Long May They Reign Edition

Welcome everybody to WFHRs, Play Meckers.

Good Monday afternoon everyone, I hope y'all are having a great, great start to your week

out there.

Thanks for hanging out with us this afternoon.

Our host, James behind the mic, going to be joined by our partner around here, Randy

Paul, any moment.

Look forward to Randy being able to hang out with us.

Talk some local high school sports and much, much more with Randy, because we're going

to be doing that.

We'll be going over the WIA playoffs, how our local teams did.

Speaking of local teams, we are going to continue to talk about our Wisconsin Rapids River

Kings as their reign through the playoffs continues, all that coming up.

Before we get into some of those things though, as you heard our good friend Mike Clemens

talking about in his sports minute there, it is NFL free agency madness.

That is the big talk of the town right now.

Talk of the town, hey, but I still say that.

Talk of, we're getting into that a little bit right to kick off our show.

Want to talk NFL free agency with you?

What are some of the bigger signings, more surprising signings you've seen?

What are some of the bad ones you've seen or just head scratchers, if you will?

There's been a lot of moves going on, catching people up a little bit on this.

We couldn't go, can't go over everything, but Sam Darnold signed with the Seattle Seahawks

on a over a hundred million dollar deal.

That deal, a little interesting considering it looked like Seattle was selling off a lot

of their best pieces, training Gino Smith to the Raiders for a third round pick and DK

Metcalf to the Pittsburgh Steelers for a second round pick.

So I don't know who Sam Darnold is going to throw to just yet other than they do have

a nice rookie receiver over there, but still interesting moves right there.

The New York Jets did not seem to be, seemed like a team that was willing to be secondary

in the QB market.

They were going to get a bridge quarterback, something like that.

Instead, they're given Justin Fields $40 million.

So that was a little surprising, I thought.

Looked like Justin Fields' market wasn't as big as maybe him and his team thought, or

I just think that the people in the NFL thought, because most people had him highly ranked

with the free agency quarterbacks out there, not counting guys like a Matthew Stafford who

were questionable to be traded.

Speaking of Matthew Stafford, Devonte Adams, signing with the Rams.

A bit of a surprise to some, I think that there was a number of people who were hoping to

see him come back to Green Bay.

A couple of other places people might have had him.

The one thing I was certain of is that Devonte, I really felt very confident that Devonte

Adams was not going to sign where Aaron Rodgers did.

I feel like you go back to that well for a while until it stops working.

And yeah, that wasn't working last year, so not surprised to see that, especially considering

not only the money he was offered, but the situation.

Devonte Adams has spent the last couple of seasons in some rough waters, going over to

St. Louis, well-run franchise and a great offense, like that's Taylor made for him.

I think you can make the argument right now in free agency.

A lot of these guys are signing a big contract, nobody's made a better deal for themselves

than Devonte Adams right now considering the money and the situation, but let's find

out what you think.

Good afternoon.

You're in the game.

Hey, James.

Hey, man.

How you doing?

Oh, not too bad.

Boy, everybody's been, you know, listening to some talk shows this morning in this afternoon.

Packer fans need to relax.

Holy cow.

I mean, they're all up in arms because you know, Cleo Mack, you know, it's some of the

talk show people are even yes pins and NFL football they were talking about, maybe

Cleo Mack come in the green Bay and he turns around signs back with the charges for

a one year deal.

You know, everybody was kind of hoping maybe that DK Mack calf deal would go through for

the packers and I don't know if that would have been a good deal because just because

Mack calf has been known to have a hot head and maybe not be a good locker room guy thought

to me that was a, you know, I was fine with him not signing him.

You know, and then Reed goes to Detroit and everybody they go, there goes Detroit now.

They're going all in.

Why can't the packers?

Let me tell you, a couple of picks, you know, the free agents they got here, I think

they'll be all right.

I mean, they got that, got a guard.

So now you're kind of, you could put Jenkins over over to the center now and and probably

be okay with on that offensive line and then the defensive back they pick up, I just,

I think everything's going to be just okay for the packers.

I mean, I don't think they are going to sign Alexander.

I think he's going to be pretty much done by as of June 1st.

I think he'll make, you know, just because of the salary cap, unless they restructure,

I don't know if he's going to ever be back as a packer.

So it does sound like good and goods has come to come to terms with that.

There isn't really, doesn't seem like there's much of a trade market for a gyro Alexander.

So I, it does seem like good and goods is kind of like closed the door on trading him.

I can't imagine them keeping him with that contract, especially as you said there,

the signing of Hobbes, I don't see them doing that with two corners.

I don't see them overpaying two corners and Nate Hobbes, all these guys, all these guys

are free agents, all these free agents are overpaid, every single one of them, no matter

who the team is that signing them, you're getting castoffs most of the time.

So putting that aside and putting aside that I don't know that I was hopeful for the

packers and the situation and just in kind of bucking a trend or at the very least giving

the fan base something to go on.

But I never believed that the Green Bay Packers were going to make them any of these big moves

from Max Crosby or Miles Garrett or any of these things.

I will say I didn't, I also didn't see though these two guys signing humongous contracts.

I didn't see that coming either.

As a side note, I never want to hear another player say it's not about the money.

I don't want to hear one player ever say it's not about the money.

I don't care if it's about the money, just don't try to lie to me about it.

Don't tell me that that can't change your mind, Miles Garrett or anybody else and I'm

not judging.

I'm just saying, stop saying it, nobody's buying it, nobody believes it.

To what the fan base wants, you want to see them do what the Eagles did.

You want to see them go out and make us say Juan Barkley move.

You want to see them go out and do something big and brass and pull the ESPN headlines

from other markets and everything.

