Uniting People Through Sports with Bill McCoshen (Hour 1)

You're listening to Civic Media.

You can tune into any of our live shows on any radio station across the state with the Civic Media app.

Find us in your phone's app store and listen anytime, anywhere.

From the Civic Media World Headquarters in Madison, Wisconsin, it's the Todd Alba Show.

And now, pursuing truth wherever it may lead, here's your host,

Todd Allbaugh.

Across Wisconsin on the Civic Media Radio Network and streaming worldwide on the Civic Media app.

Good afternoon, everybody.

Todd Allbaugh along with Mr. Aaron Zammers, our producer and engineer.

It is six minutes past the hour of two o'clock on this TGIF Friday edition of the Todd Allbaugh show September 19th, 2025.

It is a great day.

to be Wisconsinite.

Welcome in everybody at the World Headquarters of Civic Media Downtown Madison at the intersection of State and Fairchild on a bit of an overcast sky.

A little smoke in the air, I think, for the wildfires in the West, but also maybe some rain showers moving in and part to Wisconsin already from West to East.

And much of Wisconsin this weekend in summer is going to get wet.

Tut, tut, it looks like rain.

Yes, yes, indeed.

Hope it holds off.

Tonight, going to American Players Theater in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

Gonna meet up our friend, our old friend Chris Gheesey.

And his lovely and talented partner Emily, mom's coming down and then sister Heather and niece Isabel, we're all going to see.

And one of the actors, my sister teaches American Sign Language to high school kids in the Eau Claire school district.

And one of the actors, which we've seen before is a deaf actor.

And first you think, how is that gonna work?

Well, it works great because he does the.

the play in in sign American sign language.

And then next to me has a bilingual person who who is dressed in the same costume as the the assigning actor.

And he voices what the but you get the emotion and everything from the the deaf actor.

And then his co actor voices it.

And

it's really

cool.

Yeah.

So going tonight looking for.

So I hope the rain holds off although I have my rain gear in tow.

So that's the plan for a big show today.

By the way, what show is it?

You didn't actually say it's

because I can't.

Oh,

OK.

Fair enough.

Fair

enough.

Look it up.

It's a Shakespeare one because some of not all of them are American Playwrights Theater.

I am sorry.

I'm spacing.

If this is what happens when you get old, Zombers will find it.

We'll tell you what it is.

No, by the way, coming up on the show in our number two, Peter Rapine.

Managing editor of e-bombs world is gonna be here with the wild and wacky human headlines It'll be a great way to end up the show also another edition of what's worse American grilling experience could be a good I mean with lots of games going on and so we'll Talk about grilling in our tube Bill McCosh and and normally Bill comes on this show and talks politics No politics today with Billy Mack.

It's all about hockey the Jamesville Jets

are opening up their brand new Woodman Center hockey arena tonight or tomorrow night, pardon me, in, uh, Janesville.

It's sold out, by the way, the Janesville Jets game, but Bill McCosh and president and founder of the Janesville Jets in studio cannot wait for that conversation at the bottom of the hour.

Also headlines, uh, notable deaths today in the music industry, but, uh, also little politics will throw in there as well, but we're going to start it off.

With our old friend, my longtime friend, the general manager of WRCL Radio, the old home station in Richland Center, Wisconsin.

You can hear it on the Civic Media app as well if you're not in Southwest Wisconsin.

And the host of those were the days every Saturday night from six until midnight joining us via phone from RCO, Mr. Phil Nehaar, you my friend.

I am very well.

Well, thank you.

And we should say award-winning Todd Albaugh.

How are you doing, Todd?

Award-winning?

I'm not sure if I'd say that or

not.

Well, from your old University of Richland,

I think you're

going to be an outstanding alumnus this year.

I appreciate it.

I think the honest answer is they ran out of people to nominate.

No, no.

I doubt that.

Thank you for mentioning that.

Yes, UW Richland.

myself, amongst many other fine folks, named one of the outstanding alums, so I'm gonna be recognized next month.

And really it comes down to all the people in my life that helped me.

You know, if I'm any sort of success at all, it's because, and by the way, Phil, they asked me to write a big thing for the paper, for the observer.

And I named you.

I named Ray Schrader, Brian Kennedy, uh, and Ron Fruit, all people in my high school days that got me into broadcasting and helped mentor me.

And I named all, I mean, I named Jean Birket, our, our, both of our former, uh, acting coaches and, and Jimmy Gard, at UW Rich.

I named all these people because I wanted it to be about others and not me.

And then they said, Tom.

it's too long you have to at the end so I'm not sure what made the paper but I will mention you in the in the other five minutes that I have so thank you Filmy

yeah that's that's very well said and one other side now you mentioned Jean Burkett wonderful lady who taught English at the campus and directed plays but they are putting on pride and prejudice in Richland Center this fall and she has a role and she's 98 years young

that

is

at Mother Birket back on stage.

