1-on-1 with DP – 93.7 The Ticket KNTK - DP Goes Solo / Supernovas Travel / Sports Gambling in NCAA Sports - April 3rd, 2024

Episode Date: April 4, 2024

DP Goes Solo / Supernovas Travel / Sports Gambling in NCAA Sports - April 3rd, 2024Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brandsPrivacy & Opt-Out: https://redcircle.com/privacy

Welcome to it on our Wednesday. Glad to be back in Lincoln for a day plus. You actually mean that? You're in San Diego. Yeah, I was in San Diego this morning. This was one of the ones where we got booked with a stop. And it didn't really matter. So, of course, jet lag and all that because you're two hours behind.

we had to be on the team bus at 630 flight at 850-ish so nine quick flight to Chicago Phoenix an hour in Phoenix but literally it's not an hour because by the time you deplane it's a full sprint to the gate

to the gate to get yeah and it's never easy and they changed the gate. So the gate that was on the ticket, uh, was not where it was bored. So we pulled in at C7. And on the ticket, it says C-17 for the next leg.

And I was in front of folks. So I got off and whatever reason the, the app wasn't working. The app that tells you, you know, for the airline app, I won't yell at them yet. but there had been a lot of people running around like maniacs if the app was not working well that was the thing but it was the second leg so when the first leg printed out it printed out what what gate it was planned right for you to to go to and i'm like okay crunch for time but we're okay 10 gates

uh even when you look at the airport like i'm a person i'll look at the airport to see make sure and it's from c7 c17 So it's 10 gates. But even in this one, they had another tentacle that you had to go to to get to 17. So you had to leave the one area from C7 to C1, make a right turn, go down two escalators long corridor to get to 17. except for I get to 17 and it says that that flight is going to

San Jose. And I'm like, nope, this is a problem. So I'm still refreshing the phone trying to get, of course, the phone is a weird thing that happens when you fly to San Diego. Sometimes your phone will roam because at parts of it,

if your phone is on, it will roam into Mexico. Because San Diego, the border, it's Tijuana. It's far enough south, yeah. So that's a whole thing. Then the full, like, it's like, okay, so let me go and find, uh, the big board that tells you, you know, okay, where are all the departures leaving? And for whatever reason, there were three flights to Omaha within that window.

Uh, and I finally, I recognize the number from the card from the, from the boarding pass. and it's D18. And I'm like, doggone it. Oh, man. Okay, now we're on the clock. Like, now you're on the clock clock. And it's a full back from C-17, back down that corridor,

cross another corridor and another corridor to get to D gates. And then D, D1 through seven, was on one tentacle D11 through 18 were on a separate tentacle and then I'm like, well, wait, where's

8 and 9? And that's, for whatever reason my head went, it's D8 and there's no D8. Oh, boy. So, finally, it clicks that, oh, it's D18. Was Rico with you? Do the same process? But Rico, so

Rico, okay. Okay. Let's talk about Southwest. So the team picks the airline. And we travel with the team. So now, we pay for the seats, but the team books it so that we could go through. We can travel with them. We know what's going on.

Like if you're the flagship, you should be around the more to get more information to make sense. But Southwest, you don't get assigned seats. You get thrown into a pool of A, 1 through 60, B, 1 through 60, C, 1 through 60, depending on the size of the plane. And RICO and I always joke that I need for him to become a genius and break the metric for how Southwest codes determines where you are,

and it's not when you buy your ticket. because half the team will end up in A, and then the other half of the team will end up in B. And I'm like, but like after some other people. Yeah, and they're going to all the tickets at the same time. So it doesn't make sense. So it's like, okay, that's not cool. Yeah.

Like that's not cool. But okay, fine. And then you can go through. But because it's team, it's a group booking, the individual has no access. So I can't go on. and change the reservation, my reservation, within the group reservation.

So then it's a battle. And Harrison, we travel with 25, six foot tall women. Oh, yeah. That's challenging itself right there. Right. It's like, whoa, wait a minute. This isn't cool at all.

Like this is because, again, I'm old, but okay, I'm a big dude. Right. but I don't have to play that night. Right? Especially like these guys. It played yesterday. Come back.