They did it last year.

They signed Josh Jacobs who is just a step behind say Juan Barkley, maybe a step or two,

but not very far behind say Juan Barkley.

They wanted something done on defense.

They went out and did it.

They got Xavier McKinney.

They got pieces.

While they don't have the best history with early picks, their late round picks are just

incredible.

They're very nice fits.

The problem with all of this is it's great if you want to finish ten and six.

It's great if you want to make it into the playoffs, but nothing that's done right now

shows that this is a team that's going to have more wins than they did last year.

They've lost pieces at some of the positions.

The things that we're looking at, playmaker on defense, a guy that can take the top off

on offense.

Those are reasonable requests.

The additions they've made are great.

I think Nate Hobbs is a bit of an underrated cornerback.

He's the 110th ranked out of 223, but that doesn't tell you that much because of where

he was playing and how much he was on the field.

The signing of Aaron Banks is that that's the top guard in the game in the free agency.

Aaron is ranked 50th out of 135, 77th and 135 in past blocking and 37th out of 135 in run

blocking.

He's a good overall blocker, better at running, but that's perfect for the Green Bay

offense.

He's young, he's 27.

The other part of that, I think, where the fan base is coming from, it's not that these

are bad moves.

It's that, well, Green Bay already kind of spent a lot of money on a cornerback.

As far as offenses go, the Packers have the, I believe, let me double check this to make

sure.

They have the 10th, according to pro football focus, they have the 10th ranked offensive line

in football.

Right.

Yes.

So you just spent $77 million on an area that some people don't think you need.

Now you did lose your center, you're going to have to move Jenkins over there.

That's going to lead to some things, but I agree with you.

These are really good moves.

I think the two things can be true though.

I think these are really good moves, and it's also understandable that you have a fan base

that wants to see them go all in.

Now here's the thing though about this, and I always wonder if people really do consider.

How do we know they're not trying to?

We only get the finished deals.

Really reporting this going on nowadays is hard to, it depends on who you trust.

It depends on where you're going with things.

To me, I think that, well, here, let me ask you, and let me ask Randy, I got Randy Paul

coming in today, and thank you so much, Randy, for being here.

As Packer fans, have they earned the benefit of the doubt?

Like right now, we still got weeks left of free agency.

We got months left before the season starts.

Who knows what disgruntled wide receiver or defense event might be traded to Green Bay?

That's a possibility.

Any of these things.

But I think the problem for a lot of the fan bases, for some, they've earned the benefit

of the doubt, and for some, they haven't.

How does that fall for you guys, Randy?

Where do you land on that?

Well, I'll ask the caller as well, I was good listening to you on the drive over.

Just interested as far as you make this big splash, and it's 30 million a year.

But then you think of, like, the Geiger Alexander of the world, and they play half the games

only.

So if you invest that kind of money, and all your salary cap, that's what always concerns

me, because it's not like, well, if you only play half the games, you only pay half

your salary.

It's just it's all guaranteed, and some of those guaranteed contracts that we're seeing

that are happening, like with Josh Allen and Miles Garrett, holy buckets, huh?

Here's my thing with that real quick, just jumping in real quick on that.

I'm willing to spend when the ceiling is so high, when the ceiling is a Miles Garrett

Josh Allen ceiling, because every one of these guys, it's just a matter of one play.

It's just a matter of one play, and it all going to, you know, and being done.

I'm willing to spend the money on those positions.

I'm willing to do it, especially when I have evidence that these guys have done it.

When we're talking this amount of money on a position that, on positions that you, you

have bigger needs, and where's the ceiling and the floor on these guys?

Because the ceiling is possibly a proble, and the floor is what you're talking about

here, training camp, and they're done, and then what are you going to do then?

So to me, I'm willing to take that risk, because they're all a risk, every one of them,

every athlete in the, in sports is a risk, especially in the NFL.

I'm willing to take that risk, if the ceiling is to the sky, if the ceiling is that high,

I don't know, with banks, I think you can make the easy argument that it is.

I don't know that it is with Hobbs, but you're also, you know, you're trying to get these

guys to come to Green Bay, and that's sometimes you got to spend a little more to do that,

just like Jacksonville or Indianapolis, or some other markets.

It's, and can we all just be honest about one thing too?

You can't win for losing.

You really can't.

Like, there's going to be a fan base out.

There's part of every fan base that is going to love every single thing a team does.

Everybody's going to get excited about Gardner Minshues being signed.

Somebody's going to lose a mighty broad Gardner Minshue, you know, or something like that,

and there's going to be the fan base that you can never win over.

You can never do enough to, yeah, they, they signed this and this, but, well, they didn't

do this.

Kev, have they earned the benefit of the doubt for you?

I guess, you know, I'm, I'm one of those guys that just, just, is a wait and see.

I'm glad.

I mean, I, I'm just looking over what the details were, was that four years, 48 million

for, um, Hobbes, and then, uh, what, four years for, um, I'm sure I just lost it.

I'm sorry.

Uh, for, uh, banks.

Four years for 77 for banks.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But, uh, those loaded at the top end or at the back end so they can, they can work,

you work these, these contracts a little bit more, the packers do a pretty good job

of watching their cap number.

So they kind of do a good job of, you know, not going after that big name, um, person.

So they, you know, they put all their money into one guy and they do a pretty good job

of, you know, backloading some of these contracts so that they can readjust them down the road.

But, you know, then everybody's up in arms and here's, well, I'm going to throw this name

at you and you can agree to disagree.

They want, they think they need to bring Joey Bolsa into the packer's organization.

I mean, tell you something.

If you bring Bolsa and you're bringing another giant Alexander because Bolsa does not

stay healthy.

