I Love Mondays with Mike Heller

I Love Mondays-Ep57, May 19, 2026

• Mike Heller

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A SuperFan Tuesday celebrating a G1 Brewers win in Chicago with Courtney Corning.

SPEAKER_05

I love Mondays.

SPEAKER_00

Podcasting Live from an undisclosed bunker in the Badger State. This is I Love Mondays with Mike Heller. Powered by determination and a little bit of duct tape. Here's your host, Mike Heller.

SPEAKER_04

Uh, this is a different location. Uh, second time in two days. I am now in Scottsdale, Arizona, where my daughter's gonna get married. Uh Ellen, our daughter gets married coming up on Sunday. So we uh we've taken her the road, a little bit about our road trip, and then uh keep in mind this is a super fan Tuesday. And even though uh uh Cap doesn't like it, we had uh David Kaplan on yesterday from ESPN Chicago, and he said it was one of the dumbest things he's seen in a long time when the Brewers took a picture with the L flag in Milwaukee last year after they eliminated the Chicago Cubs. The L flew again last night. And I love that concept. A year ago, these two teams, Milwaukee and Chicago, last year during the regular season and the postseason, played each other 18 times and they each won nine. The Cubs won the regular season series seven to six, the Brewers won the postseason series three to two. And now over the last 19 games, the Brewers have won 10 times and the Cubs have nine. It is remarkably even this this series. And there's juice in it. You know, when when the when Wrigley is in kind of full throat of Green Bay Sucks, and while they're chanting it, Jake Bowers hits a three-run homer. That's kind of epic. That's pretty cool. That's a moment uh to kind of live in. So uh let me give you some updates here as we go through our uh super fan Tuesday. A good morning from James. Good morning, Mike. Stay cool. Yes, it's uh comfortably warm today in Phoenix, I believe 90. Uh the rest of the week is about 99. Here this is uh I I had never heard this before. It's a dry heat. Um I think the point of it is is that 99 in Phoenix or Scottsdale feels like 88. I don't even think it feels as uncomfortable as 88 and humid in Madison. So 99's not a bad deal. It doesn't bother me. So I'm looking forward to that. But thanks, James, for the wishes. Also, Mike in Merrill, good morning. Another rainy day in the Northwoods. Sorry about that. Um I am. I am sorry about that. Uh dances leverings call on both home runs last night was incredible. Goosebumps. You know, they they they're gonna play uh another 117 games, whatever that number is, right now for the Brewers. Uh they're sitting in a really good spot. Milwaukee is out of the gate. They were not great. Keep in mind the Cubs were 7-9 and then won 20 of 23. Now they've lost seven of their last nine, and last night's Brewers win at Wrigley snapped a 15-game home winning streak for the Cubs. The Brewers were 13 and 13, and they have won 14 of their last 19. And I'm gonna do this every day while we go through this stretch. The Brewers began a stretch uh a short while ago in which they were gonna take on the Yankees for three, the Padres for three at Minnesota, at Chicago against the Cubs, then they get the Dodgers later this week back in Milwaukee, and then St. Louis in that 18-game run. Those are some of the great teams records-wise in Major League Baseball. The Brewers are so far in that 18-game run, they are so far 8-2. 3-0 against the Yankees, 2-1 against the Padres, 2-1 against the Twins, and 1-0 so far against the Cubs, and they did it against the Cubs best last night in Showta Imanaga. So I like obviously we like what they've done, and I like how they've done it. Now, even though they lost on Sunday in Minnesota, they hit two home runs. Last night they hit two more. So this is not a home run hitting team. They were last in the league when the week began. Uh, they got four in the last two games, and yesterday they were the difference makers. Yelitsch set the tone, and Bowers had a hell of a night. And uh, I think that Vasalo just put out in the game note tweet for today. Um, in the game note tweet for today, he put out also that uh something where Bowers is in his last eight or nine games. Let me see if I can find that quick, but it is uh it is an impressive run that he's he's in right now. And when guys start to see the ball really well, and right now Jake Bowers is in one of those runs, uh, it makes it hard to pitch to. And he's in lefty versus lefty lineups. So uh you're gonna keep him in a lineup. You have to be creative. Yesterday you began in left field, finished at first base. You have to be a little creative in how you go about the process because of Yelich being back, and Yelich's bat needs to be in there, but he can't be in the field as it were. So all these things are really good. And then uh, you know, I bring up the the Cap yesterday saying, and and that's this isn't a shot of Cap, because I loved having him on, and I love his his passion and his opinions as it relates to his team. We probably in Milwaukee or Green Bay would have the same reaction if the Cubs or Bears did something that that might fly near the edge. I loved it. It didn't bother me because I wasn't on the losing side of it. And I would say this if the cub if the Brewers would have had their own fly the W flag, Cubs fans and broadcasters and opinion makers, they would have said, get your own thing. Why don't you be creative enough to do your own? Well, I think the fly the L is actually pretty creative. I don't know who else is doing it. So I like that. Um you like that. Yeah, I I do. I like that. And and I wonder how it uh kind of leans into uh what the Cubs don't like. Let me tell you about uh a little bit about our trip, then I'll get to sponsors and bring in Superfan Tuesday, Courtney Corning. Um so we we drove after we finished at Red and White Wine and Bourbon Bar, of which I had neither on Saturday night, which is hard to be there for a full night and not imbibe a little bit, especially when people you really like show up and have a bourbon or a couple of glasses of wine. But I didn't because we left immediately when we closed. We pulled off of uh right out of where we were parked next to Red and White and drove west for 16 hours to get to Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Stayed at Hotel Colorado on Sunday night and went to Iron Mountain Hot Springs, which are it's a 10-minute walk, a three-minute drive from that hotel. And it's it was fantastic. Yesterday, the we then drove in some early snow. We drove from Glenwood Springs through Moab, Utah. And it just so happened that my daughter and son-in-law were camping in Moab over the weekend. They were gonna leave to head back to Salt Lake uh Sunday afternoon, but got a flat tire. And it's hard to repair tires on Sundays or get new tires. So they were waiting around at a repair shop and just kind of killing the day. And so we decided to pull in and stopped in and had a lunch and a visit with them kind of impromptu uh in Moab and then arrived here in Scottsdale last night around 8:30 local time, so about 10:30 uh back at home. And uh in the back half of that drive after we got through the the you know, the no-sell signal when you're driving through southern Utah, northern Arizona, as it were, in the Navajo Nation on the you know, going through the reservation essentially, uh just no signal at all. I mean, nothing. Uh so once we got a little north of Flagstaff, I saw in real time the last four ratings of Brewers Cubs, and then when I got uh here where we're staying at good friends of ours who have been nice enough to allow us to stay in their place for a couple of nights before we have a wedding Airbnb home rented for the back half of the week. Uh but then I watched the the recap. The MLB app, if you if you if you don't have it, if you've got it, it's it is a godsend in moments like that. So last night and then I got back here and watched the game recap each of the runs scored and the key plays in the game about a 10 or 12 minute uh deal, and and that is fantastic. And the Brewers find themselves in a position that is enviable considering where they were not so long ago uh to look at the standings and see the Cubs uh with actually one more loss than the Brewers. They are 29 and 19 and the Brewers are 27 and 18. They played three fewer games. The Brewers are a half game out in the traditional standings, but they're a game up in the loss column. Uh Milwaukee's now won eight of ten. They're plus 67 in the run differential. The Cubs are plus 36. The Cardinals are uh still running with pace, 27-19, a game and a half back of the Cubs, uh, one game back of the Brewers, and then Pittsburgh has lost three in a row. The Reds have lost three in a row. The Reds are now 24 and 24, five games out. Pittsburgh didn't play. They're 24 and 23. Game two of this set between the Brews and the Cubs is tonight Miz on the mound. He's gone 18 and a third consecutive without giving up a run. He'll take on Ben Brown, who has been in his two starts, has been brilliant for the Cubs. So uh we get into that world here. Let me tell you about our sponsors as we uh get ready to bring uh Courtney into the mix. Our friends at One Community Bank, you can stop by. Their clients are uh their number one priority. They've got an event. I want to tell you about this uh quickly. Let me find it here. Um so if you're thinking about buying your first home, join One Community Bank for their virtual first-time homebuyer seminar to gain insight into home buying and that process. It is tomorrow night, May 20th at 6.30. Their team of experts will guide you through each step in purchasing a home and will be available to answer any questions you may have. Visit onecommunity.bank to learn more and to RSVP. We are also presented by M3, your independent and privately held insurance broker and risk management firm. They leverage world-class resources and a specialized team to protect and grow your business. Visit M3INS.com. We are also presented by the Neuroscience Group after a car accident, workplace injury, or sports concussion. Getting the right care matters. Their comprehensive concussion program brings together specialists focused on helping you heal and get back to what you love. Neuroscience Group, Wisconsin's leader in concussion care, neuroscience group.com. I'm going to get into Pottawatomy Sportsbook and Casino here in a moment. Uh, you can have a barrel of fun with their with your share of 350 grand with their Tic Tac home run game. Play with your Pottawatomy rewards card now through the May 28th, through May 28th. 40 winners every Thursday night. And we're also presented by Habish, Habish, and Rotier. All of your injury updates are brought to you by Habish, Habish, and Rotier. 13 locations to ensure a hometown attorney understands your life and the impacts of your injury on your life, personally committed to your recovery. A big thank you to all of our sponsors who are part of what we do. Let me bring in my guy, uh Courtney Corning, add him to the mix here. CC, it's been a little bit. How are you, man? I'm good, man. How are you? I'm doing really good. Uh last night helps. Listen, I love I love what we get. And did you see that right out of the gate? I give you a listen. I I love out of the gate that we get the nightly drama of Major League Baseball. That's I think the thing I love about it the most. We don't talk for six days and then watch the game and then talk for six days and then watch another game. In baseball, it's fresh every night. And the Brewers uh had a really good opener at Wrigley.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. So I have to tell you, by the way, just for people watching, you and I did not coordinate wearing Badger Connect here.

