I Love Mondays with Mike Heller
Mike Heller is back talking all things sports and all things Packers, Brewers, Bucks, Badgers and beyond.
I Love Mondays with Mike Heller
I Love Mondays-Ep 48, May 6, 2026
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We talked fishing with Mark Osiecki www.Casting4Kids.org -he's also still bullish on the Minnesota Wild in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Why the Badgers picked 14th right now in the B1G is a good thing...and chirping by Cubs fans is acceptable. Chirp away
I love Mondays with Mike Heller. Broadcasting live from an undisclosed bunker in the Badger State. This is I Love Mondays with Mike Heller. Powered by determination and a little bit of duct tape. Here's your host, Mike Heller.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so here we go. It is uh it's the middle of the week. It's a Wednesday. I love all days in sports talk equally. It's a get-to opportunity. Uh and I love talking to you on YouTube and on Twitter Live and those who download it uh later in the day. So I appreciate all of that. Oh, I see what's going on here. I had I had it up on my uh my computer. I'm going, hey, what's going on there? Welcome in. Uh we get started. Uh I say good morning to Mike because Mike says good morning to us. First thing out of the gate every day, Mike and Merrill. Uh appreciate you uh jumping in with uh your morning wishes. We welcome you aboard. We we got stuff to get to today. You know, Wednesdays are an OG Wednesday. Marco Seeky is going to join us, the former uh skater, Badger Hockey, and you know, he's he's been a coach, uh dude has lived his life around hockey. Uh so we're gonna talk to him about the Stanley Cup playoffs for a bit, but also talking about casting for kids, his event coming up shortly. Uh and he will fill us in on everything that's going on. What a great venture he has had uh continuously over the years. So Oz will join us here in a little bit. I want to spend some time today talking about uh for some of you, your Chicago Cubs, uh they have won 17 of their last 20. At one point, they were seven and nine on the season, and now uh I mean it's what they have done has been impressive. So they are 24 and 13, 24 and 12. It's uh their run has been super impressive. They've won you know 119 straight games at home. I think their winning streak at Wrigley now is 13. They went in walk-off back-to-back nights against Cincinnati. I'll wrap that series up today. The Brewers had the day off uh yesterday because of a raino in St. Louis. They'll make it up in July as part of a doubleheader. So my question on this, and we'll get to it a little bit later in the show, I don't mind when fans chirp mostly. You know, I wouldn't I don't know that I'd be vice versa chirping, but maybe a little bit. Certain people I I have rules on uh for those who I'm friends with, because for many of you on Twitter, you if you follow or I follow you or whatever, um you're gonna take you're gonna go ahead and and take your run. And I I don't mostly, I mean I engage in that, but mostly I'm fine with it. But I have rules for friends. All right. So I I have my friendly rules of engagement for friends on chirping. So the moment after my team, Packers-Bears in the playoffs, the moment after my team, Brewers-Dodgers in the NLCS, although that was never really competitive, the moment after my team, the Badgers lose a game to Iowa, the moment after my team, Wisconsin bounce out of the NCAA tournament, moments after is not the right time that I want friends to chirp at me if they're on the other side of the fan equation. Because I I I'm not now some for some I get it and I accept it. But for those who know me well enough and I know them, I don't chirp at them immediately after, and nor do I want to be chirped at immediately after. Right now, Cubs fans going ahead and getting all loud and proud and and chirping at their brewer fan counterpoint. Okay. I'm okay with that. It is May 6th. The Cubs have been extraordinarily hot. We know that from a brewer standpoint a year ago, that they had runs in which they were incredibly hot. Right now, the the Cubs are in one of those, and the Brewers have mainly just treaded water. They're sitting at two games above 500. They win a couple, they they lose a couple, they win four, they lose three. This is right now who they are. I don't know that it's gonna be who they are long term, but losing on Hell Zerpa is a big deal. I don't know about Brandon Woodruff. The news has not been great on Quinn Priester. Uh don't have any update on Yelits, but you do have Vaughn and Churio back. It's May 6th. So I have acknowledged I I did it on Monday's show, I'm doing it on today's show. Cubs are really good. And they're really hot right now. Baseball goes, it ebbs and flows, it's a roller coaster at times, but it's a long run. And right now the Cubs are in they're on one of those uh heaters. So they lead the division. The Brewers are next to last in the division, but they're two games over 500, so I don't look at the standings in that way. I do look at the standings and see how good Chicago has played of late. And and it's not just of late. 20 games spans 25 days, 24 days. They are 17 and 3. In a matter of three and a half weeks. That's a that's a long, hot run. Um Mike says most Cubs fans are exhausting every night. I see a we won post. Crickets when they lose. Well, what do you want them to do when they lose? Uh Cubs lost. Uh, gonna be so much more rewarding when they blank the bed later in the season on a slide. Yeah. Uh and good morning to Spencer. Hey Spencer, where are you? In St. Louis, at a NASCAR race, at a WWE event, game three of uh Stanley Cup playoff series somewhere. Because you're Spencer's everywhere. That's how that works. Let me bring in uh my guy um Marco Siki to the program as I add him in. Oz, look at you. What is going on, buddy?
