Wisconsin Sports on the go with Trag
Nigel Hayes Receives Praise, College Athlete Payments, Autumn's Tidbits, and Yelich’s Injury Woes – Wisconsin Sports on the Go with Trag
Ever wondered how direct payments to college athletes might reshape the entire landscape of collegiate sports? We navigate the complex terrain of introducing GMs and salary caps akin to the NFL, balancing traditional collegiate atmospheres with modern financial realities. Dive into the potential impacts on Title IX and gender equity, and explore how superstars like Caitlin Clark are driving viewership and revenue for women's sports. Get ready for an eye-opening discussion on the future of college athletics.
Tune in for an in-depth analysis of current NFL contract dramas, including CeeDee Lamb's holdout and the buzz around Brandon Ayuk trade rumors. Learn how these moves could shift team dynamics and affect the upcoming season. Finally, we address the Milwaukee Brewers' dilemma with Christian Yelich's recurring back issues and the ripple effects on the team's roster and trade strategies. Don't miss our reflective sign-off that leaves you with a poetic moment of contemplation and anticipation for what's to come in Wisconsin sports.
Ever wondered how direct payments to college athletes might reshape the entire landscape of collegiate sports? We navigate the complex terrain of introducing GMs and salary caps akin to the NFL, balancing traditional collegiate atmospheres with modern financial realities. Dive into the potential impacts on Title IX and gender equity, and explore how superstars like Caitlin Clark are driving viewership and revenue for women's sports. Get ready for an eye-opening discussion on the future of college athletics.
Tune in for an in-depth analysis of current NFL contract dramas, including CeeDee Lamb's holdout and the buzz around Brandon Ayuk trade rumors. Learn how these moves could shift team dynamics and affect the upcoming season. Finally, we address the Milwaukee Brewers' dilemma with Christian Yelich's recurring back issues and the ripple effects on the team's roster and trade strategies. Don't miss our reflective sign-off that leaves you with a poetic moment of contemplation and anticipation for what's to come in Wisconsin sports.
You. How are we doing? Everybody, and welcome in to Wisconsin Sports. I'm your host, trage. It is Thursday, thursday July 25th, a fantastic Thursday here in the great state of Wisconsin or wherever you are tuning in today across many platforms that the podcast is available out there. So with that I mean a fantastic day. Fantastic day, lots of good things happening. I got Autumn with me today here. Autumn how are we doing? It's Thursday, getting closer and closer to the weekend. How are we doing today?
Speaker 3:I'm doing pretty good, Trajan good, doing good.
Speaker 2:We're working on the intro. She's gonna get more excited. She's gonna get more pumped up for a thursday talking about sports. We're getting closer to the weekend preview, but we got lots to get to before we get to that. Tomorrow on the show, so right away I want to look wisconsin men's basketball, because we haven't talked about it in a while. We haven't talked about in a a while. We haven't talked about it in a while and it really. I mean, does this really pertain completely to Wisconsin men's basketball? Not really. It pertains to a former, a couple of former Badger players who have been participating. This is about being happy. This is about winning on and off the court.
Speaker 2:Nigel Hayes and Micah Potter have been a part of the Team USA's little training camp that they had. They were a part of it there and they were working out with the team, helping them out there any way that they could there. And Nigel Hayes actually I just remembered that his name is actually Nigel Hayes Davis. Nobody ever really called him that it was Nigel Hayes, but he received some very great I mean just great strong support from one of the NBA's finest superstars. I mean a guy that's been well known for years now, kevin Durant and this isn't a guy who I would expect to really go out of his way to say that great of things about somebody who's there simply as a practice player and he comes out and he basically says that Nigel Hayes. I mean he suggested that Nigel Hayes has the necessary talent to compete in these association. He said I think he has a talent to be in the NBA. He's shown that in college. He's shown that playing in the EuroLeague. Hopefully he gets the opportunity. But if anything, he just loves to play, he'll go out there and work on his game until he can't anymore. So hopefully he's in the league soon. That is, I mean, not something that I expected to hear from Kevin Durant.
Speaker 2:About Nigel Hayes right, he was kind of an afterthought. I mean he played. I mean we all know him. We know him very well in Madison right, we saw him through the years of the Final Four runs and then we saw Hayes for days on YouTube. I mean just a fantastic person and a fantastic player. Right, in his years Didn't really pan out in the NBA right away, ended up over in Europe playing in the EuroLeague, and he's been, I mean showing out in the EuroLeague over there and without, I mean not much recognition until now.
Speaker 2:When you have a guy like Kevin Durant coming out and saying how well he believes this guy is playing and that he has the talent to potentially be in the NBA, I mean Kevin Durant, talk to the Suns and maybe get him a job, I don't know right. It's one of those things where, yeah, it's nice to hear it, but it'd be nice to have one of these players say to their group, whatever it is, you know their GM, because you know the superstars run the teams. Look at Giannis, look at, I mean, steph Curry with Golden State, lebron with the Lakers. I mean, come on, do we really think that the Lakers said Bronny James is the best option for us to win basketball games? I really don't think so. So I mean, we know superstars run the team. It would be great to see Nigel Hayes get a shot in hearing this from Kevin Durant, I loved it. I loved hearing it there. So I mean just great stuff, great stuff coming out of that area there.