No.

You give all kinds of money and he's going to be in, he's not going to play half the season

because he's going to be injured.

If you sign Joey Bolsa, you sign him and with the agreement, you can't come in until

week 10, uh, uh, just, just to try to keep him healthy, just to try to keep him going

and everything.

And he's maybe just like an older Lucas Van Ness because he's just kind of a bull rush

for his name.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Right.

Yeah.

And don't you think he's going to want, I think he's going to play with his brother, don't

you, and San Fran?

I could see that.

You think he's going to go there?

I don't think so.

No.

No.

You know, I was, uh, San Francisco's lost a couple pieces on that line so I could see

that happening.

I don't know what San Francisco is in a really, really difficult situation of having to

try, uh, sign other quarterback to a mega deal that they don't necessarily believe in.

If they did, they'd done this already.

If they, if they believed in him, they'd assigned him already.

Um, they're going to have to do that.

They're, they're having to let go of, of mainstays and pieces that they've relied on for

the last almost, what, six, seven years, uh, and during this run that they've had over

there and they've got so, they're paying so much money to so many older players.

Uh, they're in a really weird situation over there.

Um, they, they, I don't know that, um, they're, they're, they're, it feels like they're

just a matter of, uh, uh, it's just a matter of year two before we're talking about them

rebuilding.

You know, are, are they also saying that about like with DK Metcalf, that by the time

his, uh, contract, he just signed, runs out, he's going to be like 33, yes, something

like that.

Yeah.

Like some crazy deal that he got and it's been built off of what you were saying before,

you know, if you're looking at the older players, so you have to really backload them

as Kevin was saying, um, it'd be nice if you could get some of these free agents when

they're just at their prime, you know, like 26 years old or something, which is what

they did with banks, Aaron Banks is 27, uh, and, and, and, and, and the proven, come out

of the Indian NFL and has proven that he can play this game very well.

Uh, so while it's not the, the sexy wide receiver or cornerback or defense event or something

like that, that's, that's a guy I like to see on my team.

That, that's a guy that I think is a really like, if he was a running back or a wide receiver,

we'd be leading our show with it.

We, we'd be, it'd be the first thing we'd be talking about.

So the fact that he plays guard, yes, it's not a sexy.

And yes, it doesn't necessarily, um, he doesn't score touchdowns, but you can't score

them without him.

So, so, uh, he's a love upright.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Which, which huge, that, that is worth its weight in gold right there.

Uh, let alone, uh, I, I imagined that Josh Jacobs is all over this move and very excited

about it.

Oh, I'm sure Josh was really excited about this.

It's, it's, it's, I don't think that it, especially had we done this show at noon, this

to be a very different conversation, maybe, uh, but in the last four or five hours with

these signings and stuff, I think you're starting to see the fan base loosening up a little

bit.

Um, and, and, and I think there's other things here too that keep in mind.

I'm seeing some moves where it feels like, okay, we got to shut this fan base up.

They're, they're, they're, they're yelling at us too much or anything.

And I also wonder how much these like, for every Jerry Jones that, uh, I feel like is

very locked into social media and what they're saying on ESPN and some of that, I wonder

how much of these own, how many of these owners and these front offices really do listen

to the fan base and really do care.

Uh, and, and I'm not saying that's a good or a bad thing.

I think, I think personally, I think they should.

But I also would understand if there was a reason why they weren't.

Yeah, you're going to 50, 50 on that.

Yeah, it's like going to a basketball game, right?

Yeah.

You only have to be half the people half the time, so I, uh, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I,

cab.

Did you have anything else on, uh, free agency or any of the other stuff you wanted to

probably talk about?

Well, I like to get my soul box if I can.

Oh, please, please.

Yeah.

That's what we're here for.

This is pertaining to high school sports.

Can you tell me, Randy, what in the world is a WIA thinking when it comes to, no, we've

already, no, without you even asking questions, don't even have to fit us to quite, yes,

yeah, go ahead.

I'm sorry.

Yeah, you know, okay, so I'm going to, I'm going to take it to the girls side first.

Okay.

So now you have a rapid assumption against pitchelley and they drive to Adam's friendship.

Right.

You can't tell me there's a big enough school, school that they can put this at closer.

I mean, I know it's the, a splash, and then you have more pitchelley fans, they're not

there.

I've been at Lincoln, but they couldn't have done that Lincoln because of the, because

of the, um, of the, the gymnastics, right?

And, you know, and then, and then the boys and Adam's end up playing it up.

I'm not going to kind of see that because that's kind of my own monitor.

They played at home on Tuesday, and then they had to go clear to bloomer for their next

game.

How is this any cheaper for these school districts to, you know, I thought the WIA is going

to try to make travels easier and cheaper for these themes, and they're not doing it.

Last year, assumption had to go way down to Hartford and Albany, Monticello was about 30 minutes

away.

This year, assumption goes over to Wapaka, which is 40-minute drive, and it took the people

I think talking to the Sevastopol people two hours and 45 minutes.

We thought for sure they would move that to the Fox Valley because then it would be about,

you know, equal distance, but they didn't move it again, and, and I know that the schools

have a one, have to want to do it.

That's one thing.

They have to get the people to work there, you know, um, and that might be one of the

bigger obstacles or finding officials that are in the area that can, can do the game

as well.

I wonder about that one.

So, I guess there are things that they have to overcome, and do they, do they look at

that as far as the travel?

I don't know.

I'm not sure, but sometimes you do scratch your head.

Yeah, I mean, I mean, did it in wrestling too, but, I mean, you know, this, and that

was, you know, when they did the wrestling thing, I think that had, you know, the way

these seeded these themes in wrestling, why would you have your number one team in a

state going against your number two team state in a second?