Get on a playing. Right. Right. So a part of it is trying not to be that dude. But on the same token, I feel terrible when you're posted next to somebody that you don't want to be posted next to and they don't want to be posted next to you.

So for whatever reason, both of these flights. Now, flights are full, and you don't know until you get there whether the flights are full. If the flights are full, that means that you have to fight to either get a window or an aisle, or if you're in C, you're screwed. You're just going to end up in between whoever. And then I feel bad because the six-foot-five girls, you don't want them to have to scrunch in the middle

somewhere so it's like okay won't you go I won't you go for whatever reason today on the first leg I get on the plane right behind Rico but Rico keeps going he's going to the back of a plane

because that's usually where the open seats are and the window and out but I peek to my left and in row two there's a window open and I'm like yo winner let's go you're window C guy I'm a window C guy especially in the morning because I can lean against oh I can mean yeah well but I can lean against the the point so if there's

somebody in the middle I can kind of concede okay so rules of engagement the the person in the middle gets both arms right yeah because they got the worst spot by far so I'll give you the arm Yeah, they get both armrest, you on an aisle or other, at least on the window, I can lean against the window and give them some more room. You know, decent person. And if I'm going to sleep, my head's not going to roll around because I can lean it against the plane, right? You don't want me on a plane snoring. So let me just lean on.

Let me lean against the wall. So I get in front. The rest of the team goes to the back of the plane because that's where they can sit together. So I get ID plane first, knowing that on the boarding pass, it says go to gate C-17. So I take off and I'm like, okay, fine. And of course, you've been on a plane for a while. So I'm like, let me hit the bathroom. I come out and I get to the gate and I don't see any.

Like, there's the one thing about travel at a women's volleyball team. You see the people you're traveling with. way like it's a thing yeah and i do want to do a whole segment on traveling with a women's volleyball team i think that's just some good stories because it's its own thing but there's nobody there so riko's calling me and because my phone is wanking out i know that somebody's calling out i know that somebody's calling but it won't let me answer it and so finally i'm hoffing it to the gate. And as I turn the corner,

Rico's like, well, hey, he's calling me. And he's like, did you get the message on where we are? I'm like,

yeah. And at that point, we're there. So it's like, oh, man, it's so, it's so,

like you feel terrible and it's, it's its own thing. Um, and then on the way, it's always interesting, Harrison, that even flying to Omaha,

where the team is from, mm-hmm. It is a thing where, half the people on said plane going or coming are supernova's fanatics and they lose it. They lose it. Oh my God. I love you. It's bad no white.

I mean, it's hard not. You see Betty Daila Cruz out there. It's hard not to read for her. Yeah. Like it's like, oh my God. You're the best. You're the best. And then you, but you have the other half.

We're like, what do you? Is this a basketball team? Is this, uh, what's going on? I'd probably start with WNBA, it'd be my first guess. Well, but Omaha. Like, why? Why are you in Omaha? But it could be a connector, right?

You don't know. Like, if they see us coming into the airport, and sometimes, like, on the road, we're on a team bus. So when you get off of that and go into a hotel, they're like, what is happening here? Like, what is going on? And it's at the airport, women are engaging.

Men become turtles. Because if you were in your own space and a six foot two Amazon walks in to have, like the guys that on the put, they're like, what is happening? Who is that? Like what is going on? And you go, okay.

And then I go, So are you? And they travel in like sweats, like Supernova sweats. Like they're, they got that team gear. They got the team gear on, right? And they go, are you on a team? Like, bro, don't be so lame.

Yeah, of course you're on team. Like they're all, they're all wearing the same thing. And it says. And they look like premier athletes. Yeah. And they've got name tags. Like name tags on the backpack that says, you know, it's a team. They all have the same tag.

So, okay. but then and you get for for the women the women want pictures they they like they want selfies they want things signed the men freak out because it's you're tall that's that's what you came up with huh like that's that was your that was your that was your that was your that was your that was your that was that was your that was your that was your that was your that was your that was your that was your uh no game wow all right That's really, it's really painful to watch sometimes. I'll say, if you're like 5-8 and she's 6-5, that might be the first thing to come back. No, but I mean, like, if you're going to shoot your shot, shoot your shot.