Speaker 2:Sticking with the Badgers I want to stick with the badgers here. Talk about little badger football news and that is the bat. They kind of came out with an article talking about how the badger football team plans on uh paying players directly because there is a currently there is a landmark house versus the NCAA antitrust lawsuit settlement and it's going to be is finalized to plan how the University of Wisconsin football program will pay players directly there and, like Luke Fickle said there he said we have been planning quite a bit for that and what it's going to look like not spending too much time with me because until you get some kind of parameters, but we're not going to get caught without the people in place to give us the chance to build or be ready to build their Big Ten Conference Commissioner Tony Pettit said Tuesday at the Big Ten Football Media Days a settlement might be filed formally this week and US District Judge Claudio Wilkin must approve before it can be implemented. Fickles said that there are a handful of changes to his off-the-field staff in preparation for paying players, including transitioning Director of Player Personnel, max Ninniker, into a general manager position, while director of recruiting, pat Lambert, would oversee the recruiting department. Moves to fill the gaps, including ones made by moving some staffers to on-field roles to aid the coaches, are expected to be announced this week. We heard he said we're working towards Max being our GM, pat being obviously the head of scouting, recruiting. I think we've hired and promoted from within two or three guys of player personnel guys and really now starting to grow the understanding where, in this next eight months, we're going to be kind of really starting to branch off with the general manager and pat loading up and recruiting side a little bit different of terms than we need and want and going in that direction. I think eventually we obviously will hire some type of whatever this is going to be cap guy who's probably going to have some true knowledge of either have worked in or been a part of the NBA type or NFL type of system that will help us develop what that is.
Speaker 2:I mean, this is the NIL started it. Now we're talking about paying players directly and now we're going to have GMs in college football. We're going to have GMs in college football. We're going to have a cap in college football. Football are you kidding me? Right now, like this is getting this getting far-fetched, this getting far-fetched? I mean we've talked about it before. I guess we've never got. We've never gotten autumn's take on it. We've never gotten autumn's take on it. Everybody knows where I stand on paying players, but I mean autumn. We've now seen nil kind of be implemented in most of college sports. That's basically just endorsement deals and everything like that. Now we're talking paying players directly to come to your university, setting up a cap, having a GM basically running it like an NFL organization. I mean, this isn't really college anymore. To me. This is getting a little far out there. But what are your thoughts on players being paid directly from the university to come and play there?
Speaker 3:I'll be honest, I completely disagree with it. I I I mean I'm all in for like scholarship stuff and then, like you just talked about the NIL thing I think that is what it is. But in terms of playing players directly, I completely disagree with it and I find it to be like this isn't the NFL, this isn't you know. I mean it's they're going on. Most will go on to play professional if you know, if they're good, if they're getting high scholarships anyway. But in terms of being paid directly, I think that's going to lead into more trouble than it's worth at this point.
Speaker 2:And I mean it seems like it's running like an NFL. They say they're going to avoid running it like an NFL organization, but when you really look at it, I mean you're paying players directly, you have a GM in the system. Now You're going to have a cap. Everything in that points me towards NFL. Now, will it get to the extent of the NFL? I hope not. I really hope not. It's just going to really come down to me, though. Okay, what's the cap going to be? Because I truthfully believe that the University of Alabama, georgia, texas some of those teams can pay more than what the University of Wisconsin can or what the University of North Carolina can put towards their football program. Right, because the basketball program is so big. Right, I mean, you look at Texas, they have a decent basketball program. Alabama's been better over the years, but you know they predominantly put their money towards certain sports.
Speaker 2:So what's the cap going to be? Is it going to be something that's an even playing field for everybody, or our team's going to be trying to scrounge up money? You're going to have to make a cap that works for everybody. But how do you make a cap that works for everybody? Because Alabama, we know, is going to have extra funds to be thrown around, so will Georgia. Wisconsin is going to be like that median right, they're right in the middle, and then you're going to have some of your lesser schools. So then do you just make it power five teams who are in the running for, let's just say, the college football playoff, like you have a power five conference. You know, like I talked yesterday, with your split conferences, your east and your west, do you flip to that kind of format then?
Speaker 2:Because, as of right now, staying as it is, how are small programs supposed to compete? We already saw this in NIL. How are you supposed to compete? How is Wisconsin supposed to compete with Duke in NIL funds? They can't, they can't do it there, so it just would not make sense there. But but autumn, what do you? Got back there?
Speaker 3:well, I think you make a good point, though, and then I also think you're gonna look at you're gonna start looking at title nine so right now they're talking about college football. Well, then, they're gonna have to look into paying female athletes equally with male athletes, you know, and I think that that's gonna start creating more of a problem and the revenue is just not the same.
Speaker 2:And you know this all ties back to what we see in the WNBA now and even women's college basketball over the years. I know Angel Reese is a decent player, you know, and she's had how many double-doubles in a row Like she has played well this year. I'm not going to completely shoot her down, but I mean, come on, look in the mirror for five seconds, everybody, and tell me you do not see who is bringing in the revenue for women's sports, women's college or women's NBA basketball right now? Right, who's bringing it in? We know it's Kaitlyn Clark. You don't have to keep trying to push this narrative on us that it's Angel Reese 2. It's Angel Reese 2, it's not. It really isn't okay. Yes, you know what put Kaitlyn Clark on the map playing LSU.