That should be almost set up for a state final.

I think they are talking about changing that possibly, that they might go to a whole different

brand of doing this.

I've heard somebody's talking about so whether that actually comes to fruition or not,

but they'd have like, it wouldn't even be like these sectionals anymore, it'd be some

kind of big, one big tournament or something that they're discussing now.

Who knows if that'll happen or not?

We don't know.

Yeah.

I guess that I just, you know, it's always been one of my little pet peeves with the

BYUA, is how they seed these teams, you know, they do it in the football kind of goofy

and, and, you know, when you get to the college or the high school basketball and wrestling

and hockey, it's just, you don't want your top teams in a state to play each other in

the regionals, or so you want them at the state level.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah, like what happened with Cokon and Rampett, basically, they had the state championship

game right early in the wrestling tournament.

Yeah.

And that's just, that, that bog wasn't going to be so fun.

It is weird.

No, it couldn't agree with you more, man.

And always appreciate the time, Cap.

Thanks for calling out.

Thanks for hanging out with us.

All right, guys.

Have a great night.

You too.

You too.

I want to get to any local stuff that Randy has here in a minute because at 5.30, we're

going to be welcoming in.

Remember Wisconsin Rapids River Kings, but we've got Derek Pudock going to be joining

us.

We're going to talk to him a little bit.

They're a seal over there.

So they're looking forward to that.

And looking forward to not only that, Randy, but also a couple of other things here that

we wanted to get into.

So just because boy, I'd love to spend plenty of time talking to YA and some of those

things.

I want to focus a little bit on first off, our teams that are not going to be moving on.

A big thank you to all of them.

The first of all, of course, the kids.

Anybody remember what it was like in high school and how valuable your time was to you?

And how much you didn't want to be bothered by anything.

And these kids willingly do this, willingly putting time and effort into practice, into

being out there and doing it.

And we appreciate that.

I think that it's awesome that they do that.

And as a former athlete, I appreciate that, doing these things, certainly to the coaches

to the refs, to everybody out there, I greatly appreciate all the work that they do all

there.

And as well, I want to thank not only our sponsors, so we can't do these games without, but

also want to thank our announcers and our board operators, bringing these games to you.

We've got plenty of season left.

We've got a couple of more games, hopefully left here of a playoff, but I do want to not

only do something for the audience to look behind the curtain.

I had to ramp there for a second so Randy could go do something.

But I had to share, I had to share, but I really did want to get this pointed.

So you gave me, it was a win, win, perfect for us here.

Yeah, we got to say thanks to our board ops, because without Beth and Seth and Laura, we

would never be on the air.

So that's a huge shuttle to them.

What else you got for us right now?

Well, in girls high school basketball, sectional finals were held this past Saturday and

beginning in division five, where the assumption royals are headed back to state.

As they defeated the Vastipole 61 to 42 and were packed on Saturday night.

Four different royals reached double figures as Sarah Shaw poured in 15.

Jordan, Jake Linsky was just a point back at 14.

Addie, Valorant added 12 and Anna, school is scored 11.

So the rush to the rush begins on Friday morning at 905.

As the royals face, the fourth seeded black cocks of Owen, withy, then about 15 minutes

after their game, it'll be number two, Oshkosh Lords versus Barnabelle, the third seed

in the D5 tournament.

Our coverage will begin at approximately 8.50 in the morning on our sister station,

FM 10555WRI.

Looking at a few other sectional finals that involved teams from our area in division

four, it was Westfield getting whipped by number one ranked the Prairie School 67 to 33.

In division three, Whitburn loses their first game of the season.

How tough is that?

Yeah.

Just a step before the state.

Wow, it's rough.

They were eliminated by Xavier 63 to 45.

Division two, no area teams in the finals and in division one, Appleton East, who upended

Spash, is now headed off to state as they defeated Oakler Memorial in double over time,

68 to 65.

What a way to not get to go to state, right?

For the girls in the sectional finals, the boys, they're in the regional finals on Saturday,

looking at some of the local scores, starting in division one, Marshfield, boy, they want

a thriller over Spash 57 to 56, Oakler Memorial, they whipped Wasaw West 53 to 25.

In D2, Wasaw East Maldmonomy 68 to 35, Mosenee fell at Analaska 80 to 67, and Reinhlander

faces New Richmond up in Hodeigland tonight.

From division three, the delts are moving on as they were 10 better than Lodi 50 to 40.

In division four, Nacusa was eliminated by eighth ranked partyville 86 to 51.

Armourdale and Stratford will square off on Thursday at three dubs as Armourdale's Thomas

Awee hit a put back at the buzzer to beat Marathon 51 to 49, while Stratford had an easy

time with Hurley 64 to 32, and Westfield, they were upended by Marshall 84 to 74.

And finally from division five, it's number one seed, Elmond Bancroff versus number two,

Pacheli right here in Wisconsin Rapids on Thursday as AB God Past will be in a law, Leona 56 to 50,

while Pacheli throttle Tigerton 69 to 36.

Oklahoma's Catholic who eliminated assumption in the regional semi-finals 60 to 43, well

they picked up the W over Alma Center Lincoln 50 to 40.

The state gymnastics tournament was also held this past weekend right here in Wisconsin

Rapids.

In division one, Chippewa Falls MacDonald Catholic finished first, while Spash came in seventh,

and in division two, Rice Lake captured the crown, and Marshfield finished in fourth.

Individually for Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln, freshman Elsa Irman finished 15th on the bars, 17th

on the beam, way to go Elsa.

The team state wrestling tournament was held this past weekend down in Madison.

