MNST: The Vikings sure could use a QB like San Darnold

Summary

Garage Logic – MNST: The Vikings sure could use a QB like Sam Darnold

Host: Joe Soucheray ("The Mayor")
Network: Gamut Podcast Network
Date: January 27, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this episode of Garage Logic, the crew gathers to reflect on the recent NFL playoff games, debate the Minnesota Vikings' quarterback search, reminisce about sports and music legends, and take detours into hockey, youth sports tournaments, and the absurdities of college athletics. Their trademark blend of humor, skepticism, and storytelling brings a Minnesota perspective to big league sports and small-town logic.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Super Bowl & NFL Quarterback Talk

• Seahawks' Recent Super Bowl Run
  The crew discusses Seattle's Super Bowl history. Pat recalls Mike Holmgren and Pete Carroll’s previous appearances, with John Randall remembering the Rolling Stones' halftime show at Ford Field.
  “I remember the Stones from that Super Bowl. I don’t remember who played.” — Joe (02:00)

  • Recollection and banter about the Stones’ age and ability to still perform.

• Contrast in Playoff Games
  The playoff games offered very different excitement levels, with Denver’s tough defense and criticism of Drake May and a misfiring Steadman.
  “That Steadman guy goes right down the field, completes a pass, and didn’t urinate a drop the rest of the game.” — Pat (03:35)

• Sam Darnold: The Quarterback the Vikings Need?
  The conversation laments the Vikings’ lack of a QB like Sam Darnold, who’s shined in Seattle after leaving Minnesota.
  “Sam was here last year, won 14 games.” — Joe (04:29)
  “Sam has had to set a record, hasn’t he? He’s won 30 games in two years.” — Pat (04:32)
  Darnold’s big contract (“three years, $100 million”) and the possibility of a further extension if he wins the Super Bowl.

• Vikings QB Future: Hopes & Rumors

  • Discussion of Joe Burrow rumors and what it would cost to get him:
    “They’re gonna have to give up a ton to get him.” — Unnamed (15:05)
  • Realism returns: Vikings will probably be starting with JJ Granard again. “So you very well could be starting the season with JJ again.” — Joe (15:17)

• NFL Coaching & Contracts
  Amusement at the absurd money in coaching contracts, with Harbaugh getting “five years and $100 million guaranteed” from the Giants.

  • Discussion of coach Sean Payton’s eccentricities and history.

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2. Unfiltered Sports Talk, Minnesota-Style

• Buffalo, Ownership, and the Old Days
  Tangents on Bills owners—past and present—delivered with wry nostalgia.

  • “Ralph Wilson used to own the Bills.” — Joe (09:09)
  • Pat recalls personal stories with old sportswriter friends and team execs.

• College Football Absurdities & NIL
  The state of college football is lampooned: transfers, NIL (Name, Image, Likeness), and players with long tenures. “He had 17 players from [James Madison] and he went 11 and one. … He’s a 4:30 in the morning guy but he gets his assistants … But he’s not a hands on during practice kind of guy.” — Pat on Indiana coach (11:03)

  • Mark Cuban’s $5 million NIL donation to Indiana.
  • Ridicule of Miami QB Carson Beck living like a celebrity, “didn’t go to school … lived in a condo on the beach with the adult film star girlfriend.” — Joe (12:18)
  • On NCAA rule-bending: long eligibility by stacking redshirts and COVID years.

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3. Local Youth Sports & Community

• The ‘Cake Eater Classic’
  Recounting the epic Edina youth basketball/hockey tournament:

  • 144 teams at $515 per team: "just shy of 75 grand just on entrance fees.” — Unnamed Sports Commentator (19:12)
  • Banter about long days in gyms, bad air quality, and generational shifts in youth sports commitment.

• Parental Perspective

  • “Now that I got a new knee, maybe I’ll be able to pop out of that little cloth [chair].”— Pat (21:38)

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4. Hockey and Olympic Nostalgia

• Wild’s Quinn Hughes Impresses Locals

  • “Everybody I know who has finally had a chance to sit down and watch a complete wild game is terribly impressed with Quinn Hughes.” — Joe (16:15)
  • Hughes’ rare skill, compared favorably to its history: “Didn’t control the puck like this guy does.” — Pat (17:09)

• Minnesota Hockey Day & Weather Memories

  • Tales of brutal cold, hockey outdoors, and past community rinks.
  • “I texted out Micheletti … he said, I would have been there helping Dom Grillo scrape the rink with the kids … 200 kids. You used to have six rinks, six public rinks in Hibbing.” — Pat (36:54)

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5. Classic Garage Logic Banter

• Super Bowl Location & Trivia
  Playful discussion about Super Bowls in San Francisco, the old Stanford stadium, and brutal wind chills in Duluth:
  “That night was 110 below in the old windchill.” — Pat (24:25)

• Pop Culture: TV & Movies

  • Recommendations for “Night Manager”:
    “Very good. The wife’s very, you know, very much into it.” — Pat (27:29)
  • Dismissals of “Yellowstone” and Costner movies, with comedic disdain for “Message in a Bottle.”

• Olympic Sports
  Reminiscing about legendary skiers like Franz Klammer and the excitement of downhill.

  • “They throw themselves down a straight down road. … I’ve been addicted to it since Franz Klammer.” — Pat (30:24, 30:31)
  • Short track speed skating wipeouts: “That’s kind of watch them wipe out.” — Joe (33:01)

• Figure Skating Scandals
  Extended riff on Tanya Harding/Nancy Kerrigan, with shout-outs to “I, Tonya” and Alison Janney.

