You're listening to Civic Media.
You can tune into any of our live shows on any radio station across the state with the Civic Media app.
Find us in your phone's app store and listen anytime, anywhere.
And good morning.
Welcome everyone.
My name is 706 on this Wednesday.
I am Chad.
I'm sitting in today for Pat Crite Low, who is working.
He is not on vacation.
He is working.
I'm
sure
very, very hard, but he'll be back on Friday.
And I'm very happy to be sitting in this morning with Greg Bach here on Civic Media Mornings.
Greg, good morning once again.
Good morning, Chad.
How's everyone doing?
I think I'm doing all right.
Again, it was a very early start.
Am I keeping the high bar that I know that you make sure that everybody, that whether it's Pat or whether his guest hosts are up to the level that Greg Bach demands.
Am I up there at this point?
Sir, you are right up there with Pat Crightlow, Paul Harvey, Pat Crightlow, and our...
fantastic civic media meteorologist, Brittany Merleau.
Brittany, how are you doing this morning?
Oh, I'm pretty good.
How are you guys
doing?
Well, I'm doing well.
I won't speak for Chad.
I won't speak for Chad.
No, I get to talk to Brittany twice now this morning because she comes on my show every morning for a segment as well.
We're going to, we're going to do it here.
We're going to do it later in the morning.
So it's going to be, uh, it's always terrific to talk to Brittany and, uh, of course she's based here in the Wausau area as well.
So it's nice to have that North central Wisconsin connection right here.
Do you guys ever, you're like, Brittany, do you ever just show up to the studio and be like, Hey, what's up, Chad?
I brought scones.
No, actually I don't.
I need to do that.
I'm
still waiting for that.
Just a drop in.
The darn weather's got me so busy one of these days.
I promise I will but I had to take yesterday off because all the melts made me so sad.
I couldn't stomach it.
Oh, yeah.
I was so sad too.
I was so sad.
There's a lot of
mud out there isn't there Brittany?
Mud everywhere.
Everywhere.
Those farm fields are getting flooded too.
I mean everywhere you step there's
gushy, nasty mud.
I mean, the sidewalks are slippery and icy.
We've got a winch remix ongoing right now down towards Madison, Milwaukee, even north into Sheboygan potentially too.
So very, very icy conditions as these seasons are shifting, but it brought a ton of smiles as that sun was shining and high temperatures were broken and all of that.
And we will be mild still today.
No records will be broken, but we will get to the low to mid forties this afternoon.
So that winch remix.
will wind down within the next hour and it will turn to all just regular rain.
So we're looking at spotty sprinkles throughout the afternoon, a cloudy day.
It will become breezy tonight and we are looking at more snow moving into the northern parts of the state overnight tonight where we could get a trace to about a half an inch of accumulation there.
But otherwise tomorrow morning, we are looking at more sprinkles, flurries, more weather systems moving through pretty much all week.
So it continues tomorrow into our Friday and then we have a colder.
weekend ahead.
But overall today, just some scattered sprinkles out there, still mild in the forties.
I don't
know what it is.
It's what every
time when you say sprinkles, like a meteorologist
saying
sprinkles.
No, right?
Do you think like donuts sprinkles on donuts?
It's all pleasant.
It's not bad.
Here's my favorite weather term though.
Mine is when you talk about the clipper.
Oh,
yes.
I like it whenever you say flirting with whatever the weather like flirting with the forties like I just because you've never heard anyone say it like that before.
If you want to get in touch with us, you can always call or text 855-75-CIVIC-855-7524842 or leave a comment on the live stream.
We are streaming on Civic Media's YouTube as well as their Twitter page.
That's right.
We call it Twitter in this household.
And the reason why I bring that up is we had a couple of live stream comments.
First of all, for you, Chad, Roger from Stevens Point, thank you for all you do for local sports in the Wausau area.
Well, I appreciate that.
Chad, it was a compliment.
Chad, it was a compliment.
I'm going to share a secret.
Can you say thank you?
No, no, there's a little secret here.
You know, when I get a compliment like that, it's like, it's not work.
I love being there.
Sometimes you feel like the people that deserve it are the hard work.
I'm a very, very lucky person to be able to be at events like I was last night.
But I do appreciate it.
All right, Chad,
Chad, Chad.
I think you've said this to me before when I've been on.
