I Love Mondays-Ep55, May 15, 2026

The NFL and TV Networks LOVE the Packers...breaking down key portions of the schedule release.  Talking Bucks and the best path forward with our without Giannis with Jim Owczarski of JSOnLine.  Plus Friday Bourbon talk with Joe Jr. of J.Henry & Sons

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

I love Mondays with Mike Heller. Podcasting 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_03 0:27

Hey, welcome in. Uh T G I F. Thank God it's Friday. I love Fridays on I Love Mondays. We get to go into the weekend. I will finish with some bourbon today. I didn't even ask Joe Henry Jr. if it's okay if I drink Weller today. This is my favorite non-J Henry and Sons bourbon. We're going to finish with a little weeded bourbon, uh 12-year Weller 12, my favorite. So Joe's going to join us uh in about 45 minutes. I might even sample a little bit of what I did a couple weeks ago, the hard truth double-oaked uh from Nashville, Indiana, if you haven't been. And by the way, I'll push this again one more time before we get into the weekend. Uh we have our bourbon trip on July 8th through the 12th through Red and White Wine and Bourbon Bar on Main Street in Wana Key. Kari and I have owned for six and a half years. Uh we started with about seven or eight bourbons on the back shelf. Now we're at about 45. And this is our first trip for both of us, but my first trip as well, to go to the bourbon trail. We're gonna stay in Louisville. We're gonna motor coach bus with just 24 people, which means you got plenty of room to spread out. It's gonna be a very comfortable ride. And there's so much room to bring your bourbon back home. You don't have to worry about shipping anything. So we're gonna go on July 8th, which is a Wednesday. We'll leave fairly early in the morning from Wanakkee. So you have to get here and we'll arrange parking for you. That's not a problem to keep your car on site. We're gonna uh bus to Nashville, Indiana, southern Indiana. It's about 90 minutes, hour and 15 from Louisville. And we're gonna go to the Hard Truth on that Wednesday, uh, early afternoon, get a tour, have a lunch, have a great tasting, and then go down to the Bourbon Hotel in Louisville, downtown. It's a block from Whiskey Row. Uh, we'll be able to enjoy the rest of that night on Wednesday night. On Thursday, we're gonna go to the epicenter of what the Bourbon Trail is, right? We're gonna go to Frankfurt, Kentucky. We'll go to Buffalo Trace in the morning. Now, why is that important? You go to the in the morning, it's before it's open to the public. You're gonna get their releases to purchase before they go to anybody else. And we don't know, they don't tell you in advance what they will be, but we will we will be at Buffalo Trace at 10:30 on Thursday morning. Uh, lunch on your own, then we'll go to Woodford in the afternoon in Frankfurt, and then go on back to Louisville and enjoy what uh downtown Louisville looks like, feels like, and tastes like on a Thursday night. On Friday, we'll go to Bardstown, Kentucky, also one of the other epicenters of the bourbon tradition in the great state of Kentucky. And we will go to Preservation Distillery in the morning and Heaven Hill in the afternoon. We'll then stay in Bardstown for a while into the evening, and you can have dinner on your own in Bardstown on that uh Thursday night. Uh, the lovely Kari is delivering materials to me live on the show. Thank you. Uh-huh. Kari did a great job. We had a uh we had a Lux Bingo last night at Red and White that uh that culminated in somebody winning a Louis Vuitton bag, purse, bag or purse, uh that is like 2600 bucks or something. I mean, it didn't have the word titleist on it, so I didn't understand. Well, what is somebody spending $2,600 for that? But people love it. And that was a gift at the end of uh Lux Bingo last night. By the way, now I'm off track, but that's okay. I have in my on my resume, I have called at the University of Wisconsin men's basketball, filling in for Matt LePay back before I was doing football. I called a men's football game on the radio network when when the only game Matt has missed since he got here uh three or four years ago now. I called a game against Purdue at Camp Randall Stadium. So I've called men's basketball, I've called football, I've called men's hockey both on television and the radio. Um I have called women's basketball, did for nine seasons on the radio. I have never called bingo. I called baseball, even. Uh UW Oshkosh games back after I was done playing, and a uh a Northwood League All-Star game, I called one. I have never called bingo. I called bingo for the first time last night, for whatever that's worth. But it was interesting. Hadn't done it before, and uh, it was a ton of fun. Uh, I'm gonna get back to the Bourbon Trail in just a second to fill you in, but uh I I skipped out on this. James, happy Friday. Happy Friday to you, James. Also, Mike in Merrill, good morning, everyone, as he uh gives his traditional morning wishes. John says, good morning. That's John 5216 says good morning. I think he's new. I don't know, maybe not new, but new on the good morning train. Mark is uh off of Trout Lake and says good morning to all. And uh my guy Barry, happy Friday day. Cheers. Yeah, let's go. Barry is uh part of my bourbon crew. So I left off. We're gonna stay in Bardstown a little bit after we go to Preservation and Heaven Hill as our two tastings. We'll then bust down to the epicenter of Bardstown and let you stroll around and find dinner on your own. And there's great places to go there. And then we'll go back to Louisville a little bit later on that Friday night. Saturday, you'll have much of the day free in Louisville, but then we're gonna go to Mickter's uh in Louisville that uh Saturday afternoon, and then Saturday night all bets are off. However, we are bussing out on Sunday. So, you know, drink responsibly, wisconsibly in Louisville on the Bourbon Trail. We've got, I think, four spots left. So you can email me at this account, Hellerpods2, the number, Hellerpods2 at gmail.com, or you can email red and white directly, red and and red and white 331 at gmail.com and ask for details about the the bourbon trip. We're gonna sell it. It's gonna be sold out. I don't know, maybe this weekend it'll be sold out. Maybe today it'll be sold out. Uh, so don't miss it. It's gonna be a blast. There's gonna be a lot of great people on that trip, and we're gonna have a great time. Uh Mark did say, oh no, got a white fish yesterday. The boys have fish fry this afternoon before fishing again till dark. Uh, two more to follow. That's on Trout Lake, um just north of Manaqua, Woodruff. Uh, it's beautiful. It is uh one of the special places, and I'm not really that much of a fisherman. I'm not a fisherman at all. All right. So, but it is a beautiful lake. All right. So let's let me jump into this. Um, a couple of things of note. Uh, I'll get to sponsors in a minute. Actually, why don't I just go ahead and do that right now? Uh, we are presented by one community bank where clients are number one uh priority, feel good banking. Stop by one of the locations, onecommunity.bank, and 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. And you know, I say this every time I'm talking about our sponsors. If you've got banking decisions to make, put one community bank on your opportunity list. They will earn your business. They have ours, uh, both with our business banking from red and white and with the podcast, both mine and Kari's Sip and Spill podcast. So they have earned our business, and I think they'll earn yours too if you give them a chance. Also brought to you by M3, your independent and privately held insurance broker and risk management firm, they're the leverage, they will leverage world-class resources and a specialized team to protect and grow your business. They help businesses and individuals manage risk and purchase insurance, provide the right benefits to their employees. M3INS.com. Great friends of this program and friends of ours. Neuroscience Group, a concussion can change everything in an instant, from car accidents to work injuries to sports-related concussions. Our team at Neuroscience provides one of the most comprehensive concussion programs in the state with specialized care to help you recover and return to life safely. Neuroscience Group, Wisconsin's leader in concussion care. We are also presented by our friends at Pottawatomy. Have a barrel of fun with your share of three grand. Play your hometown, play your Pottawatomie rewards card May 1st through the 28th. For winners every Thursday night, winners take the stage to go head to head playing the classic game with a fun twist. Winners will walk away with $3,000 in cash or $750 in rewards play. Must be $21 and a rewards member to play at Potawatomi Casino. And Habish, Habish, and Rotier, all injury updates, including mine, presented by Habish, Habish, and Rotier 13 Locations. Ensure you get a hometown attorney who understands your life and the impacts of your injury on your life. Personally committed to your recovery. All right, my injury update. Had an MRI last Friday night. Left shoulder, not right shoulder. I had a rotator cuff in December of 21, a surgery to repair this thing. And then Fantasy Camp this year. This took up uh took a little beating, right shoulder did just because I pitched uh probably too much for a guy that hadn't played baseball in 38 years or 40 years. But then this one caused me problems at the end on feeling a ground ball that uh that I misjudged or whatever, and did one of those sudden shoulder shrugs. So I had an MRI Friday. Went and saw uh my doctor at UW yesterday, Dr. Cotter shout out. And this one's gonna have