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Now, it's time for Make the Call, the Civic Media sports production.
Indeed, the big voiceover guy says it is Make the Call part of the Civic Media radio network.
Thank you for joining us here this weekend.
as we go through the week in sports and as always a lot is happening in Wisconsin in the sports world and we've got a lot to talk about today.
Before we welcome aboard the co-host of this program I want to remind folks that we as always have guests on the program coming up a half hour from now.
Now that I've solved the computer issues
Jake Kokorowski of Badger Observer will join me.
We'll go over the Wisconsin Athletic Director situation, as well as the recap of spring football practices and spring volleyball for the Badgers.
Later in the program, we'll hear from Mike Clemens, who is stationed at the NFL Draft in Pittsburgh.
And we're going to hear from Mike as he recaps everything that's happened through the first couple of days of Packers Picks and everything happening with the NFL Draft.
But before we get there, we have a lot to get to in sports this week.
And as always, we
welcome aboard Parker Olson and of course, Greg Gunderson, who we welcome back this week.
In this first segment, we begin things with our top eight at eight, the top eight sports stories of the week, and we'll start at number eight.
This week, the man responsible for the GOPEC GO slogan passed away.
A Milwaukee man who created the slogan.
It's very popular here in all the arenas.
I have to start with this question with you guys and welcome you aboard, of course, to the program, Parker and Gray.
What is your favorite team chant or slogan in the wake of this unfortunate news?
And rest in peace, Lavel Ives, 100% an absolute legend behind the scenes and got the attention he deserved.
I do, of course, love the go pack, go above anything else, but I've got a special place for two others.
Who they think going to beat them bangles, they do that so well.
That's a long one, like well done guys.
And honestly, respect for Skoll.
They, they nailed the Skoll chant in the stadium.
I don't want to like it, but I kind of do.
it's way better than sky Yuma for sure.
Yeah.
God.
Yeah.
That's, that's, uh, that's the gopher's.
So I would take Skoll over sky Yuma, but it's not, they're pretty low on my
I'm going to go out of the Midwest for mine.
In 2005, a film was released called Hustle and Flow.
And from this movie, it's a movie about an aspiring rap artist, came the term, whoop that trick.
And that is what the Memphis Grizzlies do at their home games.
They will play the line from this movie, and the whole crowd really gets into it.
Now, we can't really get into what that actually means on a family program, of course, but.
That is what the Memphis Grizzlies use at their home games, and the people really get into it.
I just, I love the origin story of this becoming like an NBA arena theme for the Memphis Grizzlies.
My second place, obviously, is jump around.
Why not?
We're at Wisconsin, we jump around.
Every time I hear the jump around thing, there's always that story about how they bring in the school of engineering to make sure the stadium doesn't collapse.
And they say, oh yeah, the stadium can handle 80,000 plus people jump.
been around, but if you've ever been in the press box at Camp Randall Stadium when they do jump around, it is a little terrifying.
So just going to put that out there because it moves and you're like, wait, this should move.
This is a concrete sturdy structure.
Why is it moving?
So that is what I've got for you guys this week.
Number seven in the top eight and eight.
The NFL draft is in Pittsburgh.
Of course, not that long ago.
It was in Green Bay.
Would you like to see the NFL draft come back to Green Bay?
It went great last year, and it went even better this year in Pittsburgh because they shortened it.
They finally didn't drag it out, so bring it back, do it just as well as they did last year, shorten it.
It was good for the area.
I think Green Bay would react positively to such a thing.
There's somebody out there who would say no, but I don't know.
I think so.
I mean, Green Bay has already said that they want it back and that they would be willing to do it again.
So yeah, I would absolutely love to have it back and you're right.
It was awesome for not only the Green Bay and that surrounding community, but actually for pretty much the whole state brought in a lot economically speaking too.
Forget about the fact that it's just cool to have.
It was actually good for the state money-wise.
I think all things considered the NFL draft, it was back to a two day format.
Might it be better for a host duty upper team stretching it out over three days?
This feels like a lot.
I mean, how do you get people excited for three straight days?
But that's a whole other question.
And yeah, we got six more of these questions are going to top eight and eight.
And number six is a question I tossed on the board this week in our top eight and eight.
And I'm asking this because I'm thinking, you know, next weekend is the fishing opener.
It was 85 degrees here earlier this week.
We've had tornadoes.
We've had hail.
We've had big
summer storms and it's only April.
So I have to ask you guys, are you ready for summer and are you ready for like summer sports?
