I Love Mondays-Ep54, May 14, 2026

It's NFL schedule release day...or "schedule leak release day."  What we know at the time of the LIVE show (10-11am) with Bill Huber who covers the Packers for SI.  Also... a good discussion of rivalries...particularly with the Bears.  Some Brewers talk from blowing a win on Wednesday night.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:03

I love Mondays with Mike Heller.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

Podcasting line 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_01 0:26

And here we go. We go on a Thursday, and you know, I love Mondays as an everyday of the week thing. Well, it's an everyday Monday through Friday thing. I love Mondays and happy to be here today because now we get some real stuff to talk about from a Green Bay Packers perspective. Today is schedule leak release date. They're going to have a special primetime deal with the full schedule of release tonight. But at this point, one, two, three, four, five, six. I got six weeks of the Packers' schedule already through leaks, sort of figured out. So let me jump right into it as we begin. We don't know the opening game yet. That's always important. Week two, the Packers will play on the road of the New York Jets. Their first indivision meeting that we know about is in week five. That is on October the 11th, where Chicago will come to Lambeau Field in Green Bay for a 325 kick. Now, all of these are through leaks. So none of these are officially absolutely confirmed. The holiday ones, though, are the Packers will have a bye-week, it appears, in week 11. That is the week before Thanksgiving. Why do we think that? Because the week of Thanksgiving, the Packers will play a Wednesday night game at SoFi against the Los Angeles Rams. So that is Wednesday, November the 25th. It is the night before Thanksgiving, one of the biggest going out nights of the year, depending on your age bracket. And that is uh November the 25th. That's on a Wednesday. So the assumption here is the week before you'd have to play a Thursday or have a bye. And right now, the schedule leakers have the Packers as a bye week in week 11. Week 16, this is Christmas week. This one's out, and it appears to be officially official that the Packers will play on Netflix at noon on Christmas Day in Chicago. How good is that? And we also have a couple of unconfirmed leaks that the Packers will finish the season against Detroit at Lambeau on January 9th or 10th. All right, skip the uh one of the formalities. Good morning to Mike. Uh so and good morning to all as we welcome you in on uh Matinee Thursday for the Brewers. They blew one last night. Mizerowski was fantastic, went seven-full, went out for the eighth, and uh in his first or second warm-up pitch in the eighth, just felt that cramp upper right thigh, and they they backed him off and went to Aaron Ashby. That wasn't the issue. Ashby was fantastic. The issue ended up being in the uh top of the ninth inning when the Brewers just couldn't close it up. Abner Uribe got the first two outs, had a line drive just over the outstretched glove of Bryce Tarang. It's a clean hit, but I mean it just barely. And then a 3-2 walk, and then a home run uh over the wall in right field. Those top of the ninth three run home runs against the Brewers uh at American Family Field that I'm at have been painful. The last one I was at that did that was Pete Alonzo, and uh I was standing at the top of section 111, preparing to be ushered down onto the field for the Brewers to celebrate that win, and it didn't happen. Um, so so that last night was one of those. Less painful because it's May 13th when it happens, but still painful. Miz deserved a better overall fate in the game. Brewers had opportunities, just couldn't get it home. Uh, a couple of other uh good morning wishes, Mark Benson. Good morning, all great day on Trout Lake with classmates fishing. I love it. We we've been up to Trout Lake probably seven or eight times, staying um at uh a lodge on the the west shore of Trout Lake uh that is just fantastic. What a gorgeous lake to be on. Uh so I'm a little jealous of you, Mark, although I imagine it's a little chilly out on the lake there this morning, bundled up a bit. James says, good morning, Mike. Appreciate that, James. And we welcome you all in. Let me tell you about what we're gonna do today. We're gonna visit with Bill Huber. He'll join us at about quarter past. So for those of you not watching on the live version, um, in about 10 minutes from now, Bill Huber will join us and we'll talk about what we know about the Packers' schedule release. What are the what really matters here? So we already knew who they were gonna play. So the Packers, uh, the games that we don't know right now are home games against Minnesota, Buffalo, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Carolina, and Miami. The rogue games that we're uncertain of right now are Detroit, Minnesota, New England, New Orleans, and Tampa Bay. So that's seven, ten, that's that's 12. I got five games in on the schedule. Um and the bye week, what we believe will be the bye week. So we'll get to that. Let me take you to American Family Field from yesterday. I went to the to the ballpark yesterday, got to be part of uh what the the daily beat reporter is called the longest Murph media pregame session that they can remember. So I was lucky enough to be there for that in his office, covered a lot of ground. Um, so so that was fun. And then I went back to back to out to the uh dugout area on the field, first base dugout, Brewers dugout side, and standing on top row there. And and Craig Kishana and I visited for 30 minutes telling stories, sharing our friendship that uh has existed since 1990, 1990, 90 or 91. Uh, I was working at NBC 15, Channel 15 in Madison as a sports director. When I took that promotion from weekend anchor to sports director, then we had to hire a weekend anchor and reporter, and it was Craig Kishon who came down from his time in Waw, I believe, Wasaw. Uh, and then uh so he came down, and Craig was in that role until I left to take a television job in Memphis, Tennessee, in November of 1992. Then Craig took over and did it better than I was doing it. He was there for a long time, really good at what he has always done. Uh, so he and I have maintained a friendship for all these years. We don't visit a ton, but when we do, it's just like with a good friend, it's just like picking it up where we left off the last time, like as though no time has passed. Um very uh fond and proud of what he has done in his career, uh, and proud to be able to call him a friend. We had a great long visit there. I talked with Tim Dillard for a while, uh visit with Vinny, who was on the show earlier this week. Normally uh Vinny's day is Thursday, uh, but not this week uh because of the matinee. He's on the call. Uh Captain Dad 10 says, Good morning, Mike. Great show yesterday. Yeah, thank you. It was a it was a fun show yesterday because I got to talk with Rock, Bill Schroeder, who was not at the ballpark yesterday. He's heading up to Minneapolis today. He'll be on the call on the TV side for the Brewers this weekend in Minnesota against the Twins. So, right now, it like last night was Brian Anderson and Vinny Rutino. I got to see BA, which I hadn't seen him yet this season. Uh, he hadn't been there for a game that I was at. So uh I got to visit with him uh briefly yesterday as well. And all my guys, Lane Grindel and Jeff Levering and the whole crew. It was really uh fun to be there. It's one of the main reasons I love going to the ballpark, is a chance to hang and visit with my guy Spencer, who was there. Now, Spencer, here's just a little insight. Not everybody's gonna get this, but he's probably watching. So uh Spencer, I've always kind of tagged with he's everywhere because he would always send me pictures. Hey, I'm at Wrigley, hey, I'm at the the Brewers Twin Series, hey, I'm at this NASCAR race. And then I would say, What? He's everywhere, but right now he's not on the everywhere status. I'm I'm beginning to think I'm gonna remove that moniker that I've always placed on him. Hey, he's everywhere. I might take it back. He's not going to Minnesota, he's not going to Wrigley. I mean, the next time he's going someplace like in July. Anyway, so got the visit with Spencer, sat next to uh next to next to Hunter Baumgart last night for the the game. Got the visit with Dave Gasper both before and during the game. These are all you know people that I like and care about and have worked with. And so it was fun. Uh it it was fun. Uh, let's see. What does Ben say? This is Ben uh at NSG, by the way.