SPEAKER_04

Oh, so yeah, good point. I I'm actually the reason I purposely, purposefully went here is that I'm doing a Badger Connect podcast with Pat Lambert, the Badger's director of recruiting. He's uh at noon today. I'm gonna record that segment with him. And so I I fly the flag when I when I'm doing this.

SPEAKER_03

And I I'm gonna answer your baseball question. I I want to say one thing about Badger Connect stuff. I want to talk a quick like sidebar story. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Do it.

SPEAKER_03

So um I I got some Badger Connect gear uh when I joined like a year ago, I got the t-shirt, but then uh I was able to go on and ordered a hat out some other stuff because I actually really like the logo. And it dawned on me uh that I think uh they should uh and I I don't know if they do or they don't like, but I think they should only let people who are Badger Connect members uh order Badger Connect gear. So I'm saying like just because I think it adds like to this whole idea of like you're supporting Wisconsin and you're you're doing a little more. You know, it's funny, my um my cousin works at Sand Valley. Uh he got me out last year to play Lido, and I learned that at Lido, if the gear you buy says Lido, that's for the public only. If it's the logo without the word Lido, that's for members. Right. So I was thinking the other day, it's like it'd be kind of fun if Badger Connect stuff was just for Badger Connect people, is just another way when you're out showing your badger pride to say, hey, you know what, like uh I support this and I love it. So just my two cents, and that's why I threw it on today. I thought it'd be yeah.

SPEAKER_04

All right, so let me let me interject. Is Lido now an annual for you? Like that you got another one set up this summer? Will that be a yearly?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

Have you played? Have not. I've not been to Sand Valley, period. Okay, well, I was supposed to go with you last year with a group, and then um it it it just threw a myriad of different things, radio related, but I don't work in radio anymore. Uh it didn't end up coming to fruition.

SPEAKER_03

We're gonna change that because Leto's uh worth it. So, anyhow, that that's just my story on how I got to this idea of badger tank. But to your baseball thing, you know this. Like, I'm a I'm a football addict, and for most of my life, frankly, I've always been kind of a baseball third or fourth guy. As I'm getting older, uh my appreciation for baseball is growing. I I don't necessarily know why that is, but what you just said really resonated with me. Like, I do like two things, and you'll probably make fun of me for one of them. One, exactly what you said. I love that there's a game almost every night. Because I am such an addict, like the worst part for me, like like NFL bye week is like the longest, like 14 days. Oh no kids, and followed only uh slightly behind by Thursday night games, which means I've got to wait like 10 days, you know.

SPEAKER_04

So this year the the Packers did you no favors, the NFL did you no favors.

SPEAKER_03

No, they did not. So, like, and that's the funny thing when you have a team like the Packers, you play a lot of Sundays and Thursdays and Monday nights, and it's cool that your team gets all this exposure, right? But you don't really get that fix. So I agree 100%. I love the fix. The other thing I love about baseball, and and this may you a real baseball guy like you may you may really make fun of me for this, is um I only have to be like 60% invested during the game.

