Good afternoon, Wisconsin. Welcome to WFHR's Playmakers.
Hope you have a great afternoon out there. Thanks for joining us on a Monday. We have a great
show lined up for you. We're going to be with you for the next hour. We are looking
forward to hanging out with you. Got your host James behind the mic. I am joined by our partner
in sports, Mr. Randy Paul. You know, my Monday just got better with that intro music.
That doesn't get you ready for the Playmakers. Well, well, come on. We're just changing things up
a little bit, keeping things fresh around here a little and having some fun while we're at it.
And I think that that song has quite the sports tie to it now. I think sports has kind of taken
it over in some ways. And a Midwest native in Jack White who wrote the song and famous guitar
of it and everything. Big time Detroit fan. So that works for us perfectly, Randy. That's
the whole fun we do. Absolutely. Absolutely. That'll be our intro music for we covered Detroit
lines. Which we're way ahead of, by the way. We got plenty to cover today. We're going to be
having some fun. We'll get into the WIA boys bracket release. Talk about a little bit of that
with Randy. He's got some local other local sports for us as well. We will get into a couple of
other topics for you. And of course, we're going to talk River Kings today because I reached out to
coach. He said he can make time to be able to join us today. So he's going to be here about 530.
We're not only going to be talking about the weekend of hockey and the playoffs going forward in
but how the playoffs work in the USPHL. The coach and I thought that that'd be a really good one to
go over. Refresh it for the audience and maybe for some people out there that are not familiar with
this format understanding it. Plus, there's been some changes as there is all the time. So we're
going to get into that with coach a little bit later looking forward to it. It's going to be a
lot of fun. And I think it's like the Steel County Blades and maybe on like three other last five
but Kings, 12 in a row. 12 in a row for our Kings. Are you going to come for the King? You best not
miss. We also have to cover something else for Randy and I just got to do this quick.
We have a little bit of baseball to talk. This is going to be our intro where we're going to start
talking baseball where we have talking baseball. We're going to be going into the great Terry
Cashman. We're going to we're going to have some fun with this one, Randy. Now real quick
before we dive into get too far into the show there is something major that I do need to cover
real quick and I can't believe I apologize. Everybody I meant to start right away with this. That's
on me as a host. We have a statement from the Wisconsin rap's rafters front office.
Statement from the deaths of assistant general manager Jake Adams and marketing manager
Colonel Philippi who joined us a couple of weeks ago on playmakers in response to the New York
Yankees changing their longstanding facial hair policy. We at the rafters have decided to not
change our facial hair policy. We have never had a policy against facial hair. Beards and mustaches
are cool. I understand that this could be controversial to some and by that I mean anybody
with Steinbrenner as the last name. Outside of that I just love this. It's well done by the rafters.
Well done. That's very good. So now we can play for the Yankees. Yes now now we have that
barrier has been removed. They do want to remind everybody that follow the rafters on social media
not only for great posts like that but if you are paying attention just a couple of hours ago
they post it on there. 3 1 25 get ready for something big this Saturday. So be paying attention
to their social media. Be on the lookout over there at Winterfield and of course keep in mind
you can get tickets right now. Go on over there to northwoodsleag.com and get your tickets everybody
and every hit every pitch every win of rafter baseball right here where it belongs all season long
cannot wait. Rafters, hurricanes are we bluster what? Yeah. Yeah. And I wanted to actually stay
in baseball just for a moment Randy on two quick topics with you one set brought up something
this morning in our pregame when we were talking that I had not thought about in a while
but the idea of a women's professional baseball league. And for those that are not familiar this
is something that is in the works. In fact they're looking at 2026 as a premiere for the WPBL.
It'll be launching six franchises in the summer of 2026 and team owner selection is underway
right now. There's no word on that confirmation yet. But this is all ready to go. This is this is
I don't know how much partnership this is going to be with MLB. I'm hoping for some if a lot.
I don't know right now it's almost silly to think that the WNBA could not exist. But if the
MBA hadn't taken it over and been like an atom silver in them and they take a lot of shots
especially for me over the last couple of weekends. But one of the smartest things they've ever
done in all of sports and all of sports not just basketball and all of sports was being like
we're going to take over the WNBA. We're going to finish in the red sometimes. We're not going
to make a profit always but we're going to invest in this. We're going to invest in women's sports
in the game of basketball and growing that and see what happens and look at where they are now.
This is the equivalent of buying Apple stock in 1979. This is I mean what they're sitting on right
now with the WNBA and Caitlin Clark and all that. Caitlin Clark is the face of baseball a basketball.
She's the face. It might be the face of baseball when it's all sitting. She's the face of basketball.
Like there's nobody. LeBron James is big. I get that. LeBron James is already established. I'm
talking about just basketball players and their fame. Not somebody with a shoe deal or anything
like that. There's nobody bigger than Caitlin Clark. There's nobody is even close. So what they
did with that is it's just a smart investment. I hope baseball does a similar thing because honestly
as much as I love basketball and I love it. I grew up watching women's basketball with my
aunt Karen all the time. I got to say I would get really into women's baseball. I think that'd be
pretty darn cool and my only problem is where was this when Jenny Finch was on because I loved
watching Jenny Finch pitch and I'd like to see her in a professional. I would like to see that.