to get cut open now, too. So cortisone shot for now to try and alleviate some of the discomfort and be able to golf this summer. And then if that works, then I'll play golf and do the surgery in the fall. If it doesn't work and the golf hurts too much, then I'll have the surgery sooner. So there's my injury update brought to you by Habish, Habish from Rotier, 13 locations to ensure you get a hometown attorney who understands your life and the impacts of your shoulder injury on you. Now, not that, but other injuries, and make sure that they are personally committed to your recovery, Habish, Habish, and Rotir. Uh we got two guests lined up for today's show. One, we're gonna visit with Jim Osarski of the Journal Sentinel JS Online. He'll join us here in a matter of just a few minutes, uh, talking about Giannis and the Buck situation. Uh two, Joe Henry from J. Henry and Sons, scheduled to join us at 1040. I always say scheduled because Joe lives uh a super busy go, don't we all? And uh I sent him the reminder note this morning, but I just want to end up making sure that uh that he he's he's gonna get it. Otherwise, I'll drink bourbon alone, which is fine. I've done that before. Um John said he's not new, he listens uh regularly, and I appreciate that. Good sports listening. Thank you, John. I appreciate that. Very nice of you. And we continue to grow. Yesterday our webpage went live. Uh, so if you want to make a note to check that out, you can do that at uh Ilovemondayspodcast.com. I LoveMondaysPodcast.com. A lot of great info there. It's kind of our landing page where you can get all of our resources from the show. So uh look forward to that. All right, schedule. Packers schedule came out. Y'all know that by now. That's not new to you. However, uh these parts of it. You got a Wednesday game in LA, you got a Thursday, a couple of Thursday games, both at home, a Friday, which is Christmas, at Chicago, two Sunday night games, both at Lambeau, one Monday night game at Lambeau, six noon starts. Two of the games are on Prime, that's Thursday night, two games on Netflix, uh, that is both that Wednesday game, the night before Thanksgiving, and the Christmas Day game. Both of the Netflix games are road games. Uh, NBC, two of them, two Sunday night football games, eight games on Fox, one game on CBS. You think Nans and Romo will get that since the Packers are only scheduled to be on CBS one time, and one time on ESPN Monday Night Football. So there are, I think there are seven standalone games. So all we mean by standalone is there's no game opposite. It's not a noon or a 325 on a Sunday. So, and of those standalones, they're almost all at home. I mean, you you get you open with three of the first four away from home. Uh, you will play um to open at Minnesota 325 on September 13th. I also don't like this. It's the vagaries of the calendar, but I really don't like how late the NFL season starts. You're midway through September, essentially, before the Packers play a game that matters September 13th at Minnesota. They will then follow that with a noon game, one of just a few on the road against the New York Jets before opening on a Thursday night, September the 24th, on prime, obviously, at Lambeau in Green Bay. Then they'll go to Tampa. So three of the first four away from home. Home with the Bears on October the 11th circle. That one. Dallas on a Sunday night game at Lambeau that follows that. So the Packers will, you know, you get all of your primetime games will be at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. The Thursdays, the Sundays, and the Mondays. Thursday, Sunday night, Monday night, all at home for the Packers. So that works out. We all knew what the schedule was going to be. You do get your last two and four of your last five games at home. So the Packers will be home essentially from December 13th. They're home again on the 20th. Christmas Day at Chicago, but home January 4th, and then the 9th or the 10th against Detroit. So four of the last five are at Lambeau Field and Green Bay. Only one September game at home. That's Thursday, September the 24th. In October, you've got two home games, October the 11th and the 18th. That's the Bears and the Cowboys in back-to-back games. Um, I'm sorry, also Thursday, October 29th, home against Carolina. In November, one home game. November the 15th. That is a noon kick against Minnesota, the only November home game. The bye weeks are a little funky because you're playing a bye week, but then playing the following Wednesday. So the players get a little cheated on the bye week, but they've got some mini buys in with the Wednesday and Thursday games that allow a little bit more movement on the front of uh of when and where you're gonna play and get some time off. So I thought I thought this, I like the schedule of release. I know that some people go, well, what's a big deal? You already know who you're playing. I get it. But you do want to know when you're at home. You do want to know on a road trip for those as a fan base that travel, uh, you get the opportunity to go this year to Tampa, but that's relatively early on October the 4th. Uh, a chance to go to Los Angeles, but that is now a Wednesday game, uh, the day before Thanksgiving that they will play at SoFi against the Rams on November the 25th. Um, Miami and Malik Willis, they come to Green Bay uh with Jeff Hafley, their head coach, but it's late in the season. That's on December the 20th. Chicago on Christmas Day. Okay, so what are what are the feelings that we have about playing on Christmas Day? I view it a little bit differently because we've been empty nesters for quite a while. Now we have seven kids, they're spread around the country. A few in Salt Lake and uh one family in Nashville, one just outside of Chicago, one that will be in Phoenix, but in Detroit now. So a little different uh, you know, on whether we'll be traveling to be with somebody at the holiday or whatever that might be, but I don't mind it. It is not ideal. And if you have kids, little kids, especially littles, uh playing a game that you care about that you want to invest in, and it's against the Bears at noon on Christmas Day, is eh. I don't love it, but listen, the networks get it and the league gets it. They get enormous television ratings. And the National Football League stole Christmas Day from the NBA. And when when the NBA was going on Christmas Day, I didn't watch. But when the NFL goes on Christmas Day, I'm in. Uh, kind of the way it works. So there's a lot of elements to that. All right, I'm gonna check on Jim Osarski. He was out running, he had some things he was taking care of. Uh, I just want to make sure I got him. Um well, let's uh okay. Now you're gonna have to bear with me for just a second as I uh try to see if I can I don't know how to do that. Well, I was hoping I was gonna get Jim Osarski on the show. I don't know how I can get him. Let's uh we're gonna do this live on the screen and uh see if I can't if I didn't type it in wrong the first time. So this again, this is this is how it works. I don't have a second guy in here. I don't have somebody else that is uh that is doing this, so let me go. Isn't this great radio or uh podcasting right now? Uh I'm just making sure, you know, Jimmy's got a uh a unique spelling on his name, so I I might have done it wrong the first time. Uh and I'm not gonna read it over the air because I don't want you guys uh emailing Jim. Uh all right, I'm gonna send it again. Sent again to Jim Osarsky. Um there, please specify at least oh I see what I didn't do there. You know what? And I promise you, Kari's like going, what are you doing? You need to be better at that. And you don't need to tell everybody exactly what you're doing when you're doing it. Alright, so I just re-emailed Jimmy O, and uh hopefully that works. If it doesn't, I kind of don't know what else I I can do. I could try to uh I could try to send it to myself and text it to him, but I'm just what I'm really doing is is killing valuable time here. But I'm gonna try that part anyway, just in case this doesn't work. Okay. Uh we'll see if we can't uh if we can't make this part of it work here, because I'd really like to talk to Jim about what's going on with Giannis. I I don't know that anybody is more looped in and uh well thought out about that scenario than than Jim would be. So it's why I really wanted to make sure that I had a chance to talk with him about this and to have him share his insights on what's going on. Uh but if technically I can't uh find a way home, then that's just the deal. But uh hopefully I can get him in on this uh before we run out of time and and double into what we're gonna do with uh Joe Henry a little bit later in the show. So again, I'm gonna just uh uh continue to try and Okay, we'll see. Uh Jimmy, I texted it to him as well. Uh we'll see if we can't uh get home on this. Try one more thing and then I'll let it go if I can't get it from here. Um listen, I I said earlier this week that I thought it was time for the Bucks to move off on this. But I I I really I do yield to um somebody like Jim, who I think just has a better day-to-day concept of of what is going on. Uh this should work. All right. Let's see if uh if we can't find our way home. I just got uh Jim the information. And look at that. And look at this. Uh add how about that email Sarsky? That's on me. I I don't I don't know why. Maybe it maybe the the initial email you sent uh went to sp to spam, but I got you on text and then I emailed you to the other one. Hey, thanks for doing this. I know you're running around, so I appreciate you taking a little time out of your morning to jump on for your first stop into the I Love Mondays podcast. So thank you.

