Live on location, it's the Todd Alba Show.
And now, pursuing truth wherever it may lead, here's your host, Todd Alba.
Cross Wisconsin on the Civic Media Radio Network and streaming worldwide on the Civic Media app.
Good afternoon, everybody.
I'm Todd Albaugh here live at our WBZH studios in downtown Hayward as we continue our coverage of the 51st annual America Birkebinder from beautiful Hayward, Wisconsin.
It is Friday, TGIF, the 21st day of February, 2025.
It is a great day.
to be a Wisconsinite.
It's a great day to be outside and enjoy the Birkenbeiner, and we have a big show lined up for you today.
Helping us out back at the World Headquarters in downtown Madison, Wisconsin, our very own Sam Davison, who is filling in for Mr. Zomers, who is taking a well earned day off on this Friday.
Sam you of course are the producer for the John and Gordy show every morning six until eight on our flagship station down there in Madison, Wisconsin WM DX Thank you so much always great to be with you my friend
glad to be here I couldn't couldn't miss it for the for the Berkey broadcast
Well, we're here in our beautiful studios here right downtown downtown Hayward We have our this year's Berkey poster for those watching on the stream Facebook YouTube Twitter X you can see the the video of it all afternoon
long here.
I even purchased this year's Berkey mug, Sam.
So we got the Berkey mug here.
And, you know, I have a Danish friends.
So we got a little one of the great gift shops in downtown Hayward here, a great Scandinavian gift shop.
I have the little Denmark flag cup in honor of Denmark and Greenland.
How about that?
That's
great.
Have you ever been up here before, Sam?
I don't think so.
No.
Well, it's a great you've been you spend time a Rhinelander because you're helping out with the boy you're an Eagle Eagle Scout and you help out with Boy Scouting up there Rhinelander, you know, I guess in North Woods terms not a whole far maybe an hour away
or so Yeah, I've been up north plenty of times, but I've never been a Hayward area.
No
Yeah, well, stop on over if you ever get a chance and everyone else as well.
It's just a beautiful town events going on today, both here and in Cable, Wisconsin, where the start of the race is and then everything ends up downtown here and right on Main Street, a half block from where we are at yesterday.
Of course, we were outside yesterday, decided to move inside today, not so much because of the temperature, but just because there's not as much activity right downtown today.
Of course, the big races tomorrow
in the afternoon, the Slumberland American Birkenbinder will actually starts tomorrow morning, 8.15 to 10.10.
It takes two hours as they stagger people in these times.
And then it goes all across the north woods here and ends right downtown in Hayward here behind us.
It's just such a great environment.
Last night, they had the big ski race, literally big.
You put six people
on one pair of skis and then they raced down and there's heats.
It took them over an hour and a half to get through everybody and to get eliminations.
And people dress up in costumes.
It's just so cool, so festive.
There's all kinds of food places last night.
I helped myself to some of the local beverages, Sam.
I may have had a brand new old fashioned sweet and a little pizza and a sandwich in downtown Hayward last night.
But that's the kind of environment you get.
It's family friendly.
There's something for everyone.
So it's just so much fun and you're an outdoor guy Sam.
I am yeah, I like spend time out in the sticks It's a sounds like a great time you're having down there or up there It is
it is it's just been a heck of a lot of fun and we're gonna talk about it throughout the day Also, one of our regular guests Brady Ewing is gonna be here at 1230 to talk a little football Badger sports life and more he's an outside guy too So we'll talk to Brady in the hour number two.
We have a little what's worse for you involving
Outerware in the winter.
So looking forward to that and Sean Connolly the the bricky organizer may be calling in at some point He's a busy guy, but he's gonna stop in of course He was on our colleague Jane McNair show here a few days ago But he may be calling in giving us the latest on the burky here and also normally have Peter Rapine from Epom's world He's filling a little under the weather.
So we have Chris Paul's our friend and colleague here in with a week in review a humorous look at the things that wacky humans do
So all of that coming up on today's show, but we're going to begin it here right now at 11 minutes past the hour of 12 noon with a participant of the America Birkebinder here coming up tomorrow in downtown Heyward, Wisconsin joining us via phone right now We have Ryan Kramer on the phone a native of Eau Claire.
So just down the road here in northern Wisconsin He is a Birke Birkebinder participant and he's also a first lieutenant in the United States Space Force at a great
graduate of the Air Force Academy.
