Sunday Night, Granary Live a little National, Little War on Drugs. My next guest will be there, as will I. I've got to say, I'm a little bummed out that the lineup is what it is.
As far as who's going first and who's going second?
Right, because War on Drugs is opening and National is closing?
Is that correct? That's my understanding.
Guess that doesn't feel right to me.
I mean, there'll be a lot of sad dads.
Either way, and I know what that term means. At this point in my life, I do know what sad dad means. Aaron Falk, the editor of the sports section for the Solid Tribune. Is it look the National has been around longer? Is that what it is? It just feels like these days war on Drugs is bigger.
Well, you know, the National, they've collapsed with Phoebe, with Taylor. You know there's crossover appeal here, so you know, I think they are maybe a step above.
That's fair, and you know, while we're in this space, of course, was it last year when Phoebe came downtown or two years ago?
I don't remember, but I remember that we were the oldest people.
There, A young a very young person came up to me and said, hey, aren't you Spence check Its And I said yes, and he said, my dad loves you at the Phoebe show, So I'm probably in for some more of this coming up on Sunday Night.
In a couple of years, it was like, will be didn't you used to be Spencer Jeens? You know?
And then I already feel that way, but you know, what are you gonna do? We're aging hope to see you guys on Sunday night. It'll be a great show, all right, Aaron. Let's start with a historic week for a couple of different reasons, some good, some bad. The bad is the capital City said good bye to the Bees after thirty years of Smith's Ballpark in almost one hundred years of history of minor league baseball in Salt Lake City, it now belongs to our friends out south.
At daybreak went to a couple of games this year. Wasn't able to make it out over the weekend. I know that you did. We talked to Tony Parks a couple of times to promote the games and also to recap them. What are your thoughts now that it's official the Bees are moving down South?
Yeah? I mean, I look at it. There are a couple of different lenses that I would look at this with, and one is like a very personal you know, Salt Laker like we you know, we live in you know, in the neighborhood roughly, and so you feel a personal connection to grew up going to those games. It's nearby. There's history there almost one hundred years, like the people that have passed through that block, you know, not that stadium,
exactly what that block. It's kind of an incredible roster in terms of of baseball history in Salt Lake City. And so to see that go is very sad. And then at the same time, I think, you know, if you can, if you can get outside of yourself and zoom out a little bit and you look at where's the growth in the valley. It's on the south end.
Was I was there. I was in an impossibly long beer line on Sunday with you know, thirteen thousand, five hundred other people, and a woman came walking through the concourse screaming, if you'd all been here every week, this wouldn't be happening.
And you know what, maybe maybe maybe, And.
So I think, you know, you look at at what the Millers have done, and yes it is. It is sad for me to see that go. But to move out to Daybreak, a younger audience, a different type of audience, a smaller stadium, you know it, it may very well be what's best for a minor league franchise, particularly if they are truly serious about adding major league franchise in downtown. Right.
And then I think you look at it from a Salt Lake City standpoint, in that neighborhood, which is, you know, as it's issues just from a socioeconomic standpoint, and to go and maybe you know it sounds like the U is going to play there next year, but beyond that, you know, to have a place that's going to be active, it's probably gonna be shops, apartments, whatever. I don't know.
The city hasn't decided yet, but it's going to be active three hundred and sixty nights a year, right, and not and not just for baseball season, and not just for six days at the time every other week. And so I think there there can be good that can come out of it.
Still a bummer, yeah, it is, And I've said this ever since the news came down. I mean, we're all going to react to news like this based off of how it affects us. And the fact that I can get dismissed ballpark in ten minutes without traffic is something that affects me.
Now.
I also go to four or five games a year, right, And so ultimately, I wonder what your thoughts are. I've never been a daybreak, not one time. I don't like going past thirty third. I prefer staying here. But I've never been a daybreak one time. I've never been a daybreak one time. And I wonder if you believe that this new club will be supported in its new home. I just don't know enough about the infrastructure kind of what it's like.
