Try That in a Small Town Podcast
In 2023, Jason Aldean's groundbreaking song and video "Try That In A Small Town" resonated with a resurgence of conservative values in America. The writers of the song, Kurt, Neil, Tully, and Kelley, took the opportunity to launch the Try That In A Small Town Podcast. This platform allows them to reveal the true inspiration behind the song and discuss the importance of common-sense values. With a lineup of influential guests, the hosts will entertain you with the stories behind their music, while also addressing challenging topics affecting our communities and country.
Try That in a Small Town Podcast
From Sidelines to Speaking Out - The Journey of Michelle Tafoya :: Ep 45 Try That in a Small Town Podcast
In this electrifying episode of Try That in a Small Town, four-time Emmy Award-winning sportscaster Michelle Tafoya joins the podcast to discuss her incredible broadcasting career, political views, and potential future in Minnesota politics.
Highlights:
[0:01:15] - Introduction of Michelle Tafoya and her impressive sports broadcasting resume
[0:03:26] - Behind-the-scenes story of Super Bowl XLIX and the Malcolm Butler interception
[0:07:41] - Challenges of sideline reporting and interviewing coaches during games
[0:25:00] - Discussion on transgender athletes and sports fairness
[0:31:20] - Her experience co-hosting The View and interactions with the cast
[0:44:25] - Emotional reflection on her final Super Bowl broadcast
[0:45:57] - Moment of realizing her incredible career privilege
Key Topics:
- Sports broadcasting journey
- NFL sideline reporting
- Political commentary
- Transgender sports debate
- Minnesota politics
- Career transitions
The episode offers an intimate look at Michelle Tafoya's remarkable career and her passionate perspectives on current social and political issues.
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This whole phrase. Trans women are real, women is, so then what part is trans then? Why do you have to say trans? Well, because you're not a real woman and it's look. You can do whatever you want, you can live however you want, but once you start to impact fairness in sports or your look, we know there are people who have abused this. There was one time in a commercial break and I'm sorry, joy Behar, I am going to call you out on this.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 1:I had mentioned that my brother was not getting vaccinated, that he didn't want to get vaccinated, and she told me to tell my brother he's a. You know, she called him a name.
Speaker 5:Oh, my God.
Speaker 1:And I said you know, yeah, like a selfish SOB. And I called him a name, oh my god. And I said you know, yeah, like a selfish sob. And I said, well, yeah, I'm not gonna tell him that, but you know, I respect your feelings, you know whatever we're gonna let you do this, michelle.
Speaker 5:We're gonna let you break news on the try that in a small town podcast. Come on you can either confirm nor deny. Oh, are you going to make a run for a Senate seat?
Speaker 3:The Try that in a Small Town podcast begins now.
Speaker 5:All right, welcome back. We are coming to you from the Patriot Mobile Studios. This is the Try that in a Small Town podcast. You may have noticed we're lined up tonight. Lined up, we got TK. I see you, kalo noticed we're lined up tonight. Lined up, we got TK. I see you, kalo. I see you Thrash. I'm Kurt and tonight we're super excited. This is going to be awesome. We have a guest. You've seen her on Monday Night Football, sunday Night Football. You've seen her on the NBA March Madness, the Olympics, I mean four-time Emmy Award winner. Host of the Michelle Tafoya podcast. We have Michelle Tafoya.
Speaker 1:Hi guys, what a nice intro yeah.
Speaker 5:Well, I mean, that's a pretty stupid resume actually. I was writing that down. I'm like, oh my God, are you kidding? That's the Olympics. Like I said, that's four or five times at the Olympics you did the NBA. Of course, I said March Madness, tennis. You ended up in football. Was that kind of the end game? Is that where you wanted to be? What was kind of like where you wanted to get through your career?
Speaker 1:It was always the NFL. I always had my eye on the NFL. I grew up a massive 49ers fan. My dad was from San Francisco, my mom was from Northern Cal and I lived in Southern Cal, so it was tough because I was surrounded by Rams fans. The Rams were in LA before they went to St Louis and then came up.
Speaker 1:But I absolutely loved everything about football, particularly NFL, the NFL, and I was an obsessed fan and I wanted to get into broadcasting. I thought you know what? So, yeah, so I started in sports radio and worked my way up and fortunately, just things aligned. You guys know how it is. It's you work hard, you get luckier right, and the harder you work, you work hard, you get luckier right. And, um, the harder you work, the luckier you get. And I found myself on monday night football with the great john madden and al michaels and I I, I think I was like in shock for a while. And then um went over to nbc sunday night football, still with al michaels, but then chris collinsworth at that point. So what, what a what a joyous career I've had wow.
Speaker 4:Well, talking about football, I have to get right to it okay, I'm a huge, like I mean pats fan, pats brady, the whole, the whole thing um okay.
Speaker 2:So you're not at all okay so you're there, I know your time.
Speaker 4:You're there. The Super Bowl 49. Pats beat the Seahawks. You're standing behind Bill Belichick when the interception happens to end that game.
Speaker 5:Marcus Butler. For people that don't know, the Seahawks were about to run the ball in and they were about to win the game.
Speaker 4:As a Pats fan, I'm saying oh great, this is over, you're going to run it in, it's going to be over, why not? And they should have ran it in, they should have, I mean, anyway. So you're behind Bill. When that happened, I mean, I can't imagine what that was like. I've seen, of course, watching it and everything, but being there, what did Bill do? Did he just scream, or what did he do?
Speaker 1:The whole scenario was so interesting because I happened to be on their sideline. Normally I'm on the sideline of the team I think is about to win. I did not think that at that point, mind you, I just happened to be behind that sideline and one of the things was Bill was getting ready to call a timeout. He expected them to run the ball and then score. He wanted to call a timeout and immediately regroup, put Brady back on the field, etc. You know, marshawn Lynch is trying, trying second down, and they go and they throw the pass.