  • “Everybody in the room said Tanya.” — Pat (33:50)
  • “She got the air tube going in. She’s a chain smoker … really a good movie.” — Pat (35:12)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Darnold’s Unlikely Success:
  “He’s worth more than that after this performance.” — Unnamed (04:57)

• On Modern College Football: “We’ve come a long way since the green Oldsmobile leaving the parking lot at the Biermann building was a violation. Unbelievable.” — Pat (12:53)

• On Roster Eligibility Math:
  “I don’t know how you get to seven, Joe. I know you got the COVID and then you got the…” — Pat (14:14)

• On Youth Sports Economics:
  “Those guys brought in just shy of 75 grand just on entrance fees.” — Unnamed (19:12)

• On Surviving the Bleachers:
  "Now that I got a new knee, maybe I’ll be able to pop out of that little cloth [chair].” — Pat (21:38)

• On Classic Scandals:
  “Everybody in the room said Tanya.” — Pat (33:50)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Super Bowl & Playoff Conversations: 01:08–07:00
• Sam Darnold & Vikings QB Discussion: 04:08–07:00, 15:00–16:00
• College Football & NIL: 10:45–14:47
• Youth Sports Tournament Math: 17:48–19:12
• Quinn Hughes & Wild Talk: 16:07–17:29
• Olympic Sports & Downhill Memories: 29:34–31:22
• Figure Skating Scandal/Nancy & Tonya: 33:13–35:25
• Pop Culture TV/Movie Opinions: 26:28–28:17
• Classic Minnesota Hockey Day: 35:51–37:47

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Final Thoughts

The episode embodies Garage Logic: part sports bar debate, part small-town gossip, all filtered through Joe and Pat’s world-weary Minnesota logic. There’s skepticism for hype, reverence for hands-on experience, and a belief that common sense usually wins—except maybe in NFL front offices.

Transcript

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[Joe]

You know, I can pretty much remember World Series teams.

[Pat]

Yes.

[Joe]

I can't. I didn't. I forgot completely that Seattle's been in the super bowl four times.

[Pat]

This is the fourth time. And first time was with Holmgren and then two with Pete Carroll, right?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Yep.

[Pat]

Back to back.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Yeah. They lost at Ford Field to Pittsburgh.

[Pat]

With Holmgren and McCarthy. Yeah. No, with Homegrown. Yeah. That was a good guy. Covered that game. That was when the Rolling Stones were the halftime show.

[Joe]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat]

That. At that. They only did about four songs, but the Rolling Stones were the halftime show.

[Joe]

You pronounce it Rolling Stones.

[Pat]

Yes.

[Joe]

Rolling Stones.

[Pat]

Rolling. What's. You said I put the emphasis on the wrong.

[Joe]

Well, I don't know. It's just a way to say it. I suppose you could say it that way. The Rolling Stones.

[Pat]

The Rolling Stones. Yes.

[Joe]

See, I don't remember. I remember the Stones from that Super Bowl. I don't remember who played.

[Pat]

You know what I do? About once every three days when I'm going to bed at night or getting ready to roll out, I tell Alexa to play Dead Flowers. I love Dead Flowers. That's my favorite Stone song of all time.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

I thought it was Beast of Burden.

[Pat]

Well, I like that, too. Dead Flowers is. You know.

[Joe]

Have you ever seen them? Aside from Ford Field?

[Pat]

Not. Nope. So that's the only time I saw him. I haven't gone to any of the Shows here.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

So what's Andy up to?

[Joe]

Come back one about 20.

[Pat]

Is it really? Are they done yet? Are they coming back?

[Joe]

They wanted to go back out and Keith said, I can't.

[Pat]

Yeah, he's. He's done there. I don't know if he get down. He get down on that one knee, he won't be able to get back up.

[Joe]

Well, he's sucking oxygen when he does that.

[Pat]

Yeah, it's. How old is. Who's the oldest? Keith.

[Joe]

Keith and Mick are both in their 80s.

[Pat]

Two or three. God Almighty. It's unbelievable that they.

[Joe]

Charlie died at 80 and that was. He'd be 85.

[Pat]

Yeah. God, it's unbelievable how that, you know, they're like. They're like golfers, man. They can't give it up.

[Joe]

So what'd you think of the two games yesterday?

[Pat]

I thought there was quite a contrast in excitement level. The. I only saw the second half of the first one, but I didn't miss anything. It was awful.

[Joe]

Well, you caught it when it started snowing.

[Pat]

Yeah. Right.

[Joe]

Gorgeous bluebird day in the first half.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Almost as if there were two different times of the year that that game was played.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Yeah.

[Pat]

And that Steadman guy goes right down the field, completes a pass and didn't urinate a drop the rest of the game. Right. He was awful the rest of the game. So the rest of the day. And I, you know, I'm supposed to love Drake May. The two playoff games they won. I didn't like him. I didn't see that much.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

I'll cut him some slack because Denver's got a hellacious defense.

[Joe]

I have nobody to root for in this Super Bowl. I don't really care either way.

[Pat]

Root for Sam.

[Joe]

Yeah, I guess I could go with Sam.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

I can root for Sam.

[Pat]

I heard a story that a local journalist was attempting to do a Sam might go to the super bowl story. He's looking for people.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Pat]

And last year's coach of. Sam declined to comment.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Really?

[Pat]

Yes, he's.

