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Speaker 1: Second hour of a three and three hours and fifteen

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Speaker 1: minute tour guards He tells me we're out at six

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Speaker 1: fifteen for Minnesota Wild Hockey. Speaking of the Wild, the

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Speaker 1: general manager of that juggernaut is scheduled to join us

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Speaker 1: at the top of the five o'clock hourly, Alec Lewis

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Speaker 1: will join at about four thirty or so. I already

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Speaker 1: have one of my I think, trying to get Garren

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Speaker 1: going questions ready. Oh really, it's going to be related

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Speaker 1: to should I say, well, no, he's got spies.

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Speaker 2: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I probably shouldn't say it, he texted, but somebody will

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Speaker 1: have honest text him, right exactly. It's a hold on

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Speaker 1: to and see if any texts from Paulinus today.

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Speaker 3: By the way, acknowledging that we're having the general manager,

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Speaker 3: I guess president of hockey opps, that's his title.

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Speaker 1: No, the president on the show tonight. It's interesting.

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Speaker 3: I guess that is his title. Isn't it is it

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Speaker 3: VP or president president? It is president President of Hockey Operations.

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Speaker 3: You don't have to worry about a Falby kind of thing,

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Speaker 3: does he where? Because Falby was promoted to president actually

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Speaker 3: the business guy. Yeah, I don't think Aaron's got any

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Speaker 3: business responsibilities, and I don't sense he wants any of them. No,

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Speaker 3: I don't think he does either, unless Craig Leopold's brother

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Speaker 3: or sister tries to take the team over like Tom

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Speaker 3: Pohleed did, and then everything changes. But I think Craig's

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Speaker 3: got a pretty good handle on the franchise.

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Speaker 1: Speaking of Tom pohl Ed, let me make this official

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Speaker 1: so there's no misunderstanding, no confusion. I don't want to

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Speaker 1: read another or hear another story or commentary that tells

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Speaker 1: me this paulad seems pretty sharp. He's already disqualified himself

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Speaker 1: from being called sharp with his pathetic, patronizing, condescending little

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Speaker 1: lecture about I really wish we could get off this

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Speaker 1: payroll thing. Do you think most of the population also

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Speaker 1: wouldn't like to get off of this silly payroll thing?

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Speaker 1: What world? Honest to God, what world to do these

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Speaker 1: folks live in? How do they think they can dictate?

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Speaker 1: At this point, he just got done saying when he

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Speaker 1: took the job, got a lot of mending to do,

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Speaker 1: it's a lot of misunderstanding, made a mess with it,

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Speaker 1: and now he's already apparently invested enough and defensive enough

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Speaker 1: that how many weeks into it he's sending that message

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Speaker 1: to reporters. I talked about it briefly yesterday, but it's like,

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Speaker 1: what what are you doing? I really, you know, I

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Speaker 1: got to get off this payroll nice if we can

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Speaker 1: just move on. You don't get to decide that for us.

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Speaker 1: You can decide it for yourself. But again, that's doesn't

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Speaker 1: acknowledge the reason that there might be an unhealthy obsession

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Speaker 1: with it because the poll AADs I've had an unhealthy

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Speaker 1: obsession with it. So now it's, Oh, I'm sick of

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Speaker 1: hearing that every time somebody who I owned these reporters

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Speaker 1: wants to talk about payroll stuff. They're down thirty million

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Speaker 1: from last year. What was the gleaming tweet earlier late

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Speaker 1: last week? In fact, he's going to join us in

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Speaker 1: studio tomorrow. Correct for thirty each I'm looking forward to

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Speaker 1: Didn't he didn't he say recently, I got to find

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Speaker 1: the tweet to be accurate that our payroll numbers now

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Speaker 1: in some ways, if you factor in the marketplace, yes,

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Speaker 1: are commensurate with some of the metrodome days. Didn't he

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Speaker 1: say that? Yes? He has said that a couple of

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Speaker 1: different times. So you know, I know you want us, Tommy,

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Speaker 1: to ignore that because you're tired of hearing it. But

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Speaker 1: you either you have two choices, either do something about

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Speaker 1: it or accept that it's never going to end. In fact,

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Speaker 1: it might be that from this point forward, all the

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Speaker 1: way through spring training, which is right around the corner,

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Speaker 1: we have a pay a Minnesota Twins, Tom pohlad nugget

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Speaker 1: of the day. We might include some payroll tracker, payroll

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Speaker 1: tracker nugget every bleeping day at a given time. We

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Speaker 1: know it's not Oh my god.

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Speaker 3: What I liked about that whole exchange was just get

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Speaker 3: back to us in September. See if we're playing competitive baseball? Okay,

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Speaker 3: what if we're not? What if you aren't. You haven't

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Speaker 3: been for much of the last three or four years

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Speaker 3: and the one year that you did play into October

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Speaker 3: that Derek Falby even talks about in his exit interview

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Speaker 3: that I mean, you hear Derek and Rocco talk about

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Speaker 3: those days in Minneapolis, and Roco says he can't you

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Speaker 3: hear himself thinking the dugout, and Falvey says, the hair

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Speaker 3: is standing up on his arms just thinking about it.

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Speaker 3: Three years ago like that was one time we didn't

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Speaker 3: talk about the payroll because it was commissary was a

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Speaker 3: pretty good team and he actually spent And then you

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Speaker 3: cut it by the speaking of culture chasms, do we

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Speaker 3: have one playing out in front of our eyes in

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Speaker 3: real time.

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Speaker 1: In Big ten men's basketball, what do you mean? Well,

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Speaker 1: University of Michigan with an upstart coach named Dusty May right, yep,

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Speaker 1: is on the map.

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Speaker 3: Aren't they a rank like third or fourth in the

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Speaker 3: country right now? Yes, they've been in the top five

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Speaker 3: pretty much all year.

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Speaker 1: They just knocked off legendary head coach Tom Izzo, who's

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Speaker 1: coming to the Barn on Wednesday. Good point, and the

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Speaker 1: Michigan State Spartans. I think that game was in ann

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Speaker 1: Arbor if I'm not mistaken, but you can double check

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Speaker 1: for me. I'm not sure most recent appearance. It was

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Speaker 1: over the weekend, wasn't he? Yes? I think that was

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Speaker 1: the East Lansing. That was East Lansing. Okay, fair enough, Well,

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Speaker 1: apparently there were a couple of chippy plays. At least

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Speaker 1: the accusation was a couple of chippy plays by the Spartans,

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Speaker 1: including one trip and one of the Jackals smelling blood

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Speaker 1: God bless them because he was right asked an open

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Speaker 1: ended question of Dusty May and it takes him a

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Speaker 1: little while to get there. But let's listen to what

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Speaker 1: Dusty had to say postgame about the legendary Michigan State Spartans.

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Speaker 1: At least the coach is certainly legendary. That program has

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Speaker 1: been very good for a very long time.

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Speaker 2: There was a play where fears appeared to Trivia Axel.

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Speaker 2: Is that beyond peered? Or did Trivia Axel.

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Speaker 4: Was an illusion?

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Speaker 1: Right?

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Speaker 5: Right?

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Speaker 6: Right?

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Speaker 1: I apologize and then.

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Speaker 2: That, but I apologize, No, You're good. That seems like

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Speaker 2: beyond basketball. I guess beyond a basketball play. Is that

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Speaker 2: something the Big Ten should look at?

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Speaker 1: I think some of that.

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Speaker 4: I think there are several plays that are very dangerous

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Speaker 4: and that I am incredibly proud of our guys for

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Speaker 4: the responses they had to some of those situations. Incredibly

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Speaker 4: proud for their self control, their restraint, and their impulse control.

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Speaker 6: I'll leave it that.

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Speaker 1: Maybe not, but they're not isolated incidents. Not isolated incidents. Now,

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Speaker 1: I kind of want to go more on that.

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Speaker 4: The film's there, forty minutes of it.

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Speaker 1: It's not hard to find how you reach out to

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Speaker 1: their staff or it's.

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Speaker 4: Not hard to find.