Speaker 1:And Malcolm Butler, whom no one had ever heard of before steps in front of that football and picks it off, and Bill's fist just went in the air. He went from this poised position of I'm going to call a timeout as soon as this score to just this. I mean victory formation, if you will. So then my job became I got to figure out who this Malcolm Butler kid is, and he's got to be in my post-game interview, right. So I start stalking him. Every move he made on the bench, I was behind the bench stalking him. And so, finally, game ends, I grab him and I'm waiting by the camera, waiting, waiting. Come on, al, throw it to me out. Come on, the al, throw, you know. But he's putting a bow around the game and everything. Al says, okay, let's go down to michelle. She's with malcolm.
Speaker 1:But right at that instant, malcolm butler takes off. He's like he's waited long enough. He's waited long enough. He's's waited long enough. He's like I want to go celebrate. Well, I had to run him down on live television, you know, it's like I've never seen it. I've never looked back at it. Someday I will, but I've heard. It's pretty funny. I'm chasing him down, I turn around and then I get a couple of questions and so, yeah, it was one of the more fun moments and I can still visualize every second of it.
Speaker 4:I just want to give Pete Carroll a big hug as a Pats fan, Because there's no way they don't get that touchdown if they run it. You felt that way, didn't you?
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, as a fan you're not stopping him, and it's Lynch, you know? Oh yeah, and you're not going to, didn't you? Yeah, oh yeah, as a fan.
Speaker 4:You're not, not stopping him, and it's, it's Lynch, you know oh yeah, and you're not going to stop them. I know and and and Pete Carroll, if you're out there, thank you, but it feels like as a Pats fan, that that's how, like that's beat themselves a lot and overthought it or whatever. Anyway, what a great. I just loved I read that you were standing behind Bill and I thought that was like what a cool thing.
Speaker 1:It was really cool.
Speaker 5:Michelle, I'm sorry to interrupt you but it makes me think, okay, that's such a fun time and you get to do the post game interview and that's all happy, but I consider a lot of what you had to do to be the hardest gig in sports, because at halftime or in game but I'm just saying at halftime or in game you've got to go get the coach who does not want to talk to you. I don't know if I've ever seen a coach that, oh, I can't wait to talk to Michelle.
Speaker 5:But, you've got your one or two questions. What was that like? I mean, you had to be prepared, had to ask the right questions, I'm sure, but that's a hard gig.
Speaker 1:It is a hard gig and thank you for acknowledging that yeah, you got it. Damn it no we need more credit. You know, seriously, it was very challenging, particularly with certain coaches Like who.
Speaker 1:Well you know, bill did not love that halftime stuff, particularly with certain coaches Like who? Well, bill did not love that halftime stuff. And listen, I get it. I don't hold a grudge against anyone, jim Harbaugh, against anyone. Because you're right, they're in the middle of this battle, right? You only get so many games in the NFL season. This isn't the NBA, it's not Major League Baseball, it's not hockey. You get this finite number and every win is so critically important. So, yeah, at halftime they're thinking what is my plan going into the second half and they're not thinking, gee, I want to talk to Michelle or any other reporter. So a lot of them are really gracious about it. Believe me, 90% of them treated me so well and you work really hard to establish those relationships and sometimes you're going to ask a question that comes off stupid and you have to live with that and you don't sleep that night. But for the most part, you know you really listen.
Speaker 1:We prepared like crazy, like there were no days off during the football. No days off. You know you finish a game Sunday night, you're on a plane Monday morning and you're already prepping for next Sunday. I'm not exaggerating. You're on the plane home and you're starting your prep for the next Sunday. There's no celebration, there's no calming down, there's just you're on your way and every day until the next Sunday you're focused on that game. Yeah, you look back a little bit and you critique. We always watch film and critique our performances on every level, and but then you prep and you you don't, and that's really what it comes down to. It's like, you know, I kept telling myself when it got tedious. You know, failing to prepare is preparing to fail, so you can't do that. We're not failing here. This is Sunday freaking night football. This is Monday night football, you know, and it's a crew that holds everyone to the highest standard. So failure was not an option.
Speaker 4:And it looks like that's how you treated your whole career. Because am I right in this? Your on-air debut was 94 at the US Open.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so wow, yeah, well, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 4:Is that right?
Speaker 1:I mean as far as like you know, I don't remember what my very first on-air assignment was for CBS Sports. Honestly, I remember my very first assignment when I moved from CBS to ESPN. I remember they put me on World Cup skiing. That was interesting. I broke my arm, but that's another story. But yeah, no, you really, you know, at that time there were there weren't as many women doing it as there are now. So there was that sort of you know, you got to work twice as hard, which, by the way, I would never complain about and I would never suggest anyone complain about it. You know that going in it's what you sign up for and so it's what you have to do. And so it was never like poor me, I've got to work twice as hard. No, it was. How cool is this? I get to show my stuff, man. I get to work really hard and show everybody. So I was competing with everybody. But yeah, so you had to work hard.
Speaker 4:And that was cool. I mean, I think Agassi won that year year, so that had to be pretty cool to to be. I mean, if that was early on, you know it's, it's pretty cool yeah, he was still married to brooke shields oh wow, that's amazing. Yeah, that's how long ago that was. I mean, it's it's uh. Did you get to interview him at all, or?
Speaker 1:yeah, I didn't. I've interviewed andre um and and that's like those years are kind of a blur to me because when I first got hired at CBS Sports I was sort of like in shock. Seriously, I had done very little TV, I had done mostly sports, talk radio. I get hired by a network as my first television job, not a local network, and I thought that I could do it. But I went through a lot of hell along the way, making a lot of mistakes. But as Winston Churchill said, when you find yourself going through hell, just keep going. And so that's what I did and, believe me, there were times where I dropped some serious mistakes, but I wanted it bad enough to just stick with it and learn.
