Andy Classen

Summary

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Laugh With Me – Episode with Andy Classen

Podcast: Laugh With Me (iHeartPodcasts)
Host: Jeremy Odom
Guest: Andy Classen
Release Date: June 10, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode of "Laugh With Me" features Nebraska media mainstay Andy Classen, known for his multi-faceted roles in sports broadcasting, podcasting, and local media. Host Jeremy Odom and Andy embark on a lively, story-filled exploration of growing up in small towns, the energy of live broadcasting, adventures in youth sports, the rise of sports betting and prediction markets, and the ever-changing landscape of professional and college sports. Full of humor, insights, nostalgia, and rapid-fire banter, the episode is a must-listen for those who crave behind-the-scenes stories and sharp sports commentary.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Introducing Andy Classen: Nebraska Media Personality

Timestamps: 03:31–05:47

• Jeremy introduces Andy as a media staple: primary color commentator for Nebraska high school sports, co-host of "Where’s the Line?" (WTL), and founder/host for "Chasing the Dream", an outdoor/hunting show.
• Andy humbly clarifies he’s a color analyst, not the play-by-play guy, though he’s done both when needed (06:02).
• Memorable Moment: Andy recalls being forced into play-by-play when his broadcast partner’s tire blew out (“I don’t know what I’m doing... Okay, let’s go!”) [06:02].

2. The “Common Folk” Podcast – Giving Voice to the Everyday

Timestamps: 06:35–10:19

• Andy explains "Common Folk" started to represent the “silent majority” and features local entrepreneurs, organization leaders, and regular people (“the millionaire next door you never even knew”).
• Notable guests include Husker media personalities and advocates for veterans’ mental health.
• The importance of a balanced perspective: Andy highlights how co-host Morgan brings crucial, often-overlooked family-focused angles to discussions. “We need a woman’s voice... I’m so glad she agreed.” [08:58]
• “We’ve kind of hit this... knocking over dominoes... Now marketing types are reaching out to us to get their clients on Common Folk.” [10:09]

3. Sports Broadcasting Stories: Hustle, Energy, and Pandemic Disruptions

Timestamps: 10:27–19:33

• Jeremy and Andy recount connecting through the Nebraska sports betting show, “Where’s the Line?”—a project that started the week sports betting became legal in Nebraska.
• The duo swapped stories about the unique challenges and draining energy of live sports broadcasting—particularly during the 2020 COVID-19 restrictions, when Andy called up to six consecutive state basketball games a day (15:40–16:27).
• “After three days of continuous four and six games a day, I was beat... It feels like you’ve been working out in the field... but it’s all mental.” – Andy [15:40]
• Unique experience of calling games with limited crowds during the pandemic, noting family-heavy crowds and creative ways people got around restrictions [17:00–18:16].
• Jeremy reflects on how energy changes when broadcasting remotely versus being courtside: “The energy isn’t there.” [18:35]
• Andy loves to highlight in-game details, like the pep band, that are lost in remote broadcasts [18:41].

4. Small Town Rivalries, High School & Legion Baseball Hijinks

Timestamps: 19:02–35:47

• Both revisit painful (and often humorous) high school sports memories—missed plays and unfair calls that stick forever.
  • “I made the play... but the ref called it a catch. That stuff sticks with you.” – Andy [20:53]
• Why do negative moments stay with us? “We work so hard for the wins... the losses catch us by surprise.” – Jeremy [21:53]
• Baseball Story Highlight: Andy narrates a comical Legion League incident where he and his buddies tried to smuggle “road sodas” to a game, only for their mothers to discover the hidden stash mid-game.
  • “I see his mom running from the parking lot with the blanket over her shoulders... I put my glove over my mouth because I’m laughing, like, this is so bad.” – Andy [27:57]
  • The team’s mound meeting becomes a covert strategy session (“You got to know the plan!”). Andy “torpedoes” the cover story by accident in front of the moms, but the group escapes punishment anyway [30:26].
  • “That’s the first time I’ve ever gone public with that.” [32:06]

5. Small Town Life: Everyone Knows Your Business

Timestamps: 35:58–42:50

• Andy and Jeremy compare small-town experiences, how “the bad news beats you home,” and Andy’s recycling “cover-up” at Monowi, Nebraska (pop. 1), notorious for unique characters and its claim as America’s smallest town.
• On South Park parallels: “Those old episodes—first five seasons, that is just legit how I felt growing up.” – Andy [40:52]
• Every kid is “kind of popular” out of necessity (“I wasn’t the ringleader, that’s for sure.”) [42:41]

6. The Rise and Appeal of Sports Betting and Prediction Markets

Timestamps: 42:50–53:14

• Both discuss how fantasy sports morphed their perspectives on watching games, shifting focus from teams to stats, betting lines, and storylines within the game.
• “I find it much more interesting to hear from a sharp or a gambler... someone who’s got their livelihood at stake.” – Andy [44:00]
• The rapid evolution from old-school fantasy leagues (“just touchdowns!”) to today’s instant, hyper-competitive prediction markets.
• Prediction Market “Wild West”: Andy describes how these markets have enabled people to bet on everything—from politicians skipping hearings (and profiting) to Super Bowl streakers betting on themselves.
  • “I think it might be the demise of humanity, but let’s have some fun.” – Andy [50:18]

7. College & Pro Sports: Scandals, NIL, and Franchise Moves

Timestamps: 53:14–64:53

• They cover controversial stories, like Texas Tech’s quarterback Brandon Soresby getting re-instated amid a betting scandal, and the broader hypocrisy of NCAA rules.
  • “If you can get your cronies... in the courtroom on your side, that’s all you gotta do.” – Andy [53:42]
• The shifting landscape of college athletics post-NIL (“Once NIL started... all bets are off.”) and the moral outrage over betting and pay-for-play.
• Professional teams moving cities: Andy’s thoughts on Bears, Athletics, Chargers, Browns, and the longstanding animosities and ironies of sports franchise decisions.
  • “They’re always going to be the Chicago Bears... but now I get to go to a nice new stadium.” [61:34]
  • On the A’s move: “Oakland did their part to lose their team... Vegas said, ‘What do you want?’” [62:44]
• College loyalty: “There’s something to that—the team’s not moving away from you.” [63:54]
• Even college programs aren’t immune to the business side, says Andy, referencing recruiting practices with a wink: “There’s a reason Ndamukong Suh... came to Nebraska.” [64:49]

8. Quick Hits, Personalities & Show Plugs

Timestamps: 65:05–End

• Jeremy asks Andy his go-to shower song: Andy reveals an eclectic mix from Green Day and Nelly to Fall Out Boy’s “Hum Hallelujah.” “I’ll go a cappella quite a bit!” [66:42]
• Jeremy thanks Andy for their ongoing co-hosting collaboration on WTL, which has grown with national networks and substantial followings: “To see the analytics—it’s wild to think there’s that many people listening to my take.” – Andy [69:33]
• The vision for WTL: More about entertainment and engagement, less about being a numbers-only sports betting show.
  • “This is entertainment first... if you take the sports betting, it’s an older, more mature audience. Maybe I can hold on for a few more years talking sports!” – Andy [68:28]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Moving Into Broadcasting (06:02):
  Andy: “I try to get there an hour early and everyone’s freaking out. Brandon’s... stranded alongside I-80... They’re like, ‘We’re going live.’ I’m like, ‘I don’t know what I’m doing.’ ‘Just do it. Okay, let’s go.’”

• On Common Folk’s Format (08:58):
  Andy: “We need a woman’s voice. We need a female’s presence and voice. I’m so glad [Morgan] agreed... Ben and I will go down a rabbit hole about gears... and she’ll ask, ‘How does that affect the family?’”

• On Burnout from Broadcasting (15:40):
  Andy: “After three days of continuous four and six games a day, I was beat... It feels like you’ve been working out in the field and doing manual labor, but really, it’s all mental.”

• Baseball Road Sodas Story (27:57):
  Andy: “I see his mom running from the parking lot with the blanket over her shoulders... I put my glove over my mouth because I’m laughing, like, this is so bad.”

• On the Allure of Prediction Markets (50:18):
  Andy: “I think it might be the demise of humanity, but let’s have some fun.”

• On the NCAA Hypocrisy (53:42):
  Andy: “If you can get your cronies... in the courtroom on your side, that’s all you gotta do. You just gotta be part of that class.”

• On Career Longevity (68:28):
  Andy: “If you take the sports betting, it’s more mature... Maybe I can hold on for a couple more years talking sports.”

