I Love Mondays-Ep97, July 15, 2026

Reactions to the All-Star Game...and the Brewers acquiring RHP Lance McCullers.  A great wide ranging visit with Jim Polzin on the challenges facing Shawn Eichorst at Wisconsin.  The Packers and measuring success with MLF.  The Brewers in the 2+ weeks leading to the trade deadline.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:32

Okay, so uh here we go. There's uh a little bit settle down. There's a little bit of breaking news as we start. Now I say a little bit, I just mean that I don't think it's uh super impactful. It's uh it's a bit of a flyer. I I would suppose that's the terminology that Bob Nightingale attached to it. Uh the and and his tweet is the Brewers are taking a flyer on right-handed pitcher Lance McCullers, who's only pitched 39 and a third inning so far this year. He's appeared uh in eight games. I think all of them are starts. He has a two-and-three record with a 6.86 ERA. I just wanted to add in uh the Brewers are short of arms right now. So when Nightingale calls it a flyer, um it I would say that that is uh the proper terminology. It is uh also it's not a done deal, it's just being reported. So John Heyman says Brewers and talks to acquire McCullough. There's no word that it's a done deal yet. So that storyline is is out there. I wanted to give you a sense of McCullough, who's 32. Uh his ERA is 6.86, and his whip is 1.53. Uh, I'll give you a recent sense of his game log, but the he's on the IL right now. So his last appearance was May the 13th, so it's been a bit. That May 13th appearance against Seattle, he went five and a third, allowed seven hits, two runs, both of them on solo home runs, had six strikeouts and a couple of walks. His first appearance on the year against Boston, he went seven innings, allowed four hits and one run with a walk and nine strikeouts. So he was great. That was in March. Uh his last start on May 13th was good. So a great start to open, a good start there. But in between, he had outings of two and a third or two and two-thirds, with six runs allowed uh against the Dodgers in early May. Last day of April, he went six innings, allowed three runs. That's his other good start against Baltimore. Against the Yankees prior to that, five innings, seven runs. Against St. Louis, five innings, four runs. Against Seattle the first time, four and a third innings, six runs. And against the A's, four innings, three runs. So it there hadn't been any great shakes from McCullers, but I wanted to uh to share that information as it came out right at the right essentially at the top of the show. You know, when I used to do a radio show, by the way, I I let me let me stutter more. I need I need a little bit of your help on a couple of fronts. One, uh should probably look into camera too on this. One, share the uh the information about the show. Here's the thing about podcasts: it's not brand supported. I don't have a radio group that is putting out the word on the podcast on a or the radio show on a daily basis. It's a podcast. So there are a lot of people who listened or, you know, it because it's it's convenience and it's there every day at the same time on the radio. But if you don't mind sharing the information on this with your like-minded sports friends, uh, that this is available out there. And number two, uh, we're always looking to add partners on the sponsor side of it. So here's one of those occasional plugs or calls for action. If you or somebody you know might be interested as a partner sponsor, my email is hellerpods2 at gmail.com. Hellerpods the number two at gmail.com. You can always message the show. Um, but the email is the best way to do it. I hesitate to give out, I give out my cell number pretty regularly, but I don't think I'll do that here for this right now. But the email comes directly to me. I'm the one that sees that. Uh, we don't have a group. There is there's no there's no uh front office. Uh you're in it. Uh this is the front office. I don't report to somebody. I do. I I mean I report to my uh partner sponsors now, uh, just so I can show them what kind of numbers we're sending their way and how that continues to work its way up the escalator. Uh, we continue to get better numbers on this and brood daily. And this is this is the worst week of the year for sports talkers. I it used to be in radio. This is I 100% of the time, this was my week off. I took the week off always because the all-star break, not that I want to run from the grind, but the all-star break is this is the nothingness of sports. And when we begin with NFL training camps and preseason games and college football camps and their first game, which is a week and a half, sometimes two weeks earlier than the NFL, there's a lot going on. So I just wanted to make sure I silence, put my phone on, do not disturb. I wanted to make sure I put that out there. So we're doing really well from a numbers standpoint and continually growing. And the brood daily stuff has been great. And I think I've said this, but I'll say it again. The brood daily is going to be followed up. We'll probably re rebrand it a little bit to Heller's final on a Brewers and a Packers and a Badgers. Um, so that when I do that, it will be after a Packer game and after a Badger game and after every brewer game. So, and maybe a little bit more on that front. Plus this daily at 10 a.m. Jim Paul Zini, the Wisconsin State Journal, columnist who is great at what he does, um, the and lucky to uh to call him a friend and uh he'll join on the show here later this morning. Couple of notes coming in. Uh James was in first. James, you get the first uh jump onto the screen. Uh good, holy hot hump day. Yeah, it's all of that. Uh so I appreciate you, James. Thank you. And then Brian, uh Mike, Mike, Mike, guess what day it is? Good. I love that. Cheers to uh to I love Mondays, appreciate it. From Mike and Merrill, good morning. And uh apparently Mike doesn't like the heat. Yeah, it is it's it's a little hot, uh no doubt about that. This note in from uh from my guy Dan Carey, uh absolutely crushing a mic, huge fan of the I Live Mondays and Brood Daily, have been pushing my Wisconsin sports loving friends to follow, keep doing what you're doing. Thank you, Dan. Um and I appreciate uh his support, also partnership uh on what it is that we're doing. These are I would say that these are fun times, these are anticipatory times to greater daily news. You know, when Lance McCullough's kind of leading the storyline today, I will say this. I don't mind that the Brewers taking a flyer on Lance McCullough's. Uh, the Chris Hook Jim Henderson impact on pitchers is real. So maybe they see something in the first and the last start of the year by Lance McCullough that they go, well, if we could just do this with him, maybe we have something. So um, so that's part of it. Mike's talking about the air quality. Oh, yeah, sure. Smoke from the Canadian uh wildfire is horrible, foggy, and smelly. Yeah, I get that. I get that. Um, Mark says, good morning, a bit behind watching the uh Greg Guard update on basketball practices. Yeah, they had an open practice yesterday, coincides with this timing. And I had a chance yesterday to sit down with Sean Eichhorst, the Wisconsin athletic director, named officially a week ago. I sat down with him for Badger Connect. That podcast will launch tomorrow morning. It's kind of a wide-ranging, all-encompassing 40-minute sit-down that we did at Camp Randall Stadium, just he and I. And uh, you'll see that tomorrow on Badger Connect. So I wasn't able to get over to Badger Hoop's practice. The hope is uh they're doing the same thing next Tuesday. Uh and my hope is to be over there and visit with Coach Guard and uh some of the uh and get a chance to see practice uh next week. Here's my thoughts on the All-Star game. I thought it was great. I didn't think the game, and it's been a while since the game has been enticing. And when you don't have a dog in the fight or a player in the game, um, specifically with Miz and Contreras, you knew Ms. wasn't gonna play, um, less of an overall interest. And the game started with, I mean, there was one extra base hit last night. And here's here's one of the messages on that. Great pitching will beat great hitting almost all the time. Great pitching is almost unhittable. There was one extra base hit in the game. A homer. That's it. One. Um I thought the game was fantastic in this regard. The uh the the put-on with with the Ray Charles song and the Sandlock Kids on Bikes going into the game was incredibly well produced. I mean, it's just beautiful. I'm an emotional person, so I'm watching that and I rewatched it again this morning, posted it on my Twitter if you haven't seen it at Heller Sports. It was really good. It it it if it didn't bring a tear to your eye, then maybe you're not of a certain age. Because I grew up on a summer day like this, because my parents didn't say, hey, Mike, it's gonna be 90 degrees today, stay in the house. We didn't have air conditioning anyway, and we didn't have AC in the house. So getting on a bike, that's what we did. If you're if you're of a certain age and that didn't touch you, then you didn't have a ball glove and a bike. Because that's what we did. We we would do that on days that we didn't go to the pool. You know, I grew up in Appleton, so we would go to Mead pool. Um, yeah. If you didn't do that, you were on your bikes going to Tolula Park or uh, you know, Lions Field and playing home run derby. Or buddies of mine, Mark Brophy and others, we'd we'd go to the elementary school not far from us and play tennis baseball. But everybody was on their bikes. Glove over the handlebar on your bike, a bat across the handlebar, maybe, if that's you know, if you were responsible for bringing the bat. So that was really, really cool. How they did it. It was it was touching, it was fantastic. The kids were in well chosen. I don't know how they did the process, if it was casted, but really good. The game was, you know, the game is a game. Dominant pitching. So um yeah. Uh let's see. Um Ed related to the new AD is what he meant to say. If it's not giving away too much of your interviewer putting you in a spot universally, were things worse than we thought uh regarding the um Shepherd remark on Johnson. Uh listen, uh in the interest of fairness, I I think I did a a pretty good conversation with Sean, but it's for Badger Connect. So we weren't gonna run into areas that um that were gonna be too controversial, and I don't think we there there is much on the controversial front ever. Um yeah. Mike talked about uh with um with William and Wilson. I don't know if it's I I doubt that it's the first time brothers, but I maybe you have info that I don't have. There have been only five sets of brothers that have played in the all-star game.