SPEAKER_02 23:40

No, thank you. I my apologies for uh, you know, you'd think after all these years, Mike, we went through a pandemic, we were able to figure out stream yards and being able to do this. Uh no, my my apologies. Thank you for your patience. Glad to be here. Good to see you again, talk to you again.

SPEAKER_03 23:56

Yeah, you're all good, and I appreciate you doing this. I I'll give you my listeners have have heard me talk about this. Uh, three weeks, two weeks ago, we did a river cruise in Europe. Uh, so I had a guest host filling in on that first day that I was on a boat in Luxembourg. So it's 4,700 miles away. And I jumped up to the top of the boat with my iPhone before we left Watcher Building Luxembourg. And I joined the last 20 minutes of the show. Treadmill had uh Matt LePay on at the time, and it was seamless. Now I can't get you in a car in Milwaukee area uh without running through my own issues, but I could do 20 minutes of seamless, no delay uh podcast live from a boat in Luxembourg. Uh anyway. So earlier this week, I came on this show and said that I thought it was time for the Bucs to move and to find a trade partner. And let me just back up the reason and then I'll have you give your thoughts. I think that the path to higher level competitiveness is better served going that route. I don't have any background knowledge, just as a fan, and somebody's covered the sport and talked about this stuff for years. That's what I think. What do you think? If you bring opinion to the story, what do you think is the best avenue for the Bucs to be competitive again?