She's pretty awesome with her as well. Would you watch? Would you be interested in that and take
this away from it everybody because I don't want somebody to think that they weren't interested
that that means that they don't like women's sports. Part of what we're talking about is your
quality. I haven't watched half of these side football leagues and there's nothing to do with anything
other than it's just kind of like I'm busy. I don't have a lot of time and I don't know a lot of
the players. There's nothing to do with you know that being a lesser league or any of these things
look at it this way from this prism. Would you watch more baseball? You know what's interesting is
I was as you were bringing this up. I was thinking to myself it's really amazing watching
girls softball. You know they're 60 feet away from first base in the home and the way they can
field and the way they can pitch and the way they can hit it's you know I'd same thing. Time
constraints don't watch a lot of it but when I do I'm always impressed so I'm just thinking how
is that going to carry over into baseball that'll be very interesting and I think that would be one
of those things like you you know if time permits I would view it see what I think and maybe give
it a second chance because you never know the first game you watch how that might play out but
yeah good for them give them a chance and see what happens. I think it's it's it's just it's such a
smart idea I bring this up all the time I was just talking about it earlier and it's one of the
better examples which is why I lean on it Ben and Jerry's was the biggest ice cream in the world
and they decided you know what there's a whole section of the market that we're not hitting that
this lactose intolerant or that is a vegan or something we're going to make ice cream for them too
and they got even bigger like it's it's the equivalent of that the NFL has seen this and they tried
early on hey we don't have enough female women watching how are we going to get moms to let their
sons play football if they're not even watching the game so at first they started the pink rhinestone
jerseys and everything which that was very out of touch and I think they saw their the air their
ways and that one and certainly jumping on causes which is something that the NFL does just
as well as anybody you know breast cancer awareness and we're having pink during October and
having grown men warriors wearing pink and kind of changing the narrative on some of that all
these things it's it there's a difference to me of pandering and being smart at business the you
know that there's a big difference there pink jerseys pandering um playing the game smart worrying
about people's health and everything and trying to focus more on these things that's not pandering
that's just smart business and it's it's an investment in the future of your game because you're
not going to have people wanting to play this game in 20 years moms ain't letting their kids play
football if they don't think it's safer safer it's not no parents going to think it's safe my I
learned this from my grandmother from my nana my nana my dad played every sport under the sun
except football because my nana thought it was too violent meanwhile he's boxing you play hockey
but but that back then that's how they looked at it so as long as they can do something like that
with this league and and MLB has something to do with it or the owners that do are in charge
that they go into this understanding you know this for a couple of years we might be in the red
we might not finish in the black as long as you can do that I I think this has a real chance to
succeed I also like the idea that you said there's me six teams yeah you know it starts well yeah
right yeah don't go full blown and then find out you know now everybody is just collapsed that
would not be good either you really got to hit every major market you really and I don't mean
the big cities I mean North South East West you've got to have teams in all these locations one of
the things it's killing this side XFL USFL hybrid thing that they're doing right now is not having
any Midwest representation like they have nothing out in the Midwest so one of the the most consistent
fan bases in all of sports let alone in football going to high school on up the only people that
rival us or the South there's nothing out East Philly may have just won watch Philly when they're
losing okay watch 76ers fans right now okay there's a big difference a huge drop off in that fan
base when it comes to that Miami takes a lot of heat for something that Philly and the East Coast
fans do all the time like people shred Miami and Florida fans for leaving early or coming later
something New Yorkers have been doing this since they built the Madison Square Garden like what are
you talking about they're just as bad but Midwesterners and I am biased on this I whole hardly own
that our our die heart with their teams to a fault almost some ways in the regards to ownership not
really doing much because they don't have to because they know they're gonna fill the fan base
they're gonna fill the stadium up right I hope this has a chance to succeed the other thing I
wanted to ask you real quick and we can move on from baseball if in less our audience wants to
please feel free to call up 715 424 2600 is the announcement and Seth and I touched on this
Friday Joe Buck will call the Milwaukee Brewer season opener in 2025 against New York Yankees
this of course is something that he sought out to do from what I understand because at first
I thought this was well ESPN's paying him a lot of money they're gonna get the money's worth like
you ain't working just football season man like we've had a lot of cuts lately we got to get
you out there I'd be doing if I was Fox I'd be doing that to Tom Brady I'd have Tom Brady hosting
the weather I'd have him out there doing everything I'd have him running and getting coffee for
people think about a buddy of pay that guy with Joe Buck doing this there's also the ties of his
father and and Euker and a lot of the respect that he had for Bob Euker and Joe Buck I'm saying
and wanting to kind of honor him I don't know if this is the most likable thing he's ever done
or or may ever do he can't win for losing for one but I do think it's really smart the next
announcer team for the Milwaukee Brewer's has bigger shoes to fill than outside of Ben Scully
outside of that you know and I'm not taking anything from any of the great broadcasters of the past
or anything like that but let's be real about it there's just nobody that size that magnitude
as you Bob Euker was in the crossover hit that he was with not just baseball fans but
everybody knew who Bob Euker was pretty much even if you never watch the baseball game in your life
you understood who this guy was the walk into that to be the guy following the guy I mean that's tough
that's so I like the idea of them kind of easing into this almost and it's going to be a gut punch
it's going to be we understand that I think and I think what helped was a little bit that as
health was starting to decline over the last couple of years and he wasn't doing as many games he
wasn't going on the road and and so people did get a little bit more use and I'm not hearing him
every day and every game so I think that's going to be a big help and they don't have I don't think
they have to try to bring in some big name I mean that's a great idea to have that tie that's
a great way to start off the season. Yeah it's just the first game and so it just kind of ease
into it helps jump into it a little bit. It's kind of a great way to honor you know you of course.