Like, take a shot. Like, don't throw a brick. Like, don't, don't bounce it off your foot. Like, don't. How many times have you heard that? Like, oh. Just for the first for that first line. For the, that first line, we've had, I want, I'll just say seven road trips.

Mm-hmm. I've heard that 100. A hundred times. A hundred times. That's disappointing. A hundred. And it's, and then it's the people, the people who are at the airport bar who are just toasting it up, right? And these are, you know, they're on somebody's expense account. So they're kind of, you know, they're kind of douche.

Right. Right. And the, you know, ah, let me, let me see what, what's working here. I'm Mr. Somebody. let me go shoot my shot and the no they're really tall no no it never works it never worked so it to get through like here's you know we get we got back at 3 30 you wait for luggage that puts you in Omaha traffic at 4 o'clock and there was an accident so it's a standstill and we're just sitting there and i'm rico's driving i'm like falling asleep i'm like whatever man i can't even hold on to

it. I'm tired. But it's a long day. Um, Atlanta, we can go direct. So it's Omaha to Atlanta. You can get there direct. Some, I, yeah, I think we, we went direct to Atlanta. Yeah, I'm pretty sure. No, no, no. No, we went to Dallas and then Atlanta. Okay. Um, but also we were traveling from Orlando. So we went from Orlando to, uh, to Atlanta. and then Atlanta back to Omaha. Columbus, no direct. That's surprising. There's not direct flight to Columbus. Not from Omaha, no.

Grand Rapids, no. I can see that. Nope. Vegas? No. How is Vegas not? That seems like easy. That seems like one that's got it.

Yeah, it's weird. That's a frequent spot that most people are trying to get a direct flight. It's weird. You can, but then it's a race. to get tickets for 35 people. I see. Right? So then you have to find a flight and then the whole thing.

And then there's the whole hotel aspect of it, which is, so the league has rules and boundaries on how it's supposed to work. So the hotels, to give you a standard that the hotel should be five-star, which means it has 24-hour room service. because because the games are at night and at the end of said game three hours later and then the interviews another hour except for that these players haven't eaten since lunch like you have team snacks that you bring in yeah give you just a little bit of energy so you can make it through the night but you're not eating the full meal right before right game and

then pet peeve of mine huge honking pet peeve So tomorrow, let's say we're in, this was actually what happened in Vegas, in where we were. San Diego. They're using the college, San Diego State, so you play in San Diego State's arena. The bull. Yeah. And I mean, it's inside, it's nice, but, okay.

But they don't have professional people. working it when it comes to certain aspects of it. They've cut some corners, the wrong corners. Because they didn't have like media sheets and scout sheets that I need. They're essential for broadcasters. Like I need like get like I need the sheets. And if you don't have them, the standard is to have them. Yeah, even for a high school game.

And then it's my fault, but then it's my fault for not preparing as though they don't have it. So I always know, I know in a career to prepare as though they don't have it. So I need, I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. So partially my fault, but it's a pro team. You should have media people and you should have, no, they didn't. They also didn't even have what, like they didn't have water for us. They didn't have sodas for us. They didn't have food for us.

which, again, I'll point out, if I'm doing an Omaha game, we leave here at three to set up for the hour or four. Let's say we're leaving it four, six o'clock first serve, we'll leave it four, pre-games at five, right? So you push up a little bit earlier. So 3.30. From the moment pre-match starts, the pre-match show starts through the match and the hour after the match. We're working. Like we're talking talking.

We don't have time to eat. Pet pee. That's a fair one though. To not have meals for media. Now they have meals for the for the reporters because the reporters don't do anything. At any point they could just go back and

grab something to eat. I am talking. Yeah, you're stuck there. I can't. Yeah. like it's a thing. So I said, hey, right for nothing.

Hook a brother up. Like, come on. Like, just have meals. Now, well, the bare minimum water.

That's crazy that didn't even have water out there for you last night. That's not even a thing. Have everything. But no water. We didn't have water. And we don't have runners on the road.