SPEAKER_04

That's true. It can be passive watching. Yeah, you know, you you you can be doing other things, you can multitask. I don't like I I I like to lock in, lock in.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04

You know, last night I I I enjoyed the whole process um mostly, but you know, I had a 90-minute dead window that I had to catch up when we when we finished, when we got out of um the dead zone of that desert in uh southern Utah, northern Arizona. I couldn't see anything.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, you know, it's funny. And so I and you know, the passive watching, I I agree. Like, the times I will really lock in. Obviously, we're all spoiled now because we can rewind everything, right? So, like if I miss something, I can just go back and watch it. I don't I don't miss anything. I am learning. You got really blurry by the way with your camera.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, I I see that, and I'm not really sure why. And it's getting darker, which makes me a little nervous that this that I might be going away somehow here.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, this is like a this is like a bad side pipe movie. Can you still hear me cleanly? Hear you clear as day, and really we don't need to see you. You're the second best looking guy on the podcast.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, good point. Solid, solid point.

SPEAKER_03

Thank you. But um, I I'm learning actually one of my favorite pastimes is um golfing while I have the brewer game on the radio. Now I played with my cousin the other day who's much oh, you're back, who much like you is uh yeah, a baseball addict, and we were all golfing and he can't have the game on. He's so invested in listening for the next pitch, the next thing, he can't focus on playing golf lots in the background. So, because he's so invested in it, you know what I mean? Right. Um, whereas for me it's great because it's just that background noise that keeps me off of wondering uh you know why I chunked that last shot. So, anyhow, yeah. Um I love it. And I know this is oh, your picture looks great. I know this is not an ad for the MLB app, but I will tell you um all of the things you get now with baseball watching Brewers games through the MLB app. No offense to the lovely folks at Valleys, but compared to what we were getting for the last couple years, it is light years ahead. I mean, the ability to listen to the game no matter where I am, watch it no matter where I am. I I just learned last night watching the game on my TV, you can watch this gameplay thing, and it gives you all these analytics while you know in a screen around the live game, you can see pitches and break angles and all sorts of crazy stuff. So I'm with you. Like it's uh it really is a great experience, and and of course, also allows us to do it from everywhere. So uh uh it's a fantastic uh piece of technology. So, anyhow, yeah, I digress. All right, you're back.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, I don't, I don't honestly, like that's can what what has just happened here on camera is a little confusing to me. And uh as anybody who's watched this on a regular basis knows, uh I'm not tech savvy, so I don't know what happened, and I don't know why it came back to being clean again, uh, but it did. By the way, uh a little note, uh Zach says nice location, Mike. Yeah, he might have some some knowledge of where I am um in Scottsdale for the next few days, and I appreciate his family's willingness to share. Uh great friends of ours, and and I appreciate that part of it. Uh Mike says the Badgers club team had a hell of a run, uh, lost in the playoffs over the weekend. Uh, you know, that just just a quick aside on that. Uh and and then Dan has three uh good food recommendations. Dan is uh now listen, we're we're big fans of Dan uh as we have a business relationship uh with one community bank and and uh appreciate it. Dan says three food recommendations Breakfast Club, uh Buck and Rider, haven't been and AZ88, haven't been to any of those three yet. We're gonna go to Isabella's kitchen on Thursday. That's the only specific plan we have. And then the wedding is at the Henry and uh a couple of uh strong pours last night of the Central Standard L-Flag bourbon last night for Mike in Merrill.

SPEAKER_03

Um I did eat at A Z 88 when I was out there in February. Good food. Um, I will tell you, I don't know how much free time you have with having a wedding, but um the living room in uh Scottsdale area is great for sitting outside and chilling. And uh, you know, if you want to drive into Phoenix, uh the what is believed by many to be the best pizza restaurant uh in America is in downtown Phoenix, Arizona.

SPEAKER_02

Is that right?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, a place called uh Pizzeria Bianco. Uh Pizzeria Bianco, Chris Bianco's chef there. My my my brother has a restaurant here, modeled some of his stuff after that, and and That place blew up probably 15 or so years ago now when Oprah named it the best pizza in America. Chris's kind of uh widely regarded as having started the um kind of the fire uh roasted uh pizza movement in the United States. So I mean it's right downtown. It is like two blocks from where uh the Suns play.

SPEAKER_04

Let me let me jump into a little bit of of this Brewers Cubs, like a bigger picture stuff. Last night was great.

SPEAKER_03

It's not a food show, so we should talk baseball.

SPEAKER_04

No, no, no. Well, I I love talking food. I I love going, but but I I think I don't know. We're kind of exhausted. We're we're good. We're we're good jumping back in here. So one of the one of the great things, and if you're on the other side of this, it's not great. Uh the Cubs have a World Series in 2016. The Brewers haven't been in one since 1982. And the city of Milwaukee has won a World Series with the Braves in the 1950s, but we're talking about 70 years ago, right? So that that's a long F in time. The Brewers haven't been to one since '82. That's the year I graduated high school. So uh it it I was on the campus of UW Oshkosh as an incoming freshman in South Scott Hall when the Brew were playing a best of five AL championship series. I have to remind the young crowd every now and then, Courtney, of how the playoffs worked. The Brewers won the AL East, then beat the California Angels in a best of five. First two in Anaheim and the next three in Milwaukee. The Brewers lost the first two, won three in a row in Milwaukee, and that sent them to the World Series. They won three games and went to the World Series. Three postseason games went to the World Series and got beat by the Cardinals in seven after leading the series three games to two. It is way different, obviously, now because everybody's playoffs have expanded. And if you're gonna get there now and you, you know, the Brewers had the bye to open last year, but if you're gonna get there now without the bye, you gotta win three, you gotta win three times to get there. You gotta win your wild card series, you gotta win the divisional round, you gotta win the championship series to get there, right? So you gotta win five, you gotta win nine games to get to the World Series.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