unknown 13:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 13:19

So um all interesting stuff. And and I today you get another World Cup semi-final uh with uh England and Argentina at two o'clock. And I get the timing, but um American TV would love for it to be prime time. The two o'clock is a concession, I'm sure, to allow um the European block to to see this in close to not being in the middle of the night overnight. So uh this is I'm sure is the the timing that works best for all considered on that front. Uh let me spend just a minute uh on this front here thanking our sponsors because it is part of uh of what we do here. And I want to thank our friends at Habish Habish Enroteer and Pottawatomi Sportsbook and Casino for their trust and partnership in what it is that we do here. I also want to spend some time talking about uh my friends at M3 Insurance because with M3, you kind of get it all. Your independent, privately held insurance broker and risk management firm committed to small business, that runs deep. Passionate about helping their businesses grow and stay strong by growing your business and providing you with the best resources that you can have on risk management, insurance situations, and benefit packages, go to m3ins.com. That's m3ins.com. Now, here's an interesting concept when it comes to if you've had a concussion, a sports concussion, you're in an accident, have a concussion, a workplace injury, you need to get the right care on this. And the most comprehensive concussion program in the state is at Neuroscience Group. They bring together all the specialists to work and to get you back to doing what you love. Neuroscience Group, the leader in concussion care, neurosciencegroup.com. And we're also presented by our friends at One Community Bank. Keep cool this summer and let one community bank help your everyday money go further. With their feel good deposit rates from CD specials to savings accounts, there is something for everyone to help your savings grow. Enjoy your summer with feel good banking. One community bank.community dot bank is the website to go to. So we jump back into uh to having this conversation with you. We appreciate you being here. I bring in uh my friend from the Wisconsin State Journal, and that is uh their colonist Jim Polzine, who I add into the show. Jimmy, how are you?

SPEAKER_02 15:58

Great, Mike. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_01 16:00

Good. Thanks for uh jumping in and and doing this. You know, we I saw you, we all were together last week when um when Sean Icorse was introduced as Wisconsin's newest athletic director. Run me through your reaction or those who haven't read your column on that decision and your reaction to it and maybe what it lends to what the future immediate long term might look like here.