Because we are turning the page to May here pretty quick and that's when things really start to heat
the Madison Mallards with the big Lebowski night.
I'm going to be there uh the mid-July.
I'm totally going to be there.
I don't know that I'm going to wear the big robe that I've got because it's going to probably be like a thousand degrees in the sun.
Every time I've gone to a Mallards or a nightmares game in Madison, it is way too hot to wear anything but like a t-shirt.
And even then like I have that thought, that intrusive thought of like maybe people want to see this giant man uh maybe you know remove clothing when it's this hot up.
Then I think sunburn and I think of my own uh
my own well-being there.
And I opt against that.
So also, you know, there are children present.
I don't think anybody needs to see that.
So anyway, moving along in the top eight and eight, we are off the rails already today.
And this is actually a more serious question.
So we're going to go right from goofing off to a more serious question.
And this is one grade that you brought up after talking to Mike Clemens this week on your program up there in Park Falls.
And it got me thinking about NIL money and how it might have affected maybe not even just the NFL draft process.
but draft processes everywhere.
How do you think NIL money has affected the college to pros part of things?
I was speaking, like you said, with Mike Clemens and he really opened my eyes to it because he was talking to Packers general manager, Brian Gudekunst recently, actually basically in the wake of the draft, asking him about whether they regret giving up their picks and stuff, but he really nailed the question.
Basically, what do you see with players now that they're coming in already paid a little bit?
And Goody's answer was basically that it exposes some of those players.
You know, Jamarcus Russell comes to mind, players who collect a big check and then basically appear to kind of give up a little bit.
There was another.
The name Albert Haynesworth comes to mind.
I might be remembering him for different reasons, but I think he's on the same list of players who got a big check and then their play really dropped off.
So you see interesting situations where like last season, Shamar Stewart, the Bengals first round pick, held out and there was talk of him even going back to college if that might have been possible.
And he had more power in that negotiation than normal to hold out because.
The Bengals weren't holding his first big contract over his head.
He got his first contract back in college.
So like Goody said, this exposes some players who might drop off when they get a big check, but at the same time, you can't judge them too harshly because who wouldn't go a little wild with a couple million at the age of 20, 21 years old?
Very true.
I don't know what I would have done at that age.
I probably would have done a lot of very immature things, a lot of playstations in my future there.
And the car.
Car oh, yeah car.
Yeah, who needs who needs video games when you got a car number four in the top eight and eight And I and I asked this question a bit last week when it was just Parker and I but I'm gonna bring you into this discussion gray The bachelors are the process of looking for a new athletic director.
What do you think the biggest priority is for the new AD?
We're in the same question.
It's an IL money again.
I mean
is that that's we got to figure out how to attract it as a somewhat smaller school.
Wisconsin's got some name notoriety.
I'm I'm really quickly sending envoys out to all my big name alumni who are on NFL teams or retired and have their car dealership chain already like hey what can you contribute to the school so that we can keep doing for new players what we did for you 30 years ago when it was easier to pull off.
Parker what do you envision is the new model for somebody like
That's got to be a priority.
That was a priority in their search, I would expect.
And I think that I said this last week, because you got to have a business man, you got to know somebody that can market, really bring in some donor dollars to the Badgers and get a collective going to try to attract more better players through more money for better players for the future, because you're going to be playing better.
It's a snake that eats its own tail.
They've sort of addressed this a little bit.
They they've already started making some moves like in there in what you would call the front office They brought in Brady Ewing to be the director of like reaching out to alumni.
So he's like the alumni director So they're already starting to shake that tree of people who have gone to Wisconsin and have ties and trying to get them more involved in the process with the Badgers and I have to think that all that is tied to Finding finding new avenues to find an aisle money because every story we've seen about it has been the fact that they're getting taxpayer money now for the facilities
that they've built this big, giant new practice center.
They're still building it.
Actually, there are metal workers from the town.
I live in the Southwestern, Wisconsin, but are working on that and they keep sending me photos and it's pretty impressive.
Just how massive this thing is going to be.
I do agree with you guys, though.
The NIL part of it.
How are they going to fund a major college operation in this era?
They're going to be in these power conferences.
It's pay to play.
No other way to put it.
It's pay to play at this point.
And you got to get that end of it figured out.
Number three in our top eight and eight, the Brewers are a dead last place in the NL central.
That being said, they are a couple of games over 500 and they have the fourth best run differential in the national league.
So we're here on, you know, April 25th.
I have to ask you guys, are you concerned about the Brewers and where they're at?
