Bill Chaves Pod_EP 167

In this week’s episode, Bill and Alex are joined by Dr. Art Malloy, UND’s VP of Student Affairs, to discuss a variety of topics, including Martin Luther King’s legacy, the elevation of the UND student experience, and the time Art played a pick-up game against Michael Jordan (1:09). Then, Bill reflects on the goings-on at last week’s NCAA Convention (25:05) before giving an update on the UND winter sports scene (41:29). On the B-Side (53:52), Tottenham Hotspur continue to reach new lows.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Bill Shafs Podcast, presented by Mid
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(00:21):
plus dot com. This is how we use sports and
this is the Bill Shafes Podcast. Yes, welcome to another
edition of the Bill Shaves Podcast. We're taping this on
a Monday morning, the twentieth of January. Happy Martin Luther
King Junior Day to you, Bill.

Speaker 2 (00:37):
Yeah, Happy Mlkday to you Alex today because we always
start with a little update people listening around the country
and who knows, maybe around the world, Alex. It's hard
to know. But at the end of the day, high
am minus twelve today in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Speaker 3 (00:53):
How's that.

Speaker 1 (00:55):
Before we started recording, Bill said, is this the zenith
of the winter? And I think it's it's the opposite
of that. It's it's the deer of the windsor yeah,
it feels like temperature and forks negative thirty one, but
tomorrow back in the positives. It's a short lived cold
snap that everybody around the country is feeling, even our
guests today who joins us from typically much warmer climbs

(01:17):
in the southeast of our country.

Speaker 2 (01:19):
That's right. So doctor Art malloy joined us. Oh, I
want to I want to say. I think he's in
his second year here and and doctor mlloy's done just
a fantastic job here and we're excited to have a
a pod first timer with us. So doctor mlloy, welcome.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
Bill, Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.

Speaker 4 (01:41):
I've heard so much about about the podcast, and you know,
I feel very fortunate that that you've invited me on
as a guest.

Speaker 2 (01:48):
Well awesome. So hey, it's it's MLK Day. You know,
Martin Luther King was just an amazing figure in u
in American history, and it's just in history period and
recollections at all of doctor King.

Speaker 4 (02:05):
Well, you know what I will say is that I'm
not so sure that there has been another person, not
just African Americans, but another person who has been so
important to African Americans in the United States. I think
what doctor King was able to do using the pulpit

(02:26):
that he had, and I say a pulpit, I don't
mean necessarily the church, even though he wasn't pastor. I
mean he had a national voice, He had a national following,
and he used that to bring people together. And I
think one of the most important things that he will
always be remembered for is that is that he was

(02:47):
a uniter.

Speaker 3 (02:49):
He wanted to.

Speaker 4 (02:50):
Make sure that one blacks had the same opportunities that
everyone else did. But but he wasn't He wasn't demanding it.
He wanted to forge coalitions so he could so he
could actually see it happened through social organizations, to see
it happen through through through through legislation, and and I

(03:13):
would say, you know, gosh, all these years later, I
think I think he his his work was his work
was highly successful. And and I think even my my
kids and my grandkids and and probably those who will
come after them, we'll we'll talk about the legacy of
doctor Martin Luther King.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Yeah, he was an amazing human being, that's for sure.
And I know you're in Atlanta right now, one of
the uh, one of the I guess highlights of my
life is going into Ebenezer Baptist Church and just seeing
uh you know, I don't just walking and living history
and uh, just just an amazing human.

Speaker 4 (03:54):
Yeah, you know, Bill, you know, I lived in Atlanta
for for several years, so I got a chance to
meet some of his some of his children, and what
I will say is that they are absolutely carrying on
his legacy. And of course in Atlanta, Martin Luther King
is you know, gosh, bigger than life. He probably has

(04:15):
the most recognized name in the world. But but but
then when you come to Atlanta, you know, this is
where he was buried, and this is where he did
so much of his work. So it's it's it's it's
good to be here today.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
That's that's for sure. So Alex, I think let's delve
into you and d U and d students some of
the things that are going on campus. Right. I mean,
I know it's been awesome, so I'll let you take
it away.

Speaker 1 (04:41):
Sure. So again, Doctor Maloy is the vice president for
student Affairs. As Bill mentioned, you've been in that position
now for almost two years. We're coming up on the
anniversary of a that you took the job back in
twenty twenty three. Just talk us through from your chair
what these last two years have been like from a
student affair, experience and enrollment perspective. It does feel like
that things are really trending in the right direction for

(05:03):
North Dakota.

Speaker 4 (05:05):
There is there is no doubt that things are trending
absolutely in a very very positive direction.

Speaker 3 (05:12):
Yeah.

Speaker 4 (05:12):
I've been here for actually a little bit more than
two years now, and when I arrived, one of the
most important things to me to do was was to
assess where I thought we were with with the with
the student affairs uh enterprise. Thankfully, we have two individuals

(05:33):
who were here prior to my arrival, who were who
had been very very successful, but also had loads of
experience and and and a wealth of knowledge. Uh So,
so we came in uh looked to see one how
we could work together to make the student experience one
that is phenomenal and uh and and and when you

(05:54):
look around the campus, what you see is a commitment
from from President Army cost from previous presidents to make
sure that they invested in the physical facilities of the campus.
Uh So, so when when alums come to campus, whenever
prospective students come to campus. They see all the work

(06:18):
that we've put into the institution to make it look
esthetically pleasing to them. But I'm I'm so proud that
it goes beyond the aesthetics. It goes beyond the physical facilities,
and it's it's it's it's really about what we call
a new vibe on campus where students feel great about

(06:41):
being here. They feel great about the facilities that they have, uh,
they feel great about their opportunities to be in class
and be taught by world class professors. They also feel
really really good about their prospects of getting the jobs
that they want when they leave.

Speaker 3 (06:58):
And all of that.

Speaker 4 (06:59):
Is because of the things that we are doing deliberately
academic affairs, working with student affairs. Of course, the of
course athletics here means so much to our students because
that's really where your school spirit's gonna come from. So
so so so when we talk about the vibe here
on campus, we're absolutely talking about what's going on in athletics,

(07:24):
what's going on in the classroom, what's what's going on
in the residence halls, how students treat each other, how
parents treat students. It's just a it's just a wonderful
time to be here. And and there is no for
it for me. I don't I don't have to wonder
why UND seems to be the first choice for so many, uh,

(07:45):
for so many prospective students, because because they see it
and they feel it when they walk on campus. It
just it feels like a place where where you would
want to be. It feels like a place where where
you know you're gonna come and make friends. It feels
like a place where you know you're going to come
and be able to to have excellent tutelage uh with

(08:05):
our with that, with with with our faculty. So it's just, uh,
it's just a great time.

Speaker 1 (08:11):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (08:11):
And and and I think whether you talk to me,
whether you talk to students, whether you talk to faculty,
I think we all feel the same way that un
D has a great deal of momentum.

Speaker 3 (08:22):
Uh. And it's and it's because of the entire U
and D community.

Speaker 2 (08:29):
No doubt about it. And I will say this, Alex, Uh,
you know, doctor Malloy's part of a vice president's group
that is just tremendous. They work incredibly well together and
uh look for the bigger picture and always with the
student in mind. So it is, it is, it is
really tremendous. So talk about art, talk about obviously, Uh,

(08:50):
that's what's happening now, how about moving ahead. Obviously the
dormitories have been a big asset for us. There's a
lot of other things happening. So futuristically, what do you
what's your crystal ball look like?

