains that the team voted for. And so you go
back a couple of years ago, her sophomore season, Abby
Kimball is starting just about every single game for that year,
and then last year, to your point, has a hard
time finding a spot on the floor. Now, I think

(56:05):
she is another one of the compliments to what this
team's depth is because she'll come in and she's going
to cause a little bit of chaos and that full
core pressure. She is a great shooter that has never changed.
I think a big thing jack with her game is
watching her to take more of those threes. I think

(56:26):
this team needs her to pull the trigger quite often
and when she gets in looking for that confidence and look,
the team has confidence in her. That's partially why she's
team captain, right, But for them to put that confidence
into her in her show it and go ahead and
take some of those shots. If she does some of that,
she's going to be having a pretty big role, I
think alongside him, a shoemade and others.

Speaker 1 (56:48):
Right, just had a quick message before we let you
go from one of our regular listeners who loves women's
basketball but houlds his hair out because he thinks that
Darren Hallick is out of control and wants to know
if Robin Frelik has installed a governor on her to

(57:09):
keep her speed down the way you would a NASCAR car.
You think she is going to play one hundred and
twenty miles an hour. Again, that's just the way she's wired, right, Yeah, I.

Speaker 13 (57:21):
Kind of think that's her DNA. And it's to that
listener's point that it is a double edged sword. I mean,
there is a reason why at Illinois last year she
scored what was it, twenty six points in the fourth
quarter by herself, because she runs by everybody. She's that fast,
But there are times where it can be a couple
feet too quick. I mean, Robin Freelik has said she's

(57:43):
kind of like Sonic the Hedgehog the way her feet
just kind of blur by I mean it does. It
works both ways, like it is a double edged sword.
But she's looking for a big year. But it's a
funny visual what that listener shared.

Speaker 1 (57:58):
Yes, exactly. Have fun tonight and we'll talk to you
frequently throughout the season.

Speaker 13 (58:04):
Terrific. Thank you for having me, Jack and robreate.

Speaker 1 (58:07):
We're going to stay right here. Rob and waiting patiently.
I don't know. Was he patient? Do you think when
you talk to him?

Speaker 2 (58:14):
Yeah, I was pretty patient. Yeah, he seemed pretty patient.
I mean every time he comes on with you.

Speaker 1 (58:19):
Some people have suggested that too. I want to welcome
in our guest, Rich Kincaid, and he is our Detroit
correspondent Richard talking earlier with Bluebilly Tom Tom Crawford about
the Tigers reaction to the World Series. I gave mine.
I thought it was the best I have seen, and

(58:40):
I've only seen sixty seven of them. What did you
make of this? And were you as enamored as we
were of what we were seeing?

Speaker 7 (58:50):
Absolutely?

Speaker 8 (58:51):
I I could go back and think about that seventy
five world Sures, the Red Sox and the Red Yes
that way, this was a whole fourteenth and all the
rest of it. But I think overall, this was still
a h this is still a better World Series. I
know you had mentioned Braves Twins back in ninety four.
I guess ninety one, But what ninety one? I'm sorry,

(59:12):
but H yeah, no, I I guess the one I
would compare it to is the one that I didn't see,
so I can't compare it to. But that'd be was
it sixty at mas Roski hit? They? Yes, it was, yeah,
And that was in game seven. And that was such
a weird series because when the Yankees won their three games,
they averaged about fifteen runs.

Speaker 1 (59:31):
That's right, that's right. It's got about thirty five more
runs on Pittsburgh and lost the series exactly.

Speaker 8 (59:37):
So I'm thinking that the heck of a thing. That
must have been a rum out of series to watch,
but for having, you know, thinking about nineteen seventy five,
watching those series games fifty years ago in my dorm
room at Mayo Home, right, I mean, you know, perfect memories. Yeah,
But this, this this past week and a half with
the World Series twenty twenty five, I don't, uh, there's

(59:58):
never been anything like it. In eight I mean, yes,
there was an eighteen in a game A few years ago. Right,
So the Series seven and then to go actors and
for pitcher to win three games. I didn't think I'd
see that again in my lifetime.

Speaker 5 (01:00:11):
All right.

Speaker 1 (01:00:13):
Someone mentioned earlier I think I asked Crawford the question
about what the Tigers learned, and he said, well, he
learned it. You know, they need to have a deeper
pitching staff and more reliable and they need to have
a little bit better work at the plate in clutch situations.
He didn't mention the strikeout rate he could have. But

(01:00:33):
Detroit turns out, thank you very much. Steve is ninth
in terms of runners left on base. And let me
give you the teams that had more runners left on base.
There's only one team ahead of them that had more
runners left on base and made the postseason. So you're

(01:00:55):
talking about Colorado Rockies at Washington Nationals, the Cleveland Indians,
believe it or not. But then they have the Angels,
Tampa Bay, Baltimore, the White Sox Texas. So there's a
common thread here that the more runners you leave on,
the more missed opportunities you have, likely the more losses

(01:01:18):
you're going to have.

Speaker 8 (01:01:18):
Rich that's an amazing stats that the Tiger's rank could
be next on that particular list. Yeah, because you're talking.
I mean that list starts with one of the worst
baseball teams and alls not Colorado, and it doesn't get
much better, you know, for a few spots after that.
But on the flip side of the coin, they were
so very very close to defeating Seattle and it took

(01:01:39):
fifteen innings to knock them out, you know, one of
the best games in the Tiger's history, as we've talked about.
So if I'm looking at it, like you know, there
are one break away from getting a chance to take
on Toronto in the in the League Championship Series, and
who knows, you know, what might have happened then. But
I you know, I understand the problems of the Tackers,

(01:02:03):
you know, hitting in the second half of the season.
That's why Cleveland, by the way, was on that particular list,
because they were so poor hitting in the first half
of the season, right, you know, and then they got
they got themselves or turned around. But loyal boy.

Speaker 1 (01:02:17):
So, if you had to describe the twenty twenty five
World Series in one word, okay, just one what would
you say?

Speaker 8 (01:02:29):
I think electric? Yeah, so that's not you know, you
gotta I need a little I could, I could be better, fat,
a little bit more time, maybe something to pop into
my head. But for Port Toronto literally come within an
inch of a world championship in the ninth sitting on
that that that play at home plate, it couldn't have been,
couldn't have been more than it is so close and.

Speaker 1 (01:02:50):
The runner at third base didn't take a lead. He
was only like three feet off the base and the
third basement was twelve feet away from the base if
he had taken one more step toward home plate as
he should. I mean, you're supposed to be as far
off the base as the fielder is from the base,
and he wasn't. I don't know what he was doing.

(01:03:10):
But then when the ball was hit to ROAs at
second base, he had time to come home and get
him by a toenail.

Speaker 8 (01:03:18):
Yeah, it's another step, would have made me play at
the plate not even close.

Speaker 1 (01:03:23):
And how about Dave Roberts. How about that defensive substitution
with Andy Pajezi exactly going into the game for Tommy Edmond.
He gained about six inches in height and he needed
every one of them for that drive to left center
when he steamrolled keyk Hernandez to catch that ball.

Speaker 8 (01:03:43):
One of the greatest, probably a greater catch than the
GM Strido catch against the Yankee back in early nineteen
fifty maybe a famous to catch Willie Maye, Yes, all
right at the Polo Grounds in fifty one. Oh my god. Yeah,
that that just lives in baseball. It is for Yeah,
I cannot imagine what it must have felt like to

(01:04:06):
be a Toronto fan in the in those two moments. Yeah,
you know, so so so close. They had to figure
they were snaking at that point.

