I Love Mondays with Mike Heller
Mike Heller is back talking all things sports and all things Packers, Brewers, Bucks, Badgers and beyond.
I Love Mondays with Mike Heller
I Love Mondays-Ep94, July 10, 2026
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Basking in the Brewers dominance over St. Louis...taking 4-of-5 in the series. Plus visiting with KB...and talking "stuff"
Monday.
SPEAKER_01From 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_05Hey, welcome in. It is a Friday. It's a Bourbon Friday. And this time that rings just a little bit more true. I come to you from the road in beautiful downtown Louisville, Kentucky. Today, day three of the Bourbon Trail trip with the with a great group that we brought down from Red and White Wine and Bourbon Bar in Wana Key. Today we go to Bardstown, Kentucky, and we will go to Preservation later this morning and then on to Heavenhill this afternoon. Then we'll stay in Bardstown and work our way around a little bit of the downtown, whatever that is. I haven't been there before, so we'll find out. Yesterday it was uh Woodford Woodford Reserve in the afternoon, beautiful horse farm country, uh and fantastic bourbons. It was just awesome. In the morning, Buffalo Trace. Now that is a uh that is a working, active, huge campus of a distillery. And uh both were fantastic. So and uh the the uh the opening line, I almost screwed this up. The opening line is that um Kari was my special guest on Wednesday's edition of I Love Mondays. A little backstory for both of us. We didn't talk uh really sports hardly at all, just more about where we are in in our life chapter and and how we got to where we are, those kind of those kind of things. Well, Kari's not a bourbon drinker. So I asked her on Wednesday, I asked if she thought that she would drink, you know, a full ounce at a tasting or an ounce and a half, whatever. I think yesterday's was probably an ounce. And she said one percent chance. Taste, like sip, just a little less than that, she thought 90% chance. But the idea of sipping and finishing a whole one ounce tasting, a one and a half ounce taste, uh, she said one percent chance. Oh, check out at Heller Sports uh my Twitter because I posted it this morning. The long shot hit, the the one percenter came home. So uh Kari is now Liz Henry's gonna love to hear this. Kari is now a bourbon drinker. Because when Kari would say, I'm uh Liz, I'm not a bourbon drinker, when we would be at Jay Henry or or Liz and Joe would be at our place doing something. Liz would always interrupt and say, Kari, yet, you're not a bourbon drinker yet. So maybe yesterday it happened. But the long shot came in. If you were on that, uh if you were Cal She or some some other place on the long shot of Kari, uh, yeah, go ahead and cash in that ticket uh because that happened. All right, uh on this bourbon Friday. I'm not gonna, we're you know, KB, Kevin Brant, KB, is gonna be my guest here in a few minutes. Now, he he's a fan of the Brown, right? He he is a bourbon drinker. It says so on his Twitter profile. Uh a wife disappointer and a bourbon drinker and a guitar player. Uh, all three things. That's a trifecta right there. He he's gonna join in a few minutes. Um, and it is a bourbon Friday, but I'm not gonna drink with you on the air this morning. It's a touch early on that front because I'm having to record this fairly early in the morning, Friday morning before we head to Bardstown, Kentucky, in the interest of true fairness. I was on uh Brood Daily after the Brewers uh wrapped up that series. So I have this, I have this uh finishing deal with Brood Daily that talks about play of the game, player of the game, and what needs improvement, and then what's coming up next. Well, what's coming up next is a really fun weekend series in Pittsburgh, weather permitting. It's always an issue in Pittsburgh on weather. And here in Louisville, we're not that far. Uh, it is super rainy this morning. So uh we'll see what the weather uh holds up like in Pittsburgh. Hey, Mike, you could always open up your app and tell people what the weather is going to be in Pittsburgh. Well, I can do that too. Uh, but Ms. and Paul Skeens on Sunday. How about that for the last game into the all-star break? So that that is the Sunday schedule. I'm just looking it up real quick because you know, it's important to see what we look like into a weekend in Pittsburgh. All right, uh 81 for a high today, 68% chance of rain, thunderstorms early than cloudy skies in Pittsburgh tonight, tomorrow just a 24% chance of rain, and Sunday, 4%. So tonight's the uh tonight would be the only question mark in Pittsburgh. But on to the series in St. Louis, where the Brewers take four of five. That's uh what an amazing series. And listen, I I I'll have I'll be the first one to admit I have my hand raised in error. When the Brewers started this 15-game, 15-game run into the All-Star Break in 14 days, the the series that began that 15 was the Reds at home for four, then at Arizona for three, at St. Louis for five, at Pittsburgh for three. So four games at home, then 11 on the road into the All-Star Break. After they finished the Cub Series at 1-2, and Cincinnati was coming to town, I said in the 15 games that remain before the All-Star break, I would take eight and seven right now, offer it to me, and I'll I'll take it. What a mistake that would have been. Those things aren't offered anyway. But the point is, I thought that the Brewers were a little beat up and a little ragged and a little tired and having no off days and more games than days remaining before the all-star break. I thought a winning mark in that 15 would be not impressive, but I thought I would take it. I didn't think I would take it. I took it. Uh instead, what the Brewers did is they beat the Reds three out of four. They beat the Diamondbacks two out of three, and now they beat the Cardinals four out of five. Add them up, that's three, five, nine wins against three losses. So they're already ahead of where I would have taken at eight wins in that 15. It's what they have done is just really good. They're 16 and 8 when they had the 27 games remaining in 27 days. Cleveland, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Cubs, Reds again, Arizona, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh. 27 games in 27 days. In that first 24 of them right now, 16 and 8. Put this in your thought process. Against teams that are over 500 this year, the Brewers are 33 and 19. So when they played the better of their opponents, they have been 14 games over 500 against good teams. Many times you beat up on the bad, and they've certainly done that to Cincinnati. The Cardinals are not a bad team. They're a good team, they're an over 500 team. The Cubs are over 500 team. Obviously, the Braves are. Cleveland is. What the Brewers have done against really good teams is go 33 and 19. It's it's really impressive. We talked about it yesterday with Vinny Rettino on the show, wondering about what Milwaukee would do before the trade deadline. So the trade deadline today is July 10th. So you've got uh 23 days-ish. August 3rd is the trade deadline. What are you gonna do? You know, if you're going to do something, it would appear more and more evident that the Brewers, if they're gonna do something, it's gonna be in the arms department. If you're gonna go get a