Yeah it certainly is a is a noteworthy guy having it doing that and all that but I don't know
about others but this happens every once in a while and this may seem really silly to the audience
but I if you can go back to the early late 90s early odds and all that and understanding that
social media not everybody knew everything and all these things I understood that Walter Peyton
was well loved and I understood that he was a very famous athlete but his passing happened very
shortly after his retirement and when NFL players retire they tend to fade away. We heard about
Walter a little bit with racing he got into that and so there was a little bit of that noise but
otherwise Walter Peyton was not doing every you know 20 commercials or any of these things he was
kind of stuck in the not NASCAR I think it was a stock car race that's a different type of racing
he was doing and I'm sorry I don't know enough about race F1 maybe it was I think he was into racing
he was doing that that's the last we heard of him until he got sick and then he came out and
his passing felt almost just as fast as that happening the the weekend of that bear packer game
it is the one game that I remember more than any Super Bowl anything I've ever seen just because
I didn't understand how loved he was we as as Chicago and it's kind of like you know rep our
arms around him and and and hold him close and like he's ours and all this where at the NFL
in the football fan base was saying yeah you might have first dibs but we want ours too we love
that guy also see somebody of that magnitude that's what we're talking about with Bob Euker that's
what we're talking about with this guy where we get it here but to see the ESPN and Joe Buck and
all these other people are also noting it it's like oh it's not just us everybody gets it you
know whether you realize that or not if you it and you were on the fence on it is clear as day now
how well loved and respected that man was and I think that's so cool in considering I also
one real quick thing because I may me at you know right at the top of the line it would take
some shot it's Mr. Astana Astasio lately and everything but I will give him credit for talking
about the Euker story and the idea that we almost didn't get the last 20 years yeah you know like
if he he wondered he all he knew was working for the sea leaks and that's what that's the route
he just took and he's like you know what new ownership good time for me to move on I'm gonna go
do my next chapter I don't think he's gonna be an announcer anywhere else or anything but I bet
you he isn't TV I bet you Euker's going right to TV and whether he is working at ESPN or if he is
maybe doing a sitcom again I'd have loved to see I liked him as an actor it great comedic timing
I was thinking about that too when you're talking about how he's known nationally I wonder how many
people watched Mr. Belvedere and had no idea he played Major League Baseball he didn't really play
him I guess he's laughing at that one he's laughing at that Randy you have some great local coverage
for us one of the dive right into that we've got it was a big weekend of news with a couple of
brackets coming out and a lot of information there yeah let's start off with the girls high school
basketball the regular season ended last week because Rapids is now on a three game winning streak
they picked up a W 71 to 64 over Oclair North as well as a 51 to 33 victory over DC Everest both
on the road top seeded and top ranked assumption was at fourth ranked in division four Aquinas and
they came away with a three point win on Tuesday as a big win for the royals then on Thursday both
Sarah Shaw and Jordan Jaglinski each scored their one thousandth point in a 68 to 47 stopping of
Stratford and a school he also scored a thousand points earlier in the year against Stratford now we
we mentioned it on the air we thought I wonder if that's ever happened in the history that three
players scored their thousandth point against the same team that's not wild I don't know how you
sell that as a coaching staff yes poor Edwards lost at home to bowl or 51 to 48 and Kus also fell
at home to the Del's 68 to 22 so the tournament begins this week for the girls as tomorrow night
poor Edwards is at second seeded and sixth ranked butchelly while the kusa goes to sixth seeded
whitehall Lincoln and assumption are off until friday when rapids travels to third seed and ninth
ranked heartenville well number one seed and top ranked assumption host either number eight loyal
or number nine Northland Lutheran last week was the second to last week of the regular season for
the boys and the tournament pairings were unreleased yesterday Wisconsin rapids lost a couple of
home contests last week and will host home in a game you can hear tonight on our sister station
w i r i a week from tomorrow night they'll host 17th seed appleton west in a regional semi-finals again
we might just bring to you next week Tuesday the assumption royals upset marathon 44 40 to what a
crazy finish to that game friday night they had the ball with four tenths of a second left
underneath their own basket throw it up tray france goes up and tips it in at the buzzer for the w
you know there's seven and oh in conference at home and we're talking Auburndale we're talking
they have stratford yet coming up that's coming on thursday game will also have on w i r i
looking at that schedule uh when this season started i'm like i hope they can go two and one
to some like just run it just run crazy they're going to host newman tonight is a matter of fact
and a week from tomorrow they will entertain ten seeded new lizman port edwards secured three home
w's last week you're ready for this brinden back average in over 30 points a game whoo yeah one
of the games he had a 40 pointer against new lizman and get the kid on the box no kidding tonight
to black hocks are at why a week of free month next Tuesday they're at home against 11 seeded
gillinton independence and the kusa split a pair losing by four at almond bankraft and winning at
wittoma paper paper makers Sherman trail also begins at home next Tuesday taking on ninth seeded
montello so crazy as it seems all four of these area teams have an home playoff game next we
rate is that something congrats to all of them that's awesome in team wrestling the sectionals took
place on Tuesday from division one over in stevens point with scots and rapids knocked out Nina 59
to 23 in the semis and then it was number two in state against number one in state in the section
was really come on yeah they fell they fell to cokana 49 to 18 the number one team in state