Or is it way too soon to be worried?
It's April 25th.
Come on.
The Brewers are doing fine.
Obviously, over 500 is always good, frankly.
Once you get to August or into the dog days of the summer, if you're still over 500, you're saying to yourself, I'm having a good year.
Once you get into September, if you're over 500, you're probably looking at a playoff spot.
If the Brewers can kind of hold course here.
I don't know how many games it is exactly played 25 or so probably a couple more if they can stay a couple of games over over a 25 game period You're gonna finish pretty well above 500 by the end of the year That's a good sign.
I'm not too concerned I think that they're kind of stabilizing where they need to and they're about to get some keys back from injury
like two years ago for you.
Hey,
We're not going to talk about that.
There's there's camera effects at work here, Jimmy.
But back, I don't know, 10 or 12 years ago, I'll give you the number.
OK.
I used to be use big words all the time to make myself sound smart.
It was terrible.
It was gross.
But some of them stuck and inclusive or
is one of them.
It's when someone says A or B, like, hey, yes, this or this, like, am I nervous or is it too soon?
The answer is yes, it's both.
I'm nervous and it's too soon because it could go wrong.
You know, I think of Green Bay last year, like I always will.
But it's also too soon, 24 games in.
I agree with you guys.
And I just look at the run differential, the fact that, yeah, it's, you know, it's late April.
We had a long ways to go.
And the old saying is you can lose a division title or playoff spot in April.
You can't win it.
You can't do that till later in the year.
So the Brewers are right where they need to be.
And it's only two and a half games and a game out in the wild card.
It's, it's.
Again, wait way too soon number two in the top eight and eight and we're running near the end of the segment We got a couple minutes on this and that is the box have apparently made their decision.
It hasn't been formally or wasn't formally announced until Later on but they have brought in Taylor Jenkins as the new head coach.
So what does it mean for the Milwaukee Bucks?
becoming what the bucks were, which was good, because right now they're not good.
I'll just put it that way.
And I think that by doing this, they're trying to make a little bit of an effort at retaining Yanis.
Who knows how well that'll go.
We shall see, as they say.
The only thing we can really guarantee is that this means stability or excuse me, this means familiarity because he's been in the system before.
Hopefully it means stability.
That was the point that I was going to make.
He seemed like a consistent head coach in Memphis, but good coaches get fired in the NBA these days.
Hopefully we got one of them.
And he's also someone who's worked with star players and worked with rosters that were kind of rebuilding and I just look at the fact that they were able to win without their star players like when they didn't have jammer on Over well over five, but I think it was like two to one wins losses So it just seems like if they're bringing somebody in who's got that experience of star players and it can manage a roster like that That's gonna be all good things for whatever they do next with the roster We have made it through the first seven questions at the top eight at eight number one at the top eight at eight Well as you might imagine it has to be
with everything happening this weekend with the NFL Draft and we'll talk about that next right here
on Make The Call, part of the Civic Media radio
Indeed, it is make the call here on the civic media radio network.
Thank you for joining us whenever and wherever you are listening to us, whether it's the live version or the replay that comes later in the weekend.
The Packers had the NFL draft this weekend and the first three rounds were completed by the airtime of our show on Saturday morning.
So we know two of the Packers picks.
One of them is a defensive back out of South Carolina named Brandon Cise.
And Cise was brought in a corner with
a lot of speed and someone that fits a position of need for the Packers.
They needed a cornerback and their first pick in the second round, they decided to spend it on Cece.
So the first question for Cece was, how did he feel when he got the call that he become a Green Bay Packer?
I mean, especially, you know, I saw the area cold and just saw the Green Bay Packers and it's like a moment come true.
I just really can't put it in a word.
He says already got connections to Wisconsin.
Yeah, my girlfriend, family, youth packer fans from Wisconsin.
So yeah, that's kind of like the storyline in there.
So yeah, I got kind of like a little thing.
Big packer fans so
special and it's not just family ties.
He also has a pretty good understanding about Green Bay.
Just a historic tradition.
He's had, you know, go pack, go just a very loud stadium and both feel so.
I know a lot been watching it for a long time and obviously keeps on making it there.
So it's been great.
Be able to watch it from afar and not be a part of it.
I'm just excited.
Of course, anybody drafted to Green Bay is going to be asked about whether they're ready to play in the brutal winter cold that we have here in the state.
I'm excited for it.
You know, I'll be just fine.
I'm excited for it.
During the pre-draft process, he say was asked if he knew that Green Bay was interested in drafting him.