SPEAKER_02 25:25

So I I mean, oops, sorry. I I I guess that's the qualifier is what what level of competitive, Mike? Like, we the ceiling with Giannis is a parade because we've we've seen that, right? Like that's the ceiling. Like the best the Bucks can be with him is is a champion. Um after that, we don't know what that is, right? This was one bad year out of the last nine that they just went through. He played 37 games. Clearly, the head coach was an issue as well. So there's a lot of factors as to why this year they did not win 41 games or 43 games. So, what's when you say level of competitiveness, like what does that mean? Are you talking about just getting back to the 4-5 seed for the next three, four years? Are you thinking winning 55, 60 games again in five years? You know, right, Mike? So I think and I think that's even what they're struggling with is at 31, can we get to 55 to 60 wins again with him in the next four years? Or do we have to like build to that? Um I don't know, Mike. I feel like if if you have Giannis, you have one of the five best players in the world, so your ceiling is inherently higher, and you could get there more quickly, in my opinion. Um, if you trade him, you are trading him for 23 to 25 to 26 year olds.

SPEAKER_01 27:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 27:06

That you will need to develop and get can you win 60? I don't know. Um, Detroit did, it took a few years. Are you getting a Cade Cunningham for Giannis? I I don't know. Um, so I I get it, Mike. I I get where your point of view is. Um, and I think that's where the why the Bucs are considering this route, because maybe they're not sure.

SPEAKER_03 27:29

And and and part of that, so this is where I probably get I I know enough maybe to be dangerous on this. I I I think of the Pistons and what they have done to go from a team that was terrible to now a team that has the potential to you know to be playing for a parade. And is that is that logic of mine, is that part of it flawed that you would get uh a significant draft capital return on Giannis and give yourself a shot in that direction?

SPEAKER_02 28:05

So I look the Detroit or Oklahoma City sort of models, um you know, uh maybe Cleveland to a degree. Cleveland was different. They drafted Mobley but traded for Donovan Mitchell, right? Um look, the Bucks don't have a number one pick. They didn't have a chance to sort of draft a Jalen Duran as a lottery pick as well, or an Isaiah Stewart as a first round pick as well. So the the the trajectory, Mike, would have to be different. You'd be trading for effectively someone, some other team's number one pick that they gave up on. So it's however you want to look at it, right? Where let's let's just play the let's make this easy, let's do the the whisk the the Atlanta conversation. Well, they're gonna bring Jalen Johnson, a Milwaukee guy, home, right? So what you're trading for is a guy that Atlanta drafted, that they developed, that they gave a big deal to, that they gave the keys to the franchise to, and they decided no, he's not the guy. Yeah, we're not gonna win with him. So now conversely, if you're the Bucks, you're saying, well, maybe we can do that with him here. It's it's it's the tail is all the time in sports, Mike. You've seen this, right? Like the distressed pitcher or the distressed hitter. Once we get him, we'll make so I I think that's I don't think you're wrong in thinking that can happen. Um I guess that's the conversation is are you are you done with your known your known star player? Yeah, uh are you are you done with trying to build around him because it's just too hard at 70 million dollars? Whereas a Jalen Johnson or Paulo Bancaro, for instance, well, they make 40 million. So maybe their team gave up on them, but we know how to build it's a really good question, Mike. I don't think um it's it's out of bounds to to think they can do it. Um, and I think that's what's making this so hard right now for the Bucks.

SPEAKER_03 30:19

Is is the pathway in keeping Giannis with this year's number 10 pick and some of the avenues that you can go down? Uh, the NBA can be really restrictive if you got a supermax guy on trying to bring in talent around him. And I think that's what the Bucs they've tried. Uh the dame was a great effort. It did not work. Uh, and it kind of hamstrung them a little bit because it didn't work and what they were what they didn't have in resources to go get other players. So, are they better equipped now to add talent around Deanis? And if he's healthy, that that potential to move back towards the parade possibility is is a real avenue that this team could get enough talent around him. Yeah, so let's yeah, let's game this out, Mike.

SPEAKER_02 31:08

You're right. We're gonna let's say that you're you're Wes Eidens, Jimmy Hasham, John Horse. We we decide as an organization, we're gonna keep Giannis and keep doing this. The short answer is yes. Um, the one limitation they have this year is they probably don't want to get in the luxury tax again. Um, that's you know, they they'd get the repeater tax and and more penalties. That's actually not that big a deal, Mike. Um, there's only a handful of teams actually in the tax this year. You can win at a high level without without being in it. So uh for an example, the Houston Rockets acquired Kevin Durant with the 10th pick or part of the 10th pick last year. Uh obviously they moved a couple contracts and players. So could the Bucs package Kyle Kuzma, Bobby Portis, perhaps Miles Turner, um, with that 10 pick and get a different player? Yes, they've got financial resources, some exceptions that they could use trade into uh to trade maybe one of those salaries and add a higher salary. Um they have future draft picks they can move, Mike. So, in short, yes, they have actually more resources this year um than probably since 2020 when they signed Bobby um and Brynn Forbes, etc. Um, and I think that's part of the question, though, Mike, is the the Giannis question isn't so much this year, it's do we want to keep um, I don't want to say mortgaging because they do have picks, they have a pick this year. Um but that's part of it, you know, they'll be in the tax not this year, but in two years. Like, do they want to keep doing that? Um, I think that's what they're also wrestling with. But yeah, if if they choose to do this, Mike, they can. They have financial resources and draft pick resources to add higher-end talent um and try to win again at a higher level with one of the best players in the world. That they can for sure.

SPEAKER_03 33:12

That dance partner that they're working with is a big caveat to all of this. Uh, you know, Giannis has always said the right things publicly, almost always, and he loves Milwaukee. He's stated that he he would like to be here if they can compete. So, Jimmy, this is an unfair question, but we're trying to get into his soul, his mind about where he wants to be. Do you think he wants to keep dancing with the Bucks? And is there a path forward for competitive competitiveness that would keep him happy as uh an opportunity to win in Milwaukee again?