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Speaker 6: How do you reach out?

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Speaker 4: I have not reached out to their staff.

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Speaker 1: Okay, you're back my rate.

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Speaker 3: I love it.

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Speaker 1: I love it, Jucy. I mean, you're not supposed to

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Speaker 1: mess with the Legend. That's true, by the way, my

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Speaker 1: sources say the Legend heard about that response from Dusty

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Speaker 1: May and had a couple comments comments of his own. Now,

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Speaker 1: let's listen to tom Izzo's rejoinder.

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Speaker 5: Second question. I don't know if you've seen it, but

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Speaker 5: a couple hours ago, Dusty May had some pretty serious

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Speaker 5: criticisms of Jeremy Fears. He said, there were a number

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Speaker 5: of dangerous plays in the game. And I'm wondering what

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Speaker 5: your response is to that and and sort of what

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Speaker 5: you saw in that game.

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Speaker 7: And I'm not going to get into that. I have

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Speaker 7: no idea, but I do know that the I thought

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Speaker 7: there were a couple of plays the other way too,

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Speaker 7: like jumping into a guy and getting a follow when

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Speaker 7: it was complete joke.

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Speaker 8: This is what it's supposed to be. It's supposed to be,

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Speaker 8: And you know what, mission's over. I'm moving on to Minnesota,

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Speaker 8: no knowing, so to you, I don't care what Dusty says,

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Speaker 8: I don't care what they say.

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Speaker 1: I don't care.

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Speaker 8: There were some things Jeremy did I addressed on him,

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Speaker 8: but him and their point guard were going at it

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Speaker 8: pretty good. That's what happens in games like this. So

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Speaker 8: if anybody did anything dirty, tell him to call me,

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Speaker 8: and I would be more than happy to address it.

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Speaker 8: If it was physical play, that's that's that's the way

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Speaker 8: that game's I was going to be.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, the next question, this is high level competitive. I

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Speaker 1: don't know if what it says about me how much

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Speaker 1: I enjoy because it's it's just good to get beyond

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Speaker 1: the platitudes too far. It's just I just it's a

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Speaker 1: tough opponent. I'm really respect It's like it's okay to

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Speaker 1: have these squabbles and and I think that's quite frankly,

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Speaker 1: how rivalries can be cemented or added to, right or

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Speaker 1: strengthened where it's kind of going back and forth and

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Speaker 1: you have the unusual dynamic. You know, Michigan was once

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Speaker 1: a great program, obviously, but it had kind of fallen

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Speaker 1: off relatively speaking, under Dusty May, the guy who you

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Speaker 1: know at Indiana. They still feel like that's the love

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Speaker 1: we lost, right the timing wasn't right, and he they

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Speaker 1: had they sent feelers out to him before they hired

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Speaker 1: their current coach, but he was by that point pretty

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Speaker 1: enmeshed at Michigan, right, Yeah, and then you got you know,

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Speaker 1: Tom Izzo. Now here's what further complicated it for me.

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Speaker 1: And I haven't talked to Bozicch about this. Here's the

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Speaker 1: bozicz reaction to the Dusty may comments. Dusty calls out

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Speaker 1: Michigan State's typical BS. Good for Dusty, the Big Ten

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Speaker 1: will be better when Izzo's tackle football disappears from the league.

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Speaker 1: Now that surprised me because I always thought Bozoch had

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Speaker 1: high level of respect for Izzo as I do, as

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Speaker 1: I think you do. Of course, I'm not sure. I

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Speaker 1: guess i'd have to see more evidence of that, because

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Speaker 1: I have tended to view the Michigan State approach under

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Speaker 1: Izzo as yes, strong, physically tough, but I never thought

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Speaker 1: of it as dirty or incredibly cheap all the time.

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Speaker 1: I just thought, and frankly, as somebody, there are days

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Speaker 1: where I get tired of it being so easy for

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Speaker 1: people to score or to get to the basket. I

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Speaker 1: kind of like the team that said we're going to

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Speaker 1: grind you, and we're going to see because that's our strength,

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Speaker 1: and we're going to see where We're going to test

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Speaker 1: you that way, and we're going to see if you

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Speaker 1: can handle it. So it's interesting how these dynamics are

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Speaker 1: playing out, and it seems like a lot of people

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Speaker 1: are already taking sides.

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Speaker 3: Now on your view of Michigan State, I would say,

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Speaker 3: in big ten circles, you are in the minority of

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Speaker 3: the minority, okay, because familiarity breeds contempt, right, and when

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Speaker 3: you're at the top of the hill, like Michigan State

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Speaker 3: has been. Yes, literally since I've been in middle school.

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Speaker 3: I remember watching Tom Izzo's first season at Michigan State

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Speaker 3: at the barn when I'm going to south View Middle School.

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Speaker 3: That's how long the guy has been there. There's no

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Speaker 3: doubt the perception that they get away. It's not that

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Speaker 3: it's cheap necessarily, but that they get to play physical,

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Speaker 3: they get to dictate the they.

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Speaker 1: Get to do whatever. What's a call for them is

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Speaker 1: not a call for first do you hate them as

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Speaker 1: much you hate OKAC, So you're saying they're the OKAC of.

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Speaker 3: College foot No, but you heard Iso even say guy

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Speaker 3: throwing himself in with no plan to get a foul.

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Speaker 3: So now I kind of like Izzo because that's not

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Speaker 3: ethical basketball. No, I mean, it's just But the overarching

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Speaker 3: thing is I agree with you. I think it's good

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Speaker 3: to have the back and forth. And by the way,

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Speaker 3: I love it. Sunday, March eighth, at forty maybe Central

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Speaker 3: in ann Arbor, final game of the regular season on CBS.

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Speaker 1: So is Michigan in first place in the conference right now?

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Speaker 1: Are they ahead of the Spartans?

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Speaker 3: I would think I'll pull it up because Purdues dropped

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Speaker 3: a couple of games, as we always forget about producing

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Speaker 3: a little bit. They've been number one at times this season.

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Speaker 3: I don't know the standings for sure. I will pull

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Speaker 3: you up here as you pull those up.

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Speaker 1: We got a lot of good text are coming in

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Speaker 1: on this subject in many others. Bratch On, Brad Kaffee

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Speaker 1: and text line six four six eight six, Bill Garron

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Speaker 1: in forty five minutes and Alec Lewis to get to

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Speaker 1: some of his reporting and analysis on the post mortem

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Speaker 1: on the Quasy run.

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Speaker 3: Very curious to talk to him as well. Michigan is

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Speaker 3: ten and one, Illinois ten and one. They just beat Nebraska, Illinois,

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Speaker 3: Nebraska's nine and two, Michigan State nine and two, Purdue

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Speaker 3: eight and three, Wisconsin eight and three.

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Speaker 1: I will tell you now, I don't know. I haven't

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Speaker 1: seen enough of these teams to say, well, this is

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Speaker 1: a year where a lot of Big Ten teams could

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Speaker 1: make a run. But I will say the top of

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Speaker 1: the Big Ten right now looks pretty rich, at least

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Speaker 1: within the conference. Right that there's some nice things setting

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Speaker 1: up right the rest of the season, given how close

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Speaker 1: those teams all are, and all those teams will look good.

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Speaker 1: And what's of course changed is Nebraska has finally come

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Speaker 1: out of nowhere.

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Speaker 4: Right.

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Speaker 1: That's a big piece of this is that they look

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Speaker 1: you know, we didn't. I don't know if I was

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Speaker 1: on the air the Minnesota in Nebraska game, I will

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Speaker 1: say that what impressed me about that Nebraska team is

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Speaker 1: the ball movement and the unselfishness. I mean, we talk

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Speaker 1: about it all the time. It becomes trite where you

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Speaker 1: almost you hear it so much you don't even trust

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Speaker 1: that it means anything anymore. But I think even by

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Speaker 1: unselfishness standards, what I saw there was incredible symphonic basketball

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Speaker 1: and great movement and nobody seemed to care who scored right,

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Speaker 1: and they did that very effectively, especially as they took

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Speaker 1: over that game in the second half. But I'm just

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Speaker 1: saying in general, that seems to be the the Hoiberg style.