Speaker 1 (01:04:13):
Yeah, I mean, you know, it's like they rubbed, uh
Toronto maple leafs juice all over them or something. But
two to have that three to two series lead coming home.
But the World Series, once again, rich was the home
field disadvantage because the road teams won five out of seven.

Speaker 2 (01:04:33):
There you go.

Speaker 1 (01:04:34):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely, I was looking over it.

Speaker 8 (01:04:39):
I was just I was just looking over it today. Statistically,
you might make the case of Toronto should have won.
They had two sixty three in the series. The Dodgers
had two oh three. Yeah, Dodgers hit more home runs
and we'll love it to wait.

Speaker 1 (01:04:53):
Well, let's talk a little bit about some other things
involving Detroit teams and you there Sunday, I was going
to be there, and then I decided, I'm going to
go to Minnesota and see if Michigan State can salvage
something here, and almost did but failed again at the end,
and got home.

Speaker 2 (01:05:13):
Just in time to.

Speaker 1 (01:05:15):
PLoP down and watch the Lions flop against Minnesota. What happened?
They were nine and a half point favorites. And I
don't think anyone thought that JJ McCarthy would come in
and beat the Lions.

Speaker 8 (01:05:31):
No, I don't think anybody said J. J. McCarthy was
coming and beat the Lens.

Speaker 16 (01:05:34):
But he did.

Speaker 8 (01:05:34):
He drove them up and down the field lentlessly, and
it seemed to be with the with the relative ease.
The Lions made so many mistakes on Sunday, it's a
miracle veil and lost like three, all right. And the
sleet was they had a field goal block. Yes, no,
I mean that's the three right there. But as far
as what happened, Cjack, I went with a friend and
I was sitting way way up in the end zone.

(01:05:55):
Huh huh, like two rows from the top and from
way up there to tell if the pass has been
caught it out I used I was I would wait
for the referee to run in from as islander to
spot the ball, that kind of thing, you know. So
I can only tell you in general terms what was
going on down there. Wasn't good, but it was. It
was going on in a love But I'll say what

(01:06:16):
they have this if you were, if you're at all,
they have the neatest thing. It's called Power Hour. So
if you show up on the gates open, which is
two and a half hours before game time, which is
way too willing to get to a game in my estimation.
But they had a bobblehead and my friend wanted to
bobble at. Yeah, and and so we're there at ten thirty.
During Power Hour, drinks are half priced.

Speaker 1 (01:06:36):
Ah, so you find.

Speaker 8 (01:06:38):
Yourself ten thirty on a Sunday morning when they actually
should be in church saying hey let's get up, bloody Mary.

Speaker 1 (01:06:45):
Yeah. Well, from where you were sitting, and then with
the drink time you had, the game must have looked
a little different.

Speaker 3 (01:06:52):
Well it was.

Speaker 8 (01:06:52):
It was okay, drink points we had like two. It
was just kind of funny to sit there and watch
people watch the watch the building get fill up, but
there was There was literally I think one decent play
in the football game. That was Sam Laporto with his
forty yard touchdown, during which he dragged the entire Minnesota
secondary into the end zone with him.

Speaker 1 (01:07:13):
Yeah, Laporta and Jmo had a big touchdown at the end.
I thought where he kept his at the end? Yeah,
at the end.

Speaker 8 (01:07:19):
One of the we had to leave before the end. Okay,
so I actually missed that one. But Sam Laporta has
become a first line tight end, a log three touchdown
receptions of forty or more yards since the murder in
nineteen seventy.

Speaker 1 (01:07:33):
Wow.

Speaker 8 (01:07:35):
That's a cute little.

Speaker 1 (01:07:36):
Yeah it is. You know, I think back in the line,
we've had good tight ends too that Charlie Sanders, a
Hall of Famer, and some others there. Of note, TJ.
Hockinson was a very good tight end, and going back
before that, they had Jim Gibbons was a terrific tight
end for the Lions. But what about where we are
with the Red Wings now, rich as you look at.

Speaker 8 (01:07:58):
This good ship, pretty good, huh. We're at the boys.
The boys are having themselves a heck of a road
trip here. I mean, you got a triple to Saint
Louis and then Los Angeles and then Anaheim and then
San Jose and there's three and one so far, and
that's not too shabby. They go into Vegas tonight to
play a very tough Las Vegas team. But then they

(01:08:19):
come home and they've got like nine home games wow
at little sees is between now and the end of
the month, so you know, they can play well at home.
They're going to come out of this. Uh, you know,
we're in pretty good shape.

Speaker 1 (01:08:30):
Could they win this division?

Speaker 8 (01:08:32):
Right there?

Speaker 1 (01:08:32):
What's that? Did they win this division?

Speaker 3 (01:08:35):
And then?

Speaker 16 (01:08:36):
Yeah?

Speaker 8 (01:08:37):
Okay, I mean I'm starting because the number of good
games that they're piling up is outweighing the batouts that
they had, Yeah, by a considerable what they're nine and
four now, so and that's that's right there. Well, hey,
we'll just bear with me a second. I could see,
you know, look real fast and see where that stands
in the overall standards. But it's not too bad.

Speaker 1 (01:08:58):
What do you think, Rob, do you think about the
Red Wings now? Is this just a spurt or is
this something that is going to be sustainable? And we'll
be talking about the Red Wings a little longer. In
the spring than we have.

Speaker 2 (01:09:11):
I think you'll talk to them longer in the spring
than you have. But I think they're going to it's
gonna be up and down. It always is. Eighty two games,
they're gonna They're gonna go through some times here. I
don't know. I don't put them at the top of
the division even with this fast start. It's a long season,
but I do think they will most certainly make the playoffs,
but to win the division, I'm not going that far yet.

(01:09:31):
But I can't ask for a better start for the
Red Wings. As as our guest has mentioned, for sure, Well, the.

Speaker 1 (01:09:38):
Team that is right there with them at the top
sean Belligians. Montreal Canadians, And I don't know that anyone
had invested heavily in Montreal either as a team that
could do that. So another pleasant surprise. Canadians are very young.

Speaker 2 (01:09:57):
I don't think it's very pleasant, Jack, How dare you
say that Boston Bruins die hard? No, it's not a
pleasant surprise at all.

Speaker 1 (01:10:05):
Well, the Wings nine wins, four losses, eighteen points.

Speaker 8 (01:10:11):
Nobody in the league has. Nobody in the league has more.

Speaker 1 (01:10:14):
Right, right, all right, So what do they need to do? Better, Rich, Well,
what's the area for improvement?

Speaker 8 (01:10:21):
They need to score more goals? Yeah, okay, the NHL
has become a league where the first team to get
to three generally wins. All right, so, which doesn't sound
like a lot, but these days it kind of is.
And they alice to brink it after Big Snake that

(01:10:41):
for the first three weeks of the season he's begun scoring.
So so they're they're they're they're picking it up and
you know, we'll see when they get back home on
Friday night.

Speaker 7 (01:10:51):
But what a road trip.

Speaker 8 (01:10:52):
And so then they do this on that again, that's
not unimpressive. Can I give you one more lines?

Speaker 16 (01:10:58):
Now?