Ryan, thank you so much for taking time to join us via phone today.
And first of all, thank you for your service, myself and everybody here at the Todd Allball Show, the deepest of admiration and thanks for all of our men and women who serve in uniform.
Well, thank you, Todd, for all of that.
And I appreciate you having me on today.
So you're traveling, where, actually you're currently stationed where right now?
Currently, I'm at Shriever Space Force Base out in the east side of Colorado Spring.
Well, that's not a bad gig either, right?
So I mean, there must be a lot of skiing out there.
A decent amount down Colorado Springs, but Colorado like a whole you have to drive a couple hours to get out to the mountain to get to Breckenridge and to the Bale area.
Yeah.
I was out there a couple of times last year.
I have friends that live in Fort Collins and they got married in Breckenridge.
So really the first time I've been in that part of Colorado, just a beautiful place.
So what is it, Ryan, that wants to make you come back to Wisconsin to participate in this year's Birkenbeiner?
Well, this is a thing that I consider part of my heritage at this point.
I got into ski jumping way early on, and that's something that my grandpa did when he was in Eau Claire back in the 1920s.
and then my dad carried on a tradition a little bit with helping out at our big silver mine ski jump here.
So I started out skiing when I was about say five years old with ski jumping and transitioned over to cross country skiing at about 12 years old and have loved that ever since.
Just a really gorgeous event, really cool event, goes back and trace our lineage back way to the Norwegians because they're huge with the cross country skiing.
So this draws me back every year and it really keeps me in touch with my heritage.
So tell talk to me a little bit about ski jumping because I I mean if I had to choose between the summer Olympics and the winter Olympics I just find the winter Olympics so much more entertaining if I can use the word I love to watch ski jumping and it simultaneously Impresses me and excites me and scares the crap out of me.
How do you get involved as a kid?
Do you have the fear to start with or because your your grandpa and your dad had done it before does it just come natural?
No, that's so that fear is why transition over to cross that you're seeing at about age 12 So when you're five or six or so you don't quite have that you don't quite have that fear or you don't really understand it quite yet
But I can only imagine I go
ahead Sorry, so yeah, so I started that one about five years old and I and my parents has brought me out one day to the local ski jump because there's not many in the country But we Eau Claire is lucky to have a junior
facility there so they have different size ski jumps so those ski jumps you see on the uh during the olympics just quite uh art uh the ones we have now for kids aren't as big as those you start off a lot smaller and a lot easier and kind of go from there over the years i just i mean what is it like
the first time that they what is the first like the first time you go down that jump and you're just you're literally flying is it simultaneously uh you're afraid but also super cool
It's scary.
It's definitely the first time, at least for me it was.
Every time you go to, you progress to a larger hill.
It's always a terrifying event because the track, I don't know if you noticed this, but the track is glare ice.
It's not snow there going down.
You start off as going down glare ice and then usually you can't really see the middle part of the hill so you're kind of jumping blind into this thing.
So
really,
it's a truly terrifying experience.
Until you get comfortable after about two or three rides, you get comfortable doing it.
Then you start really trying to jump and get going for the distance.
I just I like I say I just I look at those folks that do this.
I think wow That's just amazing.
So you transition over to cross-country skiing.
How many Birkenbeiners have you participated in Ryan?
So tomorrow will be number four for me I did three Birkenbeiners before this and the FB 18 to do it So I think I would have had a couple more under my belt during my teenage years But I was had it ended up doing the quarter Lopez, which is the half half Birkenbeiner from ages 13 to 17 which is going on today
That's so cool.
I just yet last year was the first time I have been up here for it And of course last year was just kind of you know different because of the lack of snow The warmth and so of course as you know, it didn't finish in in Hayward They had to do a little loop up and in cable But to be here this year for the first time and see it in its entirety and see the Main Street downtown
What is that like for you as a participant?
For lack of a better term, a man-made or bridge that's built over one of the highways here that's covered in snow, you have to go up that hill and then you get to go down it right into the main street.
It's lined on the other side of people ringing cowbells.
What's that like for a participant to get to that ending line?
That is one of the most rewarding experiences that comes from the sport.
And I think that's what keeps me coming back every year.
is seeing all those people and knowing that, hey, I only have 100 meters left and I'm done.
And everybody's gonna cheer me on to the finish.
It's just truly amazing.
It just has to be.