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Speaker 1: He's finally kind of, you know, found his rhythm. I

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Speaker 1: think at Nebraska, after being hideous right his first several years,

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Speaker 1: his record was well under five.

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Speaker 3: Wasn't good seed as recently as last year. Last year

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Speaker 3: had to make the tournament and they did. By the way,

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Speaker 3: he is also fitting right in with Big Ten coaches

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Speaker 3: because after they lost to Illinois this week he did

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Speaker 3: is complain the right word probably or at least discuss

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Speaker 3: the fact that it's hard to run their offense when

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Speaker 3: you're being grabbed and you can't. They just lost to Illinois. Illinois, Okay, yeah,

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Speaker 3: they're rugged, rough and tumbles. Well the coach, it's February.

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Speaker 3: Everybody's doing it, so everybody's mad. It's a long season

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Speaker 3: and it's all it's all coming down to the wire.

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Speaker 1: Rudy fumbles, Nas tumbles, Giannis humbles, wolves and five. I

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Speaker 1: got a lot of those coming in. I should have

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Speaker 1: saved some of the other ones because they're all they're

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Speaker 1: all really really really really good. Oh I'm gonna have

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Speaker 1: to start this one. This one sounds juicy. We're going

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Speaker 1: to twenty seven? Uh probably shouldn't or should we? Is

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Speaker 1: that that I did go along here? Yeah? Either way,

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Speaker 1: let's go ahead and break now, O make it a

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Speaker 1: late break. We'll get our bonus bucks in, we'll have

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Speaker 1: a shorty and then we'll prepare for Alex Lewis.

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Speaker 3: The Fan wants to give you a shot to win

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Speaker 3: your bonus. It is our national cash contest and pay

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Speaker 3: is the keyword for the four o'clock hour. Go to

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Speaker 3: KFA dot com and enter the keyword pay the fan.

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Speaker 3: One of those Monster Jam rolls back into us Banks

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Speaker 3: Stadium this weekend February seventh and eighth.

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Speaker 1: We've got your tickets.

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Speaker 3: Check out the contest page KFA dot com to see

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Speaker 3: how you could win four of them to the Feb

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Speaker 1: Larry Mondelagui writes, am I still blocked by Barrero? Can

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Speaker 1: you see this.

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Speaker 6: Else?

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Speaker 1: It should be evident now that I can. Good work

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Speaker 1: by Bretton Blake Moore to locate the Larry Mondela Guy number,

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Speaker 1: because I did accidentally block him. Sometimes I just get

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Speaker 1: on a kind of a blocking siege, a binge block,

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Speaker 1: a binge block, and I went so fast and I'm

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Speaker 1: going to wait, and I just blocked Larry Mondela guy.

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Speaker 1: We've got to reverse that or he will not survive it.

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Speaker 1: But he's resilient. Though he would have just gone to

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Speaker 1: I Wonder Ruth thecafe dot com. He would have gone

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Speaker 1: to Twitter. He would have found I have found a way.

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Speaker 3: He's got both of our emails, so he would have

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Speaker 3: figured it out.

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Speaker 1: Here comes the sports Abyss? Is the package bigger enough

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Speaker 1: for Yannis? Will Garren bring back Italian sausage for a

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Speaker 1: fall ness? Wolves and five? I'm quazy versus koc. What's

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Speaker 1: the quote? Yesterday I was lying. Now I'm telling the truth.

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Speaker 1: It's the famous promoter, the old promoter, Bob Aaron, who

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Speaker 1: tried to steal the Wolves and bring him to New

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Speaker 1: Orleans for top rank. If you recall, he got caught

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Speaker 1: in a lie. This was boxing related and it may

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Speaker 1: have been the most honest quote about lying ever. Yesterday

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Speaker 1: I was lying. Today I'm telling the truth. Yeah, I

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Speaker 1: can't argue with it? Is that true? What else do

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Speaker 1: we have here? That got my attention.

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Speaker 3: Is it a coincidence that Draymond went to Michigan State?

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Speaker 3: Is tho it's been a fraud for at least a decade? Okay,

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Speaker 3: I again, I know.

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Speaker 1: That's fashionable and it's it's it's easy, but you know,

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Speaker 1: I mean, it's had a pretty damn good run man

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Speaker 1: and I and maybe people it's the old deal. People

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Speaker 1: get tired of the same face for sure. I mean,

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Speaker 1: come on, man. In the last six hours, the biggest

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Speaker 1: movement in Giannis and the prediction markets is a rise

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Speaker 1: in the odds that the heat get him. Not huge movement,

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Speaker 1: but a rise of six percent. Bulls rising too. The

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Speaker 1: bulls Wolves have been flat so far today. In that regard,

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Speaker 1: I still think it's less likely. I mean, it's less

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Speaker 1: than fifty to fifty that he ends up with the

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Speaker 1: team with the Wolves, because I think there's a really

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Speaker 1: good chance that he just doesn't get traded. Because it's

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Speaker 1: it's a tricky proposition. You have to you have to

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Speaker 1: feel like, is it not fair to say you can't

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Speaker 1: do that? Even if you acknowledge the obvious, you have

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Speaker 1: to do due diligence on a two time MVP and

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Speaker 1: a world champion already. Uh and you're honest, you have

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Speaker 1: to determine that at the end of whatever the deal

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Speaker 1: we're doing, we believe we are a better team in

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Speaker 1: the next if you're not going to say three months,

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Speaker 1: three years than you were before you made the deal, correct, yes,

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Speaker 1: otherwise you can't do it. Otherwise you can't do it.

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Speaker 1: And that's where you go back to, Okay, I'll tweak

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Speaker 1: and it will be subtle moves that might surprise you

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Speaker 1: and we because we think there's a couple of players

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Speaker 1: that we can get our hands on, et cetera. My

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Speaker 1: assumption was that the kids center would would would have

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Speaker 1: to be part of the deal, which again I hate,

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Speaker 1: but you're gonna have to give up something to get something,

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Speaker 1: you know, I mean, you're you're gonna and so it's

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Speaker 1: either going to be I mean, you don't have draft picks,

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Speaker 1: but he represents one. Because he's so new, you might

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Speaker 1: as well be a draft pick because he's just is

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Speaker 1: for year correct, exactly right, and he's considered a guy

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Speaker 1: who down the road might well be really really really

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Speaker 1: good and already looks like he's got a chance to

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Speaker 1: be exactly I I like him. Dan, You remember when

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Speaker 1: they drafted Addison. There was a close up on Koc

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Speaker 1: and Quayzy where Kevin was saying to Quasy, almost in amazement,

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Speaker 1: you stuck to the deal. Early indication of a chasm. Maybe, yeah,

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Speaker 1: absolutely signs of exactly that. And look, I'm not here

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Speaker 1: to defend all aspects of the Quasy run. I'm not,

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Speaker 1: I really am not. I just think it's becoming a

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Speaker 1: little too convenient to put not only the draft disasters

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Speaker 1: on him, but the entire quarterback saga that I'm not

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Speaker 1: saying he doesn't have something to do with it, but

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Speaker 1: I'm saying, if that's not a shared responsibility, then folks

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Speaker 1: like our four to thirty guest and many others have

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Speaker 1: sold the rest of us a bill of goods on

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Speaker 1: the power that the head coach seemed to be accruing

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Speaker 1: over the course of the time, that he was more

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Speaker 1: than and became more than a head coach, even though

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Speaker 1: that was still his title, right, I don't think his

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Speaker 1: title changed beyond that. I don't know. Will Is there

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Speaker 1: any chance we can steal Broncos guy who used to

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Speaker 1: be here? Is it Peyton? George Peyton? Yeah? Or is

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Speaker 1: he too? He's his contract is up but the field

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Speaker 1: and now he doesn't run it. That's your guy runs it.