SPEAKER_00Good morning, buddy. How you doing?
SPEAKER_02I'm great, I'm great. How are you? Everything good?
SPEAKER_00I love the brewer talk, it's awesome. We have uh actually our cousin is married to a uh middle reliever pitcher. Oh, is that right? Yeah, Jake Woodford. So Woodford. So yeah, yeah, it's been fun. It's been really fun, actually.
SPEAKER_02Dude, it's good to see you. Um and and I'll I'll say this on the front end. I'm gonna uh front end and back end our conversation today with uh uh a great appreciation and a thank you to you for what you do with casting for kids. Uh I know it's been a passion project for you and it's important to you, but the impact that you have is is tremendous. So tell tell me again, for our listeners and viewers that might not be familiar, how this passion project for you started and who it benefits.
SPEAKER_00Well, how it started is I had a uh major passion for fishing outside of playing hockey and being in the in the hockey realm. Um, and and my passion with fishing was just incredible, and and just had uh inkling of you know if it ever was possible to do something like this. And I was lucky enough and in a position to be able to do something like this. I did an uh an outdoor radio uh uh show and spot with Wally Banshee, and we threw the thing together. And you know, my background was I I started out in a children's hospital, and the the miracle workers there are incredible, and so we start talking about that, and then you couple that with uh you know childhood cancer research, pediatric cancer research, uh and the children's hospital. It's incredible. It touches how many people. I mean, if we bring that up in a room, everyone's standing up. I mean, it it's incredible. So just very fortunate uh to be able to touch base and and develop a relationship with Wally Banfi and then through this thing together. So, you know, we do this just it's fun for us, and we're not gonna do it if it's not fun. It's a lot of work, I'll tell you that. My wife wants to kill me right now. Um, you know, but but the people come out of the woodwork. I mean, you can't say enough about like a Lumacraft donating a boat. I mean, all of a sudden that was a pipe dream, and all of a sudden for four years straight, they've donated a boat, and we run it through Don's Marine. So, you know, hats off to them for making our event incredible, but it's other people, it's like uh Wisconsin distributors, Casey Trudgeon. He don't he's donating a huge uh amount of items, and then our neighbors uh just dropped off literally a 24 to 28 boxes, ten thousand dollars worth of items that we're gonna be putting in raffles. It's incredible.
SPEAKER_02It is so cool, and we you and I have had this conversation over the years uh to promote the event. The hockey community is amazing as far as what they'll do. All of your brethren, uh NHL players, four NHL players. I mean, they get offended if you don't ask.
SPEAKER_00They do. I mean, you you get guys like Luke Conan mad at me if I don't ask for something. Joe Fazelski, same thing. Um, I'll even take it a step further. You got Ryan Hartman who plays for the Minnesota Wild. Uh, I coached him for three years, and you know, off and on had a great relationship. He loves the outdoors, but his parents did him right, man. Because he's the I'll pick up the phone and I'll ask if he can send anything next. I would say in the next week, he sends five to six jerseys, and I'm like, hey, I'll send I'll cut you a check back. And he's like, nope, that's my donation. He'll be the first one done. And there, there's not that that's a guy that you know, I wasn't around for 20 years. So the hockey world's incredible.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's it's it's so impressive. I I I did a uh Badger Connect podcast interview yesterday that'll run tomorrow at badgerconnect.com with Paul Brown. And you know, he's lived his whole life around the game, Hall of Fame broadcaster, and we have the same conversation. Hockey people, and I don't know where it comes from, Oz, maybe you have a better explanation. Hockey people and families are the most generous and giving people. And we talked, we were talking about Jeff Sauer. That's where the conversation came up about how giving he was of his time. For those of us in the media, you know, hey Jeff, can we get a live shot interview? Yeah, where do you want me? What time? That doesn't happen with our other sports, honestly. Greg Gard is fantastic, uh, and I and he is very similar. He's like kind of like a hockey guy in disguise, but the hockey world just kind of lives that way.