Speaker 6:Yeah, I thought that was Rodney Adkins that said that that's the first time I'd heard it. Hey and Michelle, do you get any hazard pay? Because you mentioned you broke your arm at a skiing event? Do you get hazard pay included with some of the because you're around a lot of dangerous sports and contact sports? Hell, no, nothing extra.
Speaker 1:The stupid thing about that broken arm was we were in kitzbühel, austria. It was beautiful and I was covering world cup skiing, which I don't know why they put me on that. I was brand new at espn. I had been doing, you know, mostly college football and college basketball my entire career. But you show up at espn and they're like, yeah, we'll throw on skin, see what she thinks of that. So I'm over there in austria and I'm coming home from dinner one night to our little inn where we were staying and I'm crossing a bridge and my stupid boot slipped and instead you know, I don't, I'd never like practiced falling like my husband played baseball. You learn how to slide and fall and all that and get your arms out of the way. No, my arm just went instinctively straight down and and the next thing I know it was laying in the snow like the shape of an S you know, it was just, literally just.
Speaker 1:I was like, oh my God. And uh, they, they take me in an ambulance to this hospital in Austria and this guy's yelling at me in German and then he starts saying stop your crying, you are not like, I'm not, I'm really in a lot of pain here, man. Then he took an x-ray and he saw that I had broken both bones in my wrist and he came back and said I'm sorry, you are really hurt, but no, no, hazard pay.
Speaker 6:Well, on your way out, as they're wheeling you out on the stretcher, did you dramatically slowly reach up your finger and number one like that, anything that happens, mark?
Speaker 1:Well, there were no cameras rolling, so I figured man would see it.
Speaker 6:You know Well actually they walked me.
Speaker 1:They walked me up to our end this is one really funny tidbit Walked me up to our end. Our innkeeper, who didn't speak any English, looks at me. He had to cut the glove off of my hand cause I was so swollen and he handed me this glass of liquor and he said drink it, drink it. And I said no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Drink it down. So I just went, you know, and it kind of helped.
Speaker 2:Well, you know you been talking about your interviews and stuff and I don't want to get too political, but I'm going to. All right, I'm going to. I just want to know what your interview would be like with, uh, the legendary coach, tim waltz on the sideline, one of our finest coaches.
Speaker 1:I'm just curious what you would ask him at halftime I would probably say do you have any idea what the hell you're doing? Are you just playing a part here, coach? Listen, I happen to live right now in Minnesota, where he is still the governor and he's still a fool and he's still a fraud and he's still a clown, and I seriously have zero respect for the man. He has driven this state into the ground. And so there are a lot of people in my neighborhood who are moving not just my day out from all over Minnesota, who have left, who are, you know, probably heading your way, and you know it's just it's.
Speaker 1:It's been really sad. I've lived here for half of my life now. I grew up, like I said, in Southern California and spent the first half of my life in California and then came here and I I'm so sad to see this state the way that it is. So I would have a. You know I'd I honestly I'd love to sit across from him and interview him, but it would be more like, uh, he would not enjoy it, trust me that was a very awkward um campaign and and watching him out there and and watching him with the hand waving and the awkward and the double wave.
Speaker 4:Yeah it just uh, I can't remember who it was, but you, you, you called someone out on X, didn't you? Or someone or another ESPN analyst I think um had mentioned him and about his masculinity or something you know, mina Kim's or whatever had said something.
Speaker 3:Mina Kim's.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she said, she said on the Dan Levitard podcast, uh, which I don't recommend, the dan levitard podcast, uh, which I don't recommend. She said. She said, um, that you know, this was a good kind of he represented a good kind of masculinity. And I, I didn't you know and and I just said, what is that? What are you even talking about? Like, I guess, is toxic masculinity was just a joke to me and so, yeah, I, um, I disagreed with her adamantly.
Speaker 7:My name is Glenn Story. I'm the founder and CEO of Patriot Mobile. And then we have four principles First Amendment. Second Amendment right to life, military and first responders. If you have a place to go put your money, you always want to put it with somebody that's like mine, of course. I think that's the beauty of Patriot Mobile we're a conservative alternative.
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Speaker 4:I don't know anyone who could look at Tim Waltz and say that's a picture of masculinity.
Speaker 5:I mean it's. You know it's really sad for me. I love Minnesota, my wife is from Minnesota, her family is from there, I'm from Iowa, so I spent a. I I love Minnesota, my wife is from Minnesota, her family is from there, I'm from Iowa, so I spent a lot of time in Minnesota, and I would say, probably outside of Metro, you know, minneapolis, st Paul, there's, it's, it's still maybe mostly red, but obviously the cities are very blue, you know. And then there's this thing with you know the god, the men and women, sports, and how is that going to go in minnesota here, because it it looks like a slippery slope. They're getting in it.
Speaker 1:It does, and this has a lot to do with tim walls and we've got a very slim majority right now in the house in minnesota, a very slim republican majority. But uh, this is this issue's the no-brainer right it should be a no-brainer it should be a no-brainer.
Speaker 1:So I will say, uh, as we're recording this, I'm getting ready to do a panel in a few days with riley gains, who's coming here to rally at the capitol, and some other folks and, um, you know, I've, I've I've been in touch with Riley and I got to know each other very early on in this fight and, um, I think her courage and her willingness to just be steadfast and keep speaking out on this and she has absolutely no fear has been great for this movement.
Speaker 1:So we're going to keep trying. Like I said, I don't know why you would choose this hill to die on, but I think that we are so far left in our politics here in Minnesota, like you said, outside of the Twin Cities, outside of the metro, you see Trump flags all over the place, right, but you get here where there's just dense population and by dense I mean they're kind of dense, but there are a lot of people and they think you know that Tim Walls and Keith Ellison, our Attorney General, and the left are really cool and really great for standing up, for you know, they position it as we're standing up for trans rights and they're forgetting that there are victims in this and those are the girls and um, you know, where are the women standing up for these girls and I I hope they come out of the woodwork here yeah, we've.