We don't have runners on the road. Yeah. So, okay, at least. At CHI, like we know the workers and we can kind of head nod, hey, can you get me a water and they'll run, go get it for you. And it's a dash just to be able to go to bathroom because there's no bathroom at the

scores table. So you have to, whatever the distance from the scores table to the bathroom, hope there's no line, sprint back to the table to get the call on. Do you size that up every arena you walk into? You have to, like you have to. Mark, you literally have to walk it. What about that one time Atlanta and you're up in the Raptors? Oh, you can't, you don't have time to take the old.

No, you don't. No, you don't. You don't. It is not. And we're, we go back to Grand Rapids. It's the last road game, last game of the season. It's a road game. And this is one where they invited CBS sports to do television.

And I am getting to watch the chaos that's going to happen in Grand Rapids. when they walk in and go, wait a minute, there's zero chance the setup is going to work for us. Zero chance. Not happening. Not happening. Well, we even had a couple times,

too, where they haven't even had the Wi-Fi working or the equipment needed to call a good game. Like the Ethernet, like the guy was putting in the Ethernet line 20 minutes before we went live yesterday. I don't know. And he put it in the wrong place. Yeah, like that doesn't that stress that?

That stressed me out if I'm doing it 20 minutes before the game. It absolutely, but it stresses us out because it's not really, it's not really a thing that should be happening. And the other side of it is, so they have a pass and serve, uh, basically the, the, the, the, the equal to basketball shooter, game day shoot around. Mm-hmm. So early in the, early that late morning, early afternoon, they'll go to the, to the arena. And mind you, it's Rico.

and I'm like, Rico, here's the thing. When you go to pass and serve, everything should be working. Wherever you're going to, wherever we're going to sit, it should be working. Don't leave until it's working. That's your job. It's facts. And so if there's chaos at night, it means either something changed or wasn't checked.

And, you know, I'm running three businesses, man. I, like, come on. Like, come on. Like, just handle a thing, right? You don't have to talk for five hours, six hours. Like, you don't. And like now, in case you notice, like, I've started for, like, Rico, fine, you're going to do the last 20 minutes of the postgame show.

Yeah. Like, I want you to understand the stress. Like, I'm going to put you on and let you do this. So it's always all of it's interesting. And it's year one. I was going to say, well, some of this anticipated, like,

because this was a big uptaking by you. You just mentioned it. You wear a lot of hats. And you and Renee, great team, but you know you're going into year one. Are you anticipating some of these? Yes.

Okay. All of it. Because this is Renee's first year of broadcasting. And Renee's exceptional. She's a great student. Most great coaches are great students. And they will learn, okay,

give her, boundary. And if I set her up, and I know the things that she has ammunition for, right? And so that's easy. That's the easy part. And it was a great choice. It was a great choice. But setting up, I mean, your volleyball is such a different cadence than basketball, football, baseball, wrestling. It's a different caten boxing. It's a different cadence. That's been a thing to get that. And it took me

probably three matches to go, okay. Okay. And then it's not only the play-by-play cadence, but the game cadence and then the play-by-play plus color cadence and trying to get a coach who has an encyclopedia for every play.

every play to give her, okay, how much time do you need to say what you need to say and to get the clue and the cue to get out, right? To get to break on time and knowing that you have to get, like, when we throw it back to you, I have to remind her that it's not 90 seconds from when we throw it to you. it's 90 seconds from when they call the time out and the timer hits the button. So Rico will be signaling to go to break. I may see it. She may not.

And it's, I'll have to nudge her or point or whatever to go, hey. So if she has to finish the thought and it's 12 seconds, guess what? We're behind the clock and it's a problem. So it's been really, some of the stuff like Atlanta

Atlanta is like I expected Atlanta Vegas San Diego Orlando I expected in Omaha I expected those five teams to just crush it I think Vegas was really good when you went down there too

well because you want one big city right quality arenas right so in those cities, either in all of these, it's either a pro hockey team or a college arena. So you're not playing in the high school gym. You're in an arena that produces big time events.

And so anything that we can ask for it, it should have already. It should have everything. And it should have personnel for it. It should also have killer hotel. Now, let me just say it. Las Vegas, the pre-matched stuff for Vegas is the best. Vegas, we stay in the Raiders hotel. And it's brand new.

I was going to say that team just, they've been there. It's brand new. And it's the Raiders. And you know what the Raiders do? The Raiders show out. because this it's got the greatest sports bar I've ever been in. And the sports bar is open 24 hours. That's incredible.

