I Love Mondays-Ep60, May 22, 2026

Jordan Love is a good QB...right about top-10 in the NFL.  Is that good enough?  Plus, we are enjoying the Brewers success...too much?  Absolutely not...enjoy the journey.  Pablo Iglesias joined me... he'll "guest host" on Tuesday

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 2:22

How about now? This is where I rely on you on the YouTube side of things. So give me a how about now? How about now? Anybody on the sound side of things? Okay, I'm back, they say. Good. Again, operator error. This is the third different venue that I've tried to set this up uh this week. So we started at uh Hotel Colorado on Monday in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Then uh doing uh three shows from uh a great friend's uh apartment that we were staying at in uh in Scottsdale by Kearland. Um so doing that in in their space, and now we're in an Airbnb. So here's here's a little bit of the lay of the land. I've got two grandkids out that window there that you can't see, uh swimming in the pool. I got a six-week-old granddaughter in the room next to me. Uh they flew in last night from Chicago and got in late. So we'll see how um little Annie uh survives the uh and manages being in a new location and how that's gonna play. And then uh we've got other family members arriving today here into Scottsdale for a wedding coming up on Sunday. Our daughter Ellen is going to get married on Sunday. Our soon-to-be son-in-law Johnny lives here, so they'll relocate. Here is the plan at some point later this summer. Uh, this house will be uh kind of hopping. We're gonna do a cookout uh tonight. We've got a uh a whole slew of brats and burgers to to go. We got a couple of refrigerators filled up with the appropriate beverages, and uh and we're all set to go. It's pretty uh it's pretty heady stuff when you have your kids getting married. So so we've had uh Amanda's wedding already, Morgan's wedding already, Savannah a year ago, Ellen in two days, um, my daughter Elizabeth. Um, our daughter Elizabeth coming up on June 20th. How many is that? Five. Uh we have seven total kids. So yeah, waiting on uh on two more. Jackson, who still lives at home. So the nothing's imminent there. And Georgia is on her home, so we'll see how this all comes together. But uh, it's from a luck standpoint. I'm very I color myself very lucky to have such a big and beautiful family, melded family, and we're all gonna be together here this weekend and can't wait for the the fun and excitement. John says good morning. Let me see if I can get uh the other mentions. Uh Kobe said it's working. Yeah, it took me a little bit. Sorry about that, folks. Thanks for uh being my ears out there when something isn't working. Uh Eric from the Prairie said, okay, it's working. And then uh John 5216 says good morning. A couple of items I want to touch on, and then we're gonna welcome in a guest here in a little bit. So there were some, not many, some on my Twitter feed yesterday that said, you guys are celebrating like it's like you want a playoff series. I I don't think that that's the case as the Brewers swept the Cubs and enjoyed a day off yesterday in a game and a half clear in the NL Central. I don't believe that's the case. I think that when you beat a rival and if you don't stop and celebrate the moments on the long road that is a major league baseball season, as a fan base, if you don't enjoy those moments, then what are you there for? You know, there's that concept of uh how you fan. I'm not telling you how to fan, but there's that concept uh as a fan to say, you know, why celebrate so much? Don't showboat. Just pretend like you, you know, act like you've been there before, the old Vince Lombardi, act like you've been there before. Concept. Um I do like to I like to be able to celebrate where you are in the process. Um, you know, it's it's it's entirely possible. I I'm not predicting this, but it's entirely possible that the Brewer three against the Dodgers and be, you know, a game and a half out uh of first place when the weekend ends. I don't think that's possible. They could be two and a half out. My point is you gotta celebrate when you're in that deal. They they did not accomplish anything in the grand scheme of things, but when we visited with Benny Rettino yesterday, one of the things he said is uh the tiebreaker is important. And right now the Brewers lead the Cubs 3-0 in the season series. Tiebreakers matter. A year ago, tiebreakers were not in place because the Brewers won 97 games and they were simply the division winner and got the bye and didn't have to play in the first round. The Cubs did and won their wild card, and then the Brewers eliminated the Cubs in game five that was in Milwaukee because they were the division winner. But it's entirely possible to be in a scenario that you top somebody in your division for the top spot for a wild card spot, and then you go to tiebreaker. So winning games against your division rivals matters. It it's not a predictor of what happens in October. Last year the Cubs won the season series seven to six, and then the Brewers won three games to two. So they won the, they they split their like you've done something. Uh A, I didn't do anything. So as a fan base, I think we we celebrate because fans get words, right? That that's how we engage in the conversation and engage in what goes on in a season, whether it's our football team, our basketball team, our baseball team, hockey program. Well, we don't have input. Our words are input. So I I I have uh subscribed to the enjoy the journey part of the conversation in in my sports media career. Uh never stepped away from being a fan. I'm a fan of teams. I love the game, but I I think I would be uh I think I'm being transparent here if I said if if the Brewers would have left before they built Miller Park at the time, if they don't build it in County Stadium, if the referendum doesn't go through, they're gone. Would I be as big a baseball fan? I will always love the game, but there's not very often, not many times during a season that I spend two and a half hours watching a game that does not include the Brewers. So I do like the game, but I'm a fan of team and community team. So I'm a fan of the Packers and the Brewers and the Badgers and the Bucs. When I was a kid, I was a fan of Marquette. When I was a kid, I was a fan of the Cubs because they were in the National League and the Brewers were in the American League. And I got to see Cubs games. I was a fan of Dave Kingman and uh Don Kessinger, Glenn Beckard, Rick and Paul Russell, Steve Swisher, George Mitterwald, Bill Buckner, uh, Bill Madlock. I mean, those are some of my favorite players growing up. I turned I flipped that switch when the Brewers went to the National League. I cannot be a fan of a team in my division, my team's division. So, all right. So there's there's one element. Number two, there's a lot of discussion going on locally and nationally right now about the value of Jordan Love. And some of it comes from Mina Kimes, who had a, you know, was talking about where she ranks uh quarterbacks. And there are a lot of people that are high on Jordan Love. There's some local talk show hosts that just don't believe it. I'm I'm I'm probably lower middle on Jordan Love. I think he's right about the 10th best quarterback in the league. I said earlier this week, and I'll double down on this. If I had a game that hung in a balance and it's fourth and eleven, and the and the game hangs in a balance fourth quarter, whatever happens, and four touchdowns. So who is the better quarterback he or Caleb Williams in that game? When it mattered, it was Caleb Williams. If you took the full body of work for the game, it was Jordan Love.