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Speaker 1: Sean Payton, Peyton, different Peyton, different Peyton. Yeah, Sean Payton,

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Speaker 1: this is what I think. Uh, the other Peyton who

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Speaker 1: used to be here was under Spielman. Is p A

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Speaker 1: t O N correct spell it? He's highly thought of. Yes,

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Speaker 1: so you know, would he I have no idea would he?

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Speaker 1: Is he happy there with that arrangement where he didn't

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Speaker 1: really have final say? I would think if you brought

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Speaker 1: him here, he'd probably want final say. And then you

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Speaker 1: get into the tricky part for any head coach, the

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Speaker 1: guy the next guy in. If you hire from outside

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Speaker 1: the organization did not hire the head coach, for sure,

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Speaker 1: it's a big deal. And that is often a big

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Speaker 1: deal right where there's more paranoia, et cetera. I swear

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Speaker 1: there's video of koc on Drafty pumping his fist after

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Speaker 1: drafting McCarthy. Well, he definitely sounded like, Oh, in fact,

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Speaker 1: I think I saved. Let me see if I can

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Speaker 1: before we get to the bottom of the art pause.

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Speaker 1: I think I saved this one.

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Speaker 3: That is the beauty of the very controversial stance of

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Speaker 3: releasing Like everything from the war room or the postgame

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Speaker 3: locker room speeches. We do have a little bit more

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Speaker 3: of We have more receipts now, so you can go

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Speaker 3: back a little bit. So the stick to the plant thing,

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Speaker 3: We've talked about that forever. We know that KOC liked

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Speaker 3: when they traded up to get Dallas Turner. Yeah, that's

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Speaker 3: still a mean that gets played all the time. The

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Speaker 3: really and then the KOC call to JJ where he says,

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Speaker 3: maybe we'll have to find that, where he says, just

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Speaker 3: like we talked about at the combine, let's go do

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Speaker 3: some stuff.

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Speaker 1: Ryan and Mantonka, KOC got his guy. Why did the

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Speaker 1: Vikings offer Kings ransom for Drake?

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Speaker 2: May?

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Speaker 1: I think we all know Koc was speaking with all

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Speaker 1: the usual cliches and supporting the move in the QB.

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Speaker 1: That's still oversimplifies it. It's very different.

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Speaker 3: They I refuse to this day to believe that they

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Speaker 3: draft they move up to make sure they can draft

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Speaker 3: JJ McCarthy. If the head coach doesn't say I can

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Speaker 3: work with this kid, I'm on board with this kid.

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Speaker 1: This isn't the one. That doesn't mean it has to

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Speaker 1: be the one you wanted more than any of the others.

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Speaker 1: But you can believe more than one guy has a chance,

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Speaker 1: even if you think Drake may would have had a

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Speaker 1: better chance. So no, that's there's that's way too easy

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Speaker 1: on letting the head coach off the hook. That has

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Speaker 1: to for me continue to be a shared responsibility. We'll

432
00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:39,320
Speaker 1: see what our next guest thinks on that, what he

433
00:22:39,359 --> 00:22:42,720
Speaker 1: has written all of his intel, how this story might

434
00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:46,600
Speaker 1: go forward, and maybe what happens to the Vikings general

435
00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:50,160
Speaker 1: manager search eventually as well. Alex Lewis from the Athletic,

436
00:22:50,200 --> 00:22:50,440
Speaker 1: isn't it?

437
00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:00,880
Speaker 6: Did you see the game?

438
00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:05,040
Speaker 9: Purple Brad?

439
00:23:05,160 --> 00:23:16,280
Speaker 1: Purple Brad, Thank you everybody for coming here. Alec Lewis

440
00:23:16,280 --> 00:23:19,840
Speaker 1: covers the nationale Football League and the Minnesota Vikings for

441
00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:24,880
Speaker 1: the Athletic. He joins us now via the Connectico Water

442
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:29,240
Speaker 1: Systems hotline. If welcome back to the program. I want

443
00:23:29,280 --> 00:23:32,760
Speaker 1: to drill down. There's a million directions to go, and

444
00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:36,399
Speaker 1: you've written about a lot of sort of the post

445
00:23:36,480 --> 00:23:40,880
Speaker 1: mortem in the wake of the the news that Quasy

446
00:23:40,920 --> 00:23:45,119
Speaker 1: had been dismissed. I want to spend a decent amount

447
00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:49,280
Speaker 1: of time drilling down on one aspect of it, the quarterback.

448
00:23:49,400 --> 00:23:52,560
Speaker 1: The quarterback part of it, because you know the draft

449
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:58,119
Speaker 1: numbers largely speak for themselves. It's hard to argue with

450
00:23:58,200 --> 00:24:01,920
Speaker 1: the relative lack of success and in some cases spectacular failure.

451
00:24:02,240 --> 00:24:04,000
Speaker 1: You could even argue about some of the decisions to

452
00:24:04,040 --> 00:24:06,440
Speaker 1: move down in the draft blah blah blah. So if

453
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:08,720
Speaker 1: that's a semi given where, I don't really think there's

454
00:24:08,720 --> 00:24:12,160
Speaker 1: that much to debate. The quarterback part is what's starting

455
00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:17,800
Speaker 1: to both intrigue me and annoy me, because locally, but

456
00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:20,159
Speaker 1: maybe even more nationally, I'm getting more and more of

457
00:24:20,240 --> 00:24:25,119
Speaker 1: a vibe that this is the yet another example of

458
00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:29,040
Speaker 1: the guy who gets dismissed and for some legit reasons

459
00:24:29,920 --> 00:24:32,520
Speaker 1: gets blamed not only for the stuff that he should

460
00:24:32,600 --> 00:24:35,960
Speaker 1: be blamed for, but some stuff that is a lot

461
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:39,640
Speaker 1: more complicated in which the responsibility might be very much

462
00:24:39,680 --> 00:24:44,320
Speaker 1: more shared. So you tell me what's fair regarding the

463
00:24:44,440 --> 00:24:46,800
Speaker 1: quarterback mishap, at least as it has played out to

464
00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:52,240
Speaker 1: this point, post Darnold to put in Crazy's lap and

465
00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:56,320
Speaker 1: where you think we can't ever get away from the

466
00:24:56,320 --> 00:25:00,280
Speaker 1: fact that Koc is very much his finger, the prints

467
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:02,520
Speaker 1: are very much involved with that part of the story

468
00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:02,960
Speaker 1: as well.

469
00:25:04,320 --> 00:25:06,600
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's a great place to start, and thanks for

470
00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:09,040
Speaker 6: having me and I appreciate the way you framed that.

471
00:25:09,240 --> 00:25:14,480
Speaker 6: I thought on Friday afternoon, when Mark Wilf spoke to reporters,

472
00:25:15,200 --> 00:25:19,359
Speaker 6: the most telling line, the most interesting line to me,

473
00:25:20,359 --> 00:25:25,280
Speaker 6: was when in an answer to a question and the

474
00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:30,600
Speaker 6: subject was Kevin O'Connell, Mark made it very clear in saying, quote,

475
00:25:30,640 --> 00:25:35,479
Speaker 6: we all share the accountability here, and by that I

476
00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:39,240
Speaker 6: took it to mean we all as in ownership, we

477
00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:42,960
Speaker 6: all as in Kevin O'Connell, and we all as in

478
00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:48,119
Speaker 6: quasi do flamensa? And you could probably add others influential

479
00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:54,280
Speaker 6: voices to that mix. It is and it remains extremely

480
00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:56,480
Speaker 6: difficult to segment.

481
00:25:57,160 --> 00:25:58,560
Speaker 9: I mean really a lot.