SPEAKER_02 33:48

So you kind of froze on me there a little bit, Mike, but uh, but yeah, there is uh and he is a part of this. Um look, I do know. Look, he I talked to him right after I hired Taylor Jenkins. He's a Jenkins fan. So let's let's put the coach now and the the culture reset that this team drastically needed as a pro. Um, he he knows Taylor, likes Taylor, respects Taylor. I think from a coaching perspective, he could get with Taylor Jenkins and that plan. Um, the rest of it, look, it's a good question. Um the chatter we're gonna hear, Mike, is because it's the only chatter that's left to hear. Will Giannis sign the extension in October? Is he gonna commit to that in May? Um, probably not, Mike, because why would he first of all there's no there's no money on the table, and this team just won 32 games. Yeah, so why would he say, yeah, I'm I'm in on this? Right. I I think it's the same dance we've heard, Mike, from them the last eight years, which is I I you know, look, the Bucks are gonna make a trade for name name a certain player. I'm not even gonna say an all-star, Mike, because Eric Bledsto, Drew Holiday at the time was eight years removed from an all-star game, Mike. I don't think anybody thought, you know, Drew was this, you know, uh Hall of Fame player at that point. Um Brooke Lopez, Pat Conaton, Bobby Portis, those were not like needle movers in the way that I think a lot of people um now we look back that they were. So I you're right, Mike. I think he's he's trying to decide do I still trust them to continue to build this team around me? It's a good question. They've gotten worse. So I'm not gonna crawl in his head and and and project that it's a real conversation. Um, does he trust them to do it again? I think is a good question. It's it's unanswerable because he's refused to answer it. Yeah, um, but yeah, look, Laura, my colleague Lori Nickel wrote this at the end of the year, Mike. Their cut their communication, player to organization, player to whoever that is, has broken down. That needs to get better, and it needs to really ramp up in this next month and month and a half for sure.

SPEAKER_03 36:16

Yeah, so uh well let me leave you with this. We we've got June 24th, is the NBA draft. Haslum said on the introductory head coach press conference that uh they've got that six-week window, and it's ideal to make a decision and do whatever you're gonna do before the draft. Is that real? Is that how you see the calendar? If it doesn't happen before the draft, then we'll see. How does the calendar play for you and your world?

SPEAKER_02 36:43

Yeah, it it makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 36:56

Lost him. I was hoping it, I I I I paused there, hoping that it would come back. Um it's a great cliffhanger to leave it on. I'm gonna I'm gonna uh drop Jim out that it froze for too long. Um I'll I'll get his answer one way or the other. So uh and then I'll let you know. Because I do think the calendar matters. If you know, from a Giannis perspective, when you think of that, you know, he'd love to know who's gonna be around him. You're not gonna know before the draft unless you make other acquisitions prior to then. And the Bucks are number 10 in the draft. Can they maneuver? And what kind of a player do they get at that pick or moving up, as Jim suggested, might be one of the avenues that they take. I just find it really intriguing. I'm not gonna change my thought process in the grand scheme of things that I think it's time to move. However, if you have a committed Giannis and he is and his words are real and and not just some level of PR. So if you if you had if you were convinced that Giannis is happy and he believes that they can win here again and get him another ring, another parade, another championship, and he's here, then this last season of 37 games, maybe that's just the aberration. Maybe that's the the pothole, and there's a smoother road out in front of them. That is the ideal scenario. If if we could all look in a February 2027 crystal ball and look to see what the Bucs look like with and without Giannis, it would make things a lot simpler. That's the great thing about sports, and at times frustrating. We don't know. I mean, we don't know what our lives look like in February 27. So lots of things can happen. I think we all love Giannis. We have been blessed to have him in Milwaukee. I said that I thought it was time. I do think it's time, but if they keep him, I won't be upset or disappointed. You just have to find a way to move with him forward that you can win. I'm gonna try to bring Jim back in and let you answer that question that we that we were on, and then uh and then we'll let you to move on to your day. So finish where you were starting on on that question of the calendar and what it shows to you.

SPEAKER_02 39:39

Yeah, my apologies again, Mike. Gotta love technology here. Uh yeah, all good. The draft is the draft is a natural point, as Jimmy said, because you want to get the most assets, and you read between the lines. That means a 2026 first-round pick, right? This is a loaded draft. Is that honestly, Mike, though, this isn't football, you know, where Jimmy could get a Browns pick at 30 and it could be an all-pro. Like a 26 first has to be in the top four, five, six. So now you're talking maybe a multi, you know, so it makes it made sense for Jimmy to say that. Um, also, there's some boring league cap stuff where you agree to it in June, but it goes through in July. Um, it does make sense though, Mike, for him to say that. Um, also, that date is weird because a lot of 2033 draft picks open up, Mike. Um teams that, as we speak today, can't trade a 33. You get to draft night, you're allowed to go seven years out. So um it makes sense. It does, it's it is artificial though, Mike. Uh, Dame, of course, was acquired by the Bucs in late September. Carl Anthony Towns was traded to the Knicks in October. That's not ideal. I don't think the Bucs want to do that with a new head coach having who I have Giannis for a summer. Okay. Oh, wait, I traded him October 1st. Like, I think some of that is also they're trying to do this culture reset. This this, you know, let's move forward one way or the other, with or without him. Um, it's better to do that in roster build then, Mike, um, through free agency in in July than waiting till late in the game, and now you're really setting your program back again.

SPEAKER_03 41:26

Uh uh, Jim, final one. In about a minute or less, Craig sent this question in. He he asked if you had seen the comments from Miles Turner on Giannis and Doc, whether you think they're valid or not.

SPEAKER_02 41:38

I mean, look, Miles is in the locker room, he knows. So if he says guys were well, first of all, Doc Rivers admitted in April, Mike and Chris, that he guys were late to things and he did not hold them accountable. So Doc owned that. He said that. Miles, it's interesting he would pick one teammate when he clearly was talking about others or a group. So that's interesting as well. Um why he would pick Giannis, good question. Uh, it is a podcast, Mike. He is looking for aggregation and and some attack. I that's an interesting Miles will have to answer that. Um, so but all I could say is to the to the listeners, Doc admitted he didn't really seem to care or mind if guys were late or not, or showing up or not. So uh that was on the head coach and clearly speaks to what was going on in Milwaukee this year.

SPEAKER_03 42:36

Yeah, absolutely. Hey, Jim, we'll do it again. I appreciate it. Uh and and thanks for fighting through my problems and some of your stuff too. But uh, thanks for doing it. And uh we'll catch up next time, make it cleaner, and we'll be all good.

SPEAKER_02 42:49

I will guarantee that, Mike, next time.

SPEAKER_03 42:52

Thank you, Jimmy. Have a great weekend. Get on the golf course. Are you?

SPEAKER_02 42:56

You too. Uh not yet. We will not do it.