But what I love about who the Brewers are, despite that the Cubs have, in spite, however that phrase is out, that the Cubs have a World Series in their uh trophy case, is that the Brewers continue to do more and do it with less than just about anybody in baseball. Now that is something to hang your hat on in a good way. However, at one of these times it's gotta pay. You gotta go to the pay window when it's all said and done and cash in. So I love who they are because I think they're incredibly well run. And and Courtney, we've been very lucky that the Packers have been incredibly well run in a window that the Brewers have also been incredibly well run. And I would say this, even though Wisconsin is is faltering right now in football, I think they're coming back in it. Um, but those two franchises, Packers and Brewers, have given the state of Wisconsin a ton of great stories and heartbreak over the last for the Packers, it's much longer, but for the Brewers, the last 10 to 15 years, without question.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and I'll say like a couple of things. I I think you're you're spot on. I think I think this state really loves it too. Look, Wisconsin, you know, we don't have a I mean, we have Milwaukee, but let's just be honest. Milwaukee is not a major metro. You did. Well, I kind of love it. Oh, oh uh but you know, we don't we don't have a major metro, we don't have a Chicago right, we don't have right. I mean, Milwaukee's not really, I mean, a major metro. We don't really have it, and so I think the other thing you get in Wisconsin, it goes a little bit without saying, but like the Brewers and the Packers in particular are really kind of how Wisconsinites see themselves, right or wrong, right? I mean, very uh very blue-collar, uh, you know, kind of do less with more kind of the David and Goliath situation, right? That that's I think, and so it really resonates with this state. Um, I will say that I also think that's why it really chaps, besides just the natural geographical rivalry, I think that's really why it chaps the ass of all the Chicago sports campuses. Like I've got a really good buddy, I was down at St. Louis Couple Weeks playing golf with my buddy Ben. Ben actually was in the Cubs organization out of college for a few years and is a diehard Cubs fan. And um, you know, we get into this debate all the time, essentially, about you know uh what the brewers and the packers are able to do. And I think I think one of the things that really bothers them is they really feel like they should, right? They have the they should have the natural upper hand. The fact that the reality is the fact that the brewers and cubs are even competitive in a lot of ways is not baseball structured, is is kind of ludicrous.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And so, like when you hear them say, well, them taking the picture with that flag is you know, sour grapes, it's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, all that, you know, you hear those kind of things hit there and you go, Well, is it really, or are you just really bent? Like, are you just really bent because little brother beat up big brother again? Because let's just be honest, financially, we're little brother, yes, yeah. When it comes to your point also nine and nine last year, on the field, they're not little brother, right? I think it drives them crazy.

SPEAKER_04

And and and I I I have this, and I will always have this. I I like Craig Council, yeah, that move he made was traitorous, and I get it. It's it's his professional career. If if 20 years ago I'd have left, if I were doing sports talk in Madison and had left to take a sports talk job in Chicago, where I'm talking to Bears and Cubs and Bulls and Blackhawks and White Sox and once in a blue moon northwestern football, that would have felt like God, I just went to the other side. But when council did it, he did it to all of us. And I and I don't begrudge him the move. I'm just talking about the emotional wave that that gave us in this state. Had Mike Holmgren left Green Bay after winning the Super Bowl, getting the playoffs for two more years, losing the Super Bowl, and then another year in the playoffs, and that game against San Francisco, and had he left and gone to take the head coaching job with the Chicago Bears, he would have been hated forever in Green Bay. I don't know if that comes back, because there I think it's even a greater passion. Craig Counsel is going to be at at some point, because of his entire career, will be celebrated to a certain extent, but that will always be muted because of that decision. And from a Brewers fan perspective, even though I like Craig Counsel, sat in his office so many times during spring training and enjoyed the conversations and the back and forth. I I will never not view that as a huge slap in the face to a fan base that treated him and he gave it everything back. It's not like he shortchanged us, but we treated he was our son. Yeah, that was our son. And he left. And and I will always feel traded on, cheated on by that move. Always. And I maybe that maybe that says something about me. I don't know.

SPEAKER_03

Well, I don't I don't think you're wrong. I mean, I think all the things you said are true. I mean, I think it's I mean, I have some other thoughts on it. I'll say like to your point, if Homer would have done that, I think I never I don't think well it well bothered a lot of Packers fans. I think the fact that Favre went to New York in between New York and Minneapolis, and let's just be honest, I say this all the time for the Farb haters out there. Well, he didn't choose to leave. It's kind of like Rogers, they didn't choose to leave. Yep, Craig chose to leave, which obviously leaves you with a completely different feeling, right? Rogers and Favre have always been easy for me because of the circumstances around their departure. It was it was just time, right?

SPEAKER_04

We agree wholeheartedly on that front. Some people will never understand it, and I don't know why, but yes, we agree.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and Brett Favre, what he should have to retire because correct the Packers want to move on. Aaron Rodgers should have to go, oh, I guess the Packers want to, so I don't get into all that. I'll say this about counsel two two things. One, not to defend him, but I've often thought it's probably easier for him than we think it is, because as if you grow up as it shouldn't even say grow up, but if you live a good part of your life as a professional athlete, the reality is you have to be somewhat flexible in your allegiances in the way professional sports works, right? The reality is part of your life is I have to, hey, I might be from Wisconsin and I might love the brewers, but if I was playing with the brewers and I got a free agent deal to go play with the angels and make a pile of money, that's just that's the business. So while you'd like to think that now he's a coach, maybe not, but I so I think it is easier on them because that's just part of their life, is that the allegiance is to whoever you're with today, okay? So so so I I get it from Craig's standpoint to your point. It doesn't make me any less like butthurt about it, but I get it. Conversely, I will say, and and people say when I say this now, my my buddy who's the coachman says I say this all the time. Um as much as we all loved Craig, based on how it's gone since he left and Stern left, is there a chance he's not the brains of the operation that we all thought he was?

SPEAKER_04

No, I think uh as it turns out, it looks like he did us a favor. Because I think Pat Murphy is in the handful, two or three of the best managers of players, of people that I've seen take care of his craft. I mean, he is I I I say this about great coaches all the time, uh, and I think he is that. I say this about great coaches all the time, Courtney. Is that Barry Alvarez would have been a hell of a baseball coach. Bo Ryan would have been a hell of a football coach.

unknown

Yep.

SPEAKER_04

Uh I I think Kelly Sheffield could coach anything and win. I played for a guy at UW Oshkosh in Russ Tiedeman, who wanted the the he wanted the basketball job when he applied at UW Oshkosh. And it wasn't, he didn't get it. And they offered him the baseball job. Now he uh he was a great baseball player too, but he wanted the he was a basketball guy. He wanted that job. He would have won if they'd have made him the tennis coach.