unknown 10:13

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:13

Hi, Ben. Now, why am I not placing what that is?

unknown 10:19

Hmm.

SPEAKER_01 10:20

I'll figure it out. Ben, you know, I'm I'm in the, you know, I don't I haven't figured it out yet, but I will. It'll probably come to me when the show ends or in about 20 minutes when I'm doing something else that I'll figure out what that uh what that was. Brewers last night, Miz was again brilliant. Now he he had, oh, thank you. Ah, it's it's my guy Ben at Neuroscience Group. I'm gonna get to my sponsors here in a minute. Thanks for the reminder. Uh Ben Siebert, uh, my buddy at Neuroscience, who I've got to know a little bit out at uh Brewers Fantasy Camp. So Miz was brilliant yesterday. He was, by the way, he was at 59 pitches through three. 59 pitches through three. So he's about 20 pitches in inning, not gonna last very long. Then I believe he went 887 or 878 in three consecutive innings. I think it was 21 or 22 total pitches. That's what allowed him to go out and and have a chance to pitch in the eighth inning. And he was gonna go out for the for the eighth. He was really good, and I I I didn't I didn't go into the clubhouse to visit with players after the game last night. But I should have, and I should have asked William Contreras what it is he said to Jacob Mizarowski when he was working the top of the seventh inning, and Nick Castellanos is coming up, and it's gonna be the last hitter with two outs in the seventh. And Castellanos is coming to the plate, but before he did, Contreras went to the mound. No Chris Hook, no, no other infielders came in, and there was a conversation. Mizarowski's thrown 89 pitches, I think, at the time. He's got two outs in the seventh. Castellanos is a guy that can wreck a game sometimes. And he threw him three pitches. 102, 102, 103. Might have them out of order. I don't know if the 103 was the middle or the strikeout pitch. I don't know what Williams said, but Mrs. Velo going into that at bat was cruising at 98-99. Early in the game, I think he threw again, I think he threw 39 pitches, 100 miles an hour or better. But then he went 102, 102, 103 to Castellano, struck him out on three pitches, and there was a little fire up. And he's he told Murph when he went to the end of the dugout, he said, I want to go back out for the eighth. Because Murph told us in post-game, he said, I thought he emptied the tank and that was gonna be it, but he lobbied hard to go back out for the eighth. He did go back out for the eighth, but never got the pitch in the eighth because he had that cramp again. Right leg. It's probably not something to worry about, but they're gonna have to address it. They're gonna have to get it figured out, but probably not something that they need to. It's it's not an injury, right? It's uh something that they're gonna have to make sure it doesn't happen as they roll forward, but it's it's not an injury in that regard. Let me thank our sponsors quick, and I appreciate Ben with the reminder. We are presented by one community bank. Go to onecommunity.bank to upgrade to feel good banking. One community bank, proud to serve clients, support colleagues, and invest in communities. And I hope that when you're making banking decisions as you roll forward, if it's open to you, give a look at one community bank. Go to their website, onecommunity.bank. We trust them with our business banking, both with red and white wine and bourbon bar in Wannaky and with our Hellerpods, our podcast, Kari Seppins Bill, and this uh for me. I love Mondays. Uh we appreciate what they do. We're friends and they're part of our community and supporting us, onecommunity.bank is the website. We are presented by M3 Insurance, where they help businesses and individuals manage risk, purchase insurance, and provide the right benefits to their employees. M3INS.com. With M3, you get it all. Please give them a look. M3INS.com, M3Insurance. We are also presented by our friends at Neuroscience Group and Ben and his group uh in sports. You know you got to trust the right team for your health. It really is no different. Neuroscience Group brings together specialists in neurology, spine, and pain management working together to get you back to full strength. So if if you are not, if it's not right for you right now with um with headaches or uh uh a back issue, whatever that might be, neuroscience group.com is where you go. Neurosciencegroup.com. We are always presented by Pottawatomi Sportsbook and Casino to all my fellow sports betters. If you got the itch to bet on sports, the best place to do it, Pottawatomi Sportsbook. It is your place to bet above the rest. And brought to you by Habish, Habish, and Roter. 13 locations to ensure you get a hometown attorney. And that matters because they understand your life and then the impacts of your injury, and they are personally committed to your recovery. That is Habish, Habish, and Rotier. So we jump back into the fray. Today is uh schedule release leak day in the National Football League and following all the leaks. And I welcome to the show is Bill Huber. Bill, it is uh it's one of those days where I know they do a primetime special tonight, but there is uh a very real chance that by the time we get to late afternoon we'll know the full scope of the Packers schedule. Is that fair to say?