bat, where does the bat go? I and I understand people are still looking for something to replace Joey Ortiz at third base or Cooper Pratt. Cooper Pratt's gonna be your shortstop. So in your infield, you're locked, except for third base. And I think Joey Ortiz and David Hamilton are gonna be that. I don't see them making that move. You're certainly not gonna go get an outfield bat. So the idea of a bat, to me, I don't see it playing. The idea of an arm is an entirely different conversation. And then you you you don't, I don't think you operate in Major League Baseball or in professional sports in the NFC North or pick your poison here. I don't think you operate to play defense when you're acquiring somebody. What I'm saying is the Cubs are in the market for Terek Scuble and other significant name starters. And I think the Cubs are more desperate in that regard to go get him. So some might say, well, then go get that's even more reason to go get Derek Scuble. So the Cubs don't. I don't think front offices operate that way. I could be wrong. I don't, I don't think the brewers operate that way. Vinny, uh, Vinny and I are, we agree, I would love for them to go get Terek Scuble. I it is not in their MO to do that. They have a stacked farm system, and many of you would be will think, well, use that. Now's the time. Let's push all of our chips into the center and see what comes out. I I get it. I would agree to a certain level. Who are those chips? Jesus Made is not going anywhere. He he's gonna be in Milwaukee at some point next year, and then he's not leaving. He he's on the Jackson Churio trajectory. He's going to join the Brewers Big League club next, maybe out of camp like Bryce Charang did, or next May, June. And when he does, he's not leaving. So he's not part of the the trade package. If if you're looking for Terek Scuble, think of Andrew Fisher, who has hit a million home runs this year in single A and double A. Um think of a current player. And that to me, I've talked about it earlier. It could be a guy like Sal Freelick or it could be Garrett Mitchell. Either of those might be a possibility. If you're talking about your current players, maybe maybe there's another pitcher at the minor league level, or one more significant ranked piece in your portfolio of minor league stars. So two baseball um 100 top 100s in the system and a current player, you know, I I don't know that we know exactly what the what the exchange would be for a guy like Terek Scuble, but I would think you would start there. And I don't know, I don't know that the Brewers are doing that. I wouldn't mind that deal. I don't know if they take it. And you if you've listened to me either on the radio or this podcast uh for any period of time, I think you understand how much a fan I am of Garrett Mitchell. Because there is such a significant upside, and the only thing that has kept him from the upside is injury. And now that we see him play on the regular and he's been healthy, you I think you see what that ceiling can be. Sal Freelix's a different question because I think he's very much the heartbeat of who the Brewers are. Um, he's that little engine, the first of the little engines that can and does. And I think he's their heartbeat. And it's different than Josh Hayter, but the impact I think would have a chance to be similar. Because I think that clubhouse is a little tied to who Sal is, maybe to a lesser degree, Garrett Mitchell. So I don't know if they're going to make this move, because I think the Cubs will. If I were predicting uh who's gonna win the Tarek Scuble, I'd go big markets first. Um Yankees are desperate. The Dodgers are never out of any of these type of conversations, but I think Jim Hendry and the Cubs are absolutely fishing for Terrick Scuble. And I I think they put all of their lines in the pond that holds that fish. So and I don't know that you need to beat them to that punch. You're a better team than the Cubs right now. You've proven that now for you know 93 games of a season. The Brewers' current record at 25 games over 500, 59 and 34. That's that's the most wins that the Brewers have ever had at the All-Star break by three already, with three games to play. Their previous high water mark when they went to a break was 56 wins. They're at 59 as we sit in the moment. So with that, they're they're already in a great place. Uh and I don't see them, I don't see them going in the all-in. And by the way, let me help you and see if we can define what all in means. Because I've for years fought this um on the talk side, on the radio side. All in is no guarantee. There are there are no promises in baseball when you make that all-in move that that all-in guy is the guy that puts you over the top. And are you willing? You've got Ms. and hopefully a healthy Kyle Harrison. I think Woodruff is that is not gonna be in play. But if you have those two, and then what we've seen from Sproat and Drone and Robert Gasser, Logan Henderson, I know that you want that third guy or the second guy, especially if it's Tarek Scuble, because then you go one-two with Miz and Scuble, and you'd be going, Oh my gosh, we have the best one-two combo in Major League Baseball. That doesn't always work. I was I was thinking of a couple of years ago, after the Brewers uh parted ways with Corbin Burns, and he was in Baltimore, he had a very good year in Baltimore. And he had a great outing, if my memory serves me right, in the postseason. And they lost. And Burns was there the one year. If you if you do the the all chips in and try and go get Tarek Skoble, Tarek Skoobel, and you do that and you lose, are you are you gonna feel good? Are you feeling better? Well, at least we tried. Come on. I I don't think any of you feel that way. I think the disappointment would be even greater, even when we do push all the chips in, we lose. I hear you. I I think that's that's a part of it. So I wonder on that concept. I do think the Brewers are gonna go get an arm, a starting arm. I think they feel if Woodruff is indeed done, if Harrison is the question mark that he is right now, not a big question mark, just a little one. Uh, I do think that Matt Arnold and company are gonna be in that market, but I don't would I would I love if they went and got Terrix Google? Yes, I don't think it's in their MO. And I don't think they should change now. Some of you are gonna disagree with that. That's that listen, that's that's all right. We can view this a little bit differently as we move in that direction. But how much fun is this? Oh, and by the way, I was gonna bring this up, and I'll bring it up as I bring KB here in in a moment. When we're talking about the Brewers in their current position, remember, and I don't have the exact quote, remember how much crap Mark Otanasio took when he talked about providing a summer of entertainment? Are you not entertained? There is no guarantee that 97 wins leads to a World Series. It didn't a year ago. The Brewers were in the National League Championship Series and ran into the best team money can buy, playing at their best. And if the Brewers run into one of the best teams money can buy and they're playing their best, their best is better than your best. I think I I think KB, let me bring him in. Uh, I think KB had a line like that. Um, didn't you? Our worst is worse than your worst, something like that.