I can't take it.
No, you're about to rattle out of your clothing here, my friend.
They said, thank you for all you do.
They didn't say work.
They didn't say digging ditches.
They said, for the things you
do.
And that's when you say, thank you.
You're welcome.
Chad
brings up a good point.
I mean, when you're in a career that doesn't feel like work and you enjoy every moment of it, um, I do the same thing as well.
So I totally get what you're saying there, Chad.
Oh my God.
Just say thank you for now.
Oh my goodness.
All right.
Thank you.
There we go.
We have the Robert.
We have the, I was going to say the Robert report, the weather report from Tigerton, from Rob.
Good morning from Tigerton.
It's cloudy and 32 degrees.
Some of the county and town roads in Tigerton area is icy in shades, elevated areas and where it's standing water.
I was up early salting.
And thank you Chad for
Thank you
Chad for all your hard work you do for doing the news and sports programs But your play-by-play for high school sports in central, Wisconsin And thank you for your play-by-play for high school sports in central, Wisconsin Thank you for all you do more people are working on the maple syrup lines and with the woods getting ready for the maple syrup season And a thank you to me and Brittany.
Haha.
Yeah
Thanks,
Rob.
Thank you so much, Rob, from Tigerton.
Thank
you for those
kind
words.
There it is.
Oh, thank you, Rob.
He is the best, and he makes a really good point, too.
Those side roads, those bridges are freezing earlier, too.
And just keep an eye out.
Each night, we keep dropping below freezing, so that ice is going to be there for a little while.
It's good to have salt ready.
And what I found, too, for folks listening, and people are probably going to be like, yeah, do doi.
But if you're going to be salting, make sure when you go out and get an assault product.
You get yourself a pet friendly salt because you don't want them eating it.
You don't want them when they, oh, when puppers get those salt chips in their pads, that's not good fun.
So if you can do it, get yourself a pet friendly salt and use a moderate amount.
Don't over salt.
No, if you see white still left on the driveway or the sidewalk, you have used too much.
There you go.
Absolutely.
Brittany.
Thanks again for the information.
I look forward to talking to you in what, uh, about a little less than two hours.
Yep.
Yep.
I'm excited.
You guys have a good rest of your morning.
Thanks,
Brittany.
Are you really excited?
Are you just saying,
boy, don't put her on the spot.
This
is my favorite part of my job is getting to chat with you guys.
Trust me.
I'm excited.
Thanks, my friend.
Greg, I got to ask you something.
Yes, sir.
Because I got to bring this up.
Have you heard about yesterday the news that the press secretary for Donald Trump is only going to take questions from pre-approved Trump media outlets now?
Yes, I did hear that.
I've heard it reported in a couple of ways that they're going to only allow certain people in the room.
That certainly doesn't seem like freedom of the press to me.
Um,
but now they're going to have actually they're only going to allow certain people to ask questions.
I think that's even worse than the eight.
I mean, it's like saying what's disease is worse.
I mean, obviously they're both terrible, but the idea where they know going in and I got to share a little bit here.
Go ahead.
One of the most annoying aspects for some interviews is when.
Somebody wants to have exactly what your questions are gonna be and I just I'm not I don't like doing that But one person that and I haven't had him on in a long time, but I used to have him on In the past is Ron Johnson But him and his staff would always want to know exactly what you're gonna ask and also would give you well Here's what the senator wants to talk about that is not the way that this system is supposed to work
I don't disagree.
I understand your frustration.
I if a
Paul, if someone wants to come on the show, I always ask them, are there things they want to chat about?
Just, you know, because they're not, they're not just showing up because they're like, Hey guys, just chat around.
Let's chat.
They have, they, they have their own agenda.
I understand that.
And I accept that.
I'm, I'm personally willing to say, is there anything they want to talk about, anything that we can bring up a way to lead the conversation where I, where I.
You know, and this is just me.
I mean, Matt and Aaron air is not my show.
Jane wants to do this.
She can do it.
It's her show.
You do what you want in your show.
Your names are in the show.
So there you go.
But the whole, these are the questions we want you to ask or tell us what you're going to ask.
Well, that's not, that's, that doesn't make me feel good all over.
That just makes me feel like I'm, I'm, I'm working for them at that point.
I'm like, well, where's my paycheck?
I have, I heard a story and actually.