Yeah, I think that it can be. I think it's going to be a much younger crowd. It's going to be a different crowd right now. It's yes, it is families. It's also people looking to get a beer outside, right, And I think Daybreak is going to be very heavy on family youth. I could say, see, you know, like Little League Baseball teams filling that place up a lot. It's gonna be a much smaller stadium, right, something like eight thousand versus the fifteen thousand it is now, and
it's gonna be different from what I understand. There's gonna be more of a beer garden set up and not like you know, it's not gonna be at your seat, So families that may feel uncomfortable in a I don't know watching someone else drink a beer. I don't know. It's not me, but you know, there may be more opportunity there. And then you know whatever, the secret Lives of Mormon wives crowd that comes from from that corner is gonna be there and they're gonna be doing tiktoks
and they're gonna it's gonna be big. I don't know, it could be good.
Are you aware that I'm related to a couple on that show?
Which one I don't. I will not stay on air. We'll leave it off air for now. Okay, I'll tell you off air. I have not seen the show, nor will I. I'm not gonna see a moment of it. But anyway, my head is all over the place with that breakdown, avoid the very appearance of evil Aeron.
So they head on out to daybreak.
Let's move over here though, because after the Miller's kind of announced the plan and it went through the process. Steve Starks came in a studio for an hour and on air we talked a lot about the plan, and then off air he opened up the books and showed me like, and they're ready.
They're ready, you know, shoveling the ground ready.
I just haven't heard anything recently about if there's progress being made, Because to your point, if the endgame of moving the B's to daybreak is a ball major League ballpark here in Salt Lake City and a Major League Baseball team in the Capitol City, I'm all for that, But I just what you're understanding of where we're at that production.
We're still ages away from a decision, you know. I mean, just looking at at what Rob Manfreend has said about Major League Baseball expansion, it's status quo right right. We're waiting for I don't know exactly if Major LEAUE Baseball will wait until stadiums are built in Tampa and in Las Vegas or wherever the A's end up, because it's
still kind of seems sketchy there. But you know, at this point, it sounds like maybe the earliest of whatever expansion team is playing, whether that's Nashville here, Portland, wherever. It's not gonna until twenty thirty points, right, We got a pretty big gap here.
Yeah.
And it's funny because Gary Bettman said the same thing about hockey expansion, and so I was off operating off the premise like, Okay, Ryan wants hockey, Millers want baseball. We're probably looking at twenty eight, twenty nine to thirty for both. That's what makes the hockey thing so crazy, because this is not an expansion team. It's a relocation. It's literally historic. We chatted with Bell. She's lovely, she's very good. You've hired a new b rider for the trip.
We've seen a couple of preseason games, couple of power play goals, a couple of power play kills. We saw in interference with a goaltender, which is like off sides in soccer. You only know it when you're trained to see it. It'll it's okay, you'll catch up. What are your thoughts?
Hockey's here?
Yeah, I'm I'm I'm I am learning. So I've got a really good friend here. Yeah, so I'm learning the higher Belfraser is good.
For me because she knows a lot more about it than I do.
And so I'm I'm learning through this process as well, but I've been encouraged by the excitement around. I think the interesting thing right now for me is, you know, just kind of being around the gateway and the arena the other night when when that game and I wasn't there, but you see so many different jerseys, you know, Bruins jerseys and Golden Knights jerseys, all these things, and I'm wondering how long before you know it's Utah hockey fans
and not Utah hockey. Good point, Yeah, and that that's right now. It feels a little bit more like people are die hard for the sport and they're they're coming in and showing up versus having, you know, the team to really coalesce around. Given the season ticket deposits that we've heard about and everything like that, I suspect that's going to happen once you know things, once the lamp lights for real, there you go. I believe the electric.
Look at you bell has been a good influence.
I like this, but yeah, right now, right now, it still feels like I feel like people are just kind of putting their toe with sure.
Sure now the sweaters are pretty clean though they are, Yeah, they are a lot of a lot of excitement around town about the sweaters.
That's what I'm hearing. Yeah, and I don't actually I'm a fan. I mean, I you know, get nice and clean. Uh keep it simple for see.
I have your Twitter pulled up. I haven't seen any tweets about how clean the sweaters are. Uh, yeah, they're not there.
I've been I've been liking them. You can't see the likes.
Can you not? Did you want to take away? Take away the likes?
You can like? You just can't see it.
I didn't know that.
I protect a few people.
That's good news for a few.
People in our market.
There's no doubt about that.
All right, let's do a little We'll do a little jazz because I do have a well, we're gonna end with mostly college football after this. From my vantage point, this is as low of an excitement level as I can remember, like ever about it jazz season.