Like it's like we got in at 11. I'm like, man, we're going to have to Uber Eats or something. And I walk around and the lady goes, I just said, where can we get something? And she just points. And it was like the holy, that the holy choir just kicking in. Oh, and you turn. And there's.

50 signed Raider helmets. That's incredible. On the wall. And then like 50 Raiders signed footballs from like dudes. Then there's mannequids with every Raiders uniform. And you walk in the place and it's. So imagine our the mill times a hundred and multiply the TVs by 10. and I'm just, I walk in and I just went, is this real life?

I'd have a hard time. I'd have to lock in and give myself a time limit in that bar. Oh, well, you just sit there. You just sit there. And then across from the bar restaurant is another restaurant. But then out in the lobby, there's like a pastry shop. A pastry shop that's open all. day. He's got 24-7-hour pastry

show. All day, bro. And I mean, it is, I'm not talking about just don't, I'm talking about like, top level it's Vegas. Like, top. Across from the Raiders hotel. I'm not, I'm not thinking of a small time deal. Oh, and by the way, if you get the urge, take 30 paces and there's a casino. There's a casino. Just wait. Hey, DP. Hi, buddy. How are you?

Are you bored? Do you have a minute? You want to make something of yourself? Are you a casino guy? I am not. I am not. I haven't gambled in Vegas. I would guess you'd be a crab stable guy. No.

I, no. I don't, I like to control my vices. That's smart. It's like the whole drinking thing. That's why I don't do it because I like being in the control of me. And that's why I don't do the betting thing, even like on pregame like what do you think this is going to be no because i know anybody says they know what's going to happen is a liar like you're a liar you don't know what's going on you have

no ask the coach of the team that's about to play what's going to happen tonight and he has no idea no idea so the fact that i'm going to give hard-earned earn money betting uh like there's the thing. There's an article on ESPN today talking about there were the guys at the end of the bench in college basketball, right?

And there's some fantastic stories. There's some fantastic at the end of your bench at a powerful school, it's a story. And one of the examples was a guy who played it might have been Purdue. Who played grambling in the first round? Oh, that was Purdue. Purdue, right?

And they're talking about the guys at the end of the bench. And these are guys who, like the guy had two knee injuries, I believe, right? Yeah. He had to grind to just to stay on the team and to play. Like, in most cases, he would have given up. Like, he would have just said, nope, I'll get my degree. I'll become a coach. I'll whatever.

But it's too much. much work for me to go and do this, especially for the number one team in the country. Like being the 12th man, yeah, you get to ride along, but the work that's required for you to drag a leg through an entire season, the guy had scored 21 points. No, he had played 21 minutes all year, 21 minutes all year. And Purdue's blowing people out. Yeah. But you have to remember the second five has to get minutes. And then it's the final two, three, four walk-on guys, right? You're Stephen is those.

Right. The guys who are at the end of it who just get a moment. And when they finally get in a game, it's a big deal. So he tells the story of being in the tournament. And they're up 25. And coach puts him in the game. Now, the team is like, go get yours, bro. Like, go get yours.

He gets an open look. Purdue's up 25. The point spread is 27. He gets an open look. Bangs the three. Bangs the three, covers the spread. They win by 28. you talk about the moment of all moments for this guy, right?

Who scored six points all year. Mm-hmm. All year. And grinded and practice and lifts all year. All year. He goes and turns on his phone and he's got messages. And there is such poison and venom and these messages. You should go kill yourself. you're a terrible human being for shooting that shot.

He's like, he's like, what is wrong with these people? To make a game that has nothing to do with them about them. Right? I'm about that. You see that letter DJ Burns got? Yeah. Like people are insane with bets.

Like I know a lot of people are like, think it's ridiculous. I'm actually happy the NCAA is trying to take a step to eliminate some of these prop bets for college games. I don't think, it's absolutely necessary to have all these. And they're not just banning, like you can definitely do the money line,

but they're just the individual player prop that they're trying to get rid of. And I think that's a fantastic idea. Because at least there's so much unnecessary hate, like exactly what you said. That guy grinds all damn year, doesn't get to ever see the court, finally sees the court,

has an awesome moment. And then you said it, Venom. I mean, he, listen, he has family. He has high school teammates in his hometown, right? Who, who not, like, wait a minute, you're on the team. But we'll never get to see you play.