SPEAKER_02 12:08

They just didn't do.

SPEAKER_00 12:14

Like I said, I would take Caleb Williams, fourth and 11 game season hangs into balance. He's gonna be my guy that I would trust if you said, hey, you gotta put $100 on this. I want to take Caleb Williams in that moment. Jared Goff would probably be my second. It doesn't mean that love can't be there. But right now, to make him to put Jordan Love in the category of the top five or six in the league, not there is still growth from him that that we can see. Some of it is what's around him, no doubt. But I would look at this and go, I don't, it's not a slight to say Jordan Love is a top 10. But when I say top 10, I'm talking about nine or ten. Doesn't mean that that's what he'll be this year. So when we get in this discussion, now let me uh give you from last year a little bit of statistical numbers to to back this up. Quarterback rating last year, and and I can't, if you said, hey, write down what quarterback rating is, but put the I I've got no equation. I'd have to look it up. I'd have to chat GPT and get what that formula is. He was sixth among those who played, started as a regular, sixth in the league. In yards, he was 13th. Function of the way they run their offense, yeah. No Christian Watson. First half of the season, no Tucker Kraft, second half of the season, yeah. Other teams have injuries too, those who are significant. Uh 13th in the league in yards, Matt LaFleur's offense is going to function a little bit differently. 12th in the league among those who would qualify as starters more than nine or 10 games. He was 12th in the league in completion percentage and 14th in touchdowns. Again, that goes back to the function of how they run their offense, especially in the red zone. So again, rating sixth, yards 13th, completion percentage 12th, touchdowns 14th. In that group of touchdown throwers, among those who were regular starters, he had the lowest number of interceptions. So his ratio of touchdowns and interceptions is fantastic. My point is simply this. And I I want Jordan Love to be great. I think he's good. And I don't know, I think the question of his potential greatness is a fair question to ask. And I find myself wanting to disagree and dislike with those who will peg Jordan Love as the 10th or 12th best quarterback in the league. But I have a problem strongly disagreeing because that's where I have him. And I know that some people are going to disagree with that. Eric from the prairie says, is Jordan Love too nice? Is that holding him back? Um, I don't know how nice he is. Um I I get he is not controversial. He doesn't slam his helmet. He doesn't appear angry on the field very often. Uh I am I I always hesitate to get into the world of the body language police with athletes and coaches. Because if you're winning, you don't have a problem that a coach doesn't react too much. If you're losing, you have a problem that the coach isn't reacting too much. If you're winning, you don't have a problem with the quarterback not, you know, shouting on the sideline and and throwing his helmet. If you're losing and he doesn't do it, then you go, he doesn't care enough. Um I don't know. So I don't know if I can measure that, Eric, but I mean it's a fair concept. You look at him, he he's never demonstrative. Never. He's seldom demonstrative. So uh I I get that concept of him in play. Uh let me tell you about I think those are the those are the conversation pieces, by the way, today. Uh Brewers, Dodgers, three-game weekend set. What's the importance of this? You know, Milwaukee won six times in the regular season against the Dodgers, six wins, no losses a year ago, and then got swept in four games in the National League Championship Series. Uh I'll say this now, and it's not going to change. The best team and best roster in all of baseball belongs to the LA Dodgers. Baseball's funny this way. If the best team is playing at their best, and the Dodgers did during the postseason last year, it's over. So if the Dodgers play well, close to their best, they're better than everybody else, including the Brewers. Does that happen this weekend? I have no idea. Does it matter? Of course it does. Each game matters in its own one 162nd, 162th, whatever that is. They each matter in the same percentage now, plus the tiebreaker component. And it's not a predictor of what happens in October. And in fact, in this series, the Dodgers will not see Jacob Mizarowski or Kyle Harrison, the two best Brewer starters right now. They also obviously will not see Brandon Woodruff or Quinn Priester, who might be in that list as we get deeper down the road. So we will also, the Brewers uh fans and hitters will not see Shohei Otani on the mound because he just pitched. So, all right, let me uh let me run through my sponsor list because this is important to me. We are presented by one community bank, Dan Carey, good friend, and I appreciate their trust in the show, in the partnership that we have with them. Whether you're a first-time homebuyer looking to purchase or build a new home or ready to refinance your existing mortgage, one community is your answer. One community bank, go to onecommunity.bank. They have a mortgage solution that will fit your needs. You can visit the website onecommunity.bank or call 608-838-3141 or visit one of their locations to experience feel good banking. One Community Bank is a member FDIC and an equal housing lender. Also presented by our friends at M3 Insurance. M3 makes your insurance easier to understand, not just easier to quote. They use plain language, spells out the coverage and what it does and what changes uh you need when you hire, what to expect when you add equipment or sign contracts. Go to m3ins.com. That's m3ins.com. We're also presented by the neuroscience group after an accident, workplace injury, or sports concussion, getting the right care matters, and their comprehensive concussion program brings together specialists focused on helping you heal and get back to what you love. Neurosciencegroup.com, Wisconsin's leader in concussion care, neurosciencegroup.com. And we are also presented by Pottawatomi Sportsbook and Casino Bet Above the Rest. Roll out the winning all May at Pottawatomi Casino Hotel in Milwaukee with Tic Tac Home Run. 40 winners every Thursday night. We are also presented by Habish, Habish and Rotier. Our 13 locations ensure a hometown attorney understands your life and the impacts of your injury on your life. Personally committed to your recovery. So appreciate all of the work and all of the partnerships that we have. If you want to be a sponsor on the show, reach out to me. You can email me Hellerpods, the number two, Hellerpods2 at gmail.com. Or we got a pretty good landing page website. You can find out information there. That is I Love Mondayspodcast.com. I love Mondayspodcast.com. All right. Um so Pablo Iglesias is standing by an app to the mix now. Uh Pablo, what's going on? How are you?