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Segment Timestamps

• [03:31] Welcome / Introducing Andy Classen
• [06:35] The Common Folk Podcast Origins
• [10:27] Launching Where’s the Line?
• [15:40] Sports Broadcasting Energy & Pandemic Challenges
• [19:02] High School Football Stories
• [27:51] Road Sodas Baseball Incident
• [35:58] Small Towns and Monowi Anecdotes
• [42:50] Fantasy Sports to Sports Betting Evolution
• [48:38] Prediction Markets – Wild West
• [53:14] NIL, College Scandals, and NCAA Ironies
• [61:16] Franchise Moves & Changing Sports Landscapes
• [65:05] Rapid Fire – Shower Songs & Podcast Plugs
• [67:44] Wrap Up – WTL & Final Thoughts

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Tone & Style

• The conversation is fast-paced, irreverent, and full of local color.
• Both Andy and Jeremy maintain a blend of nostalgia, wry humor, and candid honesty—often poking fun at themselves and the institutions they cover.
• The rapport between host and guest is genuine, with a tone that’s both accessible to the casual listener and rewarding for anyone familiar with Nebraska media or midwestern sports.

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Conclusion

This episode is perfect for fans of sports media, Nebraska nostalgia, sports betting, or anyone who appreciates candid and hilarious tales from life in small towns. It’s also a strong showcase for the evolving, personality-driven style of modern sports content — where entertainment and community come before stats and conventional wisdom. Whether you’re here for Andy Classen’s stories, Jeremy Odom’s comedic timing, or just a fresh take on sports media, “Laugh With Me” delivers.

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Transcript

[Commercial Announcer]

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[Kalpen Suresh]

Hey, everyone, it's Kalpen. I'm inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've ever heard with my podcast, Hearsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Every episode, I nerd out with amazing guests and dive into the best new audiobooks available on Audible. It's the book club for your ears. Listen to Earsay, the Audible and iHeart audiobook club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

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[Andy Classen]

plan options available, taxes and fees extra.

[Jacob Goldstein]

See full [e-mail] hey, it's Jacob Goldstein from business history. In our new series American Genius, we tell the stories of three great writers who changed the way business works in America. Our first episode is about Benjamin Franklin, who among many other things, was a best selling business writer.

[Andy Classen]

Take a listen.

[Jacob Goldstein]

He's writing this much later in his life, consciously creating this image of himself. And I do want to emphasize how unusual this model is at the time, this self made man myth. Because you don't want to be self made. It's low class to be self made. You know, this idea that we have today is the opposite, right? And it comes from Franklin. Today there is the derisive term nepo baiting.

[Jeremy Odom]

Well, exactly right.

[Jacob Goldstein]

And these days, if you are a

[Andy Classen]

billionaire you had better have a Benjamin Franklin story about starting in a garage, coming up with the idea from nothing.

[Jacob Goldstein]

And here is Benjamin Franklin inventing it

[Jeremy Odom]

right before our eyes.

[Jacob Goldstein]

This has been brought to you by Odoo to listen to more of our American Genius series. Listen to business history. New episodes release every Wednesday on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Jeremy Odom]

Hit that intro. Go laugh with me when the wrench passed you and the car won't start Laugh with me when the only sponsor is my broken heart. We're hanging on this janky stream Two weird voices in the glow of a screen as the world won't sing Then let it laugh with me.

Welcome back, brand new episode. This is Laugh With Me, the podcast with Jeremy Odom and I'm your host.

Jeremy stares at the stats, hands shaking over takeout boxes. Johnny's already mapping hotels on a napkin with greasy crosses. They quit jobs. They kind of hate it. Tell their bosses, catch the show. Boss just shrugs. Hope it's funny. Johnny grins.

You'll never know, Jo And I'm not alone today and we are recording in the beautiful WTL where's the Line studios today. With me is my very co host on WTL where you can find anywhere that you download your favorite podcast. It is Nebraska's first, it is Nebraska's only sports betting podcast, where's the Line? You can also find my guest at News Channel Nebraska. You can also find him co hosting the Common Folk podcast and so much more. This guy, we're going to get into it. He's multi dimensional. He is all over the place. He is a media staple from the state of Nebraska. And to me, honestly, to me he is the face, he is the color man of Nebraska high school sports and soon of Nebraska's sports betting. And you can find obviously more from him at Podcast Underscore wtl. This is my friend, it's Andy Classen.

[Andy Classen]

I also host and have founded an outdoor show, hunting and fishing show, hunting and fishing show that airs on News Channel Nebraska Saturday and Sunday morning. It's called Chasing the Dream.

[Jeremy Odom]

There you go.

[Andy Classen]

Fair chase, chasing a dream. You know, dream hunt, whatever.

[Jeremy Odom]

Dream hunt.

[Andy Classen]

Okay.

[Jeremy Odom]

And you said every weekend?

[Andy Classen]

Yep, Saturday and Sundays.

[Jeremy Odom]

Okay.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. Got a little couple of things going

[Jeremy Odom]

on Busy sky and that's I, when I, when people go who's Andy? When I'm talking about where's the line? I'm like, he's to me, he is the play by play voice of Nebraska high school sports. Like he is the play by play voice would you say that is a fair test.

[Andy Classen]

I think that's on track. It's on par. People have said things like that, and it's very, you know, humbling, and it's nice. But I don't do the play by play. I'm just the color analyst.

[Jeremy Odom]

You're just color?

[Andy Classen]

Oh, yeah, I'm just color.

[Jeremy Odom]

All right, well, so either way, you are the voice of Nebraska high school sports.

[Andy Classen]

You know, I take that back. I had to do color one time. It was like in year one or two of doing basketball, and my play by play guy, like, lost a tire on the interstate on the way from Lincoln to Kearney. And with all the setups there, I try to get there an hour early and everyone's like, oh, they're freaking out. Brandon's. He's just stranded alongside I I 80. And they're like, we're going live. I'm like, I don't know what I'm doing. Like, just do it. Okay, let's go. So I have done. I have done some play by play.

[Jeremy Odom]

Well, there you go. There you go. That's awesome. Comic Folk podcast. I brought that up and, and you guys, you had me on, what, a couple years ago now, it seems like, yeah, awesome show. You, you bring on just like, it's just like the title Common folks. Just any everyday people and just kind of dive into their life. Really, really good podcast. And you can find it. Common Folk. Tell me about that. Like, what's some of your, like, favorite guests? Like, tell me about the show.

[Andy Classen]

How did so. So that was all born out of. That was Ben Ever's idea. And he just wanted to get. He was watching the news and thinking, you know, I think the silent majority is not being represented. And whether it's loud over here, saying, do this, do this, or do that, do that. And then over here, nay, nay. He's like, nobody. The common, you know, the common folk. No, there's no voice there. So he wanted to give the common folk a voice. And yeah, we get just fantastic guests from a lot of entrepreneurs, a lot of business owners, and some of these businesses are, you know, just the millionaire next door you just never even knew. And just, you know, side businesses that you never would have guessed. So we had Michael Severe, you know, he's kind of a known commodity, been on the radio forever. I currently host the Husker football show on the net, or what's that called now? Nebraska Public Media.

[Jeremy Odom]

Nebraska Public.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So we've had, we've had some really good guests, interesting guests, and A lot of organization leaders, you know, the 50 mile march is kind of a big thing around here for veterans. Trying to help veterans with mental health awareness and things of that nature. So anybody and everybody, as long as you're a Common Folk, you're welcome on the pod. And it really does open the door to just anybody in anything, you know.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, the, that 50 mile mark, it triggered in my head back in my grocery days. One of my fellow store directors, he. He participates in the 50 mile mark.

[Andy Classen]

There you go.

[Jeremy Odom]

He, he would do the, you know, the march, obviously, and it would end like in the parking lot of the Hy Vee store.

[Andy Classen]

Okay.

[Jeremy Odom]

And I always had to have like two pallets of cold water.

[Andy Classen]

You better have it ready.

[Jeremy Odom]

So we would drag out there because those guys, man, and guys and gals, they are sweating.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

And we need to have that water ready.

[Andy Classen]

Ben's wife, Morgan, you know, co host of Common Folk, and I really fought for that. I'm like, we need to get Morgan our some. We need a woman's voice. We need a female's presence and voice. And I'm so glad that she agreed to do it because we'll, Ben and I will get. Go. Just go down a rabbit hole and we'll be talking about gears and, you know, sprockets or whatever, you know, some motorhead. And then she'll ask, well, how does that affect the family?

[Jeremy Odom]

Right. You know, that's interesting because when, when I was on the show. Yeah. It's funny because the three of us, you know, Ben and, And you and I, yeah, we would be getting in on, on something. We kind of like think very similar. And then she would come out of the blue or something and really spin the conversation on its head. Right.

[Andy Classen]

And you need that. And reel it in and also open it back up to the other half of the audience.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yes.

[Andy Classen]

You know, so I just think it's a, it worked out to be such a great mix and some of the guests we've had on there have just been amazing and we're, we've kind of hit this, I don't know, knocking over dominoes or whatever. But now marketing types and people are reaching out to us seeing if their client can be on Common Folk. So that's pretty cool.

[Jeremy Odom]

That's awesome.

[Andy Classen]

Rather than us trying to knock down the door, hey, come on, come on, be on the pod. But yeah, that's been going strong for over four years now.

[Jeremy Odom]

Wow.

[Andy Classen]

So, yeah, it's a, it's a, it's a fun podcast, that's for sure.

[Jeremy Odom]

Well, there you go. Check it out. Common Folk podcasts. Big fan. In fact, I'm sporting the.