Speaker 5:We've been lucky enough to have riley on here and, yes, she's done what she's done over the years is I mean, everyone has to appreciate what she's done, the fight that she's fought. It's been incredible.
Speaker 2:And we can't believe she had to fight for that.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that was even a fight it still, it still feels like we're making this up.
Speaker 1:I know.
Speaker 4:What are we? What are we arguing about? Men and women's sports? Is that a thing? That's a thing. We always talk about it. It's crazy.
Speaker 1:It feels like the world has tipped off its axis. We're just like what's happening here. Did we enter some other time warp or weird form of gravity around the earth? Yeah, it's ridiculous, this whole phrase. Trans women are real women is, so then what part is trans then? Why do you have to say trans? Well, because you're not a real woman.
Speaker 1:And it's look, you can do whatever you want, you can live however you want, but once you start to impact fairness in sports, or you're to impact fairness in sports or you're. Look, we know there are people who have abused this, people in prison who have decided to transition while in prison so they can be transferred to the women's prisons. I mean, this stuff is so absurd.
Speaker 4:At least, at least you can, at least that makes sense, At least okay, At least that's a last resort. I mean you gotta I need to get out of here. You know what I mean? You gotta have something to do, that's a lot of that's a last resort.
Speaker 6:I mean you gotta I need to get out of here. You gotta have something to do that's a lot of time to kill.
Speaker 1:No that's a very good point um but you know it, yeah, this is, this is absurd. And you look at these, these biological boys who are competing, and you go really, leah thomas, the. The photographs will live in infamy and they will be in our history books and 50 years from now or 100 years from now, hopefully, people will be saying what in the hell were they thinking?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I still don't know where those people are, though, not to end this topic, but who supports it? I mean, I know they're out there. I've never met someone who says, yes, men and women's sports.
Speaker 2:You know it's hard to meet somebody down here that supports it.
Speaker 4:It's really hard to meet somebody.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:No, there was a girl that just I saw today, a 15-year-old basketball player that refused to play. Her name is Frances Stalt or something like that. I can't remember her last name.
Speaker 5:And really that's what they should be doing. They should just be refusing.
Speaker 2:She refused to play, but now she's getting backlash for refusing to play. I mean, you would think they were just like, okay, she didn't want to play, so we'll continue on, but now she's getting bullied. Yeah, I think they've accused her of bullying, yeah.
Speaker 1:Exactly. It's like who's bullying who here? Um, you know, yeah, it's I. I have said on x and every I've shouted from the rooftops don't play, don't compete exactly and you know we had that nevada uh women's volleyball team that did that.
Speaker 1:That said we're not gonna, we're gonna boycott or we're gonna, you know, throw in the towel on some of these games. We'll forfeit because we don't want to play against this San Jose State team that has a male, you know, a trans gal playing on the team. We don't want to do it and they took a lot of guff even from their own university. But I am so happy to see these developments and we're seeing it. We're seeing some signs of courage and I think courage begets courage. So I hope that this is kind of a movement among young girls that starts to grow. You know, that's, that's what we're hoping for.
Speaker 1:I hope so too.
Speaker 5:You mentioned Riley as being fearless, but I would argue that you're pretty fearless as well. I've seen you go into the lion's den. I've seen you go on, bill Maher. I've seen you go into the lion's den. I've seen you go on, bill Maher, speak your Mind. I've seen you co-host the View. This is Neil's favorite show the View.
Speaker 1:Neil, come on, yeah, right.
Speaker 5:But you have to tell me what that experience was like, because I think you were on there a couple days and you talked about you were just giving objectionable views on Colin Kaepernick or COVID or the vaccines which at that time, oh, don't you dare do that. Can you share what that experience was like and did you expect the kind of backlash you got following that?
Speaker 1:I was prepared for it and the interesting thing about it is some people think that NBC fired me because of that, and that's not at all. What happened? It, it, it, it. What happened was that this was going to be my final season on on Sunday night football, because I wanted to go speak my mind more. So I asked permission to go on the view when I had a week off at the end of the season, and they said, okay, yeah, just you know, be careful. I guess I wasn't careful enough and I said some things, but I got to tell you, sitting on that set and even in the early morning, you go into the New York studio and you have this meeting and you're all sitting there, all you know, whoopie and everyone and you're talking about what the topics are going to be, and it is like it's not exciting, it's not energetic, it's not happy it's not whooping joy and sunny, I mean yeah everyone makes a point of that.
Speaker 1:It's so ironic, isn't it? Whoopie, joy and sunny and it's like none of those things, and so it. You know, I honestly um, and they were considering me for the conservative chair, and I remember I one of my last times there, the head of talent came down and said well, what do you think? And what I wanted to say to him is you don't have enough money to get me to do this show because it was really, it was honestly depressing, it was well they're, they're very sad people yeah they're
Speaker 6:very grumpy, bitter angry.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they're very grumpy and just you know, there was no joy. There was no joy, I'm sorry, there was. No, there was no fun in it and uh, and I tried, and I put on a brave face and I smiled the whole way through and I thought I'm just going to be a happy warrior. And if it had been honestly, you know, like informed debate, informed discussion, that was respectful, I could have lived with it. But it wasn't. And in fact there was one time in a commercial break and I'm sorry, joy Behar, I am going to call you out on this.
Speaker 4:Yes.
Speaker 1:I had mentioned that my brother was not getting vaccinated, that he didn't want to get vaccinated, and she told me to tell my brother he's a. You know, she called him a name.
Speaker 5:Oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:And I said, you know, yeah, like a selfish SOB. And I said, well, yeah, I'm not going to tell him that, but you know I respect your feelings even though, whatever. So, yeah, there was some. I mean, and for someone like me who prepares super hard for stuff and does the research, is super hard for stuff and does the research, I was kind of amazed at some of the stuff that they would just say without any backing at all. Now, it's an opinion show, they're allowed to do that, but it was frustrating.
