The Drive with Jack
Ep. 2719 Thursday
This is it right here. Combining a team of reporters, columnists, and commentators. Don't you ever talk about me? Are you serious? Jack Evelling has brought thought-provoking discussion. What are you doing? That's a damn coaching machine. Opinion. The customer is the one who decides when the future gets here. Oh, no! This is something to fire! You have to check the report. Are you kidding me? That game was mixed. And overall, infotainment. I'll take your mama. I wouldn't see that. Grazie, is it good to come and etch you? Let's go! Quietly is, but exactly 15 seconds will be on the air. Thanks, big fella. Don't you ever come back here again? No argument. Those are called ass tuners. So buckle up. You talking to me? Whoa! It's time for the drive with Jack Evelling. Here, for some reason or another, who's having little toll on radio. Happy 2025, and welcome to the drive with Jack on the Spotlight Radio Network. Jack Evelling here with my producer, Boston Rob, on Thursday afternoon, 23 degrees, and feels a lot colder than that down in the low teens. That's what the temp is supposed to be to your skin tonight. If you are going to Michigan State, Wisconsin, hockey, if you're staying in to watch the sugar bowl rescheduled at four o'clock, I guess you can do both, because the MSU hockey aim is also going to be on BTN. So you can probably catch a major part of both of those events. And we have a big show planned for you. Seven guests for our first show of the new year. Rob, let's go right out to our guest line. Very happy to welcome in a guy who covers the Georgia Bulldogs for Dog Nation. Mike Griffith, the mayor of Lansing. Mike, how are you? - I'm doing well, Jack, thanks. - Well, can you describe the madness in New Orleans and what that was like yesterday? - Oh, man. I mean, it's kind of hard to describe it. I mean, it's obviously tragic, tragic times. - No, I think I can think of was like the Olympic bombing in Atlanta, and you know, everyone's there. They're all gathered for a big event, but I'm frankly amazed that we have had more of these kinds of things in connection with big sporting events. - Well, I mean, just in general, you know, I mean, the whole, I mean, when you look at a lot of the, you know, I guess I don't want to get too political, but I guess I won't, but you know, clearly there's, you know, some reform coming in a lot of different areas that, you know, you know, might last on the chances that, you know, that things occur. But I guess my big takeaway, Jack, is, you know, for those that are old enough, they remember, you know, 911 and how the security restrictions were heightened and upped. And, you know, I know a lot of people get frustrated by the security in airports and games and things like that, but it's just a reminder of, you know, how important our law enforcement officers are and our security forces. And what a thankless job they have, and I always, you know, think that to myself when I'm waiting in line, they're going through check-throughs, and I know that it may seem like any convenience at the time, but I'm so thankful that we do have so many safeguards in place, and to your point, probably why we haven't had as many potential, you know, tragic situations as the one that played out. I, you know, I think everyone can, you know, Google what happened in New Orleans and realize there were probably a few more safeguards that maybe could have or should have been in place in hindsight or for whatever reason, weren't applied. But, you know, the randomness of it, you know, there's only so much you can do, unfortunately. - Right, that's right. - Talk with a lot of law enforcement people, Mike. They say that we are vulnerable and whatever safeguards you want to put in, you know, if you are walking just around in day to day and someone wants to hurt you, there's a pretty good chance they're gonna be able to do it. - Yeah, yeah, one of those unfortunate things, you know, I don't know if there's ever been a time in history when we haven't had some dangers, but, you know, we could go on and on about it. It's unfortunate, it's sad, you know, it's effective to get in price. I was looking, you know, you can get tickets to that game for $5 today, obviously, it's effective. A lot of people's travel schedules, and, you know, just pray that, you know, everything goes off safely. I did see they opened, reopened Bourbon Street today, and, you know, people are back down there, and that city relies on that commerce and that tourism. It was very important in the world to get that going again for their citizens and, you know, shop owners and, you know, those people trying to make a living. So, you know, yesterday, though, you know, I went out and walked around a little bit the morning after, I guess I was out there just three or four hours after it, you know, had played out, you know, they had their cordoned off, perimeter blocked out a couple blocks, but you could see down the street, and I did some pictures and video for our news agency and sent it back. You know, traffic is what it was, and unfortunate, and just kind of a reminder, like you said, Jack, I know you and I have gone to so many of these large sporting events, and kind of keep our head on a swivel aware of what can happen at any time, and, to your point, you know, you know, 15 lives were lost, and, you know, truly, it's sort of amazing that there weren't more considering the circumstance and, you know, the speed of the vehicle and the narrow nature of that street and the amount of pedestrian traffic, even at 3.15 in the morning, I mean, just, you'd hate to imagine what had happened if that attack had played out three hours earlier at midnight when the streets were, you know, you're attacked with people. I know we've seen these issues with parade before, and things like that, it's just such a dangerous time to your point, absolutely. - Like a lot of people may not realize how compressed the French Quarter is, and you think, oh, it's French Quarter, gigantic. Well, it's not, it's a very confined area in there, and you just say, when it would have been midnight, I mean, you would have had wall-to-wall people, I think back to Charlottesville, and we're all used to having automobiles as our friend, and they are, there's no question about it, they've changed the way that modern society operates, but they're also killing machines if you choose to make them that, and you get a car going high speed, and people can't get out of the way, you're gonna have carnage. - Yeah, I mean, you know, you're talking about streets that are, you know, only half the width of, you know, the streets in East Lansing, or Mason, for that matter, I mean, our streets, and, you know, we're pretty fortunate with our traffic flow in Mid-Michigan, as you pointed out to me before, I mean, it's a different animal, you know, like you said, when you're in the French Quarter, one of the older cities, you know, really designed, you know, before, you know, the auto had really taken full go, so yeah, it could have been a lot worse, I'm really thankful, really thankful that it wasn't a, you know, prey for the folks that were affected by this, with the deaths, and the dozens of people that were injured. - So Mike, how do you think this affects the football game? We're gonna see, which has been pushed back 20 hours, I guess, right, but they're gonna play it, starting in about 20, 25 minutes, and we're gonna see Notre Dame and Georgia go at it, what do you make of this game? - I think it's a rock fight, you know, I think it's two teams that, you know, are gonna be determined to, you know, run the football, and avoid turnovers, and play field position, to, you know, the best of their abilities, you know, you got mobile quarterbacks on both sides, you have, you know, really strong at the line of scrimmage, you know, both teams have some special teams questions, I know the Notre Dame kickred struggled a little bit before that Indiana game, I know, and Georgia's gonna be trotting on a new punter, and hasn't punted in a game before. They've got a back-up quarterback making their first start, I think he's probably on par with Tyler O'Connor, for the Michigan State fans that remember Tyler O'Connor, and the big win that he had at Ohio State and that inclement weather with his mobility, and strong, but strong-armed kid, maybe wasn't able to layer it like an NFL guy, but certainly could get it where it was supposed to go, a really bright kid that executed the offense really well that night in Ohio State, or that afternoon, I can't remember, it was raining in the night. It sure felt like night 'cause with that rain, remember Jack, it was, it was about dingy as Ohio gets, which seems like it's always dingy in that stadium, but it, that's kind of the kid he is, like Tyler O'Connor, a really good student of the game, a guy that's worked really hard for his opportunity, I think he'll be ready to execute what they're gonna ask him to do. It could play out like that Michigan State, Ohio State game did, and what was that, 2014, or that right, Jack, or 15, 2015? - Are you of the belief, Mike, and I've heard this, from enough people that made me stop and think, well, maybe, normally, you got a quarterback, like Carson Beck, who's projected to be a top five draft pick, and you think, well, losing him is gonna have a major impact, but could it actually help the Bulldogs? - Well, I mean, it's what you make of it. I think anytime you lose a great player, there's a little bit of a step up effect from the other players on the team. They recognize everybody has to do a little bit more, I think sometimes the genius is in the simplicity of planning, sometimes I think teams can overload their quarterback and their offense with a lot of adjustments, and you lose a little bit of execution when you do that, when you're trying to call so much at the line of scrimmage or make too many adjustments or have too many read option routes, as we call them. So, it can work in your favor, in George's case, they've had some issues with their receivers holding onto the football. They like to run a double tight end look. I mean, any tight end look with Brock Bauer's work form pretty good, but Brock's gone now and set a rookie record and what an incredible young man and player he was, same with Lad McCocky and other thousand yard receiving rookie and other incredible young men, and they lost a lot in the receiver ranks, and the guys that replaced him have had some inconsistencies. So, this kind of plays into George's strength a little bit. Now, they're not as multiple, so perhaps they're a little bit easier to defend. But without those receivers catching the ball, I think they led the nation and dropped with, I don't know, 38 or 39, which is an incredible number. I still think they have the danger of the pass game. You've got probably the fastest guy in college football lining up form, number 11, Aaron Smith. He's probably gonna run about a 4-2-1-40 at the combine, form a track guy, and Notre Dame still has to account for him. They're not gonna just let him run free and say, "Oh, we're counting on him to drop it." So, they still have the threat of the deep ball, so you'll probably single deep a few times just for the sake of it. You keep that defense stretched out a little bit, but you got really good coaches here, too. I mean, Den Brock, the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame, developed a Heisman Trophy winner at LSU. He's a veteran. He's seen George a couple times. He's got Al Golden on the other side. Max Bullock, I had a chance to do an interview with Max Bullock, and he's the linebacker's coach there now, and I'm so proud of Max, and I tell him that every time I see him, we talk about a guy that was really at the heart of those Michigan State teams that finished in the top 10, and he was a guy that was the bowl of family, obviously, means so much to Michigan State, and Max is a guy that understood what it meant to be a Spartan, and how it was Max that said, "Hey, the narrative's got to change. We've got to do things differently." He was truly, truly the heart and soul of the Rose Bowl team, albeit, you know, Kyle has stepped in on the Rose Bowl game, but, you know, without Max Bullock, I don't know that we see that resurgence of Michigan State football. He was such an incredible leader, and it's a joy for me to see him now leading young men. I mean, he's truly made for this. I, it's exciting to see me, or it's exciting for me to see him rising up quickly through the coaching ranks. You know, he spent a year at Alabama there under Nick Saban, and now he's hooked up with Marcus Freeman, who's truly a rising star in the coaching ranks, and I wouldn't be surprised if Max Bullock wasn't the Michigan State head football coach one day. - How about that? That's a name that no one ever talks about now in terms of that, but we had him on the show when he got to Notre Dame, and, you know, sometimes the apple doesn't fall too far from the tree. You think about his dad, Shane, was such a terrific player when George Perla started here, and then, of course, you think about Henry, and the Bullock family really is, probably has more tackles, Mike, than any family in Big Ten history, when you think about, you know, you've got, what, Six Bullock's played for Michigan State? Pretty sensational stuff, yeah. - Yeah, you know, I really, you know, to me that was, you know, getting to cover Michigan State in that era, and I know you've done it