Division one, Cacana finishes an undefeated season as the Galloping Ghost captured their fifth

straight championship, annihilating Arrowhood 54 to 13.

Individually second seed, St. Croix Falls, Clipped top seed, Coleman 38 to 34.

And in division three, it was also number two over number one, as Mineral Point nipped

while Wiga Fremont 32 to 28, Waymont had a stop-stafford, excuse me, Stratford earlier

in the semis, 39 to 23, that we're almost done.

More state championships, both the boys and girls were playing for the state championships

in Middleton this past weekend in high school hockey.

For the girls, the DePierre co-op captured their second title in three years, shutting

out Central Wisconsin Storm 8 to nothing.

For the boys, in division one, Madison, Edgewood, knocked off Green Bay in order to aim 5-2,

and in division two, top seeded Tomahawk, won its first ever championship with a 5-3 victory

over Aymry.

And of course, the River Kings, we're going to have a chance to be joined by the assistant

coach here.

One Friday, lost an overtime on Saturday and picked up the deciding victory on Sunday with

a whopping 7-2 win.

Looking forward to talking with Coach about that.

We'll let Derek join us in just a few.

Andy Rwining for a second back to the playoffs and WI, the assumption royals.

I don't know.

We've gotten spoiled a little bit with these royals.

We've gotten to be in this position a number of times.

I don't know the last time I saw this where they were the only number one seed left.

That is.

A number, you know, as far as these other teams, they're well ranked teams.

But I don't, and very good teams, by the way.

I'm not taking anything from them.

But like Owen Whitley, I didn't see that coming with them.

But they pulled some upsets there to me and some of that.

So it's going to be, that just makes the tournament that much more interesting and that much

more exciting, doesn't it?

You know, Barnabels, they were there.

We had that 13 through 16, four year run where Rapids won in 13, they won in 16th, the assumption

that is.

And Barnabels, the two years in between.

Last year, they played Ash Cosh against Lords, the royals did, and that was quite a battle.

It was nip and tuck the whole way and then the rap, the royals pulled away in the last

couple of minutes, they won that game life.

I remember I, 55, 45, they got a lot of kids back, but of course, sort of the royals.

They got everybody back as well.

So that's going to be quite a clash there.

But they knocked off Albany, Albany, and my cell, the winners last year.

I mean, and they beat him like by 15, 16 points.

Yeah, it can be decidedly.

Yeah, yeah.

And Owen Whitley, you're right.

They kind of, they were kind of out on the outside looking in.

So for them to get there, exciting for the Black Hawk.

So that's Will Face first because they do receive, you know, we're talking about that with

Kevin.

And that's one thing they do.

They recede when it gets to the state tournament, they get down there, which I really like.

So that way now one place for and that will happen the first game of the tournament on Friday

and then the second game will be between Barnabelle as well as the Lords.

So, you know, my crystal ball is right, I think it's going to be a repeat of the state,

the sectional semi-slaster between Lords and assumption, which boy, we were going to be

excited for that.

That's going to be a great one.

We will be following the royals as long as they keep winning.

We're going to keep following them.

We'll have those games for you, everybody.

And a big thank you to Randy and everybody else's coverage throughout this whole season.

It's been great stuff and really good notes there.

Thanks, Randy.

You bet.

We'll take a time out.

We'll come back with the fourth period.

Derek Pudock is going to be joining us.

Assistant coach with your Wisconsin Ravits River Kings coming up here on Playmakers, which

is proudly brought to you by family, natural foods and quality plus printing.

Welcome back, everybody, to WFHR's Playmakers.

Time for the fourth period.

James and Randy here, as we're about to talk Wisconsin Ravits River Kings hockey with

everybody.

We are being joined right now by Derek Pudock from the Wisconsin Ravits River Kings,

assisting coach over there.

Derek, thanks a lot for being here, man.

I appreciate you having me.

Thank you.

Derek, willing to do a shift with us?

That's awesome.

We appreciate it.

I think Derek's the first liner.

But I don't know.

I don't want to say that if a coach is listening.

So, second line we got in today.

We sent a shout out to our friend and coach Paul at everything.

And, Derek, thanks so much for being here.

I want to talk River Kings hockey.

Play off hockey with you in a second.

But we don't get to talk to Assistant coaches very much.

And I know how interested our audience is going to be in some of what your job entails

and what you do on the ice and with the team.

I'm as involved as coach needs me to be.

I help all with the practice plans and obviously on the ice helping out with the on-ice

stuff and obviously work in the bench and then we do video work together, do the off-ice

as far as off-ice training, kind of run the workouts for the boys.

It's the player's meetings, like I say, whatever he needs me to be involved in, I'm there to

be of assistance.

So.

When it comes to play off hockey and what happened this weekend and we had Randy giving

us the rundown of the games over the weekend, Saturday night is part of your job keeping

coach sane.

Just keeping or maybe a little less insane, maybe a little like, because that year we're

talking hockey players and growing up with a hockey player.

I know what I'm talking about here.

I'm not saying it insult.

I'm just being honest.

We're all a little crazy.

It's part of what we love about this game and the people that play it and coach it and

everything.

But in all honesty, what was Saturday night's vibe like when getting off the ice and the

game being done and not just a loss, but then to winning streak and possibly, because you

don't know how Sunday's going to go at this time, momentum, one of the biggest things

that we look for in playoffs.

What was the vibe like in the locker right?

You know what?

I think it was a workman like vibe.

It was okay.

This happened now.

What's next?

How do we get ready for tomorrow?

Our group's been quite resilient throughout the year.

So it wasn't so much of a, oh my God, what's going to happen to us.

We know what we got to do.

Let's just get prepared to go to work tomorrow.