Speaker 2:Everybody tuned into that game. They were all ecstatic from watching that. But there was games before that where people were just tuning in to watch Caitlin Clark. I haven't watched a ton of. I would be blatantly honest. I have now watched a ton of women's basketball. I haven't right, because you know it's like everybody. It just didn't bring the same kind of excitement level that you get when you watch the men's game. It doesn't. And I mean, if you're if you're shaking your head at me right now, ok, that's fine, I get it. You might support it a little bit more than I do, but I was never that in tune to watching it. And then this lady by the name of Caitlin Clark came around and she completely changed the game, changed it. She gave you those Steph Curry vibes in the women's game and everybody was going nuts. Everybody was going nuts.
Speaker 2:Angel Reese was really noticed because of that game against Kaitlyn Clark and the second time around, that's what it was. Outside of that, her spot in the spotlight has not been that big. It has been on Kaitlyn Clark. So the women's game has been put back on the map. But the problem is is the revenue coming in? So they're going to run into that issue, like you were saying with Title IX, where we're going to talk about football and we're going to talk about that.
Speaker 2:But yes, volleyball does draw a crowd, but put the numbers up against a college football game. Put it numbers up against, let's just say, georgia and alabama are facing off. Put the numbers up against that game. That's tough, that's tough to beat. That is. That is a prime time, pristine, prestigious. I mean you could go through all that, I don't know. Get your thesaurus out and start throwing out words there for what that matchup is. That is a big time matchup, so everybody's tuning in, right? It's hard for the women's game to compete with something like that. So then how do you?
Speaker 2:You know, I saw I can't remember who was a few years ago. He was talking about the men's uh, men's FIFA and the women's FIFA, and the women wanted to be paid just as much as the men. I get that, you want. You want equality, I get that. But then he broke down the revenue that each individual sport made, right, the women's and the men's and the difference in the percentage that the men got of that, you know, of their revenue earned for the sport, versus what the women did. And actually the women made more of a percentage than the men did, but it still didn't equal out. Why? Because this one drew way more than this one did, so it's going to lead to that issue.
Speaker 2:This one did so. It's going to lead to that issue. It is going to lead to that issue where they're, like you said, the title nine thing's going to come in and they're going to say well, we deserve just as much, and these uh universities are going to be scrambling around going. I don't know how to get you that much. I, I can't. I can't physically get you that much, unless if we take what football makes and we just give a half of it to football and we spread the rest out, then maybe, then maybe we can make it close right, but it's going to be tough. And this is what I said when NIL started in the first place. Instead of cracking the dam, there was a dam right. There was a dam Below it were, you know everybody, everybody was standing there just watching college sports. There was this big dam that was holding back all the water.
Speaker 2:That was basically what started with Jordan Bohannon at Iowa, where he said that he wasn't going to pay. He was only going to come back if they got paid to play. And, oh yeah, we need our name and vision and likeness put in there. But you know, to play. And oh yeah, we need our name, image and likeness put in there. But you know, whatever, great, great, you get everything paid for already, but you need to have more money on top of that. Sure, that's fine. Maybe make them pay for everything else in their lives and then give them a paycheck and see how much they love it then, because probably wouldn't love it as much if they actually had to pay for the crap that they have. But they get their shoes for free, their jerseys for free, their apparel for free, their housing for free, and yet they need more money. What do you need it for? What do you need it for? Probably because you don't think you're going anywhere. Jordan Bohannon I dislike that guy with a passion, but I said it then.
Speaker 2:I said you needed to crack the dam. What did they do? They blew it up. They blew it up, they flooded everything. They just let it all out, everything all at once, and it opened the floodgates to all these problems. I mean a lot of prestigious coaches walking out the door. Nick Saban Nick Saban's not leaving like that.
Speaker 2:Nick Saban left because he could not deal with it anymore. He simply said that in his last recruiting meeting he always would have the mothers and the boys come to his house. He would always have them come over and the mothers would go with his wife and the boys would come with him and they'd have their talks. Well, his wife went off and Nick went off and his wife was sitting there with all the other mothers and they kept asking well, what are you going to get for my boy, what are you going to get for him, what are you going to get for him? And Nick was getting the same thing from the boys. He was like what are you going to get for us, what are you going to get for us? And after everybody left, you know, they they did their thing, whatever. And after everybody left, they got back together and I mean they looked at each other and they said why this used to be something that we enjoyed. This is no longer something we enjoy. There, it was there, it was right there.
Speaker 2:Nick Saban knew it was coming, this whole big conundrum that we have now opened up just because. So what If some of your athletes want to go play in the G League or they want to go overseas great. You want to know what If all your great athletes think they're so great that they need to be, they want to go overseas Great. You want to know what If all your great athletes think they're so great that they need to be paid and they go overseas? I'm still going to have competitive college basketball in the States. I am still going to have competitive college. Where are you going to find football to go play somewhere else? Answer me that Football, they're going to go play soccer. No, american football is in America. That's where the conferences are, that's where teams are watching, so they would have to play here anyways. You're not going to get the same recognition elsewhere for that. So you played the game. The NCAA played the game.
Speaker 2:They blew up the dam. Now we have issues. Now we see this. It is just a big problem everywhere and I really don't see a. It is just a big problem everywhere and I really don't, I don't see a fix. I just see. I see them keep trucking. They have to keep trucking forward.