And instead of them making this a celebratory moment, they're going to make it about that. And it's the thing, right? You just go, wow, I'm not hanging out with pro athletes. I mean, I've been blessed. I've been blessed. I mean, I've shared homes with them. I've gone on vacations with them.

And because of that, you know, what they go through. You know what they go through. So one, I'm not betting. I'm not going to profit off of them. I don't want to profit off of my friend's moment. I also don't want to profit off of his pain. If he wins, I don't want to profit off of it because I know what he went through and it's about my relationship with him rather than this financial thing. If he puts in all of the work in the NFL and gets concussed and injuries and bruised and bone injuries, I don't want to make profit off of that. Not that way.

Like, I don't want a profit off of Sam Hoyberg. and his pain. You want to root for him and you want to support him. I don't, I don't, like the whole betting thing. It's not, and look, for those who bet, who do you think? I'm not telling you how to live. I'm just saying for me, I don't like it for me. And that's fair. And I'm like you said, like, I don't care people bet. You can bet. Just don't, don't, don't yell at 18 year old. Don't, or even adults for that matter, for your own poor financial choices. This was the thing. So we were,

this is when I was in Carolina. And two of my business partners, again, they were starters for the Panthers in their championship front. So when they, when they actually beat the Cowboys in playoffs. And they beat Dallas in Charlotte. And it was,

this was the Aikman, Irvin, Emmett, Cowboys. So this was a big deal. This was a big deal. And the party that that town had that night was unlike, anything that I've ever seen.

And rightfully so. And there are people who are buying drinks because, oh, you covered the spread. And I'm like, okay. Okay. Yeah. But there's another side to it.

And yes, you can ride the high. But riding the high demands that you accept the crash. because in every sport, one team gets to finish on a high. One, that means 90% of the athletes who play finish their season, this sucks. One team, 99%.

99%. Right. Right. Like, I mean, college basketball, there's, you know, 231 teams or whatever the number is. And let's just say, 78, 68 get into the tournament. all 67 of them are going to hate their last game. They're going to hate it. And a large portion of them are going to hate it more because it's their last game.

It's not just their last game at Nebraska. It's their last basketball game. Right? Just the pain. and to have somebody who sat at home on a couch eating nachos take ownership of it to do more harm in it. I get being supportive. I don't get the venom.

I'm right there with you. We'll talk about time, but I'll never get over, you know, like, Chuckie, you know, played again here. I knew it was coming, but he got booed again. I just don't,

you know, that's the Nebraska kid just trying to make. make his right move and what he's done at Wisconsin. It's been impressive. Like I can't hate him for it. Like what, and I caught so much heat. I caught so much heat. You're one of us, DP. Like saying, no, oh, just ease up. No, no. That's, that's, that's, that's a human. Well, and I hope people got to listen to the We Talk facts where they had his dad on too.

And you get to hear his dad. And it's like, that's a good family. You know, it's just a very respectable people that no one should have really any problems with. Here's the thing. They're athletes that I don't agree with. I still don't boo them. Because they're out there busting their home. Like, I don't have to think Caitlin Clark or Reese that their angel Reese are the best humans on the planet. I'm going to admire the work that they put in and the achievements they have.

I don't have to agree with them off the court. I don't have to agree. Like this is a wait a minute like no I don't have to like I was coach I don't but does she know basketball is she one of the best coaches in the country absolutely and you can say I don't agree with you I respect you I don't agree yeah that's what I also is with the angel Reese Caitlin Clark that has been so frustrating for me to listen to those arguments I see two of the same players that are incredibly talented and they both got some swagger on the court.

And to hear like both groups try to pick at the other one, I'm like, you guys are kind of talking about the same player. They got a lot of ego. They're both great basketball players. It's the same player. They got a little bit of difference, but for the most part, they're dominant and they got some swag around the court and they're drawing numbers as a result. What all-American play who has all-American achievements, you can tell me they're humble,

but why would you want them to be? the numbers will tell you 12.2 million people turned in to watch those superstars. Like that's not about you. Why do you want to humble like, oh, you should be humble. No, they will. It makes me laugh sometimes.