SPEAKER_00 16:19

Yeah, absolutely. You know, they come out in dribs and drabs, and at some point it's a process of elimination, you can kind of figure out what's left over. But yeah. Um looks like Green Bay, Minnesota looks like it'll be week one. And then Bears on Christmas. Yahoo!

SPEAKER_01 16:35

Hey, Billy, I'm um having a little you're a little low on audio. I don't know if there's anything you can do on your end. I've got you cranked here. Um so hopefully I don't know if there's something you can just double check to make sure you're connected on with your earbuds uh properly. Um we'll we'll just continue. I think we can pick you up well enough, but it was a little low there. What is uh when did we get the Minnesota? Did that just pop a little bit ago to open against the Vikings?

SPEAKER_00 17:01

Um it's mostly process of elimination. I I can't figure out my mic. This is what I got. Um basically process of elimination, but there's like no one else it can be. Um the Saints are playing Detroit week one, those are two options. Um looks like it'll be Minnesota here and the weekend.

SPEAKER_01 17:18

And that would be the home version of the Vikings game.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

Yeah, I should yeah, I think so on that one. Um I can't say for sure, but I I'm 98% sure it'll be Vikings, the where it'll be part I'm not quite sure on. Sure, gotcha. Obviously, the Badgers play here the week before, uh, and Green Bay plays with the Jets in week two.

SPEAKER_01 17:39

Okay, yeah, yeah, Green Bay is on the road. So unless they're gonna play their first two games away from Lambeau, then maybe that Minnesota game to open the season would be at Lambeau. So uh so Bill's working on the process of elimination there. We're not for for sure on that. These are the ones, uh so you fill in the blanks. And by the way, for those who are gonna watch this later as a download, um, you know, you're gonna be going, well, I knew that already. But okay, so for the live audience, week two at the New York Jets. That's September 20th, and it's listed as a noon game. Week five is Chicago that is in Green Bay. And one of the notes that I would have on that is that that is 10 months removed from Micah Parsons' injury from December of last year. So I don't know where we sit. Maybe you can give us a little insight there on his timeline, which we probably don't know. But when we get to 10 months out and we're in the uh the middle of October, that's October 11th. You would think Micah would be good to go against that the Bears uh round one.

SPEAKER_00 18:46

Yeah, I certainly would think so, Mike. Um I know Mike, it seems like they're kind of targeting week three. Okay. Um, you know, week one's just way too ambitious, and I I don't know that Green Bay would be super interested in getting him out there um without being double, triple, quadruple, quadruple sure. Um but I I think the the feeling is that he's gonna be ready for October, so that if the NFL is giving the Bears to Green Bay in May, October and December, it's it's a it's a huge win for sure. I mean, obviously the Packers didn't win any games with all Parsons last year. To get him out there for the two biggest games of the regular season would be um beyond description large for this game.

SPEAKER_01 19:28

And uh so and then the now you fill in the blanks if I'm missing something, but uh I I believe we have a the bye week is set for week 11.

SPEAKER_00 19:39

Yeah, so I I don't know that that's official. So Green Bay is playing the Rams in week 12, which is a Wednesday.

SPEAKER_03 19:48

Right.

SPEAKER_00 19:49

Um the only way to work around it. Um you could put Green Bay on the previous Thursday. They could play Thursday, week 11. That's possible. The other could also have the Packers play on Saturday, which I don't think they would do because college football season, those are big college football games. The other just cares about the money. They don't care about competitive advantage, disadvantage. Um while it seems like common sense that Green Bay got a buy before a Wednesday game, I wouldn't put it past the league to do anything at this point. But I do think logically speaking, the Packers would get a week 11 bye, which again is that's a huge win over week five last year, where they end up playing 14 consecutive weeks, which is quite a slog. And I looked it up yesterday. Um since Green Bay won a Super Bowl in 2010, um, only the 2024 Eagles had an early season bye and won the Super Bowl. The Eagles had a week five bye in 2024. So again, it's just kind of common sense tells you that the later the better on those things.