And especially in baseball, but I'm even singing in basketball in recent years and unfortunately

I think I'm starting to hear it with some of the hockey crowd as well, but not nearly

as much.

This idea that the regular season, well, what does it mean?

How important is the regular season and some of that?

What we're talking about how this team responded Saturday night is built in the regular season.

That's the kind of mental with everything you're talking about there, that workman mentality,

everything you and this coaching staff work on.

That's the stuff that you can't recreate in practice.

You can't recreate adversity in practice.

There's certain things you could do, certain drills.

You can have your power play practices and some of that.

But then there's the real game, actual playoff atmosphere and how your team responds when

their winning is cool.

That's great.

I'm so curious how a team responds when they lose, especially when they're not necessarily

on paper supposed to lose and that we all understand as hockey heads.

None of that matters.

It's hockey.

A chip of ice one way can change the whole entire dynasty and stuff.

But regardless, still a loss and still a team expected to win that game.

So how they responded Sunday, I think I was more locked into that than I've been a hockey

game since the Black Hawks were in the Stanley Cup.

I'm not even exaggerating.

I love this sport and I like a lot of the NHL.

But I was really curious how this team was going to respond.

How did you feel they responded?

I know they got the win.

That's what matters and everything.

But with that, how did you think they responded?

I think they responded exactly how we expected them to.

Again, you alluded to it.

We practice this all year.

We've had a couple games where we've had leads and given them up and had to battle back.

We lost a couple of games early that we should know and all those pieces of adversity helped

with the building blocks for what you've seen last night.

You know, it's interesting.

I just look at the shots on goal over this last weekend.

You outshot Northwest by nine in the first game, eleven second, but only by six in that

final game.

And yet you outscorn by five.

Makes a whole lot of difference and that puck goes into the net, doesn't it?

Absolutely.

And you'll see it every time playoffs hit, guys are willing to sacrifice their bodies

a lot more.

So there's a lot of eating of pucks and getting shots through becomes that much more difficult.

So when you do, you better make sure they're on target and strategically placed and we've

we've got a couple guys that can pick a corner and really let it fly.

So we we talk a lot about how the playoffs are different.

You throw out the records and all of that.

I think that start that phrase began with hockey because they associated with all playoffs

and that there's a little bit of truth to that to all playoffs.

But in hockey, during regular season, you're going to see guys fly around a little bit

more.

You're going to see a little bit more of guys playing the game of hockey a bit.

When you see playoffs, you're going to see much more than ever, guys diving in front

of pucks, guys throwing body caution to the wind running where they should never go.

Things that you just wouldn't see normally, but they happen because it's the playoffs

and it's just a different game.

We saw this a couple of years back with the Florida Panthers where they had that amazing

run in a great regular season, but they didn't have a team built for the playoffs.

They didn't have a team that could bump and grind.

They didn't have a team that could get out there and really push and shove.

When they changed that and they changed more of a playoff team, they saw a real change

in that in that whole entire franchise, obviously.

I don't know that there was a change that took place with the River Kings, but I think

this team has always been built for the playoffs.

Is that the case?

Is that how you've looked at it and the coaching staff has looked at it scouting

lines and everything?

I think so.

With 100%, even our weekly practice plans are built towards that.

We put the guys through the paces Tuesdays or Battle Disks and it's all built and based

on getting prepared for the clutching and the grabbing and the tougher going so that

when these types of games that we faced Saturday last night, Friday, come about, we're

battle-tested and ready to go.

This weekend we got the squash coming up, what do they present to you?

Well, I mean, they've placed ahead of us in standings by two points.

We've had four very tough games with them.

They're highly skilled.

I think we match up very well.

We lost two games, one and O.T. to them, our shootout, but we won two.

We should have every bit of confidence going into it that if we play our game, we're

going to like the outcome.

There's something about this team where we would love to be hosting these games and we

would love to have the guys in town and everything and having our fan base right there and everything.

There's something about this that, while I would choose that, I'm not shying away from

this outcome.

Us going up to Minnesota.

There's something about this team that I kind of like their backs against the wall a little

bit.

They're just the way they respond.

The way that they're going to respond with that fan base up there.

I feel confident in our team and the way that they are coached and again, all the things

we saw in the regular season, that developing out there.

I agree.

I mean, we've worked towards this all season.

Our fans have been fantastic and they travel very well, so I expect to see a good contingency

of them in Minnesota with us and our boys, when they play, it doesn't matter what rank

we're in or who we're playing in front of, they're going to be tough to beat.

Dominic Height?

Is it Dominic Height?

I don't have anything.

I just wanted to bring them up.

How great of a move this is.

Just bringing this kid in.

Shout out to our goalies and the coaching staff of the goalies and everything because

they've done an amazing job all season and I'd feel very confident with any one of those

guys starting a game.

Dominic In, and his adjustment to the team and getting familiar with everything, it's

such a key time.

What did that move do for the locker room?

What did that move do for the coaching staff when it comes to being able to go with who

you're going to go with throughout the playoffs or give a night?

Well, I think overall, he's a 20 year old guy who's been here and done that.

He's a guy that we're going to rely on to get things rolling for us.

You're right.

We're comfortable with any of the fellows in the net, but when you can get that experience

and that age and maturity, you got to go on it.

He's been a great addition and our boys really taken to him and accepted him really well

and he's a phenomenal fit for us.

Having any good restaurants, anything that you're looking forward to about going to Minnesota,

anything?

No, it's all business when we're there.

Right up, right up.

That's the great answer.

That's the right answer.

Derek, thanks so much for hanging out with us, man.

I really do appreciate the time.

Say hi to the team, say hi to the boys, certainly give coach a punch in the arm for us and have

some fun.