Somebody that comes on my program every other Wednesday and he'll be with me on my show in the first hour coming up after eight o'clock is a man named Bob look and he was
a long time radio host, and he also ran for the state Senate in
our
area back in 2022.
So he came on my show during the state Senate race.
And then after that ended, I bring him on, we just talk about what's going on in the news and the like on Wednesday mornings, every other Wednesday.
But he told this story back when he was hosting a show here in Central Wisconsin, and he had Ron Johnson on the air.
And he
agrees to a certain extent with myself in terms of not just giving a sheet of paper that has exactly what the wording is and all the questions you're going to give.
And he mentioned the fact that he would start off with a couple of the questions that, you know, the senator wanted, and then he'd kind of go off script.
And one day he's talking to Ron Johnson on the phone, and all of a sudden Ron says,
I'm having trouble hearing you, Bob.
We're breaking up your pop.
My microphone is cutting out.
I can't.
Let's go out with my microphone.
And Bob says, hey, hey, you sound okay on this end, Senator.
I mean, and then all of a sudden he hangs up.
Yeah.
I mean, just craziness.
And when we talk often about the battle of ideas, that, hey, we have our beliefs, we have ideas that, hey, we think we're going to work, but
we should be able to have a discussion.
If somebody says, hey, you're off the rocker, and here's why, we should be able to have that discussion.
And unfortunately, when it comes to folks, I think, and again, I don't want to say this with all folks that are on the far right, the mega right, as I like to call it.
But man, they really don't enjoy having battles of ideas.
Well, I think part of it has to do with the fact that that fraternity of individuals holds such a deep
abiding vigilance for their leader, that if you speak your mind and you speak off script, then you're in trouble.
And that, I'm sorry.
I speak for me and me alone, I say this.
No one else says this.
That's cult-like mentality.
When you can't speak against your party, when you can't speak against the leader of your party for fear of retribution, there's a problem there.
And I think that's why you have such a hard time.
getting mega Republicans to really speak their minds because they have to stay within that lane and it's a difficult one to navigate.
No, you're exactly right.
But that makes our whole system much more difficult.
It's just if you don't have that basic
battle the ideas.
I think the cracks really start to get wider and it's making for a very difficult time and I think it's getting worse and worse and worse.
Hey, we're going to take a time out.
Come back with more.
Glad to be here.
Pitting in for Pat.
I'm Chad Holmes.
Civic Media Mornings.
Civic Media Radio
Network.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Stay up to date on the latest news and information for your local community and Wisconsin by signing up for our free email newsletter.
Visit civicmedia.us slash email to get started.
Well, my daddy left home when I was three and he didn't leave much tomorrow and me Just this old guitar here on
civic media morning with break box The
man
in black mr.
Johnny.
Oh, yeah
Boy named Johnny Cash would be celebrating his birthday today.
He would be 90 When my math
you're gonna be 93 years old
Yeah.
Yeah.
That great career revival right at the end.
Yep.
And when June passed, I told my friend, I'm like, he won't be good.
He won't be here for more than a year because that was his anchor in life.
Absolutely.
So again, what a what a legend.
Johnny Cash, a boy named Sue.
Of course, Johnny Cash born on this date 1932.
And of course you can get more information like that during the daily history lesson in the final segment of the first hour here on Civic Media Mornings and with Pat on Up North News Radio every weekday morning.
I'll go real fast one night and put in at the end of the hour.
I like the way this was listed.
John Harvey Kellogg was born on this date in 1852.
Oh, man.
But the list, he's listed as surgeon and co-creator of cornflakes.
That's quite a wide variety right there, surgeon and co-creator of
cornflakes.
He was an interesting fellow with interesting beliefs that I will say nothing more about because I want to remain.
FCC compliant.
There's stuff about John Kellogg that I really don't know about.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
I guess
I'm gonna have to go a little research when the show gets done.
You're this morning.
Maybe learn a little something.
I know I might my interest has been
you will you will go you will go, huh?
Oh, geez.
I
And I, and I think there's a lot of people out there listening right now.
We're going to their Google machine fan.
Oh, let's see what about this, uh, Kellogg character?
Yep.
Go, go, go and
you
go in your Google machine.
You're welcome.
And I think I found a new thing that when I want to, I want to stay FCC compliant.
There it is.