for several decades, and you got to see most all the Bullock's, Jack, and, you know, it was just such a treat for me to get to cover Max, and Riley, and the Dantonio era. It was also interesting to hear Marcus Freeman talk a lot about Notre Dame, and a lot of the things that he does there, and sounded pretty familiar, and as it should, because he played for Jim Trussell, and, of course, Mark Dantonio had coached under Trussell, and so a lot of the things that those Spartans of yesteryear did under Dantonio, Marcus Freeman's doing right now, and it turns out how he scouts the opponents, and a lot of the practice things, and the way they approach things, and, you know, makes me realize, you know, I think maybe Jim Trussell, we probably underestimate the influence he's had in college football with his coaching tree, and even though Ohio State, you know, only won one national title under him, he still wielded quite a bit of influence, of course, you know, Bobby Bowden won one national title, won national title, I mean, national titles are, they're hard to come by, man, and not on this day and age. - Yeah. - Yeah, well, there you go. I mean, probably the greatest example there, I mean, Tom's a champion every year, for me, is a Michigan State graduate with the sort of ambassador, and what he means to Michigan State, the image of the program, university. Boy, I'll tell you, Jack, I just, I hope Tom stays as long as he can, 'cause I'll miss it when Tom is, who's not representing the Spartans anymore. - Let's talk for a minute, Mike, about the other games and what we have learned. Maybe we read too much into ball games, maybe it's not the best barometer for strength of conferences, but what do you make of the ACC? - Well, I think you said it, you know, I mean, I remember talking with, oh gosh, what was Jim's last name, the offensive coordinator, Bowman, Jim Bowman, Coach. - Jim Bowman. - Speaking of Ohio State, I remember when Michigan State talking to Bowman one time about, gosh, why couldn't Ohio State beat the SEC and all those ball games, right? Back in the 90s and why had they struggled so much and Bowman, who never really was much for a quote, but he did give me a good answer on this one, I won't forget. And he said, well, ball games are like their own season. He said, you know, every year there's so much going on behind the scenes with coaches that are leaving for jobs and players trying to make decisions about their futures and a kid that's injured sort of, maybe he's able to play, but he needs to get healthy for the combine. And if it's not a national championship game, what does the game really mean? You know, some coaches like to use a lot of the bowl prep to get kids worked that they're counting on for next year. So maybe all their focus isn't really on the game like it normally would be if it was a playoff game or a championship game. So bowl games really are their own season and they're really not a good read on conference strength, generally speaking, or even the team that you just watch play throughout the season because so much is going on. So I don't make too much out of the conference records when it comes to the non playoff bowl games. I think the playoff bowl records kind of speak louder and more accurately as to what the teams are. But even then, you know, the trend we've seen and it'll be really interesting to see today. The teams that had buys, obviously they all lost but they all got really slow starts and they all gave up, I want to say two touchdowns in the first quarter, each of the three teams that have already played. And George has been a slow starting team anyway. You know, George had trailed at halftime six of their games this year and the three games they played where they didn't play a game the week before was the opener against Clemson and they failed to score a touchdown in the first half. They went on to win 34 to three but it was only 63 at halftime. The Alabama game, they trailed 20 to seven at the half and that was after a bi-week. And then against Florida, they were down 14 to six at half and didn't score a touchdown in the first half. So I think George is aware though that they're going to need to be a little bit more aggressive. I think George is one of those teams. I mean, all teams like to make halftime adjustments but I think because of the amount of talent George has and relatively good defense, they're pretty comfortable waiting until halftime to do most of their adjustments 'cause, you know, you just, you do some things in the first half and team can go in the locker room and adjust but if you wait until the second half to spring some stuff, there's really not a lot of time for adjustments on the fly. Now that the iPad technology has certainly helped in that capacity, teams are able to diagnose things much quicker, defensive coaches are able to pick up tendencies much quicker before they had to rely on their eye talent so to speak. Now they've got the iPads where they can really study things quickly and diagnose, especially with all the analysts that they have work and form. So, but we'll see if George changes that up. You know, they're not going to be a team that can come from behind easily. I don't think Notre Dame is easy either for that matter. I wish we really haven't had to. Even in the game with Northern Illinois, it wasn't like they'd fallen behind in that game a bunch. So, if Georgia can put pressure on Notre Dame, I think this is a game that, you know, they should win. But, you know, it is on turf, usually a little faster. Surface, Georgia usually scores a few more points indoors. I'm not sure how that'll affect Notre Dame. I know they beat George Tech earlier. In Mercedes-Benz Stadium, I'll be at George Tech, didn't have their starting quarterback for that game. But the Irish weren't able to run the ball on tech. And to me, that's going to be the early barometer is if Notre Dame can run the ball effectively. They can't run the ball. I think this is a Georgia win, hands down. But that Jeremiah Love Kid is dangerous over running back as I've seen all year. So, I'm going 98 on Indiana, but that's a former state champion track guy from St. Louis, he ran at 10, 600. And he's built like an NFL back. I've got a lot of poise. I had a chance to visit with him, Riley Leonard, a really bright kid, a fourth year senior from Duke and one year at Notre Dame. But he picked up the offense and got much better as the year went on. So, when that coaches in his helmet now, he's not having to say as much. And Riley's a little bit further along in his progressions and ability to pick things up. So, it's a much better Notre Dame team than we saw earlier in the season. - Two more things for you, Mike. With a possibility of a Notre Dame win, if that does happen and the top four seeds all go down, do you think this is going to impact the way people look at the playoff? Is it going to suggest even more reforms than we're liable to get after year one? - Well, I mean, it's hard to say. You know, I don't know if anybody would not want to buy. I mean, there's trade offs. I mean, Notre Dame lost their sack leader by playing that first round game. Of course, Notre Dame also had the benefit of not having to play in a championship game. So, they got the same mileage on them that Georgia does in terms of number of games played because they didn't have to play in a conference championship game. And they had the benefit of playing the week before. So, I think Notre Dame's kind of living, you know, they've kind of got the best of both worlds in that sense, not being in a conference. I'm sure somehow or another will continue to cater to them. Did I reach somewhere, the Big Ten changed the role where Ohio State gets a touchdown before the game kicks off against-- - I don't think they needed one. - Yesterday, they were out so fast it was 34 zip. - Oh, you didn't notice that they were playing with 12 guys? That was another one of the Big Ten rules. - I like to take on the Big Ten for, but you're right. Ohio State doesn't need any more. Everybody said, boy, look at Ohio State, they're better than the SEC. I said, well, Ohio State needs us to not use the game plan. The Michigan coaches hand them before the game. - I said, well, hell, I said, half their key players are from the SEC. What are you talking about? They got the Alabama Safety Caleb Downs, maybe the best defensive back to college football. They got a former SEC rushing champ in the backfield. They found this Kansas State quarterback that's, you know, hooking up with his receivers. I mean, even if his teammates... - Hey, Alabama got Jameson Williams from Ohio State. So, you know, it goes both ways now with this stuff. - Oh, wow, that was good. - He was a reject, though. They didn't want him. They didn't want Joe Burrow either. Don't forget that. - Yeah. One other question for you, Mike, before we let you go. Alabama fans right now. - Yeah. - How much are they missing, Nick? And what are they thinking about Kaylin DuBour? - Well, I mean, didn't Nick Saban say he'd be available to help him out. I don't remember when they said that. They keep him in an office like... - It didn't ask for help or something, yeah. - I'll tell you what, yeah, flat commercials. - I think we can ask plenty of Michigan State fans about how Nick Saban exits programs. I mean, that was all about Nick. That certainly didn't help Alabama. And DuBour lost a lot. He lost a lot of talent when Nick left. A lot of guys hit the portal. And when you play Alabama or you play Georgia, you know, there's a different standard in everybody's aiming at you. They got a whole lot of fees in the playing. - I don't know when you play Oklahoma and Vanderbilt. - Well, I mean, more a Michigan team that couldn't get out of its own way for most of the year. - Well, I guess if Michigan plays in a typhoon every week, they're gonna be in pretty good shape. But let's give Michigan some credit though. I mean, they're on the upswing. I mean, they got a big win over how they... - Hey, they gained 190 yards in that game. But they still couldn't get out of way to win because Alabama kept wetting itself. - Yeah, well, I mean, it's tough when kids don't wanna be there, you know, and I thought it happened with Georgia in 2018. You missed the playoffs and that's it, you know? But for Michigan, they're fighting and scrapping to make everything they can out of this season and to their credit, you know, they went out there and they played a good football game. They deserved a win. They were the better prepared team. And Michigan State fans should be excited 'cause now we know that coach is gonna be around another year or two, right? - Michael, I'll let you get ready for your kickoff. We'll talk to you a little bit later in 2025. Thanks so much. Good afternoon, your team, Jack, and everyone else in Mid-Michigan. - Mike Griffith from Dog Nation. We're gonna stay right here, Rob. And welcome in Jim Keaton Jr. He is a proud Lansing Eastern. Three sport, Letterman actually would have been like five or six if they had had enough opportunities for him to play all those sports. And then, of course, football and baseball Letterman at Arizona State, probably taught Barry Bonds how to hit a home run. And then played in the National Football League, back here, he's done very important things in the community. Jimmy, you had to be really proud of your Sun Devils. Didn't turn out exactly the way you wanted, but talking to you after the game, you weren't talking like a fan. You were talking like an analyst, and you said Arizona State just didn't have quite enough to finish the job. - Yeah, Jack, happy new year to you and everybody in Mid-Michigan. And bottom line was we just didn't do enough to get the job done. And we had our opportunities. You know, I believe that it was a targeting call, but by the rule, I don't really like the rule in general, 'cause I like to hit. And, but, you know, we had opportunities and we didn't take advantage of them. But I am super proud, and uber proud of course, doing him and the boys, because they, I think we gained a lot of fans yesterday, and I think our boy, Skataboo, gained some fans and maybe some Benjamin's too. - Yeah, absolutely. We'll get to Cam Skataboo in just a minute. But when you talk about that targeting call near the end of the fourth quarter, you're right. There's no guarantee that if that call had been made that Arizona State would have won, we saw their inability to convert field goals earlier in the game, and no guarantee that they would have made one then. But if that wasn't targeting, I'd like someone to explain to me exactly what targeting is, and I have yet to hear anyone, an official, explain why that wasn't targeting. - Yeah, Jack, we had that conversation on our alumni page, and it was, it was, the reality is officials make mistakes too, right? But when you have the opportunity to watch the video replay, to determine the mistake, those are hard to swallow. And the thing that we talked about more than anything else is the opportunity, 'cause we don't know what would have happened, 'cause we could have got the targeting call and gone down and missed the field goal anyway, and-- - Could have thrown up against six, you don't know. That's right. - Right, we don't argue the results, we're just gonna talk about the play. And, but it's when plays like that occur, and officials really are not held accountable in any way. - Yeah. - That's what's frustrating, because the senior offensive lineman that's been there the