SPEAKER_02Didn't you guys do that? Um yeah, we might have. I can't I can't remember anything. Mikey, you know, it's uh I just want to say I'm thrilled to talk to you. That's all I can say. I haven't been around for a while.
SPEAKER_05I'm doing great. Thanks for waking up early because you we we we're recording this so I can get down to uh uh Bardstown, Kentucky and drink more bourbon. Oh, really? Yeah, I'm in Louisville. Oh looking out my windows, rainy downtown Louisville. We took a uh a bourbon trip with uh about 20 others from red and white wine and bourbon bar, and we got down here uh well two days ago, and yesterday we went to um Frankfurt, Kentucky, and uh Buffalo Trace morning and a Woodford Reserve afternoon. Today we go to Bardstown Preservation this morning and Heaven Hill this afternoon.
SPEAKER_02Whoa, so we're doing stuff like this. What was Buffalo Trace's uh release of the day then yesterday? Because they released one bottle.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, so they uh they had a lot of Blantons out yesterday. So you buy as much. Well, you you can only buy one per person, so um of of a specific release. So Blantons was out. Uh Weller Reserve and Weller Antique were out, and then um Eagle Rare 10-year was out. So there was no, I was hoping Weller 12 might make the cut yesterday because that is that weed of bourbon is um in the uh small group of my favorites. So, but that was their release yesterday.
SPEAKER_02I uh I have my own bourbon trail, it goes from my patio to my liquor cabinet, and I and I travel multiple times a week. That's all I can say. This world of uh of semi-retirement is awesome.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, it uh it does allow for a little bit of of uh pure joy in that regard. Um, I miss you, bud. What what is uh fill me in? I know you've got the the uh your own podcast and the podcast network of shows, including mine and Butchies and others. The uh fill me in on the 97.3 TV thing.
SPEAKER_0297.3 TV. Okay, it's it's pretty simple. Um that uh you know, I I'm not gonna go through all the uh you know ugly details, but we don't have to go through the all of them, but a couple of them are probably good. Well, hey, I don't care. I'm out from under my uh six month compete. Man, we I'm gonna just tell everybody out there. Uh those of us who are exclusively digital got done dirty, really bad. And um Drew and I had made it to number one in the afternoon. Two weeks later, boom, you're off the air. So I kind of I sat back and I said, you Know what this station with this lineup was way too good. I gotta find a place where people can go find it. So for uh six months, I just was kind of working on this, and now uh I threw it together. Whether people go or they don't, um you know it's it remains to be seen, but I have uh I'm I was doing uh it started, I was doing a thing called KB's Unemployed Show where I just said, Hey, you know, we have to, you know, you know, Mike, you're doing this podcast, you know how this works, man. You gotta feed the beast all the time, right? Yeah, you've got to feed the beast, and if you stop pumping stuff into YouTube, you're done, you're finished, it's over. So uh I just turned on the camera and would talk for an hour a day. And whatever came to mind, and people started uh showing up. So when I got out under the six months, um I just flipped the switch on the YouTube page and I said, Hey, everyone who loved to listen to 97.3 the game, or all the personalities that were on in Madison or Wassail or wherever they were, he could still come and find us. So Drew and I and beers on the table. Uh, a good friend of mine, Jeff Horrigan and I, uh put together something called, So what you drinking? And uh, which I don't know if you know this, Mike. That's the number two most asked question in Wisconsin behind where you're going for fish. That's a person. I didn't know that specifically, I didn't know where that was cited, but I get it, yes. And uh so Jeff and I are doing like deep dive interviews with uh people. Uh it's kind of like uh you ever listened to uh that podcast Smartless, where we'll oh yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll get an interview with someone who we know one of us knows, and the other guy doesn't. And uh so we just had Goren from the Guffs and Fred LeBlanc from Cowboy Mouth, Howard Bryant, we're gonna have on, who is a great author, wrote the uh Hank Aaron book, and he's in every Ken Burns documentary. So we're just having we're just having fun, and then you know, Butchie, you know, is coming on. Uh, we're gonna have you on, but we're kind of let's put the band back together. So that's what we're doing. We just don't do it at six in the morning. That's all I'm saying.
SPEAKER_05So and uh yeah, and and and and obviously, um there were three or four uh at our former employee that were spared the the uh unceremonious uh departures, and but they do a five to eight in the morning show. And and I mean, we I don't think this is a mystery, um, but you work with Drew a long time. Drew is one of my all-time favorites, uh, super talented, incredibly smart guy. And he and Billy and Armin do a great show from five to eight in the morning. I just have to listen back to parts of it because I'm not waking up at uh 4:45. And they're waking up at 4. I mean, all of it, I'll just I'll do this and then I'll leave it. Everything that was done last uh, I was kind of the start of the fall last September. I was let go September 7th, and everything else happened uh about five weeks later. But all those decisions that were made were poorly contrived, they were poorly thought out, they were terribly executed, and somebody somewhere was making decisions that were not in anybody's best interest. And I'm just talking about from a company standpoint, it was uh it was a mistake, and then they compounded the mistake by making bigger mistakes, and even when they made the move, then they didn't slide who they kept over to 920 at the time in Milwaukee, they put them on digital only, and it was like, come on, anyway. So I I feel like you yeah, go.