You know, the extended interest, you know, met with them a few times, met them at the combine, you know.
It didn't really know what was going to happen.
You know, maybe I'm at a pro day a little bit, but I had really no clue.
Kind of came out of nowhere and it's just
excited.
CCL will be joining a defense that's got some star power, including Micah Parsons.
It's going to be special for me knowing that I have somebody that can gap through the passes like that and change games.
I look forward to playing with him and I just know he's going to help me and go help him do everything I can and make the quarterback pet a ball and let him get home.
So do everything in my power to help me and I know he's going to help me just as much.
Packers National Scout Mike Owen lives in South Carolina and said he spent a lot of time with CSA.
You know when you go to school, talk to sources, talk to the kid.
I spent a lot of time with this kid.
I live with 35 minutes from the University of South Carolina, so I spent a lot of time with him.
When you go there, they spoke highly of him, work ethic, in the weight room, at practice, smart kid, always watching a ton of football.
Anytime I went there, he's in a recruiting office, watching NFL, college, or high school, so.
That's what I love about the kid.
Really loves football at the end of the day.
Owen says there's a lot to like about Cece.
A
lot to like about Brandon Cece.
Smart, tough, physical corner, got good foot quickness, can run.
So it's a lot to like about him and he's wired right.
That's the biggest thing at the end of the day.
Backers general manager Brian Gudekun said this to say about the drafting of Brandon Cece.
You know, he's one of those guys.
He's one of the few guys that can play off man, can play press.
His suddenness through transition is something that, you know, stood out to us.
He's very young.
We think his best football is ahead of him.
We think he's got so much more left in the tank, not only as a player, but physically as well.
I think he'll get bigger and stronger.
So again, you know, he was, again, one of those players that didn't see being available when we were picking at 52.
We were sure happy that he did.
Really like the fact that he took the step and went to South Carolina last year and kind of, you know,
better competition and really showed well this past year.
The Packers made another pick on day two of the NFL draft.
Their second pick came in the third round and it was Chris McClellan, a defensive tackle out of Missouri.
McClellan said this to say about getting the call that he was going to Green Bay.
It was an extraordinary moment and something I would never forget for the rest of my life, but I was just sitting there with my friends and family man and we were just out there waiting.
McClellan added that.
He got the call after he saw that the Packers had traded up to get him.
Just trust in God, man.
Like for me, I knew my situation going into today was was a little bit unique, you know, with the peak range and everything.
So I just controlled what I could and went into it with a clear with a clear head and the open heart and just was looking forward to whatever team was was calling.
The question was asked.
Did McClellan know that the Packers were interested in him?
It was a good process.
We had some communication at the Saner Bowl.
at the combine and then get a couple zooms as well.
So I definitely knew they had interest, but I mean, for them to trade up to come and give me is a great feeling.
The Clellan who played at Missouri and in the SEC had this to say about what he knows about Green Bay.
Honestly, I know this a little bit.
I know it's one of the most legendary franchises in the league and I know that the expectation is to win games
year in and year
out.
So that's pretty much what I know.
I know they have.
have had great success with defense alignment in the past with guys like, you know, I know he's not very warm between Clark and things like that.
So just kind of want to go in there and learn from all the guys there and try to soak up as much of knowledge as I can.
McLean says he can play anywhere up front that the Packers would need him to.
You know, I can play anywhere across the line and that's what I'm going to do.
Wherever they need me to go, I'll go and play and.
to help the team in whatever way I can.
I don't care if I have to be a zero nose or a five technique, wherever I can go to play and help the team is where I want to
be.
McClellan added that he's looking forward to playing with Micah Parsons.
Man, that was the first thing I thought about.
Soon as I, you know, they hung up the call and and we seen it on the screen with men.
I get to play one of the best in the game with a in Micah Parsons, man.
So that's so great sighting.
I've been blessed to play with great defensive players around me, especially defensive Andy last couple years with players like.
from the last two drafts.
So
Packers General Manager Brian Gudekund said this to say about drafting McClellan in the third round.
Obviously, he played in the SEC.
He's a huge man, has excellent length.
And I think for me, the combination of being able to play the nose, the three, and actually rush the passer, there's a lot of these guys that don't do that.
He can, and that was, I think, what set him apart a little bit for us.
Here's what's on tap for the third day of the draft on Saturday.
Here's GM Brian Gudekuts.
You
know, wouldn't mind moving around a little bit.
I think, like I said, I think the board is strong.