SPEAKER_02 16:27

Yeah, so it's it's funny because it's been kind of a a runway, I would say. Um, you know, you hear the news that Sean was hired, and I think my initial reaction uh was that I didn't know how to react. I I really didn't. I I kind of was right down in the middle, and I hate that as someone who's supposed to have a pretty strong opinion. Yeah, um, I really struggled with that column the first day because I I didn't have a strong opinion. I certainly wasn't I didn't hate it and I didn't love it. Um I just kind of thought, you know, I needed to know more. And certainly the Nebraska stuff jumps out as kind of the one thing that you know you you kind of want to dig into more. Um and then like because this has been kind of a slow rollout, like he, you know, there was a Zoom the first day he was hired, there was an actual formal introductory news conference, and then this Monday, this this week, I got to sit down with him just one-on-one. Um, so it's been finding out more about him, um, learning more about him. I like what I see. I I didn't Sean was here and I was here back in 20 or 15 years ago, but I don't I wouldn't say I got a chance to really know him. He was kind of a behind the scenes guy. I was a little bit of a behind-the-scenes guy at the time. So this is really a chance to kind of get to know someone. And um, you know, I guess the thing I'd say right now, two weeks into his hire, is that I like his energy, yeah, um, and I like his curiosity. I that stood out Monday when I talked to him, is like he he doesn't come in here with all the answers, he wants to find out more, even as a guy who's been here, he wants to dig in deep and talk to people and kind of kind of understand the landscape before he jump goes and jumping and making big decisions.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

Yeah, and I think um, Jim, if if if my memory serves me right, I mean, he's the first time Wisconsin has had an athletic director that I can remember that wasn't a significant player or coach, right? So Mac was a player, played in the NFL. Barry was obviously his track record is there. Prior to that, you had Pat Richter, who is certainly a player. I don't know what Aid Sponberg's background was, Elroy Hirsch prior to that. So, you know, and and Sean makes no bones about it. He says, I I'm not I didn't come from coaching. He was so and that was how he answered a little bit of of the football situation, is that he he said he needs to see how Luke and the staff do what they do and what they need from him. So he flipped it, right? I mean, I thought he did a good job of that. He flipped it. I he said, I want to see what they need from me before we look at what we need from them. And I thought that was an interesting way to approach it.

SPEAKER_02 19:02

Yeah, I mean, that kind of gets back to what I say about not having all the answers. I mean, he he's been around some really good coaches at really all four stops, uh, five stops. Go back to Whitewater. Like he sure, you know, he he took over as a 31-year-old AD and suddenly was his former football coach, Bob Rezwitz, his boss, right? Yeah, and that was a that was a pretty powerful set of coaches at Whitewater. So I do think he he the way he goes about it is he learns from these people and tries to understand coaching, not pretend like he knows it all. I think that's that's that's a good process to take. Um, you know, he's gonna sit down not with just Luke Fickle, but he's gonna sit down with every every member of that football staff. He's gonna sit down with all 405, I believe, employees at UW just to A get to know them. Some of them he's never met, some of them he knows. Um, and B, just to try to understand the the situation better and what you know, like some of his questions are what do we do well? What can we get better at? And I think that's a great way, and like just to kind of you know get this into the football talk, um, what better way to understand a program or and and where it might be headed or where it might be struggling than to ask, you know, and and try to get to the bottom of things. So I do, like I said, curious is one thing that's has stood out about him. I think that's a great quality to have. Um, and then and I think if you're a boss, that's even better quality to have.

SPEAKER_01 20:26

When when the the negativity for those who wanted to to view, and there's certainly the the percentage of sport population that that uh skews to the negative side first. Nebraska is a curious model there because Bo Pollini was not very popular uh before that decision was made to let him go. And it will, I don't think it was about the firing of Bo Pollini, it was about the hiring of Mike Riley, um, who didn't it didn't end up working, right? I mean, Mike Riley had had some success at Oregon State. Maybe the concept was here's a really good guy who really knows his football. He's gonna be more of a Nebraska guy than Bo was on the back end. And maybe because we have greater resources, this will be a perfect fit for him rather than playing second fiddle in the state of Oregon behind the ducks. But it just it didn't work. And that was the criticism of him. And the downside at Nebraska is he hired the wrong football coach. Is that a fair way to look at the negative side of that experience?

SPEAKER_02 21:27

Yeah, I think that's I mean, there's more, I would say, but I let's start with football. If he gets that higher right, certainly, yes, it's it's he's probably got the job for longer than he has it. And you're right about Polini, like he had a small group of, I don't know if it's small, a vocal group of people that were very, very loyal to Bull Palini. So when that move was made, there was a lot of anger. Um, a lot of anger, but there was also a group at Nebraska that wanted him out. They just not so much for the wins and losses, but how he presented himself. And so I don't think firing. Pellini was really the move that got Sean kind of caused the eyes to be looked at him a little bit more. It was not getting the Mike Riley higher right.

SPEAKER_03 22:09

Right.

SPEAKER_02 22:10

Um, there was more to his tenure at Nebraska just from a um, I don't think he was out in public enough, especially with the media. Like I think he was kind of not as accessible as he would be. And I think that's something he learned. Like to his credit, I think he learned that lesson and is going to try harder to be more accessible to the media and and others. And one thing he did at at Nebraska that should be noted is they did like a barnstorming tour of the state just to meet people.

SPEAKER_03 22:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:41

Um, and I think he'll do that eventually here. I don't know if he has to do it as much here because people know him, but you know, it wasn't that he wasn't out. I just don't think he got himself in front of the right people there and and and some grudges were held.