SPEAKER_00Well, you bring up uh Coach Sauer and and PB, and I get a smile instantly on my face. So incredible people that you mentioned there. And my my connection with PB goes all the way back to the Minnesota State Tournament. So it's it's pretty cool, our relationship. But I think the hockey world is a little bit different and unique because you know, a young kid just can't do it by himself. And uh, you know, and in in the early stages, you know, that this game started in the prairies of you know, Western Canada and hardworking farmers, and that's been a trickle down, and we have not lost that knock on wood. We don't want to lose that uh that mentality, but it but a young kid can't do it by itself by himself, you know. Some someone's got to get them to the rink, especially in the states. You know, there's not many outdoor rinks anymore. So, you know, someone's gotta get them dressed, tie his skates, get them to the rink. You just can't go out in the driveway and shoot hoop. Um, you just can't go to the down to the park and and you know, pitch and catch. And and you know, so it's it's a little bit unique that way. Uh that you you have a lot of people that have to be involved, uh, family-wise, friend-wise, moms getting up at four in the morning and driving people. So there's just so many people. And I think I think our hockey world uh recognizes that and remembers it and keeps it pretty close to their heart.
SPEAKER_02Oz, what's going on in the Stanley Cup playoffs? And and uh what are Wild fan thinking, Wild fans thinking right now? What should they be thinking?
SPEAKER_00You know what's so funny. You you mentioned it. I I got off the phone twice uh two different times this morning, and I said, you know what, I still like the wild. Um and I've picked them. I said, I said to my dad, I talked to my dad once a day, and we talk hockey, uh, a small topic every day, one one hockey topic, and then we move on. Um, but I said right away, I said if the wild get through that first round and and without injury, uh, you know, I I think they were gonna beat Dallas, but uh, you know, without injury, though I think they're I was picking them to move on, obviously with Pittsburgh being knocked out, so I had to move on to another team. But the uh, you know, the wild are dealing with Erickson Eck that is right now, and that that hurts their depth, and Brodeen obviously does in the back end, but but you know, I I still like the wild. They're going back for game three uh at their at their building. Passionate fans. Uh you know, I I they're gonna get game three and then we'll watch out and we'll see what happens. So uh I like their team. I really do.
SPEAKER_02Right now, Colorado hadn't lost a playoff game. They won their opening series uh 4-0. They lead this series 2-0. The other hot team in that regard is uh the Carolina Hurricanes. Um, are they on a I know you like Minnesota, you just said that, but might those two teams be on a collision course? Are those the best two teams playing right now?
SPEAKER_00Well, I think with Carolina, they're just so fast and and their game is so fast and pressure in your face all over the ice, and they they transition so fast. Um their biggest, just for me personally, if they get through that first round like they did fast, if they get through the second round fast and and a short series, no injuries, then they have they're gonna have gas in the tank. If it's a longer series, then they run out of gas just the way they play. Uh, it's hard to maintain that. So uh it was very fortunate for them to get through that first round quickly, and and and maybe this could happen this in the second round as well.
SPEAKER_02Uz hockey is in such a great place. I'm gonna get to the college game here in just a minute, but what we've had in the last year and a half with the Four Nations Cup, which was an amazing success a year plus ago, the Olympics this last year, which uh, you know, for American fans and and having U.S. Canada, all of that, both on the men's and the women's side, uh, hockey is in a really good place. Is this as strong as as you can recall? And maybe I'm off on this. I just wonder if you agree with me.
SPEAKER_00No, I think the growth has been incredible, uh, especially you look at the women's side, the incredible growth that's going. It's one of the largest and quickest growing sports uh in the states, that's for sure. Um, I think that we needed uh U.S. and Canada to play in the Olympics, and we needed the U.S. to win. And and and I hate saying it, even in Canada, we needed U.S. to win that game because you just couldn't have Canada win again. Uh, we need that rivalry, we needed U.S. to win, uh, grab the young kids and start throwing skates on them, yeah. Uh, you know, border to border and and and north to north to south. You know, it's incredible right now with the growth. So I think we're in a great spot.