So as you're going through the course, is it like a marathon runner where they give you kind of water or anything along the way?
I mean, it has to be hard to drink with your skiing.
I mean, or once you're set, you're just, you're gonna go and you don't stop.
No, it is very similar to a marathon in that sense about every I'd say about every six miles or so They have a feed station for you and at those stations.
They have water They have bananas out they have those goo energy gels for you So that they they prepare you well because going going that distance without any fuel would be a very difficult thing to do
Yeah, it's just and I know you know, I mean the I think last time I checked here temperatures were around 10 11 degrees We're headed to the run 17.
I think today.
What was a participant and we're talking to a Ryan Kramer One of the Birkenbiter participants at a first lieutenant in the United States Space Force Ryan as a participant.
Is there an ideal temperature or conditions you want as a as a racer?
I Would say about 20 and Sony is perfect for cross-country skiing in my opinion
It can get too cold, it gets the negatives a little bit, and that's no fun to be in, get the wind blowing, no fun.
And then you also don't want it too hot, so you overheat.
So I'd say 20 and sunny with the right gear, and you're perfect.
Well, it's gonna be pretty close to that.
I think tomorrow they're expecting highs somewhere in the low to mid 20s And as far as I know, it's a sunny or partly cloudy.
It's a beautiful day right now here is exactly pretty much what you just said It's gonna be close to 20 and sunny here and it's just it's beautiful to be out and and and walk around We're gonna take a quick break here.
But when we come back Talk just a moment with a Ryan Kramer here where the Birkenbeiner Participants this year in the 51st annual America Birkenbeiner presented by slumberland
and talk to you a little bit about what led to his military service and how that translates over into conditioning for the Birkenbeiner.
Don't go anywhere.
We are live from downtown Hayward.
Our studio is at WBZH, the buzz of the North.
For the 51st annual America Birkenbeiner, it's the Todd Albaugh Show on the Civic Media Ready Network.
Bird keep fever.
Got me here as a beaver.
Got me waiting for winter.
Got me praying for snow.
Bird keep fever.
I'm a true believer.
Just give me to the starlight.
I'll be ready to go.
Give me to the starlight.
Welcome back to Hayward, Wisconsin, downtown Hayward, Wisconsin.
There you go.
Got a little burky fever in you.
We are here covering the 51st annual American Burkabiner presented by Slumberland.
We'd also like to thank all of our key sponsor for our coverage and not just today.
If you really have the burky fever and want all of the information from the starting cable to the finishing hayward tomorrow, make sure you tune into our sister station, the music station, which will have special coverage tomorrow.
It's Muskie 101 FM.
That's 101.1 FM.
Muskie 101 FM.
Gray and Big G who is here yesterday with us, of course, Gray and Big G are gonna have coverage all day tomorrow on Muskie 101.1 FM.
They're also gonna be here outside of our studios in downtown Hayward have prizes for you to giveaways to stop by and say hi to Gray and Big G. Great coverage continues tomorrow on Muskie 101 here in Hayward.
And if you're not in Hayward, simply download the Civic Media app on your Apple or Android device and then scroll down to Muskie 101.
101 and you can listen to the coverage on the Civic Media app.
for free.
A big shout out to our keynote sponsor, Big Fish Golf and Die Hard Sports Bar and Grill, located on True North Lane.
Of course, had folks from Big Fish Golf and Die Hard Sports Bar and Grill on yesterday.
Joe there, the general manager, just really, really thanks to all of them.
They do a great job.
Also, Coop's Pizza, Lori's Card and Gifts, Pine Point Realty and Lakewood Cafe.
Thank you to all of those great folks, sponsors of our coverage here.
Oh, another civic media-ready network of the 51st annual Birkenbinder.
Joining us via phone once again, Ryan Kramer, originally from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and now a participant.
for the fourth year in the America Birkebinder here in Hayward, Wisconsin, and also serves as a first lieutenant in the United States Space Force after graduating the Air Force Academy.
Ryan, again, thank you so much for being here and thank you for your service.
If you would talk a little bit in another life, I worked in a congressional office and helped with the Academy choosing process.
Talk to us a little bit about what led you to want to apply for the Air Force Academy.
What was like going through that process?
Military service is something that is pretty near and dear to my heart because my dad and both of my grandpas were in the service back in their days.
From an early age, I knew this was something that I wanted to do.