SPEAKER_02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04

He it just great coaches, and I think Pat Murphy is that. They're gonna win regardless of everything. And I think it took Murph a long time to grow into this role where he can combine uh uh a pretty non-negotiable attitude about some things and yet relate to players at a level that I think very few do. And I think his demons fought him early. I but I don't know enough about him to opine too deeply, but I think he had other issues, and I think he sometimes didn't control some of those. But right now, what what he has brought to the table, and I don't even know his exact age, what he has brought to the table as the Brewer's manager exceeds what Craig Counsel brought to the table as the Brewer's manager. So in that regard, color us a little lucky that that that has happened.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, and and I'm with you. Like, you know, it's funny you say about you know great coaches. I used to say, you know, every couple years, right, when Bo Ryan was the coach, you know, the the media would come out and and they'd pick Wisconsin to finish, you know, yep, fifth or sixth, their seventh, the big ten. And I just laugh. It's like, and I and I used to and I say to people all the time when they're like, Well, how are you so sure? And I used to say, Well, because if Bo's got to lace up a pair of sneakers himself, yeah, and walk out there and shoot the free throws, they're gonna they're they're gonna win. That's how those guys are wired.

SPEAKER_04

How many straight years did they finish top four in the Big Ten? And out of those, how many were they picked to finish below fifth, fifth or below? And the same thing on the Brewers. The Brewers, they're overunder win total. On all betting fronts, now that's a little different. But the experts, the the people that that opine about these things, this was an 82-win team this year. I don't know, maybe it still will be. I don't it doesn't look that way right now, but that's their view of it. And it's like, how many times do you have to be fooled before you look at it and say they're greater than the sum of their parts?

SPEAKER_03

Correct. Yeah, at your point, winners, you know, when it comes to coaches, I truly do believe they're guys winners win. I mean, let's let's be honest. I mean, you take another Wisconsin guy. Now, people can argue the overall sense, but look, Lance Lyopole leaving Whitewater and going to Kansas. Now Kansas isn't gonna win a national championship. But if you understand college football and you look at where Kansas was for the last 30 years, yeah, where they've now been the last five years, that is the product of guys who win. I mean, as much as I uh loathe what's happened at the University of Indiana, let's just be honest. Uh, what went on there with Signetti when he got there is he was just, you know, when he's I mean, people laugh when he said, I win, look it up.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Like that's how those guys are. They don't they don't think they're gonna win, they don't even expect they're gonna win. They demand winning. And if you're not gonna participate in winning, right? Well, move along. You're going dark again. So I I agree with all that. I often joke with my uh with my Chicago friends. I always say, you know, Brett Favre was the ultimate packer because he found a way to get to Minnesota and break their hearts in the playoffs, and then essentially, like, I like to create this story that that was all like a Brett Favre master plan to throw one more like dagger into the uh the Vikings. So I like to tell my Cus fans, I was like, Well, yeah, yeah, Craig didn't betray us. He took your money and went down there to keep breaking your guys' hearts, and then eventually he'll come back here and we'll all thank him. I always like to create this story that the council thing is actually all just some sort of deeply rooted Wisconsin subterfuge that he's willing to participate in.

SPEAKER_04

I feel like um I feel like I'm in the witness protection program and I'm doing an interview on Dateline or uh 2020 or 48 hours, and they're protecting my identity. We just need to alter my voice.

SPEAKER_03

I was just gonna say, do you have one of those cool voice changer boxes?

SPEAKER_04

I do. It's on it's on uh it's somewhere on my roadcaster audio here, but I don't want to mess with which one it is. Yeah, I get it. I mean, one of these, one of the one of these is is one of those, and I don't know which one it is, so I I won't be able to find it.

SPEAKER_03

I don't need to see it, but but but so so from that standpoint, like I I my Cubs fan buddies always think I'm playing sour grapes. I'm not so sure, and it's funny you say that about Murphy because honestly, I think a lot of people really follow baseball, Mike, and maybe you did, maybe you didn't, but had a lot of the same concerns when David Stearns left for the Mets. Sure, right? Like, oh, here we go, we lose council. Okay, we kind of weather that storm. Stearns leaves, but now are we gonna kind of lose the secret sauce behind the scenes? And I know you've talked about this a couple times in the last couple weeks, or frankly, maybe maybe JV was talking about it when you were in Europe, I don't remember. Um, but point being like you really start to wonder like how much of the credit do you have to give to Mark Ananasio and the culture that he has built, because the reality of it is when you talk about losing your GM and losing your baseball, your head coach, and some of those other things, the you know, I know some of the assistant coaches have been retained with Murph as well, but you know, Mark kind of becomes the constant, right?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And I'm not saying that he's made yeah, you're back. I'm not saying that Mark is making personnel decisions or anything crazy like that, but when we talk about creating a winning culture, like you're talking about with coaches, like you start to feel like just maybe he's you know what I mean, maybe he's not really getting enough credit. I think owners are often looked at as just you know the guys with a lot of money that write the checks. Um, but he's been a real constant, and and I can and and I think I don't know this, and I'm sure you've met Mark. I only see him in interviews, so I don't know this, but I think Mark has really embraced, uh, even though he's not from here, I think he's really embraced kind of Wisconsin culture, that idea that if he gets puts a good product on the field, he'll get support. And I think he's really, you know, embraced that. And we really got lucky on top of it all that we got an owner, um, frankly, that had, you know, kind of similar views, similar visions, similar principles uh to people in Wisconsin. He was able to make that whole thing work. Because let's be honest, you know, it's just as likely you could have gotten an owner who all he wanted to do was drive up the value of the team and you know what I mean, and sell it or relocate it, right?

SPEAKER_04

So let me uh share a couple of things. Uh Zach sent in uh, and you're a golf guy, so you maybe this equates to you. Brewers equal Aaron Rye, trust the process, wear people down, quietly work hard, cubs equal Rory. Now, I I like Rory, Zach. Loud traits, but I I I get it. The brewers are process driven, they're also player personnel driven. They do stuff we don't see. Yeah, I mean in developing, you know, look at what Sproat did last night after two walks to open, and Chris Hook goes out and visits with him. Chris Hook is a he's a like the quarterback whisperer in football. He's a pitcher whisperer. And his impact, he and Jim Henderson on Brewers pitchers now for a bunch of years has been ridiculous. And I'll go back one step. Credit Mark Attanacio for a plan that kept Chris Hook in Milwaukee when Craig was leaving because the Cubs would have paid Chris Hook. They'd have paid to bring that staff with him, and they didn't. And then a couple of notes, Mike says council salary, eight million dollars, would be sixth on the Brewers' payroll behind Yeli, Churio, uh Woody, Ashby, and Contreras. So think about that. Ashby is uh only making five and a half million, churious at 7.25, and then add in that Miz, because of where he is in his contract, he will get paid. He will make all the money, but right now he's not making any of the money. That's the way it works.