Exactly where she should be.

It's about time.

It is about time.

No, a better person, you will not find the Jean Birket.

She's been to a lot to both of our lives and so many others.

So that's great news, Phil.

I want to talk a little bit about what's going on in RC.

It has to do with those are the days.

You're a great pro.

How many, 30s, how many years you've been on the air now?

Those are the days.

Well, October 12th will start our 40th, so it's

been

39 years.

Oh my

gosh.

That's amazing.

It's a great show.

If you don't live in Southwest Wisconsin and you can't get 100.9 on the FM dial, go to the Civic Media app on Saturday night.

Scroll down to RCO country and community.

You can hear Phil six until midnight.

Great live call-in show of oldies.

Always great interviews.

Phil, what's special about this Saturday night?

We are going to be live at the Starlight 14 outdoor theater Todd and it's going to be a wonderful time We've done some shows there before but they're calling it a class reunion night And so we're going to be there and if people come to the drive-in and they display their senior picture from high school They will get in for two bucks.

Otherwise.

It's regular price But that's that's a real good deal that you know, you only embarrass yourself for a couple of seconds with a guy at the ticket

booth I paid 20 bucks to have that

picture got rid of so I'm not sure.

You and I both, but we'll be showing the movie 16 Candles, and that was voted on.

Fans of the Starlight voted on a 70s or 80s movie that they remember seeing at The Drive, and this one won.

It's a 1984 movie, of course, the first movie for Molly Ringwald, and a great film that shows quite regularly, but it'll be good to see it on the big screen, and then leading it right into the brand new Spinal Tap 2, which will be the second of the features.

I think this is great and a little insider civic media is filled.

I was talking and we have our big, uh, it's all online because we're so, uh, uh, spread out the online staff meeting and Phil was talking about this and he made a joke about going to a drive-in theater.

He goes, I'm not sure it didn't land real well.

I said, Phil, let's be honest.

How many people on our staff have actually been to a drive-in theater?

And, and I think this is just, it bears mentioning Phil because I'm sure there's a lot of people that are listening around the state that like have heard of those by.

never been to it.

Exactly.

We're very fortunate here at Richland Center to have had this all these many years.

My parents went to it, probably my grandparents, I don't know, but it's still open.

Tony Johnson and his wife Holly are the main operators of it.

And they do a really good job.

They're thinking outside the box.

I mean, they've had dance recitals there.

They've had the live concert films.

They've had hunting shows, outdoor shows, all kinds of things there.

And they kind of do a really good job of just making it a family event.

another one where they're kind of inviting class reunions from the area to come back and maybe spend a little time at the outdoor.

You don't have to go to the movie.

You can come.

We're there at 5 30 and you can enjoy some trivia with us and play some games and eat some food.

And then the movie is going to start probably around 7 30.

And he tells me we're talking about the weather.

He says right now looks like the weather is going to hold off for us Saturday night.

I hope he's right.

That's crazy.

Yes, something.

Yeah, I just want to say, as the show's resident Gen Z representative, I have gone to a drive-in in Chilton, and I did get your joke.

It was just a big meeting, so I was muted, so you couldn't hear me laughing.

So, see, your audience was there, Phil.

You just

couldn't hear them.

All right, I'm used to that.

I'll go to an event, and they'll say something funny, and I say something, and it's like, you hear the cricket.

But all they said was, get there early with your significant other, and perhaps you can park in the back row.

Right, because I mean, you know, that was back in the day in Richland Center and at select places or a couple others around Wisconsin, you could go with your significant other and sit in the back row and maybe do a little neck and a watch.

Oh, no, that's what the best view is, right?

That's all it is.

Oh,

sure, sure.

That's what you hope to do anyway.

Didn't always work out that way.

Your lovely wife, June, would probably have another story about how that happened back in the day.

Right.

I asked her about Saturday night.

Maybe we could, we could park back there, but I haven't had an answer yet.

I think I know what it is though.

Now, if it was a John Denver concert, of course he's passed by now, but I mean, that would have been a whole nother story.

I know it.

Yeah.

John Denver, whenever you're getting trouble, I just throw a John Denver, take me home country roads on the air.

i'm good to go on golden but somebody told me the other day they're like they have college age uh... students

And they're like, oh, they're really into John Denver.

I'm like, what?

OK.

Maybe he's made a comeback.

That song is so universal.

Yeah, it really is.

Great artist.

And certainly miss him.

Phil, I wasn't planning on talking about this, but I woke up this morning and I do exactly what you're not supposed to do.

I look at my phone right away.