My dad being a Naval Academy graduate class of 1985.
I knew a little bit about the process and she was able to walk me through at an early age.
We definitely left it up to me to go through that process and really navigate it myself, which is a really difficult thing to do for the Air Force Academy.
You have to get a nomination from either a congressman or a senator from your state.
You have to send in some pretty good SAT, ACT scores.
You have to have a really good high school record.
So a whole bunch of things that I had to navigate and it helped me because I knew I wanted to do this.
probably in about eighth grade.
So I was able to establish a plan moving forward through high school and how to get accepted into the academy.
Well, again, I admire you because having helped out with that process through our congressional office, I understand better than most what a competitive process that is.
And for folks, it's not just academics, it's
And it's not just athletics.
It's what you do in your community and your passion for this and serving your country.
And it's only the best of the best that get taken and chosen for our U.S.
service academies.
What was it like through your process there?
What are some of the maybe the most challenging thing, but also the most rewarding thing about going through the Air Force Academy?
Going through it is quite a change in lifestyle.
inflict that change on day one, if anybody's ever seen videos of day one of basic training for any military branch.
But that was quite the wake up call, fresh from about a month after I graduated high school, went into that.
I would say that is probably one of the largest struggles.
It's just that absolute change in lifestyle.
But I think the most rewarding part of that though, at the end of it, four years later, you go through basic training and you're doing military training concurrently with doing a college, a very full college course load.
but throwing your hat in here at graduation is just the most rewarding thing and knowing that you have a good future ahead of you knowing that you've accomplished something and you're ready to pretty much take on the world at that point.
And now you're serving as a first lieutenant in the US Space Force, our newest branch of military.
This is going to sound like a stupid question, but I think a lot of people might ask it.
Do you have to want to be an astronaut or actually go into space to work for the Space Force?
No, you do not.
So what the Space Force is doing right now and the jobs that they have in it is nothing new per se.
All these jobs that are in the Space Force right now existed as part of the Air Force prior to transitioning to its own branch in 2019.
All right, very good.
So so it's just it's some of the work that was being done Air Force now just under a different branch Well, I still admire you and thank you to not just you but everybody who serves in uniform So with your conditioning going through basic training in the Air Force Academy Just has that served you well as you as you get ready to condition for the Birkenbeiner tomorrow
Oh Absolutely Air Force Academy is at a very high altitude compared to oh, I think we're about a thousand feet here a
g
overseas level.
So it definitely helps going from altitude, working out at altitude, and doing a whole bunch of running because your first academy loves to run, and transitioning that over to skiing, great for cardio.
Now see this is fantastic.
I would think now you come in with a little bit of an edge over your Wisconsin base competitors who are at the lower altitude So I think that training, you know what they say, you know, what was it?
Peyton Manning said being out there in Denver a long time He thought that gave him an advantage.
Do you feel like you have an advantage Ryan coming in tomorrow?
I really do yes, and I think I can I cried this is something because when I was a senior at the Academy I came back and
and did this race also.
And that was the best I've ever felt going into a
game where
I hurt my feet just from fatigue over the day.
But once I felt, I felt fine.
I felt like I could have done it again.
One minute left here, Ryan.
The final minute.
Is there anything I have not asked you that you would like to share about your experience with the Berkebeiner?
No, I think I covered just about everything.
It's a tremendous sport and I recommend it to anybody who's listening.
If you're near snow or near some trails, go out there.
People love helping, people love teaching about how to cross-country skiing, get into this new sport.
This is a great way to get some sunshine and get some fresh air and cardio in the winter.
That's great.
Well, we're going to be ringing our cowbell for you, Ryan Kramer.
Thank you for joining us today.
Thank you for taking time.
I know you're traveling back to Wisconsin.
Thanks for carving out time for us and sharing your story.
Really, really appreciate it, Ryan.
Thanks for your service as well.
Thank you, Todd.
Thank you for having me on.
Our pleasure.
Ryan Kramer of our Berkenplaner participant and a first lieutenant in the United States Space Force.
You can see Ryan and everybody else raised tomorrow right here in Hayward and coverage on Muskie 101 here on the Civic Media Ready Network.
Come on back.
Brady Ewing of The Other Side is the all-ball show from Hayward on the Civic Media Ready Network.
Back to our special coverage here.
We are live on location from Hayward, Wisconsin and our beautiful studio is at WBZH, the buzz of the North.