SPEAKER_02The college game, what Wisconsin did playing in the national championship and winning for the women and playing in the national championship, but coming up short for the men, that was great for Wisconsin hockey, right? I mean, the i I don't know if it could be better. Mark Johnson's success continues. What we're seeing from Mike Hastings and and the men's program, kind of uh a resurgence uh in really good places in both of those programs.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it it's uh it was a great run on the men's side. Uh, and obviously you see what Mark uh continues to do and and such a great human being. So, you know, the I I think that the the hockey, and certainly in Wisconsin's in a great spot. I think the college hockey game is in a unique spot. Um, you know, it's a it's I think there's a lot of a lot of moving parts right now. Um, we'll see where it goes, but you feel badly for some of the smaller programs that just get pillaged every year right now and just can't maintain. I mean, so you just feel badly because I I look back and and hockey again, I'm gonna go back to it. It's a unique sport, it's not the same as football or basketball. And you know, we need the smaller schools to do well and be it be relevant. And uh how much is that gonna happen with a Michigan Tech? Uh it's very difficult. I mean, I talked to Billy McColt the other day, it's gonna be very difficult. Their players get just pillaged every year.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that that that the portal system and some money being paid out is uh it is a unique, you know. We I you grew up and obviously played in the WCHA before we transitioned to the Big Ten. And I love that league, but I always thought it was uh if you didn't fully understand hockey, it was a very unique league because you had teams playing from Houghton and Duluth and Mankato against teams from Madison and you know there were bigger schools and in Minneapolis. But it didn't, I wish it would have survived and it they did keep it on the women's side, but uh I missed some of those days. The opportunity of playing North Dakota in the final in the frozen four was fantastic because that rivalry, shoot very few know it better than you. I mean, that that is a great rivalry that we finally got to see again.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and you know, and I and I get it. I I get the the transition and why. Um, you know, like you said, it's the like schools, it's the bigger name, it's the you know, the Big Ten, it's whatever you want to say, it's a bigger schools, but but again, hockey's unique. We don't have that many numbers of of really schools that are playing hockey out, give or take, it's 60, but it's not like basketball and football with the numbers, so it's just so different, it's just so unique, and uh you know we got to be careful on the hockey side and making sure we take care of those smaller schools as best we can. We don't want to see the Mercyhurst, you know, drop in hockey. Uh we just can't we just can't have that happen.
SPEAKER_02Well, let's uh let's have you go back and let's talk a little bit about fishing. Uh, what makes a good musky fisherman?
SPEAKER_00Someone that's crazy that's willing to go out there and cast all day and not see a fish. So I don't know. I mean it's that's why we smarted up after that first year and opened it up to seven species instead of one. So we at least you know, we can you can call ourselves crazy, but at least we are smart enough to figure that out.
SPEAKER_02You've had more success than most. Uh you're humble about it, but when it comes to to your muskie stories and your history with that fish, uh you've been pretty impressive.
SPEAKER_00I picked the right spots, I picked the right people to be with and and learn from. I learned from the best, and I'm a I'm a very good uh I can I'm I'm teachable. Let's let's go there. I'm teachable. So and I love it. I mean, I'll I'll get out during the summer in the prime time and hit the window of you know a couple hours as the sun's going down or first light in the morning before it gets crazy. But yeah, well, that that that fish, it's such a fun fish to catch. And even if you don't see one, at times I come back in, I'll go, man, that was the most fun I've ever seen. Do you catch one? Nope.
SPEAKER_02I did just a little bit of fishing. Uh, I grew up, my dad was uh a bobber fisherman, so you know we were we were pan fish and and I would go with him on on Sunday mornings, and uh and then I had a job in Rhinelander, and my only musky story because because I've never caught one, is that I had a walleye on and I had him near the boat and a muskie hit him and I landed half of a walleye. That's the but I I can't imagine that you don't have some great fish stories. So give me one, give me one muskie story that uh maybe you've shared before or haven't shared with me.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, probably probably the coolest one is when you have people on the boat that never caught a musky. Right. You know, it's not I I don't, you know, for me, I don't really care. Like, yeah, I do I'm competitive, I want to catch a fish. Um, but the the the two stories that come to mind for me is uh we were up north fishing with the Granado family, and we had a big group of us, and uh, I think Robbie Granado or Joey Granado, we were in a boat, and Joey's never caught a muskie before, and he ends up catching a muskie. It was really, really cool. Just the expression and just seeing it on the face in the same trip in the same boat. We had a muskie literally launch itself with the bait in its mouth, right next to the boat, and it went about four feet in the air, literally, and our guide caught it in the net as the bait flight. Yeah, it was really cool. So that was really cool. The other the other story for me it was I was by myself and I had our dog with, and I had about a 50, you know, a 50 inch fish following, and it would not leave my bait, it would not eat, but it would you know figure eight over and over and over, and the dog saw it and was barking like crazy. That the homeowners or the cabin overs owners came down and they're like. What is all this commotion? And they're they're watching the whole thing. So it's it's pretty cool.
SPEAKER_02Um, what do you what's your reward? What's your personal uh reward? What do you get out of casting for kids? What what is I mean? There's a great joy, right? What what's in it for you?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, hearing stories. I mean, you know, you hear the stories of uh Kevin Olsen last year was our spotlight, Marcus Pierce was our spotlight uh a couple years back, uh the Binger family, and hearing their story and knowing their story. I mean, we grew up with them. Um, but but hearing those stories and and not not only, you know, hopefully what we're doing is raising a little bit of money and and giving it back as best we can, but really raising the awareness is more important, um and hearing those stories and and again continually to tell those stories and the the the and I say it, the miracle workers at the children's hospital. Every single worker in there is incredible. And I mean that that's the best thing about it. And then doing this event, not doing it unless we have fun doing it, because I'm not doing it if it's sharp being a job. It is a job, but it's not, it's a fun job.