And overnight breaking news, the great singer-songwriter of Nashville, Brett James, passed away in a single-plane crash outside of Nashville last night.

And boy, as he had a huge, only 57 years old.

And I got.

because he wrote some of Kenny Chesney's biggest songs, co-wrote them with him.

One of them was, we went out last night, one of my favorite songs.

And once again, a tragedy in the music industry.

Yeah, I heard that too.

That's very sad.

He's written a lot of songs Carrie Underwood and I think Garth Brooks even recorded some of his songs Jesus Take the Wheel was a big one that he wrote for Carrie Underwood.

Yeah, it's really remarkable and It just I mean you've covered this all your life and and way too often in the music world It seems like there are these tragedies that just cuss people's lives off way too soon and Brett James is is no exception a couple of minutes left Phil anything you want to plug other on the show

or about the activities tomorrow night in Richland Center at the Drive-In Theater?

Otherwise, yeah, we're just getting ready for Friday Night Football.

It's already the fifth week of the high school football season.

We're also excited this weekend.

We have the big event in Viola, the horse and colt show.

They're hoping for good weather there, but they've got all kinds of events, big parade and a big small town community event coming up tomorrow in Viola.

Our family farm is only about 12 miles from there.

And I think in the fall growing up, I looked more forward to the horse and colt show that I probably did the Richland County Fair.

But I don't know why, but just it just has a certain feel.

If you've never been to Viola, it's a small village in Southwest Wisconsin.

Looking up, it's worth the drive and beautiful this time of year.

Yeah, it really is.

And they have all of the community functions that you would have.

And the best thing, if you're a foodie, they've got incredible food stands there.

Yeah, absolutely.

Phil, the Badgers play tomorrow.

I know you can hear it on WRCE in Richland Center amongst other stations.

But I think it's a must win for Bucky coming into a town against Maryland.

What do you think?

I think so too, Todd.

And I'm a little scared because I see the experts have put it at a 10 and a half point favorite for the Bucky Badgers.

And I don't know about it.

I'll have to see that to believe it.

But we'll see.

And quickly, Brewer is also on RCE and Richland Center amongst other civic media stations.

Magic number down to four, Phil, now.

It's incredible.

I heard this in the postgame show last night, Todd.

They are 35 games above 500.

That's the first time in franchise history they've ever been that far over 500.

It's incredible.

Sean Hannes was in town, one of the great producers of Just A Bit Outside, the story of the 1982 Milwaukee Brewers.

We're going to have them on the show on Monday.

Huge announcement.

I can't tell you what it is, anybody yet, but it has to do with Wisconsin sports.

You're going to love it.

And, and he said, it's just, it feels, for you Phil, we were both alive this season more than any other since.

That's that same vibe of 1982.

It really is and I think the camaraderie of the team that is really common with with that team back then as well I don't think anybody expected them to do as well as they did and they have and it's been a magical year Hopefully they can they can go a little ways this year.

It'll be a magical night six until midnight on WRCO 100.9 FM in southwest, Wisconsin or on the civic media app join fill in person or over the air Phil.

Thanks so much.

Have a great call buddy

You bet.

Take care, Todd.

All right.

Stay tuned.

Your chance to win Brewer's Tickets next.

Yes, you

can be at Aunt Van Thiel's get this season.

We'll tell you how after this.

Wherever it may lead and having fun doing it.

Welcome back to the title ball show on the civic media radio network 22 now past the hour of two o'clock on this Friday, September 19th, 2025.

It's Friday.

We made it, folks.

Good vibes all the way around.

Weather might not cooperate if you do a lot of stuff outdoors, but hey, you know what?

Gotta get out and enjoy it.

Badger game tomorrow.

I'm going to talk about that.

And by the way, many thanks to my old friend and broadcasting friend as well from WRCO, Richland Center, Philly.

Great guy.

Great show.

Check it out six until midnight.

You can find it on the Civic Media app if you don't live in Southwest Wisconsin.

Speaking of, make sure I'm going to tell you right now, go to your app.

If you don't have it, go to your app store on your Apple or Android device right now and download the Civic Media app.

Go to the search engine type in Civic CIVIC Media pops up cute little C M logo.

Click on that.

it takes less than a minute, it's free, it's what CBS's Gale King calls a deal.

Download the Civic Media app, because we're going to give you a chance to win some free Milwaukee Brewer tickets for next weekend, the final home series of the regular season.

And the only way you could enter is via the Civic Media app.

So I'm gonna give you a minute to download the Civic Media app, or give you the key word for today's show.