Speaker 3 (09:03):
Well, well, Bill, thank you, I think one.

Speaker 4 (09:06):
Yes, we've done a great deal with with with our
residence halls. We're still not done because again, how they
look is important, but also what's going on on the
inside is even more important. So so when we talk
about the student experience, we are talking about mostly those
things that happen outside of the classroom.

Speaker 3 (09:27):
Uh that that's.

Speaker 4 (09:28):
Absolutely going to include, you know, the opportunity for students
to to go and to cheer on you know, our
our excellent athletic teams, but it also includes the opportunity
for them to prepare themselves for for professional careers. So
so in everything that we do, we're trying to make

(09:49):
sure that the events that students go to, we're trying
to make sure that that they count. So so one
of the things that is coming on the horizon is
this whole in anything that we talk about when we
talk about the student experience, we're talking about the opportunity
for students to be able to track the things that
they do.

Speaker 3 (10:09):
That they will have they will have.

Speaker 4 (10:12):
A co curricular transcript that that will go along with
their academic transcript, so that so that employers can see
that one of these students have been been they've been
involved in leadership opportunities. UH, they've also been involved in volunteerism.
And and I don't know if you, I think you

(10:33):
talked to the provosts recently, so the provost probably told
you that, uh, that student affairs and academic affairs are
collaborating uh to create a leadership development center for our students.

Speaker 3 (10:46):
So all those.

Speaker 4 (10:47):
Things are on the horizon because we think these are
the types of things that add value to the student experience,
but we also know that these are the types of
things that set us apart from other institutions.

Speaker 2 (10:57):
Also, that leadership development area be tremendous. It really will
be when you've got the student student affairs and academic
affairs connected in that type of way. Really, that's your
twenty four to three twenty four seven, three sixty five experience.
At und which is so exciting for us.

Speaker 3 (11:15):
I agree.

Speaker 4 (11:15):
And one of the things that you know, I would
like to say is that although we have all these
wonderful things happening on campus, you know, we are also
mindful that our students, uh and and students all around
the country are are still trying to figure things out.
And sometimes while while they're trying to figure things out, UH,

(11:37):
they deal with some mental health challenges and UH, and
we have invested in and making sure that, uh, that
we have all the tools, all the resources available for
students when it comes to when it comes to their
their their mental health. And we've partnered with We've partnered
with our University Counseling Center, with our student health centers,

(12:01):
and a lot of different entities around the campus, even athletics,
just to make sure that if our students have mental
health challenges, that that we are that we are prepared
to meet those And gosh, we have probably invested maybe
another quarter of a million dollars in making sure that

(12:22):
we're able to do that.

Speaker 2 (12:24):
Well.

Speaker 1 (12:26):
I appreciate the thoughtfulness that the university has taken into
those sorts of things. We're using the people that we've
got to elevate the student experience, to be thoughtful of
what we're trying to do to make sure that they
have not just a great experience, but that they're set
up for success after the fact that they're cared for.
That kind of thoughtfulness, I think, like you mentioned, these
are the reasons why people have wanted to come to

(12:46):
the University of North Dakota and come back. That the
retention rate is so good, not just a high enrollment
rate for freshmen. I don't know, kudos to you guys.
It's just a little handclap for doctor Malay and the
team who are doing a phenomenal job. I think with
the the responsibility that you have to take care of
this massive student body in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

Speaker 4 (13:05):
Well, I appreciate that, and I would say, you know,
we'll put the emphasis on the team because we do
have a great team of individuals that are here to
help our students. Gosh, more than more than two hundred
members of the of the student affairs uh team. But
it's just not student affairs. It's student affairs married to athletics.

(13:28):
It's student affairs married to to two academic affairs, student
affairs married to all all all of the all of
those on on on the physical side of the house,
because it takes all of us to be able to
make it work. And I and I do have to say,
as Bill said earlier, we have an absolutely phenomenal team

(13:52):
of of of leaders at the University of North Dakota,
and I feel very, very fortunate to be a.

Speaker 3 (13:57):
Part of.

Speaker 1 (13:59):
Doctor. Before we let you go, we would be remiss
on this podcast to not talk a little bit about
your athletic career before you started this journey into academics.
Give us a little backgrounds on what your story is
as an athlete. I think our listeners would like to hear.

Speaker 4 (14:14):
Well, you know, I will tell you I think the
older I get, the greater I was. The course, of course,
there were fewer persons around now to refute anything that
I have to say. How however, I played basketball and
football and high school, went to college and uh and

(14:39):
actually was recruited in the eleventh grade by a person
by the name of Bobby Crimmins.

Speaker 3 (14:44):
I don't know if you know that name, but he was.

Speaker 4 (14:47):
He was at Western Carolina at the time, and uh,
for for whatever reason, things didn't really work out. UH,
So I ended up at Shaw University. And I went
to shar University in January, and you know, generally in January,

(15:07):
the basketball team is already playing, already chosen.

Speaker 3 (15:12):
Uh. But but but the coach did know me.

Speaker 4 (15:14):
And when I talked to the coach, I said, hey,
I'd love to I'd love to, uh at least try
out for a walk on it.

Speaker 3 (15:21):
And he said, he said, well, I have a manager's position.

Speaker 4 (15:23):
Uh. So, so I took the manager's position and and
uh and I was there with the team every single day.
And one day he just watched me shooting and and
uh and he said he said, Malloy said, uh, would
you uh would you be interested in uh being a
part of the team. I said absolutely, So he said
all right, he said, well, I have a uniform for you.

(15:44):
And and even though I was at the very end
of the bench, I was at the very end of
the bench.

Speaker 3 (15:52):
You know, I gave, I gave it all I.

Speaker 4 (15:54):
Had, and and I just I just realized that the
guys on the team were so much better than me.
So I began to focus on my academics and and
as a result of that, I am where I am now.
So I think maybe the best thing that could have
ever happened to me was to be humbled by sitting

(16:17):
on the bench and uh and and realizing that, goss,
these guys are a lot better than me. Now, now
as I get older, I realized they weren't a whole
lot better than me. They were just more advanced at
the time. And probably two years later I was I
was probably Division one material. And and and I'll tell

(16:38):
you why I think I was Division one material. I
think I've told Bill this story already. So I had
a job. I was working at North Carolina State University.
And at North Carolina State I used to play with
It was a player named Rodney Monroe.

Speaker 3 (16:53):
There's another player named Tom Tom googlianta. Uh.

Speaker 4 (16:57):
There was another player uh named Chris. I used to
play with him every single day, and and and and
there was no doubt in my mind or there's that
that that that I could play with him. I I
could hold my own. And then one day, out of
the blue, this player who graduated from the University of

(17:17):
North Carolina showed up and and his name is Michael
Jordan and and and he was he was in the
gym and working out with with everyone, and lo and behold,
lo and behold The person who who got to check
Michael Jordan was me. Now I am not I'm not

(17:38):
gonna make anything up here.

Speaker 3 (17:40):
Uh.

Speaker 4 (17:40):
There was nothing I could do with Michael Jordan, nothing
whatsoever I could do with him.

Speaker 3 (17:46):
Uh, but I did score on it.