That's my new perfect.
All right.
Um, yeah.
He's an interesting.
Yeah.
He's a, it'll be a read.
You're welcome.
You're welcome.
Everybody.
Yeah.
You know, another interesting character that, and one thing that I've noticed in this era, I might call it 21st century America, is people have this unique, and the idea of anybody getting canceled, I think, is such a fallacy, because people just pop up again and again and again.
And yesterday, there was a story at political.com talking about
a proposal put forth by a man named Eric Prince.
Do you remember Eric Prince?
That is the brother of Betsy DeVos.
You're right, man.
But he was the former Blackwater CEO back during the torture era of the Iraq War.
Basically, you know, dark sites.
Well, Eric Prince is back.
And again, this is an indication of why we need to be vigilant at all times.
But according to this story,
Former Blackwater CEO Eric Prince and other contractors have pitched the president of the United States Donald J. Trump on a proposal to carry out mass deportations through a network of quote processing camps on military bases a private fleet of 100 planes and a quote small army of private citizens But if that doesn't disturb
the heck out of you right now.
I'm not sure what would.
You know, Chad, something that Jay and I have talked about a long time on the show since basically like last year was the fact that, you know, you know, one of the things we just talked about in the last segment was the devotion one must have to the movement.
It's it's it's absolute and without question and without without end.
And the thing that I always want to post to those
Individuals out there who really love Donald Trump and then and I'm not gonna get into why you do or don't and and I'm gonna understand I'm gonna respect your decision to follow something whatever I'm not here to change your mind But I want I want people to remember this and in light of what you just said when we're talking about processing camps deportations things of that nature You may think you are
the most Trumpy and Trumper there is, that you have a picture of him in your house, that you love him no matter what, he can do no wrong.
One day, your devotion will not be enough, and you will no longer qualify as someone as part of that group.
And when I hear about processing camps, I think of individuals
Who are thought to who say well, well you did say on social media that you didn't really like Trump's ideas on on the tariffs So where do you stand?
Where's your devotion?
Where's your belief?
You know what?
I mean, that's what I think is like you may think you're the most Trumpian Trumper, but one day you might not be and they'll tell you
You speak about pictures
The other day I went to lunch and I went to a fast-food restaurant here in in Warsaw And I pull in and I see a car that is pulling out and it was like the oddest thing because in the back seat on the window on the back seat It had a very high quality color picture of Donald Trump It looked like Donald was riding in the back seat.
I've seen those.
Yeah, and I think this is going
a little over the edge, riding with Donald.
But, but also back to the kind of another point there.
We live in this era where people like Eric Prince are never shamed out of public life.
No,
no, I mean, it feels like, you know, it feels like being involved in the torture in Iraq should have been enough.
And the issues with black waters should have been enough.
And yet these folks always seem to pop back up.
And in this country, I mean, it's one thing to have second chances, but at the same time, it feels as though folks at the top end get endless opportunities to stay involved.
And if somebody makes an error, who are in the bottom, 40% of are either social power, economic power, whatever it may be, they're thrown in jail for 50 years and we never hear from them again.
There
is unfairness in this.
society.
If you are of a certain class, a certain money, a certain access, certain lineage, you, your actions have no consequences.
And if they do, they're very, they're very few.
They will not hamper your ability to live the good life.
And yeah, yet some kid in a backwires town is going to get thrown in jail for 50 years for having a little bit of weed on them.
So
make that make sense.
How
many times to Donald Trump go bankrupt?
Did he ever have to change his standard of living?
No, no.
They they never do they never do
and they never will they never will
I gotta stop bringing downers here But no, no, it's all it's great to be here.
We're gonna have an information update and then be joined by civic media sports director Jimmy
Cusco
And Chad Holm back with
you here on Civic Media Mornings.
Back, boy, hard to believe.
59 years ago today, this song, Nancy Sinatra, these booths are made to walk in if you hit number one on the charts.
Another little hit, didn't they?
You get every day on the Daily History lesson.
It was half or whoever made you here, Chad Holm.
Since today it is me, Chad Holm.
Glad you could be with us.
And I'm very happy to welcome into the program our Civic Media Sports Director, Jimmy Kestner.
Jimmy, good morning.
Morning, Chad.
How are you guys?
Hey, it is the best time of the year.
People say, hey, the most wonderful time of the year is Christmas time.