SPEAKER_01 20:50

Right. And it is uh the following Wednesday that the Packers will play at the Rams. That's November 25th. We also know that the Thanksgiving slate is out for um Thanksgiving Day. Bears at Lions in the noon kick, Eagles at Cowboys uh later, and then there is a night game and a Black Friday game that weekend as well. Uh and the other two dates that I believe we know, and if you fill in more, please do so. But week 16, that's the Christmas Day, Netflix noon kick in Chicago against the Bears, and the season finale, which we never know if it's Saturday or Sunday, January 9th or 10th, should be at home against Detroit, correct? Is that what we think we know?

SPEAKER_00 21:36

Yeah, I don't know the home away part of it. Um, but again, it will be Detroit just because um I believe Minneapolis, some reporter out there, reported that it'll be Bears Vikings. So again, it's a process of elimination, there'll be Packers Lions. I don't know where that one will be. Um Christmas in Chicago.

SPEAKER_01 21:57

No, I I I don't think so. Yeah, I I mean I love I love that this rivalry, it's not like it went away, but I love that it is sparked again. And I think you owe I I don't like Ben Johnson. I I I like him as a successful head coach, uh, which I didn't know if he would be, but at least through year one, he certainly is. But I think we kind of owe him a little thank you for bringing juice back to this. Not that it fully went away, but we genuinely don't like Ben Johnson. And he doesn't like the Green Bay Packers, and the two head coaches have no love lost. That makes that makes that rivalry uh, which never went away, but it makes it juicier, doesn't it?

SPEAKER_00 22:45

Oh my gosh, it's it's so true. Like for 30 years, Green Bay won like every game. I mean, but you know, it it didn't it didn't matter if it was in Chicago or or Lambeau, they could have played on Mars. It made no difference. Green Bay was gonna win. That's not a rivalry, right? I mean, it's not a rivalry at all. So now it's a rivalry, right? I mean, even Chicago wins 203 last year, but all three of the games could have gone any direction. Um the Ben Johnson element, you're right. It can't be you can't overstate what he's done to this thing. Um every every rivalry needs a villain, whether it was Mike Hidkun, Forrest Greg, or Charles Martin, Jimmy Man, whatever it was. Every rivalry needs that. Um he's the villain. It's perfect. He's an obviously he's a helmet coach, and he's got the bears turnaround. Um people say lasting success down there, turnovers are hard to duplicate, as Green Bay learned last year, but yeah. You know, and even go back to even even at that three-decade thing, like the Bears dominated the 80s, the Packers dominated the 60s. I mean, it hadn't been a real hotly contested rivalry in forever. So this is great. I mean, it's gonna be this way for a decade, probably.

SPEAKER_01 23:55

Yeah, and there's so many ways to uh to to go at it. I was watching um the w a show yesterday, a little bit on uh with McAfee kind of going at it with Orlovsky about the the quarterback tiers and rating. And I mean, I've had that, and we're all gonna have that debate right now because Caleb Williams, there's a there's a playmaking ability in him that if he can match the the play-to-play element to what he's been able to do fourth quarter in overtime when the the game hangs in the balance. We've been uh a victim of of it a couple of times. Uh there's something special about how he can finish, but uh, but he has to add the play-to-play element. His and here's the example because Caleb Williams' quarterback rating, if you buy into such things, was 90.1 a year ago. Jordan Loves was 101.2. It's not a small difference, it's a 10-point gap. And that has to do with the play-to-play first quarter, second quarter, third quarter. I I said the other day, I'll see if you, and then I'll shut up and let you agree or disagree, that if the game hangs in a balance, the quarterback I want is is probably him based on what we saw a year ago. But from a game to game, I want our guy. Jordan Love has been consistent and it you can trust him. And I wonder if that right now is the gap. And if Caleb Williams closes that, then you got a different story.

SPEAKER_00 25:22

Yeah, I think that's pretty well said. Um, I want to say Caleb Williams led the NFL in fourth quarter comebacks. I sure think he had six, love had four. I mean, love was like third, so I mean Love's pretty good there, too. But you're right. There's a reason why quarterbacks get drafted in the first round, and there's a reason why they get paid a gajillion dollars. People can scoff at quarterback wins as a step, but at the end of the day, um that's what they're there to do. They're there to win the game. They're the rising tide that lifts all boats, and he is unbelievable in those clutch plays, and he almost beat the Rams with that ridiculous play at the end of the playoff game. I would put him number one in the division. Again, and there's just a projection there based on everything you just said. Like Jordan Love was an inaccurate quarterback too his first couple years.

SPEAKER_01 26:07

Sure. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 26:08

Williams, I think, was last in the league in completion percentage among like the qualifying passers. I don't suspect that's gonna continue. I mean I think he'll get I think he'll get better, and just like Love got better with experience, and Love got better in you know with the with the connection with LaFleur, I think that'll happen with with Caleb and and Ben Johnson too. So if I had to pick quarterbacks, probably for the long haul, I would pick Caleb Williams number one. If I had to pick a quarterback to win tomorrow, yeah, I'd probably take love.