fifth year, who's the second teamer, he's never gonna have another chance to strap 'em up and get ready for another game. Or never have another opportunity to win a national championship. And those are the unattending consequences to me that matter, 'cause guys that can play, they're gonna, they're gonna have duty to play on Sunday, and they're gonna have the next year that they might be able to play. But those guys that are there for their last go round, that don't get that opportunity to be successful, or have another day, or another week with their team. You know, those are things that you can't run that back. You know, that's over, it's done at that point. And not to negate, you know, Texas is a good team, and they're very explosive. I think that the team with the most talent did win the game, but the team that deserves it when the game did not win the game. It's kinda how I look at it. - Right, I would agree with that. 100%, and the only thing I would wanna add about the targeting, Jim, is when the call like that occurs, the whole purpose of replay, in my mind, it's not to re-officiate the game. It's to correct egregious errors. And to me, that no call was an egregious area, it was a miss of a call. So when they had a chance to go back and look at it, either the impression I think a lot of people are gonna have is, well, they're covering up, and they don't wanna admit they made a mistake initially, or, well, let's see, who was the beneficiary of it? It's Texas, we know what money means, we know that all teams are not created equal, and if a call's gonna go one way or the other, if that had been an Arizona state player, would the call have been any different? I don't know. - It's one of those things, Zach, where, if you don't think that people are influenced by something other than what's going on, you might be fine. - You're naive, yeah. - You know, and, well, we all have preconceived prejudices, preconceived notions, and preconceived, ideas about what should or shouldn't be. And that's just human nature. But, like you say, the biggest issue is, is that when you have an opportunity to look at it, and when, I think was Bill LeMons, was the ESPN official, first, he never even flits. Yeah, I think that they're gonna have to, don't be surprised that this is return, this looks like classic targeting. He didn't just say targeting, he said, like, classic targeting, and, - Yeah. - You know, helmet, hit helmet, he launched, not their kid out, I don't know, you know, I don't know how else it can be interpreted, but, you know, again, I don't wanna take away from the great game that was played, like Steve Cesar did when he got asked after the game, you know, how they do it, you know, he decided to flip it that, you know, Texas has been resilient instead of, hey, you know, them guys on the other side of field, they pretty much dominated us most of the day to day. We had a few big blades that helped us win the game, but, you know, he does come from that, that school in California with SC. (laughing) And, you know, so, I'm just gonna leave it at that, and, you know, but bottom line is very proud of ASU, very proud of the way they represented, very proud of our fans. We showed up in significant numbers at the stadium, and it was wonderful to see all the feedback that we're getting, I think we're gonna have a few more NIL dollars to work with down there now, and certainly the excitement is back in the valley, and we're real happy about that. - Well, you've got a terrific young quarterback, I think, and an amazing young coach to build around, but I wanna talk for a minute about Cam Scadaboo, and I was thinking the other day, Jim, it was Arizona State and Iowa State in the big 12 championship game, right? - Correct. - If Iowa State had somehow managed to win that game, and Arizona State had been playing in a non-college football playoff game, do you think Scadaboo would have opted out? I just can't imagine him not taking the chance to play football, even if it's outside today, and how much money did he make for himself, how much of a name recognition did he create for himself with an incredible performance? - Well, I think, first of all, I think the answer to your question is simply no, he would play, and I think it goes back to a conversation, I don't know, I'm not sure if very many people saw this or knew about this, but there was a, ESPN did a piece on him and Coach Dillingham, because Dillingham talked about last year at the end of the season, what he needed to do to be able to play on Sunday. And they had a very candid conversation with him about he needed to lose weight, he needed to be more of a guy that was the leader for the team, and then he became the heartbeat of our team. Now, Sam Levin was a close second, don't get me wrong, and the quarterback typically leads your team in most situations. But camp's gotta move became the heartbeat of our team when he took over in the spring, and spring workouts, and was first guy there, last guy to leave, and encouraged another guy to continue to get better. And so I think as a leader, he's really improved his, you know, before he was a leader by example, and this year he became a leader by his voice, and by his mantra and his chant, and his belief in his players that were around him. And you know what I say, the mark of a great player is to be able to make those players around you better. And he certainly did that this year, and as far as the Benjamin that he made, I think that not that he wasn't on NFL scouts board before, but you know, he's still a unique back. So he's still gotta go to the right place. And I can tell you this, he's not gonna take those same hits in the NFL that he takes in college, that's just not gonna happen, it's just a difference. So he's gotta learn to change his game up a little bit, but he's still gonna be who he is. And he reminds me a lot of a guy that we had, there's no state when I played there, but a much smaller and that's Gerald Riggs, 'cause Riggs was the guy that when he was square to the line of scrimmage, there wasn't a whole lot of people that wanted to jump in front of him and bring him down. And, but he's a great young man, he's a great leader, had the opportunity to meet him at when I was there for a alumni reunion, and just all about being a great son devil and great teammate. So I'm looking forward to him just to stay healthy and to represent well and when he plays on Sunday for the sundowns. - Jim, Cam Scadaboo was a zero star recruit, zero, and started out at Sacramento State and then was able to transfer, but he reminds me a little bit stylistically of Rob's favorite player, Mike Allstadt. - Oh yeah. - And I was thinking that not that these teams have already played too many games because both of them had a first round buy, but if they wanted to have one other game and say set it up for charity, some sort of players of fund for, you know, their families or find some cause that would be, I know a lot of people would pay big money to watch Boise State play Arizona State and see Ashton Genti and Cam Scadaboo go at it. - Yeah, that would be a showcase event for sure. You know, Jack, it's funny because you say that and I look at both teams and it's like the biggest, the biggest thing that you worry about is the defenses on the other side and how they gonna handle them. You know, 'cause you know what you'll get from the guys, but what you get from the defensive side that's gonna turn the tide, but that would be why you handled their business. You know, that could have been a big 12 this year. - Yeah, yeah. Hey, last thing for you, Jim, we got the game going now, Georgia Notre Dame kicking off here. Who's gonna meet for the National Championship? We know that it's Ohio State and Texas, but Notre Dame is gonna go against Georgia for the right to play Penn State. And what do you make of this? Who are gonna be the last two standing? - Jack, I'm just gonna go out on a limb and I'm gonna say that Dame Franklin will figure out a way to win a big game. I'm not sure maybe he'll not coach and then win the game. That might be the option, but it's Ohio State and Penn State for the National Championship and Ohio State wins another National Championship. So all the people in Ohio that have written Ryan Day off, Ryan Day can go have a cigar and raise his NIL contract up a little bit for himself. Because the best team in the country, I believe, is the Buckeyes and Penn State. - Mike Griffith and all the people who've been sounding the horn for the SEC all season can sit there and just sulk. When they see OSU and PSU go at it, right? - Yeah, they can just get their lighters out and light our cigars. - Jim, thanks so much. You know what? We should get together and watch one of these playoff games. Let's do that. - Let's do that next week. - Got it. - Got it. - Got it. - All right, we'll be right back and we're gonna talk a little basketball up next. In interest of full disclosure, we had a great segment set up for 4.30 today. And we were gonna have Michigan State recruits, Jordan Scott and Cam Ward and their buddies, they know each other, but they're both, they've had such amazing careers. They both had major milestones lately and they were excited about doing this and Cam's coach called a practice for four o'clock. So he was very apologetic. We're gonna reschedule that. It's gonna happen very soon. But before that, we are gonna talk with DeShawn Tate, our Lansing-Bread Atlanta-based basketball savant, Michigan State back in action Friday night, tomorrow night. And that is a Fox prime time game at Ohio State against the bipolar Buckeyes. We'll be right back. - To everyone who craves a sweet treat with a little something special, let us tell you about our concrete mixers at Culver's. - There's so many reasons I love fresh frozen custard. It's so rich, so creamy. It's the perfect treat. But when I handcraft it with all of your favorite mix ins and see your smiles after every spoonful, it's clear. What makes our concrete mixers so special to me is making them just for you. - From Wisconsin with love. - Welcome to Delicious. - Hey Spartan fans, when you want the largest and best selection of Spartan gear, Alumni Hall is your ultimate shopping destination. Come get your officially licensed gear. Nike, champion, Columbia, Yeti, new era hats, tailgating gear and more. MSU students, faculty and military receive 10% off in store every day. And you can earn cash back with their Hall Pass rewards. Alumni Hall, located in Eastwood Town Center near the Apple Store, or shop anytime at alumnihall.com. For the ultimate Spartan shopping experience, it's Alumni Hall. - Jack Eblen here with my good friend Matt Sloane is a graph of Okamas, lots of excitement at the two dealerships. What's new with Chevy and Nissan? - Well, Jack, great question. At Nissan, everybody seems to be talking about interest rates. We're offering 0% financing on new vehicles. And we have the all-new, completely redesigned 2025 kicks on the lot and ready for delivery. It is fantastic. At Chevy, same thing. People are talking about interest rates. Guess what? We have 0% financing on new. And as low as 1.99 used, you gotta come check it out. - Great time to get a car and great place to do it. Grab a boat. - Time for a career change. Looking to make a difference, Dean Transportation is looking for compassion at people to join our dedicated team of school bus professionals. Dean Transportation has immediate openings and offers paid training to obtain a commercial driver's license. With increased starting pay, benefit packages, flexible scheduling with weekday hours and more. Dean Transportation may be the career choice for you. No experience needed, apply now and train all summer. Head to deanjobs.com. So, it's been a while since you've had your jewelry cleaned and inspected, right? Where will you go and who will you trust with your most valuable and treasured heirlooms? At Meduar Jewelers' four locations in Lansing, Okamas, Jackson and Portage, jewelry isn't just our job, it's our passion. Each and every piece entrusted in our care is thoroughly inspected by our trained staff against damage or normal wear. And we offer you our customer the highest level of quality on repairs and custom designs. Whether it's worn out proms, channels or shanks, it's all handled with incredible care. Meduar Jewelers in Lansing, Okamas, Jackson and Portage wanna help you preserve your memories and offer you options on creating new ones. Come in today for the cleaning and inspection of your jewelry. We continue to work hard every day to earn your confidence and trust. ♪ Meduar Jewelers ♪ - Hey Spartan fans, when you want the largest and best selection of Spartan gear, Alumni Hall is your ultimate shopping destination. Come get your officially licensed gear. Nike, Champion, Columbia, Yeti, new era hats, tailgating gear and more. MSU students, faculty and military receive 10% off in store every day. And you can earn cash back with their hall pass rewards. Alumni Hall located at Eastwood Town Center near the Apple Store or shop anytime at AlumniHall.com. For the ultimate Spartan shopping experience, it's Alumni Hall. (upbeat music) - Welcome back. It is the drive with Jack the Spotlight Radio Network. Well, round ball rock to start 2025. That can only mean. - Sean Tate is with us. - Not quite yet, working on it, Jack. - Not quite yet, all right. - Not quite yet, sorry to tease you there a little bit, but we had to have some mover. - Close to get some mover. - Yeah, all