SPEAKER_02What um for those who aren't familiar, how can they be be a part of it? I don't know if you even have spots and boats left, but for those, give us uh a little elevator pitch on how our viewers, listeners can be involved.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, absolutely. The casting for the number fourkids.org is our website and has all the info, the link to our online auction. So people that cannot be there, we really need people to go to the online auction and get that word out there and get some bids going on some of the items. You're gonna walk away with something of value. You know, it's gonna go way under value, but that that's what it's all about. Uh so that's number one. Number two is we have about three boats left, three guided boats only. Uh that's gonna put us at about 83 or 84 boats, which is incredible. Uh, so we have we have three guided boats left. Again, it will be on the website. Um, but if you're not gonna if you're not gonna fish, you can come out to the event. $50 gets you in the door. Uh, you know, dinner, beer, come and have some beers with us. And we have the best auctioneer in the state of Wisconsin. He's worth $50 sitting there. It's pure entertainment. Starts at four. When we close the doors, uh happier starts at 2 30. Um, and then we close the doors at four and start the live live event. We get Postg up on stage and he runs it for us. He's incredible. Yeah, these are auctioneers there. And we we literally were walking out the door at uh like six o'clock, six oh five last year. So it's really fast, fast paced. But again, $50 getting you in the door. And like I said, the the items that are there, I mean you can buy a raffle ticket and win a Lumacraft. And a Lumacraft has been, I I I can't stress how generous they have been and how great they have been. And we run it through Don's Marine, and they've been incredible. But it's not only that, it's it's all the other raffle items that we have. And I mean, people people constantly tell me you're you're the they're like, Well, you're just gonna do that in a bucket, Raffle? You're gonna you're just gonna let that walk out the door. Absolutely. You want people to come in and feel good about hey, they can walk a walk away with a Luke Cunning jersey or a Jillan High School jersey, or we our neighbor donated uh a $2,200 uh generator, you know, and it's it's just awesome. That part of it's awesome.
SPEAKER_02Casting for the number four kids.org. The event is May 16th. And where are they going? You talk about that $50 ticket. Where is that? Where will they be?
SPEAKER_00So we go we do everything at the Alliant Energy Center. Um, so they come in in the morning, it's awesome. Boat parade, the whole parking lot fills up, and we do a boat parade with all the guests and guides. We take a picture with each guide and guest before they leave, kind of shake hands with everybody and and get them on their way. And then they return there. So that the dinner happy hour starts at 2:30, right at Alliant Energy Center, and then we do the whole event there.
SPEAKER_02Oz, it's great stuff. I appreciate what you do. Uh, thanks for jumping on to talk about it with us. Uh, but I appreciate what you have done over the years and what you continue to do. You're making a difference. So I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, thanks so much. Thanks for having me on. You're the best.
SPEAKER_02Oz, thank you. That's Mark Oseekee joining us, uh, and we get a chance to talk about what's going on. Mark Benson says, good morning, Mike, and Coach O'Seeky. Uh, so Mark jumps in with a word. Uh Mike had said, yeah, I the little bit of fishing I did was when I worked at Channel 12, WJFW in Rhinelander. And I've talked about this many times on the radio and in podcasts now. I loved my time in Rhinelander, but I had no money. I was, it was my first job out of college, $9,400 a year back in 1987. And I didn't fish or hunt, and I didn't have the money to fish or hunt up there. So I'm living in, you know, America's outdoor paradise without the ability to actually enjoy it. And I had a couple of adopted uh families that did a good job, you know, taking care of me and getting me out on a boat. Or but it's it was uh it was a great experience. Mike Mahalik and the crew at Channel 12 in Rhinelander who brought me aboard, trusted me in that first job, and the people that I got to work with uh were fantastic. And I was there for, I guess, 16 months or so before I got to Madison in August of 1988. But great learning ground. Uh, I enjoyed the heck out of it while I was there. I had a great chance to do really cool things, and uh it was the beginning. But I didn't fish very much. My dad laughed at me when I had to do fishing reports. He goes, What the hell do you know about fishing? All right, we are presented by one community bank. Presented by one community bank, stop by in any of our locations or visit them at onecommunity.bank to upgrade to feel good banking. One community bank proud to serve clients, support colleagues, and invest in our community's Feel Good Banking member FDIC. Also presented by our friends at M3 Insurance. With M3, you get it all. The personal guidance you need to protect and grow your business, and a team that provides tailored insurance and risk management solutions and unparalleled service. Don't settle for anything less from your