482
00:25:58,359 --> 00:26:02,240
Speaker 6: Of decisions over the last three that this organization has made,

483
00:26:02,320 --> 00:26:07,200
Speaker 6: but specifically the quarterback decisions of last spring. I have said,

484
00:26:07,760 --> 00:26:10,280
Speaker 6: I said this on my podcast earlier today, and I

485
00:26:10,320 --> 00:26:13,520
Speaker 6: think it's important if you go back and look at

486
00:26:13,680 --> 00:26:18,680
Speaker 6: the Sam Donald situation. Before the last two games, my

487
00:26:18,880 --> 00:26:22,440
Speaker 6: collige at the Athletic Diana Rossini, quoted a source saying

488
00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:26,040
Speaker 6: we absolutely want Sam Donald to be back in twenty

489
00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:29,600
Speaker 6: twenty five. And then after those two games that ended

490
00:26:29,600 --> 00:26:33,040
Speaker 6: the twenty twenty four season, all of the conversation from

491
00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:37,159
Speaker 6: folks internally, from everyone was Sam Donald has earned the

492
00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:39,879
Speaker 6: right to be a free agent. And I've said this

493
00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:44,240
Speaker 6: in the past, regardless of how much or how little

494
00:26:44,280 --> 00:26:48,240
Speaker 6: certain people within the decision making power structure wanted to

495
00:26:48,240 --> 00:26:49,480
Speaker 6: bring Sam Darnald back.

496
00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:52,920
Speaker 9: If that was entirely the case.

497
00:26:52,800 --> 00:26:56,280
Speaker 6: With emotion and passion behind it, there would have been

498
00:26:56,720 --> 00:27:01,160
Speaker 6: a more lengthy offer to him, a more offered to him,

499
00:27:01,600 --> 00:27:05,840
Speaker 6: and so specific to that situation, it's hard for me

500
00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:09,760
Speaker 6: to absolve Kevin O'Connell from that. Daniel Jones, I mean,

501
00:27:09,760 --> 00:27:12,719
Speaker 6: I think everybody internally wanted to bring back Daniel Jones.

502
00:27:12,760 --> 00:27:16,960
Speaker 6: That was pretty clear. The dynamics then get fuzzy in

503
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:20,359
Speaker 6: terms of how those negotiations went and who played a

504
00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:23,119
Speaker 6: role and who met with agents and who was passed

505
00:27:23,119 --> 00:27:26,200
Speaker 6: with securing the deal. And then the other obvious one

506
00:27:26,280 --> 00:27:29,040
Speaker 6: is acquiring Sam Darnold. I mean, excuse me, Sam Powell.

507
00:27:29,119 --> 00:27:32,920
Speaker 6: That was the Sam Powell. That was a quas you know,

508
00:27:33,040 --> 00:27:35,880
Speaker 6: famensa decision. But when you're talking about Aaron Rodgers, you're

509
00:27:35,920 --> 00:27:39,800
Speaker 6: talking about Joe Flaco, Ryan Tannehill, all of the other names.

510
00:27:40,160 --> 00:27:42,919
Speaker 6: It is as murky with those guys as it is

511
00:27:42,960 --> 00:27:46,200
Speaker 6: with the others. And it's why I've said to absolve

512
00:27:46,320 --> 00:27:51,760
Speaker 6: Kevin O'Connell, who has been heralded as the focal point

513
00:27:51,800 --> 00:27:55,119
Speaker 6: guard on quarterbacks, decision making for this organization would not

514
00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:59,160
Speaker 6: be accurate in the revision you know, in being revisionists

515
00:27:59,200 --> 00:27:59,960
Speaker 6: of the entire part.

516
00:28:01,400 --> 00:28:03,560
Speaker 1: I couldn't agree with you more. And I think that's

517
00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:06,000
Speaker 1: that's the key to this thing, if we're going to

518
00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:09,560
Speaker 1: be rational about it moving forward. Now, I'll ask you,

519
00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:12,840
Speaker 1: and again, some of this might stay in the murky category,

520
00:28:13,280 --> 00:28:16,040
Speaker 1: but to me, that's kind of where it should stay

521
00:28:16,119 --> 00:28:18,600
Speaker 1: rather than this. These declarations, and frankly some of them

522
00:28:18,600 --> 00:28:20,480
Speaker 1: are coming nationally, not so much locally.

523
00:28:21,119 --> 00:28:24,800
Speaker 3: That well, no, I mean it, Quazy really wanted to

524
00:28:24,840 --> 00:28:28,119
Speaker 3: double down on JJ and Koc wasn't quite sure.

525
00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:31,359
Speaker 1: Let's go back to a different question. Do you have

526
00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:37,040
Speaker 1: any indication to believe that Quazy Let's say, let's say

527
00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:41,440
Speaker 1: Koc tried to persuade Quazy to say, all right, we

528
00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:43,840
Speaker 1: can't do three years, one hundred mil on Darnell. I

529
00:28:43,880 --> 00:28:47,520
Speaker 1: get that, but maybe we should franchise them despite the

530
00:28:47,520 --> 00:28:50,760
Speaker 1: way it finished. Is there anything in the record or

531
00:28:50,840 --> 00:28:53,760
Speaker 1: even in the murky zone to indicate that there was

532
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:57,480
Speaker 1: a difference of opinion on whether to try to creatively

533
00:28:57,600 --> 00:28:59,640
Speaker 1: somehow make it work even on a one year deal

534
00:28:59,720 --> 00:29:03,920
Speaker 1: franch deal with Donald. Yes, I do.

535
00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:06,440
Speaker 6: I mean, I would say I do think there were

536
00:29:07,240 --> 00:29:12,920
Speaker 6: perspectives among you know, some of the coaching staff that

537
00:29:13,360 --> 00:29:16,960
Speaker 6: would lead you to believe that that some were more

538
00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:23,640
Speaker 6: more pushed to the to the side of the coin

539
00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:28,000
Speaker 6: of believing that bringing Sam back for at least in

540
00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:32,080
Speaker 6: the short term was a sensible path. But it's it's

541
00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:36,440
Speaker 6: difficult to litigate because I mean, it was never I

542
00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:39,360
Speaker 6: was never of the camp or of the belief that

543
00:29:39,440 --> 00:29:41,840
Speaker 6: bringing Sam Donald back in the short term was going

544
00:29:41,880 --> 00:29:43,720
Speaker 6: to be possible. I didn't feel like that was gonna

545
00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:47,200
Speaker 6: be possible in terms of negotiations with Sam. I didn't

546
00:29:47,200 --> 00:29:49,000
Speaker 6: feel like that was gonna be possible, in terms of

547
00:29:49,040 --> 00:29:52,600
Speaker 6: how it would sit with JJ McCarthy and his representative,

548
00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:57,520
Speaker 6: and so like, when you factor all of these dynamics

549
00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:03,120
Speaker 6: into what that decision was, you know, it's really hard

550
00:30:03,160 --> 00:30:05,440
Speaker 6: to part. I just come back to the point that

551
00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:09,800
Speaker 6: if the vite, if if Kevin O'Connell specifically believe that

552
00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:13,880
Speaker 6: Sam Dartold should be his franchise quarterback for years on end.

553
00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:17,440
Speaker 6: Then obviously there you know, there would have been a

554
00:30:17,480 --> 00:30:19,120
Speaker 6: more aggressive offer that did not come.