SPEAKER_03

A few things, yeah. So a couple things on the on a couple things you said, Mike. I want to I want to hit on the pitching stuff, but then I want to get back to the salary stuff too. So let's not get too far away from that. But again, you've got a lot more baseball now, Jimmy. One of the things that I haven't been able to figure out is like you have team now. Look, to your point, Chris Hook, wildly talented guy. Hopefully, we're paying him in a way that he wants to stay here, or maybe he just loves being here. I I don't know that, but when you hear about the pitcher, the birds with their pitching lab and Chris Hook and these things, like I really can't figure out when you look at organizations like you know, I'll just keep picking on the Mets because let's just be honest with the amount of money the Mets have spent, and because Stearns is there, it's really hard to get your head around how you take a guy like David Stearns, who did what he did in Milwaukee, you now give him nearly unlimited resources and how it goes so badly, right? It's really hard for me to understand how that happens. But more than that, it's like Stearns was here. There's no secrets about like what the pitching lab is and the things they're doing. Why do you think it's so hard for organizations with more resources to replicate it? Is I mean, is it as simple as Chris Hooks that much better than everybody else?

SPEAKER_04

Um I I do. I think there's a communication process. I don't think the the message is different. The Brewers have a pitching lab, so do 29 other major league teams. Right. Uh it's just Hooks way of communicating and seeing things. It's like, yeah, I don't know this sport, but it's like a a horse trainer. They're all doing the same thing. I mean, there's no secrets. Nothing is is maybe I'm maybe I'm wrong because I don't know this, but I wouldn't think that anything is, oh my God, what are they doing? What are they doing? Nobody knows what they're doing over there at that farm. No, that some people, and in this case, I think it's hook. I think there's a knowledge base. I think the analytics are the same around the league, but I think he interprets a little bit differently. And it's impressive. It's impressive as hell what's what did, and then even uh what what drone does. These guys were failing in other places. That's why they came to the Brewers in deals, because the other franchise gave up on them. They said, uh, we we've we've seen enough of of what you've got going on. We've we've seen enough of Spro, we've need seen enough of drone, we've seen enough of Kyle Harrison. We're good. We can make this move. And the Brewers, like if you were another team, Courtney, would you trade with the Brewers? No win every trade. The Brewers. Why would you do that? Why would you want to go get fleece? You raise your hand and volunteer. Yeah, I'll make that deal with you. Right.

SPEAKER_03

I think about this all the time. If I got a call from the brewer's front office for a picture that I had sitting in double A or AAA that had maybe been up to the majors and down, right? Or whatever you've kind of been through that cycle. If I got a call from the brewers, the first thing I would think as an owner is, well, I'm not going to move this guy. I'm going to ask my people why they can't fix him. Because I know if I'm getting that phone call, the brewers think that there's something there that's fixable.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

That's what they think, or they are not inquiring, right? So I'm with you. And that's why the Mets thing always seems so much weird to me. Because when you say there's no secrets in that scenario, you're like, well, there's literally no secrets.

unknown

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

The guy at the front office literally was he was here, he was sitting here, he was watching it. And if you go down to Chicago, let's just be honest, it doesn't matter that Craig was your manager, he knows what's going on in all those scenarios. So you have two really big market teams with a lot of resources where you know there's no secrets because the guys who are in the room are in the room, right? They're there. Um, can I go back and say something about the salaries that people are talking about?

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So I've said for a long time, and this won't be shocking anybody, so certainly not anybody who follows baseball, but the biggest challenge you have for a club like the Brewers compared to the Mets, the Dodgers, the um Cubs go down the road is it isn't really so much salary is is as it is that you just cannot be wrong.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, you can't make mistakes, right?

SPEAKER_03

You can't make mistakes. That's really the biggest. Now I'm not saying, look, we're not, you know, we're not gonna sign uh you know 40 million, 50 million dollar Mike Trout deals. I understand that there is, yes, a a lower ceiling to our upper end, but really the biggest issue is you can go out and pay Christian Yelich, but it has to work out. Yeah, you can pay Corbin Burns, like you could pay Corbin, like pay Corbin Burns. The problem with having paid Corbin Burns is he then needed to start 30 games for seven years. Like you you couldn't you couldn't endure a shoulder injury or an elbow injury.

SPEAKER_04

And the issue, according to like one of the great examples of this uh from a market from a brewer's standpoint, why why it's different there than it is in Chicago or even St. Louis or the New York's and LA's, is when they had to make a decision on Prince or Braun.

unknown

Yep.

SPEAKER_04

When they had to make a decision on Molliter or Yout. And Molliter went someplace else. Why? Because Bud Seeley said it we cannot pay both. Uh the Brewers ownership said we cannot pay both with Braun and Prince. Um you know, they had to make a decision on Corbin Burns. Corbin Burns maybe leaves the Mets or the Yankees or the Dodgers, but I don't think so, because they would have paid uh what it took. Like I look at the um the uh the Angels and go, they they have they have been the dumbest franchise in baseball. When when they had Shohei at the at the end and could have moved Shohei and gotten a king's ransom with nothing around him in their franchise, they had to move him and they didn't. And they've sat with Mike Trout, poor Mike Trout. He's gonna have the Joe Thomas career of of being one of the greats. And Trout had one playoff. Joe didn't get one. And Trout's, I mean that's all he's gonna get. And when franchises are poorly run, that's what they get. They can get a superstar and they can decide to keep them if they live in a big market, but they can't win. And the Angels can't win.

SPEAKER_03

Right. You know, it's funny. I'm trying to find Nolan, I'm 100% with you. I'm trying to find a great example that's it's gonna. I'm not gonna be able to find it while we're on the phone, but there was the call. There was a guy, I'm trying to remember who it was. He pitched for the Marlins uh uh years ago, and then a couple years ago, he he and he was really good for the Marlins, he showed up on the Dodgers roster as like a middle reliever. And I'll come up with his name while we're talking. Anyhow, I remember going to look it, and they were paying him like 37 million bucks, right? To be to be a middle, you know, to throw middle relief. And and that's kind of my point is where where those market teams get so far ahead is if if they give a guy a bunch of money and it doesn't work out, it doesn't matter they got a bunch of dead money or they're paying a bunch of money to a guy somewhere else, they'll just go get another guy, right? The reality of it is um is as badly as like frankly, as bad as like frankly, William Damas has played since he left or front or you know, has played like does it does it matter?

SPEAKER_04

Right, right.

SPEAKER_03

Um who's a reliever who went to the uh who went to the Yankees? Why am I drawing a blank?

SPEAKER_04

Seven Williams.