SPEAKER_01 22:52

Yeah, and and here, if I just and we'll get to it in a moment, but if I take football off the table, everything else here looks to be in pretty good shape, right? I mean, the uh of the sports that we pay some significant attention to, volleyball, both hockeys, basketball, certainly on the men's side, in a good spot, and on women's side appears to be trending in the right direction. And even some of the sports we don't pay that much attention to, track and field on the Selinski hire, uh, softball, that healy, and and the success they're having. Certainly, volleyball is something we pay a lot of attention to. I mean, bigger picture, Jim. He's in a good spot. Football will be the question.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

Yeah, it's a solid foundation. I think those are exact words. Like this is a solid foundation he's walking into with the caveat, and that's it's a rather large caveat that you've got to get football right, right? Like you gotta in the next two years, you've got to fix that, or else the bills really start becoming due. And if people if attendance continues to dip, it's it it becomes a pretty big problem. So he's gotta get that right. And I I don't again, I don't think he comes in with any changes he's gonna make right off the bat. It's it's an evaluation period, and and this season is huge as far as understanding the trajectory of this program. I mean, it's just it there's no other way to say it than we have to see what happens this fall because right now, um it's especially from Sean Icor's standpoint, it's just too early for him to make any snap judgments.

SPEAKER_01 24:24

Jim, I I don't think it's fair to put uh I uh we put numbers on things all the time. But and but I always the there are always nuances involved in the numbers. So if I say to you, what is a win-loss? What is a win-loss number at the end of this season that makes Sean Ikehorst decision for him? It's easy to say, well, if this team wins eight games, he's not making a football decision. If they win six games, he's probably making a football decision, but there's nuances involved there. What does success look like for football this year where Sean Eichorst doesn't have to really dig in and think about making a call on that?

SPEAKER_02 25:04

Yeah, no, it's a great question. And I've spent probably too much time thinking about it because you're right, it's you can point to seven and five. That's kind of where I've landed, right? Like, yeah, you with this schedule, you have to go seven and five, or else, you know, I I don't see how you get around it. And seven and five, even I don't know that would be that that impressive of a season. It certainly would be the arrow is pointing up after going four and eight, but I think you're only looking at it that way because last season was so bad, right? Like it's it's hard not to go up. Um, seven and five, does that include a win over Minnesota to end the season, right? Because if you go seven and five and lose to Iowa and Minnesota, there's gonna be a lot of people that are still unhappy. So it is, it's it's nuanced. It's how does this team look in its losses? You know, like let's start off with game one. How does this team look against Notre Dame? You know, do they look competitive? Yeah, is there reason for hope after that game? That's a big thing. But I again, like, I I've kind of landed anything less than seven and five is just a tough look.

SPEAKER_01 26:06

Yeah, let me add let me add to that because you and I are thinking along the same lines. If you're seven and five and you lost to Notre Dame in a non-competitive fashion, you lost at Penn State in a non-competitive fashion, you didn't beat Iowa, you didn't beat Minnesota, and you lost to USC, your your win, none of your wins are hang your hat on wins. So I I do think seven and five, depending on the nuances, has a chance to be not good enough. I I I think they're an eight-win team, but I do that without all of us do that without having seen this quarterback play at this level, yeah, or so many of their players that are going to be featured playing at this level. That's just the the transfer portal era of college football is you just haven't seen these guys. But to me, success is probably eight, seven wins. Some people say, Well, yeah, he's not making a change of seven wins. I mean, that's where the nuance comes in, right?

SPEAKER_02 27:06

Well, and the tricky part too, Mike, is that seven and seven wins with a quarterback who has eligibility left, and yeah, um, some of your best young players, Mason Posa and Cooper Catalano, with eligibility left, right? I think you can sell yourself on okay, seven and five. This this this season has its um it's not great, right? The record improved, it's not a great season, but maybe there's one more season, sure, and and you're gonna be better in in 2027 when the schedule again is favorable, not you know, maybe not as favorable as this year, but favorable. So you know it's it's tough, and I uh nuance is a word you keep using, and I I think that's such an important word, is that you need to kind of look underneath the hood and see where they're where they're headed. Um, some pretty significant changes were made in the offseason regarding NIL and stuff, right? Is that does Luke Fickle need a two-season runway um before you can really truly judge him? I I think all of that is great fodder and and something for Sean Nikors to kind of decide um over the next six months or so.

SPEAKER_01 28:14

This this is more about the the football and the people involved directly in it and how they work and go about their daily business. But for anybody going to ACDC uh this weekend or going around the stadium, it's a mess. Like right now, it's it's a full construction zone. McClane Center is being bulldozed as we speak. It's it's going on now, but they're gonna have to move, Jim. They're gonna be in a temporary locker room the next year, maybe two. They'll have use of the new facility, but it phase two is when that completes, and that's a couple years down the road before we're talking about the completion. But I mean, they're working out of temporary setups now for the next two seasons, probably.

SPEAKER_02 28:58

Yeah, I was just there Monday, and it was you're right, a mess. Um, I didn't know where to park, I didn't know how to get from one end of the stadium to Kilner Hall. It's yeah, it's not it's a little bit of a metaphor for um for the athletic department in general, but it's under construction, right? Like, I I do think this is an important stretch. This is such an important I keep I keep using this this phrase in stories. It's a critical time for both Wisconsin but also college athletics in general, and that's it is it's it's it's crucial. Like we we don't know what the rules are gonna look like, we don't know what yeah conferences are gonna look like. It's just uh it's a big time for college athletics, and it's a big time for Wisconsin, and that's why I think you know it's it's a hard job Sean Eichorst is walking into. There's a lot of good things about it, and that's why I don't think it's a complete rebuild or a you know, I think it was still a pretty attractive job to the right person. But yeah, he's it's it's gonna be a it's gonna be an interesting year plus for this institution and for Sean Eichorst and this football program. I know that's where you started the question.

SPEAKER_01 30:03

Yeah, and and and it will be for basketball. I think Greg Gard and his staff have done such a great job, much of it drumming up some of their own dollars to do what they're doing and finding guys that others didn't find or didn't invest in. But they need greater resources at their disposal to keep up and compete with the upper echelon in college basketball. And that's you know, that's where Sean Icors did his work his first time here was not the funding, but his oversight was over Bo Ryan and men's basketball, and he's close with that staff. He covered those, he was working when those players who are on the staff now were playing. And guard has been a long time uh friend of his. So they also know that that's number two on the importance list, and funding needs to be at a higher level there. I think that's a fair assessment.