This week with practice, have fun on the trip, enjoy yourselves, have a great time.

Everything is amazing.

We love that, but we can't lose with this team.

We truly can as a fan base.

We are so fortunate.

We've got an organization and a coaching staff and players that we can get behind winner

lose.

We're going to be cheering you guys on from here.

A bunch of us are going to be traveling up there and we'll meet you there, man.

We certainly appreciate it.

Thank you very much.

Follow your boys and winters.

They build hockey up and down the river, get your tickets and find out more at riverkingshockey.com.

Be sure to follow the boys on social media, share their posts on your page.

You just never know who might see it otherwise and get ready for follow the kings as they continue

their reign.

We will be right back with more show.

Judge Brad Shimmel is an anti-choice politician whose positions are too extreme for Wisconsin

women.

He supports a pre-civil war law that bans abortion, but don't take our word for it.

Hear it in his own words.

1849, ban on abortions, which by the way, what is flawed about them?

The 1849 abortion ban provides no exceptions for rape or incest.

What is flawed about them?

The 1849 law criminalizes doctors and their patients.

What is flawed about them?

Brad Shimmel supports an 1849 law to ban abortion with no exceptions.

Tell Brad Shimmel, extreme politics don't belong on Wisconsin Supreme Court.

Call 262-548-7548, that's 262-548-7548.

Paid for by a better Wisconsin together, incorporate it.

When stroke occurs, you have 60 minutes to win or lose the race of your life.

There are new treatments, but you must get to a hospital fast.

If you suddenly feel weakness on one side, have trouble speaking, walking or seeing, it

could be a stroke.

Call 911, get to a hospital.

Because how you spend the next 60 minutes could determine how you spend the rest of your

life.

Stroke, know the signs, act in time.

A message from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Rational revolution with Mark Becker.

How are the Trump policies going to affect agriculture?

We'll find out with Zachio Torres Small, who was the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture

in the Biden administration.

Saturdays at two, Sundays at one on your local civic media radio station and on the

app.

You know that tune, you're a star.

You know stuff.

Why not win stuff?

Maybe it's stuff about TV or movies, but still, you shine at useless information.

And WFHR and Culver's want to reward you.

Join the morning show Fridays for a chance to win one-value basket and a kid's meal.

We are next superstar with Culver's Star of the Day every Friday at 97-5 FM WFHR.

I'm meteorologist Mace Michaels.

Tonight partly cloudy, a low around 30 to the low 30s.

Sunshine returns tomorrow and cooler highs in the mid 40s.

But 50s return Wednesday, 60s Thursday, even 70s Friday.

Showers and storms and windy Friday rain to snow and blustery Saturday.

Currently it's 66.

Welcome back everybody to Playmakers on this Monday afternoon, Randy and James hanging

out with you.

Thank you so much for joining us.

Well, I sure don't like that forecast with all of us heading to Green Bay for Friday

and Saturday.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We got to watch out for that.

Safe travels to you all you guys and everybody out there traveling, of course.

And a big thank you to Derek Puttick, assistant coach with our Wisconsin Rapids and remember

King's for joining us.

That was awesome.

That was fun.

Yeah.

He's a great job.

It's take a call real quick.

Good afternoon.

You're in the game.

Hey, breaking news.

Viking signed a new center.

Yes.

Yes, they did.

Yes.

The name is Ryan Kelly.

That brought it in a nice center.

A couple of teams bring it in some nice guards and centers.

A lot of interior offensive line going on today on the first day of free agency, not even

the first day, first hours of it.

Some other breaking news.

The Rams are planning to release Cooper Cup at the start at the start of the new league

year unless a trade can be materialized.

That usually that last part is just put in there for the outlier that it could happen.

More than likely he is going to be free agent similar to some other players.

He's been mentioned, of course, as a possible packer, but he too has had injury issues and

he's getting what?

Is he like 31 already?

I got to be close to it.

32.

Thank you, man.

Thank you.

That better be a winner.

Hey, I do what I can to help out the team.

You're great.

You're awesome.

You're awesome.

You're awesome.

You're awesome.

Whether what there is a rare fact or it's up like this, man, we appreciate it.

Did you have anything else?

Oh, I know.

Other than the Vikings are going to destroy the North's next year and...

You're getting your JJ Jersey.

You're getting...

I mean, now that Darnell's in Seattle, and you know for sure that you're starting quarterback.

Oh, I think he lost.

All right.

Well, we'll find out next.

We got plenty of time before the NFL season, so we'll find out.

We've got to get our Detroit Lions on yet.

Yes, we do.

We do.

Who have been making some...

I just love that the NFC North is relevant.

I'll say that too.

One of the players.

One of the players.

Yep.

I am afraid to say this out loud.

I have been very good with the moves they've made.

I've been very good with all the moves they've made.

Overpaying for guys or giving up too much here there, miss me with that.

I don't care.

This team is like actually listening to the coaching staff and letting the people that

they hired do the job for, that they hired them for, let them do the job that they hired

them for.

Right now, we don't have any idea who's going to be good and who's going to be bad.

You want a prediction.

Some team that was bad last year is going to be good this year and a team that was good

last year is going to be bad this year.

And there's going to be injuries that are going to decimate some team.

There's your hot take, everybody.

There's the closest you're going to get to an actual real prediction or anything that

is going to be correct because nobody knows.

But I'll say right now on March 10th, I'm very good with the moves that have been made.

And if I'm any team in the NFC North, I would be.

I don't think...

I don't know if this is an unpopular take or not.

I think Minnesota did the right move.

Would you have wanted to bring in Sam Darnel for $100 million?

No.

When you just spent a first round pick on a quarterback?