SPEAKER_04 20:35

I'm good. I'm doing well. Hopefully you guys you guys got me. You can hear me well. I'm doing uh I'm doing well though on this Friday.

SPEAKER_00 20:42

Yeah, I see you and I hear you. Now, here let me uh paint the little picture and transparency here. So Tuesday of next week, I'm gonna be driving home. We're gonna leave sometime late Monday, and we'll take a straight shot from Scottsdale back home to Madison. Three drivers, me, our son Jackson, my wife Kari. And it doesn't allow unless we pull over at a rest area or a restaurant somewhere. It doesn't allow for me to do the podcast. So uh Pablo's gonna check in and do it. Um and I appreciate that. So I wanted to kind of introduce and we'll walk through a little bit of the the topics of what's going on today. So I appreciate you doing that um next Tuesday, and part of the reason I bring Pablo in today, and Pablo is a free agent right now. So um, you know, listen, I've been here, I've been there um before I started doing this. So what's going on? How are you? Uh everything you you got a positive attitude, things are gonna go in the right direction.

SPEAKER_04 21:42

Yeah, you know, um obviously uh really grateful for, you know, I mean, just in general, I've been in um in this opportunity too. I'm looking forward to next Tuesday. So uh Mike, I've I've seen people do interviews. Uh it was uh real quick. I remember uh an entertainment reporter did an interview with Ryan Reynolds off to the side. Ryan Gosling uh on the side of the road or something like that. So hey, who knows? Maybe you could have been creative with that, but thanks for allowing me to pinch in for uh for you next week. But you know, things, you know, things are good. Um, and and I wanna and and I definitely want to post this on um on the public platforms too, genuinely, the amount of support that I've received over the last 48 hours. Uh and you said you've you've been through this too, and you know, I think it just really resonates a lot. And I think the word that I really use is confirming in terms of the not just from a personal side, but you know, it shows that you you really made an impact, right? I've been in Madison for five years. Um, who knows exactly what the the road leads ahead? But I think um, you know, in the best way, when people show that positivity, they show that energy, they show that enthusiasm and that support. Uh I said it the other day is that's how communities are forged, right? They're they're forged through love, passion, and dedication. And um, I think it's a confirming thing, but uh things things are good. Uh been been over at 27, uh the WKW uh station over here in Madison. I was there for three years, won an award. Ironically, actually, the new apartment that I'm at is where the Wisconsin Broadcasters awards are. So across the street, I'm just looking at uh great memory. Uh spent some great time over at ESPN Madison and now just looking over, um, looking looking for the the next thing and wherever it goes. I mean, I'm I'm a single single guy, no kids. So you know what? I I can go wherever. I I genuinely could go wherever.