right. - Working on it. - It means that he will be with us, we hope, right? That's the plan. That's what he said he would be able to do just a few minutes ago. So maybe he has been distracted in some way, but he will be with us momentarily. And how about the Detroit Pistons? I don't think anyone saw this coming. That doesn't mean that the Pistons are gonna be NBA contenders. It doesn't mean that they're gonna be in the playoffs. But it does mean that they are respectable enough. They're watchable, let's say that. And didn't think that was coming. They already have more victories than we thought we would see in another month or two. They already have more victories than they had all last year. - So I digress Jack, I gotta say the bad news. You're saying all the great things about the Pistons and what they've been able to do, but some bad news about Ivy, who I believe broke his bib. - Well, we'll get to that in a minute. We'll get to that in a minute. I'm gonna deal with the positive first. - Okay, we're gonna go positive then negative, okay. - That's right. I wanna get to give them their due, 15 and 18. They're not even a 500 team yet, but last year, they were 14 and 68. So they have more wins in 33 games than they had last year in 82 games. Shows how far they have come, and they are right now in the play-in. If the season were to end today, the Pistons and the Pacers, two teams below 500 would be in the 8-9 matchup. They're not even the last team in, but the Pistons in the Eastern Conference are ahead of the Bulls, the Sixers. That was surprised a lot of people. The Nets, the Raptors, the Hornets and the Wizards, and you can say, yeah, but you're talking about the Dragons. They're not ahead of any good teams, but here they are, they would be in this play-in with Indianapolis or with Indiana, the Pacers, I should say. And then Atlanta would be waiting and all they have to do is win a game and they got a chance. They got a legitimate chance to get into the playoffs. Let's see what Deshaun Tate thinks about that, Jack. We got him on the line. Deshaun, did you ever think that you would be seeing NFL playoffs if the season ended today and after the play-in, you could have Atlanta and Detroit as the last two teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs? No, I definitely didn't. I don't think they would want to hear my mouth of something like that was to happen. But listen, I mean, we're into 2025 now, Jack. So, I mean, the reality is setting in that I've seen kind of crazier things. I mean, we're what, one game away from seeing how the Detroit Lions be the number one team, representing the NFC. So, again, I mean, crazy things have happened. I know we all kind of say that and whatever we have you. That puts a whole new meaning to it, but the Detroit Pistons, I think that, you know, it's been a fitting and definitely want to give them some credit just because of what they've been able to do recently and kind of appear to turn things around to some degree. It feels like they've turned it around a lot more than they probably actually have. But yet still in that same breath, there are still some other teams, like you mentioned, the Philadelphia 76ers amongst a couple others who look like that they've kind of gotten off to a really rough start where the Pistons, not that they've necessarily been playing great. I think that they've just been playing better than some other teams have and have definitely improved. So, good for them. And to be honest with you, as crazy as it seems, you might look at some of those other teams that they have better records than right now and say, well, those teams are going to get better over time after we get into the nuts and bolts and meet the titles of the season. But I think you could say the same thing about Detroit. I don't feel like they're playing their best brand basketball right now either. So, I think that it's kind of selling from that standpoint as well. - Well, there's six and four in their last 10 games. And of the top 10 teams in the Eastern Conference, the only teams that have been hotter than that are Cleveland and the Knicks. - Yeah. - That's amazing. Over the last 10 games, Pistons have a better record than the Celtics, and again, this is deceptive because they're going to come crashing back to Earth here. And I know people are going to say, well, see, it was all a mirage, but what they're going to miss, when you're a team like the Pistons, you don't have a lot of margin for error. Everything has to come out about the way it could. And when you have a major injury, like the one they just got to J-Nivy, I don't know if you saw that play, Deshawn, but-- - Didn't see it, don't want to see it, hurt a body. - Cole Anthony, it wasn't a dirty play. He was going for a loose ball. He was diving, Ivy's leg was planted, his left leg bent at an angle you would never want to see. And it wound up with the broken fibula, and I'm amazed it wasn't worse than that. Could have been a career-ending injury if it completely blown out the knee too. But it hit just low enough that it affected the bone rather than the knee. But when you think about that loss, a guy who was really developing, and as a rookie, he'd been a disappointment to the point that people were saying, "Maybe he's not going to be an NBA player." Coaching change has a new relationship, has the coach's confidence. J-Nivy had a pretty good year for the Pistons. - Yeah, no, he has. And listen, I mean, you know, you're talking about this injury, I'm only, you know, if I'm usually being a little bit facetious here, talking about how gruesome that injury was. Insert here, Kevin Ware from Louisville 12 years ago says, "Hold my beer, Jack." That's one you don't want to go back and look at. But, nonetheless, nonetheless. - I was there, I thought that one too. - Oh, you were that one. Okay, okay, you were at that one. I didn't know that, but-- - Ugly, ugly, ugly. - Yeah, I'm sure of it. But no, again, like you said, some people say, "Hey, just call your friends." I mean, he's no killing and, "Hey, don't get me wrong." You know what I mean? - Right, right. - But I can definitely understand where there was some reservations about J-Nivy and I definitely thought that, you know, the coaching change would probably help him quite a bit more, I know that there were some, not gonna say issues for, say, under my few Williams, but it just seems like they just ran on the same page or maybe just didn't fit the style. Certainly, not even about starting or being in the lineup, but certainly deserved to be playing a little bit more minutes than he was talking about J-Nivy, especially considering the roster, but looks like they're turning some things around. And I mean, listen, this, I'm hearing you mentioned where, you know, talking about some of the, hearing you talk about some of the other teams, like, "Yeah, well, they're gonna get better "and whatever else will have you." But the one thing that the Pistons don't have is the pressure that some of those other teams have. - True. - Not like to think that they do have the grit and the pride and everything else that the Lions have, at least have the poacher and, you know, having some pride. And that's something that I think Pistons fans only can kind of, you know, expect is to be competitive and not just go out there and get the doors blown off of you every single night. But I do think that that is one thing that helps them is that they have a little bit of option to play a little bit more freely without all the pressure on them, like some of the others. - One of the other things about this, and I'll get off the Ivy thing, I think that we have a tendency and drives me crazy, but I understand why it is. Now, for instant analysis, hot takes, everyone wants immediate reaction and they are passing judgment, definitive judgment. - Yeah. - Concrete observations on people after one year, sometimes before one year. Ah, the guy's a flop. Oh, he's a Hall of Famer. Oh, he'll never make it. Oh, he's, you know, he's this, he's that. So I think we need to be a little more patient. I look at football, okay? So you see Jaden Daniels, and he came out and he's had an incredible rookie year. He's done things other rookies haven't done. That doesn't mean guys who don't have that rookie year will never be good quarterbacks. Look at Sam Darnold's rookie year. Where is he now? He's got a team that could be number one in the NFC if they beat the Lions Sunday night. And the same thing is true in the NBA, but to Sean, we have seen guys, it doesn't happen for him right away. It didn't happen for Nicola Yokech's first year. - I agree with that, Jekyll. I mean, to me, just in my opinion, it's one of those things where as, it's just like our own individual bodies as people. We all develop differently. Sometimes you have to develop into your game. Sometimes you have to develop in an immaturation process as a person, amongst other things, into your NBA body, into a professional body. Like, you gotta remember something. It's one thing to be 17, 18 year old people flag, whatever what have you. And of course, you gotta be somebody himself that's able to hold his own against guys that are 22, 23, maybe some, I mean 24 now by this point because of the COVID waiver and everything else. But now we're talking about a whole different level where you're going against the best of the very best, each and every single night. Bigger, stronger, faster is not the only thing that applies to the NFL anymore. That is also in the NBA. Everybody's athletic. Everybody was the best player on their team in high school and in college and everything else for the most part. So I think that you definitely have to kind of look at this from a different perspective. Instead of like you said, everybody about the quick takes. Guys that don't let me tell you some expectations that so many of these guys have, you barely even get those guys for a year before everybody's calling them a bust and shouldn't be in the league and everything else. That's just what happens in this microwave society, unfortunately. - The beginning of this season, Deshawn, I had people who should know better telling me that Cade Cunningham was a bust, that he would never be a point guard. He's not built like a point guard. They said the same thing about magic 'cause he was too tall. And look at him now. Look what he's doing for this team. And he's finding his game. Let me give you another guy, okay? I just watched a replay of a game today between the Minnesota Timberwolves and OKC. The guy who came out of Kentucky who caught my attention when he had eight steals, eight against Michigan State. And I said, man, I don't know who this guy is, but at some point, he's gonna be a hell of a defensive player in the NBA. Turned out, his name was Kason Wallace and he was drafted by the Thunder. And, you know, first year, trying to figure it out and stuff like that, nothing to line up. People are saying, well, he doesn't shoot it well enough. He doesn't do this well enough. Well, the Thunder have stumbled into him. And now they put him in a lineup. And they got rid of Isaiah Joe and the other guys they were fooling around with. And he just locked up Ant-Man. Yeah. Five straight possessions. And, you know, he's the kind of guy who if you, in the right situation, it's kind of like when Eric Snow teamed up with Alan Iverson. If you put this guy with SGA. Now, you got an interesting combination. Well, not everybody Jack is gonna look like the LeBron James and the best things since sliced bread going into the NBA or even throughout the duration of their careers even. And how about this? Sometimes everybody's so quick to call a guy a bus because of the number that's next to him and where he got drafted and everything else. Sometimes it's not the player that's the actual bus. Sometimes it's the general manager whoever's decision it was to pick a guy as high as they did and saw what they saw and whatever else that's the actual bus. And maybe it's not even a bus at all. Sometimes it's so situational. People don't understand how much of a business this is and how much that agent, having the right agents and agency supporting you and all this other stuff, political side of it. We'll get away from that for a second. But to your point, Jack, another similar guy who people were just ready to wash their hands with, you know what the Hawks got for Dejante Murray? Potentially the defensive player of the year. You mentioned eight steals. This guy's going crazy. Dyson Daniels right now. And the defensive side of the ball is infectious and it's really helping a lot. - Yeah, I have a rule now, Dejante. I'm not gonna judge any player on his career before he's old enough to buy a beer. - Sounds like a good plan to me. If he comes into the league at 19 or 20, check back when he's a little bit older because he's still maturing in so many ways. But I wanna talk a little bit about the NBA, where it is right now. And at this point of the season, are you pretty sure that the Celtics are gonna be back there or is Cleveland legit? - Well, I think Cleveland is definitely legit. I think that from what they could potentially be a team, like we were having a conversation X amount of months later from now and talking about how, oh, well, they peaked early. I think that that is something that is realistic. Seeing Boston get back there, sure. But I was never the team, even before they won it. I said, the first thing everybody's gonna do, like we always do, is run back