In my opinion, these weeks around winter high school sports and the playoffs at the state tournaments, I think truly is the most wonderful time of the year.
And we have so many last night and there's a lot more to come.
Yeah, we have so many overlapping events.
It's crazy.
And as a broadcaster, when you're out just about every single night, you're in a playoff atmosphere.
There's nothing like it because I don't know about you, but I kind of feed off the energy of a venue I'm in.
I like to be very excited.
And when it's a packed house, it's a playoff game.
Everything's on the line.
You know, it's a great broadcast on its own.
But when you get that like three times, four times in a week, it is, as you said, the absolute most wonderful time of the year.
I mean, just last night, and I was over at Marathon Park here in Wausau, and it was just
packed house.
I mean, it's an old building.
I mean, it's not a big building, but every seats filled.
They're lined up behind the boards, four or five deep.
A game that was just a thriller.
West comes from a two goal deficit in the third period, wins it on a goal with about 38 seconds to go.
The place goes nuts.
I go nuts.
I think, man, I need to sleep in this morning, but I'm here this morning.
And then I get home last night.
I'm thinking, hey, I gotta get up or I gotta, you know, start to get ready for work.
And then all of a sudden I see a note on social media.
There's this girls high school playoff game between the Eau Claire area stars in the western Wisconsin stars.
Hey.
teams should not be allowed to have the same nickname.
It's like the Ottawa and Saskatchewan Rough Riders in the day.
But the stars and the stars, they're going to the fourth overtime.
So I think, ah, I got to turn this on.
So I'm sitting there watching that, and it goes to a fifth overtime before Eau Claire area finally wins it.
I mean, it's just nuts at times.
I mean, those are, it's like craziness.
And you see the heartbreak for the team that loses in five over times.
You see the thrill of everybody that wins in five over times.
And we were talking earlier in the show.
You know, there's a lot that we can, you know, be nervous about in our, in our news and our politics and everything else.
But boy, if you're not taking advantage of going out there and seeing some of this action right in your backyard, you're missing out.
And it's also an incredibly low price for incredible entertainment as well.
Yeah, and for six bucks to get something like this it is easily the best bank for your buck You're gonna find an entertainment sports sports entertainment.
Whatever it is for six dollars You can take in some incredibly high stakes hoops or hockey or wrestling or gymnastics or whatever whatever your jam is this time of year There's certainly a lot to be had for it.
I know for me personally I always consider myself fortunate going going into you know over 20 years of doing this that you know every time I
set in, you know, you're talking about a setting where people remember, you know, things that happened in these games for the rest of their lives, a five overtime hockey game.
Are you kidding me?
Everybody's going to remember that forever.
I still remember doing a six overtime boys basketball game, you know, 12 or 13 years ago in a regional semifinal.
So, you know, you're talking about getting a chance to tell the story of some of these moments.
And, you know, if you're a fan, if you're somebody just going to these games for six bucks, I mean, I'm telling you, you're definitely, you're definitely getting your bang for the buck with that.
And real fast, I know that yesterday you were working on some stories because a rather significant announcement was put out by the University of Wisconsin and the WIAA about a number of the state tournaments, not just here in the winter time, but also in the fall and in the spring as well.
And the connection between UW and the WIAA is going to continue for the long term.
Yeah, for the next eight years.
So the events that are currently held in Madison right now, that's boys and girls golf, that's team and individual wrestling, boys basketball, football, softball, that's all going to stay in Madison through the spring of 2033.
The press conference yesterday, you know, it's a softball press conference because you're talking about, you know, extending a contract and a pretty good arrangement between UW and the WIAA.
I think the only real tension in the press conference was when a reporter asked about the ban on transgender student.
student athletes being able to participate in girls sports.
That question was asked, it was quickly dismissed by the UW and the WIAA.
But for the rest of it, just talking about the venues and everything, UW Madison, other, you know,
really had no qualms.
I know about 10 years ago, maybe 15 years ago, there was some discussion about moving things out of Madison.
But in the press conference yesterday, just from Chris McIntosh, the AD at Wisconsin, and Stephanie Hauser, the WIAA's executive director, it just really seemed like other than the usual logistics of scheduling, everything was pretty easy for them to agree to continue this.
The tournaments themselves not only showcase Madison and UW, but also provides a pretty good impact.