I think there's good players up there.
And just really kind of, you know, it's always hard just to stick to the very best player available.
But particularly on the third day, I think if you can do that, you're better off.
And so, you know, I don't feel like a pressing need.
I didn't feel that coming into this draft and I don't feel that now that we have to go, you know, just fill a spot.
So hopefully I can have the discipline to kind of just stay there and take the best player and then do that.
That again, Packers GM Brian Goodacutes, a special thanks to Mike Clemens for setting us all of the audio from Green Bay.
Mike will be on later in the program to recap the first two days of the NFL draft.
You set for day three, which if you're listening to the show on Saturday is today.
The Packers have several picks coming up.
Packers also signed Jaden Reed.
to a three year $50 million contract extension on Friday.
Back with more make the call right after this.
Welcome back to Make the Call here on the Civic Media Radio Network.
We are going to transition now to talk some Badgers.
And after my computer decided to eat Zoom and every other video recording program last week, I rebuilt it.
We have the technology and we have it all in place to talk to Jake Kokorowski of BadgerObserver.com.
So with my technical ineptitude out of the way, Jake, we have so much to talk about.
And I'm just going to start.
You know, by saying we're going to talk about spring ball here in this segment, but I guess I know that's what you're actively covering.
In fact, last night, you know, coming back late from a volleyball match, we got a lot to get to, but we have to start by talking about the AD search because when this news came out last week.
It was a it was a really big I mean it went above every other sport Last week for at least a couple of days and and kind of an abrupt shift from all the sudden you go from Macintosh and ad he's now with the big 10 You've got Marcus said Barry is the interim ad now a national search for an athletic director This was monumental and I'm just curious about your thoughts about perhaps the timing of it and Maybe even what the Badgers now do that they have to find a new athletic director.
Yeah, it's I mean
the news broke and, you know, shout out to Todd Malewski from the Wisconsin State Journal, my old former colleague over there for breaking it.
And then, yeah, you hear the news and yeah, it's a very, yeah, it's a weird timing where, you know, Wisconsin, the wrath of the frozen four for men's where, you know, they're the national runners up a few weeks earlier, the women won the national title.
And so you're also just, it's not like
the end of a, you know, end of a athletic year or others or academic year for that matter.
And I think what's also just kind of crazy is just just, yeah, just the fact that looking at where Wisconsin is above him with the outgoing chancellor who's going to Columbia and then above that, you know, there's no, you know,
UW system president.
And then the governor, you know, has not sought, you know, Governor Tony Evers is not, is not seeking reelection, right?
So it's just a very, yeah, it's an interesting time to not just cover Wisconsin football or it's Wisconsin athletics as a whole.
And, you know, reporters, like we had a chance to talk with Marcus Sedbury, the new interim athletic director yesterday, no, Thursday.
And
It you know it yeah it's just a very interesting time right now within the athlete within.
I would say just Wisconsin in general and so.
Yeah but yeah it's just you know where it goes from here we'll see you know it doesn't feel like a lot's been.
You know publicly known about.
what's going to transpire.
But, you know, you see, you know, I'm going to have an article out next week on Badger Observer.
I've been trying to put together like just questions about this athletic director search just for, you know, one, do you go to a familiar face or do you try to reach out to a familiar face, you know, that someone that has experience at Wisconsin, you know, or do you go like you see a lot of these teams, a lot of these, not just teams, athletic.
departments going with people that have experience outside the business.
Outside of just running an athletic department and yeah, you need to have, I think, I mean, obviously the ideal kind of day is someone that can balance the traditions that people love about college athletics with the new age of revenue sharing and NIL and fundraising and more.
And so, but if you look at someone outside,
of the box a little bit.
And so that's where I think it was like Stanford's, yeah, Stanford, I think last year hired their athletic director who was a former president and CEO of Nike.
As an example, there are a couple of Maryland, yeah, I know the popular one, I think recently in the Big 10s, Maryland's athletic director came from the Atlanta Braves.
And so that's where I'm wondering, you know, what will happen with Wisconsin and like who can help them
you know, compete especially in this age of NIL, Revenue, Sherry, and then, you know, it's a new age of college athletics.
Seems to be the question everybody's mind.
Jake Hukarowski, a Badger Observer joining us, is what the new athletic director could bring in terms of the financials.
Because NIL is here.
A lot of the notable achievements for Chris McIntosh on his way out, getting the taxpayer funding, helping secure a little bit of money before he went to become a member of the Big Ten conference.