555
00:30:19,280 --> 00:30:21,360
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's that's what I can't get past that very

556
00:30:21,400 --> 00:30:24,960
Speaker 1: point because you guys have told us forever that that O'Connell,

557
00:30:25,000 --> 00:30:26,960
Speaker 1: over the course of the time he's come here, has

558
00:30:27,000 --> 00:30:31,240
Speaker 1: solidified his power and was given greater responsibility than just

559
00:30:31,280 --> 00:30:34,960
Speaker 1: the title of coach. That's not me saying he ran everything,

560
00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:36,959
Speaker 1: but that it was more than just a coach, and

561
00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:39,440
Speaker 1: that there was a lot of differring going on because

562
00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:43,520
Speaker 1: of his belief, you know, his alleged quarterback expertise. Now

563
00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:47,240
Speaker 1: let's go to question number two regarding this sequence, because

564
00:30:47,280 --> 00:30:50,760
Speaker 1: one of the other things I have sensed is a

565
00:30:50,880 --> 00:30:57,160
Speaker 1: belief that behind the scenes, KOC either obliquely or more directly,

566
00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:03,560
Speaker 1: blamed his general manager for not getting the Daniel Jones

567
00:31:03,600 --> 00:31:06,400
Speaker 1: thing done. This theory there being that even if he

568
00:31:06,520 --> 00:31:10,200
Speaker 1: said all the wonderful things about JJ publicly, he had

569
00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:14,400
Speaker 1: enough nagging concern that he wanted the buffer, He wanted

570
00:31:14,440 --> 00:31:19,480
Speaker 1: an option even going into this past season. So my

571
00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:22,600
Speaker 1: question again, is is it fair. It's hard for me

572
00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:26,600
Speaker 1: to figure out where we could we could articulate that

573
00:31:27,640 --> 00:31:31,720
Speaker 1: the GM failed because as far as I'm concerned, the

574
00:31:31,840 --> 00:31:34,200
Speaker 1: money wasn't going to be the issue, and I think

575
00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:38,080
Speaker 1: the offer was very competitive. The thing that to me

576
00:31:38,200 --> 00:31:40,840
Speaker 1: made it, no matter who was the general manager, impossible

577
00:31:40,840 --> 00:31:44,080
Speaker 1: to necessarily guarantee you're going to bring him back was

578
00:31:44,120 --> 00:31:46,840
Speaker 1: that he knew that he was going to have from

579
00:31:46,880 --> 00:31:50,360
Speaker 1: the beginning Alec a better chance, a fairer chance to

580
00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:53,600
Speaker 1: be the starter from the beginning than here, where clearly

581
00:31:53,720 --> 00:31:57,440
Speaker 1: the Vikings wanted JJ to step up and be the guy. Correct.

582
00:31:58,760 --> 00:32:01,120
Speaker 6: Yes, And so I mean how I framed this one

583
00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:06,400
Speaker 6: is regardless of or how I you know, contextualize it

584
00:32:06,440 --> 00:32:11,600
Speaker 6: in my head, is regardless of even if or let's

585
00:32:11,640 --> 00:32:16,239
Speaker 6: just say, quaitso fo mensa was it was contractually in

586
00:32:16,360 --> 00:32:21,240
Speaker 6: charge of acquiring personnel for this organization. So that is

587
00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:26,040
Speaker 6: a fact, and so not securing personnel obviously falls on

588
00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:29,160
Speaker 6: his set. But in my opinion, and this is just

589
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,120
Speaker 6: me from the outside looking at it, it is kind

590
00:32:32,120 --> 00:32:35,520
Speaker 6: of incumbent upon the entire decision making.

591
00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:43,440
Speaker 9: Tree to assess and really evaluate the likelihood of all

592
00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:47,320
Speaker 9: facets in terms of what other.

593
00:32:47,160 --> 00:32:49,600
Speaker 6: Teams might be interested in a player like Daniel Jones,

594
00:32:49,840 --> 00:32:53,360
Speaker 6: what the likelihood is that he is leaning towards returning.

595
00:32:53,520 --> 00:32:57,840
Speaker 6: And so while the contractual side of it absolutely falls

596
00:32:57,840 --> 00:33:03,560
Speaker 6: on quasidopha mensa. Again, the murkiness shows up with this one,

597
00:33:03,640 --> 00:33:06,040
Speaker 6: and you could go to Aaron Rodgers probably with it

598
00:33:06,080 --> 00:33:09,920
Speaker 6: as well. And I would say this again too. Mark

599
00:33:09,960 --> 00:33:13,280
Speaker 6: Will's comment to me was telling in that ownership has

600
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:16,400
Speaker 6: a role within quarterback decisions as well, Like that's not

601
00:33:16,560 --> 00:33:19,480
Speaker 6: something that I believe can be overlooked.

602
00:33:20,320 --> 00:33:23,640
Speaker 1: So let's go to the Aaron Rodgers piece of this next,

603
00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:28,920
Speaker 1: because there has been some suggestions in some locations. I

604
00:33:28,920 --> 00:33:30,840
Speaker 1: don't think you've written this, but correct me if you have,

605
00:33:30,920 --> 00:33:35,200
Speaker 1: and maybe I missed it that Quazy might not have

606
00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:40,240
Speaker 1: been as crazy about pursuing the Aaron Rodgers fantasy as

607
00:33:40,280 --> 00:33:42,920
Speaker 1: the head coach. And once again it's like Quazy's the

608
00:33:42,960 --> 00:33:46,760
Speaker 1: bad guy and Koc was the good guy who just

609
00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:50,640
Speaker 1: sort of got overruled by the guy who's the general

610
00:33:50,680 --> 00:33:53,840
Speaker 1: manager of the team. Does your reporting at any point

611
00:33:54,000 --> 00:33:57,520
Speaker 1: indicate that there was a fundamental difference of opinion that

612
00:33:57,600 --> 00:34:01,160
Speaker 1: had something to do with why ultimately Rogers did not

613
00:34:01,280 --> 00:34:01,800
Speaker 1: land here.

614
00:34:03,200 --> 00:34:05,000
Speaker 6: This one might be the toughest for me of all

615
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:06,960
Speaker 6: of them to try to segment it to be honest

616
00:34:06,960 --> 00:34:09,400
Speaker 6: with you, and I mean, I'll tell you this. On

617
00:34:09,520 --> 00:34:13,080
Speaker 6: Friday morning, before the news surface, I was on the

618
00:34:13,080 --> 00:34:17,319
Speaker 6: phone with someone within the team and we were talking

619
00:34:17,320 --> 00:34:19,160
Speaker 6: for an hour about all different things, the league and

620
00:34:19,160 --> 00:34:21,360
Speaker 6: all this stuff, and one of the major points in

621
00:34:21,400 --> 00:34:24,000
Speaker 6: that conversation was this person saying, I still don't know

622
00:34:24,040 --> 00:34:27,200
Speaker 6: who made that decision, but I do know it affected

623
00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:29,319
Speaker 6: livelihoods and this this person the team, and you would

624
00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:33,640
Speaker 6: you would expect to understand who made that final call.

625
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:37,000
Speaker 6: And so I do know this, I mean, I know,

626
00:34:37,320 --> 00:34:39,959
Speaker 6: and we wrote this in the story that ran yesterday morning,

627
00:34:40,040 --> 00:34:41,799
Speaker 6: and I'm very convicted in this.

628
00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:43,520
Speaker 9: I know there were a lot.

629
00:34:43,320 --> 00:34:46,840
Speaker 6: Of people internally, a lot of people that supported the

630
00:34:46,920 --> 00:34:52,600
Speaker 6: idea of Aaron Rodgers at that juncture, given the just

631
00:34:52,760 --> 00:34:56,440
Speaker 6: the uncertainty about what it would be to turn the

632
00:34:56,560 --> 00:34:59,640
Speaker 6: organization over to JJ McCarthy, an organization that had just

633
00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:04,560
Speaker 6: come off of a fourteen win season. And so that

634
00:35:04,560 --> 00:35:06,800
Speaker 6: that's what I know. But that one, I mean, again,

635
00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:10,160
Speaker 6: the the and I think what you're getting at in

636
00:35:10,280 --> 00:35:13,440
Speaker 6: terms of a lot of these questions is a stute

637
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:19,520
Speaker 6: and it's something I appreciate because there are in my job,

638
00:35:19,719 --> 00:35:24,319
Speaker 6: you're after the truth always and the hard part sometimes

639
00:35:24,440 --> 00:35:29,000
Speaker 6: is truth change and people have different truths. It's a

640
00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:31,759
Speaker 6: it's a it's a lesson for me, it is a

641
00:35:32,120 --> 00:35:35,319
Speaker 6: something that has I mean, I often think about how

642
00:35:35,320 --> 00:35:38,560
Speaker 6: these things apply to life and other aspects, but that this,

643
00:35:38,560 --> 00:35:40,520
Speaker 6: this one has definitely been that for me is what

644
00:35:40,560 --> 00:35:41,440
Speaker 6: I would say, Well, you.

645
00:35:41,360 --> 00:35:45,279
Speaker 1: Know what what again there, I wouldn't be surprised in

646
00:35:45,280 --> 00:35:46,960
Speaker 1: any of these sorts of big decisions in any organization.