[Andy Classen]

Oh, yes, you are. Yes, you are.

[Jeremy Odom]

All right, well, let's get to how you and I know each other. Where's the Line? Wtl. And it wasn't, you know, today we co hosted, but from the beginning. I mean, how. Let's go back. How'd you find me?

[Andy Classen]

Isn't that wild how, you know, you just. You just have to start doing. Just start doing. And then things will happen. Yeah, because if you don't do anything, nothing happens. Right. But no. So my brother Jared and I, we started where's the Line? Sports betting show, and we launched that the very first week that gambling was legalized in Nebraska. And we haven't missed a week since. So we've been going for over four years now, just spinning like a top. And we're always looking for, you know, guests and people to bring on, and we try to stay active on social media. And I came across one of your articles that you'd written for the Right Way Sports Network, and they're usually talking about the Cincinnati Bengals. And I thought, well, this is interesting. It's fun to throw shade at the AFC north and what's going on up there, you know. You know, we bounce around all the different teams, and they always had kind of predictions over what Joe Burrow's gonna do, you know, as you heard again. And then an article about the Huskers came up on. I'm like, what's okay? Well, then I have to read it. You know, of course, then I looked, saw that you were from Omaha. I'm like, this is crazy. This guy that's talking sports betting about the Huskers from a syndicate out of Cincinnati. So, you know, I reached out and you replied, and we got you on the show shortly thereafter.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I mean, yeah, you guys, high energy. And. And it's different because, especially back then, there wasn't much for sports betting content.

[Andy Classen]

No.

[Jeremy Odom]

Out there. And for you guys, talk, high energy. And then you entertained at the same time, like, you welcomed the shade, the jokes, the back and forth, the banter. It wasn't really as much about the picks as much as it was about the discussion of the pick.

[Andy Classen]

Well, anybody can make a pick, right? Say, this team's gonna win this, that team's gonna lose. And I was kind of frustrated with sports talk, especially in the local radio. I felt like you could tell that the co host, whether it was the afternoon or morning show, whatever, whoever was on. You could tell they're just trying to fill the A block, trying to get through the B block, whatever. So Jared and I made a bullet point and his stage name is Gibran the Parlay Pounder.

[Jeremy Odom]

Parlay Pounder.

[Andy Classen]

And that's, that's a nick. That's his real nickname. That's like what his boys call him. You know, I got to tag along a couple of his parties, a bachelor party in Kansas City. Those guys are wild. Gibran, that's legit, what you're hearing. That's partly Pounder. Getting after it.

[Jeremy Odom]

And I love his. He would wear different jerseys. Different.

[Andy Classen]

Oh my God.

[Jeremy Odom]

It seemed like he had a jersey for every occasion.

[Andy Classen]

Not only a jersey, but a color scheme to it. It's a random teams. I. He has that Patrick Mahomes Texas Tech jersey. Yep. You know, and then a color coordinated hat and shorts. Oh, yeah, he does it up. He's into, he's into high fashion. But where I was going with that is we kind of made a bullet list, or I can concocted a show of how I wanted it to flow, how I wanted it to hear and sound and, and be constructed. And I wanted to pretty much be the anti sports show. So like you're saying high energy, a lot of jabs back and forth, keeping the listener engaged. I didn't want dead air. I never wanted them to feel. And I told this to Jared and I think you before he went on, if it feels like this conversation is running dry or running out, we're cutting it. We'll just end it right there. And I vividly remember the first time I had you on and we were in a rhythm where I would try and squeeze in five NFL games between Jared and I. And then when you throw another co host into the mix, well, now I got to divide that up even more. So it was just boom, boom, rapid fire through that first 12 minute segment. And after we signed off, you go, whoa, whoa, I could use a cigarette after that.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, it's, it's a lot. And I. And that's the thing. Anybody who's never done radio, you know, and back, back, back. Shoot. Now over 20 years ago when I, when I was on radio, you do a shift and you do a two hour shift, you do three hours, whatever it is, people will be like, oh, well, that's cake. I mean, now you got to go do your other job or whatever. And it's like, I'll tell you what, that two hour shift will take more out of me.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Like than an eight hour shift stocking produce.

[Andy Classen]

Oh, for sure. I'll tell you, the most drained I've ever felt like, physically, mentally, was. It was in 2020. Covid just started getting into it and everything was getting shut down. Well, at the time, our governor, Pete Ricketts, said, we're doing our state basketball tournament. I don't care what New York's doing. I don't care what I was doing. We're doing it. So they put up all these guidelines, like, only direct family members were allowed into the. The arena and this and that, and we had to wear masks and this and that. But throughout that process, our founder of the network said, hey, we'll televise all the games. Do it, Figure it out. So we were. I was doing six live games a day.

[Jeremy Odom]

Wow.

[Andy Classen]

And I'm just thinking, this is. I always put myself in the viewers or the listeners shoes. I try to. And I'm thinking, if it's a grandparent, you know, from Virginia watching the game, they're going to want me to be entertaining. They're going to want me talking, you know, with high energy and praise towards their grandson. So I tried to bring that energy every game. And I'll tell you what, after three days of continuous four and six games a day, I was beat, you know. Yeah. And I could feel it driving from Lincoln back to Omaha that night. You know, you just. It's. It does. It feels like you've been working out in the field and doing manual labor, but really, it's just all that mental, you know, I guess capacity that you have to burn, trying to be aware of that, be on the spot, know all the players names, break down the play, they're trying to run it. It does take a lot.

[Jeremy Odom]

That's how I felt trying to keep up with you and Jabra. That was. I had to get back in rhythm. I'm like, man, this is good. This is a lot of fun. But, man, I gotta, like, I gotta go through some reps, like. So let me ask you about that 2020 experience, because there's less people in the audience.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Were you still courtside?

[Andy Classen]

Yes.

[Jeremy Odom]

Okay. So without the audience noise, because there's not much. And you're giving it your all like you normally would do. You change in what you say, how you say it, knowing the players certainly can hear you.

[Andy Classen]

No.

[Jeremy Odom]

Okay.

[Andy Classen]

No. No, not at all. I try not to, you know, I just try to be legit and honest and what I see is what you're going to hear. And it's worked out for me. And back then, and that was at the stage where it was just wash your hands a lot. So the six foot rule wasn't in place. Okay, I'm thinking back, I'm getting kind of crossed up here. The following football season was the mask year, so the masks weren't even a thing yet. So it was just wash your hands 12 times a day. And social distancing wasn't a thing yet either.

[Jeremy Odom]

Okay, so.

[Andy Classen]

All right.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. I just, I find it, I always find it fascinating because when you're doing any type of media, you have to give honest, you know, assessments, and generally the players are in their own world. But during that time, it necessarily wasn't the case. So it's.

[Andy Classen]

There were still some pretty good crowds. They did. They had like a parents and an. And one and brother and sisters. So Elkhorn at the time, they figured it out, they had a pretty good sized crowd. I'm like, these are some big families from Elkhorn. So. So. But yeah, there was still some pretty good noise there at Devani the first couple of days, and then Pinnacle bank arena for the championships.

[Jeremy Odom]

What about, like, Simon, like, do you. Have you ever broadcasted off location where you're just watching it through a monitor?

[Andy Classen]

No, we've never done that. Nope. Okay, but there was a lot of that going on in 2020 and 2021.

[Jeremy Odom]

Right.

[Andy Classen]

You know, and I felt like you could tell, you could tell within, you know, first five minutes, 10 minutes of a broadcast if they were there or not.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah. The energy isn't there.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Because you certainly would feed off of everything going on around you.

[Andy Classen]

And I always thought it was important to bring up, like, I always like to shine a light on the, the pep band, what they're playing, if there's a drummer just going wild with big hair over there, reference that, and then the cameras can go catch it. And you can't do that if you're remote. You know, you can't, you can't give that live experience.

[Jeremy Odom]

What's your favorite sporticle?

[Andy Classen]

I, I really like football and that's probably just because I played it in college. Basketball is a lot of fun because it's, it's, it's so taxing and it keeps you on your toes. But I really love football and just breaking it down and also gives you time in between plays to break down what you just saw and then set up the viewer for what you think they're going to see.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, what, what's a moment when you played football? What's a moment that you think about? Like, often

[Andy Classen]

okay. Yeah. Let's go all the way back to high school. We. I'm from a very small town and. And we, you know, we have those rivalries like everybody does, and the town next to us, they were a class above us and they beat us and everything all the time. And that's how we grew up. Just knowing that those big bad guys from Spencer Naper are going to beat us. Well, we always played with a chip on our shoulder. Our class was my class, graduating class, especially our senior year. We're in Spencer. We're hanging on. We're clinging on to like a four point lead late in the fourth quarter. They're driving. It's third and long. It might have been fourth long. This was so long ago. But it was a passing situation. They had to stop the clock. And I was the cornerback. It was a down and out. I played it perfectly. Batted the ball out of bounds with, you know, riding the guy out of bounds. And I was celebrating. And I look at the official and he's. He's rolling his arms saying, first down. Like, what? The ball's on the ground? Yeah, the ball's on the ground. Like, that was the only time I, like, lost my mind, like, hollering at the official. And I wasn't yelling at him, I was just trying to get the point across that. No, like he. I actually touched that ball and batted it on the ground. You called it a catch and. But that's just it now. Now the ball's just. And you know, like four plays later with something like 15 seconds left, they win the game on a pass to the end zone.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh, my.