They're estimating the impact at 22.
$22 million for the Madison area to host these events.
So it's very, very significant when you talk about what these state tournaments mean, not only to, you know, Madison, but to the other cities in Wisconsin that host
them.
Absolutely.
And I know this weekend starting tomorrow, one of the big ones is the wrestling tournament.
And sometimes I find it very interesting because, you know, I don't think a lot of folks
think of wrestling as I think one of the crown jewel sports.
But boy, in terms of the crowds, in terms of the energy, that along with track and field, I think sometimes are maybe underappreciated for the incredible passion that these state tournaments have.
I think those two events for me are my favorites in Wisconsin for the uniqueness they bring in that you're taking 100, 200 schools and different individuals and you're combining them into this one big event.
So many schools are represented in this and now there's even more opportunities in wrestling with girls wrestling, getting its own bracket.
This year, they'll actually use the points from this to crown a team champion for girls wrestling.
In a couple of years, they'll have their own standalone tournament like the boys do.
And just in that, that's a whole separate story.
Girls wrestling has just exploded in growth in Wisconsin.
In just five years, it's gone from a little over 200 student athletes to over 1800 this year.
That's massive growth in the sport.
So that is now running along with this.
But for three days in the Cole Center this week, individual state wrestling, I've covered this event for a long.
time, pretty much since I started in radio.
And it is one of my absolute favorites to be at.
There's so much energy.
There are so many schools represented, so colorful.
There's so many different uniforms and schools represented there.
It is definitely one of those events where there's always something happening.
It can be hard sometimes to find a spot and just settle in because you want to see what's going on on one of the other mats.
It is a lot of fun, though.
State wrestling this week in Madison is absolutely one of my favorites.
I will add this, that we do have a station in our company that will be there covering it.
WRCO and Richland Center is going to be covering all three days of it.
So right here on our civic media stations, you can tune in for some coverage coming out of south fostered Wisconsin.
Fantastic.
And again, it is such a busy time with the girls basketball player starting this week, the boys starting next week, the sectionals on the hockey side.
That is one area though.
I would like to see.
the WIAA and everybody, all the stakeholders work a little bit more because I love the hockey.
I love being there.
I love the atmosphere.
I love the way that these teams come together.
That's the one sport that I just think that they have not been able to find the answer yet.
I agree with you 100%.
The Coliseum was not the answer.
That was not a great setup, especially for media.
We had to sit in the folding chairs up there with the rickety wooden tables.
It's since moved to Middleton, an arena that has, again, very limited price accommodation and really, really limited seating as well for a state caliber event.
But when you think about Wisconsin and you think about hockey venues, I mean, there's
really only a handful that that could fit the bill.
And they're either going to be way too large for an event like this or way too small.
There's not that right sized, you know, Wisconsin high school state championship venue that that sort of presents itself and exists.
I know for
you know, hosting the event in Madison, having state hockey in Madison is big, because that's where, you know, the University of Wisconsin plays, of course.
But but you look in Madison itself and you've got several hockey venues, but neither one of the UW venues being used, that would be the Cole Center or Le Bon Arena.
And, you know, I think that at some point.
you know, they'll let the reevaluate what they do, not only with where they do the games, but just hockey itself in general, just feels like, you know, with the way they split boys in the two divisions with girls and the massive co-ops competing against the small town schools in northern Wisconsin, like, you know, in one giant division, you know, and not really a lot of teams even existing in girls hockey.
It just feels like a sport that's ripe for reform.
I'm with you on that one, Jed.
And I think that, again, maybe I'm off the...
beaten path here but I think that I would wish they would step back and try to put together state tournaments in in what many of these sports.
I think frankly the basketballs lost something without division one teams.
I understand the idea of trying to spread it out but also I like the idea of it being a showcase.
and bringing the best players and making sure that the best players have an opportunity in front of the statewide audience.
And I just think that in the last decade or so, I think we've seen numbers that actually gone down in basketball at the Cole Center and in Green Bay for the girls, because I don't think that I think they're taking the eye off the ball in the ways they can grow these sports.
Do you
agree?
Well, I think I'm like halfway with you because I think that for the WIA they recognize that like basketball, for example, is one of their primary revenue sources.
It's one of the most important state tournaments.
So if it wasn't.