Speaker 4:It's funny to me how, when you're on the left, you can have a very strong opinion about whatever you want and say whatever you want, and when you're conservative, it's like be careful what you say why is that yeah?
Speaker 2:I really don't know.
Speaker 4:It's like we. We ask it every time on the show. That's what they did to our song.
Speaker 2:I mean as soon as our song came out, we the four of us were labeled racist immediately by whoopi goldberg and everybody on the view I mean, it feels like, you know, in america, it feels obvious that we should be able to have an opinion either way.
Speaker 4:You know why is it bad if you have a different opinion from someone on the left? They're very grumpy people. I tell you what they're very grumpy and you can't really have a conversation with them. They get very sensitive.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I bet you saw your future if you took that job. What that would be like I did it would have been a constant bombardment on you.
Speaker 1:And you look at someone like Meghan McCain who quit because she just couldn't take it, and I sat there and this was post-Meghan while they're looking to fill that chair and I thought I get it. I understand. You know, even when they had guests on, that would come out and we do. You know the chit chat with the guests. You could feel the guests just glaring at you I mean, it was like you know, hi, nice to meet you.
Speaker 1:And then you know it was. It was really quite amazing. And the audience, uh is the fifth member of the view. Uh, so you know, like you've got all these opposing opinions and the entire audience is in their palm and you're just trying to make a point and uh, it was.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it was challenging, it was something yeah, and, and and it feels like all of media is part of the view. So you're fighting everything, everything you know. So it's. But, like kurt said, thank you for speaking up and it's so I'm curious.
Speaker 5:so with the view, because I've heard, like elizabeth hasselbeck, who was on there for a while, say that she's actually friends with Whoopi, even though they have completely differing thoughts, especially on politics and stuff. When you had those couple of days with them, did you like you said I just want to make sure I'm hearing right you just didn't have any camaraderie with those hosts at all.
Speaker 1:I would say that Whoopi was probably the most open-minded. Even though I disagreed with her vehemently about a number of things, and still do, I would say that she was probably the most authentic.
Speaker 4:How did Ted Danson do it? I don't know. I want to have Ted.
Speaker 6:Danson on and I want to ask and I love.
Speaker 1:Ted Danson.
Speaker 4:I'm like bro, that's actually a great idea. There's a lot of questions. I have so many questions, but how did you do it, ted wake up in the morning and there's Whoopi yikes, sorry, that's just been eating at me for like 20 years now you've been awesome sorry, the truth is that's where my brain goes. Oh my goodness, what a view.
Speaker 1:But it was really yeah, I would have. That's why you guys are songwriters you know how to put those words in the right places. Yeah, it was just, I would say that Sonny and Joy were the most hostile.
Speaker 4:I can't do it. Their names? They're not I know isn't it.
Speaker 3:I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:It's something, it's truly something, and you know, and.
Speaker 1:I'll give Sunny a little bit of credit. There were times in the commercial I felt like she was asked behind the scenes, maybe to try to be nice to me in the commercial breaks. So she would just turn to me and say, so are you having fun? But it never felt, you know, it never felt authentic and I'm yeah, I just couldn't do that. I couldn't do it. And let me tell you this really quick Chelsea Clinton was a guest on the show one time and so each of us got to ask a question and they sort of helped shape my question for me, which was fine. My question was going to be about the election and how, you know, the Democrats have all these issues unemployment, inflation, what are you most concerned with? So, you know, as a Democrat, and her answer, and I wanted to go put my head in a stove.
Speaker 1:Her answer was my biggest concern is that everybody has the right to vote that everybody has access to that and I wanted to scream and I had to fight my instinct to say what makes you think that people don't have access to voting in America. But I knew she would point at Georgia, andia and she would just and it just there's not enough time in a show like that to really go back and forth. But damn did I want to and I really regretted that I didn't follow chelsea clinton was talking about dead people too well michelle there may be a uh.
Speaker 6:I don't know if you've heard about this, but you know because you were raised in California, right, you were there for a pretty good while. There's a podcast that's newly launching that is supposed to be about truth and where you can really get some great points in and a great discussion. Gavin Newsom's new podcast, and so I was wondering if anybody's contacted you yet or if they reached out to you.
Speaker 1:Not yet. I'm so disappointed.
Speaker 6:Yeah, because you're from there and you're a huge celebrity. I mean, I don't understand.
Speaker 1:You know, I heard him say he wants to mix it up with the MAGA architects. The architects of MAGA, and I'm thinking to myself you are so transparent, you want to run for president. So bad, and you want to distract everyone away from the disaster that you've made in California the fires, the homelessness, the immigration policy, the sanctuary cities, the crime, the crap on the streets of San Francisco. Sanctuary cities, the crime, the crap on the streets of San Francisco. You, just now, you think if you have a shiny new podcast, we're all going to forget that because you decide to mix it up with the architects of MAGA.
Speaker 7:I can't wait to see who he has on, but I hope that they, I hope that they all really hold his.
Speaker 1:This is bad timing to say his feet to the fire. This is bad timing to say his feet to the fire, but I really do hope that they, they hold him to. You know, they, they, they speak truth to power.
Speaker 4:A lot, a lot of people have moved here from California. I got some friends that just opened a business here a couple of years ago moved here during COVID or shortly after COVID somewhere in that timeframe. But they call them gruesome Newsome yeah you know, and and by no means are, are my friends necessarily conservative, but they're probably moderate, like normal people with common sense normal and and now they have a business here and it's like I don't know what.
Speaker 4:If you're from california, what good has he done? Honestly, like I don't. I guess they'll argue with me on that, but oh, I don't get it.
Speaker 1:You get no argument from me, none. I have a niece and two nephews out there who probably can't afford to live there, and so their solution is well, let's build little single family or single person dwellings in other people's backyards. That's one. The other is, with all of this destruction in the Palisades, pacific Palisades, there along the coast, they want to put in instead of just letting people rebuild homes. All it's got to include affordable housing and we've got to include a bunch of apartment buildings. And you know it's.