[Joe]

Sam was here last year, won 14 games.

[Pat]

Yeah. Sam has had to set a record, hasn't he? He's won 30 games in two years.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Boy, that's a good point, you know? Yeah, you're right.

[Pat]

14. 14 and then two playoff games. He didn't win a playoff game here.

[Joe]

But Seattle paid him the big money. Right. He got a huge. Well, I mean, he got a nice pay.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Three year, 100 million, something like that.

[Pat]

Did he get that much?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Something like that.

[Joe]

He's worth more than that after this performance.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Well, someone had Said they. They have to give him a contract extension if they end up winning the damn thing. You would think, because.

[Pat]

Yeah, I would. I would think so. He's supposedly had the pulled side muscle, too, yesterday and stuff. I was thinking, you know what, they might have given him a little injection.

[Joe]

Well, speaking of that, I thought they were going to shoot Bo Dix up with. What's his name? Bo Dix, Whatever the hell.

[Pat]

Isn't that a break?

[Joe]

Yeah, I thought they're gonna. There was some intimation that he might have been shot up with some stuff, but they didn't. He had.

[Pat]

No. No.

[Joe]

Which gave me some hope for humanity that they didn't shoot him full of chemicals.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Because if anybody's doing that, I could see Sean Payton pulling that up.

[Joe]

Oh, me too. I don't like him.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

I don't either.

[Pat]

I tell you what, though, He's a coach, man. He's a coach. He's. You know, this team is. What are. They won. They won four last year. Right there. Four or five.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Are you talking about Denver?

[Pat]

Denver?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

No, Denver was a playoff team last year.

[Pat]

That's right. Yeah. But like two years ago, three years ago, he said they had Russell Wilson, you know, and still was making huge money. And was it three years ago he said, russell can't play anymore. We're gonna eat the 50 million and get rid of them. And he was absolutely right about them. So he's. He's. He's a jackass, though, man. He's a. My favorite story is the one that they're having at a combine in Indianapolis, and they all go to this restaurant there that's this big steakhouse, the most expensive steakhouse in town. And he went in there and was it Parcells or somebody? Got like a $300 bottle of wine and put it on Parcell's tab or something like that.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Well, you know my running with him, Right. So Super Bowl's here, and Mike. And Mike, when we were still on 1500 ESPN, were doing their morning shows down at the Mall of America at the Hard Rock. And when it was at the Mall of America. Yeah, Hard Rock at the Mall of America. And so each day one of us went down there to kind of get him in and out, pump up the crowd. So I did it a day. Rookie did it a day. Manny, Corey Ruffs, we all took a day to do this for Mike and Mike. And I was there. I think it was Thursday, and Sean Payton was a guest. Now, keep in mind, this is a couple weeks after the Minneapolis Miracle. And so your job Is all right, ladies and gentlemen, coming up, we're gonna have whoever. And I said, we have to introduce our next guest. Only one way we know. So we started the skull chant, and that guy glared at me as if. Oh, he gave me the side eye big time as he walked out to the stage. He didn't. He didn't think that was too funny.

[Joe]

Why was he in town just for the hell of it?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Well, they have, you know, six guests a day, and he just happened to.

[Pat]

Be one of them, so I wonder why he wasn't. But do the losers. Do coaches just routinely come in? I don't know, but I guess they.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Would have lost in the divisional round, so maybe he was just doing media or whatnot, because. Yeah, I'm not exactly sure.

[Pat]

Well, a lot of it could be PR appearances.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

They're touting this thing. Yeah, exactly. I think that's exactly what it was, Pat.

[Pat]

You know, as much money as they're making, coaches, as a. As a routine, want to make more, they figure out a way to make more.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Did you see speaking of that, what the Giants Gave Harbaugh?

[Pat]

No.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Five years and $100 million guaranteed.

[Pat]

Wow.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

To coach.

[Pat]

That is up the ante for future coaches. Well, I didn't.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Yeah.

[Pat]

What was. Miami was his other option?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Yes, I believe so.

[Joe]

Will Josh Allen stay with Buffalo?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Well, he's going to have to. He's under contract. They just gave him a huge deal last year.

[Joe]

Wouldn't Harbaugh get out of the 100 million if Buffalo would have hired him? Everybody wants to coach, Alan.

[Pat]

Yes.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Well, yeah, but after that press conference with the Bills dopey owner, I don't think any coach is going to want to go. He threw everybody else under the bus except his general manager.

[Pat]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Oh, it was awful.

[Pat]

Kind of a weenie.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Yeah. Brandon Bean.

[Pat]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Joe]

Ralph Wilson used to own the Bills.

[John Randall]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat]

Ralph Wilson.

[Joe]

Is this a current family member of Ralph Wilson?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

No, no.

[Pat]

Completely different.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

No.

[Pat]

Harry Felser was a buddy of mine. He's a football writer there for years, and he's dead now. But. But he and Ralph, you know, he and Ralph had a lot of. Ralph became like the whipping guy. Ralph, you know, didn't live. He lived in. Where. He only came to Buffalo, like, on Sundays. That's like Wolf or something. Yeah, but he was not around. Ralph was like. I can't remember where he made his money, but he owned them forever.

[Joe]

Long time I would've got. You got Christmas cards from.

[Pat]

I did.

[Joe]

I got Christmas cards from Ralph Wilson.

[Pat]

Wow.

[Joe]

They were really Personal too. Oh sure, some stamp on there.