Especially when you saw how the season ended.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I don't think he's worth that money.

I don't know what Seattle's doing.

You know, a couple of years ago, we joked and did a lot of a show on the Lions.

But you know what, the way they played this year with...

Well, they had what?

11, 12 starters out?

That is a craze.

Can you imagine how good they will be if everybody stays healthy?

Yeah.

Wow.

They're going to be so good.

It's hard to say because usually I say, well, outside of maybe injuries, you know,

they don't know how they're going to do.

Even if Detroit does get decimated and turns into a match on it, I still taken them

first into division.

I may take them first into the hole in NFC, I may take them first, I'm not going to count

that team out.

I did want to touch on a couple of things before we wrap up, Randy, and one of the things

that came up actually came from a retired source in Peter King.

Okay.

Peter King's not really working much anymore.

He retired, and this is the first year of his retirement.

So he was not at the NFL combine or any of that.

I mentioned this in one because I think Peter King deserves it.

He's one of the best to ever do it, and very respected in the league.

People who have been retired for 20 years still text him and stuff and reach out to him

just to talk to him, just his friends, let alone his reputation in the industry.

Well, he was on the Dan Patrick show the other day, and he just jumped on.

He wasn't a scheduled guest or anything.

He just called up.

Okay.

Because at the time, there was a lot of talk about Shredder Sanders and his draft stock

dropping and a number of GM sources.

All these, I love how the GM sources, and they never want to put their name on anything.

What do you guys got to lose?

Yeah.

You're the top of the food chain where you were afraid of, but regardless, they never

say that a lot of the arrogant and some of these things, you know, overconfident, some

people were saying about Shredder Sanders, some of this stuff.

Did they not know that he was the son of Deon Sanders for one, right?

Did they look at only his tape and not his after the game and here in this young man talk?

But the two things here, one, like Humble's great.

Humble's really good.

I want a humble person inside and all this.

But as far as at this point, in a job interview, I have no problem with the kid being confident.

I have no issue with that whatsoever, especially when half their DNA is that of Deon Sanders,

and the most confident human beings that's ever walked this planet.

But there's this thing that Peter King brought up in the conversation with Dan Patron, he

just touched on it a little bit.

But I thought was the most interesting part of it.

The idea that some of this might be about a greater narrative, that they're trying to

do this, that they're trying to lower Shredder Sanders stock, so that he'll go to a better

fit and to a better team.

If that happens, all I can do is sit back and clap, because like a master class on this,

now it's got to happen first.

We'll see what goes on here and everything.

Shredder could end up going to Buffalo and backing up Josh Allen for the next three years.

Who knows?

Who knows what's going to happen?

I remember the year that Jimmy Garoppolo, everybody was all on him.

Everybody thought that Jimmy Garoppolo was going to go to a team and start that year.

The Patriots ended up drafting.

And he sat behind Tom Brady for two years or whatever and everything.

Anything could happen.

But if that is what happens, and if that is something that the Sanders family and his

agent are planning and trying to do, like, first off, man, is that a gutsy move?

And second of all, like, wow, just, just wow, way to play the system that is playing

all these young men.

Because I love the NFL draft.

I think it's incredible.

I cannot wait to watch it this year.

I love the fact that it's in Wisconsin.

It's outdated.

It's very outdated.

It's a very outdated way to, now nobody's given me a better solution.

I hear people all the time say, well, just leave it up to free agency or something like

that.

Sure.

Yeah.

That ends well.

Yeah.

That ends real well.

Yeah.

I don't know what the fairest way to do it is, but I also understand that the NFL combines

a little archaic.

Some of this stuff is a little outdated.

By now, with the amount of everything, I don't care if a kid is playing it at Prairie

View state, you've got footage on him.

You've got every single game and every footage you need.

How great a kid runs an underwear?

How fast he is an underwear?

That doesn't do anything for me.

I don't care about that.

I think it's cool because, again, I love this stuff.

But I also admit that it doesn't have any say whatsoever, winning a Super Bowl.

Well, perfect example of that is we're talking about the tape.

Just think whenever they pick somebody, the next pick, if it could be the sixth round,

immediately they've got video that they're showing you on TV of that player.

So yeah, it's right at their fingertips.

I also was, you were talking, I was thinking a little bit about being confident and some

people's reputations and it made me think of Randy Moss.

And I remember Ron Wolf said, I'd never do that again.

He said, I really blew it because I was looking more at his metrics, looking more at his

personality, looking at his confidence, as you said, then I was at the football player

and we could have had him.

He said, I think we would have won at least one more Super Bowl, if not two, if we had

breath throwing him.

I don't make light of this or anything, but I do think that it's worth noting in 2025

that Randy Moss's draft stock fell because he smoked weed.

Like in 2025, nobody would even look at that, nobody even think about it.

They might be surprised he was, or they'd be more surprised maybe if he wasn't in 2025.

So it's just kind of funny how this stuff changes.

Jeremy Tonsel just got traded today and there's another one where that situation had come

up.

Again, a lot of money on the line and we're talking about young men.

So anything, any questions I think are okay to ask to a degree, but at the same time for

any of these one things to keep you from pulling the trigger and bringing in a generational

talent, that is, I respect so much him be owning that.

I really, really do, because that is a little foolish, I think, for some, for some, but

it's easy for me to say.

Do we have time to ask you a real quick question here?

What do you think about the situation with John Alexander?

Do you think that somebody would take a risk on him because last couple years he's been

heard half the year?

Or do you think that the Packers, would he accept Packers say, all right, prove it for

one more year and then we'll see where we go from there.

I don't know what's your opinion.

He's a hard one to read unless he's on the field, but I will say that if he's willing