Speaker 4 (17:48):
Because I scored on him, I said, well, gosh, maybe
I was good enough to have been in the NBA.
Uh you know, so maybe not, but uh but it
was fun and and I think probably that's my greatest
claim to fame.

Speaker 3 (18:01):
I played with those other guys almost daily.

Speaker 4 (18:04):
But but you know, but to be able to say
that you're on the court with the Saint with with
you know, with the person who I think is the
greatest basketball player pro basketball player ever, and and I
scored on.

Speaker 3 (18:17):
Him, you know, I think it's I think it's pretty good.

Speaker 2 (18:21):
No, that that is really good. So you yeah, I didn't.
I didn't know the Bobby Kremen's piece. I mean, holy cow,
that head of hair is still I can picture it
right now. But good New Yorker in North Carolina, I think.
And then headed to Georgia Tech afterwards.

Speaker 4 (18:36):
He did he did, uh, you know, just a just
a just a great guy. And and you know, I
certainly have a story for for athletes. You know, if
it doesn't work out today, it doesn't mean that that
every time. I love the life that I have and
I and I and I still have the opportunity too

(18:59):
to work with students. And that's something that I've that
I've never stopped doing. I I left college, well, I
left for college, and I and I've pretty much never
left the college campus since then. I've been on a
college campus every year of my life since since I
graduated from high school.

Speaker 2 (19:19):
Yeah, I like the we try to impart this to
our student athletes here as well. And I think it's
a it's Chuck Nole got it from Paul Brown, but
it was a you know, somewhere along the line, you're
going to do your life's work, and your life's work
may or may not entail athletics at some stage of
the game. So but use the platform and play as

(19:39):
long as you can play, because I'll tell you what,
there's so many traits that come out of it that
can help you along the line.

Speaker 4 (19:46):
Well, Bill, I certainly agree with that, and I would
like to believe that I can still get out there
and shoot it. I'd like to believe I can still
get out there and dunk it. I do believe that
if I dun't it, there's going to be a serious
price to pay when I when when I do come down.
Uh because I'm not going to tell you how old
I am, but I'm I think I'm now beyond the

(20:10):
age where I should be out there trying to compete
with twenty year olds. Uh So at least wisdom has
has set in. So but but you know, either way,
I just I'm so thankful that that you all invited
me to uh to be a part of the podcast
today and and and hopefully I said something that that

(20:31):
that someone did not know about me. Uh So, you know,
because I think Grand Forks is still learning about me.
I think some of you and d are still learning
about me. So this is just another one of those
avenues to help people learn just a little bit more
about me.

Speaker 2 (20:45):
Well, we appreciate you, Art, for sure, Thank you very much.

Speaker 1 (20:51):
Fantastic to have Art malloy on the podcast. First of all,
he speaks for all of us when he talks about
knowing that it's maybe the time has passed to go
play hoops with twenty year old I feel like that's
that's that's how I feel as well, well, very much.

Speaker 3 (21:04):
So.

Speaker 2 (21:04):
We you know, we've been fortunate in the community where
we have a new hospital that's opened and the emergency
room is right off of Columbia. So if Art does
decide that he just feels like he's got to pull
his inner twenty two year old, you know what, it's
not that far away and we can get him to
where either that or we can just have our Steam

(21:26):
Sports med group that's there just to make sure that
when he does the land, we're there to save him.
But the one name he mentioned one of He's mentioned
several names, but the one this is an interesting one,
or at least I find it interesting, is Chris Corciani
played for North Carolina State. Well, when I was a
senior in college, I was down in Miami and he

(21:50):
played for He played for Miami Lakes High School, and
he was he was tremendous. He was one of the
you know, top recruits in the country, but Miami Senior
High was they were both undefeated and a god by
the name of Cesar Portillo went to the University of Florida.
So it was Portillo against Corciani. And just as you

(22:14):
do in life, I just rambled over to the game
myself and uh and watched it and it was awesome.
I mean, it was fantastic. It's one of my you know,
it's one of those memories you have in life. And
I can remember watching them play and you're just going,
these are you know, obviously high level Division one players
playing in a high school game at that point in time.

(22:35):
So it was awesome.

Speaker 1 (22:37):
There are a few things better than a really good
high school basketball game when the stakes are high and
the play is great. There's something fun about the energy
that comes from that, and that's that's a cool story.
I like that. I have a just aque. You mentioned
Tom Googliata, who was of course the Sumberwolves legends of
course somehow just a small side note, then we'll get
into some of U and d institut of Belieza, my

(22:58):
brother and some of his friends at the news. My
brother was a news director at an NBC station in
Suit Falls for a long time. One of the photographers
at the station somehow was gifted a shoe that Tom
Googliata war during an NBA game, this massive size nineteen
sneaker whatever, and that became the trophy they would play

(23:19):
for in their fantasy basketball league and they called it
the Googs. Who's going to win the Googs this year?
And that has made the rounds around the different news
desks at KTLC and soup falls but super random.

Speaker 2 (23:32):
Yeah, really brandom, I mean, but yeah.

Speaker 1 (23:35):
Start was hoooping with I love that.

Speaker 2 (23:36):
I love it too. Yeah, but it really is amazing.
You know what the type of team that doctor Armacass
has put together and and you can just feel it.
You go into the room and uh, not a lot
of ego. Everyone wants the best for each other and
we all are in the same boat where you want,
you know, the rising tide that makes the most important

(24:01):
impact on our students. And truly, if that's not your
you know, your a number one every single day to
make sure that that's occurring, then I think you're in
the wrong field. And so you know, although yes, we're
in wins and lost mode and we're in competitive mode,
but we're here for the greater good of the University
of North Dakota. This just in u n D will

(24:21):
be here long after I'm here, And so at the
end of the day, we're just short term gatekeepers and
we're trying to steward the best we can to set
ourselves up not only for today and tomorrow, but futuristically
as well.

Speaker 1 (24:33):
Certainly aren't certainly a big part of that now for you.
And yes, second season, second season, third season, et cetera.
In that role of VP of student Affairs, and as
you mentioned, the guy leading the ships doing a phenomenal job.
So Andy Armacass is as good as it gets.

Speaker 2 (24:45):
Yeah, and you know, and I know we've had doctor Lincoln,
and I'd like to get a few other of our
my teammates at that level on as well, because I
think it's important for people to understand kind of the
thought process and then how it relates in some ways
to athletics. So I think it's important.

Speaker 1 (25:01):
Yeah, very good. So thanks to look forward to in
twenty twenty five. As this season of the Bill Tapes
podcast continues, this episode now is going to swerve and
go from perhaps like no egos and everybody working and
pulling the rope in the same direction at U and
D to the NCAA convention in Nashville, where perhaps that
maybe is not necessarily the case. Bill was down there

(25:22):
this past week and was able to take it all
in and have a conversation and listen, a lot a
lot of fallout from the last week or so with
the NCUBLEA bill. You're here to report what did you see?
What stood out to you?

Speaker 2 (25:35):
Yeah, you know, so important that we go down obviously
and represent the University of North Dakota. But really, in
this timeframe, again, for those of you who've listened before,
I think it's fair to think this way, from say,
nineteen seventy three ish to twenty twenty one, it not

(25:57):
much changed per se in the governance of intercollegiate athletics
at the Division one level. I mean, there were some
things that occurred, for sure, but I mean, but you know,
as far as the actual how you did your day
to day pretty much stayed the same for about fifty
years truly. And then with the advent of us as

(26:20):
as a governing body not not not putting into play
some sort of rules and REGs surrounding name, image and likeness,
which was ready to go, by the way, in the
summer of twenty twenty one, it got deferred out to
basically state by state right now, and there's just a
lot of uncertainty in how we're governing ourselves right now.