Now.
I wonder if the hockey team will be able to capitalize on that. Look, they're under one umbrella, so it's not like you're stealing business from one cut.
It's the same company, it's the same ownership group.
Do you think there's gonna be a dynamic and look, one of the great things about sports, one of the things we love about sports, it's why we watch, is you never.
Know what's gonna happen.
Could Cody Williams pop in a way that no one's Maybe I'm not excited to watch the Patti Millster U Banks pick and roll seven times in the third quarter, Like it's just not there. And I wonder if you think the hockey club will benefit off of what I perceived to be a very low level of excitement for pro basketball in our market.
I'm with you there on the excitement level. I saw the email come out that you know, preseasons here, Ryan Smith, Danny Ainge are talking to the press on Friday, and I'm like, what do I care about right now? And it's long term. Everything is long term. I agree with you. You know, can Keyante take another step? What is Cody william There are questions to be answered, but man, you got to be kind of a die hard to really care about
those questions immediately, And so I agree with you. I don't think, you know, I think if the Jazz were a playoff team, then there's gonna be people that are diehard Jazz fans. They don't give their attention to anything else, maybe just sort of out of curiosity. I think you're a sports fan in the Salt Lake market and football ends and you're watching a bad jazz team, and you go, what's going on with this other thing that I hear
that is winning? I think there. I think it is an opening for the Utah Hockey Club to steal a little bit of a momentum that they might not have had otherwise.
So you bring up a really good point.
And I've honestly always wondered this, because you know, when you're in when you get in the business, the industry, as they say, you have to become a little bit agnostic about cheering. And it probably took me to if I'm honest, it probably took me too long doing this to realize that. I think I'm much better at it now that I don't care about. I hate to say that, but if a team that I cheer for loses, I have a sandwich and go to bed and I don't think about it again. And when I was younger, it
was different. I had more emotional ties. It's different when you're raised and it's the family business and you know you're cheering literally with your heart and soul because it's what your family relies on to live. But as you move out of that, you do wonder, at least I do, how many of our citizens here in the community who enjoy sports just want to go see the jazz and they don't care if it's Keyante or if it's Donovan Mitchell.
Like, how many ultimate.
Die hards out there are upset with lack of direction and how many people just want.
To go to a damn game. I honestly don't know the answer to that.
Yeah, I think. I think if you have been through a period of jazz success, you know, at different points in your life, whether you are somebody you know, if you're we're around to watch watch the finals runs, if you were around to watch you know, Darren and Carlos, if you were around to watch this this Donovan Rudy era. I think maybe, I think there are people out there that will have enough good memories that you know, hey, this is this is my team. I'm here through thick
and thin whatever. I think. Casuals, sure, I mean, maybe they're go because you want to get you want to get some jade dogs and and and hang out with your friends. For sure, one night for one game. But I think there's a ton of young kids who already have a hard time getting into sports the way that
we have had sports in our life growing up. They're watching highlights on YouTube and they're not really paying attention that if you don't have a winner like you're you're not connecting with with that younger generation, and so I think that's that's sort of the misopportunity. But I think if you are somebody that's that's been through it, you can probably endure a couple of bad years here. We're nice fans, We are nice people, nice fans, and people
will swallow it for a little while. But if you're if you haven't had it before, you're not going to be a twelve year old kid that goes to the Delta Center for the first time watch the Jazz get blown out by fifty and think this is it for me, This is where I want to be.
Right And that's the danger of having a rebuild go more than a few years. And to be fair to Xanak and age and everybody else, most rebuilts go more than a few years.
We just haven't had those happen here very often.
And I suppose, because there's there's this general feel like if I'm watching an NBA show or if I'm listening to an NBA podcast, there's just this general feel. And Jason Kidd actually set it out loud a couple of years ago during a MAVs playoff run when he said, you guys don't get it. We're millionaires cheering for each other. I'm like, dude, I know, but don't say that A
was lifting right. And you do get peeks behind the curtain every once in a while when Kevin Durant says, hey, nobody ever thinks about the fans, just so you know. So there is this general feel like these guys are fat and happy. How he stay hungry when you're well fed, and they don't really give a rip about anything other than their P and L statements, which are really healthy, and the fans keep showing up. I wonder if you
think that stops at some point. As far as that building being full, it was full every I was probably there ten times last year was full every time.