Speaker 8 (01:10:58):
Yeah, Jeff Goff did not have a good day's Sunday, right,
Jared Goff? Jared Goff, yes, had a four. Said nevertheless,
here's the third quarterback in NFL history to accumulate at
least seventeen touchdowns, passes a seventy three percent completion percentage,
and have passed already one hundred and fifteen through the

(01:11:19):
first eight games of the season. Here's the quarterbacks he
joins on that list, because again, he's the third in
NFL to do it. Drew Brees twenty eighteen and Tom
Brady in two thousand and seven. Wow, he's had the
best he's had statistically, the best first half that a
quarterback's ever had in the NFL.

Speaker 1 (01:11:38):
I guess that would surprise me. Maybe it's a recency
biased and I'm thinking about what I saw Sunday and yeah,
it might be yes, but you know, he'd been pretty hot,
pretty consistent too, and.

Speaker 8 (01:11:51):
He hadn't been getting sacked five times a game either.

Speaker 1 (01:11:56):
Yeah. The interesting the thing about Sunday's game, Rich is
you know, we saw the touchdown you mentioned from Laporta,
and we saw Jmo return come off the missing person's list,
but we didn't see amen Ra in the end zone.
And Jamier Gibbs, who can be so good sometimes, was

(01:12:17):
a no show.

Speaker 8 (01:12:19):
Well that's the weird part of it. And Bobo had day,
you know, on top of everything else, golf did not
look sharp.

Speaker 1 (01:12:27):
Yeah.

Speaker 8 (01:12:27):
One thing about being that's far away from the field
is you really get to see it spread out in
funny that he was missing. Yeah, we're not used to
seeing that. And again you described him as one of
the great pure pocket passers that there is. But when
you're getting sacks five times and you're rushing for sixty
five on the day, you're not getting anything going from
your old line and you're just you know, a pure

(01:12:49):
pocket passer can'cer out in that environment.

Speaker 2 (01:12:52):
I ask, are they going to do anything before the
trade deadline? We've seen some teams make four o'clock.

Speaker 1 (01:12:57):
Trade deadline, So unless something is filtering in, We're going
to talk with.

Speaker 2 (01:13:00):
Cannapolis, Philadelphia Eagles that made moves. Seattle has made the move.

Speaker 1 (01:13:05):
Yes, so you know, maybe they're like the Tigers, they
just think they're better than anybody else could be.

Speaker 8 (01:13:13):
We're going to talk with Jacket, you know, you know,
in all fairness, because that would have loved seem to
get soft guarded.

Speaker 7 (01:13:20):
You know what I mean.

Speaker 1 (01:13:21):
Oh yeah, right, yeah yeah, Detroita.

Speaker 8 (01:13:23):
He goes, he goes, he goes, he goes to Indianapolis,
all right, But when the Lions had to step up
and use you had to use replacements for everybody in
the secondary against Baker Mayfield and Tampa Bay, those guys stood.

Speaker 1 (01:13:35):
You know, they were great, They were great, exactly. I
think a bigger concern right now is the offensive line,
which is banged up again, and those guys are hard
to find. I mean, you you can find guys to
play skill positions. But when you start to lose guards
and tackles, good luck.

Speaker 8 (01:13:53):
Yeah, yeah, exactly a little tougher and Jared, we all
we all knew this is going to happen because it's
it's football, and you get halfway through the season like
this and guys start cropping.

Speaker 1 (01:14:05):
So Rich, last thing for you, I know what a
hockey guy you are. And once again I refer anyone
who's a Red Wings fan to Rich's book Gods of
Olympia Stadium and if you want to flashback and really
get a feel for what the Red Wings organization is about,
it's a great read. But college hockey, which is now

(01:14:27):
becoming such a pipeline for the NHL, has a big
series here, Robo, we were gonna talk about this for
just a minute. And with Penn State and Michigan State
coming in, they're gonna they're gonna meet again, right, and
they're gonna have the outdoor game in Happy Valley. But
how much are we gonna learn this weekend?

Speaker 2 (01:14:48):
Rob Huh? I mean, this is what everybody's been waiting for,
and I think we're gonna be Gavin McKenna. Gavin McKenna
the big name, the number one phenom, number one picking
the this upcoming NHL draft. But I'll tell you what, Jack,
real quick, if you ask me, I think Michigan State
is favored in this, no question, being at home number one.

(01:15:09):
But I question Penn State's goaltending and defense. We've seen
a lot of these games. If you've paid attention, fellas,
Penn State's had to come from behind numerous times by
multiple goals. They've been able to do They've been able
to do that. I think they've been able to do that.
But I think Michigan State's depth and defense and goaltending.

(01:15:32):
I give high marks to Michigan State, and I wouldn't
be surprised Jack if Michigan State takes the sweep this
weekend at money St Wow.

Speaker 1 (01:15:41):
And Boston Robb doesn't throw that around easily. I think
a week ago, right, you talked about Michigan State going
to BEU and you had to bu sweep and turned
out the other way around. So for bringing that up, well,
you know, anytime a Boston team has chance to lose,
I like to remind you, so, yeah, Rich, when's the

(01:16:05):
last time that you watch any college hockey meaningful games?
Have you been a month for a game recently?

Speaker 8 (01:16:12):
No, not recently at all.

Speaker 1 (01:16:14):
Well, it's totally different. You know. It used to be
you could go up and buy a scion.

Speaker 8 (01:16:20):
I remember when it was a hole in the ground.

Speaker 1 (01:16:22):
That's right, that's right.

Speaker 8 (01:16:23):
I think the first game there was a Rubens E
Activision game and I couldn't get tickets and I was mad,
they're playing the Blues.

Speaker 1 (01:16:30):
There was a period of time in the Mason era
when people you had to be willed hockey tickets to
get them, and I got Heathcote mad one time and
I said, hey, a friend of mine had a choice
between two hockey tickets and eight basketball tickets, and he
took the two hockey tickets and just said you son

(01:16:51):
of them.

Speaker 7 (01:16:52):
You know he was mad about wow.

Speaker 1 (01:16:54):
But that's the way it was. And then it went
through a long period. Rob You remember not too long ago,
when you know, you could go in and you could
count the people in some sections.

Speaker 2 (01:17:04):
But now the library, Yes, long, it's time.

Speaker 8 (01:17:07):
Not like that now, No, no, no, cool, Yeah, it's good,
it's back. I want the games of them all for.

Speaker 1 (01:17:14):
Yes, yes, that yeah. Looking around the post.

Speaker 8 (01:17:20):
Hey, hey, shout out to Dylan Dinglers. For one of
the gold gloves.

Speaker 1 (01:17:23):
Yes, yes, we.

Speaker 8 (01:17:26):
Absolutely, yeah, it's not. It's fun to watch him play defense,
and I know that as a former catcher, he takes
a lot of pride in that. And uh and gosh
what I what around on that? So good for you.

Speaker 1 (01:17:39):
Don't get me started on the Tigers and Dylan Dingler
because uh, they were so concerned that they had to
keep not one, but two catchers in their farm system
to ready to replace him.

Speaker 2 (01:17:52):
I wonder how how long Dylan Dingler will wear the
old English d with these so called phenomenal catchers in
the pipeline.

Speaker 1 (01:18:00):
Yeah, well he's he's a better catcher than either of
them right now, and I think he will be in
three years, so I'll be surprised. Gone, Thanks so much
for joining us. Rich, We'll talk to you soon. Enjoy
your week.