We appreciate the sponsorship of Big Fish Golf and Die Hard Sports Bar and Grill located on True North Lane.
Anytime you're up here in the Northwood, stop on by Big Fish Golf and Die Hard Sports Bar and Grill.
They know how to do it.
They had all kinds of big screens going last night for hockey.
It was a great time had by all title ball here in Hayward, Sam Davidson, filling in for a vacation.
Aaron Zommer is back with the World Headquarters in Madison.
And if it's Friday at 34 minutes.
past the hour, our favorite 34.
He was a three time big 10 champion with Wisconsin football captain of the team and spent three years in the National Football League.
He joins us via StreamYard from the old hometown in Richland Center.
Mr Brady Ewing Brady.
How are you my friend?
Doing great.
Thanks for having me, Todd.
I was excited.
Look at the schedule this week knowing we'd be able to get back together and chat a little bit.
Yeah, absolutely.
And many thanks also to Ryan Kramer, Birkebeiner participant and first lieutenant in the United States Space Force.
Boy, I mean, you listen to that guy.
I mean, I mean, here's a guy who is a ski jumper as a kid flying through the air.
Then he goes through basic training, serving in the Space Force and now, you know, running, not running, but skiing Birkebeiners.
I mean, and he's, you know, in his 20s, for goodness sake.
I mean, you look at people like that and they're just inspiring.
Oh, for sure.
I was enjoying listening to the show before we jumped on here.
And people always like to draw parallels from athletes and football players to, you know, military.
I don't think there's any parallel there.
And I just the service that they provide and the training that they go through both physically, mentally to make sure that they can be their best is pretty, pretty darn cool.
So it's nice to hopefully like I try to shed some spotlight into.
My sports experiences.
It's really cool to see the behind the scenes and hear how they how they use that to prepare.
Yeah, no, I absolutely think you're right.
And again, many thanks to Ryan and good luck to him as he participates in the in the Burke about it tomorrow.
Brady, have you ever?
Are you a skier?
Do your families?
I don't know this about you.
Do you ski or not so much?
I've water skied a couple of times, so very different than the Birkenbeiner.
But no, never snow skied, I guess.
I've used
the
snowboard a little bit just down the hills around Riesland Center, so nothing even on a significant slope anywhere.
You
have four boys, as our listeners know, any of them into skiing or asking about it?
Ben, I got some cross-country skis a couple of years ago.
been using that more cross country style, but also downhill just on hills here on the house and the other kids.
They kind of fight over who's going to be using them when we
go
outside.
So whether it's that or snowboards or sleds,
we've had a lot of fun here the last couple weeks.
Now is the time because we just had yesterday on entire family.
The grandfather was 70.
But I mean, honest to God, I'm not making this up.
He was a better shape than I am at 55.
So the grandfather, he had been skiing for 30 years, 30 Birkenbeiners.
The only one he missed is when his son was born and they named him Birk because of the Birkenbeiner.
He's skied in it.
And then he and his wife, they brought their three kids and their son, Finn, who I'm going to guess is maybe eight, nine, 10 at the most.
He won his division yesterday.
So, I mean, these family, right?
I mean, these family things where you could get the family involved, I just think it keeps us healthy mentally and physically and not just to be sitting around looking at our screens all winter long, which, you know, Todd is guilty of doing that.
Oh, I think, I think we all are in the dog days of winter, but what a cool activity to get your family out, probably brings them together, the history there, the tradition, just like we've talked about deer hunting and other traditions that
you know, our family has passed down through generations.
It sounds like that's the same type of thing, which is is really, really cool.
And they say, you know, with kids learning ability, you know, mentally and physically, that's the time to expose them to that stuff, whether it's downhill skiing, snowboarding.
because they can pick it up like that where if you and I tried to go pick it up, maybe not you, but I think me probably I'd be
over
the place.
No,
you were your professional athlete.
You could get that.
Like I would just be sitting there looking like a goofball.
But I think you're right.
I mean, even Ryan was talking about that is, you know, his grandpa and dad have been ski jumpers and went out at five or six and didn't really have that fear.
But as you get older, you're like, wait a minute, I could get seriously injured here.
And so you're right.
I mean, it's just amazing how much kids when they don't have
so much fear or self-awareness, they can just go out and do it.
And it's just, in a way, right?
It's almost sad that we lose that as we get to be adults.