If it wasn't doing what it's supposed to financially to keep the WIA in where it's at, I think they would have changed it at some point.
We've had a lot of ideas with basketball too.
The Super Tuesday idea, if you remember that from about a decade ago, was one way they were trying to kind of accommodate division one teams and having a few more of them there and balancing that with making sure that smaller schools also get their shot.
Well, that kind of goes in combination with the private public school debate, a lot of small.
schools in Wisconsin, public schools get kind of squeezed out by private schools that exist in suburban or urban areas in some of those state tournaments.
There's also the matter, and this is something we saw in the football playoff setup that was passed earlier this month, that the WIAA is very strict about adhering to geography in the state, making sure that all parts of the state are represented.
But you consider that, and then you look at where the population centers are, where some of the best teams are, and everything obviously skews south and east.
So there's a lot of issues with Wisconsin.
in terms of high school sports and how we get to a state tournament and all sports that feels a little more equitable that doesn't skew towards private schools.
It doesn't just focus on big schools.
There's a lot of moving pieces to it.
So I am part of the way in with you on some of those things, but I really think there's a lot of complicated and competing issues in terms of a resolution
there.
And real fast, based on the geography aspect.
And now with division one in basketball, you got to.
The section that I focus on here with the Wausau schools, you got the Wausau schools, you got the Appleton schools, you got the Eau Claire schools, you got superior.
It's quite a region.
Yeah, you basically take the state and you just take like the Northwestern three quarters and like that's a region that everybody else is kind of packed in in the eastern part of the state.
And the thing about it is I think you hit a lot of the big topics in terms of when we do open up this kettle of fish that there are so many different areas that you kind of have to try to fit in the right proportion and to have the same ideas in terms of, hey, yes, I may think that, hey, you'd want to have some of these.
top performers there, but also you have to think about, again, the smaller areas and the like.
And I don't envy the people that have to make these decisions.
But at the same time, I frankly, again, maybe I sound like an old geezer, but I think it was better back in the day when we had state quarter finals at state in all these sports.
But then again, you know, they don't pay me to make those decisions as well.
But it still does not take away from this being, I think, really does an exciting, exciting time.
And I just want to underline again, for folks out there, if you've not been
to a game, take a chance.
Because sometimes I feel like we focus way too much on whether the Packers doing in the off season or whether the Bucks and the Brewers doing.
Yes, they're important, but not on it.
I think people are missing out on things very close just down the block here in their own communities.
Yep, you know, the next two weeks, you got the regionals going in basketball.
Then after that, we moved to sectionals, things moved to more neutral sites.
So really this week for girls hoops, the next week for boys hoops.
Right where you live, there's probably a game within 10 minutes of you.
Go check it out for six bucks.
I guarantee you, you're not going to find a better entertainment value for your $6 than a high school playoff game.
And Jimmy Cusco again, check out his new story on the signing of the WIA and UW for the next eight years and more.
Jimmy, thanks for spending some time with us.
Thanks, Chad.
That is Jimmy Kuskar, Civic Media Sports Director.
We're going to come back one more segment to go before we wrap things up here on Civic Media Mornings on the Civic Media Radio
Network.
You're listening to Civic Media.
Find the latest news, information, and archives of all your favorite shows on the Civic Media website, civicmedia.us.
I can admit I've never heard this before, but
because it's not an 80 song Chad.
Oh, it's not.
No, it came out like 10 years ago.
He was born in 1982.
But it has
an 80s feel to it.
Okay, I was
thinking
why was I guess in 1982 born on this date in 1982 is Nate Roos fun and carry on.
I'm discombobulated here because I see joining us final segment of the morning.
the man that will be hanging out with you tomorrow morning on civic media mornings in for Pat for one more day.
The one the only the host of the Todd all by show.
The aforementioned Todd all Todd.
Good to see you.
Great to
see you, Chad.
Great to see you, Greg.
Here.
Yeah, there's three audience here for early this morning.
We appreciate everyone of
them.
How are you?
It's great to see you.
But to start off, we were talking during the break, I felt bad because I missed the call.
And Ollie from the North Woods had called up.
And a while back, and I hope you're still out there, Ollie, because we're going to bring up your topic, wants to know about our thoughts on the new immigration gold card for $5 million.