647
00:35:46,960 --> 00:35:49,239
Speaker 1: There's differences of opinion. To me, what matters is what

648
00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:52,919
Speaker 1: those two guys felt more than the people around them.

649
00:35:53,000 --> 00:35:56,120
Speaker 1: And I bring all this up again because and I

650
00:35:56,160 --> 00:35:58,560
Speaker 1: know you're aware of this, and it's probably something in

651
00:35:58,600 --> 00:36:01,440
Speaker 1: you're reporting you have to filter in or you have

652
00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:07,160
Speaker 1: to factor in. When someone gets fired, there may well

653
00:36:07,200 --> 00:36:10,359
Speaker 1: be legitimate reasons for that dismissal. And some of those,

654
00:36:10,360 --> 00:36:12,359
Speaker 1: as we said, have been laid out. It's hard. It's

655
00:36:12,360 --> 00:36:15,720
Speaker 1: in the numbers on the draft are pretty much inescapable,

656
00:36:16,280 --> 00:36:20,560
Speaker 1: and so it probably starts there. But what tends to

657
00:36:20,600 --> 00:36:24,000
Speaker 1: happen is when the odd person out can become the

658
00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:27,400
Speaker 1: fall guy, and it becomes then easier for people to

659
00:36:27,480 --> 00:36:31,560
Speaker 1: come forward anonymously. By the way, with stuff that they

660
00:36:31,600 --> 00:36:33,759
Speaker 1: think piles on and yeah, you know, maybe we'll blame

661
00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:35,200
Speaker 1: it for that too, or yeah, you know, I think

662
00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:37,399
Speaker 1: he had something to do with that as well. And

663
00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:40,920
Speaker 1: that's what I despise. It's happened, not just here. It

664
00:36:41,000 --> 00:36:45,560
Speaker 1: certainly happened when Zimmer was dismissed, and again he brought

665
00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:47,920
Speaker 1: most of it on himself, but I thought it got

666
00:36:47,960 --> 00:36:49,640
Speaker 1: to a point where then he got blamed for some

667
00:36:49,680 --> 00:36:52,400
Speaker 1: stuff that didn't even make sense. It happened when Tom

668
00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:58,279
Speaker 1: Thibodeaux was fired from the Wolves organization, and I kind

669
00:36:58,320 --> 00:37:01,359
Speaker 1: of resist that because I think think it becomes too

670
00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:03,399
Speaker 1: easy for the people who are still there to say

671
00:37:03,520 --> 00:37:06,200
Speaker 1: the pile everything on the guy who's out the door,

672
00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:09,320
Speaker 1: who really can't defend himself anymore and is no longer

673
00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:11,759
Speaker 1: in a position of authority. Does that make sense?

674
00:37:12,920 --> 00:37:15,759
Speaker 6: Absolutely, it makes sense, And it's I mean you said this,

675
00:37:16,160 --> 00:37:18,719
Speaker 6: I mean, yeah, you have to be hyper vigilant. And

676
00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:20,719
Speaker 6: I will say this, I mean the guess you had

677
00:37:20,760 --> 00:37:25,759
Speaker 6: earlier on your show, John Krazinski for me, I mean

678
00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:28,880
Speaker 6: we have talked over the years, a span of years

679
00:37:28,880 --> 00:37:31,520
Speaker 6: of I'm sure you're documenting this, I'm sure you're in

680
00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:34,879
Speaker 6: sure you're keeping notes on this. I mean, I think

681
00:37:34,880 --> 00:37:36,680
Speaker 6: my girlfriend makes fun of me sometimes of why do

682
00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:39,480
Speaker 6: you why is your phone have text from twenty twenty

683
00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:43,239
Speaker 6: three And in times like Friday, in the aftermath of

684
00:37:43,280 --> 00:37:46,000
Speaker 6: Friday and Saturday, they come in handy as you are

685
00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:51,200
Speaker 6: trying to sift through how much is a revisionist history

686
00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:55,719
Speaker 6: game versus how much is reality? And you know this, Dan,

687
00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:59,800
Speaker 6: and it's it's why again. I appreciate this specific conversation

688
00:38:00,040 --> 00:38:03,759
Speaker 6: because it's it's journalistic and it's it's sensible. But there

689
00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:07,279
Speaker 6: are a lot of people whose perceptions are on the line. Yes,

690
00:38:07,600 --> 00:38:09,960
Speaker 6: blis are on the line, and they want to guard

691
00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:13,520
Speaker 6: against that stuff. And yeah, in this job, I mean,

692
00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:15,279
Speaker 6: you just have to sit through it as best you

693
00:38:15,320 --> 00:38:18,520
Speaker 6: can and stick to what you feel is most comfortable

694
00:38:18,520 --> 00:38:20,879
Speaker 6: and most accurate. Yeah, that's the job. And that's why

695
00:38:21,160 --> 00:38:22,960
Speaker 6: the hair on my head is receding by the day.

696
00:38:23,920 --> 00:38:26,000
Speaker 1: We're chatting with. Alex Lewis covers the vikings in the

697
00:38:26,080 --> 00:38:32,000
Speaker 1: National Football League for the athletic you know, the the

698
00:38:32,040 --> 00:38:34,680
Speaker 1: work ethic part of this, which you've touched on and

699
00:38:34,719 --> 00:38:39,520
Speaker 1: some other reporters have. I'm torn on how hard to

700
00:38:39,560 --> 00:38:44,920
Speaker 1: go at Qraazy on this for his being unconventional, because

701
00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:49,799
Speaker 1: everything about his resume suggested we were patting ourselves on

702
00:38:49,840 --> 00:38:54,920
Speaker 1: the back for him being quirky and unconventional in that regard.

703
00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:58,480
Speaker 1: And it's almost like, now you're going to act surprised,

704
00:38:58,480 --> 00:39:00,560
Speaker 1: and over a period of time you found out that

705
00:39:01,200 --> 00:39:03,320
Speaker 1: maybe he did more stuff in the room or and

706
00:39:03,719 --> 00:39:07,960
Speaker 1: looking at spreadsheets, it's almost like we can't. Again, you

707
00:39:08,000 --> 00:39:10,440
Speaker 1: got to hold him accountable, but to a certain extent,

708
00:39:10,880 --> 00:39:13,560
Speaker 1: don't you get who you get? I mean, should anybody

709
00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:17,560
Speaker 1: have been surprised that in the end he was going

710
00:39:17,600 --> 00:39:21,320
Speaker 1: to take a very unconventional approach across the board. And

711
00:39:21,800 --> 00:39:24,759
Speaker 1: now what looked like something kind of cool, thinking out

712
00:39:24,760 --> 00:39:28,000
Speaker 1: of a box and quirky at the front end is

713
00:39:28,040 --> 00:39:32,160
Speaker 1: looked upon as well, too far out of the mainstream, disconnected,

714
00:39:32,280 --> 00:39:36,319
Speaker 1: detached from the coaches, et cetera. That sounds kind of

715
00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:39,000
Speaker 1: predictable to me, or it sounds like I want to

716
00:39:39,040 --> 00:39:43,320
Speaker 1: blame the hiring practice more than I necessarily do. Quazy,

717
00:39:43,360 --> 00:39:43,879
Speaker 1: what do you think?

718
00:39:45,239 --> 00:39:48,759
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean, it's definitely the component of his non

719
00:39:48,800 --> 00:39:53,719
Speaker 6: traditional background and how it was received and how it's

720
00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:57,280
Speaker 6: kind of played out over time that I find most

721
00:39:57,320 --> 00:40:00,400
Speaker 6: interesting probably is just to kind of go through the

722
00:40:00,520 --> 00:40:02,719
Speaker 6: arc of it. I mean, when he was hired, there

723
00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:08,359
Speaker 6: were a lot of people internally and externally who were

724
00:40:08,600 --> 00:40:13,080
Speaker 6: skeptical about the background and an experience. And then what

725
00:40:13,239 --> 00:40:17,440
Speaker 6: did not help And we've covered this time and time again.