[Andy Classen]

So, yeah, that's. That stuff sticks with you. And I guess that's why you love and love and hate sports, right?

[Jeremy Odom]

Isn't it funny? It's. It's a negative moment that you think about. Yeah. Like so often, because I'm the same way. Freshman year, high school, I was wide receiver and it was called post, post, corner.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

And it was. The ball was coming to me on the sideline.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

And I heard post and I ran post and cut in.

Oh, no.

And the ball goes sailing over my head.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Immediately set to the sideline as the quarterback was screaming, what are you doing? Why is this guy on the field? And I'm like, I'm. I'm toast over.

[Andy Classen]

It is funny how that happens. I don't know, like, because you, you live for those good moments and those highs and they're so much fun. But it's. Yeah, it's that. It's that loss it's that. It's that heartbreak that just really sticks out in your mind, you know?

[Jeremy Odom]

I wonder if it's because, like. Because I do think about that a lot. Why is it some of the negative moments that stick with people? I think it's because we work. Maybe a psychologist needs to tell me if this right, we'll have to get

[Andy Classen]

a shrink on here.

[Jeremy Odom]

We gotta get a shrink in here. But we work so hard for the wins. It's not like we're working hard for the losses. So when we win, hey, we did it. This is what we're supposed to do.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. We're working towards this.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yes. And then the losses catch us by surprise sometimes because it's like, that's not how it was supposed to go.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah, that stings. And also mine was kind of a mixed bag there because I made the play.

[Jeremy Odom]

You made the play.

[Andy Classen]

I read the down and out. I knew it was coming. I knew it was a passing situation. I knew that their route tree basically had three routes on it. And I was ready for it. And I. And I was on their primary receiver. Tall guy, way taller than me. And it was just. It was. It also sticks with you because it's like, okay, I can't beat the system, can I? I'm stuck in the Matrix. This. It was like. And nobody from Spencer noticed that. They're just like, oh, yeah, of course they caught it. They're supposed to catch it. We're supposed to beat Lynch. I can't believe we're losing to him right now. They gotta feel good about that. They're beating us in the fourth quarter. Those kids. Good for them.

[Jeremy Odom]

Good for them.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. Oh, man. Yeah. So now you kind of get me riled up here.

[Jeremy Odom]

That's what Laughably is all about. We just. We get people worked up. So. Have you seen the show Tosh Point Zero back in the day?

[Andy Classen]

Love Tosh.

[Jeremy Odom]

Okay.

[Andy Classen]

Love it.

[Jeremy Odom]

So you know how he would bring on somebody who had, like a terrible experience on the Internet and they would get redemption.

[Andy Classen]

Web redemption.

[Jeremy Odom]

Web redemption, yes. We may need to do something like that with you and where the play is called Dead.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

And you win the game.

[Andy Classen]

Oh, I. I got a. I. I have another moment that. That. It's not quite a feel good moment, but I always felt this needs to be a book and then it needs to be turned into a movie. Real quick.

[Jeremy Odom]

Real quick.

[Andy Classen]

Okay. So we didn't have. We, you know, we're class D1, D2. The big school was C2 in the area, you know, but during the Summertime, all we had was Legion baseball. So there was no high school baseball.

[Jeremy Odom]

Sure.

[Andy Classen]

And with that limited pool, you know, number of kids, we were consolidated throughout the entire county, which actually set the table for a pretty cool advantage, because you got, you know, the three or four best from here, the three or four best from there, three or four best from the next town over, too. So we had, you know, we were pretty salty. I'm not saying that we were great, but the Boyd County Legion and Junior Legion baseball teams, when. When that was a thing, we were pretty good, you know, you. We're at least going to make you earn that dub.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Andy Classen]

If you're going to get it. You know, we wore black, just beautiful black jerseys with a gray pinstripe, gray pants, hats with the cursive BC on it, you know, and people would ask, what's BC stand for? Yeah. You know, and we're like, ah. And then they're like, oh, but what about. What's the difference? You know, if you're following that, you know.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy Classen]

So saying. We always kind of played that to, like, well, got a chip on our shoulder. We're the underdogs. We're wearing that black and silver like the Raiders or something.

[Jeremy Odom]

You're the bad boys of baseball.

[Andy Classen]

That's right. That's right. And we had a lot of fun and won a lot of games, you know, and I batted leadoff and played a lot of shortstop. So with that, we had a kind of a marquee game. We were going up to O', Neill, Nebraska. Okay. That's the big school town of 3,000 people or something. That's the big town, you know. Yep. And if you could hang with o', Neal, you knew you had a good team. So a lot was on the line here, you know, and I was. We were playing pretty good baseball at the time. And that would have been the summer of my senior year. So we were 17 going on 18, and a trio of lynch kids. And I'm not going to say any names because, you know, we're still have families and jobs and education and things of that nature. But it was myself, the starting pitcher and the starting catcher. We were able to run into a guy that graduated a couple years ahead of us, and he got us 12 road sodas.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh.

[Andy Classen]

And we weren't. We weren't gonna partake in those road sodas until after the game, you know, because of course, we gotta beat. We gotta beat him.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah. Stay focused.

[Andy Classen]

Gotta stay focused. So get these road sodas. And the pitcher is driving us and he has his parents. Ford Explorer. And it's that green, that light green. That's sparkly, you know, Imagine an old Ford Explorer with that light green. You know, everybody, dream car. Yep. Yep. We're like, great, great.

[Jeremy Odom]

All right, let's go.

[Andy Classen]

Let's go. So after we get our road to. We're feeling pretty good about this, you know, we. They're going to be drowning our sorrows, are really celebrating the victory, you know. And this is in July. It's hot. So we put it. We put like, six of them in a cooler. And then we're like, that still looks a little Susan. So we found a blanket, and we put the cooler under a blanket in the back. Back of this Ford Explorer. And the other six at Road Sodas that didn't make the cut because we just had a little cooler. Trying to, you know, keep it under the radar. Yeah, we just stuffed those under the seat. They didn't get. They. So they didn't have any ice on them. So we're. We're starting the game here. I'm at shortstop. Our ace is on the mound. That drove us. And our other. I mean, this kid was an all star. Was that catcher. We're getting into this first inning, and all of a sudden, the pitcher's mom comes running. Everyone just saw her. Comes running from the parking lot with the blanket over her shoulders. I see this. I know what's going on. The pitcher sees this. He calls a timeout, immediately waves up the catcher. And I. I'm. I'm like. I'm holding the glove over my. My mouth because I'm like, laughing, like, this is so bad. This is so bad. And the pitcher then looks at me and waves me, and I'm like. So I. I go in there, goes, did you see my mom?

[Martha (Kohler Ambassador)]

She.

[Andy Classen]

She. She grabbed his mom, and she was wearing the blanket. The blanket. I'm like, no, I saw.

[Jeremy Odom]

You're discussing this on the mountain.

[Andy Classen]

On the mountain, during the game. This is happening in real time. And I'm like, look, we got one out. We still need to get two more outs here. Then we'll get to the dugout, we'll figure it out. Just rocket fire. Rocket fire, man. And he does. I mean, six pitches, strikes two guys out. We're back in the dugout.

[Jeremy Odom]

The adrenaline going through.

[Andy Classen]

Oh, my God. So they're flipping out. They're like, well, do we come clean? Do we tell them this? Do we tell them that? Who do we throw under the bus? And they're like, well, what if we say we found it. And blah, blah, blah. And this. Now, like, oh, my God. I. I just don't think anyone's buying that.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Andy Classen]

You know, but, you guys, it's your two moms. My. My dad was the coach, and my mom wasn't there. So it was just their two moms, and they were just locked on us. They're just staring at us. And she was wearing that blanket because she got cold in July.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh, my.

[Andy Classen]

And so, anyhow, fast forward to the end of the game, and, you know, I'm just trying to find the humor in all this and just how absurd it is. I'm like, this is insane. And every inning, I. I heard the. The. The pitcher and the catcher kind of talking over, well, should we say this? Should we do that? I'm like. And I kept my stance. I'm like, I'll go along with whatever you guys want.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Andy Classen]

But I think it's a long shot if you're going to try and get out of this one.

[Jeremy Odom]

Incredible.

[Andy Classen]

So fast forward to the end of the game. I don't even remember if we won. That's. You know, that's like a side story.

[Jeremy Odom]

I was going to say, did you even win? But it doesn't matter. Yeah.