division three i clear like stratford topple turtle lake 64 to 15 and got by glenwood city 41 to 29
in the tigers are headed to state the individual sectionals were held on saturday and eight area
wrestlers are headed down to the tournament for was constant rapids jackson freeman at 106
landen freeman at 120 at 126 it's aspen tritz cutter freeman is in at 138 at 190 it's
chyler tritz and at heavyweight tenor gormonson to area off to state for the necusa assumption poor
edward's co-op squad in the girls division amaya leverance at 114 and for the boys at 132 it's
soyer ostrom and a great big thanks to michael colmer for updating us on all of the wrestling action
that took place this weekend and finally the tournament trail also began last week in boys hockey
from division one back on Tuesday was constant rapids lost at Everest five to nothing
here's another one are you ready on thursday the splash panthers undefeated 24 and all
number one team in the state was upset by eighth seeded chai high four to one nice earlier in the
year they met chai high was defeated by splash eight to nothing wow this was like miracle on ice
number two yeah yeah wow nicely done by both oh wow that's awesome they were up to one and got
a couple of empty netters and we got to hear chai we got to hear that i love to love that yeah
plus our west is the only other team still alive in division one as the second
seat of warrior survived a scare from seventh seeded superior they won four to three and over time
and in division two only number two modes and he is still playing as they leveled number seven
medford abits for to riblake nine to one so that's all that's been going on lately incredible
coverage as always Randy thank you for that yeah nice work man take a breather for a second before
um we get going to break and we'll have to say goodbye to Randy for a little while because he's
got work to do today yet um i i did want to get just real quickly from you was there any any
highlights from you uh when the with the boys brackets release was there any surprises for you
in any of that uh it is great to see everybody getting those home games of you know regardless of
nothing's guaranteed in the playoffs even having that is kind of nice to know going into it yesterday
the release the bracket release was announced at 10 o'clock in the morning ran from 10 to 11 and
i was not available to watch that at all and so then michael calmer sends me this you know email
saying all four area teams have a little and i'm just like what yeah that just doesn't even seem
plausible right yeah but then when you look at the matchups you're like yeah that that does make sense
and so so we're trying to look at what we're going to bring and i think michael and i'll talk about
it tonight off the air as far as what game we want to bring but that's that's a real possibility
because that should be an interesting matchup that first round game between uh rapids um when
they take on apple ten west because i believe right as of now both teams i think are like two in
nineteen so we've got two teams that have the almost identical records yeah a lot of fun you know yeah
yeah so we'll talk about which game we like to bring next Tuesday and then of course
the end of that week we go to for the girls if they can continue to advance then
the possibility of you know looking at the area teams rapids could be doing could be going forward
assumption could be going forward so we'll have to take a look at that as well and because
i'll be heading to sectionals already next week with state the week to follow certainly
uh going to be following both sides as best as we can but i i got a good feeling that you're
going to be busy and late into the season with uh women's uh but we'll cover the women's side
yeah i got i got a feeling that uh things won't uh rap up to about 15th yeah rest that way
you know keep that voice fresh right everything throughout that uh and we're looking forward to it
and i do want to as a side note um mention to any businesses out there we are still taking uh you
know all calls or you want to join the team for our playoff push here or anything like that uh we
encourage you to be a sponsor of high local high school sports it's one of the greater marketing
things you're going to make one of the greater marketing decisions you will have i can prove this
isn't just me throwing this out here um that the stats back them up themselves uh you'll you know
make your money back um that's marketing 101 here uh and attaching yourself to like local high
school sports you can't lose um because you are supporting these kids and supporting these schools
and that is never you can never lose in that regard and it's not just you know fit the the the
immediate family but you're talking grams of grandpa's and aunts and uncles and cousins and
everybody gets so excited not just for high school sports during the regular season but especially
during playoff time and that's where we are yeah uh looking at our schedule again real quick
Randy the reason he's got to leave is because he's got to go cover Lincoln high school boys basketball
hosting toma uh game starting about tip off at 705 so you got a little bit of time here ready
you're so full over there talking to a couple of coaches yeah yeah i hope that goes well we're
looking forward to hearing you tonight uh was got some ends basketball tomorrow hosting washi
tenets seven uh the big the boys um they're looking to get back in the wing column here after
that Oregon game i was so disappointing uh i i really wanted to talk to you about that uh but
maybe next time when uh you know you come back or wherever we there's already been three or four
games but i will say real quick um that might have been the best thing to happen to them that could
be uh sometimes you need those losses yes yes uh before we go to break real quickly um it broke
the news broke a about a couple of hours before we got back god able to get on the air here
that an unidentified uh team has proposed to the NFL that they have submitted a proposal to
bandy push push or the brotherly shove or whatever you want to say that was um and i just want to
make sure to get the timestamps here because that was at about four o'clock today but then it just
came out a uh a little bit not even an hour ago that it was the green bay packers that came forward
with this and they're the only team that has so far but they have proposed to the NFL to get rid of
this play um i don't know that i don't know how you're going to prove that the team is doing the