SPEAKER_03

Sorry, seven Williams, right. I mean, that hasn't exactly worked out. Do the Yankees care? They don't care. The fourth side is if the Brewers had invested that money, if the Brewers had invested that money, that that that could have ended not us seasons, seasons for the Brewers. Right. So the thing I the reason to bring this back full circle to our our friends who are chiming in aren't wrong about their comments, but I will tell you what's more amazing to me than what you're getting out of Jackson Shurio for $7.8 million is that the Brewers took a calculated gamble before there was any surefire bets on Jackson Shurio, so that you could have him playing at this level for $7.8 million. That yeah, that's the that's really the magic of it. Let's face it, that's that's what they're trying to do with white Cooper Pratt. Like they're they're trying to make these move with other guys, you know.

SPEAKER_04

One of the reasons they will likely in three seasons lose Bryce Tereng. Again, financially, they've decided which path they wanted to go, and it was more affordable on the gamble side to invest in Cooper Pratt like they did Jackson Churio, like they'll likely do with Jesus My Day. That is more cost efficient, but it's a gamble, it's paid off. But Tarang's gonna be somewhere else because he would have already done the deal in Milwaukee if he was gonna be here, is my guess. Now, if they surprise us on this, I will be thrilled because I am a big Bryce Tarang fan. But that's kind of the way that plays out. And to that end, when we're talking about coaching, um, yeah, like I said, I'm gonna talk uh with Pat Lambert, um, Badger Football recruiting director. He's gonna be on my Badger Connect podcast this Thursday. Wisconsin forever beat the competition in playing their game, and then the rules changed. And Chris McIntosh and others uh failed on the rule change. And now they're playing catch up, and it's very difficult to play catch up if you don't have all of the resources that your that those franchises that you're competing with do. And I'm talking about Michigans and Ohio States and Penn States and Southern Cal. Yep, and now Indiana. If you don't have the resources to necessarily keep up with the Joneses, and you fall behind, it it's it's really difficult to make it up. It's it's not like I'm trying to think of the horse's name that came from Dead Last in the Derby. Uh you that doesn't work in this game. Indiana made it work, but what Indiana brought to the table was more dollars than most bring to the table.

SPEAKER_03

Yep. So by the way, David Price is who I was trying to think of.

SPEAKER_04

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

David Price 32 million bucks in 2022 to throw him in a relief for the Dodgers. Um, so I agree with you, by the way, on the football thing. Is you know, I look what's really interesting to me, and now you're definitely in my wheelhouse because I have a lot of look, I'm a fickle guy. I know you had Luke on, I know there's people who don't love Luke. It's been clear to me from from things I've heard from people who are much more in the know than I am, and just a lot of reading and piecing things together, it's always been clear to me that it shouldn't say it's been clear to me. It's always been my theory that Luke never got all of the support he was promised, or that it never maybe not promised, but it just never all went exactly how they thought it was gonna go. And part of that, for better or worse, and I totally get it because uh I I love this city and I love the university and I love the state and all the things we do. The University of Wisconsin, it's clear to me, was trying to play by NIL rules, yeah, that they believed were the rules while no rules existed.

SPEAKER_01

It's it's real.

SPEAKER_03

Okay, that's real. They really were like, oh, we're gonna do name image like this. Cool. We are actually gonna help kids get branding and marketing deals. That was clearly the plan. While as other schools were like, cool, this is a way to give kids a lot of money. Okay, like that's just clear that that's what happened. Now, does that mean look, people will tell me I'm an apologist, all sorts of things? Now, does that mean that Luke's the right person and it's all gonna that does not? All I've said is well, the story hasn't been written because you weren't allowing them to play on a level playing field. And if we're just gonna be honest about it, if if you think about how handcuffed they were, as bad as the results are, I actually keep asking myself, but but are they? Because I just don't think people have a clear perspective of how financially handcuffed they were and how far they are. And I have buddies who are always like, well, coaches still coaches have to elevate, you know, it isn't all just about getting the best players. And I agree, coaches do have to elevate, but I think there's a real chance that when you look at what Wisconsin did last year and the teams they beat and some of the games they were in, yeah, coaches did elevate. You don't you don't elevate. I mean, if you believe what Ted Keller and guy are saying, you don't elevate 14th or 15th most money in the Big Ten to position three.

SPEAKER_00

Yes.

SPEAKER_03

You you elevate 14th or 15th place money in the Big Ten if you're lucky to 10, 11, or 12. If you do a really good job.

SPEAKER_04

In the grand scheme, we're all on the same page. However, and I think your your pals will say this too. Uh Luke and his staff were not blameless. They're not blameless. They mismanaged a number of things. Phil Longo was one of them. Offensive line coaching has been another. Certainly they were handicapped, uh, handcuffed financially in trying to compete with who they were trying to compete. And then they made their own mistakes, and then they got bad breaks on injuries at the quarterback position in particular. But it was on them to not have had a quality backup quarterback that could run what you needed to run, um, and maybe threaten some people with his legs, uh, which is what they had in Carter Smith back half of last year, even though Carter wasn't great. He could threaten some people with his legs, and he changed some games just in that part of it. And previous, their backup quarterback was a D2 guy at best, uh, who didn't belong on a field playing Big Ten games and couldn't do it. Uh, so and that's on them. That wasn't bait, I mean, some of it's money, sure, but but they made their own run of mistakes.

SPEAKER_03

Definitely not like, and I know we're getting close to an hour, an hour on a football, so I'll talk all day if you'll let me, but like I'm certainly not gonna sit here and tell you that that that they're blameless. That that's not my that would never be a point, which is why I'm also very big on like hey, I have no idea if Luke's the guy who's gonna lead us forward. I I don't know. I just like I said, I just think we haven't we haven't really had a chance to find out. Now, I I have heard that look, I don't want to be rumored.

SPEAKER_04

I have heard though that Luke knew Phil was the wrong choice pretty quickly, and because of the money invested, they were handcuffed and if and if that part is if that part is real, then shame on Chris McIntosh and and the UW uh upper echelon for not recognizing Ron Wolfe said a long time ago when you make a mistake and you figure it out, change it. And if the badgers found that Longo was a mistake and wanted to change it and were pigeonholed into the moment to say you can't change it, too much money, can't do it.