And while you're doing that,

Make sure you stick around because after the 235 farm news update with Pam Yankee the one the only Bill McCosh and is in studio the president and founder of the Jamesville Jets Exciting news for Wisconsin hockey Southern, Wisconsin or Rock County great community the Woodman Center Bill's gonna tell us all about it gonna some good stuff some good news Which we could all use on a Friday and also if you like winning stuff

stick around on Monday because here's our model for the next two weeks is more listeners win on the text to win contest of the Todd Allball show than any other civic media program.

This comment has not been verified by the lawyers.

They are angrily typing me a sternly worded letter right now.

Yes, Susan Collins very sternly worded letter.

There is no proof of it, but a lot of people are saying.

No, it's our big, our big green and gold.

And I have to be very careful because the lawyers get very nervous.

It's the big green and gold text to win contest starting on Monday, on Monday.

And the grand prize is a ticket and vacation package to a major stadium of football in the city of Green Bay that uses green and gold as their colors.

How'd I do?

That's all good.

Fantastic.

And by the way, it's a multi-stake contest.

Sure is.

And you can win cash prizes.

You can win gold jewelry.

It all starts on Monday with Kraitlo, then Jane and Greg, then Hartman, then us, then Maggie, then Schwab.

All day long.

You can enter up to seven times, and that's starting on Monday.

Yep, every odd hour from 7 a.m.

to 7 p.m.

A lot of people

say, there's always odd when I'm on.

All right, time to do our final.

Free ticket, brewer ticket, extravaganza, trivia, athon.

Here we go.

All right, this is it, folks.

We've enjoyed it all season long.

Many thanks to Sage Weil, our owner, the executive leadership at Civic Media, to Luke Mathers, who oversees this contest and the tickets.

We've been doing it all year.

Today is the final day.

Brewers have one more home series next weekend.

They are a sure-to-playoff spot.

There are four games away from winning the NL Central, and you can be part of the magic.

You can be there in the club-level seats next Friday.

September 26 at 7 10 in the evening against the Cincinnati Reds.

Open up the aforementioned civic media app.

The first 10 stations are the ones that we're on.

Pick the one closest to you or pick the one at the top.

A U. K. Milwaukee.

Wherever you want.

Open it up in the lower right hand corner.

It'll say text.

Click on that.

Now you're all set to go.

I am going to give you a word.

Text the word in right now.

You have until four o'clock to be eligible for four club level tickets to the Brewers versus the Reds next Friday, September 26th.

The word today is... Last.

Last.

L-A-S-T-E.

The word is... L-A-S-T.

Oh, I said that.

I'm sorry.

L-A-S-T.

Why did I put an extra I don't know what is last?

L A S T Luke Mathers is saying thank goodness.

This is the last weekend for this contest So I don't have to deal with all ball

and unlike next week's green and gold.

This is a statewide contest.

This is a statewide.

Thank you last L A S T L A S T. Yes, Jeff Perry

No, no, Jeff asks if this is a local contest and quite frankly, I appreciate the ask because there has been some confusion.

No, Jeff, thank you for asking.

It is a statewide contest.

As Zauber said, next week is multi-state.

This week, only a state, Wisconsin.

The word is last, L-A-S-T, L-A-S-T.

Ellen's and Larry, A is an all-ball, S is and Sam, T is and Todd.

Last.

The first shall be last.

This is the last day for the Free Ticket Friday Brewer giveaway.

And how great, in all seriousness, how great has this been?

I mean, it's been a lot of fun.

And I don't remember a season that's been more fun for me personally since 1982.

I was talking to Sean Hannish about this last night.

And really, folks, you're not going to want to miss Monday's show A for the green and gold.

text-to-win contest, but Sean and Phil, right?

No, Paul.

Paul, thank you.

Paul.

I'm very confused.

Paul are gonna be here on the show live with a big announcement.

for their new film involving Wisconsin sports.

The word is last, L-A-S-T, to win those Brewer tickets, texted in right now.

Farm news of Pam Yankee is next, and then when we come back, sitting right next to me, Bill McCoshen, president and founder of the Jamesville Gents.

What's new in Jamesville?

How did it happen?

What's the game like?

What is the speed for hockey?

We'll tell you on the other side.

Don't miss it on the All Vault show on Pacific Media.

Welcome back to the television show of the Civic Media radio network now 35 minutes past the hour of two o'clock across Wisconsin here on a Friday TGIF September 18th, 2025.

Glad to have you along.

There's a meeting behind the song.

I'm going to tell you about in a minute, but first we're right in the middle of our very last text to win free ticket Friday free tickets, four of them in the club level seats, the Tony club level in Ampham field for next Friday, September 26th.

The Reds come into town in the final.

home games series, the Brew Crew starts at 710.

You can be there.

Simply go to the Civic Media app and open it up and text the word last, L-A-S-T, last.

Text it right now at the four o'clock hour.