push push necessarily outside of the obvious you know um but i feel like there's ways around that
but i will say regardless of how you feel about this um this is not going away like i don't
think this story is going to go away uh in in the fact that it's the green bay packers coming forward
with it i i not try to be mean here or anything but if it's the jacksonville jaguars coming forward with
this it's not nearly as big of a story and it may go away then it's one of your marquee franchises
when you're old as franchises doing this that means something we just carry a little more weight to
it for every old time packer fan who remembers the ice bowl and watching bark star sneak in and
chuckmer scene diving over the top showing touchdown he wasn't showing touchdown he was showing
that he was not pushing bark star into the end zone because that would have been a penalty and the
touchdown would have been called back and we would have never had an ice bowl highlight ever yeah yeah
so it was there was a time when you could not pushing assist right i i think that's where
because i'm even seeing in the NFL.com article here well it actually is a throwback play
no it's not no and i don't understand why it's ever been legal yeah you're literally pushing a
guy like you can't do that. Didn't didn't we want to take away a touchdown from USC for this with
Randy Bush Reggie Bush pushing Matt Liner or whatever or maybe I haven't reversed but I know
it was in it was that game in the Notre Dame game I believe and people were raving about it for
weeks. Look the fact that they got away with it for a while was one thing the fact that they want
a Super Bowl with it is that bad seems a little uh to me um so I don't I think that this is
actually in maybe uh you know I don't I don't like to throw on the word brave but when you're talking
NFL owners and billionaire on billionaire crime you don't see that a lot so I do think it's actually
kind of noteworthy and I think it's especially noteworthy considering the franchise as saying it
Randy thank you so much for hanging out with us. We have to be here talk to you guys on the other side
yeah we'll talk soon everybody right here on Playmakers.
Welcome back everybody to WFHRs Playmakers.
Welcome back to the show everybody hope y'all are having a great Monday night out there
thanks so much for joining me James here with you solo for right now we are hoping to be joined
by head coach and GM of your Wisconsin Rapids River Kings coach Paul gonna join us in just a
little bit hopefully if he's not able to that is completely understandable day job comes first
and I'm not alone I got all of you out there seven one five four two four twenty six hundred
hit us in the numbers we're wide open love to hear from you big thank you to our friends over
a quality plus printing and family nature foods sponsoring this hour great big thank you to them we
are here because of them we appreciate every one of them uh we will talk a little river kings
whether it's with coach or not in just a little bit before we get down that rabbit hole did
want to mention that the Milwaukee Brewers fell to the Seattle Mariners in preseason play in spring
play and it is noted as well that the Brewers have signed veteran Mark Khan they have signed him
doing minor league deal with spring training initial invite so see what happens with that
couple of players like that on the fringe see if they're able to make a team as Randy and I
were going to break we were talking about the uh push push and the idea of that being banned
in uh the NFL and an unidentified team now we know is the Green Bay Packers have come forward
and asked for a proposal uh to the NFL to uh next this rule and I'd love to hear from all of you
out there uh how you feel about this uh on the same on the same note also would like to hear from
you uh above our earlier story today uh if you guys would uh if you'd be interested in a women's
professional baseball league and uh how you feel about that because for me personally uh you know
just showing my bias I I'm excited about the idea I think it's kind of cool and uh would love to
know what you guys are thinking of that one for right now let's go ahead and keep things moving
and uh did want to touch on men's basketball real quick before we get into some hockey news uh we
will be uh joined by coach uh he'll be here any moment looking forward to hanging out with him
but uh over the weekend of course we had badger basketball in your radio and the badger's boys
men's team fell to the boys team men's team fell to uh the Oregon over the weekend
Wisconsin's largest blown lead uh to date on the season first blown lead of 15 plus points
since early February they had a 19 point uh jump over uh Nebraska I believe
and um this game that uh this next game up was got first up in Wisconsin 21 and six on the season
previously ranked 11th it looks like they're still going to stay right around there they're not
going to go too high or too low got a game against Washington coming up uh we'll have that for
you right here at seven o'clock tomorrow at WF HR get right game possibly but certainly nothing
you can take lightly and not in the opponent that you've played a whole lot um I I mentioned
to Randy real quick as we're leaving I think this could be the best thing to happen to them going
you know big ten conference uh championship play and of course the dance the big dance where
their aspirations are to win it all of course this could be a good thing for them this is something
that is plagued Wisconsin in years past not so much this season but those ghosts uh when they come
back you want to get them early and if you can get them in a regular season game if you're going
to have it happen that's when you want it so it could be a wake up call for that team and uh
hopefully you know a learning process for them something that they can uh obviously learn from
and grow from you make no mistake about it though this is a team that definitely could make a run
in the big dance and I think is an elite eight team at the least certainly got a dependency how
these things shake out you know it's a I'm not going to say that for certain they are this or
they're that they could end up in the worst bracket and the whole thing and you know make and
be knocked out in two rounds we'll see but right now they're one of those teams that I think is
a really exciting and fun to look at watch I will also say the uh St. John's red storm is a
team that I cannot help my um my my first my affinity for old school big east basketball
and the teams of the biggest of my youth and I still pay attention to them whether they're good