(26:45):
The rules of engagement, if you will, and we're just
in this minute, Alex. We continue to be in this
minute where I think we're trying to get to the
next iteration, where it could be the next twenty five
to forty to fifty years. We're not there. And going
into Nashville last week, it was abundantly clear we're still

(27:05):
not there. And we had our Division one business session,
and you know, it's just interesting. I mean, I think
we're awaiting this house settlement that's due April seventh, of
all dates, which is the actual men's basketball championship game.
I don't know if there's irony there or not. I
don't know that answer, but it seems interesting to me.

(27:28):
And if that settlement goes through, Alex, I think what
I learned is in at the biggest top line headline
would be feels like we're going to have two rulebooks
for Division one athletics. Don't think that's sustainable, I'll be
honest with you. So for the opt in schools opting
into some of the things that you can do under

(27:50):
the umbrella of your athletic department versus not opting in,
those are things that are all going to play itself
out in the next several months. Last thing, I'll say
all overlaid. Today. We're recording on MLKA Day on a Monday,
and we've got an inauguration occurring at the highest level,

(28:12):
and the Senate, the House, and the presidential seat are
all Republican. So there's going to be a change over,
I think, in philosophy, ideology as it comes to potentially
what intercollegiate athletics should and could be. And maybe just
maybe there's going to be some conversation in Washington, DC

(28:36):
that can actually take this on and really think it through.
What do we want from college athletics right now? So
Ted CRU's Senator Cruz is the chair of the Commerce Committee.
I know he's very interested in having conversations once this
day ends and they're moving into session, and so more

(28:58):
to come. There's just the next six months will be
very fascinating how things go. And I think for us
at the University of North Dakota, there's a lot of
us kind of playing a little bit of the wait
and see game. Feels like Allston Awards a few years ago,
where we maybe played a year of wait and see
and then engaged. I think that we're probably in the

(29:19):
same mode right now where we got to have to
play the wait and sea game. Does the settlement go
through what happens in Washington, DC? And then we kind
of go forward from there. So that's what I learned.
That's where we are. You know, not a lot of
a lot, a lot more questions than answers.

Speaker 1 (29:38):
There's a lots of impact there. First, just to go
big picture, are you disappointed in how things went in Nashville?
Like did you go in hoping, hey, maybe we're going
to get some things forget? I'm assuming you sort of
knew this is maybe not going to give us the
most clarity knowing forward.

Speaker 2 (29:53):
No, no clarity only because the truth of the matter
is most of our governance in the last couple of
years and continues to be is through the court system.
So there's not much you could have done. I think
it's so we're in a big ballroom and you have

(30:14):
every a day generally speaking, I think there was like
three hundred of three hundred and sixty five there among others,
conference commissioners all there. There's nothing to be done right
now because it's left that room and it's in the courtrooms.
So you kind of are awaiting what makes sense for

(30:38):
us once we hear from what transpires from the courtrooms
and then ultimately what happens in DC.

Speaker 1 (30:46):
The other question I wanted to ask, and you talk,
touched on the two separate almost branches of the NCAA,
two different rule books in terms of the schools that
will opt in and opt out, et cetera, which we
think will maybe happen and be the case. Could you
give us just the another reminder of what that means
in terms of opting in opting out? What are the
differences between those two things?

Speaker 2 (31:07):
Yeah, I think, yeah, Well, there's a big picture to this.
I think the biggest, the biggest piece of the puzzle
that becomes in some ways challenging for schools that are
potentially considering the opt in piece. So the one thing
that you can do is provide name, image and license

(31:31):
opportunities under the umbrella of your athletic department. Now, it
didn't doesn't mean though, that you still couldn't have a
third party that's out there as well, like we do
the eighteen eighty three collective. That's one aspect of it,
and and and then there's the other aspect of being
able to share revenue at a higher level with your

(31:55):
student athletes. I think the number today is like twenty
point two million dollars. Well, for many that is not
necessarily revenue sharing. It might just be more altering how
you expend dollars versus the actual revenue piece to it.
So I think the schools at the defendant level, which

(32:15):
was at one point the power five, now it's the
power four, they will all go into this settlement and
adhere to what comes out of the settlement. If you're
not a name defendant, our conference, the Summit League, or
others are not, you have the choice to opt in.
But the one aspect to the opt in piece is

(32:37):
there are roster limitations, and those are some things that
each individual school has to look at themselves and say
how would that affect us? Because, as you might have
read over the last week or so, there was some
guidance provided by the Office of Civil Rights OCR in

(32:59):
regards to the aspect of where does Title nine fit
into this? And those are some of the questions many
of us have been asking throughout this whole process. And
as far as I know, it's still a federal law.
And at the end of the day, when it's a
federal law, how does then the effect of we'll call
it because the vernacular today, whether it's incorrect or correct,

(33:22):
is revenue share. How will that impact Title nine? And
so those are unanswered questions as we're going into this
whole settlement, and so for many schools, they're taking a risk,
i would say, or in some ways deciding to do
something without maybe all the answers at their disposal.

Speaker 1 (33:45):
It's very interesting. It's just such an interesting time, and
there's going to be, as you said, a lot more
to come in the next six months when the courts
start to make their decisions and then schools have to
make theirs, and we sort of see what comes. It's
like I said, I think we know that the future
is going to be different than what the president and
the past have been. Just a matter of what that
looks like and what that'll mean for you and d

(34:07):
and other schools like it.

Speaker 2 (34:08):
Well, the third thing I would say, in regards to
the potential settlement as well, juxtapose the potential roster limitations
along with no limitations and scholarships. So what we've become
accustomed to that there's say eighteen scholarships in this sport,
or eleven point seven scholarships not sure how we ever

(34:31):
got to eleven point seven, but let's pretend we did baseball.
But so at the end of the day, eleven point
seven scholarships and those types of things are now different
if you're in the opt in world versus the non
opt in world. And so that's why I'm saying there
might be two sets or rules the perfect league, and

(34:53):
I cannot get a response yet because we probably don't
have the answer. And when I say we, we as
the governance structure of the of the NCAA, but have
not received some clarification. What does it look like when
you have the NCHC where you have a Division III school,
a couple of Division two schools, a few FCS schools,

(35:15):
a school that's transitioning into Division one that's going to
be in your league next year, a couple of group
of five fbs, and a power for FBS school in
your league. What does that look like? What does even
opten look like? And so those are questions that let's
just say, I still haven't gotten the answer. I did
ask it, though again I've been very I don't know,

(35:36):
optimistic that we'll get some sort of, you know, update
on what that might look like. So more to come.
I hate to say, I feel like it feels a
little bit like COVID when we were doing this, where
you were kind of going through it and then having
then refigure what is right for your institution.

Speaker 1 (35:56):
We don't have that. How much fun that was for everybody.
We have to kind of go day to day with
what games were taking place and what protocols were. This
is just a different iteration of that, but it's kind
of a similar sort of thing. That's a great point
about the NCAC. That's one of the more unique ones
I think in the country where you have that level
of diversity and the types of institutions from public to private,

(36:17):
from D.