and talk about how the team that just won it is automatically gonna repeat and be right there. They're gonna be number one in the rankings at the beginning of the season and everything else. But I don't think that it's a foregone conclusion. I think when that happens, a little bit different kind of pressure is added to you. Defenses and opposition in general start preparing and planning for you slightly differently a little bit. There's more blueprint on how to beat you. And that's just inevitable. That's just something that happens with life. I'm not so quick to say that they'll be right back there. It is just not very many teams that I think that we can have a conversation about being there without them having a case of being there. If that makes sense. - All right, LeBron James, Steph Curry, Damien Lillard. Well, any of them won another NBA championship. Wow. - Any of them. - You got three chances. - Yeah, I think one of them will. Not so obviously not so sure about Damien Lillard, but I feel pretty confident that there's a possibility that LeBron could win another championship. - In LA? - I mean, so much of the change with this team, Jack. And I'm not sure he has enough years left. That's my hesitation to see things change. Continue to go out there and get into kind of players that they have just to try and win a championship. Some things up to change. That's my hesitation there. I just feel like you will, but I really think that is last stop even if it's just for a 10 day contract will go from LA to retiring in Cleveland. - All right, a couple of quick hits in college basketball and we'll let you go to Sean. Who wins a big 10 championship? - Oh boy. - We've got three teams right now tied at 2 and 0. Michigan, Michigan State and UCLA. And there are a bunch of teams at one and one. - I'm gonna go with Sparty on this one, Jack. - Whoa. - I think they're gonna win. I think they're gonna do it this year. - Tom is with a record tying 11th title. He would match Bob Knight and Ward Piggy Lambert for big 10 championships. How about that, all right? And we talked about this a couple of weeks ago. Last thing, I said, would you rather have your choice of four teams or the field for an NCAA championship? And usually, by this point in the season, there are a couple of teams that you can say, hey, that's a really great team or that's a team you definitely wouldn't want to play. I think it depends on what day of the week it is. I could see 10, 15 teams and throw a blanket over them. Do you think you could pick three of the final four? - I feel pretty confident in three of the final four. - Don't tell me about Kentucky 'cause the last time you were on here, you were talking about the Wildcats and then they lost at Ohio State by 20. - And the interesting part about that is Kentucky's still gonna be one of those three teams that I mentioned. - Okay, okay. Give me the others. - I feel good about them. I think Houston has a real shot to be able to get back there. I'll go with Houston. And the final team I'll go with will be, see, Alabama Gonzaga, Alabama Gonzaga, I go. Let's go with the Zags on this one. - Okay, all right. Well, the Zags are waiting for that first championship. Mark Fuse has been close. Been right there twice and that would be nice. I'd like to see Kelvin Sampson have another shot too. That would be great. Love him and the way he coaches. The ferocity that his team plays. - I agree, I agree. - Sean, thanks so much for joining us. Really appreciate it. We'll talk to you soon. - Thanks much, Jack. Appreciate you. - All right. Rob, I think we should take a break and then we're gonna talk with Dave Hochman out in Arizona and he has analyzed the college football playoff in a way that very few have and he knows how the numbers work in Vegas too. And trust me, he's on top of that. So we're gonna check in with him and get the reaction to what the Sun Devils did and didn't quite do yesterday. We'll be right back. - You gonna bring up Michigan too? I'm sure you are. - Oh, I think we might. - It might have a little discussion. - Might bring up Michigan in Ohio State too. - Yeah, fair enough. - We'll do all that in just a moment here trying to drive with Jack. - To everyone who wants a meal made just for you, let our team member, Arish, share what makes Culver special. - We know the best meals are the ones shared with the people you love. Like our cook to order butter burgers and our real Wisconsin cheese curds and our creamy fresh frozen custard. I'll put the same carrots to your meal that I would for my own family. - Order ahead on the app or Culver's.com for a meal made the Wisconsin way. - From Wisconsin with love. - Welcome to Delicious. - Hey Spartan fans. When you want the largest and best selection of Spartan gear, Alumni Hall is your ultimate shopping destination. Come get your officially licensed gear. Nike, champion, Columbia, Yeti, new era hats, tailgating gear and more. MSU students, faculty and military receive 10% off in store every day. And you can earn cash back with their hall pass rewards. Alumni Hall located at Eastwood Town Center near the Apple Store or shop anytime at alumnihall.com. For the ultimate Spartan shopping experience, it's Alumni Hall. - Jack Eble here with my good friend Matt Sloane is a graph of Ochemists. Lots of excitement at the two dealerships. What's new with Chevy and Nissan? - Well, Jack, great question. At Nissan, everybody seems to be talking about interest rates. We're offering 0% financing on new vehicles and we have the all new completely redesigned 2025 kicks on the lot and ready for delivery. It is fantastic. At Chevy, same thing. People are talking about interest rates. Guess what? We have 0% financing on new and as low as 1.99 used. You gotta come check it out. - Great time to get a car and great place to do it. Graph of Ochemists. - Time for a career change. Looking to make a difference, Dean Transportation is looking for compassion at people to join our dedicated team of school bus professionals. Dean Transportation has immediate openings and offers paid training to obtain a commercial driver's license. With increased starting pay, benefit packages, flexible scheduling with weekday hours and more. Dean Transportation may be the career choice for you. No experience needed. Apply now and train all summer. Head to deanjobs.com. So it's been a while since you've had your jewelry cleaned and inspected, right? Where will you go and who will you trust with your most valuable and treasured heirloams? At matter, our jewelers for locations in Lansing, Ochemists, Jackson and Portage, jewelry isn't just our job. It's our passion. Each and every piece entrusted in our care is thoroughly inspected by our trained staff against damage or normal wear. And we offer you our customer the highest level of quality on repairs and custom designs. Whether it's worn off proms, channels or shanks, it's all handled with incredible care. Matterwire jewelers in Lansing, Ochemists, Jackson and Portage wanna help you preserve your memories and offer you options on creating new ones. Come in today for the cleaning and inspection of your jewelry. We continue to work hard every day to earn your confidence and trust. ♪ Matterwire jewelers ♪ (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Oh, welcome back. It is the drive with Jack. Spotlight radio network. Jack Evelyn here with my producer, Boston Rob. Rob, do we have our next guest on the line? - Still working on it. - Okay. - You might be celebrating that Michigan win. - Oh, I don't think I wouldn't bet on that. You know, he's not that kind of Michigan fan. - Yeah. - He didn't want him to win, but you know, when they stink, he's the first one to tell you about it. - Hey, he deserves to celebrate. He deserves to celebrate that win against Alabama, right? - Yeah, they didn't beat themselves. So they didn't do what Alabama did, but it's-- - Say Alabama beat themselves in probably five other team. - I don't know if a team that's won back-to-back games gaining 234 and 190 yards. But that's what Michigan did by playing largely mistake-free football. And that's what we have seen here. So right now we've got Georgia with the ball at the Notre Dame 29, second and three here in the first quarter, about midway through the first quarter, no scoring in the Sugar Bowl yet. So we'll see how this plays out the rest of the day. - I'll tell you what, let's go out to Arizona, right? - Great, yeah. - Let's welcome in Dave Hochman. Spent a lot of time in the Ann Arbor, Ipsalani area, and now out in Arizona, in the Phoenix area. Dave, what's the reaction out there today? Is it heartbreak? Is it pride? Is it disappointment in a non-call? Is it scam scataboo for president? What are we talking about out there? - All of the above, Jack. You had to be there in a situation like I was at one of the local casinos. I was in the sports book watching the end of that game. And when it came up to fourth and 13, it looked for all the world like Arizona State was about to win that game. And that place was erupting. I mean, obviously it would erupt on every positive play, you know, especially when ASU took the lead in overtime. And then when they got them into that situation, you know, where they just needed one stop and they would have it. And then what a letdown for him to throw over the top for a 28 yard touchdown on fourth and 13. And boy, the air just went out of the place. And well, you saw what happened after that. It wasn't good for ASU. - Yeah. Did people think, okay, we got another overtime, we got another shot at this, we'll get it. Or did they realize that that was our last best chance? - Well, it was a little bit of both. I mean, I think we all probably have the feeling that, you know, they had such a great chance. And when they let that slip away, the likelihood wasn't great of ASU winning, but they still did have another overtime. Unfortunately, the very first play of the next overtime was a touchdown pass. And they made the two-point conversion. So now ASU is going to need eight points just to tie it up and force another overtime, which at that point would be just a series of two-point plays. But, you know, they threw the pick and that was it. - Yeah, yeah. - But yeah, there's a lot of people, a lot of people are very proud of ASU for how they played in the season that they had. And as you said, there is certainly a lot of anger about the lack of a call on targeting. - I guess I don't understand the rule, Dave, because as I looked at the replay and looked at it and looked at it and looked at it, if that's not targeting, I don't understand the rule. - Right, well, and the other thing that ASU is mad about is that in the second half of their previous game with Iowa State, they had a player, key player, called for targeting on a very questionable call and therefore he had to sit out the first half of the game with Texas. And then this play, which was much more severe, ends up not getting called. And the feeling a lot of people have is that they were making the call based on the situation, that if it was earlier in the game, it would have been called, but that the refs didn't want to be in the position of deciding the game, so to speak, because that would have given ASU the first down at the 37 of Texas with a minute eight to go. So they would have a very good chance to win. - All right, let's talk a little bit about Camp Skataboo and what an amazing gift for Arizona State. They spotted him, they gave him the chance and they were certainly rewarded for it. But in terms of popularity with the program, I think back to Arizona State and maybe Jake the Snake Plumber. - Yep, absolutely. You know, maybe in light of what happened afterward, Pat Tillman is so iconic there. But I gotta think that when people talk about Arizona State football and they're talking about they're all time top, top, top, top, he's gonna be in that discussion. - Yeah, he's right up there, and especially that fourth core that he had where he kinda did it all, including throwing a touchdown pass, you know, scoring a couple touchdowns, running for what, 140 yards, the two point conversion that tied the game. You know, I suppose you could also look at it that had ASU won in overtime, they would have been fortunate because of the two missed kicks by Texas. But then you also look back to the fact that they gave up a kick return for a touchdown in the first half and that ASU had so many chances in the red zone, where they either came out with zero points or three. - Yeah, you know. - Yeah, well, I think it's been a sensational season when you're picked last in your league. I mean, Indiana wasn't always picked last, it was picked last or next to last in the big 10, but to be picked last and finish first in your first year in the league, I don't think that's ever happened before. - No, it was completely surprising, especially if you look at where the program was just a couple years ago, you know, obviously Kenny Dillingham inherited a mess from Herm Edwards and his first year wasn't really very good. So there wasn't much of an indication that they would suddenly rise up and have this great of a year. - Yeah, well, when you get one of the two best backs in the country, show up on your doorstep and you get a quarterback, you know, who can, he's so confident he thinks he could go up against the Lions right now, well, against the Lions defense, maybe he could. - Maybe he could, yes. - Yeah, so, you know, that certainly helps. We saw that guy around here