You're in their relationship with their spirituality. Now their spiritual is about you. I would love to see some of those Twitter trolls. Go drop 40 and then go have a really nice humble press conference. No, you can't like you. The best game I've ever had, I went home and watched, I went to, I went home and watched Eddie Murphy do comedy. Because I didn't want the excess high that happens because the end part is the low that we lost the state championship with me on third base as the tying run.

Like decades later, it still bothers me. Yeah, you're bringing it up today. It bothers me. Like, it bothers me. So people who play the games and put in the work to play the games, I can never tell Jay Foreman what the amount of work that Jay puts in to be a Hall of Fame, a college Hall of Fame linebacker or to lead the NFL on tackles.

I don't know what that did to his body. I don't know what that did to his brain. I don't know what that did to his relationships. I don't know. You can listen, which is the thing, and then you can applaud and go, I'm glad you're still here. Like, thank you for letting us ride along.

Like for the fans who were, Husker fans, and they were around in 94, 95, 97, yeah, you were spoiled rotten. And you deserve to throw confetti and throw parties and chuck beer and do shots, okay. But you also have to know that that's not going to continue. And you better have a plan for how you're going to cope when it crashes. Alabama still can't stand the fact that Georgia looks across their fence.

Wait a minute. They're getting the hot girls and the catered meals. Those were ours. We were the kings of college football. Oh, and then LSU were the kings of college. Well, tell me what they'd gone through over the past. Right? Duke basketball.

The Leitner Grant Hill years are done, man. North Carolina, Syracuse. Hey, man. There's not another Michael Jordan coming, bro. Like, this is how, like, you got to learn how to take it on the chin. Indiana's freaking out right now. Indiana had, like, woman's not, not the woman. Woman's shout out to that.

They almost beat South Carolina. Bobby Knight's not coming back. He's not walking in the door. Nope. Got to move on. Coach Oswald. Listen, the best part of being a fan is the journey. Like I love the season because it's a whole new season of like television, of entertainment.

And episode one is camp. And it's just setting the trailers for what's going to be. And you go, oh, this could be the best movie ever. This could be the best series ever. This could be awesome. And then if you're disappointed at it, don't be. Like that's the part. Like, wait a minute.

Nebraska basketball took us on one heck of a ride. That was fun. That was fun. That was fun. This is the most fun I've ever had watching Nebraska basketball basketball my entire life. And I loved throwing on Petaway and Shields, but my God, these guys were fun to watch.

That was fun. I had the feeling for softball because you have the best player of the country. And I knew what the momentum was in the vacuum. But I'm a coach at heart. And I know I better have a plan if something happens. And you don't wish it and you don't speak to it,

but you plan and you prepare. So as fans, you hope that fans just go, I'm just here to cheer. Like, I'm just here. I'm here to be with my other Husker fans. Like, we're going to wear our colors. We got, there's 90,000 of us, and it's awesome. And you're totally right, because this was the first season.

We got to see Joanne, Gary. Be healthy all year long. We haven't got to see a healthy Juan, and we finally got to see it. And it was, he's an incredible player. And now we're excited for next year. And again, you just hope, but you got a plan for it. Tell me that Nebraska wrestling isn't elite. and that the real journey is to watch,

we have no, the majority of us have no idea what wrestlers go through just to get on the match on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, on, the sacrifices. Mm-hmm. The absolute grit. Look, I, no. And then to, to, to, to, to, to go, okay, that you rest, you fight, you fight. every day for hours.

How many injuries do you have with a body that you're banging at, like you're just beating it up every day? And then you're going to compete against somebody that really wants to hurt you with all the injuries of the that you built in. And oh, by the way, your diet isn't exactly free.

It's brutal. It's a tough diet. It's a tough world. Sleep, rest, hydration, nutrition, nutrition, vitamins, rest, recovery. Even the water, you got to measure that before you get your way in, like, how much water am I drinking the day? Just as small as that. And we think about this. That team finished third to Big Ten.