insurance broker. Go to M3INS.com. Also presented by the Neuroscience Group. In sports, you trust the right team. And for your health, it's no different. Brain, spine, and pain care. Choose neuroscience group. Go to neuroscience group.com. And we are also presented by our friends at Pottawatomi Sportsbook and Casino Bet above the rest. And by Habish, Habish and Rotier 13 locations to ensure you get a hometown attorney. That matters, having a hometown attorney who understands your life and the impacts of your injury and is personally committed to your recovery. Those are our sponsors. I hope that you support them as you support the show. All right, jumping back into some of the stuff that uh that I was talking about prior. The Brewers now have their lineup out for today. And I always want to see this that players returning from the injured list are playing back-to-backs. So Churio and Vaughn both in the lineup. But I always think it's interesting trying to find Bowers into the lineup. Vaughan's going to DH. So Garrett Mitchell in center, then Jackson Churio in left, Bryce Durang at second, Contreras behind the plate, Bowers at first base, Vaughn DHing. Freelick, we talked about him yesterday, has to start bringing a bat to the ballpark. He plays right field and hits uh seventh. Hamilton, uh hits eighth, rather. Hamilton plays third base and uh Ortiz plays shortstop and hits ninth. So Freelick seven, Hamilton eight, Ortiz nine. That's the Brewers lineup today. So I was talking about this out of the gate. I want to revisit it and then we'll jump into a little badger football conversation because Fox College Sports came out with their this is what they do. And it's a smart thing they came out with their offseason uh rankings after the portal and all the that work has been done. And I'll share that with you in a minute. But just to revisit on Brewers, Cubs, and Chirping. All right, they haven't played each other. Uh I I said on Twitter, I had it wrong earlier uh last week when I said they're gonna see each other for the first time in Milwaukee. They won't see each other at Milwaukee, they'll see each other in Chicago on the 18th, 19th, and 20th. So the Brewers home after this game against St. Louis today. They'll be home with the Yankees this weekend, and then the Padres then go on the road to the Twins for three and the Cubs for three. That's May 18, 19, and 20 at Wrigley before the Brewers come home with the Dodgers and the Cardinals. The first time the Cubs come to Milwaukee is not until the end of June. So the Cubs come to Milwaukee on June 26, 27, 28. So late in uh in the month of June. Those who are chirping uh as it relates to the Cubs, I understand it. I mean, dude, uh go ahead and have your fun right now. And it might last all year. I don't know. That's the the beauty is that we don't know. But the Cubs are 24 and 12. They lead the Cardinals by two and a half, the Reds by four, the Brewers by five, and the Pirates by five. And as I mentioned, the Cubs were seven and nine. Now they have won 17 of their last 20. And their home winning streak is I think it's 13. Uh they're just on another heater. They've got a seven-game winning streak going now. They had an 11-game winning streak earlier. What this reminds me of is last year's Brewers, who had huge winning streaks, multiples. And that's who the Cubs are right now. And good on them. And and just the simple reminder is that right now it's May 6th. So I told you when the season began, I thought that the Cubs would win the division. Right now, they're playing like a team that's going to win the division. And Yovan, the 6-3-0 guy, says, leave my Cubs alone. Listen, look, I just did that for Treadmillboy. Yovan, I'm not picking on your Cubs. I'm telling you how good they are. That's it. Everybody, everybody gets in that deal about, hey, leave my team, don't talk about my team. I'm not, uh, this isn't Will Smith and you know, keep your team out of my mouth concept. Cubs are really good and they're playing at a really good level. Combine those two, really good roster, and then get hot. And that's what they've been, but it's 20 games of hotness. It's more than three, it's three plus weeks of playing at a high level. And Brewers fans know this because we did it throughout the year last year. And Cubs fans were looking up at the division and going, wow, we can't catch them. Because the Cubs played great baseball in the second half last year, and they couldn't catch Milwaukee because Milwaukee was better. I I was having this uh discussion. You know, I I talk about chirping because yesterday I was chirped at by a couple of my uh couple of my guys, Sean Killibrew, big cubs guy, Nick Brosewitz, who I used to work with, uh big cubs guy. And I'm looking up that series of uh text messages that they shared yesterday. I might not even find it, but it was kind of annoying, but annoying in uh in an okay way. So first, Sean said uh stat of the day, as of May 5th, the entire American League has three teams above 500, the National League Central, all the teams at 500 or above. Then Nick said the Cubs are so much better than the rest of the division. And Sean uh Chast, I'm not sure I would say so much better. Uh and I said, Nick is being Nick. Same guy that said Indiana wasn't any good last year in college football. It was a one-year wonder, and also guaranteed a badger win at USC the