SPEAKER_02 30:57

Yeah, and and it the tricky part throughout what no matter who the athletic director was, the tricky part to me has always been how much how many resources do you devote to football, knowing that football has to get right, right? Like you have to get that right, yeah. Um, but you don't want to take away from men's basketball, uh, you don't want to take away from volleyball, um, and others, men's hockey, right? Like you can't do that. Like last winter, what we saw was women's hockey and men's hockey kind of lifted the spirits of an athletic department that really needed it after that fall, right? So um it it's I don't know what I would do if I were in Sean Icorps' foot feet uh shoes, excuse me. Yes, um, in terms of like how you divvy up that money. But yes, uh you look at how basketball money especially has exploded, the NIL money's exploded in the offseason, yeah. And it's been tough for Greg Gard and company to keep up as hard as they're working behind the scenes, right? Um, and I don't know how you get that right. I I I really don't, because there's Greg Gard has worked a lot of worked really hard behind the scenes and and just kind of grassroot fundraising. Um, they need more donors. Like if you're talking about a an issue right now that that Sean ICourse has to get to the bottom to is they need more donors, they have some really good donors and some a lot of people that have given a lot of money, they need to grow that base. That that's certainly that was gonna be the challenge for whoever took over that role. And I think one of one of the main priorities for Sean ICourse is how do we build that donor base so we're not relying on the same people year after year after year.

SPEAKER_01 32:32

Yeah. And maybe uh maybe Culver's changes their color scheme. Maybe they they become, you know, those those patches are gonna be on the uniforms um this year, and and I I'm in favor of that. I know some traditionalists don't like that. I don't even see it after a while, which is not what the the the company wants to hear, but I don't notice Northwest Mutual on Brewers' uniforms. I just I there comes a time when I don't see it anymore. Uh so not a significant issue. Let me take you up to Lambeau. Uh, two weeks from today, training camp will get underway. And this is the the uh outrage season because this sea uh we're in the season of lists, right? So your quarterback's not in the top 10. What do you mean he's not in the top 10? Is what we do. We get outraged and and the fans get outraged. Um, but when we cut to the chase, who the Packers are this season will depend a lot on how the offensive line works and it's Zach Tom's return. Um what they do at at left tackle with Jordan Morgan. Can he he be that guy? Because if that they don't work up front, then the Jordan Love conversation is a moot point.

SPEAKER_02 33:45

Yeah, I totally agree. I mean, the offensive line has to be better this year. I think the other group that I'm really got my eyes on entering this season is the wide receivers. Like, you know, they've they've they've got a young, talented group there with a couple of guys that need to make jumps, like three guys probably in my mind that need to make jumps. Um and are certainly capable of it. If those two position groups are better than they were last season, I think that makes Jordan Love better. I really do. Um I think it's it's one of those cases where the people around Jordan Love need to improve, and I am counting on Jordan Love taking another step too. And if all three of those things happen, then I think that offense looks a lot better and certainly a lot more consistent.

SPEAKER_01 34:31

I was talking to uh Aaron Nagler about this the other day. There's uh you're coaching against history right now with Matt LaFleur. There's only been one NFL head coach in the league's history to coach in and win a Super Bowl after year seven, when he hasn't done it in the first seven, and that was John Madden, who did it with the uh the Oakland Raiders, first ring with the Raiders in his eighth season in 1977. So LaFleur's through seven. Um, he hasn't been to a Super Bowl, and there are those who say, well, he's not gonna be. What is your view on where he stacks right now? And even with the extension, uh it would seem to me, I want your opinion, that he's coaching for his job on a yearly basis as we roll forward.

SPEAKER_02 35:17

Yeah, I almost think that should be the way it is in the NFL.

SPEAKER_01 35:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 35:21

For almost everybody. Um, I I think it's a I think it's a big year for him. Um, I wondered after walking out of Soldier Field last year after that playoff loss, I wondered if he'd be back. I kind of doubted he would be back, and I was wrong. Uh, so yes, it's a huge year for him. I don't again, I I look around the NFC and I don't know that I would say that they're the favorites. I think they're in the group of teams that are in the running. I don't know that I would say they're in the favorites, but you'd like to see positive steps forward. Um, you'd like to see them be in the running uh for an NFC championship game. Um, but I don't know. I I I do think I don't like the idea of coaches getting stale. I I don't really buy into that. I think coaches can kind of keep evolving and getting better. Um, but yeah, it's a big year for him. It's a big year for Brian Gudekunz, too. I think that's one thing that I've kind of struggled with is um you know, I almost tend to put more heat on Matt LaFleur when this team uh performs the way it does, like it did last season. And maybe Guda Koons deserves you know a greater share of the blame, too. So yeah, throw him in that category of it's a big year for him because some of his young players that I think have a lot of talent need to step up. And I've named, you know, I've I've named some groups, but there's probably a handful of guys that I think are really talented, and yet we haven't seen their full capability. Um, and I don't know if that's a coaching staff problem or an evaluation problem. So I think it's a big year for to just to kind of the whole group up there to kind of evaluate them.

SPEAKER_01 36:55

Jim, I I I think when we talk about coaches getting stale, they get stale sometimes to media and sometimes certainly to the fan base. But the roster is there, I mean, there's no I I haven't looked, but I don't think there's a member of the Packers player roster that was on the team in Matt LaFleur's first two seasons, maybe not even his first three that's there now. I could be wrong on somebody there, but if there is that guy, there's there's not many of them. You know, sometimes it's a kicker or a punter, and I don't think that's the case. So the message gets old with the fan base. We don't want to see coaches react the same way after a loss, and after you've seen it a few years, well, he said the same thing six years ago and four years ago. And I I I think it it's the same thing as scars over teams that blow late leads. You know, this team didn't blow a late lead in 2014 in Seattle, right? I mean, but for a fan base, those always stay with you. And I I think the Packers fans are kind of starved right now. Starved January success, right?