Speaker 2:Now there is no choice. You can't go back. You can't say, well, we really didn't mean it. You know it's like. It's like when you punch somebody in the face. When you punch somebody in the face, well, I really didn't mean it. You, well, I really didn't mean it. You know they're all upset. I really didn't mean it. What'd you mean by it? Right, same thing here. They punched him in the face.
Speaker 2:Wow, you know, can't go back from it now. You screwed up. You screwed up, you opened up the floodgates, you let the town flood and now you have to try and just keep the river going, just keep it moving, and that's where we're at right now. So it is. I mean, it's a disaster. It is a disaster right now for sure there. So with that, I want to get out of that mess. I want to get. We could talk about it all day long until I'm blue in the face and I'm all kinds of angry, but I got to move on. I got to move on here. I want to mention some of the awesome, fantastic sponsors of the show here. Quick First Game Day Supply in Onalaska. Do you have a sports club or team? Are you looking for some sweet custom uniforms or apparel? Check out the awesome crew at Game Day Supply in Onalaska to help your team get the sweetest gear. Find them on Facebook at Game Day Supply or online at GameDaySupplynet. Also, sport and Spine Clinic in Greenwood, wisconsin.
Speaker 2:If you've been injured recently, whether it was at work whether you were playing I don't know men's league softball, whatever it was, and you felt something pop tear, whatever it was. You went and saw a doctor. They said you need to see a physical therapist. Stop in there and see chad at sport and spine clinic in greenwood, wisconsin. He'll get you right. He'll get you back to work, back playing softball, whatever it is. He'll get you back there feeling better than ever. Sport and spine clinic in greenwood, wisconsin.
Speaker 2:Sports scene, sports cards and memorabilia located in the marshfield mall in marshfield, wisconsin. Get down there and Al he has everything you need from sporting cards, some memorabilia, jerseys, model stock cars he's got it all. Sports scene in Marshfield. Marshfield Motor Speedway is located just three miles outside of Marshfield on County Road H. Get down there this summer. Tons of family fun for all ages, great food, great drinks, great atmosphere. Nothing better than a great summer day or night down at the track. So Marshfield Motor Speedway is there in Marshfield, wisconsin.
Speaker 2:Pittsville Farm and Home Center. At the store they serve you anything from hydraulic hoses to red roses. Stop in and see the awesome crew at Pittsville Farm and Home Center in Pittsville, wisconsin, and also your hometown team, century 21 Gold Key Realty. Call Peggy Sue or Anna to find your dream home. Or if you're looking to sell Gold Key Realty, call Peggy Seward and identify your dream home. Or if you're looking to sell, find them on Facebook at your hometown team, century 21 Gold Key Realty, or stop in and see them at their location in Marshfield, wisconsin, there. So with that I got to get to, we're going to get in some NFL talk today. A little bit of NFL talk. I'm going to start it out right away with Autumn's tidbit of the day here.
Speaker 3:So Autumn do we?
Speaker 2:got what's going on in the sporting world yeah.
Speaker 3:So, moving away from wisconsin sports, something I saw on the news today is cd lamb is in a contract holdout as of yesterday. Cd lamb, for the dallas cowboys, is not expected to report to training camp and he because he is unable to land the type of contract extension that the other wide receivers have. So cd lamb essentially cd lamb receiver enters in his final year of his rookie contract, scheduled to make 1717.9 million as part of his fifth year option. So this offseason it was noted that Justin Jefferson from the Minnesota Vikings signed a four-year $140 million deal, that's worth $110 million guaranteed, which completely reset the receiver market. So Justin Jefferson's deal surpassed the Eagles' AJ Brown. So a few months before Jefferson signed his deal, Brown did sign a three-year extension worth $84 million guaranteed, which at that time was the highest guaranteed money given to a wide receiver.
Speaker 3:So I don't really care about the Cowboys. I'm not going to lie. I guess my whole point is when I was looking at the comments, a lot of the comments kind of went along the lines of he wants Justin Jefferson money, but he's simply just not Justin Jefferson. Then they start talking about Jerry Jones, about how either he should be fired or Jerry Jones gambled too much into Dak Prescott, which then led into another controversy of how Dak Prescott. Many people are saying they need to get rid of him at this point because I don't remember the contract region that he just signed, but it was a pretty high contract. So then they talked about how CeeDee Lamb should just get traded to the Jets or the Ravens.
Speaker 3:So I guess my question with all this Tra Trajan is with CeeDee Lamb, okay, he's holding out. Now he's essentially going on strike until he gets what he wants. A couple questions on this Do you feel he's a top five receiver in the NFL League? At what point should he just say I need to just give in? And then what happens if they're just like I don't care, If you want to play, you're going to get this contract, and then does he just not play at all.
Speaker 2:Do. I believe he's a top five wide receiver in the league. Yeah, yeah, it's hard to deny him being a top five. I mean, last year he finished second in yards. Yes, justin Jefferson did not play a majority of the season he was injured, but finishing second in the league compared to I mean you look at the top of the list Tyree Kill, amon Rossi-Brown, puka Nakua, aj Brown, who you're just talking about making uh, you just said he's making a pretty good contract there, three-year $84 million guaranteed extension that he just had added on. Dj Moore is on there. Brandon Ayuk they're talking about making a trade from the San Francisco 49ers there. I mean good company, right, good company is in there with Toppat and he averaged 13 yards, a catch, 12 touchdowns. He had let's just see 102 yards per game out there, only second to Tyreek Hill in that category 135 receptions so heavily used because, well, dallas didn't have much else going for him there. So, yes, he is 100% to me. He's 100% a top five. He's got to be a top five. There's no way you don't put him in the top five category.