[Andy Classen]

So we get to the end of the game, Our pitcher runs over to his mom and catches them, and they're heavy in discussion. I see. And both moms are there talking to the pitcher and the catcher, and I'm thinking, oh, man, this doesn't look good. We are toast. They're letting them have it, and they're just. You can tell when mom's getting in on, you know, the kid. Yeah. So I. I kind of. I mosey over there, you know, with my head kind of hung, and one of the moms says, so. Thinking you could get out of it, huh? I'm like, no. When we saw you run up in the first thing, we kind of knew the gig was up. And she. Everyone's eyes get real big, and she goes, see, they were lying. I'm like, what? And then. Then one of the guys looks at me and goes, what? I go, oh, you guys didn't tell? I'm like, I just. Honest to God, I just shut my mouth and walked away. I'm like, I just torpedoed this thing. They didn't tell me what the plan was.

[Jeremy Odom]

You got to know the plan.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. I mean, I figured no news is bad news in this, so. But I didn't know that they had a story concocted and this and that and how they're going to Wiggle out of it. And to their credit, we still got off scot free.

[Jeremy Odom]

Wow.

[Andy Classen]

I'm like the belief factor and also me just going in there and torpedoing it midway through. Amazing. Amazing that they had those negotiation skills.

[Jeremy Odom]

Holy cow.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

I could only assume that they have gone on to do wonderful things with those types of skills, you know.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. That's why I didn't. That's why I didn't want to put any names out there.

[Jeremy Odom]

Right.

[Andy Classen]

Because we got some, you know, there's got families and like you're saying. No, the two of the best guys I ever met. And those are some, some of the best years of my life playing baseball with those guys. But that was just a unbelievable happenstance there and just happening in the middle of the game while we're playing.

[Jeremy Odom]

That's so funny. I to. To have the meeting at the mound. It's like when you say they need to make a movie about this. Like it's a scene from a movie. I know where this is like a big game. This matters to these young guys lives. But what just happened.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. Off the field, our moms are mad. I'm just going to fire six fastballs and get two out so we can go talk about this.

[Jeremy Odom]

Could have ruined the whole summer. Yeah, that's probably, that's probably the thing. We can't possibly ruin our whole summer in one moment.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Come on.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. And. And I, I'm still. I still don't know. I never asked what the story was, how we got out of that one, but we did. Yeah. You know, that's the first time I've ever gone public with that.

[Jeremy Odom]

Wow. This is a breaking news situation here on Laugh With Me.

[Andy Classen]

On a, On a guy's trip. I confessed to my uncle and my dad and they thought it was pretty hilarious and couldn't believe that we got got out of that.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

That's. I've got my buddy Eric who's a regular on the pod. He. His parents would go out of town to go visit family frequently in high school. And so those would be the times we'd always have, you know, the boys over and you know, have a weekend but for the forever. We thought his parents had no clue. Like it was always business as usual. Right. But he would hide the trash bag under their deck instead of just putting it in the trash can. I don't know what his logic was.

[Andy Classen]

Whoops.

[Jeremy Odom]

But it would count. It would come out years later that there. That his dad obviously saw the trash bag. Obviously knew the gig was up the whole Time. But he figured everything looked fine. You know, there was no story here. But. Yeah, it's like one of those things. You think you get away.

[Andy Classen]

No, you don't. They know it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter what you do. So my parents would always go on like a corporate outing, usually after. After football season or after basketball season, you know, because they're heavily invested. They want to watch all of our games and stuff. So it just mysteriously happened. Hey, we're going to Houston for five days. You know, a great window for you here. And you know, we live out on a ranch a couple miles out of town. So it was a good spot for the boys to get together. And I would take it a step further and the trash bag or two that was just filled to the brim with a bunch of aluminum and maybe glass, whatever. We had a little small town recycling. A real small town by the Name of Monowi, population 1.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh my.

[Andy Classen]

the time it was popular. Yeah, it's just Elsie. Elsie. But at the time, I think it was a population of two, maybe might have been seven at the time. A couple of families lived there. They have a mayor, she's everything and she. She keeps it incorporated too.

[Jeremy Odom]

Really?

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. It is a town. It is a town.

[Jeremy Odom]

What happens when she passes?

[Andy Classen]

I. We don't know. And. And she's in her 90s.

[Jeremy Odom]

There's got to be some. Something written. Yeah. What's going to happen? I mean, it has to be. There's gonna be chaos.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. Oh, and I'll tell you what, if you go up there right now and you stay there for over an hour, a YouTuber, one of those traveler guys, they will stop in. She is a note. I mean, over 20 years ago she was in Ripley's Believe it or not when it was just her and her husband Rudy. Where the population of 2 been since then, it's just swelled up. Arby's did a national commercial. So they took the. The biggest brand and promoted in the smallest town in America. So like they had the. The biggest Coca Cola billboard was on the hayfield across the street from her, from her bar, from her cafe or whatever you want to call it.

[Jeremy Odom]

Interesting.

[Andy Classen]

So it. Yeah, a lot of things happen in the middle of nowhere.

[Jeremy Odom]

Fascinating.

[Andy Classen]

That's very fascinating. Rudy was big into recycling and he collect metals. So I would always take all the aluminum over there and you know, make about $10, $15, whatever off all. Well, that was like a super speed highway into everybody knowing that. That something went down out at the classroom place. Because two huge bags full of aluminum. Yeah, it just made its way to Monowi to be recycled.

[Jeremy Odom]

Doesn't just pop up out of nowhere.

[Andy Classen]

No. So we were actually kind of working against ourselves on that one. But I made some money off recycling and I was, you know, I was doing what was right.

[Jeremy Odom]

You're doing the right thing. More with Andy Classen on Laugh With Me, the podcast with Jeremy Odom, right after the break.

[Kalpen Suresh]

Hey everyone, it's Cal Penn. I'm the host of Hearsay, the Audible and I Heart Audiobook Club. This week on the podcast, I am sitting down with Ray Porter, the narrator of Andy Weir's audiobook project, Hail Mary Massive sci fi adventure about survival and science and what happens when you wake up alone, very far from Earth.

[Ray Porter]

I really had to make a decision because I caught myself getting that frog in my throat and starting to get teary as I'm narrating some of these sections and it's like, okay, yo, yo, yo, is this indulgent? And I really thought about it. I was like, no. At this point, it would kind of be betraying the trust the author and the listener have in telling this story if I don't go through it. But there's places in this book that that deeply, emotionally affected me and I left it on the mic. That's great because it served the story. People will say like, oh my God, I cried at the end. It's like, yeah, dude, me too.

[Kalpen Suresh]

Listen to Hearsay, The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[Ryan Seacrest]

Hey, it's Ryan Seacrest for Albertsons and Safeway for you. Save days are here now through June 23rd. Find hot D deals throughout the store and earn four times the points look for in store tags to earn on eligible items from General Mills, Pillsbury, Snickers, Oreo, Tillamook, Ziplock, Gold Peak and Heinz. Then clip the offer in the app for automatic event long savings. Stack up those rewards to save even more. Enjoy savings on top of savings. When you shop in store or online for easy pickup or delivery, restrictions apply. See the website for full terms and conditions.

[Martha (Kohler Ambassador)]

When Kohler, the global design leader in luxurious kitchen and bath products, came to me and said, martha, we need an ambassador for our timeless, elegant, durable cast iron products. I said, I'm in now. Let me see the factory. Weeks later, I was suited up in coveralls and work boots, walking through their Kohler Wisconsin cast iron foundry. I stood next to the molten iron furnace, saw the hand applying enamel and touched the gorgeous finished products waiting to be sent out into the world. Since 1883, Kohler cast iron products have been forged and finished by the incredible craftspeople right in Kohler, Wisconsin. I'll tell you, I gained a newfound respect and appreciation for Kohler's cast iron craftsmanship. So now I'm lending my discerning staff of approval to my most beloved Kohler Cast Iron products for their durability, beauty and timelessness. Shop my Kohler Cast Iron favorites curated on Kohler.com bring the warmth, character and enduring style of these timeless products into your kitchens and bathrooms. As the Kohler Cast Iron ambassador, I say long live Cast Iron.

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[Jeremy Odom]

few weeks ago I was telling you, I was. I don't even remember what the story was, but I was relating in how I lived in a small town in central Iowa for two years, you know, as part of work. And we our population was like 7,000 or something.

[Andy Classen]

Right.

[Jeremy Odom]

And you're like, yeah, that's nothing. Because you. What was yours, like a few hundred or something like that?

[Andy Classen]

Yeah, about 360 when I was in high school. 360 people and the big town O' Neill is just shy of 3,000. I think maybe it's 35, but still pretty small.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah. So everybody knows. I mean I experienced, everybody knew my business and maybe it was just because I was quote unquote, a business leader, but everybody knew my business in the small town. Sure. I can't imagine in a town of 360 that there's. I mean, if you have a homework assignment missing, I mean, people know.