Ninth in the country. At most spaces, there would be a reception for them unlike anything else. volleyball was number two in the country. You remember the pain on the faces of the Nebraska volleyball team? Right? When they sat down, they were down in Tampa and it was like, oh man, this, this sucks. But we're on the revenge store. I called a revenge store.

There were people who criticized Coach Cook. And I just went, who hurt you? Like that game didn't hurt you. The result didn't hurt you. Because your investment was time and emotion and yeah, yelling at it. But you didn't go and have 400 swings a day and taking kills off the, off the, off the, off the, off the forehead and diving. How many times does Alexei Rodriguez have to dive, slide, and roll a week? So I always, my thing in the fandom is be a fan.

and accept the good from it. And then when you get to a thing where you're not accepting it positively, then make a decision. And I have friends, and they're friends here in Lincoln, who the way they consume Nebraska athletics is unhealthy. It's unhealthy. And I went,

you do realize the TV turns off. Like, you don't have to go to the stadium. You don't have to watch it live. You don't have to drink during it. you don't have to over-consume food during it. You don't have to yell at your girlfriend during it. You don't. Yeah.

And if you're using it as medicine for some other pain or hole in your life, the hole still exists. And when it goes left, that hole is going to hurt you. Figure out how to just, like we would tell the parents before. And there were things that we would do, on the high school level. One, I wanted to meet the players, families, as soon as they made the team.

As soon as they made the team. And I said, as parents, you don't need my permission to love and care for your child and support your child. It's free. If you want to come to practice, open door. Come to practice.

Any sport, any day of the week, you want to sit in the gym, you want to sit, you know what? You want to sit out in the cold before baseball season when it's 45 degrees. You want to sit at practice when we struggle through. You want to, or sit in your car with the heater on, go ahead. If you want to sit in a stinky gym for three months during basketball season, come on. You want to sit in the 90 degree heat for summer practice so you know why I'm telling little Johnny what I'm telling him.

you want to know why he's not playing come to practice and watch him every day or ask him every day how it went and ask him to tell you the truth because there is a truth to it but parents never get to question me about playing time unless you come to practice every day that's fair you want to come I said, listen, I don't tell you how to parent. You don't tell me how to coach. If you start to tell me how to coach, expect me at your house sitting on your couch critiquing your parenting. I have no problems with that.

That's fair. Because I figured too many stories about parents getting a little too involved. The same for the fan base is we would have a rally. And then the rally, here's, here's the rules of engagement. Support. Cheer. Hout. Scream.

Venom is not required. We had the best fan base of any high school I've ever been at. And there was never venom. There was never a venom. Imagine 4,000 kids at a basketball game. And nobody finger-pointing and cursing.

No, we didn't have that. They came to celebrate the thing. They came to be together. They came to root together. And those programs always did well because you had a great fan base. And so we would tell people in that whole thing. Like, listen, you know, there's a parent that said, we know how the movie ends. And I said, okay, can I ask you a question?

Did you still watch the movie? You don't go to the movie for the ending. You can't. You can't. That means you spent two hours in the theater and spent money and bought popcorn and sodas for the last 30 seconds. It doesn't mean as much because you're just watching the ending.

The journey, the thing that is the best part that you're trying to stay here, you're missing all of it. You missed all of it. Oh, you're going to get there for the final out? No. Go on the ride. go on the ride don't just

you know be on the roller coaster at the end of it when it pulls back into the depot yeah well that's again what Nebraska basketball is so great this year because you go from Minnesota and you're like I don't know about this team but they got promised and then Creighton at home and again to think that's like you're not going to lose another home game after this like no one's minds were at that point

you can't and you had to go along and the best part of it were people being on the ride voluntarily and then being surprised that, hey, look at us. Look at us. So anyway. I thought my bears can do that this year.

Yeah. Hey, look, if they pull in Nebraska, you know, it'll be quite the ride. I'm down for it. Quite the ride. All right. What's up next? I'm next. We got Don't punt hour.

And then we got Brewington. And then we got Malone radio on Wednesdays as well. And then we'll have a replay. And then we'll be right back up to the daily end. So plenty here left on Ticket Week nights. Harris, nerds only ones and twos. I'll carry you guys through the rest of the night. And we'll talk to you in just a little bit.