Speaker 2:I think if the Dallas Cowboys did make him available, there are a lot of teams who would be making a phone call Maybe the San Francisco 49ers to try and swap because Brandon Ayuk doesn't want to be in San Francisco anymore. Maybe they do a clean swap. I mean, that could be a star for a star. At that point I know a lot of teams would call on CeeDee Lamb. I would venture to guess you'd have teams like Kansas City in there if they could scrounge up enough money to throw around. You have teams looking for a bona fide number one wide receiver. There will be a lot of teams calling they need to get this deal done. They really need to get this deal done. The dumbest thing, you know they signed that big contract with Ezekiel Elliott a few years back and that really that was a big screw up. That was a big screw up.
Speaker 2:Jerry Jones has been this way. We know this, we've watched this. It's Jerry's world and we're all just living in it. Right, jerry makes the draft. Right, he drafts everybody. He does this, he does that. Jerry has screwed up over and over again. But that's Dallas. Right, that's Dallas. That's how it works. Jerry's the man. Jerry's the man, everybody. You know people want him gone, but then he's back right, and then you know. But then he's back right. And then you know it's so hard because the Cowboys they don't have good success in the playoffs but they have good success in the regular season.
Speaker 2:Dak Prescott is a good regular season quarterback. He puts up all your stats. I mean you look at him last season there, look at Dak Prescott. He's third in the league in passing yards. Third in the league. He's ahead of guys like Josh Allen, brock Purdy, patch Mahomes, jordan Love's on that list CJ Stroud You're talking about some pretty good names to be included in there and he is third on that list right there. Now there's I mean, intangibles in there. Right, you look interceptions. He had nine interceptions, nine interceptions. You look at some of the other guys two jared goff 14 interceptions, 12 interceptions. Josh allen at 18, 11 for brock purdy, 14 for pashma holmes.
Speaker 2:Dad prescott is a good regular season quarterback. Just when it comes to the playoffs, everything just goes south and it's going to be trying to find the happy medium. He is like philip rivers. That's the only thing I can compare him to is philip rivers, you had your tom brady, you had your paint manning. Jack prescott is like uh, uh, he's basically a philip rivers. He, he has good success, he has decent teams. They just can't put it together. Last season I did not think that the cowboys were that good. I didn't think they had that good of an offense. Their defense was pretty good. I mean, we got Micah Parsons coming off the corner. That's already a pretty good defense. So I mean, looking at the offense, though, you need CeeDee Lamb back. You got to make this thing happen Some way somehow.
Speaker 2:The Dak Prescott he's in contract talks again. Dak Prescott he's in contract talks again. The biggest question is do you extend him again? What do you do? Where else are you going? You have no other option right now. You either extend Dak or you're screwed. That's your two options right now. Yes, teams would trade for Dak. Yes, they would. But what are you going to get back? Who are you going to start? Who are you going to bring in for Dak? Nobody, there is nobody. There is nobody. Right now that the Cowboys have that, they can say this is our guy. So, yes, jerry, screwed up. I think they screwed up long ago when they didn't just extend Dak, like the Packers are trying to do with Love right now, is extend him before he starts his fifth season. The Cowboys screwed that up and then they owed him this boatload of money after that, something that, like, we're seeing the Packers trying to avoid.
Speaker 2:Is CeeDee Lamb in the wrong for doing this? No dude deserves his money, right? Is he? Justin Jefferson, nobody's close, right? He's not. Just, not just, he's not. I don't believe he's right there with justin jefferson. But if you had, I mean if you were on a mountain, he's just below on the ridge, he's not far off the peak, right? I mean, you have guys like shabar chase in there too. You have guys like oh, I just had my list there amon rce Brown, who played very well last season. Puka Nakua is an impressive wide receiver. Aj Brown's always been good there. Keenan Allen now, and also DJ Moore If Keenan Allen can stay healthy, he's good. Stephon Diggs, now with Houston. Maybe CJ Stratton turns him around back to what we saw when he was in Minnesota.
Speaker 2:There's a list of top wide receivers, and CeeDee Lamb is right there. I believe he's going to hold out. I wouldn't see why he wouldn't. Will he hold out as long as to not to play at all? Possibly, possibly. And then the Cowboys either they're going to pay a guy the rest of the year to just sit there or they're going to make a trade or they're going to get the deal done, one of those three options.
Speaker 2:They got to find a way. If I'm the Cowboys, I am finding a way to extend CeeDee Lamb, because otherwise what do you got? What do you got in the room? I mean CeeDee Lamb was just about it. They had a decent tight end there. Jake Ferguson from Wisconsin. I mean a decent tight end there in Jake. Outside of that, not much else to write home about.
Speaker 2:So yes, to answer a long story short on that one, they got to find a way to get CeeDee Lamb back in the fold for this upcoming season here. And I mean dude deserves to get paid. I believe he's better than AJ Brown. I don't think he's as good as Justin Jefferson. I believe he's better than AJ Brown. I don't think he's as good as Justin Jefferson. I believe he's better than AJ Brown. So he's got to get paid. Probably, if you're looking, I wouldn't even say in the middle, I would say about three-quarters of the way to what Justin Jefferson is making right now there. So with that I mean great tidbit there, great tidbit about CeeDee Lamb.