Speaker 2 (36:17):
Three everything everything. We literally have everything.

Speaker 1 (36:21):
I think, yeah, what a lovely we've put together.

Speaker 2 (36:24):
And so we so so I would say we are
like many of other schools that are in our i'll
call it area code. I think we're we're all really
interested on what's going to really happen here in the
next several months and then position each of our schools

(36:45):
to do what is right moving forward, because at some point,
I mean this, I just don't think having those two
separate types of rule books is going to be sustainable.
Over the course of time. But it doesn't mean though
that we're not to have a minute right now to
continue to figure out what we're doing in the meantime.
But at some point we're going to all have to

(37:06):
figure out what's the one set of rules that we're
all working under.

Speaker 1 (37:10):
Stay tuned, everybody. More to come, more to come in
this space in the months ahead. So thanks for the ope.

Speaker 2 (37:16):
Yeah, Well, in the last thing, I'll say, and I
hope that Washington, d C. And I hope Senator Cruise's
group really can assist intercollegiate athletics, something that's been going
on for you know, many many many years, about one
hundred and fifty years. And and what's really critical for

(37:37):
aside from everyone you know loves it and they enjoy it,
and it's it's it's you know, your alma mater and
everybody is unified, as doctor Malloy said, is really it's
important for our Olympic movement, alex it's you know, that's
where that's where our students, excuse me, our teams are
trained truly, and so we've got to be really really

(37:58):
thoughtful and careful and how that all affects that. I mean,
in fact, we in some ways we train other athletes
from around the world, right, I mean as far as
during the Olympics, but that's an important piece. So it
just feels like all of it's colliding at once and
we have no necessarily We're just all kind of going

(38:19):
our own path right now. Hopefully we'll all get back
on the same path, you.

Speaker 1 (38:23):
Hope, So you hope that. I think that's I would
say the vast majority of people that love college athletics
hope that's the case. That it's not just things get
blown up and things look completely different moving forward. You
would wish we could get back to a little bit
of what we had for the as you said, for
the last century or so, when things were good, people
were mostly playing kind of by the same rules more

(38:46):
or less. You have you have the opportunity to have
march badness. You can do the I think that's the hope.
But yeah, we'll see what transpires.

Speaker 2 (38:52):
Well, you know, you and I have spoken a lot
of years now on in some ways the similar between
English soccer and the Pyramid and the NCAA, and when
you have a membership driven organization that in some ways,
you know, you go to certain meetings and you go

(39:15):
to national meetings and many people have their self interest
right their self interest. It could be personal self interest,
or it could be school self interest, it could be
conference self interest in mind when you're trying to then
make rules and do certain things. And we see it
all the time across the pond, we really do, and
it there's so many similarities to it that you know,

(39:37):
I just hope it's going to take someone at that
highest level, really governmental level, to be able to say, no,
this is how it's going to be, because it's an
asset for the country and and no, this is what
has to happen. No, a state can't go back in
and do something different than another state because they're kind

(40:00):
of in the recruiting game now. And so it's amazing
where we are. But you know what, I'm bullish, I'm optimistic.
People do love intercollegiate athletics. That's what I would say.
It's never been more popular in some ways, Alex. Again,
it's kind of the NBA or EPL where the off season,
in all of the buzz around it maybe has made

(40:22):
it more popular than ever.

Speaker 1 (40:24):
It's not a bad assessment I think of where we're at.
Certainly when you look at the numbers that the college
Football Playoff has done, and I think even just men's
and women's basketball this year are breaking records in terms
of viewership and interest, and there are just so many
good things happening, and you just hope, again, as we've said,
you just hope we can find a solution, and it

(40:44):
might have to come from a third party college sports
zar that comes in and is independent and can say, hey,
this is what's best for you as a whole, this
is what we think the best, and it might not
just yeah, well, anyway, we will see a lot more
to come, a lot more to come on that as
we move forward into the months ahead, into the springtime,
and hopefully again post settlement, will see.

Speaker 2 (41:04):
What and we have to and we have to. This
is the you know, the long form opportunity that certainly
I have to be able to articulate some things, and
I think we have to be open the fact that
things are going to change on literally a daily, weekly,
monthly basis, and we probably will be talking a bit
about it between now and the end of let's just

(41:26):
say this academic here.

Speaker 1 (41:27):
Yeah, so that's to come here in the early stages
of twenty twenty five really quick, we should do a
quick rundown of what's going on in the president of
you and d athletics. A lot of stuff going on,
of course, between hockey and hoops, tennis getting started in
their track and field, et cetera. Just because we were
talking about the NCAC Hockey's now moving into this open
week after a tough home weekend against Western Michigan. They

(41:48):
got swept on the number four team in the nation,
and a close one on Friday, of course, just the
heartbreaker with the late penalty and then the overtime game
winner for the Broncos, and then a different story on
Saturday where you Andy really got out played in that
game for much of the sixty minutes with us. Your
thoughts somewhere right now.

Speaker 2 (42:04):
Bill, Yeah, I thought, you know, I thought Friday, you know,
a little disappointing where we went up a goal, you know,
we were up. It felt it felt like we were
I don't even say controlling the game is probably too strong,
but I felt like we were in good position to
potentially you know, get it, get a get even a

(42:24):
better result than we did. And uh and so so
from that perspective, obviously, you know, we headed into Saturday
with some some optimism, and we just got beat I mean,
we just got beat by a better team that night.
And you know, I think you know, it gives us
an opportunity, with an open week right now, to almost
go into a little bit of a mini training camp

(42:46):
and come out the other side. We got ten left
and we got to get after Its simple as that.
I mean, I you know, it's it's in front of us.
But I'll tell you what. You can't play all ten
games at once, and the only thing you can do
right now just go down to Saint Cloud and play
a hell of a first period and then follow it
up with a hell of a second period and a
hell of a third period. And that's that's all you
can do on that Friday night.

Speaker 1 (43:08):
I like you mentioned, this gap will provide them a
chance just to reset a little bit. And it's been
such a kind of start stop year with injuries and
guys coming back and figuring those things out again. They
still they're still dealing with some of those things. Andrews
Strathman got dinged up and Ben Strndon was a late
return to the lineup on Saturday. But you do hope
that they can use this time to recalibrate a little bit,
find some of the chemistry that we saw at the

(43:29):
end of the first half. And they do have a
team who they should be fired up to play, and
that's a Saint Cloud State team that is reeling a
little bit right now. And they have a tough series
on the road to Omaha this weekend. So we'll see
what kind of Husky team they get on at the
last weekend of January February first coming up at the
Herbrooks National Hockey Center. But those are games you Andy's
gotta have. You gotta gotta find a way to get

(43:50):
as many points as you can out of that series.

Speaker 2 (43:52):
Now moving forward, yeah, and you know, I'll be honest
with you, Alex, I'm I'm not even looking ahead to
anything Macro at this point in time. I I My
my desire and hope is that you know, we use
this time effectively over the next uh, you know, a
week or so and get our get our mind right,

(44:12):
and get hopefully physically right and uh and just going
to that Friday night because you know, I've been saying
it the last couple of weeks. I mean, you can't
get Saturday night before Friday night and so unfortunately, you know,
you know, we've put ourselves are back against the wall,
it feels like on Saturday nights by not getting Friday nights,
and so, uh, you know, we've got to pour into

(44:34):
whatever gets this team to the best place it can.
And that's really it's on us. It's it's on us
right now to uh to kind of figure that figure
that one out. And uh, you know, I I know,
you know it's not going to get easy along the way.
It never is in this conference, but in this just
in no one's feeling sorry for North Dakota. So at
the end of the day, uh, you know, I injuries aside,

(44:58):
it doesn't matter. I mean, we we've got to get
after it here starting on Friday in Saint Cloud.