SPEAKER_02 37:58

That's the word I was gonna use. Is it's a starving stand fan base because it's been it's been so long, and I think you do tend to every year that it doesn't happen after that, it just this feeling inside of you tends to to grow and grow and grow. So yeah, I think that's part of it. Um, and I again it comes down to this whether you're Matt LaFleur or Brian Gudacoose or Jordan Love, you got to go out there and do it, right? Until you do it, the questions hover over you. Um, it's just whether that's fair or not, it's it's it's part of the job, and and that's kind of where this franchise and some of its key members find themselves right now.

SPEAKER_01 38:33

Yeah, and the the importance of of three significant members returning from injury, and people don't think of that with Zach Tom, but Zach Tom is coming back from an injury, he might be their most important offensive lineman, along with Jordan Morgan playing left tackle. So is Tom healthy? And then Micah Parsons, you got to think that that's a late season injury. I mean, I don't know if I would look at him in the month of October. If it is, it's late October. And then Tucker Kraft to be the guy that he was before the injury last year, he would be back sooner, I would think. But those three, I mean, the critical nature of their return, I don't think it can be underestimated.

SPEAKER_02 39:13

No, you're I think what you're hoping for if you're a Packers fan is to kind of get through this early, the first half of the season with a decent enough record where you can get those guys, some of your yeah, some of your dudes, I always call them, um, back and healthy. And then certainly you want them healthy on January 8th or 9th or whatever the playoffs begin. Um, because I think if you can get this roster, this roster is talented enough. I think if you can get this roster healthy enough um by that time of the season, then it's you know the playoffs, anything can happen, right? You just want to get there and be in good enough position where you know you certainly don't want to go in having to win three road games in January to get there. But that's you know, I I do think the early part of the season is important just for kind of treading water is such a bad way to put it, but you know, win enough games that you're that you're in the hunt, and then if you can get those three guys back healthy and if you can keep them healthy, which is just as important, I think you've got a chance because you know they didn't have some of their bell cows late last season. That's not an excuse, but it's it's factual. Yeah, and that wasn't the roster they wanted to take into the postseason.

SPEAKER_01 40:21

Let me uh slide down the road and take you to Milwaukee uh for the Brewers. Lance McCullers, it appears, is going to be acquired today. Uh, it's a bit of a flyer. Uh he's pitched this year for Houston, but not in a few weeks. He's on the IL right now. I think that uh really smart people in the Brewers' front office see something in him that maybe Chris Chris Hook and Jim Henderson can pull out. They're also very short of arms right now here at the All-Star break. The most wins in franchise history at the break at 59. Recent memory has people worried because of the last, you know, 28 hours in Pittsburgh didn't go very well with three losses. But they're overall in a really good spot. It creates the question that we're going to be asking and trying to answer for the next two plus weeks is do they do something of significance before or at the trade deadline?

SPEAKER_02 41:12

Yeah, I think they have to. The question becomes how significant, right? Right? Like I I think, you know, like I do think they need arms. I think they I walked away from I went over there a couple weeks ago for the Chicago series, and I walked away thinking, you know, certainly need bullpen arms and really could use a bat, um, a power bat that you could rely on come October. Um, and I now and now just seeing how Mizarowski and and Harrison are you know in need of a little bit of a break, um, I think you could use a starting arm too, and that's a lot, right? Yeah, and I don't know that any of those guys are gonna be huge names because you're gonna have to give up some pretty big names in your farm system to get those guys, but I do think they have to make some moves. It's just a matter of how big those moves are. Um, and I, you know, I think the one thing is they're in a position of strength in that their farm system is really good and really deep right now. I think you can I think you can acquire some key pieces without giving up some of your key pieces in the farm system. So I think that's probably the position that Matt Arnold is operating from right now is that um, you know, you can make some moves without depleting your farm system and keeping yourself competitive for years to come.

SPEAKER_01 42:32

I I I talked about this yesterday uh a little bit, but I would prepare the fan base for uh feeling underwhelmed on what the Brewers do, especially compared to what I think they will do in Chicago, because I do think a guy like Terek Scuble could be a Cub before the trade deadline comes and goes. Or uh Ryan up in Minnesota. I think the the Cubs are gonna make a bigger news splash on the trade front than the Brewers. It's been part of the MO for both, I think. And uh and they're closing in the rear view just a little bit, and the fans are gonna get really nervous and not happy about that one if indeed it happens.

SPEAKER_02 43:16

Yeah, and I understand that. I mean, I I think I think there's a portion of the fan base that wants the brewers just to go all in and yeah and and do it. And I get that feeling. I I from my perspective, I'm not even sure going in is enough. Going all in is enough because I I think the Dodgers are, even though the record doesn't indicate it, they're still the Dodgers, and I I think that team is better and significantly better right now. So that's what you don't want to happen is going all in, depleting, you know, getting rid of some of your best minor leaguers and having nothing to show for it. And that's right, if you're Matt Arnold, um it's it's kind of the tough situation you find yourself in.

SPEAKER_01 43:57

It's it and to me, there's also one more layer of On this, and that that's the critical nature of winning your division and being one of the top two teams, which a year ago obviously got got them to the divisional round in a showdown with the Cubs without having to play. And I think that's almost to me, it's as important as being the one seed in the NFL that you get a buy. Uh, if you're one of the top two seeds in major league baseball in in your league, you don't have to play that opener. And I think for the Brewers, that means a lot.