SPEAKER_00 23:25

So yeah, excited for I've heard heard that the world can be your oyster. So uh go ahead and and and see where we go. So one of your uh former cohorts is is one of the guys I was referring to. So and that's one of the beauties of being in the podcast world is that I I can bring up Jim Rutledge and not like when I was at iHeart, I wouldn't do that. I would say, you know, there's another host that's uh so with with Rutledge, I want to disagree with him, right? I I want to look at him and say, well, you're just a Bears and a Cubs fan, and you you see it differently. But he and I probably agree on Jordan Love. So let's have a little bit of this conversation and see where you come down. I think Jordan Love is a good quarterback. The the and it's not a problem, but our bar as Packers uh fans and those who follow this team is that Hall of Fame greatness has preceded him for the last 30 years. And I think Jordan Love is a good quarterback, and there's a there's a separator between good and great. Don't know what it is. I think you know it when you see it, but I think Jordan Love is a good quarterback. I think Caleb Williams is a good quarterback, but we've seen greatness. I think Jordan Love is a good quarterback and we've seen some greatness, but the what we saw a year ago from Caleb in games when it mattered is different. And I said this, Pablo, earlier this week. If Caleb can solve the first three and a half quarters of football and become a really good to great quarterback there, we know how he can finish. There's something special about how he finishes, and we know those because we saw it with Brett Favre and we saw it with Aaron Rodgers. There's a there's some Aaron Rodgers in Caleb Williams, sadly. Um, so when I talk about Jordan Love as it relates to being a good quarterback, it's not an insult to call him a good quarterback, but to me, that puts him in the top third of the league, but he's right at that third mark. To me, he would be 10th. Where do you sit on putting that on love right now?

SPEAKER_04 25:36

Yeah, I think it's fair. I think it truly is fair to say it's it's better to go with the good versus great. I think the expectations, understandably, you are following two Hall of Fame caliber. If not, I mean, you you know exactly the pedigree that you're following um with with Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. Um and and I just think that um Jordan Love definitely has the sauce, right? He's got he's got what it takes. We've seen those flashes. And on the flip side with Caleb Williams, as you said perfectly, it was last season, it was tough to put together outside of maybe the San Francisco game, um, and and some other games that that off the off the dome aren't coming to mind. But I think of and I wouldn't even necessarily call that a complete game where it was figuring out those three quarters, but then and and I got to bear witness to that insane throw that we still talk about to this day at the Rams divisional game. I just dropped my arms and and just watching watching it soldier field. I'm like, this, there's no way that this is gonna happen. And then he does it. But the flip flop of that is that Jordan Love is really good. He's able to, and and when I say game management, I I don't say that as like a negative, a knock on him. He's a good quarterback, he's got the skills and is able to to corral the Packers offense. Sometimes we look at we look at the Browns game early on last season, where it looked like the Packers, it wasn't their their most uh all-around game, sure, but they were in control, they were in the lead, and then you just have that interception that costs you right over the middle of the field. I mean, yeah, I I will I will wholeheartedly admit, Mike, I I am not going to go full armchair quarterback here, but at least just hearing from what coaches have said throw blindly over the middle of the field in a late game scenario because it's going to cost you. And unfortunately, that that's just a specific example there where again we're seeing from Jordan Love it's it's that flip-flop again. He puts together good starts, he's he's consistent in the game, but then it's those it's those brutal mistakes that that end up unfortunately costing or damning you. And and that's just the tough thing where that separates him right now from the the good to great threshold, but it's not only just on him. I think the risk that you run based off the Brian Gudakun's um idea of having a younger core and having a younger wide receiver group is you're going to see those unfortunate mistakes. Um, I'm not sure exactly where they ranked last year and drops, but we know that they're unfortunately one of the teams that is pretty close to a team that drops a lot of passes. So it's it's just the growing pains of I think the expectations, the the youth element, but you can also see that that this team still clicks together with the offense and everybody still supports and rallies around Jordan Love.