[Andy Classen]

They do know. And you know those old episodes, like the first five seasons of south park, that is just this, that is just legit how I felt growing up. Like the bad news does beat you home. I remember the catcher I was with. Yeah, we were, we snuck into some grain bins just to see what's in there. We didn't. They just always been sitting in the middle of town and I was just curious like, what the hell is in there? You know, we're just. I think we're like 10 at the time. Yeah, he cut his knee on the steel getting inside. And before he even got home, my mom has called his mom and let him know that we were being bad and blah, blah, blah. And it's like, yeah, the bad news beats you home.

[Jeremy Odom]

In a small town, which south park character would you relate to the most?

[Andy Classen]

Oh, oh man, I'm probably, I don't know, I kind of like them all. But Cartman's tough, you know, he's just so, so sharp on that side of it. Probably just a boring Stan or level headed, you know, Kyle, you know, trying to bring some I don't know sense to it.

[Jeremy Odom]

Okay, so with that being said in your. In like your crew back in the day and you're running through, you know, a town of 360, you. You weren't the ringleader then. You were just kind of like maybe the brains a little bit. Kind of like, hey, is this what we should be doing? But you're along for the ride.

[Andy Classen]

I definitely wasn't. Everybody's kind of popular though, you know.

[Jeremy Odom]

True.

[Andy Classen]

And just due to numbers and my infatuation or whatever with sports, you know, I, I was a three year starter in basketball and in football. Played a lot of minutes, varsity minutes as a freshman and you know, I'm not a big guy now. I wasn't especially wasn't then. So I was kind of thrown into the fire because I had to be.

[Jeremy Odom]

Had to be.

[Andy Classen]

So everyone was kind of, kind of popular, you know, but I definitely wasn't, I wasn't the ringleader, that's for sure.

[Jeremy Odom]

So what, when did you start getting into, I guess sports betting and getting kind of an idea around that and finding, I guess.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

How you liked it.

[Andy Classen]

You know, I always, I always found it so fascinating and I, and you know, I tell people about where's the line. That's really where it came from. Was much like how I didn't like regular talk radio and how it feels like they're just trying to fill up the A block. Those post game and pregame shows get so redundant to me. And it's the same talking points. And, oh, a guy that used to play in the AFC north is going to talk about how the Steelers are going to win. And Tony Romo is going to tell me about how the Cowboys are going to win. You know, I just find it much more interesting to hear from a Sharp or a gambler or somebody that's setting a line or a bookie as to why they think team's going to win. And not only do they think a team's going to win, but they're going to win by more than three points and then dive in the next step. Why do they think they're not. They're going to win, but not win by three points? Like, that's how. I mean, that's. To me, that's much more valuable, much more interesting. And, man, that's way sharper than the Cowboys are going to win.

[Jeremy Odom]

No.

[Andy Classen]

Right. You know, I mean, just. I'd rather hear from somebody that has, you know, some money on the line,

[Jeremy Odom]

their livelihood's at stake, like the game within the game. I mean, there's. And I think for me, it was like, it was fantasy sports.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Where I started to find the excitement or the adrenaline from things other than who wins, who loses.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

And then that turned into, oh, well, I can win this game without the team actually winning. Like, I can.

[Andy Classen]

Right.

[Jeremy Odom]

And then you get the juice going from that. And it's like, this is interesting. But to your point, to listen to Sharps or anybody who just dives in analytically and can break down a game.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Is so fascinating.

[Andy Classen]

It is.

[Jeremy Odom]

And they're so good.

[Andy Classen]

They. They know every little detail, every little thing. Well, I brought up Tony Romo. He got his butt chewed a couple of years ago by cbs because I could tell he was mailing it in.

[Jeremy Odom]

Right.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. You know, you can't do that if you're managing a book, you know.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Andy Classen]

You're gonna lose your butt in a hurry. So you bring up fantasy sports. I've been playing fantasy football since middle school. I really have been like. And back then, we based everything off of the Omaha World Herald injury reports, scores, and we only did touchdowns. That's the only way you score touchdowns, extra points. Your kicker got three for a field goal. So it was just kind of fascinating. It made you see the game through a different lens. Barry Sanders was a terrible pick. He never scored touchdowns.

[Jeremy Odom]

Correct. He's all yards.

[Andy Classen]

He was a terrible running back. I would never draft that guy because he never scored any touchdowns. Which is just fascinating to think when. Because what. So here again you're looking at the sport through another lens. And then now if I'm putting myself in a defensive player's mindset, I can think, oh, they're probably going to be used Barry Sanders as a decoy here. You know, you can key off of, of what the tight ends doing or what the fullback's doing if he's going to try and flare out, fake a block for Barry, you know, and that's, I don't know that that, that kind of plays into what you were saying there with the sports gambling, with sports betting.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, my, my brother and I. So fantasy baseball was where we first got it and we would get the baseball weeklies and you know, we would set our lineups or whatever on paper and we would just go head to head over a summer and, and I'd get the baseball weekly and then go back through the week prior through the box scores.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

And add it all up and, and get it and then that's how we would.

[Andy Classen]

Yep.

[Jeremy Odom]

It was so much fun.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. We would always make a. And it would be a rotating commissioner would have to go through, sift through the World Herald and add up all the touchdowns and all the points and all the injury reports. It didn't matter what ESPN was saying or cbs. We all is all just whatever the Omaha World Herald said and put in print. That's what we're going off of.

[Jeremy Odom]

And now I'm watching the game on TV and then yelling at my phone that hasn't updated when I, when I seen something happen. Yeah, like I need those points. Like let's go.

[Andy Classen]

Oh, I'll never forget we're. I mean this was 15 years ago now, but it was kind of when people started using the laptops to do it. Fantasy football. And ESPN showed that it was, it was a running back for the Cincinnati Bengals I think went down with a season ending injury on the very last practice before the season started. And he was a top five running back. Right. I forget his name. This was a long time ago. Corey Taylor, it could have been. And one of the guys drafted him in the first round and were like, what are you doing?

[Jeremy Odom]

It was right there.

[Andy Classen]

They just said it, you know. So it is amazing how, how it's just right there now it's turnkey.

[Jeremy Odom]

Sometimes, sometimes you have a moment just exactly like that. What can you do like a fantasy draft just a few years ago, Eric again. This guy, this guy, this guy. He. He drafts Andrew Luck. Right. And we're just a couple weeks before the start of the season. He drafts, we're in draft. And the breaking news comes out that Andrew Luck's retired.

[Andy Classen]

Ouch.

[Jeremy Odom]

And it's. What do you do?

[Andy Classen]

That happened to a lot of people.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Andy Classen]

What do you do? Yep. Sorry, man. Yeah. Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

And that's exactly how it mean. He bad pick, you know, drank his sorrows away and picked up. I think he, at that point he kind of raged a little bit and picked like three or four quarterbacks just to overcompensate.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

It was wild.

[Andy Classen]

But probably ended up with Kirk Cousins.

[Jeremy Odom]

He probably did. That's actually, if we look back, he probably did.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. That's how it goes.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah. And he does good fantasy into, into sports betting, into what is taking over the world now, the prediction markets. Oh, yeah. And you and I really, we really like the prediction market.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Anyone who listens to WTL knows that. What was your, like, what's your thoughts? Like, is this something that's going to just be. Because right now it's, it's the wild west. It is Wild West.

[Andy Classen]

And for this week's episode of wtl, I got some more just zingers, just mind boggling. Like what is going on? Like real trades that are just, just put into it. I don't know. It like takes the veil away. Yeah. And there's some outrage over a person. This is a. And I'll get all the stats on wtl. But yeah, for this, a politician actually put a trade out that he would not make his next hearing and he'd been promoting it on his socials that he would be there and how much he's going to light the room on fire and tell those Democrats or those Republicans what's up. And he didn't show up.

[Jeremy Odom]

No.

[Andy Classen]

And. And he made like $1.2 million on this trade. And it's being investigated now. And I'm just like, hey, that's, that's the world we live in now. And there's another, A very, there's hundreds and hundreds of these stories like that where a store owner or something, same type of deal was if he was going to be open or closed. And he made a bet on himself and did the opposite. Did, did that. Yeah. And everyone's. I'm like, I, I think this is kind of good because now the, the top 5% gets in on the action, not just the top 1 percenters.

[Jeremy Odom]

Like anybody could get it.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. I'm supposed to be outraged at this business owner or I always bring up the super bowl streaker.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Andy Classen]

Piss on it. But I think it's kind of fun now. I think it might be the demise of humanity, but let's have some fun. Going out to your.

[Jeremy Odom]

To your point there with the super bowl streaker. So super bowl streaker. There's always the bet. Will there be one or not? That's Taylor's oldest time.

[Andy Classen]

Yep.

[Jeremy Odom]

But to put it on the prediction market and then to be able to bet on yourself there and then do it, and then do it. This guy does it. And then I think they. They didn't allow him.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah, they. They just changed the rules and said, oh, no, we don't have to pay him.

[Jeremy Odom]

Which is wild.