Speaker 1 (45:03):
Big stretch coming up again open this week at Saint
Cloud home against CC at DU home against Minnesota d Luth.
It just every week again another opportunity. Yeah, it starts.
It starts coming up at the Herb Brooks National Hockey
Center on the thirty first of January. Men's and women's
hoops kind of in the same boat a little bit
where it feels like there's there's progress being made and
then maybe there's a step back. I think both teams

(45:24):
have had some really good performances over the last week.
The men coming off a big win against Kansas City,
the preseason favorites to win the league. The women had
a great win against South Dakota. There's just been some
positive things and then you know, maybe maybe a tough
result in there mixed in. But women right now three
and three in the league, men right now two and four.
Where do you see the basketball's at at this moment?

Speaker 2 (45:46):
Yeah, So if I can use hockey as the example,
I think, you know, coming off of coming off of
Saturday night, obviously bad taste in our mouth. And I
think we had a bad taste in our mouth coming
off of the game in Brookings, and uh, you know,
I thought South Dakota State absolutely you know, laid it
to us, and uh, you know, we needed a response,

(46:06):
and uh, I thought our response was there on Saturday.
I thought we we you know, absolutely played with a
better level of energy and uh, you know, did a
did a good job against a team that you know,
brought back a lot of players from last year who
had who had a nice season, And so I was
going to be interested to see how we responded, and

(46:28):
and especially the fact that Kansas City was, you know,
kind of kind of looking their wounds coming off of
a loss of Fargo. So I I knew we were
going to get a hell of a Kansas City team.
But I thought we played well. I thought we you know,
did the things we needed to do, and we've got
to see more of that, and I we got a
stack now and and and play better as as we
move forward, because everyone's you know, much like hockey in

(46:50):
some ways, Alex, some some of our guys are in
different roles now, and you know what it's they've got
to step up and just you know, embrace that role
and go women.

Speaker 3 (47:02):
You know, I thought they.

Speaker 2 (47:02):
Played really well against South Dakota, you know, really a
wired a wire job ultimately, and uh, I thought it
was pretty convincing. And I was gonna be fascinated to
see how we uh handle South Dakota State, who's obviously
very very good and they're on their home floor where
they never mose. But you know, I thought, you know,
our kids did a nice job down double figures a

(47:25):
couple of times and even fought back to a five
point deficit with just a couple of minutes to go.
So I thought we played better. We've been we've been
handling the ball better. I mean, turnovers have been you know,
have been reduced. And I think we might have mentioned
it maybe on the last pod. It's just a math equation. Honestly,
it's a math equation. If you don't get shots up,

(47:46):
you don't have shots for, you don't have a chance
for an offensive rebound. And in most times when it's
a turnover, it's probably going the other way on a
like a three on two, two on one. And so
we've been better with the ball and that has helped
us obviously play better basketball.

Speaker 1 (48:03):
It's a small sample size, but they are now six
games into the conference season, almost halfway through. They've almost
seen everybody so far. And for the women, you know,
they're top four in just about every category, you know,
points four, defense, you know, field goal percentage, rebounding. They've
been checking a lot of boxes. And as you said,
the turnovers went from around twenty one to twenty two
a game and non conference now they're down to fifteen sixteen,

(48:25):
and so you can see some of that growth, yes,
taking a shape, and that's turned into some really good performances.
The double overtime loss against and Royal Roberts team that
we think is just maybe right behind South Dakota State
in the standings. The victory against Denver, the victory against
South Dakota. So they have a bit of a kind
of a not of an open week, but they have
just the one game this week. It's a big one
of course, the double header at North Dakota State coming

(48:47):
up on Saturday, and the women will play at one,
the men at four, and then some home games mixed
in there. So just again good opportunity, as we've been
talking about for now on this team, to get in
the gym a little bit, work on a couple of things,
and have a shot. The Bison team that's been playing
really well. They're right now number two in the conference.

Speaker 2 (49:03):
They have been playing well, really well on both sides,
both men and women on both sides. The had been
playing very very well, which you know is to lead
to a you know, kind of a fun Saturday, a
double header down and down in Fargo, and just for
for our listeners as well. You know, it just happened
to be that was the schedule that was provided to us.

(49:24):
You know, it just happened to work kind of double
header down in Fargo, not so much back in Grand Forks.
That's that's it's a year by year proposition. It's not
that and the issue did anything you know, special to
to get that double header rolling. It's just that's kind
of how the schedule worked this year, and you know,
it could work in reverse next year. Who knows, we

(49:44):
could be like split next year, but maybe a double
header and Grand Forks that I don't know at this point.

Speaker 1 (49:49):
Yeah, So those games in Farga are coming up on Saturday.
Then men do have a game on Thursday. They'll host
South Dakota on the twenty thirds, so against a lot
a lot of hoops in this part of the world's
coming up over the next week or so. Other things
that have been going on. Indoor track and fields having
a great start to this season.

Speaker 2 (50:05):
Antennas too.

Speaker 1 (50:07):
Tennis is are undefeated so far. Both the men and
women were picked top three in the Summit League. Some
impressive performances for them track by the way, two school
records broken, a meat record broken, seven championships won at
the Bison Invite this past weekends. They'll be in Brookings
this next week before taking on the Conference and the
U and the Open at the end of the month.

(50:27):
And then you said the tennis is a couple of
nice wins at different places, whether you were in eastern
Washington and Idaho for the men or eastern Illinois for
the women. They've got some travels ahead, going to Montana,
going to Hawaii coming up before January is over. That's
not Are you gonna get to make that trip? Bill?
I would I would talk to Tom about that. Maybe
if you could jump on the plane and get out
to the big islands coming up at the end of

(50:48):
the month, pull the strings go. You're in charge.

Speaker 2 (50:51):
Yeah, I've been going to cold places it seems like,
so you know what, that's okay. I'll from behind.

Speaker 1 (51:03):
Well, good stuff again, good stuff from the indoor sports,
track and field. Men's and women's tennis off to a
great start, and we should mention too football. Continuing to
round out the staff, a few more hires made from
the Marks Smitten company. Looks like springball is going to
be just pushed back a little bit as they do
with some additional work at weight room, some team building stuff.
Eric certainly planned a long game in this situation to
get everything in place before they take the practice field

(51:25):
probably a good idea from the first year head coach.

Speaker 2 (51:27):
I think so. Well, the other thing is that's actually
happening is you've got to get our certificate of occupancy
for the additions opening up to the Pollard Center, So
you know, the note Ac Insurance Company Sports Performance Center
is ready to be opened here toward the end of
the month, maybe in about ten days ish, and so

(51:48):
we're kind of in that moment right now where you're
getting things pushed in. It's like imagine just imagine you're
building a house and you're trying to move into a house,
and you know, it's that last it's that that last
two weeks or so gets really it feels like, really rushed,
and so I think that's what Eric's mindset was, Hey,

(52:09):
let's get ourselves over there and then then at that
point in time, you're kind of in one spot and
the efficiencies will be that much better.