or not I'm still a die hard Georgetown Hoyas fan and uh don't couldn't tell you necessarily why
other than that I just grew up loving that team and loving John Thompson and uh all the players
that they had but St. John's red storm they they got a uh yeah they got Rick Patino and that's
noteworthy they got a really nice team over there and it's the first time since 99 that the
storm have been on a run like this that's pretty darn cool uh you got a lot of your normal teams
in there but the SEC is um is here to stay they have taken the ACC and uh the big east money
and their players and now they are not going anywhere and uh Auburn's sitting at number one they
are not going anywhere it's looking like uh just two losses on the season and a complete team
in Auburn so a lot of fun um man men men's basketball to be played uh with conference play coming
up and everything as we're wrapping up the regular season I mentioned that we will have that
Wisconsin game uh Wisconsin hosting Washington tomorrow seven o'clock right here the rest of their
schedule um is boy it's it's you got some good ones here and it's all big 10 on Sunday March
2nd 12 30 a game that again we will have for you right here at WFHR number 11 was constant taking
number eight Michigan state in Spartanville that's oh that's going to be a good one 12 30 Sunday
good way to go into the game all right good way to go into Sunday afternoon that's going to be
an interesting one right there I I imagine that you guys are going to want to hear that one
then you got Minnesota uh Wednesday next Wednesday
and wrap up the regular season with Penn State coming to the Cole Center Saturday March 8th
noon start time for that one all these games we should have for you right here at WFHR of course
but um I'm very excited about the Michigan state Wisconsin game I'll be honest I don't
want to look past Washington you want to win that game you want to wrap up the regular season strong
you want to keep that momentum going but I will say that that Michigan state Wisconsin game that is
that should be a really good one and a perfect opportunity for Wisconsin in those players to
really test themselves against a great coach and a great team should be good are you feeling about
the season so far especially at coming out of a loss very curious to know how you all are
to be a little about there out that 424 26 under feel free to call up and join the conversation
as we're getting ready to talk some hockey uh and uh and talk some river kings uh going back
to a story that came up last Friday when we were talking a little bit about the NHL and the
the four nations facing off and how did the ratings do from that one now the four nations final
between the US and Canada drew record ratings for ESPN huge huge ratings the game in which Canada
of course I don't know in the game you know whatever garnered 9.9.3 million viewers with 10.4
million viewers at its peak it was also the largest audience for a non NFL event on ESPN plus
and while that may not mean a lot to some people out there uh I guarantee you that marketers and
uh business you know uh businesses out there saw that and it's all about the streaming numbers
nowadays um to every degree and every medium you know you you can do well ratings wise here
there on your old school platforms whether we're talking radio or tv what have you but everybody's
paying and by everybody I mean advertising executives and uh marketing executives and that are
looking at how you're doing on streaming and gigantic numbers for ESPN streaming wise
and part of the reason why they are I love baseball and baseball is very big around the world
obviously you've got winter leagues in all the Latin countries in Asia and all over the place
but the size of hockey around the world just even in North America even I just want to look
at North America and I'm not I'm not excluding can't Mexico to this one by the way got a lot of
uh mexico a big hockey fan base there so even adding that on top of it with the obviousness
of Canada and the US gigantic opportunity for ESPN with hockey then taking it over um repurposing it
almost for and I'm not saying they did anything I'm not talking about the rules or the actual game
I mean in the selling of the game and the way that you uh literally cover the game and show the game
on TV what ESPN's done with that is similar to what they did with baseball a little while back
so it's only getting bigger these are not numbers that are inflated while you could make an
argument a little bit with some of the political stuff and blah blah blah and all that going on
that maybe but I feel like a lot of people that are saying that also have not grown up with hockey
for 40 some years like I have uh so I'm saying this with a little bias but also a little bit of
knowledge to it hockey's not going anywhere and they're they're taking everybody's lunch money
while they're at it there is no battle between you know one sport and another or anything but
everybody is battling for sports bandwidth what is your sports bandwidth how much can you take in
when we've got the NFL playoffs going on NBA season NHL season baseball of hot stove news and
we're not even talking about the college sport the collegiate level or the high school level of
sports how much of your bandwidth can you take how much can you bring in that's what they're fighting
for and hockey is winning a lot of that battle right now when football's not on the radio of course
or when the football's not a you know in play of course what hockey's been able to do where hockey's
going certainly in big part because of uh the the partnership with ESPN and the deal that they've
made there but it's also on the backs of these players and these uh announcers and the cut the
people that cover the game the coaches everybody else um there's a big argument right now about how
the NBA should be doing what the NHL does and a lot of that what I don't think is is um what I think
needs to be understood is just because they're both playing a sport doesn't mean that they're training
or treating the sport the same or looking at the sport the same um I don't I think it's a it's
definition of apples and oranges it really is we are joined right now but GM head coach if you're
Wisconsin rapids River Kings coach Paul with us right now coach how you doing Matt
doing great how are you doing good thanks a lot for being here with us appreciate you being able
to make the time uh we're gonna get into the uh playoff talk with you a little bit talking the
format talking a little bit of what to expect for the us phl but before we do that do them