And the first thing is, when I see that, I laughed.
and then I want to cry because this is where we are where it's all about the richest people in the world doing what they want to do and I'm gobsmacked that things like this just don't make this man a laughing stock more than maybe he has been certain areas but Todd it's so un-American frankly to me that kind of proposal
or even opening it up and saying it, whether or not he's ultimately serious, because I think even he knows it ain't going to happen.
Yes and no.
Yes and no, actually.
The funny but sad part, as you say, is.
You know, I used to handle immigration issues for former congressman Scott Kluge for about five years.
So I used to be, I would have one time called myself an expert in immigration.
There's been enough changes where I wouldn't say that anymore.
But yeah, Trump had.
of a press conference, one of many in the Oval Office yesterday, and announced that they were giving a green card if you immigrate here legally, and you get basically a work permit.
The slang is called a green card if the cards used to literally be green.
That's where the term came from, a work permit.
And so Trump announced yesterday he's going to have
gold card, where you get a gold card, where a few, as you say, have $5 million to bring into the US that will basically buy you legal residency.
And he was very proud of this.
Nobody ever thought of this before.
Except Chad and Greg.
They have.
because that actually already exists.
If you are a person of a certain means and that you could pass all the other requirements to get into the country, you know, that you're not wanting somewhere in layman's terms, basically, if you don't have a warrant out for your arrest, you could already do this.
If you have $5 million in cash in an American bank account, you can already do this.
It already exists.
So once again, he's
just
taking
what?
I don't know what's worse is the fact that he thought he is the fact that he came up with the idea of thinking he thought of it himself or that it actually exists for real.
I think that I think Stephen Miller is wacky, you know, uh, that, uh, got rid of the, uh, spray on hairpiece.
Now this is an accepted being bald, uh, like me.
And, uh, uh, he, I think they say, Hey, uh, nobody ever talks about this.
You should just say that you created it.
And I think that's why what happened.
So yeah, there they, so it already, this
actually, I haven't taught to you since Trump 2.0 got underway.
What and then I know and I listen to you every day and I know you talk a lot about you know your thoughts on it What's the biggest takeaway right now?
What is what should people be thinking about because it's so and I have to admit to that over the last five six weeks or so I I've been up and down I mean, it's it's a difficult time.
I think for a lot of folks What should people be thinking about right now?
What should the average American be trying to focus on at
this point?
I did one guy.
I don't have all the answers.
I'm heartened when I go to Hayward.
Spent some time up there last week for the Birkenbeiner.
I went into one of the local bars.
People were talking about the USA-Canada hockey match.
It was on every screen.
People were talking about the fact that the Hayward girls were in the playoff on the Virginia State Hockey Championships up there and focused on the Birkenbeiner.
Reed Galen from The Union was on our show a couple weeks ago.
I thought he said it well.
Focus on
getting to know your friends and neighbors and family again, join the local Lions Club of Rotary and don't talk about politics so much and focus on what you can do to improve your community.
Encourage, run for or encourage or help people run for local school board or county board or state assembly in a year and a half.
Those are things are tangible that we can do.
It's a story for another day.
I don't want to sound hopeless here, but the election is over.
The three of us are different shows.
We were talking about a five, five alarm fire in September and October and, and tried to gin things up.
There were people on the left and the right who didn't believe that.
And they either stayed home, voted for a third party or voted for Donald Trump thinking that it'll never be that bad.
And here we are.
And that ain't going to change anytime
soon.
Well, the good news is for the folks in Hayward, they beat superior last night and overtime.
The girls will be playing my team on Saturday for a trip to State Central Wisconsin Storm, and we'll have the game here on WXCO.
So you, hey, folks, can tune in on the app with us as well.
So Todd, thanks a lot.
I know we'll be tuned in today from noon until 2 throughout the state.
And thanks for popping on by.
Always a pleasure, you guys.
Have a great day.
Greg, thank you for your help.
Of course.
Folks, I'll be on for the next two hours.
8 till 10 on 98.9 WXCO.
It's been a pleasure fitting in for Pat.
And everyone, have a great day.
Keep it here
on Civic Media.
Civic Media is dedicated to providing quality local and state news coverage across Wisconsin.
With the Civic Media app, you can get notifications about local stories that matter to you and your community.
Find the free Civic Media app in your phone's app store and choose notifications from the menu to tell us what kind of news you want to hear about.