SPEAKER_03 42:59

All right. Sounds good. Jim Osarski, Milwaukee Journal, Sentinel JS Online joining us on the program. Uh, fantastic. I appreciate him doing that. I don't want to wait here. Look at that man. Uh I just I just brought him right in.

SPEAKER_01 43:12

I didn't no preface, nothing. Just cold, dude. Love it.

SPEAKER_03 43:18

Hey, the the beard is trimmed up. It's not nearly as uh as, you know, I mean, it was out there, right?

SPEAKER_01 43:28

Yeah, uh, now that the weather's getting a little warmer, it gets it gets a little sweaty under there. Yeah. Yeah. We're talking about the hair also. I might just uh go full buzz cut.

SPEAKER_03 43:41

Do you do you mind? I I I my guess is you don't, but I didn't ask you in advance. Do you mind if I pour a weller today and we can we can talk about the you know, not specifically, but it is outside of the the Jay Henry and Sons um line, the the brand. This is one of my favorites. And And I don't really know why. I do know and have learned that I like weeded bourbons.

SPEAKER_01 44:06

Um let me show you something too, Mike.

SPEAKER_03 44:08

Yeah, okay, good. I like this. Joe when Joe's gonna show me something and he's gotta get up. That means he's gonna show me a bottle of something that I should come taste, or he's I'm gonna make arrangements to taste, however, that works.

SPEAKER_01 44:21

No, we shouldn't do this, but um this is the big one. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. That amazing got this in uh in southern Illinois. Uh, I don't think they make these 175s anymore, well or 12.

SPEAKER_03 44:38

Okay, that is fantastic. So when I'm tasting a weeded bourbon, for those who aren't uh big into the world of brown, and and I I know just enough to make myself dangerous on this front. So when I'm tasting a weeded bourbon, what what does that mean? What am I drinking here?

SPEAKER_01 44:56

So the the mash bill of any whiskey is really gonna be kind of the the foundation of the flavor that you're gonna be tasting. So I always relate to when I'm discussing flavor profiles and palettes, think about the different kind of bread that you would be making using these different grains that are common in the bourbon industry specifically. So bourbon in general is has to be 51 or more percent corn. Now think about cornbread, it's very sweet, it's very dense, it's very heavy, there's a lot of sugar in corn. Um, that's gonna be your backbone for all bourbons. So now you compare that to wheat bread, which is a little bit lighter, a little bit sweeter. Um, maybe even like some florality or fruitiness to some like really good wheat breads or like a sourdough or something like that. Uh now you think about rye and rye bread, like a very dark, heavy, spicy, uh peppery pumpernickel rye, you know? So those are like the three most common flavoring grains when you're talking about bourbon specifically. So a wheated bourbon is gonna have you know the backbone sweet sweetness from the corn, a little bit of that lighter, sweeter, kind of honeier, smoother characteristic from the wheat, and then probably a little bit of malted barley in there just to help with the uh enzymatic processing of starches into sugars for your yeast. Normally you don't really taste some of that malted barley, but sometimes you'll find a little bit in there.

SPEAKER_03 46:39

Um, okay, so uh uh get some questions here as they're coming in as well. So Mike asked, um, he said, have Joe explain their new gravedigger release. Yeah, so let's jump into what's going on. What what do we know here? What can you share?

SPEAKER_01 46:56

Yeah, I don't even now I'm looking around my office to see if I got a usually I got bottles of everything sitting in here, man.

SPEAKER_03 47:03

Somebody asked me about that last week, and uh and I was not that familiar. So, what can you tell us about Gravedigger? What are we talking about?

SPEAKER_01 47:12

Yeah, so Gravedigger is uh we we were sponsoring some events last year at uh the draft, the NFL draft in uh Green Bay. Um, pretty wild party for those of you that were able to make it. A lot of good music and uh good good people all the time. We were fortunate to meet Gilbert Brown.

SPEAKER_03 47:34

He came by yeah, he's he's awesome. I love Gilbert. Gilbert wants to beat me up, but he doesn't beat me up, man.

SPEAKER_01 47:44

We should get, I'm sure he would come on the show if you want to uh oh hell yeah. Um so we met him, we were hanging out at the draft, we were drinking a bunch of whiskey, obviously, and you know, these those guys the competitive edge never ends for people of that caliber, yeah. Right, and he was telling me about uh Leroy's vodka. I think he was talking about Charles Woodson's wine and his whiskey. Yeah, um, and he's like, Joe, I want to beat these guys. I got you guys, you got better product than both of them, and I want to beat them so bad. Like, let's start making whiskey. I was like, I had no idea what to expect because you know, I don't I don't have to look up to most people. Um I was like, Yes, sir, whatever you say. Uh I just don't want to get crushed. Uh he's still a pretty big dude. Oh, yeah, yeah. So we start talking, we're hanging out. He he's like the the nicest guy ever, and he does so much for charity. He he's so involved in the community still. Um, which you know, a lot of these retired players like they don't need to do any of that stuff, right? But he's just such a a stand-up person, always been that way, always, yeah. And he gives back to the community. I'm actually doing a charity golf outing with him next week. Oh, is that right? Yeah, in the Dells, yeah, good for Telurian. It's uh it's a mental health right.

SPEAKER_03 49:18

Yeah, been there many times.

SPEAKER_01 49:20

Yeah, so we we started talking, and we were like, okay, we don't really know how well this is gonna work. Gilbert's like, I'm gonna make it work, man. I'm gonna hustle. So we make this first batch for him, um, and it sells out immediately. And we're like, okay, maybe we're on to something here. Uh, so we we launched it again this year, um, this summer, because we wanted it to be uh throughout the state for like camping season. He's involved with a lot of campgrounds throughout uh Wisconsin. Um, all the charities that he's doing, he's he's selling bottles, he's donating product to raise money for. I mean, the guy's involved with like 300 different plus. He's really good.