Speaker 2:There, I mean the Cowboys are a mess and I'm here for it. Them boys down there in Houston. They just can't catch a break. It's Jerry's world, we're all living in it, and Mike McCarthy is just the poor. The poor. I mean I don't know, he should have just stayed home. He should have just stayed home, avoided that mess and just stayed home after Green Bay. But here we are, here we are in. I mean, maybe the Cowboys shocked the world this year, I don't know, maybe they shocked the world and shocked everybody and somehow win a Super Bowl. Okay, okay, now we're just getting ahead of ourselves. We're getting ahead of ourselves. Patrick Holmes is still out there and Jay Love and the Packers are rolling right into the regular season here. So with that I want to talk a little.
Speaker 2:Packers training camp happening yesterday there and Matt LaFleur talked before training camp started up there and just some tidbits that I took out of it there. He said the defense has brought the energy for the first days of camp. The front four have impressed. It's hard to make a lot out of what's been going on, though, without pads completely. It's really. You know, you're watching speed, you're watching technique, you're watching all kinds of stuff like that, but it's hard to really gauge how well the defense is playing and how well the offense is playing. Up until you see pads on, up until you see some guys you know going at it a little bit, then you can tell a little bit more there. So defenses look good, they have definitely set the tone of the first couple of days of training camp. Look good, they have definitely set the tone of the first couple days of training camp. Good sign.
Speaker 2:And I honestly I heard this, I right away I didn't think much of it, but I kind of like what I saw here in that jordan love it rained pretty good in green bay during their uh uh tuesday practice and jordan love stayed out there in the rain watched practice. Yeah, in Green Bay during their Tuesday practice and Jordan Love stayed out there in the rain watched practice. Yeah, matt LaFleur said he had to go put a hoodie on but it was a little cold. It was a little cold out there, but Jordan Love stayed out there and he watched practice. He was in the huddles, he was in everything. He was talking with the guys joking around. I think that shows his commitment. Right, that's what Matt LaFleur said was the leadership of Jordan Love really showed in that moment. So I love that out of Jordan Love there LaFleur says I mean, basically they asked him about the rain and practicing in the elements and if it was because last season in that game against San Francisco it rained a little bit If you know, staying out in the rain was because of that he said no.
Speaker 2:He said but playing in Green Bay, you want to have all the players playing in the elements. You want them to experience all the elements, learn to play on everything like that, and he thought it was a great day to learn about kind of that the offense learning to hold on to the football a little bit harder, the defense learning to keep their footing, the offensive linemen working on their footing out there. I completely agree. Playing on the frozen tundra, you're going to have days like that Rain, snow, whatever it is, sleet. You're going to have some rough conditions. You got to be prepared for it there. So good stuff.
Speaker 2:Lafleur said Eason, the quarterback that they had brought in, said that a large part of him coming in was just to spread out the throws and trying not to overextend guys that he currently has in the room there. So basically just telling you that he doesn't want to overload the backup. The third string, as of right now, behind love. He wants to spread out the throws. So they brought an ease in there. He said it's all about winning at the end of days, says lafleur, buying into the team concept. That was his big preach of the entire press conference. There was just guys need to buy in, they need to buy in and he believes that these guys are buying in and they're loving every second of it. So that is good. In that sense. High praise for Xavier McKinney. There he said his leadership and energy that he brings to the defense. Coming over from the Giants there he showed that with the Giants being a captain, being a stud on the defense. Now seeing him coming into Green Bay showing those same intangibles Great stuff there.
Speaker 2:Matt LaFleur says it's all about competition for spots during training camp, mixing and matching guys at different positions, like safety, offensive line, working guys around to see how they're going to play in different spots. He said it's going to change day in and day out. He wants to see who they're going to play in different spots. He said it's going to change day in and day out. He wants to see who's going to work in that safety spot. He wants to see in the cornerback room he wants to see all around the field. It's going to be, I mean, offensively, defensively, mix in and match in until they find something that works and find guys who bring the spark and the energy to the team there. So good stuff there coming out of Green Bay, coming out of Green Bay. But with that, we got to get to the fact of the day. We got to get to the fact of the day before we move on here Autumn, what do we got?
Speaker 3:Fact of the day here. Give me a minute. The iPad froze.
Speaker 2:Oh boy, we got technical difficulties on Autumn's end here about the fact of the day. She's working on it. She's working on it.
Speaker 3:We should have waiting music here, the jeopardy theme song uh, fact of the day is no dates or anything, so I don't know how long ago this was, but ketchup used to be sold as a medicine in traditional chinese medicine, as it was believed that fermented foods were often considered beneficial for digestion and overall health.
Speaker 2:I feel that, though I feel that sometimes meatloaf that works right through me, that works right through me, I feel that it aids in that digest, cleans you out, cleans you out you know you have that nice brat hamburger or whatever and cleans you right out. I can feel that. I can feel that. So all you ketchup haters out there, your digestive tracts are screwed up simply because of that. Have a bottle, have a whole bottle. Just when you go home, just crack open a bottle and just start shooting it down and when you are looked at kind of funny, just tell them.