SPEAKER_01 26:39

Yeah, and I do think uh I I I've said this for as long as I've been able to give opinions on these things. I think when you talk about a quarterback in the NFL and you leave out the head coach, you're doing it a disservice because it is that marriage that that is what makes it special. Now, it wasn't Belichick wasn't specifically an offensive-minded coach, obviously, but Brady Belichick was different. Uh, Montana uh and his pairings with Walsh and then uh Seifert in San Francisco is special. Mahomes and and Andy Reid is special. Fav and Holmgren, uh, you know, Rogers and he might not like it, but Rogers and McCarthy, and then Rogers and LaFleur. Every time you talk about this, you're talking about a pairing, and they might have something special. I I say might. I believe they've got something special in Chicago with Caleb Williams and Ben Johnson. And from a Packer fan perspective, you don't love that, but man, I love the juice of it, right?

SPEAKER_00 27:45

Yeah, there's nothing better than than big games. I mean, you've been to enough of them. There's just nothing there's nothing like it. Like Packers, Panthers, you know, whatever. Packers, Bears, with what what they could be building down there. Yeah, something totally different. You know, Malik Willis, Matt LaFleur to your quarterback coach pairings. I mean, sure. Malik Willis gets run out of Tennessee because he stinks, and then he comes here and gets the best backup quarterback in the league. Yeah, you're right. Coaching and and situation matters for sure. And I think I think the Bears have I think the Bears are in a really good spot, Finley.

SPEAKER_01 28:16

Bill, let me uh let me do this and then we'll uh we'll let you go because I know you're following the leaks that are coming out. Um and and that that is when when the schedule does come out, when you were looking at this, even though we know all 17 opponents home and away, uh 17 games home and away, what is most intriguing that we yet still don't know? Now we know the Christmas Day Bears game, we know the finish likely against Detroit, don't know home or away. Um so of what we're going to learn, what intrigues you? And and I'll give one caveat. I know media begins with me, you know. So less about the reporter side, but more about just the intrigue from an NFL Packers schedule standpoint, what's out there that really intrigues you right now?

SPEAKER_00 29:03

Yeah, I want to know the opening slate of games um and how winnable that is without Micah Parsons out there. Uh I think that's first and foremost. Second, and I'll have to go through it all individually week by week here later, but um where where are the other teams back? Like how many weeks is Rebake takes a team coming up to buy, or maybe the Thursday game. It's the rest advantage-disadvantage thing. I always think that's intriguing and seeing how it all lines up. Um I think that's a big deal. I know the whole weather thing has gone out the window here to a large extent, but it shouldn't be a big deal to play December games here. So I I I think the how the weather lines up, of course, we all care about the primetime games as well. So I I think it's kind of all those things, but I think Micah Parsons first and foremost, and then where everybody's buys line up on the Green Bay schedule.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

And uh one more before you go, and that is the Tucker Kraft. So we talk about Micah on the injury front. Do we would we expect Tucker Kraft goes maybe to start, or what what what's your mindset on what we might see from the tight end?

SPEAKER_00 30:11

I think he'll play week one, and look, it's a tor it's an ACL to knee injury. It's a it's as much as we've kind of taken it all for granted because everybody comes back from these things to some extent, or almost everybody. Everybody exception. Everybody's different. You never know if there's gonna be I didn't want to say a second back, right? But you know, does it not does the comeback not go as smoothly once he's back in the field? You never know these things, but I think I think he expects to be back week one. The timeline ten months kind of lines up and being back for week one. God, he is I mean, he was on pace to lead all NFL tension games last year. And touchdowns. Significant. I mean, he led the league and yak for catch. I mean, this guy is an unbelievable player, and yeah, I I would think he'll be back for week one. Again, he might not be I mean, when he was rolling, he was playing 50 snaps a game, and I would I would think they'd back off from that to some extent. But yeah, I think he'll be out there week one.

SPEAKER_01 31:08

Bill Huber, thank you. I appreciate you doing this. Uh, we'll be watching the rest of the day for all the leaks before uh we get to the prime time tonight. Uh I look forward to the next time we get a chance to visit.

SPEAKER_00 31:18

Appreciate it. Take care.