[Pat]

I told you when I was standing in the end zone with Feller at the end of a Thursday night Viking Buffalo game was when they started doing Thursday night football. Monday night football on Thursday. Bud went nuts about the officials that night. He was mad at the officials. But Feller and I were standing, just standing there and the sky. Felzer, you bleep blee. You know they're yelling, screaming at Felser, profanities. And he said sir, sir, could I have a minute to tell you to go believe yourself? That was a pretty good retort.

[Joe]

We haven't met since Indiana won the title.

[Pat]

No, that was man alive. I tell you. I know he's got Cuban's money this year, but last he only had eight of the players are, you know, like come from the Cuban box.

[Joe]

How can you take college football seriously?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

It's hard.

[Pat]

But last year, Joe, most of his transfers were from James Madison, which was his FC lower level team. He had 17 players from there and he went 11 and one. Yeah, so I think this guy can really organize. You know the legend is he's a 4:30 in the morning guy but he gets his assistance. You coach defense, you coach offense, you do that and he sits there and watches. And then after practice, at night he meets, you know, after practice he meets him and tells him what they did wrong. But he's not a hands on during practice kind of guy. But he's. The thing about him is he's. His staff has pretty much stayed the same from when he was in fc.

[Joe]

But how can Indiana compete with. With nil money. Who are they going to get?

[Pat]

Cuban. Still Cuban gave him 5 million I think annually.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Yeah, and I think there's a. There's another big.

[Pat]

The Cuban only did that after they.

[Joe]

Won and said hey, who was the Miami quarterback?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Carson Beck.

[Joe]

He lit. He didn't go to school.

[Pat]

No, he did. Last two years he didn't go to school.

[Joe]

Lived in a condo on the beach.

[Pat]

Yes.

[Joe]

With the luxurious adult film star girlfriend.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

He had a good couple of months.

[Joe]

Okay, but what the hell, where's the sky Uma here.

[Pat]

I mean what I didn't know is. Does he. He has to be enrolled somehow. I don't know.

[Joe]

I. At this point, what difference would it make?

[Pat]

They probably said what classes are you taking? And he said no, no, I don't go to school.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

But if you have a degree, does it matter if you've.

[Joe]

Does he have one?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

I think he said he graduated, gotta play.

[Joe]

He's 90 years old. He'd been in school for eight years.

[Pat]

Seven years. Seven years. Seven years. I called him Gramps, but, yeah, it's. We've come a long way since the green Oldsmobile leaving the parking lot at the Biermann building was a violation. Unbelievable.

[Joe]

Mike Rozier, was he the runner for Nebraska?

[Pat]

You're the guy that was.

[Joe]

Somebody gave him a Firebird.

[Pat]

I thought it was a rib, whatever. You said. The curb.

[Joe]

But I said, I gotta talk to you. And he said, all right, you meet me on this side of the building. He had to go out and get in the car, driving around to that side of the building, park it, and come in that door because he has wheels.

[Pat]

Didn't he have the curb feeler? Oh, yeah.

[Joe]

There were giant curb feelers on it.

[Pat]

He could have been driving down Sunset Boulevard with his lady.

[Joe]

Will. Will Fernandez. Is he a senior?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

He's already declared for the draft.

[Joe]

Yeah, he has declared for the draft. What about. What about the Miami kid?

[Pat]

Well, he. Obviously.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Yeah.

[Pat]

Seven years, but yeah, he. He lost the game. And that pass. What's he throwing to that guy?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Yeah, that wasn't good. He. He might get drafted, but he doesn't have a promising NFL future, I don't think.

[Pat]

But how long was. Who. Where was he before Georgia? He was. He had. He was three places, but I can't remember.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Oklahoma.

[Pat]

I don't know where the hell he was. I. He was someplace else, but. Yeah, I don't know. I don't know how you get to seven, Joe. I know you got. You got the COVID and then you got the.

[Joe]

I don't get it.

[Pat]

Then you got the COVID and then. So you get that year, and then you have the red shirt year.

[Joe]

That's two.

[Pat]

If you don't play four games now.

[Joe]

You'Re at six years. That's six.

[Pat]

I don't know where you get the seventh.

[Joe]

Neither do I, Pat.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

I only have him as. He started as a freshman, where he redshirted in 2020 at Georgia.

[Pat]

Okay.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

I only have him at two places at Queensland.

[Pat]

He only went to Miami for the last year.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Just this year. Really?

[Pat]

Yes, Just this year for six years?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Yep. 2020 through 2025. And then played for Miami this past season.

[Joe]

So what are the Vikings going to do? Are the Joe Burrow stories real?

[Pat]

That'd be great, but I can't. I don't know.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

They're gonna have to give up a ton to get him.

[Pat]

Yeah, I don't think JJ Granard and two number ones gets her done. No, no, no, no. You get you know, you maybe have to give up. I know.

[Joe]

So you very well could be starting the season with JJ again.

[Pat]

Oh, yeah, yeah, That's.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

So we got that going for us.

[Joe]

He's an excitable boy.

[Pat]

They say they're gonna bring competition in, so.

[Joe]

Well, they want a competitive room.

[Pat]

Oh, you got to have a room.

[Joe]

Like that's pre snap type stuff.

[Pat]

Yeah, yeah.

[Joe]

See, the room is one thing where you learn how completely different.

[Pat]

You learn how to. Yeah, the you. I guess in the room. It's hard to learn the pre snap. That's right.

[Joe]

You got to be out there.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Wasn't that Koc's big thing after one of those.