SPEAKER_02No, no, I'll tell you this much. Uh, you don't have to uh you don't have to do a four-hour show. When we started when Drew and I started doing when they put us on digital only and we were only on YouTube, and you know, Mike, you're looking at this. I'm looking at the numbers and everything. I realized that no one wants to hear commercials. You know, we can we talk about the people that sponsor us, we're very happy about the people that sponsor us, uh, but no one wants to hear commercials. So I started cutting the commercials out of the show, and I realized in our four-hour shift, uh, we had about an hour and 40 of content. Everything else was was going to uh iHeart, you know, the going to the other sorry, uh, going to the other uh corporate holders. And um, I don't have to we don't have to talk that much. We don't have to sit around for four hours. So, you know, at this point in our lives, Mike, it's all about making it easier. And uh I don't know if I'm still here, I'm just gonna keep talking because that's what I do. Um and uh we've been having a we've been having a blast. We do, I don't know, work two, I don't know, three hours of content a week, but split it up and uh then we go on our merry way and go on and live our life and come up with more stories. So that's what we do, Mike. I don't know if you're still there. Um it doesn't appear as if you are, but if uh you're getting uh any of this, um you can continue to uh I'll just continue to talk, but uh uh trying to regain this connection. Well, I then I'm still Mike, I'm still um I'm still talking here. And when I see you come in, um and I was watching um uh uh we've been watching all the soccer games and uh let's see, we've got a lot of our regular people that have been uh got a lot of our regular people that have been uh listening and coming to the station. And so that is youtube.com slash at nine seven three dash TV.com slash uh at nine seven three TV is trying to reconnect. It's kinda hard, man. I don't know if I wanna I don't wanna be doing um I don't want to be doing his uh I don't want to be doing his show here. He's got a nice logo up in the corner. I love Mondays. Look at that. It's got uh a little microphone there. I think that would probably be symbolizing uh or uh talking about his radio career uh and the fact that he speaks for for a living. And uh let me just say this. Uh I'm glad to see Mike back on. Mike is the consummate professional. Mike is a guy that uh if I ever had a conversation with um he would be um Mike would be a kind of guy that I look to as adding credibility to anything that I have to say. Oh, Mike, you're back. There you are.
SPEAKER_04I don't know how how long I don't know how long I was gone.
SPEAKER_05Um don't go back and look at the tape. Oh well, I'm gonna play the tape, whatever it is. Oh god. Um yeah. Look at I don't I don't know how long if anything stayed up for that little bit that uh whatever. Listen, this is uh I I can't fix it. So I we we were we were in the middle of talking about um our former employer anyway, so maybe we have something to do with the internet.
SPEAKER_03Well, I mean, if I put it right there, there's our Q0973 TV. There we go. The QR code.
SPEAKER_02That's what all the young kids are using, the QR things. So um that's right. I I got one on my uh right I see that. Look at you in Louisville, you travel with a backdrop. I hung an velvet elvis on my wall and I sit in front of it. You know, I don't put nearly as much effort into it. I don't put nearly as much effort into it. Look at me, I'm wearing the John Fetterman collection. This is my life. Very nice. This is my life.
SPEAKER_05It's a good look. How are you and Miss too enjoying this uh this brewer's run? I mean, it in this you know, I just brought up before you jumped in, I brought up the the Atanasio that he got baked on when he talked about providing entertainment and summers of of you know joy and entertainment. Isn't that what this is about anyway? Now, I would love for the joy and entertainment to finish on November 1st and then a parade. And I do think that's going to happen. I don't know if it'll happen this year, but baseball's playoffs are a crapshoot. Um, but this team is again the the brain trust that runs these guys, you know, the Matt Arnold and his staff, Pat Murphy and his coaching staff, Chris Hook, Tim Henderson, uh Danny Vogelbach, that whole crew. It's it is tremendous. And it begins with the owner, and I know he's not incredibly popular, but it begins with the owner, and this is so much fun, KB. And you and Miss Sue, you've lived it for a long time on the daily all summer long, and this is good. I mean, this is a joy.
SPEAKER_02It is uh this team and what Mark Adanazio is doing. I let me just address that whole summer of entertainment thing. Um, it's people just want as Drew and I have always said, people uh the national pastime isn't baseball, it's bitching. And if people don't have someone something to complain about, then they're never happy, right? And with Adanasio saying that, I knew exactly what he meant. It wasn't mutually exclusive, it wasn't an either or. It wasn't uh, well, I'm either gonna make a run after the World Series or I'm gonna provide entertainment. He's saying, No, you have to balance between providing good entertainment for people, which they do out at the yard. Uh, they do a spectacular job with their in-game entertainment. Um, it's not over the top, it's fun, it's great for families. Uh, but when it comes to the game, baseball is 162 games, right? Yeah, and if you're and the I guess you could say the the gold standard of a great team would be 100 games, right? Win 100. Well, that still means that you have 62 really bad days, yeah. Okay, no one's going 162 and oh, you got to sit back and enjoy the ride. Now, for this ride, I have a friend who lives in Boston. When the Brewers are playing, he and I usually have a text thing going back and forth. Um, if you take a look, Cooper Pratt comes up. Yeah, he's not hitting that well, but when's the last time anyone as a Brewers fan had multiple prospects to talk about with being anxious and waiting for them to come up? It was with um when are they bringing Ms. Up? When did they bring in Ms. Up? When are they bringing a Cheerio up? When are they bringing Pratt up? Now they bring up Lara. Yeah, he first game a little bit rough um defensively, but what was it two nights ago? Was it two nights ago? The how he wheeled from first to third, it was like good lord, this is gonna be fun.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, the he's not leaving, you know. When they brought him up, um he he's he's he's here to stay when next year. When they bring up Jesus Made at some point, then he's not leaving. Like when he comes up, he's not going anywhere. They they've got multiples of those. Uh Luis Pinha, who is um lagging a little bit, had some health issues this year. But those guys, when they get here, they're they're not going anywhere. I I just I I I love what they're doing. They're on pace for 103 wins right now. But to your point, even when you're playing 600 baseball and the Brewers are playing better than that, when you're playing 600 baseball, that means you're gonna win 96 times. You win 96 times, six out of 10 means you lose four out of 10. It's just one more win in a 10-game cycle than being a 500 team, and that defines greatness. And the Brewers are having a great year, and it's a fun year, and I think that's what the owner was talking about. Um, the summers filled with entertainment because 100 loss teams aren't entertaining, they're not fun.