SPEAKER_01 31:20

Thank you, Bill. Bill Huber has covered the Green Bay Packers at a very high level for a very long time. I the audio, I hope it was it was good enough. There was just a little hit and miss. Um, but I think you're uh I mean, I made I could make out uh what where he was going. Uh it was just uh fluctuated a little bit. But uh I always and I say this every time, but I I I want to make sure that it's that it comes across this way. When when I reach out to to Bill or Pete Doherty or others that uh match Niban that cover the Packers or reach out to Lane Grendel or Jeff Levering or Tim Dillard or Todd Rosiak or Kurt Hogue that cover the Brewers. These guys don't have to say yes. I mean, in the fairness part of this equation, because I'm not doing it on a regular basis. They're not locked in, there's no exclusivity. I'm they're not getting paid to come on here. So they don't have to say yes. And I appreciate it when they do. Uh Bill has been tremendous. He says yes unless he can't. You know, Pete Doherty is uh, I don't know if he's this way with everybody, but he's always been this way with me. We we've struck up a good friendship relationship. He says yes. I haven't talked to Wes Hodkowitz lately on this podcast, but when I reach out to Wes, he says yes. Matt Schneidman says all of these, and I appreciate it because again, they don't have to. This space, this podcast space, is fairly full. There's a lot of people doing podcasts. However, and I think, and I was having this conversation with others yesterday, I think mine is unique in this regard. I have a very good, I believe I have a very good guest Rolodex. I I think we do a good job of bringing in people that can add and have the ability in our industry to have respect and they know what's going on. I believe in that. Now I've always I've always said I'm gonna do the show to the best of my ability that I would listen to. Okay, so this might make enemies more than friends, but I haven't talked a lot about the Bucs. And the most significant reason I haven't is because they were mostly irrelevant this year. Now, if the Bucs have something going on, they jump into the conversation. The others don't require that from me. Some might disagree with me on that, and that's okay. I'm gonna talk about the Brewers, good, bad, or indifferent. I'm gonna talk about the Packers always. And then I'm gonna talk more badgers than Bucks, right? So that my hierarchy of what deserves the conversation is the Packers. Then the Brewers and Badgers are really sharing line two, and everything else is next. So when there is conversation that needs to be had about the National Football League, obviously we're gonna be there. But I'm not spending a great deal of time talking about, you know, Pittsburgh Steelers have some interest because of Aaron, I think. The Jets had some interest because of Aaron, I think. Like when Favre left, the the Viking, the Vikings had some interest after he left the Jets because of him. Uh, so so that's really kind of how we have decided to structure this daily hour-long show. And and I hope that that makes sense to most of you. I'm not gonna make everybody happy. And and and that's okay because that's the landscape that we live in, and you have choices. So when you make this is your choice, uh, I say thank you to our viewers and listeners for deciding to come here uh to our YouTube channel, which is youtube.com slash at Hellerpods. That's where you would go to find it. Um, so I I appreciate that. And and I'm I'm excited about what we get to do tomorrow. Jim Osarski will join us tomorrow, so we will talk Bucks. Mainly the Bucks conversation is a Giannis conversation. I'm sitting around the table with uh the the Brewers beat crew yesterday, having something to eat before uh we go back into the press box and the game gets underway. And I asked the question about, you know, at this table that is mainly Brewers coverage, but Rosiak's not there last night, but Kurt Hogue uh and and and going around McCalvey and Hogue and Spencer and the whole everybody at that table, Andrew Gruman, who works for the Brewers. Um, and I asked about the percentage chance that Giannis is staying in Milwaukee. And Hogue was the only one that was positive. Like he was 60%, yeah, Giannis is gonna be here. And then Spencer and I were going back and forth. Spencer was being selfish about it, uh, which is it's it's in his that's in his wheelhouse. Uh, but I said, I thought that the Bucks' better path to high-level competitivist competitiveness again was to deal Giannis. I just think it's very hard with him at 31, 32 years old to sign him to that supermax extension and then build with some talent around him, which I don't know that there's enough there now. And if you deal him, you're gonna get, I would do it more for draft compensation than I would for players. But you you're gonna get significant return on that. Uh Jim Osarski's gonna have a lot more insight on this tomorrow. We'll see if we uh find some common ground or if he can shed some some light on what he thinks this path might look like. Either way, the path of retaining Giannis and the path of moving Giannis. Jim Osarski will join us tomorrow. And then um, you know, I just kind of point over this shoulder because back over there is Jay Henry uh reserve. Uh Joe Henry Jr. will join us for the final 15 minutes tomorrow. I always like that because then I get to drink uh some bourbon on the show and and he can enlighten me and us on a little bit of the bourbon concept. So if you are a fan of the Brown, tomorrow's end of uh tomorrow's show as we wrap up with Joe Henry Jr. should be great. And I also I don't know because I haven't seen him now in a few weeks. Uh, I don't know if he's still if he shaved off the mountain man beard, you know, because the weather has turned a little, and it'll turn certainly this weekend. So uh so we'll get all of that tomorrow. Uh a couple of notes in on our YouTube uh chat. So Mark says that's why I spend more time with you than a lot of the others as a former uh referee and a Bucks fan. The Bucs are the lowest on the four, and the badgers are the highest. Well, uh, thank you. And and I lead with Packers and then go to Brewers and Badgers. Uh Mike says the range of topics and quality of individuals are all relatable, very genuine on the microphone to me as a Wisconsin Teams fan, which makes this podcast one of my dailies. And Mike, I appreciate that. Uh it's it's what I want to do. There, I'm not gonna make everybody happy. You know, I've read when Treadmill was in on Super Fan Tuesday, uh, one