And I feel like that's the question everybody's asking is, how good will the new athletic director be here in the era of NIL?
And I think that's going to
probably be maybe the biggest question answered whenever the hire is announced.
I think an ideal candidate is one that can navigate this change quickly, but also, I mean, it's going to be ever changing.
Like what is happening now in college athletics could be very different whenever they get down to the hiring process, wherever that could be.
And so are they able to navigate just what's transpiring?
Because I mean, there's even, I mean, the CSC, you know, where it's supposed to, that's supposed to be the
Big, essentially with NIL, being an authority figure on that, that's being challenged.
Yeah, there's just a lot of change and I mean it's it's hard to keep up man I'll be honest with you.
You've got to take in a whole lot of spring ball whether it's been volleyball or football I'm gonna start volleyball since that's what happened last night the Badgers program obviously very good There's a lot of big news with with the sport of volleyball the Big 10 too But just just all things consider the Badgers volleyball team just still appears to be the juggernaut that it's been for Basically the entire Kelly Sheffield tenure.
Yeah, no, I mean you look at the
Just with volleyball It you know, it's watching them, you know, there's four sets.
They won the first three sets We played four sets, you know, and you saw some of the younger talent out there on the fourth set And yeah, this is a team that's gonna be young, you know, but their 2026 class is really telling I think they had three of the top ten players
possibly four of the top 10 depending upon whichever viable rankings there were in the nation.
It's a really strong class of, you know, I can already tell you at least two, probably, you know, at least three are probably going to contribute in the fall.
You pair that with a amazing transfer pickup in Jaila August from Florida, who she, yes, last night, man, she, there was one play where
you know, Charlie Furbringer sets it up and I don't know if I've seen a quicker swing from a player and I've, let me preface, this is the first time I've really, you know, this is going to be my second year covering the volleyball program on like a really big, you know, like on a beat consistently, but that swing, like you heard the thud and this is like a, you know, it's a spring match, right?
It doesn't really count.
They're getting reps.
And, you know, in the crowd, you know, it wasn't completely filled at the field house, but you heard an explosion when you, you know, her arm hits the ball spikes quickly.
And then you see everyone, all the fans be like, what just happened?
And they all just like started erupting in cheer, like to get this huge momentum just off of a swing.
And I think she's going to be really a dynamic piece with Charlie Furbringer.
You can already see the chemistry starting to form between, you know, a third team, all American.
middle blocker and a captain who's a setter who's arguably arguably the best setter in the nation and Charlie Furbringer.
So I think those two are gonna be really interesting.
There's, I mean, I know Kelly Sheffield talked about it last night with reporters.
He feels that there is a good, you know, there's depth here.
And so we did not see Grace Egan play.
Grace Lopez also did not play.
So they have options coming back, like someone like Madison Quest on the outside hitters.
So there's a lot to like about this team.
There's a lot of growing.
But the talent is there.
And there could be depth too.
And that's kind of the standard at Wisconsin, right?
Going forward.
Well, let's talk about football for a minute Jake just while we have you for a couple more minutes NFL draft obviously in progress this weekend No badgers picked in the first three rounds at least but football program has had its struggles the last couple of years What have we seen during spring ball because all of a sudden I just seen the shift for How they report the additions to the roster we used to get that rundown of like high school Sinies and now it's been a rundown of like transfer Sinies and there's a whole lot of new faces in Wisconsin not to say the recruiting part of it hasn't been fun as well
Seeing another sorgy quarterback coming to Wisconsin is pretty exciting.
But here in Spring Bowl, what are some things maybe of note that we can share here in the last couple of minutes about the football program?
Right, yeah.
I mean, yeah, you talk about this recruiting real quick, Wisconsin, you know, doing really well on the recruiting trail.
And that's obviously is in state, which a lot of people have been, I think it goes beyond Luke Fickle.
I think at the end of Paul Chris tenure with missing out on a couple of key 2022 recruits like Carson Hinsman, who's at Ohio State and Billy Shrouth, who had a great career at Notre Dame.
But today I'm with a few, but you also have, I mean, with Wisconsin, you know, with the in-state recruits, I mean, eight of the nine verbal commits for the 27 class are from the state.
It's headlined by, you know, some four-star players like Kingston Allen from Green Bay Notre Dame, who had a monstrous year last year and set in the state records in rushing yards and touchdowns.
Cole Ryder from Germantowns, a consensus four-star recruit, Kors Loken, the tight end from Iola, Scandinavia.