SPEAKER_02Oh god, no, they're fun for the uh you know, for the other other side, but and if you're a fan, they're not at all. And with with these guys, when they uh you know they're coming up. You want to talk about a next man up mentality, you know. There, it's like I I love and and counts started doing this. We call you up, you're probably going in that night, okay? Yeah, and we're gonna put you, you know. Lara, did did he lead off the other night? Yeah, he didn't. No, he didn't, he was at the bottom of the order. Yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, I think he hit second when he played in uh the second game of the double header. So they brought him up and he didn't play, and then uh he he hit second in the nightcap. And that was that was his debut. So yeah, they're gonna they're gonna plug and play with him. They've got four great outfielders right now. If you think that Lara, and Lara is a minor league gold glover, so dude can he can run it down, and he's a great outfielder. Uh, but Mitchell is healthy and really good. Churio is your everyday left fielder, and South Freelick is kind of the heartbeat of this team. So they've got lots of options to play from. And KB, you you've been doing this as long as I have, as far as paying daily attention to the Milwaukee Brewers. How much fun is it to take four out of five over the Cardinals and just watch them cry in their Anheuser Bush?
SPEAKER_02Not nearly as much fun as taking as many out of the Cubs, but it's equally as yeah. Well, then both. There's joy.
SPEAKER_05Yeah.
SPEAKER_02But you know, with the you mentioned Sal Freelick being the heart heart of this team. Uh I'm gonna give credit to uh Sue on that Freelick jersey promotion because last year uh I took her down to meet Murph on the field, and she's still head over heels about it. I mean, if she could leave me for him, she would. And I I said I said to Murph, I go, You gotta ask, I go, ask my wife about her advanced stat and let's get your people down here. And uh he goes, he looks at her kind of you know, with that puzzled look that he has, and he goes, What stat is that? She goes, Well, I don't have the exact numbers, but uh your one loss record when Freelix dirty Jersey is dirty in the first three innings is remarkable. And he just started laughing because you know what? I gotta get my I gotta get my guys on that, and it is kind of true, and now we we laugh about it, Freelix. Dirt Jersey is dirty, gonna be a good night. And but the team, when I said the next man up mentality, it isn't just uh on the field, right? Because we noticed this the other night. She was heartbroken when Willie Adamas left because she loved his spirit, she loved his how much fun he had in the game, right? And well, who's the next man up? Who's he's gone? What are we gonna do? Who's the next man up? Who is it? It's Contreras. Now, Contreras says, Okay, well, granted, they're gonna be brother-in-laws or whatever, I don't know the relationship, but he goes, Okay, I'm grabbing that porch. He's the guy who's out in front of the dugout cheering, he's doing all that, and that's what makes it uh enjoyable to watch, and then the relationship that Murph has with these guys, and how um right the one you know, you know he's got a special relationship with Freelick. You can see it every time that Freelick plays or does something, he handles him differently. When Freelick had uh the catch to end the game the other night in foul territory, but came walking out like he didn't have it. That is what I love about baseball that you know that fun of that, and uh when he the greatest moment, and I've always been I hate analytic baseball, I can't stand it. I understand it, yeah, but I can't say I'm playing by the book. And the relationship you know that he has with Mizarovsky is uh another one that's remarkable. And go back to earlier in the season when he wanted to go into uh the eighth inning or whatever, and he was getting roughed up a little bit, and and Miz shook him off. Well, who shakes out the manager these days? No one ever shakes off the manager. The manager comes out, you're out, and he goes, No. And he saw Murph go, All right, kid, let's see what you got. You know, that moment, I think that moment, what Murph did with Miz strengthened their relationship beyond anything, yeah, but it probably also lifted his confidence, which you need to, and that's great managing. It's not about making a double switch, which they don't do anymore, but it's not about who am I putting in the lineup, righty, lefty, lefty, righty, any of that. That's managing, and that's why I think they are overachieving because he's got these guys loving uh going out to play. I I would be willing to bet. Remember, Mike, when you were playing Little League, and uh when we were growing up, you know, we didn't have uh, you know, we get a bat and we get on our bike and we put the glove over the hand of ours and we would ride to go play, you know, maybe a mile or whatever it was in our uniform. We didn't have a bat bag, yeah, right. Yes, in our uniform, yes, we didn't have bat warmers, we didn't have anything like that. We had a bat who was probably slightly cracked, that we wrapped up with dad's electrical tape and put a rusty bent nail in there to hold it, and then we were happy and we ride uphill both ways. But do you remember the disappointment when you might be let's say you're playing at five o'clock at night or whatever? The disappointment when it was raining and you'd sit there in your uniform and you want to go play, and it was a rain out. And I just get the sense that these guys are playing at a professional level, but if there happens to be if they're on the road and there's a rain out, yeah, they're bumming that they can't get out there and play. And I you you can't put a price on that, and that's what we love about this team, they're not moping around, you know, and that's fun. That's what makes it fun. We're just we're just loving the ride.