Speaker 2:Autumn from Wisconsin Sports, on the Go with Trade. She told me that this is supposed to aid in my digestion and overall health. Does my skin look better? Do my eyebrows look better? I think my hair is glowing. Why? Because I drink ketchup. So with that, we got to talk about some good news outside of the fact that ketchup is now benefiting my hair and my digestive tract. We got to talk about the brewers and well track, we gotta talk about the brewers and well, I guess, okay, let's go, there's gonna be a a sad portion of this and then there's gonna be a a good portion of this, okay, so autumn pick good or bad. Which one do you want first? Which one you want? There's a good and there's a bad statement that we have to make. There's good and bad in this Brewer talk. Which one do we want first?
Speaker 3:I say we just get the bad out of the way and not the hot.
Speaker 2:Well, here's the bad folks, here's the bad, and it might be bad for a very long time here. It was reported yesterday that the Brewers are preparing to not have Christian Jelic for the rest of the season at this point, to not have Christian Jelic for the rest of the season at this point. Christian Jelic was put on the 10-day injured list, but he is going to see a spine specialist Thursday to figure out his next steps, including whether he needs season-ending surgery. Now, this is just me. It might just be me, but when a player I mean just take Devin Williams, for example when a player says they are going to see some kind of bone specialist, a nerve specialist, anything like that, it's not good. It's not good, and this is a reoccurring problem for Christian Jelic. First off, if this was even bothering him before the All-Star break, why was he there? That's what I want to know, Because this could you know? The games leading up, I believe he DH'd for like seven games in a row. As far as I remember, I believe it was like seven games in a row. We saw Christian Yelich in the DH Leading up to the All-Star break and then, after the All-Star break, when he did play, we saw him in the DH role.
Speaker 2:So I mean, if it was bothering him before the All-Star game, why was he playing first off? Would it have helped? I don't know. I I truthfully don't know if him playing in the all-star game was gonna make it worse. It definitely wasn't gonna make it better. If that's the situation we were in, it definitely wasn't gonna make it better. So that would be my first question I guess that was my first question when I read it was was this something that started before the all-star break? Because if it it did and we, I mean not allowed him to play in the All-Star game because I guess it's his choice, but if he allowed himself to play in the All-Star game with that problem, well I mean that's a bonehead move, to be honest, that's a bonehead move I would say. But I mean, okay, so now he's going to see a specialist and I mean you're fearing the worst, right? You know, if you had to put in a percentage, I would say there's probably an 85% chance that Christian Yelich is done for the season. I would say there's probably an 85% chance. I would give him 15% chance and that's a pretty high percentage to say that he is going to play another game this year? I just truthfully, I mean as many times as he's been out for this back problem? I guess put it this way, and I guess you know, nobody out there can answer this question for me right now, so I'll ask it to Autumn. She's a big Christian Yelich fan, so with Yelich and I have my answer to this. I'll answer it after the fact.
Speaker 2:But we now see another flare-up of this lower back inflammation which continues to be a nagging problem. He goes to see a specialist. The specialist says yeah, you can continue to play for the rest of the year, but there's a good chance that it's going to flare up every once in a while. You're going to have to sit for about 10, 15 games and then you might be able to come back for a little bit, but then it's going to flare up again, Because that's how it's been right. He missed a whole month and then he was back, so he might miss another month, right, Would you?
Speaker 2:If the specialist says, hey, we can fix this, hey, we can fix this, we can make this thing good for next season? What are you doing? Because right now the brewers are in first place. They're in the middle of a pennant chase right now and this would be a backbreaker for them there. But on the flip side of it, you want to be ready for next season. You don't want to go into the off season all of a sudden, have back surgery and be out for the beginning of next year, and you don't want to risk, I mean, further injury, making it worse, uh, risking that the surgery would help at all down the road. Or even, I mean what says that he comes back and plays and he has to sit out October because he hurts himself since September. Right, I mean there's lots of different variables. What would you do in his shoes, in, I guess, what? What are your thoughts on the Christian Yelich situation? And I mean it's, it's not, it's not good, it's not good, I don't believe it's good.
Speaker 3:I mean personally, I, I just be done and then, if there's a procedure that's needed, physical therapy, whatever the case is, whatever they figure out with him, I think that that's the route he needs to take. I mean, if you want to look at it financially, he's got a pretty big contract that he has with the Brewers and we're on the second half of the season right now. We need him next year and moving forward more than anything. I know, like pat murphy I talked about in the in his interview with him, that he's a big offensive machine and he has a great attitude that he brings to the team and I think that he can.
Speaker 2:he can still do that in the clubhouse, but I think it's just time for the other players to step up if he needs to step away to take care of himself I think this changes the outlook, though I think it does, because we were leading up into a trade deadline where the Brewers were talking about hey, maybe Garrett Mitchell moves, maybe we move Blake Perkins, maybe those are two guys that we can move on from. Now it's like no, hold on If he's out for the year. Now, we got to hold on to these pieces, right. Sal's got to play, churro's got to play, perkins and Mitchell are needed now. Right, we had this surplus of outfielders that everybody was like who's going to play where? How are we going to get guys playing time? We need to trade guys away. Now. It's like crap and it's. Could it be a good crap? Maybe, right, and it's it's. Could it be a good crap? Maybe right. Uh, garrett Mitchell gets more playing time. Maybe that bat starts to pick up a little bit. Right, he needs I mean, he needs reps. That's all I've said. He hasn't been seeing the ball great, to start out since he's come back. He needs reps. He's had a few good hits, uh, over the past couple days, but the guy just needs rest.