But then they added Jack Sorgi, who was a four-star recruit by on three slash rivals at obviously the name, right?
You hear the name?
Oh, yeah, Sorgi, you know.
And so Jim Sorgi was pretty, pretty, you know, pretty good quarterback from what was it?
2000 to 2003 and his name's in the record books for Wisconsin.
So it's, you know, but I saw Jack Sorgi, his son on the field.
And, you know, you could tell like last, last weekend when we watched practice that like they swarmed, like they had, I think seven of the eight recruits in town that day from the 27th class and they kind of, I'm not going to say sharks.
were circling, but I would say that they definitely made sure Jack felt at home and really interacted with him on the field for the Badgers though.
I mean, really, you're looking at Wisconsin.
I think a couple of things stand out.
One, I think the pressure, I mean, Wisconsin needs to replace Daryl Peterson, you know, and Mason Ryger, who I think, you know, should hear his name in day three on Saturday, but
You're also looking at the questions like they had 11 and a half sacks and 17 and a half tackles for loss, right?
Who's going to replace that?
But you've seen Sebastian Cheek step up.
You've seen Nick Clayton, who's going to be a softball, who could be the next big outside linebacker in the storied history of Wisconsin, at least recent history of Wisconsin outside linebackers.
You're seeing Jaylin willing like another second year guy like Jaylin Williams take big steps forward There is a lot of you know one of the transfer guys they brought in like Liam Danitz out of D3 I mean, he's kind of like Matt Mitchell talked about it a couple last week You know, this is a kid that you know, he's he's made some plays in the spring But he's kind of buried like this guy's like a D3 all-american and he Whittled down basically like you know, he's
playing D1 Power 4 football.
So, but yeah, but he's still making plays.
And so there's a lot of depth.
And then the last thing I think maybe offensively is just the dynamic of the quarterback and just seeing how Colton Joseph can influence the offense.
So there's a lot going on, man.
I could get it.
I could go for hours.
Oh, I know.
But you know, we can find all this information.
We can find it all at Badger Observer because that's where you've got everything laid out extremely well.
It's fun to read along and follow all the things happening with the Badgers.
There's so much that happens in April, amazingly.
You don't think of it as a big.
big month in sports, but there's a lot happening with Wisconsin and that goes beyond, you know, the football and all the other stuff we talked about.
But, you know, seeing the softball coach get 600 wins, just, you know, the national championship and women's hockey, there's so much that happens.
I think we could use a whole show just to cover a little bit, but unfortunately today we have to step aside and make way for Mike Clemens, who is updating us on all things NFL draft in the next segment.
But Jake, greatly appreciate your insights and learning more about everything happened.
with the Badgers this spring.
Looking forward to getting a chance to talk to you again real soon because, you know, one of the Badgers make that AD higher.
It's going to be pretty big news and one of the better idea of things going forward.
Appreciate your time,
man.
Always, man.
Appreciate you.
Have a great weekend.
That again is Jake Kokorowski, Badger Observer.
We'll be back right after this on Make the Call, part of 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.
Last segment here on Make the Call, part of the Civic Media radio network, and we wrapped things up before we turn it over to Mike Clements by asking the co-host of this program any
Final sports thoughts for the week.
Again, it has been seven days of a whole lot of big things happening in Wisconsin sports.
So we're going to start with you, Gray, because you weren't here last week and and we definitely we definitely missed you last week.
I think Parker and I were I think we spent half the show just talking D three sports.
I don't know.
I can't remember as a weekend.
I wish but a lot's happened in the week since Gray.
So what is on your mind sports wise?
And forgive me, I'm on some different equipment this week, so I think my mic might be acting a little bit funny.
That said, I'm just glad to have an NFL draft in the tail lights, or at least portions of it.
And we've got a good chunk of baseball to look at.
There's motion happening in the NBA.
It's just a pleasant bustle.
That's what I'm happiest about right now.
All right, Parker, we gave you lots of time to shine that last week, but hey, you still get final thoughts this week,
We had some good debates last week.
It was kind of fun doing one on one, but anyway, what's on your mind this week?
Yeah, WIC championships right around the corner, NCAA tournaments coming here in a few weeks.
As always in division three, it just seems like there's so much happening, and they kind of crammed this stuff in in May.
It just feels like every turn of it happens in May, and then all of a sudden it's done.
All of a sudden it's June, and well, D3 sports are done, and we're looking forward to football already.
Guys, I appreciate you as always this week.
It's always fun to talk sports with you all.
Have a good weekend, and again, it's for me and here for today.