[Andy Classen]

It's. Yeah, because all these other trades are. Are fine. And. And when, you know, a politician does this, you know, they make a big investment or buy a lot of stock in this company, and then less than a week later, they pass the legislation that just opens the floodgates for that said company. Yeah, that happened. That's just. Everyone knows it happens. Everyone sees how. How it's going on with these, I would say, top 1 percenters now. Yeah. And then this schmuck that wants to run across the football field naked, he. He scams the system, and it's like, no, we're not gonna pay you. It's so it does. There's still that aggravation like I was talking about earlier, where it just feels like everybody knows where you belong and you just have to stay there. So. But it's happening so fast with these prediction markets. They can't keep up with all of it. Yeah. So there's still. And if anything, it just puts more fuel on the fire.

[Jeremy Odom]

When you say wild West, I mean, it is very much. I mean, on our. On wtl, you know, every week we bring, you know, some trades to the. To the marketplace. But the thing is, some of them pretty outlandish, pretty wild. Yeah, they're happening.

[Andy Classen]

They're happening.

[Jeremy Odom]

They are happening.

[Andy Classen]

You know, and people try to take this moral high ground, and. And then I think it's kind of gross and sick. But betting on, like, deaths in a war like Ukraine and stuff like this or how long it's going to last. And, yeah, that's grotesque and wrong, and you don't want to do that. But if you regulate it and you take it off the table. No, you didn't do that. That void's still going to be filled. It just moves to the black market. Then Correct. So, like, you're actually not solving the problem. If anything, you're putting the people that want to bet on that in even more peril because now they're dealing with people that, you know, it's not out in front. It's not out open. It's not FanDuel Predicts.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Andy Classen]

It's. It's Larry with the book that's not messing around.

[Jeremy Odom]

Right.

[Andy Classen]

You know, so it's just. I don't know. I don't. I don't know what the answer is. I really don't. And you can say the same for the AI bubble. I. I do think it's good that if for no other reason, it's really just taking the veil off and letting you see what's going on, like in real time on X. Grok will tell you that's a lie that never happened. I think that's a good thing. That is a good thing. So.

[Jeremy Odom]

I don't know. Yeah. I mean, Grok community notes, those types of things, those have changed the game because anymore.

[Andy Classen]

Right.

[Jeremy Odom]

You don't know what's. Like, everything just looks so real.

[Andy Classen]

It. Does it? Yeah. Once again, how do you, how do you keep up with it all? I. I really. I don't have the answers to it. And on our, you know, on wtl, on where's the Line, that's what I want to do most is just take that veil off and show everybody how insane this really is. Brendan Torsby, how crazy is that?

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, he's being allowed to play now.

[Andy Classen]

He's just playing the system and, and everyone's mad and an upheaval. But once again, it's just showing you that the NCAA is a joke. Always has been. There are no rules. If you can get your cronies, your higher ups, your 1 percenters in the courtroom on your side. Yep. That's all you gotta do. You just gotta be part of that class.

[Jeremy Odom]

I have, I have a question about that, but a quick recap of what that. Brandon Sourcebee, quarterback, Texas Tech. Now he. Thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars in bets, some of them on the team that he played on. Now he didn't play in the game, supposedly, whatever.

[Andy Classen]

Still bet on the team that he was on.

[Jeremy Odom]

Correct. NCAA says no go. Your eligibility is gone as per ever, forever. But he's gotten a core in Texas to say, no, you are eligible to play. And so now right now, he's the quarterback again of Texas Tech. And other schools are saying, well, now we're not gonna schedule Texas Tech. Do you blame Texas Tech? I mean, where does Texas Techs, I guess, work?

[Andy Classen]

Where is there moral compass?

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Andy Classen]

Get out of here. When as soon as, then I all started and came above the table, then all bets are off. When they wouldn't have got away with it if it was still under the table. And you know, Alabama and the SEC doing what they usually do.

[Jeremy Odom]

Right.

[Andy Classen]

That's also another frustration is what is Texas Tech doing here? Why are they in the top five? So that once again, being me coming from that underdog perspective, I like to see Texas Tech doing their thing, shining a light on how ridiculous the NCAA is, how, hey, Alabama, if we pay our players, we can win games too, you know, So I, I kind of live for the absurdity.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Andy Classen]

And I like to see the underdog get their, get their pie, get their due. And that's what's going on here.

[Jeremy Odom]

It is. I find it very entertaining that one of the people in the forefront saying this has to stop is Nick Saban, who. Who ran what had to be some

[Andy Classen]

under the table violin on plane. Right there. Can you hear it? Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Because as soon as it was a level playing field, he got out altogether.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. Like Pat McAfee calling him out on live television and him just glaring at him.

[Jeremy Odom]

Right.

[Andy Classen]

You know, what's up.

[Jeremy Odom]

Exactly.

[Andy Classen]

You know, otherwise you would have, he would have shot right back. We never did that. Yeah, you did. Yeah, you did. You know. Yeah. That was so unfair. Where Alabama and Georgia would stockpile three and four, five star quarterbacks and no one else would get a shot at that kid. Yeah. You know, so once again, and to be clear, I don't think Soresby should be eligible. Yeah, he is. That he is threatening the integrity of the game. And you really do have to at least have that last thin little veil that it actually matters that what I'm watching on TV could happen. Even though, like him, love him. Hit him. Nebraska, old coach Bo Planey when they invented time in the Big 12 championship game and gave Texas an extra second. And it sounds like sour grapes, but I'm just being.

[Jeremy Odom]

It's true.

[Andy Classen]

It's true. And it was, I think it was the first time that year in college football they actually added time to the clock. And everyone's like, oh, yeah, but look at the ball went out of bounds and then, then the. Some doof fan from Washington State rewatched the game and watched the runoff after every play. And it was an average of 3 seconds every play. So I'm like, okay, well, if that's what we're going to do, we need to take every single play there, you know, all 85 plays that game times three and plus that one second.

[Jeremy Odom]

Plus one second.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah, so let's do that then. No, we just put one second on. So Texas gets their. Their chance in Texas. You want to talk about the ultimate 1 percenters, there it is. You know, but I kind of admire Texas. They. They know they're the villain. They play the villain, whether it's the Southwest conference, the Big 12 Conference. They're coming in there to wreck it and to run it and to own it, and they make no buns about it.

[Jeremy Odom]

So Matthew McConaughey is like the perfect guy to be, like the face of it, too, because he's so likable, but he's also, yeah, kind of like over the top, confident in it.

[Andy Classen]

What a weird dichotomy because then Beau Polanyi is the underdog and he's so hateable and does nothing to help the program. And here we are just fighting to like, just be irrelevant. And here you are swinging your caps at refs, cussing on live television, calling you. What do you call the fans.

[Jeremy Odom]

He didn't have any good words for the.

[Andy Classen]

Oh, man. Effing fans. Fans.

[Jeremy Odom]

Brandon Sorsby. You saw him live from the sidelines last season when he was quarterback for Cincinnati.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah, that was fun.

[Jeremy Odom]

You were working sideline for that game at Arrowhead Stadium, Nebraska versus Cincinnati, when you were right there when he threw the game clinching loss for him. Interception. You think the game.

[Andy Classen]

Oh, see that. Now that comes into question. Yeah. Because the joke I had about that was Stormsby, he can outrun the Nebraska defense, but he can also outrun the law. Like this guy. He's worth every penny. He's worth every. Every penny the Texas Tech has. No, I just. I think he's. He's that dual threat quarterback that, you know, he doesn't throw the most crisp ball. And that was at the end of the game. Had to make a play, just wanted to get it to the end zone and hard saw, give him his due. He's the corner that everybody likes to beat up on. He's the guy that went up and got it. Yeah, that. That play was about 15 yards for me. That happened right in front of me. So that was pretty cool.

[Jeremy Odom]

And you can find your. Because you filmed it. Yeah. You can find the footage of that on New Shield Nebraska.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah, that's on New Shannon. Brad, you go in the archives on the website. Our YouTube channel, I'm sure, has highlights from that game that Jake and I. Jake helps Us out with nascar, but we were there working that the whole time, and we did halftime hits. It was just a blast. I. I've never heard a crowd so loud and intense and, you know, arrowheads kind of. That packs it in there, and everyone's on top of each other. And that game had it all. You know, we're just clinging on to a win. It was the first game of the season, so a lot of excitement, and he had to get that first one. You had to get that first win if anything else was going to happen on down the line. So you felt that. That energy. But also you knew. Everybody in that stadium knew that Nebraska has to get.

[Jeremy Odom]

You got to get the stop here.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. And. And for. To end in a. In a pick a takeaway for the defense. Just hit that crescendo. It was. It really was something I'll never forget.

[Jeremy Odom]

That's awesome. So the Chiefs, Arrowhead. They're moving across state lines.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Your team, the Bears, sound like chance they're going to do the same thing.

[Andy Classen]

I think they're going to. I really do.

[Jeremy Odom]

How do you feel about this?