SPEAKER_02 44:27

Oh, absolutely. Winning series is as the Brewers have shown, by having great regular seasons for a long time and not even show for it in the playoffs, winning series is difficult because there's not a lot of difference between these teams. No, the best teams in each league. And then baseball is such a funny sport that you know it anything can happen in October. So, yeah, I agree with you. Having to win one less series or one fewer series um is huge. So if you can hold on and win the division and be playing your best baseball come October, I think that's huge. Um, I you know, you mentioned the Pittsburgh series before. I'm not all that concerned. I think this team hit a wall after a long stretch, and they are, you know, their arms, the the pitching staff is depleted right now. Um, I'm not overall too concerned about how that series played out. If you win that first game of the double header last Saturday, yeah, make things look a lot different. Um, but let's see how they come out of it um after a really, really long stretch. And it was an absolute grind the last three weeks of the the pre-all-star um stretch.

SPEAKER_01 45:25

I I have one bucks question. Do you uh so Tyler Hero and again, you know, in in Madison, he's not making friends uh for the comment that he that he talked about the de commit from Wisconsin, he wouldn't be with the Bucs or in the NBA now, which is silly. Uh for him, maybe it's funny, but um where do they sit now, the three weeks removed from the trade? There's not much news in the summer other than summer league. But do you think they will uh pull in some sense of excitement about you know being a team that is gonna build, or that's obviously the goal. Uh, can it be attained in the near term?

SPEAKER_02 46:08

Yeah, I think it's gonna be a little, it's gonna be a lengthy rebuild. I don't know what number I would put on it. I think some of the some of their most loyal fans are gonna like this stretch, they're gonna like watching young players grow. Um and you know, as they should. Like there's some there's some young, intriguing pieces on the roster now, and it even though it might result in more losses, it's gonna be interesting, intriguing to watch them grow, right? I get that. You think the casual fan might tune out? Uh and I worry about that a little bit because no one wants to see the losses pile up. Um there's no there's no guy like Giannis to go watch, and and you know, he was such a fun player to watch that I I think the casual fan might kind of tune out for the time being. Um, but it's just kind of how you want to look at this situation. It's it was time for a reset, right? Like I don't see how you make the argument that it wasn't. This team was not close to winning a championship. And if that's the point, then you got to kind of find a way to move on and reset the roster. And they've done that with what I think are some young, intriguing guys. And that's from my perspective, I don't want to say I'm more interested in this team than I was pre-trade, but I'm just as interested because I I think there's some young guys who could kind of grow. And if you if you can watch a player grow over years and years, um it's fun when it ends up blossoming, right?

SPEAKER_01 47:38

Yeah, I don't know if you're much of a soccer fan, but are you a bigger soccer fan today than you were six weeks ago?

SPEAKER_02 47:44

No, I'm about so I'm a pretty big soccer fan. I wasn't growing up, really didn't start being a soccer fan until my kids started playing. Um, but I'm a pretty big fan. Um, and I don't say I would am any bigger. I've I've spent a fair deep amount of time watching the the World Cup, and it's it's it's a great event. Um, and I've I've it's been kind of interesting for me to kind of watch um the American fans who maybe aren't as big of fans kind of grow into this, and then there's a lot of people around the world who know the game better and appreciate the game more. Um, and it's been there's been a lot of bickering between the two bases. That's been fun for me as kind of a someone kind of in the middle. But yeah, it's a it's it's a great event. I the the thing I'm bummed the most about is I didn't get to any games. There weren't really any close options. Kansas City was the closest, but yeah, it's been it's been a great event, and um I'm interested to see how it finishes up.

SPEAKER_01 48:44

Hey Jim, I always appreciate you spending time. Uh I know it's a longer window than when we do this, uh, so I appreciate it, and we'll look forward to the next time we get a chance.

SPEAKER_02 48:52

My pleasure, Mike. I'll see you around.