726
00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:21,240
Speaker 6: You have I have all of the local national reporters

727
00:40:21,280 --> 00:40:24,920
Speaker 6: to have is in twenty twenty two, his first draft,

728
00:40:25,360 --> 00:40:28,719
Speaker 6: the non traditional uh, the guy with the non traditional

729
00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:34,440
Speaker 6: background who was trying to establish faith internally and externally,

730
00:40:34,800 --> 00:40:38,839
Speaker 6: took a major swing on the in his first big

731
00:40:38,880 --> 00:40:42,959
Speaker 6: opportunity in the NFL draft and admitted he has self

732
00:40:43,000 --> 00:40:44,960
Speaker 6: admitted that he did not get enough in the return

733
00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:48,400
Speaker 6: and there's no denying how poor of a draft that was.

734
00:40:48,480 --> 00:40:52,000
Speaker 6: And so when you're already fighting uphill for a stat

735
00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:55,560
Speaker 6: that really has has all been together and ONTs together

736
00:40:55,640 --> 00:40:58,680
Speaker 6: under rich Fieldman, that quitey essentially took over when you're

737
00:40:58,680 --> 00:41:01,800
Speaker 6: already fighting that uphill, and then your first big swing

738
00:41:01,960 --> 00:41:05,239
Speaker 6: is so out of the box and does not establish

739
00:41:05,320 --> 00:41:08,759
Speaker 6: any faith. I mean that's the first impression, and it

740
00:41:08,840 --> 00:41:12,239
Speaker 6: becomes really difficult to move past.

741
00:41:12,080 --> 00:41:15,160
Speaker 9: Over time, and it can be done, certainly.

742
00:41:15,239 --> 00:41:18,360
Speaker 6: I mean the team won fourteen games in twenty twenty four,

743
00:41:18,560 --> 00:41:23,919
Speaker 6: but Yeah, I think you're right in that. Initially when

744
00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:27,920
Speaker 6: he was hired, it's we're hiring a process oriented thinker

745
00:41:28,000 --> 00:41:31,120
Speaker 6: who isn't going to be emotional and is going to

746
00:41:31,160 --> 00:41:36,239
Speaker 6: provide a different layer of decision making ideas than what

747
00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:41,359
Speaker 6: most within the NFL have, and ultimately, in trying to

748
00:41:41,440 --> 00:41:45,160
Speaker 6: do that, the Vikings hired a guy who was never

749
00:41:45,239 --> 00:41:49,759
Speaker 6: able to establish enough faith internally among key members of

750
00:41:49,800 --> 00:41:52,719
Speaker 6: the coaching staff and the staff and the building as

751
00:41:52,760 --> 00:41:53,040
Speaker 6: a whole.

752
00:41:53,280 --> 00:41:55,000
Speaker 1: This time around, I have a couple of minutes left,

753
00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:57,719
Speaker 1: and we may revisit as we get closer the next

754
00:41:57,800 --> 00:42:00,120
Speaker 1: couple of months, even after the super Bowl, with you

755
00:42:00,160 --> 00:42:02,640
Speaker 1: on some of these fronts in a little more depth,

756
00:42:03,080 --> 00:42:10,239
Speaker 1: your best you know, reporting guests on whether ultimately this

757
00:42:10,320 --> 00:42:13,800
Speaker 1: team hires outside the organization to fill that spot.

758
00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:20,480
Speaker 6: Yeah, I mean I would say I don't feel confident

759
00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:24,120
Speaker 6: in going either way because of what I know about Roberzinsky,

760
00:42:24,200 --> 00:42:27,400
Speaker 6: and it's I mean, it's easy, after all the business

761
00:42:27,760 --> 00:42:31,440
Speaker 6: history conversation to praise Roberzensk. I'm sure someone will be like, well,

762
00:42:31,520 --> 00:42:34,600
Speaker 6: now he gets the job. You're but people internal, people

763
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:37,920
Speaker 6: internally and people throughout the league have thought very highly

764
00:42:37,960 --> 00:42:41,319
Speaker 6: of Roberzinski for a long time. The question for me

765
00:42:41,560 --> 00:42:47,000
Speaker 6: is does he want to segment his expertise with the

766
00:42:47,040 --> 00:42:50,839
Speaker 6: salary cap and relationships with agents and negotiations to do

767
00:42:50,960 --> 00:42:54,960
Speaker 6: the entire GM job that is front facing, that is

768
00:42:55,480 --> 00:42:57,640
Speaker 6: I mean, it is, it is an undertaking, It is

769
00:42:57,680 --> 00:43:02,040
Speaker 6: stressful in all of that. Or do the Vikings want

770
00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:06,080
Speaker 6: to pair a lead evaluator with his expertise in Kevin O'Connell,

771
00:43:06,120 --> 00:43:09,040
Speaker 6: and I would probably lean forward the latter. Back to

772
00:43:09,080 --> 00:43:12,200
Speaker 6: your initial question, I think the name that has surfaced

773
00:43:12,200 --> 00:43:16,880
Speaker 6: most of the people is current Denver Bronco's general manager

774
00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:22,080
Speaker 6: George Peyton, And the question would be, you know, would

775
00:43:22,120 --> 00:43:24,680
Speaker 6: he be able to leave? Would would would their owner

776
00:43:24,719 --> 00:43:25,680
Speaker 6: Greg Penrick trying.

777
00:43:25,440 --> 00:43:25,880
Speaker 9: To keep him?

778
00:43:25,920 --> 00:43:29,120
Speaker 6: What would Sean Payton think? All of those conversations will

779
00:43:29,120 --> 00:43:32,719
Speaker 6: probably likely have in the ensuing months. But in the

780
00:43:32,760 --> 00:43:35,240
Speaker 6: event it's not rob and the event it's not George Payton,

781
00:43:35,680 --> 00:43:40,440
Speaker 6: it will be a person with an extensive personnel scouting background.

782
00:43:41,760 --> 00:43:46,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, we tend to like sometimes even overcompensate for the direction.

783
00:43:46,920 --> 00:43:49,480
Speaker 1: We've done this with coaches forever. We go from players

784
00:43:49,520 --> 00:43:51,880
Speaker 1: coach to we need a hard ass, and then too

785
00:43:51,960 --> 00:43:54,000
Speaker 1: much of a hard ass got to give us a

786
00:43:54,040 --> 00:43:56,040
Speaker 1: players coach and we kind of bounce back and forth.

787
00:43:56,080 --> 00:43:58,640
Speaker 1: So we'll see if that applies as well in this case.

788
00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:02,520
Speaker 1: A great reporting again this season, great writing. I appreciate

789
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:04,839
Speaker 1: the time and the contributions. We'll be in touch soon.

790
00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:06,160
Speaker 1: Thanks as always, Alex.

791
00:44:06,840 --> 00:44:10,120
Speaker 6: Always Dan, Thank you guys, Appreciate it and have a

792
00:44:10,160 --> 00:44:10,919
Speaker 6: good week for sure.

793
00:44:11,120 --> 00:44:15,719
Speaker 1: Alec Lewis covers the Vikings in the National Football League

794
00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:20,520
Speaker 1: for the Athletic. Bill Garn covers hockey for the Well,

795
00:44:20,520 --> 00:44:25,040
Speaker 1: actually he runs hockey the program for your Minnesota Wild.

796
00:44:25,400 --> 00:44:27,520
Speaker 1: He's about to head across the Pond as well. A

797
00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:31,200
Speaker 1: couple of games left for the while before the big break,

798
00:44:31,800 --> 00:44:34,200
Speaker 1: we'll talk to you about his the state of his front,

799
00:44:34,239 --> 00:44:36,759
Speaker 1: his club, how much closer he is to making that

800
00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:39,520
Speaker 1: one more big deal, and how much he is looking

801
00:44:39,520 --> 00:44:42,360
Speaker 1: forward to the Olympic experience across the pond in Italy.

802
00:44:42,560 --> 00:44:43,080
Speaker 1: He is next