for a while. So I think there's something else we haven't seen before, Dave. I'm looking at the top four teams, okay, in the scene. - Yeah. - And not only is there a good chance that all four are going to lose, but all four were underdogs. Seeds one, two, three, and four were underdogs. Top-seeded Oregon was a two and a half point dog to eight-seeded Ohio State. Two-seeded Georgia is a point and a half dog right now to Notre Dame. Boise was 11 and a half point underdog to Penn State and Arizona State was 13 and a half point underdog to Texas. So how are the five, six, seven, and eight seeds favored over the top four? - Well, it's incredible, but on the other hand, it's kind of the way the seeding was designed. And when you have a requirement that the top four seeds be conference champions, you get into that situation where Arizona State and Boise State have the three and four seeds. - Right. - And so they have the seeding advantage, but certainly, obviously big underdogs against Texas and Penn State. And then you have a situation with Oregon where they're number one, but they end up having to play their first and only game against the really great Ohio State team who's playing at the top of their game. And so-- - And Ohio State had two more losses and it already lost to Oregon, although it was at Austin Stadium, we get that. But-- - By what point? - Yeah, by a point, that's right. So they were an underdog, and then the SEC champion being an underdog. I don't know how often we've seen that in the playoffs, so. - Very true, but it is, but this Georgia team, I don't think is quite as good as certainly the two teams that won the national title or even last year's team. And Notre Dame's pretty good. Obviously one horrible loss early in the year, but have played very, very well throughout the year. So, you knew those were gonna be close points, Freds. Both the Georgia Notre Dame game and the Ohio State Oregon game. We're gonna be close. And as it turns out, as you said, it turns out both of the lower seeded teams were slight favorites. - Dave, I know someone very well, you do too, who placed a sizable bet on Ohio State to win the national championship, the night of the loss to Michigan. - Really? - Yes. And when most people were talking about Ryan Day being fired, that person said, you know, that could happen, but if it doesn't happen, if Ohio State plays the way Ohio State can play, as the best team money can buy, it is the best team in college football, and it could roll right through this state. - Yep. - And I can see that happening, and if that does happen, the question is, had Michigan beaten, or had Ohio State beaten Michigan, as everyone expected? Would the Buckeyes be as good as they are right now? - Wow, that's a great question. It's hard to say if they're playing angry and motivated and suddenly playing loose because they're not playing Michigan. - You know, I think they've looked within two and they found out, who are we? Okay. - Yeah. - We have to do this, this and this and this and if we do, no one can stop us, instead of trying to be something they're not. - Well, here's the thing, Jack. So if Ohio State had beaten Michigan, they'd have played Oregon in the Big Ten title game. Now, let's say for the sake of argument, that game went as it did yesterday. So Ohio State wins the Big Ten, and they're the number one seed, and Oregon would have been the five seed, and where would that have put things? I guess, well, maybe Oregon would be-- - I don't know that that game would have turned out the way it did yesterday for these reasons, Dave. - Okay. - It would have been the following week. - Yep. - And Ohio State would not have had the time off, that it had, not playing in the Big Ten Championship game, to reflect and to have a Sunday come to Jesus' meeting on this, right? And to get, to really reinvent itself. And also, I think it might have been a little fat and sassy, and not coming out there with the viciousness. I mean, this Ohio State team is gonna take your lunch money. - Yeah, there's no doubt, but if we're playing the hypothetical game, you know, let's say Ohio State wins that game, not necessarily by a blowout. - Okay. - You know, not, but they win. So they're gonna be the one seed. Oregon would be the five that had been in the place of Texas, so they would have played Clemson in the 512 game, probably won that. And then they would have been playing, I guess ASU, just as Texas did. So a good chance Oregon could win that game, and they'd still be alive, and they'd be getting ready. Well, then they'd be ready for another rematch. They'd be ready for the third game between Oregon and Ohio State. - Wow. How do you think a third game between these teams would turn out? Would it be like yesterday? Or would it be a close game like the first one? - I think it would be much closer than yesterday. I think Ohio State would probably win again, but I don't think it would be able to blow out again. I think I was just one of those days where everything weren't right for them and wrong for Oregon. - Yeah, I just like this Ohio State version a lot better than the one that I saw, and it isn't just that game against Michigan. People say, well, they had one horrible game. No, that's not it. They had some games during the season. They played Nebraska, Dave, and they were fortunate to win that one by four points. - And that was after Indiana had beaten Nebraska 56 to seven. - That's right, that's right. Indiana had clocked them by 49, and Ohio State beat them by four. And we know what happened when Indiana played Ohio State. So Ohio State's motivation comes and goes, and then they were certainly motivated for the Michigan game, but the coaches were in outer space. When you look at what Michigan did to end the season here, it's gonna go down as a five-loss season, but when you end it with wins over Ohio State and Alabama, gotta feel pretty good, even if your team has almost as many first-round draft picks or could have as many as your team had losses. - Well, that's true. And the thing that's amazing is not only that Michigan played so short-handed yesterday or the other day, and beat Alabama without all the great players, but that their offense, especially their passing game, was so pitiful in both those games against Ohio State and Alabama, and yet they won both games. - Right, they didn't make mistakes. - Yep. - Alex Orgy had one interception, and I think Davis Warren did in the Ohio State game, but by and large, in those games, Michigan won by not beating Michigan. - Right. - And you can win a lot of games if you don't beat yourself. We saw Alabama, I don't know if they could have played it, but it was the worst first quarter. That was a bad first quarter, as I've seen it hit play. And you still only gave up 16 points, and Michigan started with four possessions at the Alabama 21. - Yeah, well, you could say that maybe Michigan's most valuable player was Jalen Milra. - Yeah, exactly. - But there's a couple ways to look at Michigan season. On the one hand, it was a five-loss season, and it could have easily been six or seven if you look at the USC game and the Minnesota game. They had a couple fortunate calls, especially the on-side kick against Minnesota, maybe a couple against USC, and then Collele Mullings breaks off an amazing run, or you could say bad tackling by USC. And then he runs, he makes a similar play against Ohio State at a huge moment late in the game. So they were very close to having a losing season and not even making a bowl game, but on the other hand, you look back at their schedule now, and you look at the five losses in the regular season, and the regular season records of those teams that Michigan lost to, Oregon 12 and O, Texas 11 and one, Indiana 11 and one, Illinois was nine and three, and then there's Washington, who ironically played Michigan in the national title game, and then similar to Michigan, they lose their coach, they lose all their good players almost. In fact, they lost even more than Michigan did, and they had a similar season to Michigan. They were six and six, and Michigan lost that game. - All right, Dave, before we let you go, a couple of questions here. I need a prediction from you on this Georgia Notre Dame game. How's this gonna wind up? 00 right now. - Why? - I know. - I know. - I'm picking Notre Dame with a very, very slight edge, could go either way. - 17, 16, something like that. - Yeah, I may be proven wrong. - 17, 16. - Yeah, and I give the SVC full credit for what they did from the years 2006 to 2022. I believe it was, what was it? 13 national titles in 17 years, something like that? - Yeah, that's right. - But this year, I think the SVC is overrated, and it's not just the bowl games. It's the regular season, regular season non-conference, not that impressive. And just as I say that, Georgia hits a long pass. There's a flag on the play, but it might be interference against Notre Dame. So, you know, I guess I have to pick somebody, and I'm just giving a slight lean to Notre Dame. We'll see what happens. - Give me a score on Sunday night at Ford Field with the Lions and the Vikings. - Wow, that's gonna be, I would guess, high scoring. It's gonna be close. I tend to think Minnesota getting three points is a good bet, but that Lions offense is really hard to stop. I'll say the Lions pull it out just by maybe two points. - Okay, the Lions undefeated on the road, I have two losses this year, both at home. So, you know, maybe if they do lose at home and have to go on the road as a five seed, it's not the death knell that some people are saying, "Well, if they don't get the number one seed, they'll never make it the Super Bowl." You know, they've proven that they're capable of losing at home. - And winning on the road. - And winning on the road, so who knows? - All right, that's true, but of course that five seed is gonna be a favorite, especially if it's the Lions against the four seed, you know, probably a pretty big favorite. - And then we'll be back playing the one seed again. - Most likely, exactly. - Yeah, 'cause the one seed's got the buys. So, if the five seed beats the four seed, it's gonna, you're gonna have a. - Yeah, not for sure though, 'cause of the receding of there's another upset below them that could change it. - That's possible, yeah, you're right. All right, thanks so much, Dave, really appreciate it. We'll talk to you soon, enjoy the games. - All right, thank you, Jack, you too. - We'll be right back, and we're gonna talk with Ailey Schongaard from WLS Channel 6. We'll get her take on what she has seen in college hockey and talk about the Great Lakes Invitational. Look at a Pasco who's a guest on this show the other day and also, how about the game tonight? Rob, you're gonna be there at Munice Arena, Wisconsin coming in, and then Ailey is also going to Chicago for the game against Wisconsin on Saturday. So, she'll see both of those games this weekend. We'll be back talking college hockey and more with Ailey coming up next. - Hey Spartan fans, when you want the largest and best selection of Spartan gear, Alumni Hall is your ultimate shopping destination. Come get your officially licensed gear. Nike, champion, Columbia, Yeti, new era hats, tailgating gear, and more. MSU students, faculty and military receive 10% off in-store every day, and you can earn cash back with their Hall Pass rewards. Alumni Hall, located in Eastwood Town Center, near the Apple Store, or shop anytime at alumnihall.com. For the ultimate Spartan shopping experience, it's Alumni Hall. - To everyone who craves a sweet treat with a little something special, let us tell you about our concrete mixers at Culver's. - There's so many reasons I love fresh frozen custard. It's so rich, so creamy, it's the perfect treat. But when I handcraft it with all of your favorite mixins and see your smiles after every spoonful, it's clear. What makes our concrete mixers so special to me is making them just for you. - From Wisconsin with love. - Welcome to Delicious. (upbeat music) - Time for a career change. Looking to make a difference? Dean Transportation is looking for compassionate people to join our dedicated team of school bus professionals. Dean Transportation has immediate openings and offers paid training to obtain a commercial driver's license. With increased starting pay, benefit packages, flexible scheduling with weekday hours and more. Dean Transportation may be the career choice for you. No experience needed, applying now and train all summer. Head to Deanjobs.com. - Jack Allen here with my good friend Matt Sloane has grabbed a Volcomist, lots of excitement at the two dealerships. What's new with Chevy and Nissan? - Well, Jack, great question. At Nissan, everybody seems to be talking about interest rates. We're offering 0% financing on new vehicles and we have the all new completely redesigned 2025 kicks on the lot and ready for delivery. It is fantastic. At Chevy, same thing. People are talking about interest rates. Guess what? We have 0% financing on new and as low as 1.99 used. You gotta come check it out. - Great time to get a car and great place to do it. Grab a vote. - Hey Spartan fans, when you want the largest and best selection of Spartan gear, Alumni Hall is your ultimate shopping destination. Come get your officially licensed gear. Nike, Champion, Columbia, Yeti, New Era Hats, tailgating gear and more. MSU students, faculty and military receive 10% off in store every day and you can earn cash back with their Hall Pass rewards. Alumni Hall, located at Eastwood Town Center near the Apple Store or shop anytime at alumnihall.com. For the ultimate Spartan shopping experience, it's Alumni Hall. - To everyone who wants a meal made just for you, let our team member, Arish, share what makes Culver special. - We know the best meals are the ones shared with the people you love. Like our cook to order butter burgers and our real Wisconsin cheese curds and our creamy, fresh, frozen custard. I put the same care into your meal that I went from my own family. - Order ahead on the app or Culver's.com for a meal made the Wisconsin way. - From Wisconsin with love, welcome to Delicious. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) - Welcome back to the drive with Jack Spotlight Radio Network. I should have known as soon as I talk about Detroit having a better 10 game record than the Celtics. Rob has a rejoin from Boston, but that's okay. One of my favorite groups. Georgia has struck first with a field goal, leads Notre Dame 3-0 early in the second quarter of the Sugar Bowl. Rob, do we have our next guest on the line? - We do. - Hey, Hailey Schoengaard joins us from W-L-N-S. She is as much of a late devotee to the sport of hockey as I have ever met. And for someone who didn't grow up with the game, she's developing encyclopedic knowledge to the point that I have a prediction, Rob. At some point, we are going to see Hailey Schoengaard on the NHL network. - Yeah, love to see it. - Yep. (laughs) - I would love that, that's my dream job, I think. - Yeah, well, just keep doing what you're doing. It's all gonna work out for you. Hey, wanna talk a little bit about the GLI and for people, I don't wanna name any names, and you'll keep me Ricardo Cooney, who said that Michigan State could not win that because Trey Augustine was playing in the world juniors. I'd like to introduce him to Luca de Pasco. - Yeah, exactly. Luca played outstanding. I mean, it was no question he was gonna get MVP of the tournament. The first game, Adam said this, and I thought this was very interesting, that he thinks games like Michigan State versus Northern Michigan are the hardest for goalie supply. You would think only facing 15 shots on goal that Luca would be like chilling in the crease with his feet up, you know, relaxing. But he said no, but it's hard to stay dialed in that way, and I thought Luca played great there, but especially against Western. Western had over 30 shots on goal, almost double what Northern had, and he was just lights out. Obviously had some help from the defense men blocking shots, some good plays around the net from Michigan State, but Luca was outstanding and it's hard to believe that Michigan State has two really, really good goalies. I mean, Luca could go pretty much, you know, anywhere, and probably win this starting job, but he's behind one of the best 18-year-old USA hockey goalies, probably there ever will be in Trey Augustine. - Well, it is an interesting situation, and I don't wanna cause trouble. But if Trey Augustine returns to Michigan State for his junior year, I guess Luca would have a decision to make, right? - You would think so. I mean, Luca's a competitor, Adam talked, you know, in great detail about this on Monday night after Michigan State won just about how Luca doesn't, you know, like, under, he understands that there is competition. He wants there to be healthy competition. He knows what he's up against in Trey Augustine, but he doesn't like throw in the towel and say like, "Eh, you know, I'm going against one of the best "college hockey goalies probably ever, "like I'll just hang out over here." That Luca likes the competition, and Luca wants to start, and Luca wants to play, but he does understand also that, you know, he is behind Trey Augustine, and so I thought that was very interesting that he has that mindset, 'cause you would think a lot of people who were in his position, it would be very easy to not have that mindset. - Right, and sometimes you can learn from someone at the same position. You can grow because of that, and hey, in this game, you know, you are one shot away from being the guy. You get one injury, and suddenly it's up to you, and I'm not saying it's out of the question that you could see Luca the pass quo in the net in the frozen four, if something happened to Trey, it's going to be up to him. - That's exactly what Adam said. Luca's always ready, not when your name is called if your name is called, because you don't know when. You know, there is no hockey god that's going to tell you, you know, Trey is, you know, this is going to happen, or this is going to happen. Like, Luca has to stay ready, and Adam's been really pleased with Luca's mindset, and in the way that Luca's been able to step up, I mean, this is an NHL-esque schedule, four games, seven days, one of them being outdoors, one of them, two of them being a tournament that Michigan State hasn't won in 15 years. So there was a law on the line, and especially tonight, you know, against Wisconsin, Wisconsin's no chop team. - What do you think it meant to get that monkey, the gorilla off their shoulders in terms of the GLI? 15 years is a long time, as you say. - Yeah, and I was talking to Tyrion and Shoudi last week, and he just said the taste in their mouth after that game to Tech last season, over 50 shots on goal, and they just couldn't get any puck luck, but it was just so frustrating, and especially for guys like Tanner Kelly, David Gucciardi, who went through a coaching change, and still weren't able to win it. Fourth year guys, that it meant a lot to those two, Tanner Kelly and David Gucciardi, just to be able to continue doing something that their freshman year seemed very, very, very unattainable. - Haley, do you think it, in a case like this, where they know the best goaltender in college hockey is now the best goaltender in the world juniors? The rest of the team pulls together, they play a little bit tougher, defense is a little bit tighter, little more togetherness. They know that they don't have the incredible security blanket behind him, right? - Yeah, it's interesting. I talked to some of the players that keep mentioning their availability that they had last week before the GLI, and Nick Andrews, who's new this year, Trent from Colorado College, he said that it's honestly like motivating to him, that people were saying like, and Michigan State, we don't really know, because of Trey Augustine, and he kind of took offense to it, and was like, we have depth at every position, we're a good hockey team, we can play good hockey, we play Spartan hockey, and so he honestly kind of, yeah, took offense to it, and it was more motivation on top of the 15 year drought, that they wanted to go out and show that they could win this tournament without Trey, because Luca is that good? - Michigan State, the number one ranked team in the country, and that's certainly not gonna change with the win over the number four ranked Western Michigan Broncos, but the Spartans still, even today, number two in the pairwise, behind Boston College, why do you think that is? - You have a great question, I would love to see the reasoning behind that. - It's all mathematical, you know, it's a formula, that they built in something to it, that strength of schedule, I guess, has something to do with it, but those teams played each other, and they split, albeit Boston College's win was more convincing than Michigan State's, but nonetheless, it wouldn't surprise me if those teams met again. Would you guess that we're talking about half of the Frozen Four? - He very well, I think that easily, unless they get placed in the same original that BC, Michigan State, you know, Frozen Four matchup, or even National Title matchup, is something that is very, very plausible. The offense that Boston College has, plus the offense Michigan State has, plus Triography, there are two extremely good hockey teams, and I think that would be another really, really good game. - So what do you make of this? Four games in seven days, gauntlet for Michigan State starting tonight, at least it's here, with Wisconsin coming in, and Wisconsin, you know, still kinda floundering, although it's gotten much, much better, it's an improved team as Michigan State discovered. What do you think the Spartans are gonna be in for tonight? - Just that, another good hockey team, I think they're excited to come back home, but they're tired, again, four games, seven days, that's like BNHL level. You know, traditionally in college hockey, you play, you know, two a week. And so I'm eager to see how they come out tonight, especially having played today's Thursday, two, three days ago. And then they also have the excitement of playing in the outdoor game, but, you know, I think as Michigan State is really good at playing their brand of hockey. I feel like, especially now, we kinda saw them deviate from that earlier in the season, think Boston College, that game where they kinda just fell flat. But I feel like as of recently, they have really, really played well, especially in the third period. You look at the third period against Western Michigan, another Wilmore Lockmaster class, where the other team was gassed in Michigan State, was just humming along, you know, and that's when they were able to pour those goals. And so I think that as long as they can play their brand of hockey there, it's not the best team in college hockey. And I think that could be another case here tonight, where we see Michigan State play Michigan State hockey and, you know, out-condition, if you wanna call it, Wisconsin. And then the outdoor game. I mean, that's so exciting. The team was so excited getting to just, you know, be a kid again. So many of them grew up playing pond hockey and playing on outdoor rings and getting to play where the winter classic was, it was like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And so they were really excited and I am really excited to get to go to that as well. - Are you really, I never would've guessed that. - Oh. - No, you are so excited. - I'm so excited. - Your excitement is just jumping off the, out of the microphone here. Hey, I have to ask you with these two games, conference games, a possible six points, how many does Michigan State get? - You know, I was very impressed with MSU on Sunday and Monday to G.O.I. I'm gonna say six. - She's gonna say six. - Yeah. - What did you say? - I'm thinking five. - Okay. - Keppie and Coney both said three. - Wow. - Okay. - Keppie as Newland Rico said Michigan State wasn't winning the G.O.I. What did I know? (laughing) - I said five. So Haley, you might be the most positive of the bunch here but I can see how they could. I mean, if you look at each game, they're gonna be favored tonight, right? You would think at home. They're the number one ranked team in the country playing a team that is fighting, you know, for its life in terms of trying to get into the playoffs. A lot of great things would have to happen for Wisconsin. And then going to Chicago, I think the idea of that motivation, if it was just another game, then it wouldn't maybe be that big a deal. But if you can't get up for an outdoor hockey showcase, you know, you gotta check your pulse. - Yeah, exactly. - So I'm thinking that that could be it. Have you ever seen an outdoor hockey game? - No. - It's going to be my very first time. - I have to tell you a little bit about the first one. - Okay. - And it was the Cold War game here. The first outdoor collegiate hockey game, and they'd had outdoor hockey, you know, periodically throughout, but not like this. In Spartan Stadium. And it was Michigan coming in. It was early October, but it was so warm. And they'd had guarantees that, hey, as long as it gets like below 50 degrees at night, you know, it'll be okay. They had puddles all over the place. And Mark Hollis was the AD, and I'm standing next to him the day before the game, and he was sweating. And I said, okay, you got television in here. You got everybody set up for this thing. Are you going to have a swim meet, or are you going to have a hockey game? And all of a sudden, this cold snap rolled in, and it was fantastic. They filled the stadium. They brought Gordy Howe in to drop the first puck. It was a dramatic game. It was everything he'd want from a Michigan, Michigan State game. Jimmy Slater scores at the end of the game. It's a tie, you know, you couldn't have had a better game than the Cold War. And now, you know, you see it every year. I mean, everybody's trying to do it, but it all started here. - Oh, yeah, that's cool. Joey Larson was telling me last week. He didn't get to go to the Cold War, but he went to the big chill. And he was just talking about his memories of, you know, of course, his whole family were Michigan here. He was like the one guy out of his whole family. That was an MSU gear. He streamed of playing at Michigan State. So he's really excited kind of full, for that full circle moment come this weekend, getting to play on and out for rank. And especially one that is no winner classic. I mean, maybe not the most competitive game we've seen this year, but still like synonymous with, you know, the NHL and always a big to do. So I am excited. The rink looks beautiful in Riggly at that's like two iconic venue and iconic NHL event every single year. So I am really excited to go. And yeah, hopefully it's cold, but not too cold. I would like to be able to film my toes at the end of the day. All right, give me a