Speaker 8 (01:18:13):
Jacket, power hour, power hour.

Speaker 1 (01:18:16):
You got all right, We're going to take a break,
and the plan, the plan, And again when you talk
to Dave Briquette, you never know what's going to break
with the Detroit Lions does an exceptional job as good
as any pro football writer in the country covering this
team for the Detroit Free Press, and they'll tell us

(01:18:38):
all about the Lions deadline strategy here and if they
come up with another player to help fortify, especially with
some of these injuries, we'll be right back on the
drive with Jack. Game Day in Eastlantsy just got taste here.
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Speaker 6 (01:21:29):
Juelers welcome back.

Speaker 1 (01:21:45):
Thank you, Bruce. We are wondering where the lions are.
Also wondering where Dave Briquette is. Do we know as
he tied up with the story or did you?

Speaker 2 (01:21:55):
Yeah, got his voicemail, So left a message and hopefully
we'll hear from him, Okay the next minute or two.

Speaker 1 (01:22:01):
Okay, I will text him back just to remind him.
And uh, I know what this is like when you're
on deadline. I'm not used to covering NFL trade deadlines,
but I know that sometimes the last thing you need
is a call from a talk radio show. So he
said he would be with us if he could. He

(01:22:21):
thought he could but uh, you know, we were always situation.
That's right, absolutely absolutely so when we talk about this
hockey series, per minute, here, Rob, what's the most important
thing Michigan State needs to do to sweet Penn State
penalty box? Thank you, Thank you absolutely, because shoot the puck.

Speaker 2 (01:22:47):
Shoot the puck against this defense and against this goaltender
as much as you can. Most importantly, stay out of
the penalty book.

Speaker 1 (01:22:54):
It pucks on the net, right, sometimes it leads to
nice rebounds, juicy ones. But I think you're right, and
I think that if you give Penn State opportunities with
a man advantage, yes, you know, I think.

Speaker 2 (01:23:08):
If a most certainly can do that, and they have
done that this season thus far.

Speaker 1 (01:23:12):
Spartan's lines, if they can just match up even strength,
would give them an edge. And then having Augustine and goal,
there's another big advantage here for something like this. He's
been in a lot more of these pressure situations, and
I would expect him to come up big this weekend.

Speaker 2 (01:23:29):
Yeah, I mean, he played outstanding out there and bu
and of course coming off a bye week, We'll wait
and see how that transpires, but I would expect Trey Argen.
I would expect this team to be up for this
series and first Big Ten series of the season as well.
Want to get off to a good start. And like

(01:23:49):
I said, I expect it'll they'll be close games, but
I wouldn't be surprised if Michigan State comes out of
comes out of this with a sweep, maybe an overtime
win somewhere in there one of these two games. But
from when you look at it from top to bottom
line for line, yeah, most certainly, I would definitely give

(01:24:10):
the edge to Michigan State. The depth most certainly is
key for Michigan State as well. As we've talked about
a lot in this team and who leads the team
and goals. Jack not a guy that's mentioned quite a bit.
Tommy Manisto. How about that you and I have talked
about during these games and you we have said, and

(01:24:31):
you have said, yes, fight vehemently the fastest player on
this team.

Speaker 1 (01:24:35):
Yeah, he could ever the stick work down because his
skating is the best on the team. I would match
him up with just about anybody in the league. So
I think that's a big advantage. I would also say
that despite all of the Gavin McKenna hype and it's
it's justified. I think he has a little learning curve.

(01:24:57):
He's a little slight, but he's going to get better.
I would take Michigan State's freshmen over Penn State, and
it's it's strengthened numbers. When you think about Kate Lindstrom
and Port Martone and ryker Lee and freshman Michigan say
there's a freshman line too, which is terrific.

Speaker 2 (01:25:17):
Well, you know how much I love talking hockey tea. Yes,
but we have a guy on the line that has
joined us here for the next few minutes. He's extremely
busy as we do. But let's talk a little.

Speaker 1 (01:25:27):
Detroit Lions absolutely appreciate every minute we get with Dave Briquette.
You talk about the best in the business covering the
Detroit Lions. What about Detroit Lions, Dave? Are they Did
they do anything today that helps their chances to win
the Super Bowl?

Speaker 7 (01:25:46):
No, they didn't. I mean, there's no other way to
say it. Really they you know, they stood pad it
the deadline, and I don't think that was a huge surprise.
I mean, I think, you know, the wh when you
look at what they needed, an offensive lineman probably being
the most important thing they've got a bunch of pieces
coming back on defense. Those those pieces are rare to

(01:26:09):
be traded at the deadline, especially impactful ones. And I
just don't know that the Lions wanted to, you know,
give up anything for you know, another backup guard or
swing tackle that may or may not be an upgrade
from what they already have on the roster.

Speaker 1 (01:26:24):
Well, how long is Christian Mahogany going to be out?
And is this something that you're confident that when we
come to the end of the season and the playoffs
he'll be back and functional.

Speaker 7 (01:26:37):
Look, I'm not confident in the Lions offensive line right now.
With or without Christian Mahogany. He's going to be out.

Speaker 12 (01:26:42):
You know.

Speaker 7 (01:26:42):
Dan Campbell said Monday that he'll be out until maybe
he said it Sunday after the game. He'll be out
until late December, and that's probably at the earliest.

Speaker 8 (01:26:53):
You know, he broke a.

Speaker 7 (01:26:54):
Bone in his leg. You know, I saw him after
the game. He was in a walking mood. I tly
couldn't even get upstairs. He had to take an elevator
up and you know he he had just been Okay.
The Lions have a couple of veterans that they're going
to figure out what to do here in the next
few days. But that offensive line hasn't been great this year.
They haven't been running the ball great, and they haven't
been protecting Jared Goff grade and so I think they

(01:27:16):
have they've got some work that they need to do
to get that thing right for when they played good
teams in the playoffs.

Speaker 1 (01:27:21):
How much of the problem Sunday and the upset by
the Minnesota Vikings at Fortfield was attributable to the offensive line?

Speaker 4 (01:27:28):
Dave Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:27:31):
I mean, look, maybe it's a simplicit the view I have,
but you know, oftentimes when when an offense struggles, I
think it's you know, your your best places to look
or the quarterback or the offensive line. And Jared Goff
is playing at a pretty high level. And that's not
to say that he couldn't have been better against the Vikings,
but I think the problems were it wasn't just the

(01:27:51):
offensive line. You know, Gibbs struggled in pass protection, handling
some of those Blitzer too, But you know, the lines
wasn't great, and you know, just look at the numbers
check they've you know, Jared gofftm pace to take a
career high in sacks. That's not just with the Lions.
That's in his career.

Speaker 4 (01:28:08):
Uh.

Speaker 7 (01:28:08):
And you know the Lions are averaging their few as
the rushing yards per play under Dan Campbell. And you know,
so there's there's a lot of issues up front right now.
And that's not you know, they've been good in some games,
they really have, and communication was an issue and week
one against Green Bay and really was handling some of
the blitzes and identifying some of the blitzes and you know,
some communication issues is past week. So it's not like

(01:28:30):
all hope is lost. But and you know, frankly, you
play at Washington team this week that doesn't have a
great pass for us. I wouldn't expect that to be
as much of an issue. But you know, you play
Vic Fangio in two weeks that that's another one that's
going to raise the eyebrows because that's another coach that'll
get after you.