Speaker 1 (52:17):
That's a really good thing to remind people of that
there is this transition just in where offices are and
where players are going to be spending their time and
where the weight room is going to be, et cetera.
That's all kind of in transition. Still mentioned all moving
into how it's like trying to throw a party at
a house that's not quite fittish yet that you're the
painters are still there, they're still putting the carpet down.
It's going to maybe just to hold off on the

(52:39):
housewarming until all that's complete. So that's where football.

Speaker 2 (52:41):
Yeah, I think that's right, and you know, you get
for those of you that don't know, you get just
still get fifteen practices in the spring. And you know,
I think as as the new coaching staff is coming in,
they want to get to know the players as best
as they can before you hit the field. So I
think and it made total sense before, Like I think

(53:02):
you'd look at each years as own you kind of
figure out when spring break and then what makes sense
is it do you do it in the middle, like
a little bit on the front end of the back end,
or do you just go afterward? And I think in
this case, scenario made total sense because he wants the
most out of that, and we've got some students that

(53:23):
are here from transfer portal, so they've transferred in. You
want people as comfortable as they can be when you're
going to hit that practice field, so that you can
make them feel uncomfortable.

Speaker 1 (53:33):
That's a good way to put it exactly. It's been
fun to see the news and that's part of the world.
Just some really good names, people that have great experience,
that coach Smid is hired on to his staff and
then yeah, some pretty talented individuals joining the program on
both sides of the football. So looking forward to seeing
that team take the practice field when the time is

(53:53):
right in the next month or so. Quick B side, flip,
very quick, B side.

Speaker 2 (53:57):
Yeah, let's do it.

Speaker 1 (53:59):
Do you want to talk about this? Okay, let's let's
talk about this burst. Let's see fifteenth in the league
right now? Just the just the one win in the
last ever money yep. And then so three wins out
of thirteen since November the first ye you're you're coming

(54:21):
off of three to two defeat to Everton of all teams.
I think Everton had I think fifteen goals all season
going into that match and they had three in the
first half.

Speaker 2 (54:30):
Ye your thoughts, Bill, Well, just reminder that things can
get worse. We have Lester at home on Sunday, Boy,
you can have.

Speaker 1 (54:42):
That could happen. I just can't see it. I just
there's got to be that would be the that would
be the they dear poor Lester. Lester's just they're gonna
go down. I think the one saving grace is that
you've got four teams beneath you who are very very
very very bad and Lester or one of them, and

(55:04):
stranger things have happened. But I don't think you're gonna
get relegated. I mean, if you want to look at
the positive. And the other crazy thing is so you,
by the way, before Lester, you do have a Europa
League match mid week against the Hoffenheim team that is
kind of like the Spurs of Germany right now, that
is just having an awful season. You're in great shape
to qualify for the knockout stages, and if you win
that game against Hoffenheim, you're gonna get a bye if

(55:26):
you can believe that, into the next round. So you
might have this weird dichotomy of one team in the
league that looks like it's gonna be in a relegation
fight and another that might play themselves into a Champions
League spot if they win that competition at least you can.
And you have this other and care about cup. You
got a one nothing lead in the semi finals over Liverpool.

(55:48):
It's weird. You've been a good cup team this season.
There's that.

Speaker 2 (55:53):
So we are having a similar type of not well,
I shouldn't say similar because Dortmun's really struggling in the
Bundesliga too. And uh but but as Brad Schlossman told
me on Saturday or Friday that they're they're out of
every cup except for the Champions League at this point.
So yeah, so yeah, I you know, injuries have been

(56:17):
really hard on them this year. On the Spurs, they're
hard on everyone, but it's been unbelievable really. And then
then I guess they were practicing the day before and
their striker, you know, tweaked the knee and he's out
four to six and you know, Brendan Johnson. They're just
at a point where the January transfer window is never

(56:40):
a great window because there's just there. People are gonna
hold you up. I mean they're gonna if they know
you need something, you're gonna pay four x and so
so that's kind of happening. It's almost just a collision
of craziness that has occurred. I agree with you, like
the actually standings like beat Lester get your three points

(57:03):
every once in a while, hang around wherever it's going
to be. It'll be a disaster as far as they're concerned,
as far as you know what's happening. But you're almost
weirdly going to have to go all in on the
other competitions. So if you're going to go play make
it up, go to Man City. I mean, who seems
to be playing a little bit better right now, you

(57:25):
might might end up deciding to figure on playing less
than at that point in time. So it's just really odd.
And yeah, I still I still like Ange, I really do,
and I hope that we can weather the storm. And
but I think he's got to go with some young guys.

(57:46):
I really do, And you know, those guys have been
playing pretty well. But he's got to come together with
what makes sense for him formation wise. I don't know
what he did yesterday that was that formation. It was
the first time we've played three in the back all year.

Speaker 1 (58:00):
It was an odd decision. He also again though he's
missing his entire defense. I think eleven first team players
outs literally, I mean, there's just there's not a lot
of options. So it felt like maybe this gives us
the best chance based on you know, that we have available,
and obviously it did not in the ends despite a
nice comeback. But yeah, like you said, they're in a
weird spot where you're almost gonna have to give up

(58:22):
on the league and you go all in and try
and win a trophy, and it will be it will
be interesting to see. Daniel Levy, the chairman, is basically said,
we're not gonna sack this man like this is this
is our manager at least for the rest of the season.
That's more or less been the message from on high.
It might be a little bit of an Eric Tenhawks
situation with Man United, where it's possible that Ange could

(58:43):
win a cup. Like you're you're two wins away from
winning a trophy domestically, you've got a chance to give
yourself a great shot in Europe as well. You could
finish like fourteenth or fifteenth or sixteenth in the league.
But when a trophy, and that'd be the first for
Spurs in decades, right, Like when was the last time
they won a trophy?

Speaker 2 (59:02):
Two thousand and eight.

Speaker 1 (59:03):
Okay, so it's not been that long, but yes, but
a long time.

Speaker 2 (59:06):
So sixteen sixteen years years, Yeah, and I would say
that that's right that's right, and the interesting piece helped
me with this one. Alex, you know this better than
I do. Is this the first year or the second
year where I think it's the first year where teams
will not slam out in the Champions League Champion Champions

(59:29):
League and come down to Europa right RCT.

Speaker 1 (59:31):
This is the first year of this new format yep.

Speaker 2 (59:34):
So just in general, the Europa League has gotten easier
in air quotes to win because when all those teams
came back in that was kind of a challenge.

Speaker 1 (59:47):
Yeah, in the old format, he would have the third
place teams and all of the the eight Champions League
groups would go right to the Europa League. The fourth
place teams would just be done. But yes, all the
teams that didn't make top two, who were a potentially
champions of their country, top four teams in the big divisions,
Now they would flood the Europa League and more often
than not, your champion in that competition would come from

(01:00:10):
those third place Champions League teams. And that's now no more.
That is not a thing anymore, the way that they've
restructured the format. So that's one of the reasons why
Spurs and Chelsea for that matter. I guess Chelsea's in
the Conference League, but that's why Spurs are favored still
to win that competition. If you can believe that there's
still one of the bookmaker's favorites to lift the European.

Speaker 2 (01:00:29):
TROPHYPS Spurs and Man You are having in the same year,
really more or less in some ways?