of the guys who I got into it with back in the Tiger Woods um, you know, uh driving issue um of two months ago. And he and his buddy both took after me on my opinions on that. Well, he he came in on Tuesday and said something that I didn't put over the air. If you watch the chat, you could see it, but I didn't put it on our screen. So I'm not gonna make everybody happy, and that's okay. I I have no issue with that. You know, that dude, I actually don't have a problem with, except for when he he comes at me personally. If you want to come at you don't agree with my ideas, my commentary, my takes. If you think uh I'm whatever you think I am and you don't like it, go ahead and tell me what you don't like, but don't make it about don't make it so personal. Um I don't have thin skin, but okay, my opinion, I don't have thin skin, but I'm not gonna tolerate a certain level. So, you know, if you do that, I'm gonna end up blocking you. So um, all right. So back into this burgeoning rivalry, which is silly to say since it's the most played rivalry in all of the National Football League. But Packers Bears fell off page one of rivals that it was worth watching for a long time, as Bill Huber mentioned, for 25 years. It was so unbelievably one-sided. Now it's not. And the personalities at play, for those of a certain age, will remember the strong hatred that Forrest Gregg had with Mike Ditka and Buddy Ryan. And the Packers did some things that, if as a Packers fan, I was not proud of. The Charles Martin spike of Jim McMahon was terrible. Uh it was terrible. And it was kind of a Fritz Schirmer deal. It's not a proud run for the Packers. They couldn't beat them, and then they resorted to some tactics that were terrible. The the rivalry kind of went away. You know, I didn't hate Lovey Smith. He just wasn't any good. We didn't hate that whole run of coaches that they had because they just weren't very good. You know, Jay Cutler and the and the Packers playing uh the Bears in the NFC Championship game, uh, and the Cutler getting hurt and leaving the game. That had some juice to it, but there hadn't been juice in a while. So when I said to Bill Huber, you gotta, at some level, you gotta give Ben Johnson credit on this. I don't like him, but I'd like him if he was my coach. I don't like him because he's their coach. And I think he's kind of a jerk. He's certainly a jerk when it comes to uh the interactions between the Bears and the Packers. But as a fan, we ought to love that. Love to hate. Sports is a great hate environment if it's done in its proper perspective, that it is sports. Like Ben Johnson, if uh if I ran into him, it ain't gonna happen. But if I ran into him and found out, wow, well, he's a super nice guy, that's great. But as a coach, he's a coach of a rival and he's a jerk. Good for them, good for the rivalry. We get to kind of, in a sports vernacular, hate him, and they get to do the same. And it works the same way with the Cubs. I like Craig Counsel. I don't like that he's there. He's a good manager, they're a good team. They were playing great, now they're not playing great so much. But it's uh overall, I think it's a really good team, and they have a chance to be great long term, and I think that's good for everybody. I probably should have silenced my phone. What do you think? Yeah, probably should have. Uh all right. So from a rivalry perspective, that concept of who the bears are is really good. To me, that that's I love it. They're good. I love that the Brewers' Cubs ride. Rivalry has you know been very good now for a while. I don't like that they're good. But you we all know that when that happens, the the juice comes back into and then the squeeze of a rivalry. There's a lot of juice there, Brewers Cubs. They see each other Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week. All night games at Wrigley. Can't wait. Should be fantastic. Uh uh and and so I love it. I don't know that that rivalry, you know, I think in the division, it goes all four corners now in the NFC North, by the way. Because Detroit's been good and Dan Campbell is he creates some of that. Chicago is good. Ben Johnson creates it. Uh it there it's there in Minnesota, it's there in Green Bay. So I think every time you're playing a division game, and I'm gonna continue to check to see if there are any more leaks, but right now we don't have any that I'm aware of. Um so we know Packers at Bears on Christmas Day. Oh, Packers at Tampa week four. Packers at Tampa week four. That's October the 4th at Tampa. So that takes another road game off the map. So when when we continue to cross off the road games, right now that would leave Detroit, Minnesota, New England, and New Orleans as the only road games we don't know. So what we don't know for those who are season ticket holders right now is a whole lot of the home schedule. We we Bill Huber said the process of elimination that the Packers will open with Minnesota, but not aware home or road, then they're at the Jets. Week three, we don't know. Week four at Tampa. Week five against the Bears at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. That is October the 11th, and it's listed as a 325 Sunday kick. Week seven, eight, nine, we don't know. Week 10, we don't know. Week 11, we think it's a bye. If it's not a bye, it's a Thursday night game. But we think it's a bye. And then week 12, Green Bay will play on a Wednesday night, the night before Thanksgiving in Los Angeles against the Rams. We don't know. 13, 14, 15. Week 16 is Christmas Day. That's a Friday, and it's a noon kick on Netflix. So if you don't have Netflix between uh now and Christmas, you're gonna have to get it. Uh the Packers will play at Chicago on Netflix at noon on Christmas. Two weeks later, they'll wrap the season against the Detroit Lions, but we don't know if that's home or road. So those are where we those are the the elements that are in play that we know right now for the Green Bay Packers. The rest there there's a there's a Twitter, an ex follow that is uh an NFL nerd. It's nerding on NFL, nerding on NFL, and promoting his got uh almost 60,000 followers at nerding on NFL. And he's he just put out four minutes ago, Packers at Tampa, week four, noon. That's October the fourth. So for those that want to get away and go to, you know, when the Packers play a road game against Tampa, uh, usually that the sombrero there has a lot of green and gold and cheese heads in it. Uh, that's gonna be earlier. October the fourth in Tampa. So couple updates. There were three straight updates on the Bucks uh, and that was the