[Pat]

Like.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

He was really good pre snap. Post snap was an issue.

[Joe]

Post snap. We had some issues.

[Pat]

Throw. Throw the ball. Throw the ball. Everything else, man. He could count, you know, he could go say, hut, hut. He was really good, Sam. Yes.

[Joe]

Once it was snapped. We have some talking to do.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

We had some problems.

[Pat]

Oh, God.

[Joe]

Everybody I know who has finally had a chance to sit down and watch a complete wild game is terribly impressed with Quinn Hughes.

[Pat]

That guy can play.

[Joe]

He might be the top. One of the top five players in the league.

[Pat]

Well, he's. I think not.

[Joe]

Might. He is.

[Pat]

I think they picked six that were on the Olympic team without, you know, going through the whole thing. And he was one of the six. I think he was one of the six. So that.

[Joe]

And they lost to evil Florida the other night, five to four.

[Pat]

Four to three, I believe in regulation.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

No, it was overtime.

[Pat]

It was overtime in Florida.

[Joe]

The game was overtime.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Yep. Because I was William and I betwixt.

[Pat]

The pipes for that one. Wally again.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

No, that was the Gus Bus.

[Pat]

I believe they've been giving up a few goals.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Florida's still pretty good, though.

[Joe]

I've only a middling year.

[Pat]

I've only seen him in person. Watch. Joe. It ain't anything like I've seen. Even with Hartzberg back a hundred years ago. Didn't control the puck like this guy does.

[Joe]

He's got his own.

[Pat]

He's very tired.

[Joe]

He can do stuff.

[Pat]

And his two brothers who were in the league.

[Joe]

Right.

[Pat]

You think mom and dad had to go some hockey when they were.

[Joe]

They wore out some minivans.

[Pat]

Yes, they did.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Speaking of that. So I was going to bring this up with you guys. Will the Thrill had a basketball tournament in Edina.

[Pat]

Okay.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

The Cake Eater Classic, we like to call it. Yeah.

[Pat]

So we'll basketball because there's a. My granddaughter played a couple of times in the Cake Eater Classic. Hockey. Hockey.

[Joe]

Sure.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Okay, so we did the couple of the dads and I did the math, right? This is a big deal. They have it.

[Joe]

Is that what they call it? The Cake Eater Classic?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

That's what they call it.

[Pat]

Fun of their reputation.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

So we did the math because we were at Edina high school from 10 in the morning till 9:45 at night on Saturday because we spaced out the three games. At least we didn't have to come back.

[Pat]

But anyway, I was at the Kate Eager Classic when she was 12 years old and we beat a Dinah seven to nothing. I don't know what happened. Now we're not. We're not that powerhouse.

[Joe]

What year is she in school?

[Pat]

She's a junior.

[Joe]

She's on a varsity Woodbury. She's.

[Pat]

Bouncing around. All right, she's there. They. They got a couple of phenoms that come up that soft.

[Joe]

You did the math.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

So we did the math, couple of dads and I. There was 144 team in this tournament.

[Pat]

Well, how many.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

So between high school, middle school and the community center, two days, right? Saturday and Sunday, 144 at $515 a.

[Joe]

Pop per team had to pay that fee.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Those guys brought in just shy of 75 grand just on entrance fees.

[Pat]

But how. How can you do that? And only. Well, what. There's two or three courts at.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pat]

So at one of the building. So 3. What are they going on?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

The high school has the old gym, the old varsity court and the new varsity court. And each one of those has three.

[Pat]

Courts and six games going on.

[John Randall]

And then.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

So basically we were thinking, well, the concessions easily covered all of the referee expenses.

[Pat]

Where do they get refs though? I mean, with that many.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

There's. I believe there's all sanctioned because they're all. They were all wearing the. But here was the neat thing.

[Pat]

Do your team stink?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Will's team's got some challenges.

[Bernie Lauer]

School ball.

[Joe]

School ball.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

We're doing pretty good because we're facing our kind of competition. Travel ball is a bigger challenge because, you know, we're playing some athletes, you know, us against East View.

[Pat]

It didn't do it for.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

But so Saturday at about 5ish. Leland's team. Leland's not playing right now, but Leland's team was also playing and Ant showed up to watch his nephew.

[Pat]

Oh, really? And you should have seen the place went nuts.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

The swarm of kids that went. All of a sudden went to crumbling.

[Pat]

This was when.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

This was Saturday at around 6, 7 o'.

[Joe]

Clock. Somewhere in there, their game was canceled.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Because they're canceled. Yeah, their game got canceled on Saturday.

[Pat]

Then their performance was canceled Sunday.

[Joe]

They were that five in a row now.

[Pat]

Lost five in a row. They got 85 points.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

And Golden State just lost Jimmy Butler.

[Pat]

Yes.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

So anyway, they had a very prosperous weekend in.

[John Randall]

He died.

[Pat]

Yeah.

[Joe]

I couldn't. I couldn't do 10 to 10.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

I had to do a little break. I had to do some breaks. I can't be in the gym the whole time.

[Joe]

That's that bad air.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Well, plus two, it was freezing outside. So you couldn't just go sit in the car?

[Pat]

You know, when I've gone to games with the grandkids, I don't do double headers. I mean, sometimes they're playing two games. You know, grandpa drives from Golden Valley to Egan. And like, I went to the baseball last year at Lakeville or someplace. Okay, yeah, we had a game. Now I'm going, they got another one.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

You guys have to do that one with them.