Speaker 1:I don't, I listen. I have a dear friend I'm not going to name him right now because he's 10 times more famous than I am, which isn't really saying a lot, but he's like 20 times more, anyway, big time and he's in LA and he's always telling me to come back. And I said there's no way I'm coming back. And he said things are starting to change. You know Gavin's going to get that that, uh, and Karen Bass, she'll get ousted. And I, I, I, just I, I'm not buying it yet and until I actually see that, there's no way I go back. I go there all the time to see my mom. She passed away a year or so ago and so I don't really get out there anymore and I you know it's so sad to me. What a beautiful, beautiful state. My dad was so proud of the Golden State and he used to call San Francisco the jewel of the Western Hemisphere and you know we felt so fortunate to be raised there and it's just really sad.
Speaker 2:It is sad it is to be raised there and it's just uh, it's just really sad, it is. No, it's just such a beautiful place and to have those type of characters that have overtaken such a beautiful place is not fair and it pisses me off.
Speaker 5:It's really unbelievable because, like you're saying, san francisco, you know we were lucky enough to be there a long time ago and it is one of the most beautiful places on the planet, or it was, it was it still is minus the people. Well, no, that's you go downtown and it's not good.
Speaker 1:Um, yeah, there are sections now you're right that are just impassable so what, uh?
Speaker 5:so what brought you to minnesota then? Was it work well?
Speaker 1:it was work. It I was. I was my first full-time sports casting job was in Charlotte, north Carolina, and I didn't have a real good experience there with the whole the, the work environment, the person I was working with, et cetera. And so I really wanted to leave and I want and in this business you just keep moving to the next biggest market, hoping to get like you know. Okay, I was in Charlotte, I want to move up to a bigger market where you're, you know you have a bigger opportunity. And so I got a call from the station in Minnesota, a full-time all-sports station, and they did a great job recruiting me and they offered me, you know, the position on the local Vikings broadcast and I thought this is my first step into the NFL, which was the goal.
Speaker 1:So I took it and then I met my husband and so here, we stay, but he is even tired of it now, and he was raised here.
Speaker 2:We have room in Nashville.
Speaker 6:We have room in.
Speaker 2:Nashville.
Speaker 4:Lots of people are moving here, michelle.
Speaker 2:Minnesota needs her though.
Speaker 4:Minnesota. I mean listening to you talk and how, like you said, very well spoken. I think you have a genuine care for the people there. It's like they need you up there. I mean Minnesota. If you're in Minnesota, you need something to look forward to. Okay, so totally this is a good thing.
Speaker 5:We're going to let you do this, michelle. We're going to let you break news on the Try that in a Small Town podcast. Come on, it has to happen.
Speaker 1:You can either confirm nor deny.
Speaker 5:Uh-oh, are you going to make a run for a Senate seat?
Speaker 1:I will neither confirm nor deny.
Speaker 3:Gosh, dang it.
Speaker 4:I'm sorry, that's a politician she's gonna do it because they need her there, I mean, I'm gonna confirm it tonight on the try that podcast wait a minute.
Speaker 1:I mean, you know, look there are. There are some really good potential candidates that we have here, and so I'm praying that someone good will step up, because the governorship is coming up. We've got to get rid of Tim Walls and, yes, we have an open Senate seat coming up.
Speaker 3:I'm sorry, coach, how do you get this?
Speaker 1:on Coach so many names for him, so many names.
Speaker 4:Do you know anybody who actually knows him or actually can say anything? He seems so. I think Bugs Bunny does. It's so weird when he walked out in one of those campaign events.
Speaker 5:He just looks so disingenuous he doesn't look real to me. He shakes his wife's hand.
Speaker 4:It's like this is weird.
Speaker 1:Don't you think that at a certain point into the campaign that Kamala sort of went? What have I done?
Speaker 5:Okay, michelle, you got to answer this for me because we had this question here, a lot Like when that was happening and she was picking her vice president. I think everybody thought Shapiro Right, like I would get that, and I'd be like actually he's pretty good. I would have been worried about that Me too.
Speaker 1:I would have been worried too.
Speaker 5:And then the waltz thing came and everybody's like what?
Speaker 3:Like I actually don't. It's almost like self-sabotage.
Speaker 5:What do you think that strategy was?
Speaker 1:I think he was the last one stand. I don't think people wanted to. I think shapiro knew okay, and that it was. It was going to be a failure. That she was, that she was a disaster. And he didn't want to hitch his wagon and and he thought I've got a political future and I don't want to destroy it. Tim wallace has clearly destroyed his political future.
Speaker 1:I hope I I really like to believe Minnesota is going to do better. Listen, the local media here in Minnesota didn't do one iota of vetting this guy. And then you get the national media scrutiny and suddenly all these things are coming out and you know it was a whole different story out and you know it was a whole different story. So I I hope that minnesotans have opened up their eyes enough to say you know a doorknob would be better in the government.
Speaker 4:You're, you've got, you've got to come on this podcast all the time absolutely it's like you're. It's one of my favorites. Yeah, you're a breath of fresh air hey, are you a country music fan?
Speaker 2:I, I am really.
Speaker 5:So who do you like?
Speaker 1:I well, I love jason aldean god there you go, you passed thank you, thank you
Speaker 1:you know what? I'll be honest with you, this is sort of um. In the last five years I've started started to absorb more country music and I I do think there's, there's, there's. It's just become more um of my style and there there's a lot of it that I just really am into and my son is really into it and that kind of he's a. He's got a very eclectic music taste but, um, he's introduced me to a lot and I wish I could remember all the names because there's some really good stuff that he plays on his playlist. But yeah, I I want to get to. You know, my husband's never been to Nashville, I think. Actually he came down as a baseball player and played against Vanderbilt but probably got their asses kicked, but anyway, Vanderbilt's got a good team.