rewind real quickly to the weekend nice way to wrap up the regular season for the boys yeah yeah
I'm proud of them I thought we played very well I thought we did exactly what we wanted to do
um and attack some of the areas that uh we've been focusing on and I think uh overall I was very
pleased there were some things uh the previous weekend that you weren't as happy about you feel like
you corrected some of that this weekend yeah I think so you don't want to help some in the delus had
something to play for right so they they were jousting for positions and all my disadvantage
so we knew that they were going to come at us and throw everything that they had and uh I
thought we weathered the storm pretty well and got down to business and uh and and played the
right way it um it feels difficult to do because it's just natural human instinct to look ahead
we all do it and and not just in sports and just in life in general heck we're driving and we're
doing it let alone in sports or let alone with things we're excited about uh going back to be in
a kid waiting for Christmas day or any of these things but uh as a coach and you and and coaching
staff keeping them locked in on the ending this regular season strong while also keeping that
momentum going to get into the playoffs knowing that you're you're expecting to make a deep
playoff run I had that momentum how you keep that going like that that is there is there a trick
to that do you bring uh uh a psychiatrist and a mesmeriser and or something like what do you do
with that it's a lot of psychology I imagine it's you know it's just picking out something
at the beginning of the week and focusing on that and using that as your goal right uh
obviously rolling into the playoffs with a 12 game on Breaton streak you know so 10 games going
into that weekend well we're not going to give up on right we're going to make sure that we finish
what we started uh and then it's just a little things like that on how many shots on goal how many
how many shots we give up right and then we're not letting anybody score so it's really just
setting the challenges right I challenge these guys uh on a weekly basis and they're stepping up
big time and uh I'm so proud of these guys I mean this is by far not by far but uh personally
the best team best record that I've personally had in my 16 years of doing this uh so to be able to
finish on a 12 game run uh heading into the playoffs where uh look I mean you you talk about now
looking that far ahead I think uh we have a very good shot of doing what we set out to do
September 1st something about growing up and and seeing my dad uh at the end of a loss
taking the tape off and and not wanting to take his skates off in the locker room as a kid and
stuff um I I don't it's hard for me to look at this sport it may maybe this sport more than any
other and say whatever happens going forward this what this wasn't what we wanted in the season
et cetera et cetera anything like that uh I I cannot add to you what you're saying and piggyback
off it enough and what an amazing season this has been for you and this team and these players uh
there is nothing that can take that away no matter what happens going forward yeah we want to go
in that ease yeah we want to win it all absolutely it and this is a team that is not going to
settle for less than that but you can do you could chew gum a walk at the same time you can look at
that regular season be like dang that is something to be proud of that is something to be impressed with
while also you know hope having those expectations and everything um given that looking at the end
of the regular season kings finished uh two points behind of the number one spot uh right behind
the squash uh so more on that later um being in the second spot here in the playoffs going in
still is a great spot to be in uh this for the uh north division playoffs are a little bit different
no real buys or anything like that when it comes to this it's going straight back into it
let's talk about how the north division uh playoff format is well it's just you know one plays eight
you know two seven three six and four five so we're fortunate to be in the top two you know
top two spots where we're going to get home ice uh in the first round and if we win we'll get in
the second round uh and if we make it down to the third round we'll probably have to face the squash
right so we'll be getting on a bus and going in Minnesota so uh two out of three not bad I mean
obviously last year we only had to do two right and then we went to national so they cut the teams
in half so only one team per division is going to national so you got to go through the gauntlet here
and uh that's what we've been practicing for that's that's all we've been focused on is I listen
it this is this is for real now right there's no there's no gimmicks and uh you know you got to show
up and that's the way we've been prepared and and these guys know it and I am so happy for them to
see their efforts and reap the rewards of their efforts and they all know it and and that's again
we we talk about it a lot what you know what what was the goal in September well the goal is to get
the nationals so it's nobody it's not done as business as usual yes we're going to focus on
who we're playing now a little bit more uh doing more video right doing your homework uh and
just really focusing on practices against sit in situations against this team right so that's
really what it boils down to it's not about uh condition at this point it's not about any of that
it's more about the mental part of the game and uh game situational stuff uh and just staying healthy
and staying fresh it's a best of three series uh keep that in mind everybody and uh we've got steel
county uh that's going to be coming to rapids here we'll be taking them on again a familiar foe we've
known them pretty well this season uh like how we've matched up against them this season uh and at
the same time it's completely different animal the playoffs so it's certainly nobody is being taken
and likely here or anything like that but you definitely like your obs and chances and um you have
to um look ahead a little bit in some of these things and Minnesota doesn't uh for having a
number one seed I don't know that anybody has a clear path here or anything when you're talking
about one of the toughest things to do in sports in any sport and beating a team multiple times in
a season after you face them so much uh I don't care if it's regular season playoffs or whatever
that's never easy in any level of sports so nobody is guaranteed moving on here or anything