SPEAKER_01 48:53

Thank you, Jim. Jim Paul Seen, the Wisconsin State Journal, great columnist, uh, who does fantastic work. Um, and every time I I ask, I understand that it's not our radio interviews that we used to do that you used to block out 12 minutes, it's blocking out um 40 minutes. So it's a it's a big commitment. I appreciate it. Uh always good info. And and it's I I should say this with him when when he's still with me, not after, but he he does not have an easy job. Coaches many times, administrators have a wary eye about columnists because columnists share their opinions, and they're not, they have to check their fan card. And you know, I'm a fan, so my opinions might be skewed a little bit by that. Uh, great columnists, and and I I think Jimmy's one of them. Tom Oates did it for a very long time. Uh, it's it's a delicate, it's a balancing act to stay uh true to the craft, but also to foster relationships with people uh that are part of organizations that you cover on a regular basis. It's um it's an important uh it's an important role in media, and it's not always easy. Mark says, love uh Jim Paul Zene, has great opinions on all the state sports. I agree, and he followed to me one of the legends in Tom Oates in doing it. Mike Lucas uh also um, but in a different way. So really good stuff, and I appreciate him uh spending time with us. So so I think about this as we work into the the trade deadline in major league baseball that is on August 3rd. Um I think of it in regards to what the Brewers will do. And I think there are two things for me that that I set myself up for. One, I'm not convinced that they're gonna go get a Tarek Skubel or a Joe Ryan or a significant name, Michael Walker. I'm not convinced that that's the direction they'll go. If they do, I will be encouraged. If they don't, I won't be devastated. So it's kind of that fan setup. I also think that the Brewers have shown that they're good enough to win it. How and you can't some of this stuff you can't control from a health standpoint. So what is the real story on Kyle Harrison if there's a real story below what we know or beyond what we know? Is was Miz just on the fatigue line? Because to me, at 111 innings, that that'd set you up to be a little fatigued. I mean, he threw 129 innings a year ago. So how deep are you going here? And how many can you afford to skip him on occasion, or is he gonna be the guy that takes the ball every fifth day? I I thought it was a really smart move to shut him down before instead of pitching on Sunday against Skeens in Pittsburgh, to give him that time, not having pitching the all-star game, and to allow the the freedom of some recovery here to refresh and to be ready, probably in the second series out of the break. So maybe not against Miami this weekend, but early next week. So we'll see how that plays. I don't think they need a bat, but that's that's relying on what they've gotten from Joey Ortiz and Hamilton splitting third base, what they get from I I think it's so interesting how they manage Luis Lara out of the all-star break. Because if he's on your major league roster, you want him to play. And if you want him to play, you've got Churio and Mitchell and Freelick in your outfield. Who does he play for? And is he just the rover who is there when somebody gets a day off to be that guy? I'm super interested in how they continue to handle Vaughn and Jake Bowers. And I think there's a growing question about Kristen Yelich and what he is or isn't providing. So as your everyday DH, he has been very underwhelming from what teams count on getting out of that position. Not all of what he provides is measured in box score statistics. There is he he is their leader. I don't think you should make any mistake about it. He's their leader. The players in that clubhouse look to him for guidance and leadership. He, you know, the heartbeat might be a guy like Sal Freelick, but who they look to for inspiration and work ethic and how they go about the grind, I think they look to Kristen Yelich. So careful on just looking at numbers. But to the point, when you pencil in a DH every day, regardless of what city he's in and what his name is and where he's been and what he's done, that DH has to produce a number. And Yelits has not produced the number right now that that makes you go, okay, yeah, I get it, what they're doing. I'm just gonna quickly call up what he has produced offensively. And you know, when you have to scroll down when you get on the stat page to get to him, it's it's just not enough. He's hitting 243, six homers, and 31 runs batted in. I get it, he missed a month. But the the 31 runs batted in, which extrapolates out to even if he has a little bit better second half, he's a 60-ish RBI guy. I mean, because we're well past the halfway point. Is you know, if your full-time DH is knocking in 55 runs uh and hitting 10 home runs, it's probably not enough. You know, when you when you think of that position, you think of what an Andrew Vaughn could provide you as an everyday full-time DH. It's it's just these are all interesting things to pay attention to from a brewer's standpoint as they begin play again on Friday. And at 59 wins, they're they're in a really good spot. They don't want to trade records, they're not gonna trade with people who say, Oh, I'd rather be the Cubs right now. Really? You'd rather be five games back? They don't want, they would rather not be five games back. Now, it is they're trending in the right direction, and the Brewers were trending in the right direction. I think we're a recency bias moment right here because we think of that uh 28 hours in St. Louis as a problem. And I when I think of that, I think of the last 27 games in 27 days. They went 16 and 11, but keep in mind they were 16 and 8. Those three losses um they skew your vision or your view because of the recency bias of who they are coming out of the break. But they were 16 and 11 playing 27 games in 27 days. They went nine and six playing 15 games in 14 days, and 11 of them were on the road, two of them in doubleheaders, of which they split, right? They swept the doubleheader in St. Louis, they got swept in the doubleheader in Pittsburgh. So I I don't I love where they are, I love who they are, but this is a really interesting 18 days between now and the trade deadline on August 3rd. It's also two weeks from now, 14 days before the Packers begin training camp. Again, uh I love doing this and I appreciate the support that uh that we have from our sponsor partners. Uh, when we talk about one community bank, go to one community.bank, m3 insurance, m3ins.com, habish, habish, and rotier. Go to habish.com, Pottawatomi Sportsbook, and Casino. You know where they are, right in downtown Milwaukee, neuroscience group, uh in the valley, neuroscience group.com, traditions lighting as well. Go to tradition lightings, uh, traditionslighting.com. All of our sponsors and a big part of what we do, we say thank you to them. Go to onecommunity.bank as well for all of your banking needs, or at least give them the look when you're making your next banking decision. I think you will love the concept of feel-good banking and who they are, what they bring to your banking needs. All right, we uh we are clear for the day. Again, no brew daily tonight. Um hoping to in Madison go to concerts on the square, but it might be a little hot, so we'll see about that. And a little plug for tomorrow night. So we do old-fashioned Thursdays at Red and White Wine Bar in Wana Key. And I should add bourbon, red and white wine and bourbon bar. So we do old-fashioned Thursdays. That's tomorrow night. Uh, part of old-fashioned Thursdays is that each week it's a fundraiser for somebody. Tomorrow it's for the CARES program with the 115th Fighter Wing at Truax. So CARES program uh provides much-needed additional financial support to families in with the with the Air National Guard, with the 115th, who have needs, uh financial needs. The CARES program provides for that. So, one of the really cool things tomorrow night, we'll have uh great music tomorrow night, but we also have pilots from the 115th Fighter Wing of the F-35s that will be behind the bar tomorrow night making your old fashions or you know, pouring a beer, whatever that is, tomorrow night. They will be there starting at six. We open at four, but that event goes on all night tomorrow night, and the money raised goes to the CARES program for the 115th fighter wing. And pilots, you want to ask him about being in the cockpit of those F-35s. By the way, they don't have any two-seaters that I'm aware of, otherwise, I'd have my hand raised. Hey, when can we do that? What does that take? Uh, so we'll have a great crew there tomorrow night. It is uh we'll be open at four tomorrow at red and white wine bar on Main Street in Wana Key. Please stop by, help raise some money, make a donation to the 115th Fighter Wing Cares program uh going on all night tomorrow night. Again, open at four pilots behind the bar serving, not drinking, serving your uh old fashions beginning at six o'clock tomorrow night. Well, we will have a great time. Vinny Rettino on the show tomorrow, and we will talk to you then. The Mike Heller uh experience here on I Love Mondays continues tomorrow morning at ten o'clock. Thanks for being part of what we do.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:49

With Mike Heller, we're not gonna be able to do that.