The computer will randomly draw from the correct entries and one person listening to this show will be on their way to Ampham Field Crew now within four games.

Magic number four for the crew to solidify the NL Center.

All right, here's the deal.

We talk on this show a lot about politics, and our next guest has come on and talked about politics.

I appreciate that.

Used to be on the same team for a number of years, Republicans.

I left the party in 2011.

He's still working there.

We don't always agree politically, but I talk on this show a lot.

and other people have on, hey, what we have to do is reach and figure out that our neighbors are not our enemies, that we can disagree politically but still find ways to bring our community together.

Well, it was time for Todd to take a look in the mirror and say, well, what am I doing to help that?

What's this show doing to help that?

And one of the things we can do is what we're going to do right now.

And our next guest, I'm so happy to have him here in studio, not talking politics.

But Bill McCauchin is the president and founder of the great organization, the Jamesville Jet Billy McHawry.

How are you, Todd?

Thanks for having me.

You want to talk Brewers first?

Sure, let's talk.

Are

they going to get to 100?

They got

to go

six and three in their final.

Yes.

I think so too.

Yeah.

Murphy said this on an interview I heard maybe it's some other place.

I'm not sure, but he says it's not about.

He goes, you know, Murph.

He's like, people are saying, because we're so great running the bases.

So Frayla got picked off.

They're not great.

He said, it's the people, the guys we have.

It's the who, not the

what.

I agree.

Yeah.

And Pat Murphy is the perfect skipper for him.

I

mean,

he's found a way to get the maximum performance out of every single guy on their lineup.

I mean, sometimes they have guys going to bat that haven't been to bat in a week and they get the clutch hit.

I mean, that's pretty rare.

And it's so fun to watch.

I know you've seen this in hockey.

We've both seen it in politics, right?

Because I think politics is a lot like sports.

You've got to have the right team.

You've got to have the right people, the right chemistry.

Chemistry is huge.

And it's not always the most talented team or has the biggest names and maybe less so today, money.

But it's the who you got on there, the attitude, what you, how you work together.

What I find special about this, there's no question they're going to break the Brewer single season record of 96 wins.

is that they find different ways to do it, right?

Some nights it's pitching, some nights it's hitting, some nights it is base running, and some nights it's a little bit of luck, right?

But they find a way every single time.

We're about the same age.

I was talking to somebody last night.

I said, for me, I don't know why, but I haven't felt this way.

I haven't followed.

I haven't been this invested in the Brewers since 82.

Same.

Really?

Yeah.

Same.

I mean, I followed some other teams that were decent when CeCe Zabathia was there, but this team with no salary cap in the...

in the Major League Baseball, this would be a national story like none in recent times.

I've been to two Super Bowls.

Fortunately, the Packers won both of them.

That was spectacular.

The Bucks have won an NBA championship.

If the Brewers can find a way to win a World Series, I mean, what a capstone, really.

That would be the ultimate fairytale walkoff, right?

For sure.

It's especially with the passing of the late great Bob Euker.

It's been a really special season.

And again, it's one of those things that as our friend Trig Wilson says, when people go to the, it's not whether you're wearing red or blue hats, it's yellow and blue.

That brings people together.

And you talked about it in the lead-in about how do you come together in politics?

This is one of the ways.

Find things you agree on, find some common ground, and then expand on that, right?

What I said this morning, you listened to me on WTMJ and I've been on the television and said the same thing on NBC 15 here in Madison is you got to listen to the other side, right?

You might think you know what their position is, but if you really listen, you might find out you weren't right about what you thought their position was.

And it doesn't mean you're going to change your mind and agree, but at least you can understand where they're coming from.

And you got to start with that foundation.

If you can't listen, this is never going to improve.

Totally agree.

And I think one of the ways that you listen to people, at least for me, is whether it's a pack or a badger or a brewer's game, if you're sitting and having a beverage with someone, that's what I have some of the best conversations with my friends.

Yeah, me too.

Because it's an easy thing.

I don't know.

It's just a different attitude.

Yeah.

I wish we had more of that in the world today.

All right, let's get into some

exciting

news.

Some exciting news.

I want you to talk about.

Let's start with I'm not a big NHL fan just because I grew up in Southwest Wisconsin.

We didn't have hockey in high school when I was growing up in the 80s.

Monroe does now.

Monroe does now but Richland Center did although we had floor hockey and fire and I always thought I'd be a great defenseman in real hockey That's what I was because I like to check I was small, but I could check guys.

I wasn't a great shooter, but I could check But tell people I'm a big Badger hockey fan used to have a season tickets to a men's hockey here at Wisconsin Tell folks a little bit about the the league because I don't think a lot of people across the state Understand what the league is and then the Jamesville Jets and about this big

news.