[Andy Classen]

You know, they're always going to be the Chicago Bears, just like the Cowboys are always going to be the Dallas Cowboys 49ers are always going to be the San Francisco 49ers, but they don't play in San Francisco. Cowboys don't play in Dallas. So this is just this same old thing, and everyone will forget about it in a year or two. And if Chicago really did love their team and wanted the Bears to stay there, they would have been doing things 20, 30 years ago to keep that Instead, like we're kind of talking about earlier, a lot of greed got in the way, and on both sides, you can say. But I think the city really, compared to what other NFL teams are getting, the city of Chicago is kind of. They're taking a big swig of their own medicine here. Oh, yeah, they're getting. They're getting put to bed.

[Jeremy Odom]

Well, I mean, at least they're not.

[Andy Classen]

And I don't feel sorry for them. I really don't. Yeah, they didn't make any concessions whatsoever. They'll. They'll grandstand and say things and they'll try and put it back on the Bears being mean to the taxpayers and the taxpayers. Like, no, we love the Bears. We actually hate you.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yes.

[Andy Classen]

The suits you.

[Jeremy Odom]

That's exactly it.

[Andy Classen]

You got this all wrong. Yep.

[Jeremy Odom]

So business decision.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah, it is a business decision. And they'll always be the Chicago Bears to me. Nothing like that's. Going to change. But now I get to go to a nice new stadium, more amenities, probably going to be more fan friendly. I. I just see it all as a positive. I'm even coming around to my Oakland Athletics.

[Jeremy Odom]

So it's Vegas. They're playing in Vegas this week.

[Kalpen Suresh]

I just saw.

[Andy Classen]

Just saw a rendition of their new stadium that they're building in Las Vegas. That place is going to be awesome.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Andy Classen]

So they. So once again, it's. You're going from a town that didn't appreciate you, that didn't pony up, that was a laughing stock of the league and dilapidated. I just thought that was insane that there was two or three times a year there'd just be standing sewage water in the dugout. Just water where the. Where you're. Where Aaron Judge is standing.

[Jeremy Odom]

And like raccoons in the press box. Like, famously.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. Raccoons and possums above the broadcasters. You know, like, unbelievable. So Oakland more so than Chicago. I'd say they did their part to lose their team. Both their teams and Vegas to their credit. They're like, what do you want?

[Jeremy Odom]

Right.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Well, it's like my. As a Chargers fan, moving from San Diego to L. A, that's tough. I still think it was the bad move.

[Andy Classen]

I do think that was bad.

[Jeremy Odom]

But it's like for me, living here in middle of America, what did it change? Nothing. But. But for the fans there. Oh, man, what a disaster.

[Andy Classen]

Now, that one kind of reminded me of you. You know, when the Browns left and there was no reason for the Browns to go to Baltimore that last time, that last time around. The fans still want them. Love the Browns so much that they actually sued the ownership and retained the name Browns. Yeah. They had to change the name to the Ravens to move that team to Baltimore. But Baltimore is like, well, you know, we had the Colts and we lost them. So we got to make it right. We got to get a team back. So I don't know. That's. That's why I think we love college sports so much, because there still is that. Keep using the word veil that they're playing for more than just the name on, you know, the back of the jersey. With professional sports, it's blatant. It's in your face. No, this is for profit.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah. College sports. The team's not moving away from you.

[Andy Classen]

No.

[Jeremy Odom]

You know, they're always going to be there. For better or worse than that. There's something to that.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. The. My university, I. I graduated from Peru State, and they were threatening to move that to Nebraska City back in the day. And it's like there's absolutely no way pick up all these old brick buildings. Right. Campus of a Thousand oaks. You're just going to subplant all these oak trees and move them up, you know, 20 miles. Yeah. There's just. The University of Nebraska is always going to be in Nebraska. And same with the University of Miami. It's always going to be in Miami. So there is something to that. And I do think people need to wake up and understand that right underneath that, though, it is pay for play there. Even, even the Huskers back in the day, there's. There's a reason Adamic and Sue, kid from Portland that didn't even know Nebraska was. Came to Nebraska.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah.

[Andy Classen]

And if you dig into that, it's pretty obvious. Yeah, pretty obvious.

[Jeremy Odom]

But he gave back.

[Andy Classen]

He sure has.

[Jeremy Odom]

He has given back.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. There's some pretty good stories as to like, you better give back because there's some skeletons here.

[Jeremy Odom]

Okay. I got, I got some for you. I famously, my shower song that I sing is the Thong Song by Cisco. Oh, what's your shower song?

[Andy Classen]

Oh, man.

[Jeremy Odom]

What's your go to shower song?

[Andy Classen]

I guess I should say, you know, I, I kind of go through. I go through waves of like, I'm on a green day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bender where. And then I'll. Then I'll move on to Chevelle, you know, so then it's like, send the pain below, you know, I'm just belting that out right now. Ashley has rediscovered Nellie.

[Jeremy Odom]

There you go.

[Andy Classen]

So, and the kids really like Nellie. And Ashley, it's kind of funny, she's trying to be very clear. There's like three or four words in these songs that you just.

[Jeremy Odom]

You're not going to say.

[Andy Classen]

They're just. It's a big no go.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yeah, it's a big filler here. Don't say.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah, you can't say that. You know, and, and so, yeah, Nelly. Every once in a while, ride with me. But I, I. There's one song that I. That just never got the radio play because I feel like the band tried to go above and beyond and do it their way. And it was just a random song that I found of theirs that I really liked. And it's from Fallout Boy. Hum Hallelujah. Yeah. I love that song. And it never really got any radio play because they tried to like, distribute themselves or something. They ran into it with Sony or whoever. And it's, it's a damn good song. And I did. I always, I'll go back to that one every now and then.

[Jeremy Odom]

So then do you have like a speaker in the bathroom you play the music to or you just going acapella?

[Andy Classen]

Oh, I'll go acapella. Okay, Quite a bit. But yeah, everyone, there's Bluetooth speakers all over the place now. Just got another one for Christmas, so.

[Jeremy Odom]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy Classen]

Fire that sucker.

[Jeremy Odom]

Same. Yeah, same. That's awesome. Well, I thank you so much for doing Laugh With Me. It's long time overdue. Long time overdue. I think it was probably two years ago, before I was even a co host of wtl. I invited you and Jabron on Laugh With Me. We just never did it.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

So thank you for doing Laugh With Me, wtl. I will say I have so much enjoyed doing the show and anybody who is into sports, into sports betting, just plain sports entertainment, you got to check it out. We've had a lot of fun. We've been in the shadows of Memorial Stadium, doing pregame for big, big Husker games. To doing the show in the middle of nowhere in Plattsmouth, Nebraska, to here in the wonderful WT studio. Yeah, it's, it has been a lot of fun. I thank you for inviting me to be part of it.

[Andy Classen]

Appreciate that. No, and I, you know, likewise. Jabron was, you know, moving back home to the ranch or, you know, and wanted to get out of there. And I think it's important to have that in studio live vibe, the back and forth. There's so much of that simulcasting type stuff where it's just talking heads on a zoom or whatever look. So I really appreciate you hop on board, stepping up. You know, I don't know if sports betting was what you necessarily, but that also speaks to what my, my vision for that show was. This is entertainment first and foremost, like all sports is. I don't care if it's Nebraska football, Oakland Athletics, whatever they are now, Las Vegas Athletics, baseball. It's entertainment first.

[Jeremy Odom]

Yes.

[Andy Classen]

And then putting that lens on it of coming through a sports betting perspective, it just gives it another level of, I don't know, intrigue and fun, you know, something new and different. And to be quite honest, I didn't want to end up like, I've seen a few guys in the sports broadcasting field. They're like 80, barely holding on, and they're talking about 16 year olds or 17 year olds playing balls like, ooh, that, I don't know, I just did. That doesn't look good. But if you take the sports betting, it's more mature look, it's an older audience. Maybe I can hold on for a couple more years talking sports.

[Jeremy Odom]

You're well on your way, man.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah.

[Jeremy Odom]

Well on your way. I thank you so much for letting me be a part of it. What. What do you got to promote? What do you want to. Want to plug here at the end?

[Andy Classen]

You know, wto, man, That's. That's. That's where we. We kind of met and hit it off, and that show is taken off. We joined that Believe Network. They've been doing wonders for us. Uh, it's. It's quite humbling to see and kind of intimidating. I mean, like, with. With. With this show that you're on right now, checking some of those, you know, analytics and numbers. It's wild to think there's that many people listening to my take.

[Jeremy Odom]

Is it cool? Yeah, it's cool. But, yes, there's. There's a weight to it. Yeah.

[Andy Classen]

Yeah. I mean, I was used to it on a. On a much lower level with the sports broadcasting, but that really reaches Nebraska fans on, like, a high school or small college level, you know, but the wtl, where's the line? Where it's gone the last couple of years, it's been so much fun. And. And, yeah, I think we're only gonna get bigger.

[Jeremy Odom]

Absolutely. You can find WTO anywhere that you find your favorite podcasts. Subscribe, but most importantly, download. You can also find Andy Classett at the news channel Nebraska Common Folk Podcast.

[Andy Classen]

Yep.

[Jeremy Odom]

He's all over the place. Thank you, man. Appreciate it.

[Andy Classen]

It's been a lot of fun.

[Jeremy Odom]

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