[Pat]

That's enough. Hour and 45 minutes. That's good. Hey, go get him.

[Joe]

Go get him.

[Pat]

Yeah, we're rooting for you, but, you know, there's only so much time. You can sit in a little chair, a little cloth chair. Now that I got a new knee, maybe I'll be able to pop out of that little cloth.

[Joe]

I saw a video of. Caleb Williams was at a Blackhawks game with.

[Pat]

People went nuts.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

He went with the Cubs guy.

[Joe]

I don't know who he's with.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Crow, Armstrong.

[Pat]

They were.

[Joe]

Well, he was leaving. He was walking up the steps. He looked like you walking up the steps.

[Pat]

Really? Oh, he's so beat up.

[Joe]

Beat up.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Really?

[Pat]

Yeah.

[Joe]

It looked like a pat with a new knee.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

No kidding.

[Pat]

Yep. He took some that last game. Playing at about five degrees.

[Joe]

Probably fine. He's just beat up.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

It was a long year.

[Pat]

He's a man. He's a specimen, though.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

If he figures that out, he's going to be trouble.

[Pat]

Yeah. Yeah, that.

[Joe]

That last pass he threw, he just wasn't in enough trouble.

[Pat]

That's right. Yeah, it was too. Too open. Dab. Too open. I don't know. This super bowl doesn't. I got the guy from the kid from fall to let him win another one, but I don't really care.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

I kind of like Vrabel, though. Variable's easy to root for.

[Joe]

At least it's outside.

[Pat]

I was so old, I was there when Vrabel was going to Super Bowls and covered a couple of them and he wasn't exactly a quote machine. If he didn't know You. He did.

[Joe]

This is where the 49ers play, isn't it?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Yes.

[Joe]

Yep.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

But he did have a great line. He said, I'm one of the. And this was not really like a sit down. It was more of like a. He must have been talking to another former player as a. Who's now a commentator. But he's just said, well, I have the greatest statistical receiving record in NFL history because you know what it is? You know, Belichick would put him in. He has 12 receptions and 12 touchdowns.

[Pat]

Really?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

His playing career.

[Pat]

They, you know, the first time they played it out there, remember they played it at Stanford. It was the only. You know, because the candlestick was.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Is that right?

[Pat]

Yeah, they didn't play it at Candlestick was such a piece of cake.

[Joe]

There's been a few in the Rose Bowl.

[Pat]

Oh, yes. But they. The first. First time they went to San Francisco, I'd been being sent to the super bowl with some regularity, but they decided not to send me that year and instead I went up to Duluth to watch a Gopher game on Friday night against umd when UMD was really good. And. And I wrote a whole column about. I've been sent to a town with a bridge and a hill and I'm very excited about this. And that night. Now, we don't do windchill the way we do do then, but that night was 110 below in the old windchill. Oh, and every. Remember when we used to. 110. 110.

[Joe]

You would have died.

[Pat]

It was. That's what they said it was. And that was one of those games. Remember when we used to go out and run the car?

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Pat]

On a cold night, we'd go out and run the car.

[Joe]

The North Star used to have a truck that would go around and start you.

[Pat]

But that UMD game, first period ends, we all go out and start our. Run our car for eight minutes, which doesn't really warm it up that much.

[Joe]

Was the convention center built in?

[Pat]

Yeah, it was. The new arena wasn't the curling club. It wasn't the curling club. Oh, God, the wind would blow through the wall. The curling club, they would have had to cancel it because the curling club. The temperature inside was the same as it was outside. And it was. The lake was where Reavers is. Right, the curling club. And then first time, that's where they were playing hockey. When I worked in Duluth, though, that was the last year of the curling club for the UMD hockey team. And. And I was in there a couple of nights On Sundays I played in it and Sundays. And you could hear the wind going through the wind.

[Joe]

Well, there was knotholes. The wind would just come through.

[Pat]

It was great. Old. What do you think it held? 1200, if that. Yeah, it was because they let them in. They were like one of the. They were playing the College. The Division 2. It wasn't called Division 2, but they were not playing big time college hockey until they got to let him in the WCHA with. And their. Their first superstar was Huffer Christensen. Yep. And they. They beat the Gophers like maybe the second year. And that was like a. When they opened the new arena, they played the Gophers and Huffer, I think got three or something. And Huffer just died about four or five years ago. But what a great name. Nickname for. Everybody on the Ranger was hovering, you know, just, hey, you see Huffer got three. You know, he was International Falls, wasn't he Huffer or was he Grand Rapids? I can't remember.

[Joe]

One of the two. Are you watching anything that's worth noting?

[Pat]

Just Night Manager.

[Joe]

Is that good?

[Pat]

Very good. All right. Yes. Hugh Laurie is the bad guy. And he's fantastic.

[Joe]

Does he manage a hotel?

[Pat]

No.

[Joe]

Okay.

[Pat]

The Night manager is a. I think the original name comes from that. It's a la car book. It's a la car book. I think the original name comes from when they planted him in a place as a night manager.

[Joe]

I see.

[Pat]

But he's. We got episode six of the second year coming up, and there's a very attractive young lady who's kind of playing both ends against the metal. I don't think she's gonna make her to the finish line here. It's really one. Like. I'm betting against her. All right. I'm betting against her. They're not afraid to kill anybody.

[Joe]

I'm gonna try. Night Manager.

[Pat]

Night Manager. It's two years. You got to start.

[Joe]

Well, I got to start with year one.