Spartan, not named Isaac Howard. He's going to lead the team in scoring this week. Oh, Daniel Russell. OK. You know, we had that goal against Western that was negated, disqualified, I guess, this loud, I should say. And they said he kicked the puck into that. What did you think of that? Personally, it looked more like it hit the skate in in to me. But, you know, that's why I guess they don't give me a helmet and some stripes and paint me the big bucks, so. But he had some really good chances against Northern, like three really good ones. I can already see off top of my head. I'm sure if you went back and let it film, you could maybe tack in a couple more. Three really good chances, obviously the goal negated against Western. But his line is really humming too. I feel like you could pick almost any person on his line and you could probably put that statement next to their name as well. I just really been impressed with Daniel Russell the last couple of years. Someone who was coming to Michigan State, regardless, whether they were Big Ten Champs or big Ten of the Big Ten. And I think he has really, really developed into a really good forward. Rob, Haley just gave me another idea. And, you know, I always love to give people work. I was looking for different creative assignments. Yeah, but I've got one for you. You know, I wanted you to be in goal down in the shooting room and facing some shots, you know. And then I said, well, okay, you can shoot at Ian. But I've got a better one for you. How are you on, can you skate? I've only ever skated once in my life and it was in the sixth grade. Okay, well, I think you can do this. I have great confidence in you. I think you can become a proficient skater and then give you two years to do this. They have open skating at one and you can go. You would have a blast. I mean, even after the games, you see the people who they come onto the ice and they skate and, you know, but you could do this. You could become reasonably proficient and we're going to give you a referee's shirt and a whistle and we're going to let you go out and help officiate an MSU scrimmage. And I think it would be a great segment for your MSU FCU coaches show or for six sports. And I would love to have you calling a penalty on somebody going into the corner. I think it'd be great. How many penalties would you give Neil Kepke on the ice if you had the other one? That's the question, right? How about Cooney or Nate Bot? Like God, he'd be in the box the whole game. I would definitely have to channel my inner West Macaulay if I was a referee. It's so funny, you mentioned that because at the GLI, I was sitting next to Nate and I was saying, like, no, maybe I should learn to skate. I think I would like to do the ice crew, like maybe a little less serious. But I think that would be so fun. I watched the assisting coaches do that all the time. And I feel like that would be a good job for me. I would really love the microphone now to be able to put people on the box. I might be a little biased. I am pretty rival. If I do think so myself, you know-- I want to see you break up a fight. That would be something, wouldn't it? But that would be fun. And I always enjoy-- West Macaulay, I think, is hilarious. And I always love watching game PREP. So if I did do that, I really should. Maybe someone on staff or one of the players can give me some skating lessons because I-- I think they would be happy to do that. They would. I don't know if I'd be able to get off the wall for a little bit. But that would be fun. I would enjoy that. Maybe I should be a referee for Halloween and really kickstart this journey. Oh, that would be great. I love it. All right. Thanks so much for joining us, Hailey. Good luck with this weekend and in Chicago. And I know it's going to be a memorable experience for you. Yeah, thanks so much, guys. I'm looking forward to it. Hailey Schongaard, W-L-N-S. All right, we're going to be back in a minute with Scott Berman. But first, I want to bring you up to speed. If you're not following this on where we are right now, it's 3-3. Notre Dame has answered with a field goal and has the ball back deep in its own territory. But 3-3, so we're pretty much back to square one. And we are late in the second quarter, less than six minutes to go before halftime. And so in about an hour and 15 minutes, you can choose, you can flip back and forth between the second half of the Sugar Bowl and the first period of Michigan State, Wisconsin. All right, I want to go to our guest line again and welcome in Scott Berman. Scott was a coach at Mason. And then, of course, an incredible career as a restaurateur, entrepreneur. Everyone knew about one north in Jackson. And then they were excited that one north was coming to Lansing and the best jambalaya you will ever find. I can tell you from experience on the west side on Saginaw. And now, the reconstruction is complete. One north, East Lansing, is open for business. Scott, I wasn't aware that Monday was the day until I was driving by and I slammed on the brakes and I pulled in and I said, you know what? I was going to pick up some food somewhere and this is going to be a treat for me. So congratulations on getting everything done before the end of the year. - Thank you, it's been a long journey, but it was fun to open the doors Thursday even though we didn't make much of a public hoopla on it so that our team could get their feet underneath them, but it seems to be picking up a little steam every day. So I was glad to be here and open. - Well, I got to tell you, it was the Friday before you opened and I was driving by, but you had all the signage up and you have all the televisions on and they were on. It was late at night, but you could see them from the road. So it was about 11, 20. And I don't know if you were there, I didn't see any cars there, but I saw the TVs on. So I pulled in and I actually watched the fifth quarter through the glass, the television sitting in my car. So I think of the first one who actually saw that, but congratulations. - Well, we left the TV line to test them overnight and we were checking on them on the cameras to make sure we didn't have any letdowns, but yeah, they're all working. We still have a little bit of frosting to put on the cake and cherry on top, but we're about 99% done and we got quite a few people here right now enjoying the Notre Dame game. - Well, it's a spectacular design and we know what the food is like. So people have been waiting for that and you've got the first coaches shows coming up, right? - We do, we actually are, they are waiting for me in the other room, we're running the first dry run right now to make sure all the technology works as it's intended. We've added dual cameras for the live streaming and they're gonna be able to move those back and forth. We've added TV screens behind the host so that the sponsors can be promoted on the TV instead of on flags and banners and lots going on with that. So Robin Freilich, got the inaugural show on Monday at noon followed by Tommy's, as though at seven o'clock that night, we already have 150 reservations for Tom's, so we're full for that one. And then Adam Nightingale the next night at seven o'clock. We also, even before that though, Sunday we're gonna run a, we're having a Lions Watch Party that starts at six o'clock. We're teaming up with a local TV station and we're gonna be their official watch party. As you know, I will not be at the watch party 'cause I will be at the game. - Yeah, I think that's terrific, that you will be there. I will be there, that's my plan anyway, I don't know how I'm gonna get there yet, but we're gonna do press pass early and we're gonna do that so we can get to the game. What are you expecting with the Lions and the Vikings? - Well, I hate to admit it because, you know, as a coach, you always wanna see the glass half full, but ever since the most recent rash of injuries for the Lions, I have been somewhat skeptical about their ability to compete and they have impressed me each week. Even the Buffalo game, which I think could have went their way. I think Minnesota is another story all together and just flying for all the marbles and the first time two teams have ever been 14 and two. Well, with 14 wins playing each other, I think it's gonna be an incredible experience and I think the Lions, you know, need to find a way to make magic happen, but I view them mentally as the underdog, maybe that's just my nature. It's just gonna be hard for that defense to hold up and if Minnesota gets one more stop than we do, that might be the difference. But I have complete faith in Dan Campbell and maybe they can come up with a defensive scheme that gets a couple of turnovers to offset that and I'm not overly optimistic, but I'm excited to watch it. - Doesn't that seem weird, Scott, that the loser of this game not only will not be the one seed, it'll be the five seed and it'll be going on the road to face a division champion with a considerably worse record. - Yeah, it is amazing and I really respect and appreciate that the Lions haven't, you know, cried and whined about that and to the best of my knowledge, Minnesota hasn't either 'cause they certainly have both have reason to stay claimed to be even better than the fifth seed. Ironically, I guess the one silver lining is the Lions have a better record on the road than they do at home if they do somehow lose Sunday night. - Right, right. Well, the last thing for you is there's something you would want our listeners to know about the new one north that is gonna surprise them. I know the configuration of the coaches show room is very different. I know that some other things when they go in, they're gonna, there's a wow factor, no question, but what else are you most proud of that you want them to see for themselves? - I do think that visually speaking, you know, Reno is such an iconic brand in this market that it's hard not to walk in and have your jaw drop a little bit and go, "Holy cow, we're not in teams "if any more Dorothy." It is a fairly dramatic change. I am proud of what my team is building, the food quality and the kind of environment that we can create for multiple events. This location, I guess if there was one thing has the ability to have five private events going on at one time, completely separated. So we hope we get to feed a lot of people. We hope we get to enjoy a lot of great sporting events with them and we hope we get to host a lot of parties here and experience the great times and maybe some of the sad ones in people's lives, but we're here to serve them whatever we can to make things better. - Hey Scott, my best to you and Kathy. Hope that 2025 is all you've dreamed. - You too, thank you. Thanks to all your listeners for their support. - All right, final update Rob. We have three minutes and two minutes, excuse me. And 30 seconds left in the first half. Still three nothing, or three three rather, I'm sorry, three three. And Notre Dame has the ball near midfield, third and one. So it's possible if Notre Dame converts here, not far from field goal range. - Who do you think it favors a low scoring game like this between both teams? I think it favors Georgia actually with the new quarterback, right? - Yeah, maybe. I think Notre Dame is good in low scoring games. - Yeah, yeah. - So I don't think this is gonna be a big advantage for each team. - Of this way, one way or another, you think? - Not much, not much, not much. Let me get the take from you on the hockey that you're gonna be staying tonight. Do you have a score? And who gets the game winning goal? - I'm gonna go with Carson Dorwort with the game winning goal. And I'm gonna say four to two, Michigan State. They'll get the fourth goal with an empty net. Four to two. - Four to two. All right, sounds good. Hey, wanna thank everyone who was with us for our first show of 2025. Starting with Mike Griffith from Dog Nation covering the Georgia Bulldogs. And he's watching every snap of the Sugar Bowl as we speak. Jim Keaton Jr. proud son devil. Talking about yesterday's loss to Texas, a double overtime classic. Sean Tate, our Lansing bread Atlanta-based basketball Savant, Tate's take hoops where basketball lives. How about Dave Hockman? How did Arizona? Talking a little bit about his beloved Michigan Wolverines, but more about the college football playoff and what we have seen thus far. Very possible that the top four seats could all lose. They were all underdogs. Haley Schonegaard from WLNS channel six. She's in love with Aki, and she's gonna be in Chicago for the outdoor classic. And Scott Berman from One North East Lansing. We'll see you tomorrow, everyone. Have a great night. - This winter countless dogs will be chained outside 24/7, shivering without adequate food, shelter, or care. All they know is life at the end of a chain that sometimes weighs more than they do. Your gift to PETA will provide life-changing care. PETA and you are awesome. The only hopes are neglected dogs. Your kindness can help the dog survive a bitter winter. Learn more at pETA.org/doghouse. - Breaking news coming in from Bet365, where every nail biting overtime win, breakaway, pick six, three point shot, underdog win, buzzer beater, shoot out, walk off, and absolutely every play in between is amazing. From football to basketball and hockey to baseball, whatever the moment, it's never ordinary at Bet365. - Gambling problem? Call or text 1-800-Gambler. 21 plus only must be physically located in Colorado. (upbeat music)