SPEAKER_05Yeah. How is your uh how's your guitar playing? Better with a little bit more free time. I mean, I you don't want to know something.
SPEAKER_02I am no, I mean my bourbon drinking is better. Um I haven't I have I really haven't done a lot of playing. Um, as you know, I have uh moved into the world of golf uh now with my semi uh with my career. Um and I am a starter and a ranger at uh Aaron Hills, the home of the 200 uh the uh 2017 uh US Open. Um yes, and I have I tell people all the time, and this is the greatest job, you meet people from all over the world. Um hey, you know, welcome to Aaron Hills, how are you doing today? You know, it's and you know me, I don't like to talk to anyone, you can't shut me up now. Um but to sit out there on a golf, well, you live on a golf course, but uh at six in the morning when I get out there to work and the sun is coming up, and you know, I know it's very cliche, but the sun coming up and the dew on the grass and all of that, you go, yeah, it's not what does it get any better? And as I've said to uh people, I go, you know, I worked 40 years to get to my dream job, and it really is. It really and so and then I just go out and I hit balls and I come home and I disappoint Sue, and it's all is right with the world. You do what you do.
SPEAKER_05Uh I talked to the comma, uh Zabe, comma, the last yeah, and he was he he was out there, right? He played at your place out at Aaron Hills, and he was raving about uh the conditions and how good that golf course is this summer.
SPEAKER_02It is uh it is remarkable. And I think when he was out there, the greens were probably the greens are rolling every day between 12 and a half and thirteen and a half. I mean, just lightning fast. Um the the uh greens, the the grounds crew that they have and the absolute Machine that is behind making this place look good. Um, in the morning when you're driving around, when people go off on the front nine, back nine's wide open, it's just like that shot of Augusta uh late on Saturday when they're getting ready for Sunday and you see the mowers lined up, you know, in formation going down the fairways. It just and you love the game of golf as much as I do. So it's the simple stuff like that that just makes you feel joyous. Speaking of which, uh joyous, uh, have you been following? I'm sure that you have because you're a sports guy. Um, I can't name more than four players, probably in the entire tournament, but this world cup has been amazing, hasn't it? Have you been watching it?
SPEAKER_05It has, and I I've I openly admit I don't have the bandwidth to have soccer as part of my repertoire. Uh, but in the World Cup I do, in the Olympics, I do. So every four years, just like the Olympics, I don't have uh an appetite for like I won't watch curling again until the next winter games, but when the uh Olympics are going on, I I'm in, and World Cup is going on, I'm in the whole event, I think has been fantastic. Uh and I didn't see yesterday's, I know Mbappe scored again. Um, and I think France is the prohibitive favorite to win it, but yeah, it's been a I think it's been a joy. Um, and and fun to watch all of it. It's really been really been awesome.
SPEAKER_02I have been on this kick now, uh, and it started with my son lives at Boston, and so he kind of was, I guess you could say kind of enlisted in the Tartan Army for a while up there. He said, Yeah, you know, what you're seeing on social media isn't the half of what was going on in that city. Uh, I think uh the line was if you live in Boston um and you haven't been invited to stay with a Scottish family for a week, you probably didn't leave your home. And but with you know, with them, uh with watching the Scott, the Scots and the Tartan Army, I realized there's one thing, what not a couple things. Number one, America is a great country, and I'm not gonna get all political on you, but America is a great country because the stuff that these people love, like the hundreds of Australians going into Walmart, you ask an American, they would be caught dead in Walmart. These guys think it's the greatest thing on earth. If you give if you take it, if you were to take an Australian to Walmart and give him one of the rolls in the cinnamon butter from Texas Roadhouse, they'd never leave this country. But what America is missing is spontaneous joy. That's what we don't have. We don't have the spontaneous joy. No one gets in the no one, we don't have a song. America's we're trying you and I talked about this. What is our song? Because well, what Virginia became right?
SPEAKER_05Uh Country Roads became the kind of became the anthem uh Virginia Tech is the original. I mean, that that is by the way, they got a couple of songs.
SPEAKER_02Well, yeah, but I mean, but a whole unify, and it's probably because of the collegiate geographical breakdown. We figured the only song that we have in America that you can probably throw on and get everyone to do would be Song Song Blue, or sure, right? Yeah, or whatever. That's is that Song Song Blue? So good, so good. I mean, I don't know, whatever. I don't remember, but um, so many great Neil Diamond classics. Um, but we don't have spontaneous joy. It's uh someone in America, we're all so angry. Someone in America sees a George Washington statue, they want it torn down because he owns slaves. The Scots were going, let's put a hat on him. It was yeah, that's we need to put more hats on statues, Mikey. That's what we need to do.
SPEAKER_05And that that spontaneous joy that you're talking about, that that's why I have loved sports my whole life. Uh-huh. Now, there's also uh the despair that comes with it because you know, if you follow a team, you got a one in 30 chance in major league baseball that your team, well, maybe less than that, but that's the the normal stat. And one in 32 in the NFL. Um, I get it, but there is spontaneous joy in sport, and that's why I've been around it my whole life is that I love that passion, I love the joy that comes with it, and I can accept the heartbreak, and it sucks. You can accept it, and yeah, I love the joy of what we get to talk about.