It is a little bit.
Yeah, you start thinking about all the possibilities, the things that could go wrong, the failure, you know, being embarrassed.
I know I've experienced that across a bunch of different things in the past.
So, yeah, kids have the ability to just be
kind of approach it for what it is, try to make the most of it and continue to learn and grow from it.
I think that we can all learn from that.
Yeah, absolutely.
Let's turn our attention, of course, as we said, a three-time Big Ten champion with Wisconsin Badgers served as a captain your senior year after starting as a walk-on.
In my opinion, I'm not just saying this because I know you, I think it's one of the best sports stories in modern Wisconsin football history.
It's because of your journey, maybe only surpassed by Jimmy Leonard, who is also a fellow walk-on and then ended up coming back as the defensive coordinator and interim head coach.
But I just love the story.
spent three years in the NFL.
I want to play a clip for you, a former head coach and athletic director, Barry Elvarez, who appeared on ESPN Madison radio program.
Barry, not holding it a lot back, here are his thoughts on the current state of football at Wisconsin.
I want to answer that.
I want to answer, this spring practice is important because after having a losing season,
There has to be a pride in this team that they want to come back and and bounce back and be relevant again and I I don't like it nobody likes I mean we went a long time we worked our fannies off to Start winning win championships and and and be good and go to bowl games every year and damn it We better did it better than everybody for 20 some years
after not going for like a million years.
And so now these guys have to fight their ass off to get back into that groove.
And I hope that they understand that.
They've got a responsibility.
I don't like where we are right now.
They need to bounce back and put this program back where it belongs.
Former head coach and athletic director of the University of Wisconsin Barry Alvarez there appearing on ESPN Madison Brady as an alum I mean some Barry got a little bit of heat some people thought he was being critical of current head coach Luke fickle You know other people just said look he just has passion for for the team and what he helped build there along with guys like you What's your take on on coach Alvarez's comments?
I would say I I relate to what he's saying
I mean, you hear the pat, you talk about he came in and took the head coaching job at Wisconsin with a program that historically hadn't had a ton of success.
And to see how quickly he turned around the culture and the identity of what he wanted Wisconsin football to be based on his history that he had seemed to be successful to come in and basically do a 180 on that and go into the Rose Bowl a couple of years later and then continuing to uphold that level of.
consistent success year in and year out, whether it was him or as he passed on that torch to others.
And as an AD, that's pretty darn special in and of itself.
Now, we've had a little bit of a blip here.
And I think that's where you hear, you know, Barry's frustration come out of, hey, we worked so hard to uphold that.
And it is, it's a yearly monthly daily battle to be successful in whatever you do, whether it's football or business.
life, whatever.
I mean, it's literally a daily battle of doing the right things.
And I think that's where I probably sense a little frustration in his voice, just the state of college athletics in general, too.
And, you know, the timing of when he got out of there.
So I'm sure it's probably both.
But at the end of the day, he wants to see Wisconsin successful for all the right reasons.
He wants to see I'm sure Macintosh and Luke Bickle and all those people be successful.
It's just
Well, let me let me follow up on that because you said something about being being whatever your words were driven in or talked about daily when you were a player Brady for four years and of course you were around coach Alvarez You were coached by coach Belima during your time there as head coach, but you're also around coach Chris You know coach Leonard.
What was this something this this this?
Hey, this is special, you know, we didn't get here just because we showed up
And each and every one of you has to continue working your butts off to keep, was that driven in by all those coaches I mentioned?
And do you think it lacks that now?
You know, it wasn't, it wasn't incredibly intentional where they had to say like, Hey, here's the expectations.
Here's what we're going to hit.
It was, that's kind of where I was getting to earlier.
I think it was just understood.
Like when you came to Wisconsin, you knew what you were getting into at that time.
You know, you were coming to an organization that was going to focus on the run, focus on being physical, was going to develop you.
And so I think, like I said, I think it's two factors.
I think it's the philosophy, the identity, the culture, and then it's just, hey, we're going to have to adjust with college sports in general nowadays.
But it was more of a daily action and a daily pursuit, whether that's in the weight room in the off season, on the practice field.
In the athletic training room, it was a pursuit of excellence in everything we did.
Was
that
driven
by guys?
Your upperclassmen?
Was that something that was handed down, that expectation?
And do you think that the current transfer portal and the NIL deals, the turnover right now, is that part of the lackiness of passing that stuff down?