[Pat]

Yes, you do.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Start at the beginning.

[Joe]

I like.

[Pat]

Very good. The wife's very, you know, very much into it.

[Joe]

All right. That's a good recommendation.

[Pat]

That's a good one. Yes. What else? Landman is finally over. Thank God.

[Joe]

I like it. I know you don't.

[Pat]

Well, the last. The last episode this year was pretty good.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

I heard somebody make an interesting point about that show. Did you watch Yellowstone?

[Pat]

Yes.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

And that's, I think. Why?

[Joe]

Because they're very. Sheridan.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Yeah, they're very similar.

[Pat]

He's. You look now he's doing everything. He's. That's why we had to have these 12 minute scenes of the two good looking blondes with the old folks.

[Joe]

I don't know that that gets tedious.

[Pat]

I don't need a bunch.

[Joe]

I never saw Yellowstone.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Never did.

[Pat]

I never watched. Never watched. I don't like Costner.

[Joe]

I don't either.

[Pat]

I don't like.

[Joe]

I don't like cowboy movies.

[Pat]

I don't like cast.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

That old cowboy thing, you got that.

[Joe]

Whole cowboy thing going.

[Pat]

There's a movie with Costner. I ended up going. The wife and I went to it in a theater and it's a movie where a theater is a movie where somebody throws a bottle in the water and then the bottle shows up on shore and they make contact with each other. Well, how I ended up going to that piece of crap, I don't know. But it was really instructive because it was after what was his one. They won all the awards for the.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

The Message in a Bottle. Message in a Bottle, the 1999 romantic drama. Well, that was date night. That's why you went to go see this.

[Joe]

And.

[Pat]

But there's this person is standing on the beach and he turns around and it's Costner and the whole theater goes, you know, I knew he was in trouble then.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

The love interest was Robin Wright Penn.

[Pat]

Yes. Right. Yep, she was. Anyway, that. I didn't remember that. But yeah, I think I made it. I don't think I walked up, but I came close.

[Joe]

We're in the slow spot before the Olympics takes over.

[Pat]

Yep. Now, how much are you gonna watch?

[Joe]

Probably not a lot.

[Pat]

Watch a little hockey.

[Joe]

I will. Yeah.

[Pat]

Now I like downhill skiing. I think we have about six stations too. Right now you got to go various.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Yeah. Because you got the peacock. You got NBC.

[Pat]

It used to be you had to take the three hours of tape they showed you at night. That was it. Now you can watch everything alive. You just have to know where you're going. And all the. All the thing. But the downhill skiing, Joe, I like that having witnessed it and you watch it on tv, it's great. But if you stand there and see these guys, it's frightening by. It is terrifying.

[Joe]

Terrifying. It is. They throw themselves down a straight down road.

[Pat]

Basically they do throw themselves. And I've been addicted to it since Franz Klommer.

[Joe]

Yep.

[Pat]

Remember Austrian?

[Joe]

Yes.

[Pat]

In 72 or 76. And he has to. He has to have like this world record time to win the medal and he just goes boom.

[Joe]

He's just.

[Pat]

His skis never hit snow. He's just jumping and leaping. You can look that wow, look at the front.

[Joe]

I don't know how they do it.

[Pat]

I don't either. When we were in. I think it was Norway, and we were. You go up there and it's dark, you know, and when you're taking the bus up to the ski hill to cover the skiing, and you see where these lights go to, how high they are, it's like a two mile trip down the hill.

[Joe]

That's when you found the wolves.

[Pat]

Yes, the wolves.

[Joe]

With the wolves.

[Pat]

Yeah, when they. Yes, they. They had the railroad. They put in a railroad tracks so they could get people up to the ski place. And the wolves were. They were trying to keep the wolves off the tracks because they were blasting wolves left and right. So they. Or no, they're deer. They didn't want to deer. The caribou. The caribou or something. So they put wolfiehern on the track.

[Joe]

And you wonder where that came from.

[Pat]

Yeah, right. So my buddy Bob Ford from Philadelphia, I'm sitting next to him and he says, I gotta find out where they get this wolf word. Because we were imagining a beer party, you know, we had the wolves coming, and somebody's there collecting it. And he calls and he says, sir, and he explains, and the guys, you know, could talk a little English. And he says, you know, I said, where do you get. Where do you get the wolf year?

[Joe]

Right?

[Pat]

The guy pauses and says, blah, blah, blah. He says, from the wolves.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Well, that would explain it out there.

[Pat]

With a bucket, you know. Yeah, from the wolves.

[Joe]

Milan. Got the. The giant mountain. Milan, Italy.

[Pat]

I guess. Well, Cortina is hosting the curling. You know, the old.

[Joe]

Some of us.

[Pat]

Maybe the mountain skiing is up in Cortina, though. Maybe up there.

[Joe]

I like short track speed skating, too.

[Pat]

Do you?

[Joe]

That's kind of watch them wipe out that.

[Pat]

Yeah, yeah, it is.

[Joe]

I'm not a figure skating guy.

[Pat]

Yeah. No, but it's fun when you got controversy.

[Joe]

Well, yeah, but there's always controversy.

[Pat]

Yeah. When you got.

[Joe]

You got that dour Russian coach.

[Pat]

I mean, when it was, you know, Tanya and Nancy was. That was hard to beat, man.

[Joe]

Hitting each other with pipe.

[Pat]

It's. I've always.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

I still love every time that that thing comes on ESPN Classic or whatever the. What was it, a 30 for 30.