Speaker 1 (01:28:45):
What do you think the chances are that the Lions
are unbeaten the rest of the way at home?

Speaker 7 (01:28:50):
Dave, Well, that's a good question. I mean, you know
you're right to at least two of the three biggest
games are on the road. You know, Philadelphia in two
weeks in the Rams before Christmas. You know that that
Packers game is a huge game because you know division
and the Lions lost to them.

Speaker 1 (01:29:08):
Obviously that a division championship game.

Speaker 8 (01:29:11):
Yeah, I think so.

Speaker 7 (01:29:12):
I mean, well, at least at a minimum, if the
Lions lose it, they're they're not going to win the division,
you know, so they have to win it to stay afloat.
And you know, look, the Packers they've got to I
think they they played the Eagles here too, so there's
you know, they've got some difficult games left on their schedule.

Speaker 1 (01:29:27):
Where is that game? Is that in Green Bay or
is that in Philly?

Speaker 7 (01:29:30):
The Lions are in Philadelphia, right, Yeah, Lions are in Philly.
I believe Green Bay is hosting the Eagle because you
say Lions and Bears schedule matchup.

Speaker 1 (01:29:40):
And the Packers lost at home to Carolina, so they
could certainly Philly. Are you surprised that at this point
of the year we would be talking about the Lions
tied with the Chicago Bears.

Speaker 7 (01:29:54):
I'm surprised that the Bears have been as I thought
they'd take a step forward, but I didn't think they'd
be quite as competitive.

Speaker 1 (01:30:00):
As they've been, you know, and they how much of
that is Ben john a lot of it.

Speaker 7 (01:30:06):
I mean you look at some of their offensive stats
and the strides that he's taken, and I mean, you know, again,
let's be honest. You know, some of their wins right
at Cincinnati against the Saints, the Commanders haven't been good.
So it's not like they're they're beating the best of
the NFC. You know, they've lost the best teams they've played,
the Lions and the you know, the Ravens when they
you know, I guess they didn't even have Wimar back.
But you know, it's still a pretty good roster over there,

(01:30:28):
so you know, the other teams, I think all those
the teams they've played have losing records, so you know,
but look, give Ben Jonson credit. You know that that
that offenses is playing well. Cable Williams has taken some strides,
even if he's not perfect. You know, they can be
problematic for for some teams. But they give up a
lot of points on defense. Fifty two to the Lions,
I think it's forty two to the Bengals last week.

(01:30:48):
So I think they're they're still a year away from
you know, really being a playoff threat.

Speaker 1 (01:30:54):
Lions are one and two in the division. We talk
about the Green Bay game at fort Field. The Lions
do have to go to Chicago and Minnesota. Do you
think Detroit would win both of those games?

Speaker 7 (01:31:08):
Well, you know, I was surprised they lost the Vikings here.
You know, it's a Christmas Day game, and you know,
you never know who wants to be away from home
who doesn't. Right, I would think the Lions would would
win that. But you know they're gonna have to figure
out a way to solve you know, Brian Flores's blitz packages.
You know, and I do think the Lions are a
better team than the very same same thing. Though it's
the last game of the season and it's outdoors, and

(01:31:30):
you know, there's some other factors that could come into play. Look,
I think the Lions, I think they probably still have
you know, maybe three more losses than them, two to
three more losses. Right, Eagles Rams Packers, you're probably gonna
lose two of those. Yeah, you know, there's a couple
of them on the road. Maybe there's one other one
in there. Maybe they got that extra one out of
the way this week, so you know, if they end

(01:31:51):
up going twelve and five, eleven and six, that's probably
enough to win the division. Anything less than that you
might miss the.

Speaker 1 (01:31:58):
Playoffs, right right, Well, tom A Day Briquette, four time
Michigan Sports Writer of the Year from the National Sports
Media Association, Dave who won the trade deadline. You look
at what the Colts did trading the two first rounders
and receiver to get Sauce Gardner native detroiter. Would you

(01:32:21):
like to see the Lions have made a move like
that for a lockdown corner or do you think there's
another team that really impressed you this week?

Speaker 4 (01:32:31):
Yeah?

Speaker 7 (01:32:31):
I mean, look, I guess I always lean towards the aggressive, right,
like when the Eagles were making all those moves, even
if you know they're they're mostly bit players. But I
just like the approach of the GM willing to deal
a lot of those extra picks. So yeah, I would
have liked to see the Lions make a move for
a pass rusher or for an offensive lineman. You know,
defensive back would have been third on my list. I

(01:32:52):
don't know that. I you know, Sauce is a good player,
I don't know that the you know how how big
the need was to give up too first round picks there,
but you know he's a heck of a player, so
I wouldn't I wouldn't say it wasn't isn't going to
be worth it either. Look, I mean the Jets, if
you just look at it on paper, they're the winner.
I mean they were going nowhere this year with Sauce Gardner,
with Quinnell Williams. You know, Quinn Williams. But they they

(01:33:16):
you know, got three first round picks in a second
in those deals and they should be able to replenish
their the coffers a little bit. But you know, I
don't really trust the Jets draft either, so I don't
know if i'd make them a clear winner. And same
thing with Jerry Jones and the Cowboys. You know, they're
they're pretty excited about getting I think, the best player
that moved at the deadline, and Williams, you know, he's
a really impactful interior lineman. But you only have to

(01:33:38):
do that because you traded away Michael Parsons and you
didn't hit on Mazzie Smith. You traded to the Jets
in that deal. So you know, I don't know that
the Cowboys are going anywhere either. Still, though, when the Lions,
you know, host them in December, that that'll be a
good game because you know, the Cowboys now all of
a sudden might be able to stop the run and
they can certainly put up points.

Speaker 1 (01:33:59):
All right. When we talk about the season thus far
and you have votes and a lot of the individual awards,
you know, we were hearing Dak Prescott's name for a
while and then Patrick Mahomes, Jonathan Taylor. Even for those
who believe that a quarterback isn't guaranteed to win, I'm
looking at a guy out in so far right now,

(01:34:21):
and what Matthew Stafford has done pretty impressive. Do you
have an MVP at the midway point?

Speaker 7 (01:34:31):
Well, do you have an MVP vote? I haven't you know,
thought about or looked really at the numbers to see
kind of how those guys stack up. You know, I
guess I've I've learned over the years. It's things changed
so much two months less than the season that I
haven't put a whole lot of stock in it. But
you're right, Jack, I mean, you know last week I wrote,
you know, after the game, I read a little lead
inside the Lions column from Free dot Com, and you know,

(01:34:51):
one of the things I did last week was sort
of look at the other NFC contenders and kind of
who the Lions have to go through to get the
number one seed. And man, I mean, I think the
Rams are as good a team as there is in
the NFC right now, And a lot of that is
because you know Matthew Stafford, and go back to the
beginning of the year, like I think, I don't think
I picked him to make the playoffs because I thought

(01:35:13):
Stafford's back would would be such an issue. I could
be wrong about that. I don't remember exactly what I picked,
but you know, I know there were some big concerns
about that and the way that he's played. You know,
obviously he's got a really really good receiver in Puka,
That defense is playing excellent ball, they get after the quarterback.
You know, they're as good a team as there is,

(01:35:33):
I think in the the NFC right now, you know,
maybe even the NFL. And I don't think there are
any great, great teams in the league right now, but
I do think the Rams have a chance to go
a long way. In Matthew Stafford, he keeps playing the
way that he is, will certainly be an MVP conversation
at the end of the day, and Jack just a
side note on that. You know, that might be the
thing that he needs to put him over the top,

(01:35:55):
as you know, a Hall of Famer in his career
because he's got a ring. You know, he's going to
have the staff He just has never quite had the
all pros or the individual accomplishments like that, and so
if he gets that, maybe he's looked at a little
bit differently when he retires.