Speaker 2:But now, blake Perkins, I mean you can't. You can't afford to trade. Mean, you're looking at the outfield? I know I saw a lot of people with the possible trades or the possible guys the Brewers could look at moving on their major league roster. I don't think anybody in the outfield now, I don't think you can, and you know honestly. I saw a lot of talk of minor league outfielders too, like Brewer Hicklin, who's sitting down in AAA right now, who's hitting around 300. And then I saw Carlos Rodriguez down there. He's in AA yet. So a little bit different. I guess Isaac Collins is also on that list of guys they were talking about being able to trade. I don't think so anymore, unless, let's just say they call the White Sox and they're in this deal for Fetty, right, let's just say they're trying to make a deal for Fetty and they're like, well, what if we double dip down? And this is something that the Brewers would never do.
Speaker 2:But Luis Robert from the White Sox he replace the he's. He's not going to replace the production completely. What Autumn? What is Luis Robert? What is he hitting this year? I believe he's been a little bit better as of late. He's a power hitter. He's a power hitter. He's a decent enough outfielder. I think the average is okay for Luis Robert and the White Sox are definitely going to be sellers.
Speaker 3:This year he, as of today, he's hitting 227.
Speaker 2:What's he got? Rbis home runs.
Speaker 3:RBIs he has this year. He's got 24 RBIs, 12 home runs and 42 hits.
Speaker 2:How many games has he played? Does it have at-bats?
Speaker 3:183 at-bats 183 at-bats.
Speaker 2:So he hasn't he's been out, he's been injured, he's been banged up, he hasn't played a complete season there. That's basically what it's telling me there. So I mean, but he brings power, he brings pop, he brings a presence to the lineup and a star power right, something that you're losing with Jelic. Maybe you try to replace it. You know, a Jelic injury opens up a new, new avenue. It completely flipped my script, because I had prepared today to talk about possible trade pieces. The Brewers have possible trade targets. I got to revise that list. I got to look around, because I need to know what the heck's going on with Christian Yelich. First, because that is going to completely flip my script. I'm going to be honest with you. That's going to flip my script of what the Brewers, I believe, need to go in at. You're going to tell me yeah, I just talked about the surplus of outfielders. Do you trust all those guys to be your surplus of outfielders, though? Do you trust those guys to be able to replace what Christian Jelic has been to the Brewers this year? You're talking about a guy who's in the top 10 of batting average. You're talking about a guy who's near the top of the Brewers in RBI stolen bases. This is a all around guy who is competing at his same pace as he was in 2018 when he won the MVP. Right, this is that same rate.
Speaker 2:It's hard to replace that with a bunch of guys who are, I mean, second year guys Mitchell, frelick, perkins, churros in his first year. Yes, it's possible. Yes, I know those guys can hit. Perk I know perk can hit. I know he can play the field. Sal can hit. We know that. He's been playing very well. I mean, he's a catcher's interference magnet just because he lets the ball travel so much. But sal's a guy who I know can hit. He can play the field. Mitchell, mitchell, perk, frelick, churro I know they can hit. I know they can play the field, but can they replace a guy like Christian Jelic in the lineup? That's my million-dollar question Can they replace him? And that is going to be the question of the day for tomorrow and that is going to be the question we will answer here on the show Can they replace him? And then possibly, then maybe we have more. Did they give a timeline for when he's supposed to go see this specialist?
Speaker 3:I thought it was tomorrow.
Speaker 2:He's going to go see him tomorrow.
Speaker 2:I thought so, Yep, I see that there. He's going to go see the spine specialist Thursday to figure out the next step. So we're going to have the answer tomorrow. We're going to have the answer tomorrow what the heck is going on with Christian Yelich and where the Brewers might be leaning then, Because if there's a possibility he comes back yet, I think then it maybe gives my even Steven like we're just going starting pitching in that at the trade deadline. If he's not, it changes the scenario completely there. So with that, that's about all we got. That's about all we got for today. It was a great talk. I mean we got to a lot. We got to a lot.
Speaker 2:Brewers win the series versus the Cubs and they won the season series against the Cubs 8-5. I can't believe that. We're already done seeing the Cubs and it's not even August. Like that's ridiculous to me. We won already done seeing the Cubs and it's not even August, like that's. That's ridiculous to me. We won't see the Cubs again until maybe the playoffs. If we were to see them in the playoffs, possibly, but outside of that we won't see the Cubs again.
Speaker 2:So I think that is that's baffled me. That baffled me. They either. But the Brewers get the series win. They get to see a season, a series win against the Cubbies there and Craig Council and the boys get to cry their way back to Chicago. There and I don't know, sit in the wind or something, right the windy city down there. Maybe they can go hope for the Bears to have a good season. I don't know, Cheer for the Bears, something like that. So with that, that's about all we got. This has been Wisconsin Sports on the Go with Trage. Thank you guys for listening. I hope you guys enjoy the rest of your Thursday, but until I talk to you guys again tomorrow, deuces.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, my Lord, watch me sway. Darkness falls and we all pray, hoping for the light of day. Down to the river, I have held the devil's hand, felt the weight of my own sin, buried by the heart of man Down to the river. Thank you,