Speaker 1:Vanderbilt's got a good team, but I got to get down there and I got to listen to some music.
Speaker 5:Yeah, it's a great place, to be for sure. And yes, vandy is always good, always has a great baseball team. Hey, you know, before we go, I want to ask you this because, yeah, tony and I talk about this a lot. We take for granted what we've been able to do and be on stage. And it's funny like sometimes we'll have guests out and they're enamored with being backstage or side stage for a concert. But as sports fans, I'm looking at you and I'm thinking Michelle gets to be on the sideline. Oh my gosh, she's courtside. Oh my gosh, she's us. Did you ever get to look at that and just say, oh, I'm so blessed, or was it always?
Speaker 1:you were just so in the middle of work, work, work that you weren't able to appreciate it I think it was the latter, but I'll tell you this my I knew when my last game was going to be. I stayed a couple seasons longer than I had planned to. I wanted to get out and start talking, which you can't really do when you're on the number one show in prime time. You can't talk the way I've been talking here with you guys.
Speaker 1:And I and I again never complained, that's what I signed up for. I knew that. But, um, after COVID and everything, I just I stuck with the group and and they're like, just get us through that Superbowl in LA. And so I said, okay. So I knew that Superbowl in LA and it ended up being the Rams and the Bengals. I knew that was going to be my last game.
Speaker 1:And after it ended, I was about to just walk off the field, like I always do, like I have this routine. I'd finish, I'd interview da, da, da, and then I'd go back to the trucks and I stopped myself. I went wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. Don't forget, this is the last time you'll ever do this. This is it. So turn around. And I physically made myself turn around.
Speaker 1:I was looking around that stadium and that LA stadium is stunning. And you know, the confetti was still coming down and the Rams were still out there on the field celebrating and all the rest. And I was looking and I started to cry and I went oh God, you don't want to do this, this is not what you want to do, you know. So I'm trying to keep it together. And Andrew Whitworth, who was, you know, one of the offensive linemen for the Rams saw this and he came running over and he gave me a hug and I'll never forget that Um it.
Speaker 1:That was a moment where I looked around and I said you have really been lucky and privileged and blessed to do this for as long as you've done it on the level that you've done it and taken this moment, and so I have a very vivid memory of that. That last moment on the on the field field, I have been incredibly lucky and I think that every day I'm away from it, I allow myself to reflect a little bit more. Right now I'm so focused on sort of fighting the good fight and trying to speak for people who don't want to take that risk, and I'm willing to take that risk and I don't care that I don't reflect a ton, but every now and then, especially when I get asked a question like this, I do know I was hella lucky.
Speaker 4:There's a cool parallel as I listen to you speak about how well prepared you are and how your whole career you've prepared for what's next, you know, the following week or the following game. I think when people ask us the same thing, like about playing shows and touring and making albums, it just kind of hit me when you said that, like you spend so much time preparing that you've you forget to reflect, like because you just it's like a hamster wheel and the work's never done, so it just keeps going and that's it.
Speaker 4:It's a really interesting parallel that we that we have with athletes too. I think that's why, you know, a lot of athletes want to play music and a lot of musicians want to be athletes, because it's very similar in the sense that you you never really stop repairing and then one day it makes you. You stop, it stops, and you never prepared for that, you know right, I still think brady's coming back I'm gonna call that.
Speaker 3:You need to stop thinking that he's still hung up on will levis.
Speaker 2:I mean, he's got he's got his will levis cup here and he's still we're on the hunt for a qb here in tennessee here I'm gonna swap this cup for a qb, but okay, well, maybe that cup will get you something we don't know what are the rumors.
Speaker 1:What are the rumors that you're hearing?
Speaker 5:um no one well here obviously you know they've got the number one pick. My thing is that if they blow it, I'm gonna be very, very upset, like I know that those guys aren't generational quarterbacks, but you don't get the number one pick often, or you hope you don't, right? So if they don't take the cam or or maybe the you know I got cam ward.
Speaker 2:I love cam ward.
Speaker 5:So I don't know. I'll be disappointed if they don't, because we can't go into the season with Will, we'll get Kirk Cousins and you'll like it. I like Kirk.
Speaker 4:I like Kirk.
Speaker 1:I will tell you you would love Kirk.
Speaker 2:I've gotten to know, kirk over the years.
Speaker 1:He's a great guy and he's a better quarterback than people think. He's been shuffled through so many different systems. It's ridiculous. I agree, but he's a very good player and a lot of offensive coordinators really respect his game. It's going to be interesting. I will warn you this you know that number one pick can be deceiving, like Jamarcus Russell was taken with the number one pick by the then Oakland Raiders and it was a terrible pick. It didn't work out so great for the Raiders.
Speaker 1:But you know it's really interesting the scouting and all the stuff that they do to find the right person. That's all evolved and, I'm sure, gotten much more detailed. But it's kind of a blessing and a curse to have that number one pick because, like you said, if you blow it, your fans may never forgive you and you may never forgive yourself hey, I like taking qb's deeper in the draft I mean of course you do.
Speaker 4:You're a patch fan, but look at brock purdy though. Yeah, I know, you know I mean a lot of times those, those hidden gems, are in there, I think.
Speaker 1:I think montana was a third round pick, I know, I mean I think michelle toffola would be a good general manager for the tennessee titans well, come on down hey, real quick, what are the vikings?
Speaker 5:gonna do? What are the vikings gonna do? Is it mccarthy?
Speaker 1:I have no idea. I have no idea. I don't know how he's progressing. I don't have a clue yet and and that's part of the thing, like I, I don't pay as close attention to all of it as I used to. Like, like I would have had an answer for you, but I really don't. And it's where you know. It's still a little bit early, so we'll see, but my gosh, april's creeping up, isn't it?