SPEAKER_00 28:23

Yeah, to to me, and this is uh a great discussion in late May, but it that is what it is. It is late May. Uh I would I pick the Bears to win the division, but I think Green Bay is gonna be right there. Wouldn't be surprised if Detroit is there, but I picked Chicago to win the division uh the division, but I think it would be by a game. And uh I don't there's also a sense, because we've watched this um for years. I mean, I've I've been doing this for a long time. There there is sometimes an uneven path to greatness. So, you know, the the Bears made an they ascended last year and win the division, and they win a playoff game, and you could see that there's something there. It is not always linear. So there could be a regression this year in in many different ways. A year ago, Pablo, I didn't know who Ben Johnson was as a head coach. We knew who he was as an active coordinator, and then we saw how Detroit suffered in his absence, and we saw how Chicago flourished because he made the transition to being a very good head coach. I will remind Bears fans that Matt LaFleur won 13 games in each of his first three years as a head coach. Now, some people think Matt LaFleur is not a good head coach. Those people need uh an examination. He is a good head coach. If you only judge it on the playoffs, then you've got a question. But, and if you only said he was he was a 13-game winner because he had Aaron Rodgers, what did Aaron Rodgers do the year before? You know, I think Mike McCarthy did that when he got to Green Bay. He resurrected late Brett Favre and then he he deftly transitioned from Favre to Rogers. He had to do that. When Matt LaFleur arrives, he had to work through one of the most difficult and talented quarterbacks in the game in Aaron Rodgers, who he he had to he had to maneuver through that. And I thought he did it beautifully. So if you don't give him credit for the early success, uh shame on you on that front. The question with with Ben Johnson is how will he and Caleb Williams evolve? If they evolve the way many Bears fans think they will, then the Bears have their first great quarterback in franchise history and are and a really good head coach, and and who knows what's gonna happen. So, but there are a lot of variables and unknowns, Pablo, in what's going forward. That being said, I'd pick the Bears to win the division.

SPEAKER_04 31:08

Yeah, I I think uh jokingly, like I said, you know, smart man for that. Uh, but uh no, in in all seriousness, I think it's it's the exciting, but also the uh kind of nerve-wracking. I know what the NFC North can. I mean, outside of we we know that the Vikings feel like this outlier, but who knows with how Kevin O'Connell can be the quarterback whisperer and Brian Flores is coming back as the defensive coordinator after deciding to not take on head coaching jobs. Uh, I think those are those are two things that two factors that people like to overlook and like to focus on the DJ McCarthy headline, understandably. But going back to to the Bears aspect of it, I mean, I was just having this conversation yesterday with uh with some friends over here is that the Bears could potentially regress from a record standpoint and actually leave a better team. That that is the unique thing. As much as exciting and heartpumping that those those wins, uh those come from behind wins were um last season, I I don't expect those games to happen. I don't expect those results to come about. But what I do think that for a young team in the Chicago Bears that had a first-year head coach, second-year quarterback that's touted to be generational, is that wins are wins, right? And and in any capacity we've seen is that winning heals all, and then winning also institute confidence. Now, I don't expect the Bears to, again, like I said, have those types of comfort behind victories. I think you hope that this group matures and moves forward and understands that this is this is gonna be something new now. We are we've grown as a unit, we've grown as a group. The same thing like the Green Bay Packers. How can they answer from last season? Um, how can they grow as a unit together? So going back to that, and and I appreciate what Ben Johnson had said at the at the coaches' meetings um this past year was that you know what we we need to not look back at last year's. Let's celebrate the success, but we can't be complacent. The great thing about this next season is that we focus on this upcoming season and this season alone, because the more that you focus on the past results, that's where complacency starts to starts to trickle in. Obviously, again, too, you you wish you could do it with an entire group, but sometimes that means your favorite players get have to move on too. You have to trade a DJ more, you have to move on and bring on different pieces. I think this is going to be a very fascinating year, but by no means it was it a blip. Um, you know, hey, to each their own, if people want to view it as a blip, view it as a blip. It is what it is, but I think there is a sense just from the city of Chicago and the culture as well, of a buy-in. I think of not just from the quarterback, obviously, but Ben Johnson has unapologetically been himself. And I know to Packer fans, understandably, like when you know, when a video is posted and you lose to your rival in the playoffs, and you see F the Packers, whatever the case is in the post-game. I know, I know, but I think you know what's I was just watching what you said yesterday though, too, Mike, about the Brewers and Cub series is that you know what, it's not the best when when you get sucked in the mouth, but sometimes that's sports fandom, though, too. When you know you get to go in there and sock your rival in the mouth a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 34:20

Sometimes it's it is if I just lost you or we lost you, so uh jump back in uh in that last little bit. I it could have been me, uh, but but I lost you just for that last little bit. So um I I think we okay, so two things for those who don't know. Obviously, you're a bears fan. There's a lot of weeze in there. Um, so I don't know if all of my uh audience understands that. So so you you you're a you're a Bears supporter fan of the franchise. All right, Cubs too.