SPEAKER_02We were both there uh when in the NLDS when the air got sucked out of Miller Park against the Dodgers with the game six, yeah. Uh in game six when the air, the life just got sucked out of Brewer Nation. We're still standing, Mike. We're still standing, and we still love this team. Yeah, it's it's disappointing, but uh a hundred and sixty-two games in the summer. We have this football mentality that if we don't win every single week, we're failures, and it's like it doesn't work that way in baseball, but yeah, you get a little bummed out, but you still had uh you know these great summer nights. Look for the I sit on my patio and I got a fire pit and watch the games in the last two weeks have been watch a brewery game when it's done. I've got all the World Cup games recorded. I don't know who's playing. I don't know. Okay, what what game haven't I seen? Because I still want to sit out on the patio. Okay, let's watch a soccer game. Yeah, and it's been it's been magical. Messi just watching this guy at 40, yeah, do what he the other night. Three they scored three goals in the last 13 minutes, and Messi gets the game winner. Of course he did.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that's right.
SPEAKER_02About all of this, yeah. I like sports now that I'm not in sports than I did when I was in sports.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, maybe, right? Yeah, no kidding. And and I I love it more um because I'm doing an hour a day, right? I mean, the the whole concept you were talking about that before. We we both lived in a world where we did four-hour shows. Um, you know, said this line a lot of times. One of my takeaways from the the few times I got to visit a little bit with Dan Patrick, because he asked me, because he didn't know me when the first time we met. Uh, he still wouldn't know me, I don't think. But he said, How long's your show? I said, four hours. He goes, Mike, you you don't do a four-hour show. Do everything you can to make it three. That last hour is diminishing returns all over the map. So, but now I mean, now I do one, right? Um, and when I turn this on, I'm trying to hit an hour, but if I don't, I don't. And if it feels really good and there's more to get to, and I go an hour and seven, an hour and eight, that's fine too. I don't do that all that often. I try to hit on the hour, and that's fun. When I do a brew daily at the end of every brewer's game, it's eight minutes. I mean, oh you don't need more, right?
SPEAKER_02That's all I got. That's it. People don't people don't want more, and and let you in on a little secret, because after they uh kind of knifed you, um kind of oh my god, yes, no, no doubt, man. You had you had a bad selly. Um when uh and they kind of said, Well, you guys are gonna go from two to six. Well, knowing the company we worked for, Drew and I immediately knew that well, we we want a 25% raise. We knew that was off the table, not gonna happen. So, knowing we weren't gonna get more money, all we did uh was we made sure we scheduled an interview in the first hour. Yeah, re-racket coming back at the five o'clock. Yes, it is. Adios, we are out, and you don't you don't have to do that much, and and you find you know, we would find ourselves stretching sometimes on uh no when we had slow sports days. That's why we ended up doing all the goofy stuff because I have no attention span, right? And I couldn't I couldn't hang in, and I found that after one break about the brewers, I had said or whatever, I said everything I needed to say. Yeah, um, and it's like I'm just gonna be repeating myself, but uh I spend most of my time listening to podcasts now. I listen to yours, I listen to Butchies. Um, there's a few others out there that I I listen to, but I don't sit down and listen straight through. I dip in, I dip out. What is right? Yeah, that's how we are.
SPEAKER_05That's that's this that's the way that's the world that we live in in our in our what we do. Um, and I get it. And and you know, when somebody says, Hey, I I haven't been listening that much, okay. Um you don't you're not beholden to me. We're we're good. You don't have to say, Hey, I'm gonna listen to every show. Uh you know, listen when you can, or don't I mean matter? You know, I'm I'm responsible to me and the sponsors that I get on the show to to make sure I deliver a product that they can align with and that I get enough listeners and viewers to to keep them uh coming back and the the advertisers because that's nobody's paying me a salary, you know. That that's why that's why I get to when I talk about my sponsors, I don't read a script because I want to tell you why I bank with one community bank. I want to tell you why M3 Insurance is important and I know why I know why it is. I know these people, it's relationship stuff. And absolutely you get you get to do what Howard Stern used to do. Listen, I don't only want you to support those who support the show, I want you to support them by not doing business with others in their field, right? Like I I that's that's what I get to say, and that's that's anyway.
SPEAKER_02No, no, no, man. It's it's liberating. I I'm happy you got sponsors, I've got none, but uh then again I don't call anyone. Um it's um it it really is liberating to be able to say what you feel to speak your mind. Yeah, um I uh I had uh one thing that uh I know might have been I tiptoed on a on a tightrope that I know would have been probably ticked some people off when we were on the air, but I came out and I made a bold statement that what is happening to the Kate to Caitlin Clark and the WNBA is not racist. And I got lit up so bad, and I said to myself, hmm, I'd never thought you'd you know, I'd never thought I'd get yelled at for saying someone isn't racist, uh but apparently but people have the right to do that. But the whole WNBA thing, I was just going, no, these are just some you know catty, catty housewife that you know don't like the new person who's coming in and selling pampered chef in their subdivision, exactly.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, and they have they've mismanaged that whole that whole deal. I mean, they have they they have a a golden goose who is bringing eyeballs to games that otherwise weren't gonna go there, and they chat on her meaning over and over and over again, and it's the other players that are doing it, the ones who her high tide has raised all boats, and and you're flying coach, uh you're flying uh charter now instead of commercial. Well, she's part of the reason, not the only reason, but she brought eyeballs, and you you you treat her like a pariah, like she's the problem, she's been your solution.