year before. I said, the Cubs are the best team in the division today, but go ahead and crown their asses and see what happens. He said they're the best. I said over 162 games, the best team will win the division. That's how it works. The best team in 162 game season, the best team wins the division. But they don't always win in the postseason. The Brewers won 97 games a year ago. And then they beat the Cubs in the postseason. But they didn't stand a chance against the Dodgers. So my point on all of this is over 162 games, you will prove who you are. You are who you who your record says you are. And right now it's through what I say the Cubs record was. Right now, they're through 36 games. They're the best team in the division. By two and a half over the Cardinals. Nobody had the Cardinals on their bingo card as being a team at this point that would be seven games over 500. The Cubs are 12 games over 500. The Brewers are two. I think Milwaukee is a much better team than their record has shown, but I think given their roster of healthy players who they've been able to put out there, they are about who they should be. There's not a whole lot more room for them given the roster that they put out on the field. You know, I know Pat Murphy has won back-to-back National League Manager of the Year Awards. I don't know that he isn't the best manager in the National League right now. With a roster that he's had and to be two games over 500, it's pretty impressive. Council, you know, he is uh I like Craig Council. I didn't like what he did, where he went, but I like Craig Council. Cubs fans, and I I have one more I want to share with you and then I'll move on. I had this this morning. So uh Demon Cub Bear something on uh on Twitter. All right. So this goes back to uh a little uh Twitter thread that started on April 12th. Rhino, friend of the show, long time Rhino, because uh the Cubs got beat that day on a grand slam uh and they fell to seven and nine. And Rhino said, please tell the Ricketts family to sell the team to someone who actually cares about witting. And I said, or just keep doing what they're doing, fine by me. And then this uh this unknown fella jumped in the Twitter exchange and he said, Hey Mike, did you catch the hockey final last night? And I think that was the day after Wisconsin got beat. And I said, Yeah, listen, you're a blue demon, Cubs, Bears, full-time Chicago fan. I said, the demons' last NCAA tournament win was 22 years ago. At the time, the Cubs were in last place. The Bears' last Super Bowl win was 41 years ago, and the Blackhawks' second worst record in the NHL. How are your teams doing? So, you know, okay. He didn't have to, I mean, I wasn't taking a shot at the Cubs. I was taking a shot at Rhino, who wanted his ownership to sell the team. Rhino, what are you thinking now? The Rickets still need to sell the team? Or are they winning in spite of the the Rickets family? Whatever. Uh so then Demon, this this Chicago fan yesterday tweeted at me, how's the weather down there, Heller? You know, because the Brewers were in last place at the time, and they still are. And they're two games above 500. And I said, Oh, you got me good. May 6th. He said, May 6th is no April 12th. So that's the back and forth. I don't mind any of that. It's when it you get personal. And for friends of mine, they know right after a game in the regular season, right after a game is fine, right after an elimination game. Leave me, let me stew in it for a little bit, then come get me. All right. I wanted to uh to also jump in and please weigh in on our YouTube uh stream chat uh if if you can and if you want to. So yesterday, college football, uh Fox college football came out with um a post about, I'm trying to find the specific post quick so I can uh so I can share it. So here's what they did yesterday. Michael Cohen just dropped his post-spring Big Ten power rankings for college football. So his rankings went like this Indiana won, Ohio State two, Oregon three, Michigan four, other than Indiana, that's the usual suspects. Five USC, six Washington, seven Penn State, eight Illinois, nine Iowa, ten Minnesota, eleven UCLA, twelve Nebraska, thirteen Maryland, fourteen Wisconsin, Northwestern Rutgers, Michigan State, Purdue to follow. I don't ultimately have I think that's a good thing. But then I was going back and forth with some on X because I don't believe that's where they'll be. I understand that that's why they have them there. Wisconsin has earned that. They've earned that somebody looks at the Big Ten right now after the portal and after spring football and has Wisconsin ranked 14th in their power rankings in an 18-team conference. I it makes sense. They've earned it by going five and seven and four and eight over the last two years. However, that's not happening. I I firmly am in the corner of that's not happening. They're not going to be 14th. We all know what happens if they are. Then there is a full-on regime change. I don't see that being the case. I don't see Wisconsin being a team that finishes 14th in the Big Ten. If they are, like I said, we all know what happens next. I mean, it might not even be a next. If they're trending in a direction that that's who they are this year, then the the coach wouldn't make it to the end of the season, I don't think. I mean, now you don't wait anymore. Look at what Penn State and others