SPEAKER_04 34:57

I'm actually a White Sox fan. So uh it's all the Brewers fans. Yeah, fun team. White Sox is a fun team. So um that that was fun to just get to see that. And and I made the the comparison the other day to uh my dad and I were just very excited. We we've been diehard White Sox fans our entire life, growing up on the south side of Chicago, growing up just a mile from the ballpark, you know, when you're a 10-year-old kid and and the team just wrote down the black wins the world series. It it just kind of feels like that. That's that's that's just something waiting to happen. And I think that's really where I fell in love with sports and sports storytelling and in this business as a whole. Like to that that's really where the the whole thing started. Um, just to pull back the curtain a little bit. But I think um, yeah, obviously, hey, to Brewers fans, you're well, you gotta thank the White Sox too a little bit for uh for setting the stage uh for this series.

SPEAKER_00 35:48

So but yeah, well I think the White Sox for not being a very good team on the opening weekend of the season, and then uh thank them for being a pretty good team last weekend when the Cubs came to the South Side. So all of that is good. I I just let me just jump back one more time into um I I had David Kaplan on on the podcast on Monday from ESPN Chicago, uh Cap and Hood in the morning. And Cap said uh about when we're talking about the the the Bears and and who they can be, um, and the rivalry. We both reiterated that this is the best the rivalry has been since Forrest Greg Mike Ditka era. So that that predates you. It's before you're around. I mean that that's when the Bears won a Super Bowl, which is what, 15 years before you're born, right? Ish.

SPEAKER_04 36:44

85, 10 years. Yep. So I was born in '95, just turned 31 last week. So that run I've only lived in the shadows memories.

SPEAKER_00 36:52

Yeah, that run in the rivalry was great because the coaches hated one another. Mike Ditka and Forrest Gregg hated one another. And then you could add Buddy Ryan to the mix uh as well. There was no love loss. Packers did some dumb things. Fritz Schirmer, the Charles Martin Spike of Jim McMahon. The rivalry was strong, but the Bears were the better team. Then for 30 years, the Packers just dominate the rivalry, and it becomes a game that is eh, you know, if if you dominate the rivalry, it's no longer a rivalry. It is again. And I credit Ben Johnson more than anybody else for that because he's a jerk. But if he's your jerk, you love him. But he he's a jerk. He's um not quite as jerky as Jim Harbaugh. But Harbaugh, you know, would not make friends with other coaches in those fly-by handshakes and his antics on the field. I think that Ben Johnson is not the same guy, but there's some similarities there and embrace it. Like I'm I'm I'm happy about it. I want to talk crap about Ben Johnson, but we didn't have much chance to do it a year ago. The Packers won once and then blew two games. I mean, they they screwed up two games. They mishandle an onside kick with a guy that you trust in Romeo Dobbs, and they mishandle a 21-3 halftime lead in a playoff game by not coming out to play a second half. And that you put it on the head coach, you put it on your roster as well. But we'll get to see them go this year. Let me let me change uh the subject here just a touch. So I I I was asking this question, I just put it quickly on Twitter. At some point within the next week or two, I'll have a deeper discussion on it. But just I'll I want to give you uh uh see what your thought is on this. Major League Baseball has, and I was gonna look this up and then I didn't, but whatever. Major League Baseball has a problem in blowouts, right? So it's the only sport that we have that you will put somebody out there on the mound as a position player. Our other sports don't do that. And I think this is this is little league at some level or high school or even college. I think that Major League Baseball ought to employ the mercy rule. And actually, whatever that threshold is, because I don't think a team has ever won a game after they have surrendered by putting a position player on the mound. And I'm not talking about somebody that's that is a position player like Shohei or there have been pitchers and hitters in the past. I'm talking about a true guy that you're gonna put out there like Jake Powers goes to the mound. The game is over. You've said the game is over, you've admitted that the game is over, that's the only way you put a position player out there. Why do we play? I mean at that point, if there's a threshold, let's say it's that after the seventh innings, seventh innings are are complete, and it's a it's a 10-run game. Because it's at 11 to 1 going to the eighth inning, the team that trails is gonna put their backup catcher, their right fielder. They're saying game's over. So why don't you give them the option to say we're done? Do you like it?

SPEAKER_04 40:28

I I like the concept. I'm almost just saying you gotta play it through. You gotta, I I I like the idea of where you at.

SPEAKER_00 40:36

I think get used to this. John John audience would tell you this. I I'm an interrupter. So uh I worked with John for a long time. You you know him. Um if if the one team says, Hey, we're done, because I don't think, and maybe one of our viewers will look this up. I don't think any team in the history of the game has ever put a position player out there in a surrender mode and come back to win the game. They've told you, we're done, we're out, no other sport does it. Baseball does, and I know it's a non-traditional concept, but if if after seven innings you trail by 10 runs and you say, Hey, we're done, we don't want to waste any more pitching. We know we're not winning the game, we're out.