SPEAKER_02Uh-huh. The everyone does the the ref, she got teed up for bouncing a ball behind her back back to the ref a couple games ago. Uh, and they teed her up for that. They left her off that 30th anniversary poster. Take a look at that poster, Mike. Name someone on that poster. Right, none. And and hey, you can't fix stupid, and they're gonna, you know, they're uh the product, don't get me wrong, the product is still not good, I don't think. Um, but damn, I'll take me some Sophie Cunningham all day long. That whole point thing was fantastic, priceless, no doubt, just priceless, no doubt. But again, that gets back to um, even though it was a very uh serious situation, I guess you could say, what that occurred. It's that that element of levity, that element of of laughing, and uh you know, that had permeated, you know, society. That's probably the biggest meme that ever went around since God knows what that, you know, probably something with a baby crying. Uh right, who knows? But it's been it's been good, Mikey. We gotta have you on our we'll have you on our show. Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_05Yeah, a hundred percent. Uh hey, thanks for getting up early and doing this with with me today. I'm gonna head to uh to have you ever been down here? Have you done this? Uh you know, gone to distilleries in uh Kentucky, northern Kentucky?
SPEAKER_02No, because it yeah, I I hit the first distillery and then the bus would leave. Hey, well who is it buddy?
SPEAKER_05Who is the partner? Who is responsible for KB? Um, we yeah, we're we're going to Bardstown today, and then tomorrow we'll stay in Louisville and go to uh McDerws and Angels Envy uh and head on back on Sunday. But uh it's been a fun trip. That's where we're gonna head to today. So I'm gonna bug and uh and go to Bardstown and enjoy the day. Uh thanks for doing this. Thanks for saying yes. And uh your site, um 973 TV. Yep, it's just gonna be the compilation of all of us.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I mean, you can get to your um we can get to your show through there, you can get to Butchy's show through there. Uh Pipe and Red Hot are doing one. Yeah, so we got the Polish Pipe Bomb back. And if like you said before, if you come show up and watch it, great. If you don't, hey, that's cool too. We're just doing what we do because it's what we love to do.
SPEAKER_05100%. Hey KB, I appreciate you. Thanks, bud. We'll uh we'll we'll together. I'll I'll jump on you, just ask, and I'll jump on yours whenever uh you ask me. Okay, that sounds great, Mike. Thanks. All right, KB. See you, bud. That's uh that's my guy, Kevin Brandt, KB. Um KB and I, we we did a few shows together. Uh we it wasn't we don't do the same show. You know, I'm I do a lot of sports stuff, and he does a lot of stuff stuff. Uh but it that is that is a that is a great dude, funny dude. Uh he throws stuff against the wall, not all of it sticks. Uh, in that the case with all of us. Uh he's unafraid in that regard, and I uh have a great amount of respect for who he is, what he does. And um, and his golf game is pretty good, which which doesn't hurt. Uh let me uh let me finish by uh saying thank you to my sponsors uh because uh without them we're not doing what we do. And I and I talked about this earlier with M3 Insurance. With M3, uh independent privately held insurance company, if you're involved in your business's insurance procurement or benefits package or risk management, please reach out to M3. I know that it's a longer runway of decision making when you're talking about uh a business insurance program and benefits package and risk management. But the next time you're looking at it, or if you're looking at it for the first time, dial in m3ins.com and see how they can help you. They've been doing it a long time. They're the people, it's about people. They've got great people there, from Mike Victorson to to Brad Nieber and the guys at the street level, the uh Jeff Kennetz. Uh these these are friends of mine. They do fantastic work. I I feel lucky to to say I call them friends. Uh it it is fantastic what they do. We're also brought to you by one community bank. And I just got a note from Steve Piotr because I sent over uh how I how I do the commercial breaks, how I do the spots. And he has great appreciation because again, this is banking is about relationships. If you think it's just about your money and and access to it and mortgage rates and things like that, then I think you probably missed the boat. I think all business is about people and relationships and their relationship with us at Red and White and at our podcast uh business side of things and our personal banking is fantastic. So the next time you're doing that, making a banking decision, put them in your mental Rolodex and give feel good banking an opportunity with one community, one community bank. By the way, with their mortgage lending and the things they do, they are a member FDIC, an equal housing lender. I also want to say thank you to our friends at Neuroscience Group. I'm gonna see Ben and the group uh up at Neuroscience. I I don't know if it's neuroscience field at uh Fox City Stadium. I think it's it will it's it's either that way or backwards, okay? But I'm gonna go up there at the end of the month. We're gonna do a game on uh Friday, I think it's the 31st, uh, do a show from up there and be part of what they do. But if you have worked through, and boy, if you've ever gone through a sports concussion uh after a car accident, workplace injury, getting the right care matters. They have a comprehensive concussion program that brings together specialists focused on helping you heal and get back to what you love. Go to neurosciencegroup.com, neurosciencegroup.com, and then finally our good friends at Pottawatomi Sportsbook and Casino Bet Above the Rest. When the brewers come back home after the all-star break, they're home a bunch. And their shuttles that go to and from Pottawatomie to American Family Field is the great way to go. And plus, you get to start at a sports book or great food, or if you're gonna spend the night, all of that's good. Our friends at Habish Habish and Road tier 13 locations to ensure you get a hometown attorney that takes care of what you need. And our friends at Traditions Lighting, uh, now is your time, by the way, with Traditions Lighting. We do two packages with them. We do our holiday lighting that goes up uh sometime before Thanksgiving. And we love what we have. And they come back every year. We don't have to worry about put up, takedown, storage, lights that don't work, a wreath that might have faded. Or I mean, everything is it is fantastic. Reach out to traditionslighting.com. And then we're doing a uh a permanent landscape lighting package with them too. And whether you're a business or a homeowner, uh their lighting packages for that provide an extra layer of security for your home or your business, but also uh curb appeal and making your business or your home more beautiful from the outside uh and in. So uh that's traditions lighting. All right, off we go again on a bourbon Friday. I will visit with you later tonight on Brood Daily and then Monday back in studio as uh as we get it underway. Thanks for being patient with us all week, and we'll talk to you uh, like I said, later tonight on Brood Daily. Have a great weekend, a safe weekend, have some fun, and we'll talk to you later on.
SPEAKER_00I love Mondays with my help.