did last year during the season. If Wisconsin fails uh early and often they're not g, you know, we we all know the inevitability of that. Let me give you a couple of uh uh of views on what they have. Notre Dame and I've done this before, but for those who weren't tuned in then, Notre Dame to open the season at Lambeau Field on Sunday night, September 6th. To me, it's a toss-up game because I think Wisconsin is going to be vastly improved. Off of four and eight, they have no choice but to vastly improve or they leave. I think it's a toss-up game because I think there's something special about playing at Lambeau. I think Wisconsin will come to play. If you want to call it a loss, I'm not I'm not gonna pound the table and argue with you. Western Illinois and Eastern Michigan, the two home games that follow, Wisconsin at worst, will be two and one leaving that portion of their schedule. They opened the Big Ten a week later at Penn State. Matt Campbell, the new Penn State coach coming from Iowa State. I also have that game as a toss-up. But if you're gonna be, if you're inclined to go, hey, they're not winning there, okay, I'll give you two and two. Home with Michigan State. It's one of those teams that's actually in that power ranking below Wisconsin. They'll win. At UCLA, that's in Pasadena at the Rose Bowl on October 17th, and it's after a bye weekend for Wisconsin. I'll call it a win. So that would get you to four and two. Home against USC. I think it's a toss-up. Again, for those who are going to be pessimistic, and you want to call it a loss, that would get them to four and three. At Iowa, I'll give it the same deal. I think it's a toss up game, but they haven't fared well against Iowa. That would put them at four and four, and people are going to be barking. If you then beat Rutgers at home, you beat a team that you owe one Maryland on the road, you would be six and four. Then play at Purdue 7 and 4, home with Minnesota, 8 and 4. That's where I picked them. I've got Wisconsin winning eight times this year, 8-4. Some of you are gonna think of me as being pie in the sky, super homer, wearing the W. Um, and I get it. Based on recent results, I don't think this team is that team. But I would understand if they were. And if you think that they will be that, let me rephrase. I would understand if you think that this team is not an eight and four team, if you think they're six and six. Or worse. I had somebody on Twitter earlier today that said um best case scenario, six wins. I don't believe that. I believe best case scenario is nine wins. I pick them to win eight. I think they could win seven. I think that's their window. Seven and five, eight and four, nine and three. That's the window I think that they play in this year. If they play below the window, I'll go right back to what I said earlier. Then then we know the result. Because at the end of playing below that window, you're gonna make a change. And they all know it. And I think we all know it. Some of you are adamant that they should have made the change. And again, I'm not gonna pound the table and argue against you. They didn't. And I think that they're a seven to nine win team this year. And if they are, then the trend looks so much better. And we know what the recruiting class looks like a year from now, heavy in state, and uh a pretty good class booking in right now. So we'll see how all of that plays. Uh, Brewers in uh a 12, what do we got? 1215 first pitch today uh for the Brewers in St. Louis to wrap up that three-game set, which turned into two because of uh the raino last night. So the Brewers need to get one right today. They're gonna go Brandon Sprout. They're just sliding uh the pitching. Miz was scheduled to go here, but uh it appears that the Probables uh and what came out earlier, Sprout and Pallante in the series finale. I was just trying to get uh uh specific whether I believe that that when I went through the lineup, I didn't get to the pitching uh because it was just the offensive lineup, but I believe that's the case. It is Sprout on the mound. Miz was scheduled to go, so Miz will open against the Yankees. Ms. Arowski will open against the Yankees on Friday night at American Family Field. That uh stands to reason to be a fantastic weekend at the home ballpark. So we'll see how that works out uh coming up this weekend. Again, I want to thank our sponsors uh on the program, One Community Bank. Go to onecommunity.bank. Uh our presenting sponsors include M3 Insurance, M3INS.com, also our friends at the Neuroscience Group, go to neurosciencegroup.com, Habish, Habish, Enrotier, and Pottawatomi Sportsbook Bet Above the Rest. Big thank you to those who support the I Love Mondays program uh because it means a lot to us. And then we hope that you, the viewers and listeners of the show, then support them. Vinny Rettino will jump in with me tomorrow on a Brewers Off Day. We'll get to talk about what happens in the Wednesday series finale in St. Louis and get you all set for Brewers and Yankees over the weekend. Vinny will join me on Thursday. I'll look forward to it. We wrap just a little bit early today. Thanks for jumping in here with us. I look forward for the chance to get to visit with you again tomorrow on I Love Mondays, the podcast. Thanks for being here. We'll talk to you in uh less than 24 hours on the Thursday edition of I Love Mondays.