SPEAKER_04 41:28

I uh I I like the idea, I like where your head's at, but I've I just uh personally I I have to say you gotta stick this one out if if you're whichever side you're on. But I mean, I think let's let's say this. So you don't like that if you're if you're just getting walloped. I remember shoot, it was like a Texas Rangers, Baltimore Orioles game when I was, I can't remember, I think it was like 13 years old, and the Rangers just walked it. It was the Josh Hamilton year, I'm pretty sure. And they just ended up posting a 30 spot Camden yards. I mean, you don't want to see that as a fan, but sometimes it's like you know what, maybe you just take that pill and it's just a tough one to swallow to swallow that pill. I mean, for me, but think about it on the other side too. If you're watching your team just go absolute bananas, you just don't want the you don't want the hit parade to stop. I I think uh again, I I I appreciate and I see where you're coming from because it happens at college, it happens uh at baseball and softball levels, and and some of those there, and and you want to save up and rest those innings, but you know what, man? It's uh here's here's the bed that you made for if you're the one that's giving up all these runs, you gotta sleep in it. You gotta sleep in it. I love the creativity.

SPEAKER_00 42:37

It does open it does open Pandora's box, uh, because we don't do it in other sports, and in college football, there are um incredibly lopsided games. We do play them out, but we don't play them out, they don't all of a sudden put their left tackle at quarterback just because hey, the game is done and we're just we're gonna have some fun and let our left tackle play. They don't they don't do that. Um, I don't know. It's just something that uh I think Major League Baseball has been very progressive on their rule changes, uh, and almost all of them I like. Um that's one. Let me give you another one. And I've brought this up before, but I'll bring it up to you. Ninth inning, no more challenges. We go full ABS. Home plate umpire calls it, but if he calls it wrong, he gets the immediate buzz, and the call is changed from a ball to a strike. And the catcher doesn't tap his helmet, the hitter doesn't tap his helmet, and there is that's like inside of two minutes in football, no more challenges, all reviews come from the booth. Uh, I can just see Pablo that uh, you know, a an egregious ball strike miss because the team is out of challenges in a decisive game five or game seven in the postseason. I think we're gonna end up going there. Some people think we'll go to full ABS ball strikes. Um, Down the road. I don't think so. I think it'll stay this way, but I do endorse and believe they might go to a full ninth inning ABS, no more challenges. What do you think?

SPEAKER_04 44:11

Uh I fully endorse this and I want to potentially add an amendment, maybe more for the postseason. Do we abolish the pitch clock for the ninth inning and and beyond from there? I know that extend games even further, but it's it's maybe or or finding some way to tweak it because it is very similar to like what you said in football, where there's no challenges, it's all booth reviews in the two minutes. Um, to just throw that and really just let them play. It's I mean, granted, it's an all-star game format, but I remember in 2020 when the NBA instituted the no-timed fourth quarter, and instead, here's your set, um, here's the set goal that the winning team needs to hit in order to win this game. And I remember the it was a great first year. So I think that something along those lines. I I think you know what, maybe we gotta uh, I'm sure, I'm sure if we uh find our ways in and see if Rob Manfred the next time he goes to Milwaukee, Mike, you and I gotta make sure we we try to get to him as quick as possible. Hey, we've got let's I I think there's something there with the ninth inning, though, because again, it's yeah, it it advances the game, it's fun, but you know, you still want that that portion of just let it rip and let America's pain be America's pastime, right? And and I I'm with you on that one. And and like I said, maybe the amendment from there is maybe we maybe we relax the pitch clock a little bit and really let the skills and the guys on the field alone decide the game um in this crucial moment.

SPEAKER_00 45:44

Yeah. Uh Brian says after the seventh inning, it's a blowout. Non-pitchers are pitching, and no more beer or concession sales. Game's over, post-tailgate time. So fans can leave, uh, but the the players are are meant to stay out there, a little bit of that um in play. Uh all right, so last thoughts before we let you go, and then I'm I'm gonna tell people a little bit of what's going on here and and what's coming up. So uh you've got some plans for Tuesday. Tuesday you're gonna set in and host the show uh while I'm on the road. So what are you thinking? You I I know you you in our communication back and forth, you you think you've got a guest idea or two. What's gonna go on Tuesday?

SPEAKER_04 46:28

Yeah, uh I will um I'm hammering out the guests right now. I actually just got a text back from them, uh, very known in Milwaukee and Green Bay. So making sure that details are good from there. But uh legit just got the text. I'll tease. That's uh that's the one side. You know, you know how it goes, Mike. You've been in this business for a little bit and uh and know know the the good qualities of a tease, but uh really smart person that uh knows just a lot about Wisconsin sports, great following, uh really like excited and making sure again that those details are hammered and good to go. But yeah, I mean, hey, it never hurts to talk about uh Packers, never hurts to talk about badgers. Brewers are are hot right now, too. So we we'll touch on all the stuff for Wisconsin. But again, seriously, from the bottom of my heart, um Mike, I really do appreciate the opportunity here just to just to really be able to pinch it for you. It does mean a lot. It's a it's a privilege, it's a privilege for sure. So really do appreciate the opportunity and uh thanks for getting the nod.