Speaker 5:It sure is, michelle. We're thankful for you. Listen, we know you didn't have to come on here. We appreciate you, we appreciate your voice.
Speaker 6:This was so fun.
Speaker 4:Please come back. We should be like a regular on here.
Speaker 1:It's so amazing. You let me know.
Speaker 5:When you declare your Senate run, we'll have you back on. Oh sorry, I know it's happening.
Speaker 4:I can tell it's happening.
Speaker 3:I'm going to call it right here.
Speaker 1:You do what you want Seriously, Michelle, we appreciate you. Thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 5:Thank you want.
Speaker 1:You, do you.
Speaker 5:Seriously, Michelle, we appreciate you. Thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. Thank you, guys. Good to see you Thank you All right guys.
Speaker 5:That was pretty awesome. Michelle Tafoya to me she's got like a Hall of Fame career dude Talking about Olympics. You're talking about NFL Super Bowls. I didn't even know. The US Open thing, march Madness, she's done it all.
Speaker 2:No, she's a pro Live TV.
Speaker 6:Superstar.
Speaker 2:To be that smooth, so smart I was thinking of that too.
Speaker 5:Live TV I was going to ask that because it's like that ain't easy, right, heck? No, tony and I are talking about sometimes we'll do award shows or late night shows. And doing something live is obviously a lot different than when you get the chance to say, ah, screw it up, let me do another. Take she's on live tv for a living. A hundred million people doing watching the super bowl, you better be on, oh she's a pro.
Speaker 4:She was hopefully she comes back and one of my favorite we've guests we've had. I mean, she was so smart and quick and you know, really, really fun.
Speaker 2:The one thing I wanted to ask her. I wanted to know when she got like into football, into sports, what age I wish. I would have asked her that.
Speaker 5:She alluded to it really briefly. I wish we would have expanded on it. I think she grew up a 49ers fan because she didn't. She say she was from California. So I think during the Joe Montana years, years, steve young, but yeah, we should have gotten into that a little bit more. But I think football was like her thing because that's what I was curious like she did.
Speaker 2:She did it all I think politics is gonna be her thing now, though, dude, she didn't answer straight up. Hey, you know minnesota minnesota needs her.
Speaker 4:minnesota is a great state. We we have played up in Minnesota and all over the place so many times Great people. What's going on up there is a shame really, so hopefully she can get in there.
Speaker 6:I mean she's so smart. Oh yeah, she's a tough lady. I mean, go from the NFL to politics, she's ready.
Speaker 2:She's ready, she'd be ready, or, general manager, tennessee Titan Could be, could be.
Speaker 4:That's what we need. We got a new stadium, but no team. It's going to be rough.
Speaker 5:We just need a quarterback, guys, we just need a quarterback.
Speaker 2:Cam Ward. Cam Ward C-Dub All right.
Speaker 4:C-Dub. You know I agree with her, though I think I don't know about. I like going quarterbacks deeper in the draft.
Speaker 5:Well, I mean, it's just not here we go, it is.
Speaker 3:But the. Thing is.
Speaker 5:It's like, okay, you can cite Brady and Brock Purdy, but that's about it, you know, and that's over 20 years. And yeah, the number one pick is probably a coin flip. It really is and it's a lot of investment. But if you don't got a QB man, you got to get one, you got to try.
Speaker 4:Do you think they need to build though? Okay, so you start building other pieces. They'll then get a veteran to come in for a year or two.
Speaker 5:Maybe it is.
Speaker 2:If that's the thing, do you bring like we talked about this, do you bring aaron rogers and you bring kirk cousins in, but they're in a bad spot though. I mean they get, they got. They have to think about their, their, their dancing between quarterback offensive line. It's like they they've got to get the offensive line that's going to be cohesive with the right quarterback. I mean it's such a hard gig, hard gig. I wouldn't want that gig. Yeah, it is At all, but that's the dilemma that they're in right now.
Speaker 5:Well, listen, we appreciate you guys. You know we have a lot of guests right and it's like sometimes we're right down the middle. It's our bread and butter is music. We love having musical people on talking with them, and sometimes we venture out. We love having musical people on talking with them, and sometimes we venture out. It's sports, or sometimes it's political, like with Michelle. Sometimes it's a little of both. You never know what you're going to get. You never know what you're going to get. That's true, and I think that's the fun of it. Listen. So make sure this is important to us. If you're watching on YouTube, like subscribe, comment. That means a lot to us. Follow us like subscribe comment. That means a lot to us. Follow us on the socials.
Speaker 6:Kayla will always tell you to download that's a good thing for us, definitely yeah download, download, download.
Speaker 5:Seriously, we appreciate you guys sticking with us every week. It's been, uh, an awesome ride. By the way, ed leave us a good, another good comment.
Speaker 6:He's always first with the comment and you notice with ed.
Speaker 5:he'll give us like a play-by-play, he'll give you a comment and then, like 20 minutes later, he's like with another part of the podcast.
Speaker 6:I read some good ones today, did you? Yeah, he's very affirmative of everybody. He compliments, encourages. You know he's really good. And he was talking about your nickname. The new nickname currently it's Cobb for Kurt, of which I'm not 100% sure I'm on board yet. Not that that matters If it's Cobb. I'll go with it. He mentioned another one. He had one more I thought was pretty good. I can't remember it right now, but we're going to keep working on that.
Speaker 2:Ed, you just keep sending them in. He's from Iowa, keep sending them in. He's from Iowa, I mean right in the middle of America, middle the heartland, you're right in the middle.
Speaker 5:It is what it is.
Speaker 2:We can come up with something that has to do with, right in the middle, you. You are the heartland of this podcast.
Speaker 5:Oh yeah, thanks, Neil, I appreciate it and happy birthday, by the way. Ah, thank you, we are coming to you from the Patriot Mobile Studios. This is a Try, that in a Small Town podcast.
Speaker 3:We'll see you guys next week.