third of those. So the NFL schedule leak grid is filling in quite nicely, but we do we don't know a lot of home games for the Packers at this point. So keep it keep an ear tuned to what's going on there. For many of you, by the time if you watch this later, like if you're a download or evening after work, that you throw this on YouTube when you're on a treadmill or just listening, what we're talking about now will be out of time because the schedule will have filled in. The Brewers and Padres will have wrapped up their three-game set. Kyle Harrison's on the mound for Milwaukee uh in that in that final. By the way, just on the Brewers front, 18-game run that we talked about, and it was going to be against the Yankees and then the Padres and then the Twins, and then at Chicago against the Cubs, home with the Dodgers and home with the Cardinals. In the first five of those 18, the Brewers are four and one. So it's a good start to a very difficult run of the schedule. Last night sucked because you know, Griffin Sheets, two out, three-run homer in the top of the ninth, erased a one-nothing Brewers win. It was a two-out, nobody on scenario. And then a single just over the outstretch glove, a terang, then a walk, and then a three-run home run by Griffin Sheets. And the Brewers turned a one-nothing win into a three-one loss. So win the series today, which would be great. You're at the quarter pole. And in the oh, by the way department, at the quarter pole, the Brewers 40 games in to 160, so it's just shy of the quarter pole. Uh, the Brewers are on pace for 93 wins. That's their on pace right now. And I believe most of the over-unders before the season began had them right about 500. So they're again what they do every year exceeding those level of expectations. Uh, so that's good news. Go ahead and and close out this series. One other note I wanted to add on the Brewers, and I just find this interesting. Uh, that as I mentioned earlier, they're throughout the week I've mentioned they're tied for last in home runs. They haven't homered um in the series, I don't think. Uh, certainly didn't last night. So they have homered in 19 of their 40 games. They also give up the least. I know they gave up to Griffin Sheets. They're in the among the league leaders in the least amount of home runs given up. Uh, the the bad one last night, obviously, in the ninth. But yeah, you're not going to see home runs when you go to Brewers games. And uh another side note last night, No Yelic, who had um some back stiffness in his first game back since missing 30 plus on the I. So he he was not available last night. Something again to to monitor. All right. Last thoughts, and we'll we'll be out a little short of normal today, but last thoughts in on the Packers' schedule as it comes out, as it as it comes out. They'll play the Bears in week five at Lambeau. That's October the 11th. They will play at Chicago against the Bears on Christmas Day at noon. That's a Friday. So those those are the their it's their biggest rival. Has been for a long time, but certainly is now. Those are the two games that are of the greatest importance. It appears they'll open with Minnesota, but that's not an absolute at this point. Don't know if that's home or away. It appears they'll finish against Detroit, but the bulk of the home schedule, we don't almost everything we have is either we don't know if it's home or away, or it's away. So the only for sure home game that we know at Lambeau right now is the October game against the Chicago Bears. So it'll be October the 11th against the Bears at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, week five, and that's a late afternoon Sunday window. So there's a lot of juice. Um, oh Joey Ortiz, thank you, Mike. Uh Ortiz had the home run earlier, but not in the last uh, yeah. Yeah. So still among the lead lowest numbers in home runs. In fact, now you got me intrigued, and uh, and I'll just look it up quick to see uh from a team statistic standpoint where the Brewers stack in home runs uh coming into the week. They were uh tied for last uh with the San Francisco Giants. Right now, the fewest number of home runs in Major League Baseball belongs to the Brewers. They are 30th all by themselves at 27 home runs. The Giants have 30. And that high-paid uh offense in New York, the Mets have 31. But the Brewers are last in Major League Baseball in uh in home runs with 27. And they've homered in 19 of their 40 games. So about half of the games, a little less than half that the Brewers play, that they hit a home run in. Uh big thank you to Bill Huber for jumping in. As I always want to do, spend a little time uh thanking who we are from a sponsor standpoint with onecommunity.bank, uh, your your banking decisions, if they're open, please visit onecommunity.bank. They are driven to serve and to partner with us in the community, and that's what they've done. One community bank, stop by any one of their locations or visit onecommunity.bank to upgrade to feel good banking friends of ours. We also want to tell you about M3 Insurance. And with M3, you are going to get everything you need, no compromises. With M3, you get it all. Personal guidance you need to protect and grow your business. Go to M3INS.com. We are also presented by Neuroscience Group and uh our friends at Neuroscience Group. If back pain is holding you back at neuroscience, they uh their spine specialists offer personalized care, therapy uh to advance surgical options so you can get back to doing what you love. Neuroscience group, we've got your back. Also presented by Pottawatomi Sportsbook and Casino and Habish, Habish Enrotier 13 locations to ensure you get a hometown attorney who understands your situation and gets you the results that you need. So a big thank you to Bill Huber who jumped in earlier today. And for all of you that watch indoor listen, you can do it at YouTube. If that's not where you are, go to youtube.com backslash at hellerpods. That's where we are. If you're watching on Twitter, on X, we appreciate it. Wherever you're getting, wherever you get your podcasts, if this is part of your day, thank you. We'll do it again tomorrow. Jim Osarski talking about the Bucks. He will join us tomorrow. And so will Joe Jr., Joe Henry from Jay Henry and Sons talking a little bourbon to wrap up our work week. We'll look forward to it then. We'll know the full packers schedule. We'll react to all of that. We'll see you tomorrow. I love Mondays. The Thursday edition comes to a close. Talk to you tomorrow, right here.

SPEAKER_03 56:06

I love Mondays with my family.