Really
good point.
I do think that is something that
is best led by the team.
And I thought Wisconsin did a really good job of that.
Now, with all of the transactions going on, all the movement going on in divisional and athletics, it's probably going to have to fall more on the coaching staff and the support staff to reinforce that, to set expectations, and to kind of be the guiding light for everybody on what direction they're going, why, and what that's going to look like with the evolving open door of the transfer portal and the challenges that NIL brings.
Talking to Brady Ewing, three-time Big Ten champion with Wisconsin football, former captain of the team, and spent three years in the NFL.
Brady, you and your brother Brandon and I, a little group texting when it was revealed that head coach Luke Fickle, current coach at Wisconsin, got a year extension where I think we're all a little bit, what?
As it turns out, this is just kind of the course of matter that it was the automatic one year extension that unless, you know, I think that unless a head coach, whatever sport is on the verge of being let go, it's just something that is automatically done from what I've read and heard about it.
But I think with a lot of
of fans, it was kind of like, so you finish five and seven, you break a 23 year bull streak and you get rewarded.
I mean, most of us Brady, unless we're television meteorologists, we got to be right more than 50% of the time.
Yeah, right.
It's, um, yeah, before, before we kind of jump, we jumped some conclusions initially before we kind of understood the big picture, but I get some of the formality of it.
But coming off a tough season, I think that was pickles, third season, right?
Right.
and having him underperform expectations and you know you want to see that success just like anything to earn the right to advance you got to perform now and so yeah that's what some of the questions I had is like wow that's pretty surprising to see that extension come out now you know Kelly Sheffield and others it's like absolutely you know they're doing great things and having success
About a minute or so before the first break here before the break Brady, you know We'll we'll get more into this a spring practice of all to Wisconsin football But you know, Wisconsin has to play Alabama again this year, Oregon.
I think Ohio State What's your initial sense Brady?
I mean can this team with a new offensive coordinator?
Can they can they take a true step forward this year?
I should hope so I mean
any time there's change over in coaches that slows the development process, let alone bringing in an additional 20 plus people from the transfer portal.
So again, I think it heightens the sense of awareness around what is your identity?
What's the culture look like within that team?
And to coach Alvarez's point, spring practices are such a huge part of that.
And previously, I would say bowl practices were such a big part of that, because you get a chance to get X amount of practice leading into a bowl game where you can develop those young guys.
set the culture and the expectations for going forward and you know they missed out on that opportunity.
I think it's a great point that I think that we as fans underestimate the value of those practices to the bowl game for us it's just like hey we get to go somewhere warm hopefully not the pinstripe bowl but for you guys for players and coaches that's real work that's real evaluation that you don't get to have.
100 percent.
All right, we'll come on back.
We're live in Hayward, Wisconsin.
Brady is in Southwest Wisconsin.
We're going to come back.
Talk about Greg Guard being on the Naismith basketball coach's player or coach of the year.
Watch this.
Come on back to Hayward after this.
Make sure you have a
little springsteen or...
Whoever on your radio as you drive around on Northwood, but stop up stop here in the area stop in you understand We are here live in downtown Hayward and the beautiful studios of WB Z H The buzz of the north and our sister station plays a lot of country music musky 101.1 FM you can hear more per combiner coverage with big
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They do a great job up here.
Brady Ewing, three time Big Ten champion, former captain of the Badger football team.
In three years, the NFL joins us via StreamYard from our mutual hometown.
of Richland Center of Wisconsin.
A couple of texts here, Brady.
Let's see here.
We have Andrew in Maine, listening on WAUK.
We were talking about whether Brady 9 should take up cross-country skiing, says the kids could pick up skiing while Todd would have to be picked up.
Well, that's probably true.
That's probably true.
Patrick listening on WMDX in Madison, Patrick in the 608 says, let's be honest here, football and the NCAA has drastically changed for the worst in his opinion.
Just in the last few years for Alvarez to not recognize this in his remarks is tone deaf.
We played comments of former head football coach Barry Alvarez saying he's not happy with where the team is right now.
I don't know if he didn't recognize it, Brady.
I think maybe the fact that he does recognize it.
is part of his frustration?
Agree or disagree?
I agree.
I think that is just an understood thing that he didn't necessarily call out in that statement.
But not only does, I think it makes his point as far as the identity, resetting the culture and the direction they're going, going forward of winning and reestablishing that, it makes that much more important.