So

If you know anything about college sports, in most college sports, freshman redshirt,

and

they get bigger, stronger, faster, all those things.

Hockey's the exception to that.

Kids after high school and sometimes in high school will go play juniors before they go to college.

That's why you see if you go to a Badger game, a lot of their freshmen are 21 years old because they've played three or four years of junior hockey first.

And there's three levels of junior hockey.

There's the USHL, the United States Hockey League, which includes the Madison Capitals and Dubuque Fighting Saints, depending on where you're listening to this, or the Green Bay Gamblers

if

you're up in Northeast Wisconsin.

Then there's the North American Hockey League.

That's where the Jamesville Jets are.

There's now a team in Brookfield called the Wisconsin Windigo and one in Chippewa Falls called the Chippewa Steel.

I'm the chairman of that league.

I'm also the founder of the Jamesville Jets and the majority owner.

But we have 35 teams in our league from Fairbanks, Alaska, all the way down to Corpus Christi, Texas, and from New Mexico to Maine.

Wow,

I didn't know it was

that big.

Yeah, it's literally nationwide.

And there are three teams in our division from Alaska.

We're going to play Fairbanks tomorrow night.

They've actually been a great rival for a long, long time.

This will be our 17th season in the North American Hockey League, but our first in the brand new Woodman Center.

And I got a chance to, we had a Gala grand opening last night.

The governor was there today for the official grand opening.

And our first game is tomorrow night, which is the sellout.

And I got to tell you, Todd, it turned out.

better than I could have ever expected.

I mean, it is 140,000 square feet.

There's a main arena where the Jets will play, the Jamesville Bluebirds High School team will play, the girls.

Jamesville co-op will play there and Milton High School will play

there.

And now Beloit College just assumed the hockey programs from Northland College when Northland closed.

So Beloit will have a men's and women's team that also play there.

And then the youth will play on the secondary rank or rank B hasn't been named yet.

Rank A is the Mercy Health Arena.

And then there's Convention Center,

which is

spectacular.

I mean, for Rock County, this is going to be an absolute game changer.

The initial.

Economic analysis we had done showed it would generate about $23 million a year.

I think that's low.

I think

it's

going to do much better than

that.

By the way, Bill was out this one political note.

He was the Secretary of Commerce for the state of Wisconsin, so I trust Bill's numbers.

I trust Bill.

If he says it's low, I'll believe you, Bill.

Yeah, I think it's going to do better than that.

The buzz in the arena last night, people were so excited,

so

proud of this facility.

You know, the city of Jamesville put roughly $19 million into it, and the mall is going to get redeveloped if you've been, if you've been to any mall lately, you know,

there

are a lot of my white elephants and they need

a

lot of TLC.

The owner of the mall was there from Houston last night, and they have big plans to reinvest in that.

So that entire square footage is going to get better over the next couple of years.

It's a great investment, not just for youth hockey, for the community,

for

economy.

Well, small-sized courts, yeah.

Yeah, they will have eight basketball arenas in there.

You can convert those to pickleball courts.

You can also convert them to volleyball courts.

And then they have a turf on rank B, the secondary rank.

They have a...

turf that goes right inside the

the dashboards for the hockey ranks.

So there that thing is going to be busy 50 weekends a year, in my opinion.

And can't wait to get started tomorrow night.

We're talking with Bill Bacash

live in studio.

He is the president and founder of the great organization, the Janesville Jets.

As like great Bob Johnson says, it will be it is and it will be a great day for hockey tomorrow down down in Janesville.

Bill was what Connie said.

He texted me.

He goes, are you guys going to come down to a show at the press box?

I said, I would love to.

But.

The guy who joins us every Wednesday, Trigby Olson would kill me if I would be the permanent penalty box.

And so here now, Bill, because he was after me, joining us live from Washington, D.C., the great hockey legend of River Falls, Trigby Olson.

Trigby, how are you?

Billy, how

are you?

Well, listen, we'll do this on a Friday so you and Todd can come to a Jets game afterwards.

There you

go.

I would love that, as long as you don't have too many years to cure your boys, Derek.

Every time that I ever got on the ice with them, they're knocking my blocks off.

Well, in three years of our city,

I only lost one game to a Wisconsin

school.

Yeah, we couldn't get a puck pass PK if our life depended on it.

PK is

one of my great friends.

I just wanted to call in and say, I was at a hockey camp when I was maybe, well, God, I might have been my daughter's age or younger, that Bob Johnson was that.

And he talked about giving back to the game.

And I just have to say, and I want to say this to all listeners, regardless of what you think about Bill's politics, no one has given back more in terms of the game in the state of Wisconsin.

I mean, I really believe this.