SPEAKER_03 50:03

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 50:04

Yeah, and and that was like why, you know, we we were maybe hesitant to partner with anybody to begin with, but when you start to get to know the guy as a person and you're like, man, he gives back so much and he's helping the community. Um, so we launched this Gravegigger essentially to kind of help with some of his charities, and it's been a really, really fun time, honestly, to get to know him and hang out with him and make really cool whiskey with him. Um, he's coming out sometime this summer. We're gonna do an event. We don't have a date yet. I'm picking that with him um next week when we're out golfing together. So I'll I'll come on and probably promote that whenever we want to. Maybe you could come to that and do the show from that day or something.

SPEAKER_03 50:51

I would love to. That would be fantastic. I've known Gilbert uh for a very long time. We've done radio together. Um, yeah, he is uh he is fantastic. And uh and if I can do something where Gilbert is involved and you guys are involved, um call me in. So so yeah, yeah, let's do it. By the way, when you're golfing with him next week, he's not golfing. He no he's he's drinking on the side of the course. Yeah, he'll be there, but I've never he's not gonna take a golf swing. Like that ain't happening. He's there for no food and the drink and the people. He is in good times, man.

SPEAKER_01 51:29

He he he has such a uh cool aura about him, yeah. He does, um, which is why I think him and I really get along, and I and I joke about this with him and my brother all the time because when we were first starting off, he he wanted to like get this thing rolling like right off the ground, super fast. Yeah, like Gilbert, there's like there's a lot of like like this stuff takes five years to make, and like I can't just get a product out in like three weeks. Like we gotta design this label, we gotta design. So uh I joke with him and my brother. Like, when I was growing up watching the gravedigger on TV, I I never thought I would be playing in the NFL, and I never thought that I would be getting chased down by the gravigger trying to like sack me for a bottle of bourbon.

SPEAKER_03 52:22

That is fantastic. It's it's funny the the twists and turns that our life takes, and we've we've found that there are so many athletes that have gone into the spirits world. You know, I've done uh wine tasting with Drew Bledsoe, who has a double back wine, uh his home, Walla Walla, Washington. Uh he's got a great winery. Charles Woodson, uh, Greg Vaughn, a former brewer, uh, was my fantasy uh brewer's fantasy camp coach. He's got uh TV 23 wines. There are a lot of uh athletes that have gone. We talk about Leap 36, the vodka from LaRoy. Uh so there are a lot of athletes that have gone into the spirits industry. You've lived it, right? I mean, through your family. Um, they know, I think a lot of the smart ones know that they've got to align with somebody who is already good at it. And and in this case, it would seem that well, if you guys continue to move forward, then uh Gilbert's in a lucky spot because uh you guys do such fantastic work that that he would he would be good. But yeah, it takes a little while. This doesn't come out next week. You gotta he's gotta barrel age a little bit. There are rules.

SPEAKER_01 53:31

Yeah, thank you for saying that, man. And it's just been nothing but but fun times working with him and you know getting to know. He's got such a cool personality. Um, and and yeah, he just he loves ribbing me, and I I love it. It's kind of hilarious.

SPEAKER_03 53:47

How did uh how did the Bellefontaine uh Derby release go? We we had some other things going on, so couldn't be there. Would love to have been there.

SPEAKER_01 53:55

Uh and yeah, plan to be there, but how'd that go? Derby party's always a blast. Um, Bellefontaine, as you know, I mean you said that's your favorite, that's my dad's favorite. Um, it's always a great party. Um, funny clothes. There's some pictures on our Instagram. I that was right when I shaved all this beard off, right? So I did so I always do some kind of ridiculous facial hair to go with my like uh lilac seersucker suit that my fiance gives me. Um and we've got we've got a couple more cool events coming up. We have a uh craftsman in cocktails, which is kind of like a maker's market, um, coming up here uh in the middle of June. Okay. Um that's fun because it's got different producers, like a glass blower, woodworker, oh cool, arching crafts, kind of like a mini farmer's market almost. Yeah, um, that's coming up on June 20th, and then something else that I think you'll really love. Um, have you tried this one before? Our our ambrosia. I have not. So this is finished. Uh, this is we take five-year-old bourbon barrels, um, fill those barrels with uh organic honey from about 20 minutes from us. There's a beekeeper really close by. So if you've ever seen like that much honey in one place, it's kind of crazy.

SPEAKER_00 55:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 55:31

Um, so he he barrel ages the honey in our used whiskey barrels, sells the honey as barrel-aged honey, and then we dump the honey out, we'll hopefully sell it. We actually couldn't sell the honey last year because the alcohol content was too high. Okay, so we uh we would have had to classify it as like mead. Yeah, um, we didn't have enough time to go through the TTB approval, so we ended up just giving it away. Um, but this year we're hoping to sell some of the honey. Um, we've got a band, we've got a food truck. That's on July 11th.

SPEAKER_03 56:04

Umy 11th noted. Is that a Saturday? Yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_01 56:08

That's a they're both Saturdays, June 20th and July 11th are kind of our next big thing.

SPEAKER_03 56:13

Yeah, I'm gonna make I'm gonna make a note to to promote that. We will be, and I'm gonna look for your advice here. We will be on the Bourbon Trail. So Red and White makes Bourbon Trail trip July 8th through the 12th. In fact, John, uh one of your guys, John, uh, that you brought in from Heaven Hill, he he helped us get in uh to Heaven Hill for that uh Friday afternoon in Bargetown.

SPEAKER_01 56:36

So we'll we'll be setting up the new uh well, we'll save you a bottle or two. Yeah, would you worry?

SPEAKER_03 56:44

Yeah, yeah. I'll come out and see you, make sure, man. We get that. Are you going to the new distillery down there? So we're going, we're gonna do some of the traditional. Now, I I like bourbon quite a bit, but I've not been on the trail at all. So we're gonna stay.

SPEAKER_00 56:59

Oh, this is your first time.

SPEAKER_03 57:00

Yeah, my first time. We're gonna stop at the Hard Truth on the way down in Nashville, Indiana. And then we're gonna go to on that Thursday, we'll go traditional. We'll go Buffalo Trace and Woodford morning and afternoon in Frankfurt, and then on Friday, we'll go to Preservation in Bardstown and then Heaven Hill. And on Saturday, we'll stay in Louisville, which is where we're staying, and we'll go to Micter's uh on Saturday. So we're we're doing six uh distilleries, hard truth, uh Buffalo Trace, Woodford, Preservation, Heaven Hill, and Micter's.