Again, that's my opinion.
But I think Barry understands the changing landscape and probably happy he got out when he did.
Given all that
right Troy Troy our good friend Troy a longtime listener in Mount Horrib listening on WM DX asks How much does it factor into this is to Brady?
How much it does it factor into how these last two seasons went that they lost Wisconsin lost their preferred QB both years
That is big I mean losing a quarterback you look at the year that Russell Wilson came in I would say that was
somewhat of a parallel to what you see nowadays in college athletics at a lot of programs with quarterbacks.
And to lose that guy that had been counted on all off season that you repped plays with, that was leading and commanding the huddle, that does make a difference.
Now, historically, I would say you have that development program at Wisconsin where you can backfill and people understand and know that person.
But nowadays, they're bringing in three, four different quarterbacks each year, especially with turnover in the offense coordinators where, again, if that one guy goes down, that you're trying to get up to speed to be the guy, it makes it that much more difficult to backfill.
Quick note, Troy, of course, was our big winner for just a bit outside the story of the 1982 Milwaukee Brewer's world premiere contest, which we were at down at Waukesha last fall.
Big news Brady, our friends Kelly Call and Sean Hannish, the producer and producer director respectively of Just a Bit Outside, the story of the 82 Brewers.
Guess what folks?
You can now buy it on DVD at Amazon.
It's currently the number one movie seller on Amazon on DVD purchases.
So it's exciting.
Of course, the Brewers have their first spring training game going to be very different without you this year, of course.
You can hear those games on select stations across the Civic Media Ready Network, including Brady and I's home station of WRCE in Richland Center.
But boy, Brady.
It's going to seem weird without you this year, 90 great years, but fantastic that you could get back in that world-steering spirit by catching just a bit outside the movie now on DVD at Amazon.
I'm going to be ordering mine today before I leave Hayward.
Love it.
Yeah, I got to check it out.
I know we had talked about that when you were doing some more coverage around it and it sounds like a really cool production.
Yeah, I think your kids would love it, too.
I know how much they love baseball and Brewers baseball, so I invite people to check it out.
Really quickly, Brady, we talked about this in the break.
What was your first big memory of a play, your first play where you're like, wow, I'm on the frickin' University of Wisconsin football team and I made a legit play?
It would be, I would say, my freshman year, so came into fall camp.
I was a walk on running back and there was either one or two other scholarship running backs that year.
I think one full back and one running back scholarship guy.
And so I was trying to learn the playbook, trying to get up to speed.
And anytime I got an opportunity to get in there.
One of the requirements of the running back was if we were running from a certain yard line was to finish down the field.
I think it was roughly 40 or 50 yards.
One to just work on running out of tackles and finishing the play, but also to get your conditioning up leading into the season.
And at one point, I think I caught her.
I was running a ball and got thotted up to get tackled.
And I dislocated my finger and fell to the ground.
The trainers came out, put it back in place and I got up with the ball and I ran through 40 yard line.
And that got some ooze and Oz and got a shout out after practice.
So that's probably one of the more memorable.
But yeah, that freshman year, I don't think I dropped the ball off ball camp.
That's awesome.
And,
you know, any of the game type situations.
So that was something that I know Coach Bieloma gave me a shout out multiple times.
And as a freshman, that was pretty cool.
And I think helps set the stage for the future of my involvement in helping the program.
I don't remember what year it was.
It was either freshman or sophomore year.
You were on special teams for a while as well, and you caught a punt or a kick, and you ran it.
I don't think you scored the touchdown, but I think it was like a 30 or 40.
It was a huge run in that, and my sister and I went to that game, and we were in the end zone, and we both looked at each other and just both started crying uncontrollably.
You're very proud of you.
You're very proud of you probably against Fresno State probably it probably was yeah, yeah Brady always a pleasure to talk to my friend.
We'll talk great guard of basketball next time.
We'll see you in the RC soon.
Have a wonderful day.
Thanks so much Brady
Thanks, Todd.
Thanks, Sam.
See ya.
Our pleasure.
Brady Ewing always joins us every other Friday.
Appreciate him.
Come on back a little.
What's worse, mittens or gloves on the other side, as well as Chris Pauls, another Richland Center native talking about a little week in review.
It's the hour number two of the all ball show from Hayward on the Civic Media Radio
Network.