Speaker 1 (01:36:10):
Yeah. I was pall for Matt Stafford. I think he
gave Detroit everything he had, played hurt and didn't have
a lot of help sometimes, but I was happy he
got a Super Bowl and I wouldn't mind if he
got another one unless the Lions had a chance to
get there. Last thing for you, Dave, I always like
to give authors a chance to talk about their work.

(01:36:33):
I know what that can be like, having done eight books.
It's kind of like childbirth for a sportswriter. Detroit Lions,
an illustrated timeline looks like an unbelievable Christmas gift and
something that you would want to have for the playoff run.
Can you talk a little bit about this?

Speaker 3 (01:36:54):
Sure?

Speaker 7 (01:36:55):
Yeah, No, you know, as a book actually came out
last season, but it's the Coffee Table book. You know,
every moment, you know, I think there's one hundred and
fifty or so of the greatest you know, games, players, moments,
and franchise history, good and bad, sort of everything you
you remember as a Lions fan, you know, and it

(01:37:15):
was it's something that you know, goes takes you through
the twenty twenty three season into the Dan Campbell are.
It didn't include all the injuries last year because it
came out, you know, last last fall, but it's really
a pretty comprehensive history of everything that went on with
the Lions. And I will say Jack, that's that's what
the feedback I got last year was that, you know
from Lions fans was, oh, this was a great gift

(01:37:37):
for my dad, who's a Lions fan. It's a great
gift for my brother, you know, for my father in law.
So I think that's kind of what it was is
that you know, people were just looking at it as
like the completion to their Lions den or the little
coffee table and their their living room that people can
flip through and reminisce about all the moments that they
enjoyed as Lions fans, you know, with with those family

(01:37:59):
members that they're giving.

Speaker 1 (01:38:00):
Rob, I should buy you one of these for Christmas.
And then instead of watching the Tampa Bay Bucks lose
to the Lions, you can just read about some Lions greatness.
How about that.

Speaker 7 (01:38:12):
Or not greatness, depending on.

Speaker 1 (01:38:15):
You've seen some of those two. Yeah, Dave, thanks so
much for joining us. Appreciate your time, and we'll see
you back down at fort Field. Dave Briquette, guy who
I worked with at the Lansing State Journal and went
on to do some unbelievable things. And still is there
any oh he'll shoot it now? Yeah, anywhere in the gym.

Speaker 2 (01:38:39):
Is his rain media didn't like coach have those media Yeah, you.

Speaker 1 (01:38:44):
Know practice media session. Yeah, he may have had the
record for three point attempts. I think there's no question
about that. Well, he'd make them. I mean, yeah, wasn't
just punishing them with his shots. He was. Yeah, he
was making them, but you know he he didn't ever
pass one up. Let's just say that. Jeff Zilget, another

(01:39:09):
guy who covers the NBA. He was known for firing
any time across the timeline. Yeah, we said the record
that Jeff Zilget had was fewest assists in pickup games.
So all right, Zilly will be on me for that
later tonight, We'll be right back and we're going to
talk with Jim gumm from the Blitz newsletter. And I

(01:39:32):
want to remind you we talked about this yesterday. Very quickly.
We have a new podcast that is debuting tonight at
six thirty. Rime is that right Keys to the City
with Jim Keaton Jr. And a cast of thousands and

(01:39:54):
a lot of his friends, colleagues, sports personnel, faith based,
a lot of things that you can debate and discuss
and talk about. Someone who has Lansing coursing through his veins.
That's Jim Keaton Junior. He's going to be here to
start six point thirty tonight for the first of Keys

(01:40:16):
to the City. We'll be right back with Jim Gum
up next.

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Callide Go Green Welcome back. It is a drive with

(01:43:13):
Jack Spotlight Radio Network. Jack Eblin here with my producer
Boston Rob in studio today. I want to go out
to our guest line and welcome in. Jim Gum from
the Blitz newsletter in Cleveland, Tennessee, And tonight is of
course the first unveil of the college Football Playoff rankings. Jim,

(01:43:36):
you think back to the days before we had this,
starting in twenty fourteen, what do we do.

Speaker 7 (01:43:44):
Well?

Speaker 3 (01:43:45):
You know, I used to love the BCS. Of course,
what I liked about the BCS is that day came
out on Sunday.

Speaker 1 (01:43:51):
Yeah.

Speaker 7 (01:43:52):
Yeah, I'm waiting till Tuesday.

Speaker 3 (01:43:55):
I don't know why I wait till Tuesday, but you know,
that's the reality of having a selection committee.

Speaker 7 (01:44:01):
I guess over a bunch of computers.

Speaker 3 (01:44:02):
But now, like I said, it's always fun. I think
it's really neat to try to look at the first ranking,
what we get today, and then the final win that'll
put the teams in the actual bracket itself, and how
much change there is. But you know, I mean there's
been some years where they were pretty darn actor. I'm

(01:44:24):
talking when they had the four team they were pretty
darn accurate. Now last year the first year of the
twelve team bracket, So we'll just see how it all
unveils tonight.

Speaker 1 (01:44:34):
What do you think the big surprise is going to
be tonight? Will there be one?

Speaker 7 (01:44:41):
Well?

Speaker 3 (01:44:41):
I mean, I keep seeing all these people you know,
on social media, and I don't know why I look
at this stuff. There's so many experts out there, and
they're all predicting Indiana and be number one. I had
of Ohio State. We'll see about that, but I'm curious
of how what they're going to do with like a

(01:45:02):
Notre Dame and a Miami. Yeah, obviously I feel like
Notre Dame is the more complete team, but yes, Miami
did beat them head to head, So I'm curious what
they're going to do in situations like that. Oklahoma, Texas, Miami,
Notre Dame. What are they going to do with those teams?
Will they put the team that lost the head of
the team that beat them head to head or will

(01:45:23):
they put head to head as the difference maker?

Speaker 1 (01:45:26):
Yeah, I don't enter into anything that's happened in the past,
so I know you do have some credit given in
your power rankings for where teams start the season and
what they have done. But as I look at Indiana
and Ohio State, Jim, I think what Indiana has done

(01:45:47):
is more impressive. Although although we have talked about Indiana's
pre conference schedule, you said that you don't hold them
accountable for that. But the fact that Ohio State did
play Texas and the number one should be worth something.
And I thought that if Vanderbilt had beaten Texas, it
would have devalued Ohio State's win in the opener enough

(01:46:11):
that Indiana could have been number one. But since Texas
beat Vanderbilt, now I think that game means even more
and I think Ohio State will be number one.

Speaker 3 (01:46:21):
I think Ohio State will be number one too. I'm
just going off with all these people on social media,
like everyone has got a number one other than Ohio State.
I guess it's like we want to be different, you know. Well,
I don't know what slitchy committees gonna do, but there's
a lot of football yet to be played, man, and
I think Ohio State and Indiana on the collision course

(01:46:43):
to play for the Big Ten championship. Indianapolis and we'll
we'll find out then if Indiana Indiana is as good
as they look, because they sure look off the good to.