SPEAKER_00 47:24

Yeah, Pablo, thanks for jumping in uh to join me today. And and you'll do great on Tuesday. I appreciate your willingness to do it. Uh it frees me up on getting back home from a wedding. We'll look forward to it. Enjoy all of what the weekend has to offer, and uh, I'll be listening from the road Tuesday at 10 o'clock on I Love Mondays. Thanks for doing it. All right, we'll see you guys. Thanks, Pablo. Pablo uh Iglesias joining us. Um all right, so let me kind of fill you in on what's what we've got going on here. Like I said off the top of the show, I got two grandkids in the pool and one granddaughter who's just six weeks old, uh Annie, uh, who I haven't heard her yet. So maybe there's still sleeping going on there. Uh we've got our daughter Ellen uh getting married on Sunday. We're we're we're very blessed and fortunate to be here and to you know learn to uh to let our kids grow up and and do the things they want to do and find their pathways. Uh we're we're incredibly lucky. Uh my daughter Amanda and Ryan and her two kids, my grandchildren, are are here, and then everybody else arrived either last night, late last night, or today. So we anybody's had a blended family, uh, you can understand this. Kari and I have been together for 15 years, married for 13, but our families never lived together. My kids and and Kari's children like we've never lived together, but we've been together many times. And this is gonna be one of those weekends. So we're very fortunate and lucky to have done that. Now, Sunday's the wedding. Um, but it's it's it's a little bit different because a melded family, I'm not, you know, the specifically the father of the bride, so I'm not walking down the aisle or the or those kinds of things. But it is extraordinary to watch my wife, Kari, go through mother of the bride stuff. Uh, and it's fun to be able to sit back and enjoy that part of it and the joy that comes from it. So uh very excited about all that the weekend has to offer and a lot of moving pieces, uh, a lot of parts have to be put together, and and uh Kari has been front and center. And you know, from an organizational standpoint, I've just been sitting on the outside looking in, yeah, we should do that. Yeah, we can do that. I'm just the the answer, the yes man. So Kari says, Hey, should we do this? Yes, we should do this. Uh, what about doing uh, you know, like a cookout with everybody in on Friday night? We'll invite the the entire I said, yeah, that's exactly what we should do. Um you know, Johnny said, What about a home run derby on Saturday? Yes. Kari says, Well, we might go out for dinner, just the just the girls. I said, Yes. So all these things uh coming to fruition. There's a lot of yeses going on this weekend, and there will be some I do's on Sunday, and it's uh the really proud, happy, joyful moment, uh, weekend worth of moments that we've got in front of us. So I appreciate um that. I appreciate where we are. Uh Pablo jumping in on Tuesday. There won't be a show on Monday on Memorial Day. Uh, and on Tuesday, Pablo's gonna handle it. I'll be back behind the microphone on Wednesday of next week, which would be the wrap of the Brewers Cardinals series. Just think before I get to talk to you again, the Brewers and Dodgers will have played three, and then the Brewers and Cardinals will have played two, and we'll be finishing up that series when I'm back on the on the microphone on Wednesday. Uh I think that was all I oh, you know, it's a bourbon Friday. So we did bring um we're stocked up on varsity ale and their seltzers for the weekend. We're stocked up on wine. We brought Hamill. Uh, we brought a Segacio Vermentino. Look it up, it's good. Uh a Mija Sauvignon Blanc. So we've got uh two whites and a red being the uh Hamill stratum. And then I brought bourbon. So I've got the Woodford double oaked, uh, Weller Reserve, and J. Henry Bellefontaine. So I I got my three, you know, uh near the top of my bourbons. Uh I didn't bring maple. I wore the shirt, which is a Jay Henry uh offering, maple, uh, but I didn't bring the maple. All of that being said, we wrap. Uh, this this is such a joy for us to be here. Uh, the cool thing about you can take a podcast anywhere, but the setups look a little bit different. Uh, the sound might be a little bit different, connections, uh, uh, all of that, but uh appreciate the opportunity to do that. And thanks to all of you who are viewers and listeners for being part of what we continue to do. Support our sponsors. That's one community bank. It is M3 Insurance, the neuroscience group up in the Fox Cities, Neuroscience Group.com, Pottawatomi Sportsbook and Casino, and Habish, Habish and Rotier. For all of you, I hope you have a fantastic, safe, happy holiday weekend. I'll talk to you Wednesday. No show Monday. Pablo Iglesias will sit in the chair on Tuesday's version of the program. Have a great weekend. Enjoy the holiday, and thanks for tuning in and being a listener and a viewer of I Love Mondays.

SPEAKER_03 53:02

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