Speaker 1 (01:00:35):
In some ways yeah, in some ways, but man you
is a lot more fun. It's a lot more fun
as a neutral to watch them flame out and just
die a thousand deaths. And if Ruben Emer and their
new managers say we are literally the worst Manchester United
team in history. That was set at a press conference
this last week, that's where they're at.

Speaker 3 (01:00:53):
I love it.

Speaker 2 (01:00:54):
I watched it. Yeah, that was an interesting statement and
I'm not sure it's accurate. Butcher if he believes it,
but who knows.

Speaker 1 (01:01:03):
If he is coaching a team that you are the
athletic director in charge of, what is your response if
you have a coach go on the record and say
this is we're the worst. How do you deal with that?

Speaker 2 (01:01:17):
The only thing I didn't like about it is you know,
when you take a position at your position, period end
of story, you own everything that's occurred prior to it.
Someone once told me at one point, he said, you know,
when you when you take a new job, normally you
get three envelopes in your in your in your drawer,

(01:01:41):
and in many people the first one is blame your predecessor,
the second one is reorganized, the third one is get
three new envelopes. And at the end of the day,
I feel like he was in blame predecessor mode right now.
And I've always gone into the thought process the day

(01:02:01):
you accept the job, you accept everything with the job,
you accept everything that comes with it. And to say
that I'm not sure what that does for you, I
would not be excited for sure, because that I'm not
sure what that does for you. Other than to say
not me, not me, you know, and you know, but

(01:02:23):
we'll try to figure this thing out, I would say,
I don't know, I don't know how that And maybe
that's just the way his style is in a way
you go, but seems weird to me. It felt a
little conteish.

Speaker 1 (01:02:36):
Yeah, a little bit. He basically is washing his hands
of the situation, even though he's in charge, even though
he took the job, he's in charge of it. His job, job,
you're in charge of this, but it's like he's almost
preparing to be not a part of the club anymore.
Like you're almost like laying the foundation for your next
job to say, I can't be held responsible for this mess.
Don't let this turn us my reputation. So please remember

(01:02:58):
this was a dumpster fire before I got here, and
there's literally nothing I can do. It's weird. It's an
odd situation because he's a very well thought of young
manager I know.

Speaker 2 (01:03:07):
But he literally was offered the position. He accepted it,
so you accept everything along with it. Yeah, that's weird.
Whereas I think Anne just trying to be respectful. I
do believe that Spurs are trying to get some players
right now. How many people are really available during this window,
you know what I mean? It's always got to be
ones that are they need to change the scenery.

Speaker 1 (01:03:28):
Something, something that happens. Yeah, this is the time when
you buy either the damaged goods of another club, someone
that just needs a fresh start, or it's a club
that is changing their ambitions for the season and sees
an opportunity maybe to cash in. Like you're not getting
you're not getting players that are in great form. Really,

(01:03:49):
I mean very very rarely does that happen that you
get someone that is like an exciting talent that's playing
great football and you can snatch them at January because
those clubs don't want to lose those players mid season.
It makes perfect sense. Why would you want to trade
somebody who's playing, who's your best player on a team
and you need them to keep you up or to
keep you give you a chance to qualify for Europe.

(01:04:10):
That's why they say January is is a it's not
a buyer's window. Let's just say that.

Speaker 2 (01:04:15):
So, so you know what, I like everything else. I
enjoy the journey and it sounds crazy and I you know,
it would be nice to win every game and have
a clean sheet and do it. Just that's just not
where we are. So you know what, you kind of
forge And it's on to Hoffenheim.

Speaker 1 (01:04:41):
Lads were on to Hoffenheim.

Speaker 2 (01:04:42):
That is that is quote someone once said, on to Cincinnati,
it's on to Hoffenheimsenheim.

Speaker 1 (01:04:48):
I love it, good well, best of luck to you.
I unlike unlike watching Man United have the struggles they have,
Like I, I take no great joy in seeing Spurs
lose like this, Like They're such a likable club, and
Andree is a very likable man, and you just wish
better for them, not just because not just because I
like you as well and want you to have joy
in your life. But you'll be better the suffering Bill.
It'll make it all the more sweeter, right when you

(01:05:09):
finally get a chance to taste that sweet Europa League glory,
that sweet Carabal victory. I got, Challas, It'll be right.

Speaker 2 (01:05:16):
I was talking, I was talking to my son yesterday,
and and truly we know the answer, We really do
know the answer. But you know, with all these different competitions,
it would make sense that the Carabou Cup was only
the championship League one in League two because if you
have the FA Cup, it really is a duplicative event

(01:05:38):
in some ways. And so at the end of the day,
I know they want the big names in there. I
get it, I completely get it. But it would be
an awesome It really would, in my opinion, it be
an awesome tournament for those three leagues to be all
in on something.

Speaker 1 (01:05:54):
This is the conference league idea like this that was
the genesis of that competition, Like what if reward the
small countries and the teams that never have a chance
of winning anything at the highest level to get a
chance to go and have this great European adventure and
win a trophy. You could say the same thing that
I think that's a brilliant idea, like take out the
Premier League teams. Just have it be the next three

(01:06:16):
levels or for whatever however you want to cap it,
and like that's I.

Speaker 2 (01:06:20):
Like the three levels. I'd like that to me, it's
three levels because then the f A Cup is different.
That's when all levels can come up.

Speaker 1 (01:06:28):
Yeah, I think that's it. You should you should send
that in, send that in. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (01:06:33):
But I mean as as I'm sitting there sad, I
mean sad weekend all the way around on a lot
of things, and and it was, you know, halftime was
not awesome yesterday. So I'm sitting to myself saying to myself,
and they're gonna you know, as we like to say,
the fixture congestion is real, and so it's not like
you're going to get players back more healthy. When they're playing,

(01:06:55):
you can only have a chance to lose them, right
This is such his life right now. And Red Sox,
of course, I thought I was all in on Tanner
Scott and of course I wake up and I see Yeah,
of course he's going to the Dodgers. Of course, along
with everybody else who isn't at the Dodgers. What's their
roster limit?

Speaker 1 (01:07:16):
That is a fantastic question. He can't possibly keep all
these people. But again, major League Baseball money, no objects.
Just keep bringing him in, why not, They'll find a.

Speaker 2 (01:07:25):
Spot perfect, perfect, Stay warm, Alex, stay warm.

Speaker 1 (01:07:29):
You too, Bill, do your best, do your best. Oh well,
that's gonna do it. For today's episode of the Bill
Shafs Podcast, big thanks to Art molloy for taking some
time in Chatti, University of North Dakota Academics and whatever,
all the great things that are happening around campus. Bill
is always thanks to you for sharing your insight. We
appreciate you.

Speaker 2 (01:07:47):
Absolutely. We'll see each other in another couple of weeks about.

Speaker 3 (01:07:49):
That, Yeah, we will.

Speaker 1 (01:07:50):
I like that.

Speaker 3 (01:07:51):
I like that. Good.

Speaker 1 (01:07:51):
Well on behalf of Art and Bill, Paul Rawlson, Alex
doctor Johnson, and the rest of our crew. I'm Alex
Sander saying thank you for listening. Yes, you stay warm
out there this ridiculous cold snap. We'll talk to you
very soon.

Speaker 2 (01:08:03):
Thanks