SPEAKER_03

It's pretty widely reported if you wanted to coach, it's pretty widely reported. If you wanted to coach quarterbacks, talk to nobody else, not recruiting. I mean, like there's a lot there, but so I'm with you. I don't I don't know, look, I don't I don't know what's ahead. I will say, real quick on the Carter Smith thing, because I know there's a lot of talk, right, about how great Ryan Hopkins is, how great Juice Carter Smith being fourth. I will say it kind of bringing a full circle of some of the other stuff you and I talked about. Um I am actually a pretty big Carter Smith fan, and I think this kind of falls into what you were talking about with Bo Ryan and some of these other guys. Some guys are our winners.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And look, I don't know if Carter Smith is ever going to figure out all the physical tools. I don't know if the game moves too fast for him mentally. I don't know if it's um, you know, just things that he does physically, slow delivery. I don't know. Let's face it, I'm not there, so I don't know what the little nuances are that sure they don't see Carter Smith doing that. What I do know is that when Carter Smith was on the football field, those teams found a way to win despite all of their shortcomings.

SPEAKER_04

That that I do know, and that doesn't mean it's all on that doesn't mean that it wasn't because we we found some things on the Cruper Catalano were the uh on the other side of the ball by the time Carter Smith got on the field, too.

SPEAKER_03

100%, and those things all matter. I'm just saying though, that like we all saw him make plays, and some guys, as you know, some guys inspire all other guys, some guys just have a vibe, and guys, and I'm not saying Carter Smith is that guy, right? Um, but I do think there's a chance whether it's here or somewhere else, we find out that that that's exactly who he is. There was a guy from Georgia years ago, a guy by the name of Mike Bobo. I forget what Mike Bobo's record was in Georgia, but uh it was something clazy. I'm gonna look it up because I know we're almost out of time. Um but my cousin Aaron and I used to have a theory uh because he was like a real late uh NFL draft pick, where like, well, I don't know, based on what that guy did in college, uh he said uh we said, you know what, uh I'd probably just keep putting him out there until he loses. Yes, like because he was just kind of yeah, you know what I mean? That guy. Um I mean, he was just one of those guys where was he the most uh you know, was he the most talented guy? Yeah, no, but when he played, they won.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So let's just ride. Yeah, John Stocko, when he went out there, they won. Yeah, right. I mean, real quick on that because you guys talked about it then, I'll then I'll stop talking. Uh, for me, by the way, best quarterback of all time is uh bad as history is Mike is not uh well besides Russell Wilson, is Brooks Bullinger. And uh, if you've read Barry's book, that's essentially what Barry says is that Brooks was just different that way.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, he was gonna win, and his teammates trusted him and believed in him, and he was gonna find a way. Uh and some of those uh traits are Carter Smith traits. Sadly, in the Carter Smith camp, I don't think we're gonna see him on the field at Wisconsin. No, we're not. Nine months from now. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And real quick, I will say I do remind people that while Brooks Bullinger had a great team around him, there aren't a lot of freshmen that lead teams to Rose Bulls. So for people who are not sure how great Brooks Bollinger was, uh uh, yeah, a lot of talent around him. Not a lot of kids do that at 18.

SPEAKER_04

Hey, Court, uh I'm glad we got a chance to do this again. I'll look forward to the next time uh we get to do a super fan. Uh always appreciate you. Thanks for taking time out. Yeah, uh, your your sacrifice out of your day uh to do this. I know you love doing it too, so I'm glad we have that that mix together. Appreciate you.

SPEAKER_03

Yep, appreciate you too. Honest Gonson.

SPEAKER_04

Thanks, Courtney Courtney Corning joining us on a Super Fan Tuesday. Uh well, and and Courtney's seeing this, uh, but your boy Sweet Bits does great show, gents. So uh, you know, CC it he didn't log off yet, but he just didn't see that. I didn't put it up there in time, but uh uh he's our buddy, uh Dave. So, all right, uh let me do this on the way out. I think I figured this out, by the way, for tech guys. Um really bright light behind me, and the camera I think was just irising to that. So every time I moved this way, and there it is, right? Camera is gonna go to the bright, and then I slide in front of it. Yeah, I figured it out, but it was too late. Once I figured it out, I I don't have a staff. I I couldn't fix it. Um let me thank our our sponsors. One community bank, and Dan Carey sent uh the the the dining notes uh for part of this. One community bank has an event going on this Wednesday night. Join One Community Bank for their virtual first-time homebuyer seminar, gaining insight into home buying process. That's tomorrow night, May 20th at 6.30. Experts on their team are gonna help you in each step purchasing a home, and they're available to answer questions you may have. Go to onecommunity.bank to learn more and to RSVP, one community bank, onecommunity.bank to RSVP and find out more. A big thank you to M3, M3INS.com is where you go. Your independent and privately held insurance broker and risk management firm. Again, go to m3ins.com. We are presented by the neuroscience group. A concussion can change everything in an instant, from car accidents to work injuries to sports-related concussions, our team of experts and one of the most comprehensive concussion programs in the state with specialized care design to help you recover and return to life sick, the neuroscience group.com. Also presented by Pottawatomi Sportsbook and Casino. And by the way, the numbers tonight on Miz, just think of uh a pitching prop. But the the Brewers are actually an underdog again tonight, um, in some circles. But at Pottawatomie, the Brewers are minus 121 on the uh money line. They are favored by the run and a half, but paying plus money, plus 143 if you have them and give the run and a half. And one other quick uh note on that as we talk about the the pitching matchup tonight in this for Jacob uh Mizarowski for the Miz, um they like him in a game prop uh setting. In order to get plus money, you got to go to more than eight and a half strikeouts in that game tonight. And we're also brought to you by our friends at Habish, Habish, and Rotier as uh as we work our way through to wrap up today. What a I I apologize for the camera issues, learning curve, even for me on this after doing this into the 10th week now. But I appreciate Courtney for being part of it, uh, for all of you being part of it, for our hosts where I am for the next few days. I say thank you to them. They know who they are. I don't need to throw their names up. But Zach was texting or uh sending notes into the show. He might be um familiar with the family line here. So uh a great thank you to all of you for tuning in tomorrow on the show. This is pretty cool. Steve Stricker tomorrow at 1015. So, Steve Stricker, uh your host for the Amp Fam Championship at TPC Wisconsin coming up in two weeks. He will be our guest at 1015 for a short window. It's his media day, and he's kind enough to jump in on a uh a video call with us. 1015, Steve Stricker, followed by Jim Paul Zene about 10:30 tomorrow. So we'll have a busy, fantastic Wednesday. We look forward to that. I appreciate all of you being here and thanks for supporting I Love Mondays. We'll see you again Wednesday. That version of I Love Mondays comes up in less than 24 hours.

SPEAKER_05

I love Mondays with Mike Helen.