Speaker 1 (01:46:53):
Me, Yeah, I don't think Indiana is going to lose.
I think they're going to be twelve and er Ohio
States should be twelve and zero. But they do have
a game in ann Arbor, and we've seen the last
four years. I think in at least three of those years,
Ohio State was a clear favorite, if not all four,
and Michigan has gotten the best of them, so I

(01:47:16):
have to get over that hurdle. But I think the
Buckeyes our positioned to do it. And I don't think
this is a particularly good Michigan team, even though I've
seen them pull away the last couple of weeks. The
quarterback play is very average. It's going to be great,
but I think right now it's very average. And I
think the fourth best team in the Big Ten, and
I don't think it's that close, is Iowa. I've watched

(01:47:41):
a ton of Big Ten football gym and I have
a lot of respect for USC which beat Michigan comfortably
in the coliseum. But I look at what Iowa's done,
and they lost a rivalry game in Ames Iowa on
a last playfield goal to a pretty good Cyclones team,

(01:48:03):
and then really had Indiana beat in the last two
minutes and was kicking a go ahead field goal, was missed,
gave up a play, and they wind up losing twenty
to fifteen to a team that's either number one or
number one A. So I think Iowa. And I'm watching
some of the other Iowa scores too. I just watched

(01:48:23):
them dismantle Minnesota. Minnesota isn't very good, but they won
some games. But I think Iowa is a clear four
and it wouldn't shock me if they beat Oregon.

Speaker 3 (01:48:34):
Yeah, I'm really excited about that game. And it's at
Kinnick Stadium, yes, so obviously Iowa was going to have
a home crowd advantage there, so it wouldn't shock me
to see iowain that game. And I'm like you, I
think this is a really good hawk ass team, and
I think the Big Ten has got five or six
really good team. Obviously we know about you know, Ohio

(01:48:57):
State and Indiana, but I lock Iowa lot, I like Oregon, lute,
I really like USC and I still think Michigan's dangerous.
So I mean, like you said, it'll all we'll all
get it at the individual No, pretty much. But right now,
there's a lot of ways this thing could end up.

Speaker 1 (01:49:17):
Right right, I think it's pretty clear that Ohio State
and Indiana will have first round byes unless the bottom
falls out, and then there will be a third team,
at least a third team from the Big Ten, And
whether that is Oregon or if the Ducks lose to Iowa,

(01:49:38):
maybe they stumble. They start to play Washington right at
the end of the year, so you know, that's a
game where who knows what can happen up there. But
unless that happens, Oregon is going to be in. What
are the chances of a fourth Big Ten team getting in?

Speaker 3 (01:49:56):
I think the Big Ten has to have some help, Yeah,
thank you. It has to come from the SEC. I
think they need to knock off a couple of their
one loss teams to where they're And when I say
knock them up, I mean beat them significantly, you know,
without not a field goal game, but you know, a
three touchdown win or something. I think that would be

(01:50:17):
the perception would be lost a little bit on some
of those SEC teams. But I think it's clearly the
SEC and the Big Ten are going to rule the
they'll rule the rankings tonight, and they'll also rule the bracketing,
the projected bracketing tonight as well.

Speaker 1 (01:50:35):
We know there's going to be a group of five
team in, so that cuts it down from twelve to eleven.
And we know that the ACC and the Big Twelve
have to have at least one in. So let's say
that's the case for now. That cuts it from eleven
to nine. Nine spots for the Big Ten and the SEC,

(01:50:59):
and you could have four from the Big Ten and
five from the SEC. But but let's say for a
second b YU beats Texas Tech but stumbles in the
conference championship game. So now you have a twelve and
one BYU, and we know the Big Twelve champion is

(01:51:19):
going to get in, has to get in. If you
have BYU at twelve and one, they say, well they're
in as in at large. So that takes another spot
away and you only have eight spots then for the
two power leagues, is it more likely the Big Ten
would get a fourth team or the SEC would get

(01:51:41):
a fifteen?

Speaker 3 (01:51:43):
Well, I think you know this is my person. I
think Notre Dame's going to get in if they do.

Speaker 1 (01:51:48):
Okay, okay, okay.

Speaker 3 (01:51:50):
So I think I'm putting that an equation as well,
even though they lost to Miami, Yes, because it's there
they were in those games. Stood are much and I
think Notre Dame has really turned it on, and I
know they they didn't have the greatest game this past
week against Boston College. I'm assuming, I assume that Notre
Dame finished the season ten and two, and then they've

(01:52:14):
and they've won ten straight games, and man they are.
That's a dangerous team. So I'm going to put Notre
Dame in, so that'll eliminate another even SEC big ten.
I think it's going to be. I think the Big
ten in all likelihood will get three minimum and I
think the SEC in all likelihood will get four minimum.

(01:52:34):
But you know, you could see a big ten and
SEC split four and four, or the SEC could end
up getting five. Yeah, but I definitely think that b Yu,
Texas Tech Notre Dame are in, and then the ACC.
I think the ACC's only even get one, right right.
I just it's weird. I don't know if you know this, Jack,

(01:52:58):
you know you see what you look at the ACC
standings got Virginia sitting there at five and zero. But
the one loss was two North Carolina State and ACC team, right,
but it.

Speaker 1 (01:53:09):
Didn't count as an ACC game. Very weird.

Speaker 3 (01:53:12):
That is a weird thing that's going on this year
that we actually got three instances of that happening of
teams that are from the same league playing each other
but they don't count as league games. And I think
a lot has to do with some crazy some of
the some of this expansion, you know, conference expansion. We
had people people were buying out of games and Kansas

(01:53:34):
games and they were just like, fourth we got, we
got to have a twelve game. Hey, we'll play each
other and it won't count of the league game. So
you know, we got the big twelve. You got the
Arizona Kansas State game. Of course, the Army Navy game
doesn't count in the American anymore. And then this year
the Virginia n Cy State game. So you got a
few little quirks here going on.

Speaker 1 (01:53:53):
Yeah, and when you look at the playoff now at twelve.
I heard some coaches talking today about what expansion would mean,
and it was going to mean more coach firings. They
always look at it that way. It seems like we've
had plenty already. But if they go to sixteen, then
if you don't make it, you're really on the outs.

(01:54:16):
You remember, Jim, what it was like when there was
this thing called a conference championship and it really mattered,
and the regular season. So much attention now is focused
on the playoff. It's like college basketball. The NCAA tournament
is the only thing that matters to most fans. And
I think we're getting close. I don't want to see

(01:54:38):
that devalued, and I don't want to see games in
September and October diminished.

Speaker 3 (01:54:45):
I'm right there with you. I love One thing about
college football that has always drawn me towards this sport
is that every game counts and every game's important. The
more you expand the playoffs, the less important, especially those
late November games, those traditional rivals mean. And I'd hate listen.

(01:55:10):
Last year, everyone knows Ohio State lost the Michigan didn't matter.
Ohio State went on one nast change in a fourteen playoff,
law States eliminated.

Speaker 1 (01:55:20):
That's right.

Speaker 3 (01:55:21):
They're they're out there. They don't have a shot, they
don't go to the big championship game. They're they're going
to the rely on Quest Bowl or something, you know,
and we were in a new work. I hate the
fact that some of these rivalries are almost meaningless, and
I would hate to see coaches resting players in a
rivalry game, right, And.