[Pat]

Yeah, I'm sure. Whenever. When she breaks her.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

No, because you have your appearance in there.

[Pat]

Oh, that's right.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

When Royce is going. I am skeptical of all of this. He's got the chin, he's got the ro. It's just great. I am skeptical of what she is.

[Pat]

Saying it was supposedly all of the Olympic. Every newspaper used to have their Olympic person. And we had Jay Weiner and Bill Glover was from Baltimore and those guys. And supposedly at the US Figure Skating trials where Nancy got hit with the pipe. Everybody in the room there, Christine Brennan and all these people said, nancy just got. They came in and said, nancy just got injured. Somebody hit her with a pipe. Everybody in the room said Tanya. They figured it was buddy it. Tanya's. Because she was the blue collar. Have you watched I. Tonya?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Oh, yeah.

[Pat]

That's a fabulous one of the guys.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

That's what I'm thinking of, isn't it?

[Pat]

Yeah. The great blue Collar.

[Joe]

Is it a documentary?

[Pat]

No, no. It was a great performance. And who plays her mom won the Academy Award? Her mom at supporting actress. Her mom is the blue collar mom.

[Joe]

The blue collar stage mom.

[Pat]

Oh, yeah, she was. She was fantastic. She won her. You know, she won at the Target center of the US Nationals, I think. I don't think Nancy.

[Joe]

What was your last name? Tanya what?

[Pat]

Harding.

[Joe]

Tanya Harding.

[Pat]

Yeah.

[Joe]

And Nancy Kerrigan.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Alison Janney.

[Pat]

Alison Janney, who plays the mom. She's got the. She got the air tube going in. She's a chain smoker. She's there at the thing and she was great. It's really a good movie.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

I forgot that Margot Robbie plays her.

[Pat]

Yeah, I forgot about that. What? Did I see something the other day with Margot in it?

[Joe]

I've never heard of this actress who played the mom.

[Pat]

Alison Janney.

[Joe]

Yeah.

[Pat]

Yeah. You've seen her. You just don't know. You just don't know her. You've seen her. She's really good. So, been an interesting week, huh?

[Joe]

I'll say.

[Pat]

That's. It's.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Talking about a hockey day.

[Pat]

Damn, this thing speaking. I felt sorry for Hastings. Oh, that's terrible timing.

[Joe]

They had a nice setup money. Beautiful.

[Pat]

Did those two teams from the minor leagues go ahead and play that?

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

I do believe they did.

[Joe]

Minnesota, the Iowa team against another team.

[Pat]

Yeah. And they apparently loved it. I read something about. They couldn't believe the ice and the bill in the. And what Hastings built out there for this thing. You know what. You know what Northern Minnesota mecca they're going to for the sports Hockey day next year? Rochester. Maple Grove.

[Joe]

Maple Grove.

[Pat]

Oh, boy. Yeah. So they've kind of stopped. I think maybe they. It's a little less arduous to move the equipment. So they stopped going up to the north.

[Joe]

It's been up north before.

[Pat]

Oh, God, a lot of times. Yeah. Yeah.

[Bernie Lauer]

Having.

[Pat]

It was 52 below and Hebbing the other day, and I texted out Micheletti to Pat Micheletti saying, you know, back in the home front, he said, I would have been there helping Dom Grillo scrape the rink with the kids. I looked up a column I wrote there, and I don't know what. I went up to see Dom in the. During February one year, he ran Chuck Grillo. You know, Chuck was the coach. This was his dad. He ran the rink up there for like, 50 years. And it was. You know, the day I was up there, it was 25 below, and they had hundred. They had 200 kids. You used to have six rinks, six public rinks in Hibbey. Then when it was, it was still going good in the 90s, but it's now empty.

[Joe]

Well, I got an appointment.

[Pat]

That's good. Yeah, I'm gonna. I'm gonna get the Uber to go home because I had to. The wife had to drop me off. We still only got one car and. And she wanted to go do some stuff and.

[Joe]

Why don't I give you a ride?

[Pat]

No, I'm fine. It's. It's only money, Joe. It's the only money. Yeah, no, I'll get. I'll get the Uber. All right. Up here to the Hubbard front yard.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

And why don't you take the light rail?

[Joe]

I would if it got out there to the estate. It doesn't go to these.

[Pat]

If I didn't have to wait for the train to show up in the current condition.

[Unnamed Sports Commentator]

Yeah, she is a little chilly.

[Pat]

A little nippy right now.

[Joe]

Well, that's true. You can wait for the Uber inside.

[Pat]

Yes, you can. Stand right here.

[Joe]

All right.

[Pat]

Yeah.

[Joe]

Thank you very much.

[Pat]

All righty. I do believe have a better week next week. What do you say?

[Joe]

Well, it can't get much worse.

[Pat]

And by the way, ladies and gentlemen, in this cold, lousy weather, if you want to get yourself that good SUV, used or new, the Valley Group of GM dealers, Cedar Avenue, straight out to 147th on Cedar. Take a right. It's right there. A lot of inventory right now. A lot of used SUVs, a lot of new ones, some 20, 24s that haven't been driven. Hardly 20, 25. Great prices, great factory rebates, low interest rates. And as always, at the Valley group of GM dealers, financial people who will make it happen for you. As I keep saying, I've bought my last seven, eight cars out there over about a 15 year period, and they've always made it work for me. Anyway, valley group of GM dealers. Check them out. 147th and Cedar.