You're right up there with Bob Johnson and Mark Johnson and those people in terms of advancing the game.

You have lived what Bob Johnson understood about the game.

It amazes me.

I'm glad I've gotten to go along.

There's a lot of things about Facebook I don't like, but getting to go along that ride with you has been just a joy.

Well,

my family

has lived this with me and I'm going to tell this story.

I'm going to drop the puck tomorrow night.

Trig V with Clint Woodman.

They are the naming sponsor of the arena and then a senior executive from Mercy Health who was the sponsor of our arena.

And I'm going to tell that story.

And truthfully, this has been a family ride for us.

My two sons played.

I got an opportunity to coach them.

My daughter was always my little rink buddy, and she would come no matter where we played.

She'd come with, and she was the manager for the Edward High School team when she was in high school.

And the truth of the matter is our team, the Jamesville Jets, would not be in Jamesville but for my wife.

We knew Jane's General Motors was going to close in 2008, but we thought we had a year to get the franchise up and running and establish a fan base.

And then in October of 20, 2008, GM announced they were closing at the end of 2008.

So my wife comes downstairs.

She sees me reading the Wisconsin State Journal.

I live here in Madison, Fitchburg at that time, now Middleton.

And she said, what's wrong?

And I said, they're closing.

GM at the end of the year.

I'm not sure we can do this.

And she didn't miss a beat.

She said, that town needs you now more than ever.

Well, and that was it.

That was that was the thing that the fuse that lit the match and or the match that lit the fuse.

And from that point on, we've been, you know, bury our heads and do the work to make it make it work in Jamesville.

And the town's been great for us.

to pick up a trick of you on your point, and I don't want to speak for him, but I got to know the late great State Senator Tim Cullen, who was a very proud Democrat, but from Janesville.

And I think one of the things people, I mean, he talked a little bit on this show before he passed, but he and Paul Ryan, former Speaker of the House, were pretty good.

They worked out at the same gym, and he brought up your name bill to me before, and he said, look, I might not always agree with the guy politically, but he goes, hell, you can't take away what he's done for that town.

And I know that Senator Cullen really appreciated everything that you did.

He was a

convert.

He wasn't originally in favor of, you know, the Woodman Center, but then he ended up contributing $5,000 towards

it.

Yeah.

Well, it takes a leader to do that.

And Bill McCosher and you have been one.

Bill McCosher and Trig V. Olsen will come back on the other side.

Don't go anywhere.

How can you get involved?

It's sold out for tomorrow.

But if you want to go down and see the Jets, we'll tell you how on the other side is the all ball show for a Friday across Wisconsin on the Civic Media.

If

you love hockey, get yourself down to

Jamesville to the Woodman Center.

and see the Janesville Jets.

They dropped the puck in the new season.

They're brand new Woodman Center facility in Janesville tomorrow night.

You can find out all the information at JanesvilleJets.com and also WoodmansCenter.com.

WoodmanCenter.com as well.

Here in studio, we have the president and founder of the Jamesville Jets, Bill McCoshen, and joining us via telephone, our friend and ongoing contributor, senior advisor at the Lincoln Project.

But for these purposes, Hockey Afexionado still on the ice, still getting his teeth knocked out.

He's still playing in the old man's league.

My wife retired me.

I really appreciate you doing this, Bill.

Talk to us before we're out of time.

It's important.

Tomorrow night, tell people what's going on tomorrow night.

Tomorrow night, we have a sellout.

More than 1,500 people should be there, but we will be back.

two weeks from then on Friday, October 3rd, Saturday, October 4th, we play the Anchorage Wolverines.

I'll quickly just tell you there are three teams from Alaska in our division.

The way it works is they come down a couple times during the year.

We go up twice for 10 day trips.

And there's a showcase for the North American Hockey League where all 35 teams will be next week in Blaine, Minnesota.

So the Alaska teams try and come before and after the showcase and then before and after Christmas.

And then there's a time in February.

where they come.

So that's why we generally played the Alaska teams early in the year.

But for our kids, a lot of them, some of them have never been on an airplane.

Most of them have never been to Alaska.

So it's a pretty cool experience for them to go to Kenai River, which is on the peninsula or Anchorage or Fairbanks.

And brand new uniforms this year as well.

Brand new uniforms.

Yeah.

I've been designing the uniforms

every year.

Wow.

I have some fun doing

that.

Yeah.

So it's, we try and make them a little bit different in part because we auction them off.

But it's, I have fun doing it.

We've modified the colors and Trigvie will notice.

The superior Columbia blue is now in the jersey.

It wasn't in the original jersey.

I did see that.

I did.

Trigvie?

I did.

No, you know, so talk a little bit Bill I mean I just think you know You look across the state of Wisconsin and you got all these things that are dividing people around politics But one of the things that unites people so much is youth sports, right?