Speaker 1 (01:55:42):
I think we're going to get that. I do think
we're going to get that. And I think that for
teams that have two losses. Now there's talk that Texas
could get in with three losses depending on how this
would play out. Uh, you know, to me that devalues
something so kind of like the old way a little
bit better.

Speaker 3 (01:56:04):
I'm not there with you.

Speaker 1 (01:56:07):
In this issue of the Blitz newsletter, which, by the way,
if you are not getting your hands on the Blitz,
then you're missing out on a lot of opportunities. You're
probably going to lose some bets, and you're going to
be tormented the way robs every week when I ask
them these questions from the Blitz. But in terms of
what you have this week, not just all the schedules, standings,

(01:56:30):
power ratings, everything you need to be an expert on
teams other than the one you follow. You have some
really interesting side notes here, and you talk about teams
that have one hundred yard rusher. Now, if you have
one this year, chances are you going to win a
lot of games. If you have two, you know, you

(01:56:52):
really hit the mother load. But there are teams Jim
as you document here, who have had four four hundred
yard rushers in a game. So that's a minimum of
four hundred yards rushing. And some of these are as
one here, it's close to six hundred yards rushing. What's
the best backfield or the best rushing attack. You remember,

(01:57:14):
we've seen Nebraska be absolutely incredible. You think about Alabama,
but I think back to Texas with the wishbone.

Speaker 3 (01:57:23):
Yeah, Texas and Oklahoma used to just crush people by
running the football. They'd probably field games and throw four
or five passes that wishbone. When the wishbone was run perfectly,
it was a thing of beauty. And younger people these

(01:57:43):
days they don't understand it. They don't. My thing is
go to YouTube and talk in Oklahoma's versus I don't know,
Iowa State in nineteen seventy four and watch something that
like that when they ran it with the thing of
beauty in Oklahoma Nebraska. Those teams in Texas, like you said,

(01:58:05):
in Alabama, they would bracked up four hundred yards rushing
very regularly. It was a thing of beauty to watch.
But yeah, you rarely see that anymore. You should see
the Service academies doing some of this stuff. But even
they've transition a little bit to bore up a passing
attack too. So yeah, it was. But yeah, I don't

(01:58:25):
I don't know if we'll ever see another team have
four r one hundred yard rushers, although you know the
Botta did in twenty oh nine, so it's not ancient history,
but it's close.

Speaker 1 (01:58:36):
All right, Rob, here you go, here's your chance. This
is a name you know, okay, or I'm not trying
to pull some obscure thing on you. We talked about
the last time it happened, and Jim just said it
was Nevada in two thousand and nine, four back, same game.
Who was a quarterback on that team, someone that you
know very well.

Speaker 2 (01:58:55):
Just want to have a nice, peaceful, non thinking sports
talk radio done worked that way. I wasn't working for
Rob Bennett.

Speaker 3 (01:59:02):
No, Rob, if you're taken knee and think about it
at my help.

Speaker 1 (01:59:07):
These hints, the answer is Colin Kaepernick.

Speaker 2 (01:59:14):
How am I gonna get?

Speaker 3 (01:59:15):
Wow?

Speaker 18 (01:59:15):
Very good, Jim, Yeah, right, yeah, yeah, taking knee. That
was a great national anthem. Thank you, Jim for your
health excellent heads. Yes, yes, well do.

Speaker 1 (01:59:26):
You know I keep trying to give Rob these dinners
and he's starting he doesn't want them. He doesn't want
my food. Okay, all right, Uh you horribly. I was
going to give you a choice of restaurants. We're going
back fifty years. You always flashed back, Jim to nineteen
seventy five and we had an undefeated team twelve and

(01:59:49):
oh didn't win the title. You want to talk about that.

Speaker 3 (01:59:54):
Yeah, Frank Cush and those Arizona State sun Devils they
went to and oh, they upset Nebraska in the Fest
of all of courses. Yeah, if you remember, the Fiesta
Bowl was formed, you know, around that time, and I
think Arizona State playing the first four or five of them.

Speaker 1 (02:00:11):
Yeah, yeah, right, and they would.

Speaker 3 (02:00:12):
Played literally the bowl game in their home state. But
Frank Cush had it rolling back then. Of course they
were in the whack and so they didn't get a
lot of love. But they were the only undefeated team
and they finished the season twelve and oh but number
two behind the Sooners of Oklahoma.

Speaker 1 (02:00:27):
Yeah, that was I know, some Sun Devils and they
don't root for Michigan, but they were rooting for Michigan
that year because in the Orange Bowl, Oklahoma beat U
of M fourteen to six, and that was a Michigan
team that had two losses and two ties. Ohio State
wound up in the Rose Bowl, but Michigan wound up

(02:00:48):
playing Oklahoma, and with that Oklahoma win, they were eleven
and one and finished ahead of a twelve and zero
Sun Devils team. Alabama was there and.

Speaker 3 (02:00:56):
If you remember, Ohio State was eleven one and they
had defeated UCLA in the regular seasons. That's right, that's right,
and that's when UCLA played the LA Coliseum, So how
State beat him there? And then they go to the
Rose Bowl and you know, ver Meal was the head coach,
and that you know, that got him on the map
as far as head coaches for sure, and.

Speaker 1 (02:01:17):
That cost the Buckeyes another national championship in Archie Griffin's
last game. Yep, yeah, you do fantastic. One of the
things I loved with this and we'll let you go.
But you you go through number one ranked teams losing
in a season and won four of them. Four number
one ranked teams have lost in the same season. You

(02:01:40):
go through those seasons week by week, that fascinating stuff.
It gives you a sense of a whole season in
one glance.

Speaker 3 (02:01:49):
Yeah, you know, of course, this year we opened the
season with number one losing the you know, Ohio State,
right got number one week two and they haven't lost.
But in nineteen eighty one one was the craziest year.
And I still remember nineteen ninety as well. It's like
every time you turn around, a number one ranked team
was getting beat getting upset, and it made it fun.

(02:02:11):
It made it fun. So nineteen eighty one the number
one team went seven and six. Nineteen ninety the number
one team was six and five. So yeah, we've had
a lot of chaos and it was fun. It was
fun in those years we had all this chaos because
he was like, oh my gosh, he's going to be
number one this week.

Speaker 1 (02:02:31):
Jim, thanks so much. Once again, if you just go
to Jim gum dot blitz at Yahoo or at gmail
either one works dot com and Jim will take care
of you and you'll be a lot smarter than you
really are. I want to thank all of our guests today,
starting with Blue Belly, Tom Tom Crawford favorite East Lansing Wolverine,

(02:02:55):
talking Michigan football and and m's big basketball win over
Clinton last night. You heard from Jackson Cohler, Jeremy Fears,
Jordan Scott after Michigan State's victory last night over Colegate
Brushwick defeat Dalton Scheddler radio play by play voice of

(02:03:15):
the MSU women joining us and don't forget they have
their opening game tonight. Richkin Ka, our Detroit correspondent talking
about the World Series and Detroit teams much much more.
Dave Briquette from the Detroit Free Press talking about the
Lions and trying to make a move here at the
trade deadline. And Jim Gumm from the Blitz newsletter. Maybe

(02:03:39):
we'll see you tonight out at the time Izzo Show
at one North. All have a great night and enjoy
the college football playoff on Veil. See you tomorrow, everyone,