SPEAKER_01 57:32

So it's a full week, yeah. Man, where are you staying in Louisville?

SPEAKER_03 57:36

We're staying at the Borebone uh hotel. It's a small uh boutique hotel, not that small, but smaller. Uh it's a block off of Whiskey Row. So it's a it's a short walk, very one block, and then you're where everybody is.

SPEAKER_01 57:52

If you don't have dinner plans, the last time I went there, I stayed at a hotel called Distill. Okay. Um, I think it's pretty close, but I haven't been in like five years. Um, super cool hotel, but the steakhouse, I believe it's called Repeal. Um had an awesome bourbon selection, obviously. Um, wood-fired steaks, dry aged. I mean, if you're going with a big group, it's it's a top-notch establishment.

SPEAKER_03 58:26

Cool.

SPEAKER_01 58:26

Well, I went there with my dad like twice, and we usually never go to the same restaurant like two nights in a row, and we're like, we got to get that top five. So yeah, cool. So check that out. Let me know what you think.

SPEAKER_03 58:40

Done deal. All right, and then you and I can talk offline. I'd love to do something or be where you and Gilbert are to do that. You know, it'd be even, you know, selfishly speaking, it'd be great to have the two of you stop by, even if it was just for an hour at red and white. People come by and take some pictures and say hi and and taste. Uh, so we'll we'll work offline to set something like that up. I always, you know, I always look forward to the hard one to track down, man.

SPEAKER_01 59:07

I'm not telling him what to do. No, no, I'll tell him what to do. And it's yeah, you tell him what to do. I'm not I'm not getting in the middle of that.

SPEAKER_03 59:14

He's already trying to say, Mr. Hella, I'm gonna beat you up now. Meet me in the parking lot. I'm gonna beat you up. Yep, exactly. Hey, Gilbert, whatever you say, be nice to me. Uh, Joe, it's always uh my pleasure to be able to visit with you. Uh appreciate you taking time out. Uh, I hope we continue to do this. Uh, I love the company, I love your family, and appreciate uh your willingness to come on, talk a little bourbon with us and uh change up the topics a little bit and and uh jump into it. So thanks for doing it again and look forward to the next time very soon.

SPEAKER_01 59:49

Hell yeah.

SPEAKER_03 59:50

Thanks. Thanks, Joe. We'll see you. That is uh Joe Jr. from Jay Henry and Sons. So I was drinking Weller today, Weller 12, but I mean he got a bottle right in his office. So this outside of the the Jay Henry portfolio, and listen, I like a lot of different bourbons. But I have we've we've had a relationship with Liz and Joe Sr. And then gotten to know Joe Jr., played golf with them a couple of summers ago in an event. And the it industries are about relationships, businesses are about relationships. We have a very good relationship with the the Henry family and consider them to be good friends, and I love their bourbons. Uh I also love Weller 12. Like when I'm drinking at Red and White, I won't be there today, I don't think, but tomorrow we will. When I'm drinking a bourbon at red and white, there there are certain things that I like. I like weeded bourbons, I like blade and bow, uh, which is not a weeded bourbon, but it's one of my like comfortable go-to 90-proof comfort bourbon for me. But if I'm going uh if I'm gonna go Jay Henry, uh small batch is a little like I love it, but it's also uh I gotta be in the right place because it'll hit you a little bit harder. It's I should have Joe the next time we're on explain why I feel that. Uh, but the Bellefontaine resonates with me. It finishes in a cognac barrel. Um, their La Flamme finishes in an Armagnac barrel. I like both of those. They're my one and two on the Jay Henry uh bourbon tree. I don't love rye, so they've got a rye, and it's fantastic, but I'm not a rye guy. When he when Joe was explaining the sweet parallels of uh of a wheat bread as opposed to why rye bread, like for me, that's a hundred percent me. Give me something with a sweeter finish uh as opposed that's why I don't love rye. And I get a lot of guys who will say, hey, you you're we're gonna convert you onto the rye side. Maybe. Maybe, but I like weededs and I love all of the the Jay Henry product. What a great week this has been. So uh we we wrap up today. We had Jimmy Osarski on. Thanks for uh sticking through the technical difficulties there. Having Joe on is also always a joy for me uh because I love switching it up and and talking a little bit, and I don't know that much about it, so I learn something every time we visit. Uh, and I appreciate what Jay Henry and Sons does. So this is this is a really good week. Uh I I've enjoyed it. Now let me give you a little update, and then we'll we'll say goodbye for the week into the weekend. We got a web page that is now up, landing page that up went live yesterday. It's called I Love Mondayspodcast.com. So I love Mondayspodcast.com. That is now up and running. A lot of information there. Uh part two. Tomorrow night we'll uh we'll take a trip. Uh Kari and I, we're gonna head out. Our daughter Ellen gets married a week from Sunday on the 24th in uh in Arizona. So we're gonna be gone next week, but I am on. I'm doing this show from wherever we are. So from Scottsdale, probably from Glenwood Springs, Colorado on Monday. Knock on wood, hoping that works from the hotel room setup. And then on Tuesday from Scottsdale, the rest of the week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, uh, two-hour time gap. So I can do that uh Phoenix Scottsdale time at 8 a.m. and not disrupt our day because we'll have all family out there getting ready for a wedding. Uh and then courting will be on Tuesday. I'll be I think in Scottsdale at that point. Better be um and so we'll have a fun week next week, but it will be remote. Uh we have Brewers and Twins this weekend in Minneapolis. Brewers at Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday night from Chicago at Rights, 98 day day games in that. So a lot of great stuff going on. Uh we're long today, so we're gonna jump out of here. Thanks for being part of this program. We love and appreciate your support. Thank you to our sponsors on the program, one community bank, one community.bank, to m3 insurance, m3ins.com, neuroscience, neurosciencegroup.com. Go to Patawanoming Sports and Casino Bet above the rest. And our friends at Habish, Habish, and Road here, all part of what we do here at Red and White. Have a fantastic weekend. I'll talk to you on Monday from somewhere in western Colorado. Look forward to it. Have a fantastic weekend. Appreciate your support on this show as we uh continue to roll forward. Thanks for being part of it. We'll talk to you on Monday.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:12

I love Monday.