which makes it all the more reason why we have to fill the south of rural county rec center let's
show them what home ice advantages we don't just have hockey everybody we got playoff hockey
and my god is that a different animal if you don't believe me head on down there
please head on down there and like you will have evidence a going on this uh this weekend right we
kick right we go right into it right yeah there's no time off it's uh there you got you got one
week to prepare and then we get right back into it so you know uh very appreciative of all the
fans that came out this weekend uh it was great environment and and you know I I I want everybody to
know that the boys know it they feel it they see it uh and it just gives you that extra juice right
and uh it's a great environment to play here no no question about it I think one of the more
relatable things for anybody out there at some point in your life whether it was in sports or maybe
it was intermerals or or or something that you were doing in band or something like that you had
a parent you had a loved one or somebody you knew in the stands when you were a kid in school
that doesn't change that doesn't go away like there's still athletes to this day that are in
their 30s and 40s that are still getting a jovins carder I heard talking about this when he had uh
his mom or somebody in the crowd uh for his retirement and how he felt like he did when he was in
school like that feeling is still the same so be able to give that to these players especially
uh considering how much they've given to us and come to our town and brought their skill brought
their lives their towns their journey to ours town um one of the best ways we can say thank you
is cheering them on filling that south of county rec center and following your boys of winter as
they build hockey up and down the river and have a great playoff run thank you so much for the
time coach appreciate you we'll send you all to river kings hockey dot com river kings hockey
dot com be sure to file them on social media uh we will catch up next week uh as as you know busy
as you are going to be I don't want to be one more thing on your plate but I do want to talk to you
as much as we can as we're going through these playoffs here so we'll talk soon no problem thank you
thanks for the time bud and we'll be back to wrap up playmakers here on a Monday edition of the
show right on WFHR welcome back everybody playmakers here at WFHR probably brought to you by
family natural foods quality plus printing wrapping up the fourth period with coach and GM
coach Paul Pacman joining us there that was a lot of fun always good talking with coach find out
more and follow your kings as they build hockey up and down the river river kings hockey dot com
guess we get rid of the for for the playoffs here I cannot help myself this underlying phrase in my
head you're going to come for the king you best not miss and keep that in mind still counting keep
that in mind uh did have a couple of other interesting notes one of the get to I will mention that
we will be here all week long for you we got uh games all week Monday Wednesday Friday we are here
were playmakers we'll be talking to you about local high school sports uh local sports in general
covering these teams in any news going on we are certainly in um a basketball and hockey kind
of state of mind right now uh usually happens when we leave football a baseball is right there
just waiting and um there's a couple of things that I wanted to get into when it comes to baseball
before the season really gets going here and one of the things that I thought was very unique
was uh something that came across from m l b dot com that uh actually is an article of from
Yahoo sports about uh some stadiums that receive big changes to their to their stadiums here
and in big editions and how that's going to impact the games the Baltimore had some big ones Tampa
Bay of course uh with the horrible uh missed that happened to their stadium and then there is the
A's the I think they're still calling them the A's Las Vegas athletics god that doesn't feel good
and they're not even that right now because they're at their temporary home in Sacramento right
now and how are those games going to look that is going to be weird they're sharing the giants
triple a affiliate park uh sitter health park has uh been mostly neutral but they are going to be
the A's home team this year which is just heartbreaking for a good friend of mine who was
listening out in California right now and I do feel for you man I am sorry to bring it up um but
so taking taking inside the Tampa Bay situation in the A situation Baltimore um have moved moving
in their left field wall to fix an over correction after moving it back before the 2022 season
Baltimore is trying to find a happy medium there with their park set then I talked about on
Friday's edition uh the the idea of the home run park and is there any truth to that through the
stats back it up and it does seem like they they do over for the most part while I think you'd be
surprised to learn like Cincinnati had the most home runs given up last season so much of this
also it goes down to pitching and um you know he is a team what are they doing towards the end of
the season are they fighting are they just throwing out their arms to just finish off the season
you know there's a lot of factors there but overall there's quite a bit that you can take
from this and so I'm curious to see how that is and Camden yards is still one of the cooler
looking parks ain't it I mean I know it's it's kind of like it's been around for a while now and
everything but that's still got to be one of the cooler parks to see I think so kind of curious to
see how that affects the season and really uh things going forward there's certainly um some talk uh
I wanted to we've been doing something here behind the scenes uh we're we're seeing how little
football we can talk here on the show since the Super Bowl and so far we have spent about 10
little bit under 10 minutes of show talking about uh football. Earlier Randy and I were talking about
the the brotherly shop and everything but so far so good so nice job everybody not that we can't
talk football I just wanted to see how long we can go without it that we've done pretty good
today was the first show where we actually talked a little bit of football really we haven't really
talked much it's fun talking with you big thank you to Randy coach Paul for joining us in all of you
you guys have yourselves a great night we'll meet you back here Wednesday for more playmakers