And tell a little bit about about some of the stuff that you've done with youth hockey both through the Jets and just beyond I know you've been central with one of the biggest tournaments in the country

Yeah, the Coleman Cup is actually it's a Pee Wee all-star tournament for you 11 kids.

That's first-year Pee Wees and you 12 which is second

and that's now in its 21st year and it will be at the Woodman Center next March.

I was one of the founders of that along with Don Coleman, a Waha legend and Hall of Famer and there's been some great folks that have helped with that over the years and it becomes the first exposure for Wisconsin kids from...

from Superior to Beloit, right?

And from Green Bay to Madison.

So it's been a tremendous early identifier.

A lot of those kids have gone on.

Cole Coffield would be a kid that played in this tournament.

He's now on the first line of the Montreal Canadiens.

He was the first round draft pick.

And there's a handful of other kids that are in the NHL, the National Hockey League today that played in the Coleman Cup.

That's coming to the Woodman Center in March of 26.

The North American Hockey League, again, we're on the chairman.

We're bringing a significant midget tournament to Janesville in October of this year.

They've never done an event in the state of Wisconsin before.

They wanted to be part.

And by the way, Frank, Mark Frankenfeld, the commissioner of the league will be there tomorrow night for the grand opening.

Uh, so I think some tremendous things are going to happen.

And then we have a youth program that.

Trigby's mentioning that runs in the spring and summer, uh, called the junior jazz and we'll continue to, yeah.

Oh, sorry.

I

was just going to say one of the things that I think it's all impressive of the role that you've played is that, um, you know, think about when we were coming up, right?

I was in river fall.

So we played in cities team.

So you were up in superior.

We played iron range in

Minnesota.

Yep.

Kids now in Eastern Wisconsin, anywhere in Wisconsin, Green Bay, growing up, are getting high-level competition in state.

They don't have to go to Michigan to play.

They don't have to go to Minnesota to play.

You're central to that having happened, along with a small group of other people.

Well, I appreciate that.

And that was the whole point, is you

could stay with your local association.

as long as possible and still develop and play phenomenal competition and get some exposure too because we picked the best kids at both the 12 U and the 11 U after the Coleman Cup and then we send them to another tournament as Team Wisconsin.

I think

it's

tremendous.

And especially you guys haven't played it so much and me just being a fan.

But I mean, there's so much influence.

I know that Tony Grenado, former Badger coach, former NHL player, was on the Lucas and oath podcast.

He was a badger when I was here.

Yeah.

And I went to those games and he talked about his fight with cancer and the hockey community supporting him.

Oh, yeah.

There's a huge hockey community bill.

We've only got about a minute and a half left.

But this is to bring this point, it's not just about a game.

There's a community of

some.

support across the state?

It's across the country.

And frankly, it's across the world.

The hockey community sticks together when the boys on the bus in Humboldt, Canada were killed tragically several years ago.

It was a junior hockey team.

pretty much the hockey community in North America stood up and helped them out.

And those are the kinds of things you see.

It's a tight-knit community.

It's a fun, it's a lot of time, but it's time well spent with your family.

And Trigview will attest to that.

I can't say, the reason I do what I do is to give back to the game

because

it's been so good to me over the years.

And, and, you know, we've done well with a little bit of luck.

So if we can get back, that's what we want to do.

45 seconds left, Bill McCosher.

What have I not asked you want people to know?

This is our 17th season in Jamesville.

This, this team is pretty special.

Coach, head coach Lenny Childs, who

you know, is the first African-American head coach in the North American hockey league.

Wow, incredible.

He was a former player of ours.

And Lenny and I have known each other and been friends.

He's been an assistant coach for me in the past and it was the perfect time to bring him back.

And, you know, our team has also played the only female junior hockey player in US history, a young lady by the name of Annalise Bergman, who is the starting goalie for Cornell.

right now played one game for the Jets.

We lost two to one, but the place was packed mostly with females that night.

Bill McCoschian, president, founder of the Janesville Jets, your part of what makes Wisconsin great, my friend.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

Trink Wilson, thanks for phoning in.

Appreciate you being here as well.

Yep.

Thanks, Todd.

All right.

Thank you.

Come on back a little what's worse for you and don't forget to text the word last L A S T for our Brewer free ticket Friday and more after this and Peter a find an hour to across Wisconsin on the civic media The

national news cycle never stops, but it can be hard to find news about your local community

Civic Media is dedicated to providing quality local and state news coverage across Wisconsin.

With the Civic Media app, you can get notifications about local stories that matter to you and your community.

Find the free Civic Media app in your phone's app store and choose notifications from the menu to tell us what kind of news you want to hear about.