Thank you, Jimmy.
Thank you, Jimmy.
Mike Clemens.
He is standing by with a report from the NFL drafts and he is in Pittsburgh covering all things Packers there and we'll hear from Mike coming up right now.
But this has been make the call part of the Civic Media Radio Network.
Thanks again to Parker Olsen, Greg Anderson, Jake Kokerowski, and of course Mike Rubins for joining us today.
This has been make the call part of the Civic Media Radio Network.
Here's Mike.
Hi, I'm Mike Clemens with Sports Baseball.
The Pittsburgh Pirates in Milwaukee this weekend for a three game series at Amfam Field against the Brewers.
The crew got off to a rough start Friday night, losing six to nothing, thanks to a perfect game by Pittsburgh's Paul Skeens, who went seven innings before finally giving up a hit.
The Brewers starter Brandon Woodruff says it was hard to keep up with Skeens.
I had a couple.
a couple mistakes in the middle of the zone there and kind of the middle innings that they were able to put the ball in play.
And I just knew that the way Paul was throwing the ball, I needed to kind of keep it where it was.
But yeah, I mean, it seemed like every time I would usually have a routine in between innings, it was going by so fast that it was just like every time I'd get sit down, it was like I was pretty much getting ready to go back out, which is good.
I like the rhythm, but you could tell he was
He was on top of his game tonight for sure.
His command.
I mean, that's what it's about.
Top top rail.
It's tough to get 98 in the top rail.
And you know, he was he was on a mission tonight and you got to tip your hat to him.
He was really, really good.
Garrett Mitchell.
If you look at like from the like the standpoint of the guys that we face this year, I don't think.
There's too much that goes into it like in terms of thinking about it before and or after.
I think it's just it's a game and baseball is very difficult and there's going to be days where.
everything goes your way and there's going to be nights where nothing goes your way.
And tonight was one of those nights.
NBA, the
He's 41-year-old Taylor Jenkins, who grew up around Dallas, played some high school basketball, attended Penn State, got a coaching internship with the Spurs, and that led to being hired by Mike Budenholzer, then at the Atlanta Hawks.
Four years later, coach Bud brought Jenkins along to Milwaukee, where he was an assistant coach for one season with the Bucks,
before being named head coach of the Memphis Grizzlies.
They went to the playoffs three of the six seasons.
Jenkins was there before he was fired in March of last year.
I asked Jim Ozarski, who covers the box for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on what he thinks of Taylor Jenkins can bring to the box as their new head coach.
So let's just go with clear vision.
Accountability.
Structure of offense and defensive systems.
What have we been talking about for three years?
Not those things.
So let's start with that.
He is a proven winner.
52% of his wins, sort of the one bad year in Memphis.
He had 33 different guys play for him.
That was an insane injury season in Memphis two seasons ago.
Other than that, he's a winner.
He was fired as his team had a winning record and route to the playoffs six years in.
I know the general manager there.
wanted to go in a different direction.
NFL, the draft this weekend, the Packers using their first two picks on defensive players Friday night.
Brandon Ceasey is a defensive back out of South Carolina.
He went in the second round and in the third round, the Packers selecting a defensive tackle.
Chris McClellan from the Missouri Tigers.
I asked Packers GM Brian Goodekins about having to decide how eager players are to being drafted now that they are already being paid salaries while playing college football.
and making a decision on whether a player is worthy of being drafted.
Brian, how much has the NIL affected your ability to determine the question, this guy needs football?
And secondly, when's the last time you looked at tape of Matthew Golden before you picked him that night?
First question, yeah, I do think, quite frankly, the NIL has exposed some of that with some of these guys earlier maybe than it would have if they weren't making money.
We've always really leaned on, you know, tried to lean on guys, trying to find guys that love football, you know, that it's more about, you know, the competition of the game more than anything else, what comes with it.
So in some ways, with these guys having the resources they have and us kind of knowing how they're using those resources and what they're doing with it, can provide some insight into the guy at the same time.
They're 21, 22, 23.
And if you guys, if we all had that money at that day, I mean, who knows what we'd be doing, right?
So I think you got to be careful to judge them too much.
You combine the tape kind of DNA and how they play the game with what we find out about them.
We'll tell you usually how much they love being out there and how competitive they are.
And then your second question, I think I'll watch tape on a few guys here and there over the course of these few days now.
But it's just usually just to show her something up.
But with Matthew, I think it was a good probably about a week before the draft when I was done watching him.
So he was in a hard one.
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