Yeah. I was just talking about that with Andy Larsen and staff yesterday, and and you know, you look at the start of last season, there was there was the idea of hope right at the very start of last season, and so it makes sense that that you have that going in. Things don't work out, it doesn't, you know, it turns it's worse than you expected. But it's still full after the All Star break, after the trade deadline. Is is a bit surprising. I mean, I my first
year covering the Jazz was twenty thirteen. It's twenty five win team. There were a lot of green seats, you know, Like I, I do think it does stop at a certain point. You can't you can't rely on, you know, on the past for forever, particularly when there are other opportunities to spend your dollars. He was good, b YU looks better than expected. RSL may maybe maybe a Cup contender, okay, and and the hockey club right, So so yeah, I do.
I would expect that at some point this year the sellout streak ends.
I think that's probably accurate.
But there's a lot of trucks and Tesla's, as Camaradie likes to say, that make their way up from the South to make sure that thing is jam pack.
That's you brought him up.
So let's do a little bit on RSL. Before we end with college football, I was on TV with your guy, Dave Fox, one of your mentors. We all look up to Dave for a number of reasons, and he asked me last night, are you more confident in them making a deep Cup run now than you were a month ago?
And I said no, not as there was a month ago.
Because remember they went fifteen games unbeaten, fifteen matches unbeaten.
Pardon me, they made a bunch of changes, kind of seem to be figuring it out.
I think the keeper situation is going to stop them from winning anything special. That's kind of where I'm at. But I love playoff soccer, fall soccer. I think we'll get a home match. What are you expecting from RSL the rest of the way.
Yeah, I'm with you. I mean, I thought after you sell Gomez, like there's going to be a natural dip just in terms of energy, in terms of other people. It seems like these editions have done enough offensively to maybe give you hope that, like you can go out and win a playoff game or two or whatever. But yeah, I mean, I think at this point it's not gonna surprise me to see McMath back in goal. And I I think, you know, Beaver's maybe maybe has a bright
future looks a bit skeittish right now. Yes, McMath has made a number of errors that were probably unforgivable to some. But he's gonna be your best bet to win at this point, and I mean at this and you gotta have you gotta have your defense step up three to three. The other night is uh, that's that's a sad ending. Yeah like that.
Well, I'll tell you what if it's McMath between the pipes. So I'm gonna get on Twitter. I gotta see some of those tweets flying man, because some people get really upset with it. All right, we'll move over with a few minutes last to college football. Now let me start here. You, I'm a true aggie. You are an aggie aggie. You are an alump. I did not do this mooching so we I don't know what that means. We both have different ties and realistinity to our good friends up and
Logan for different reasons. How does it feel that you are an alumni of a pac twelve school? Congrat Utah State.
You know, I've been watching this and I don't really know how anybody feels about it. I think I think people feel I think Aggie fans feel better about it on the level of yes, the PAC twelve has more prestige than the Mountain West brand, right, at least did
once upon a time. I think if you look at who who is in the PAC twelve and who is out of the PAC twelve, even if you were just looking at you know, these are the Mountain West extras, right, it is the best part of the Mountain West that is now in the PAC twelve versus you know what is remains in the Mountain West. So I think you're
you're probably feeling better that way. However, like, how could you not get to a situation where you don't just dissolve this thing, save save your war chest of one hundred and fifty million dollars or whatever, and figure out a way to merge it, like or if you're going to do this, and I know maybe you know, Uta States burned from whatever whatever we called it, they called it once more time, the plan when by U and uh when independent, this was all this was all supposed
to happen, right, So yes, Utah State was burned, yeah, once upon a time. So maybe they just feel like, hey, let's get to higher ground and figure it out. But how do you not all come together figure out a way at this point? And then it is not what I'm you know, I'm not anti Mountain West, but figure out a way to dissolve the Mountain West and keep your money.
It's it's a really good point, and I actually think part of that's still on the table if reasonable minds can come together. But now there are lawsuits being filed. Now they're banging heads with each other.
I just can't.
Believe, like, whoever gets college football right will be an absolute hero because it is such a great product with no leadership.
Nobody, everyone's asleep at the wheel.
Yet it is a multi billion dollar business every year without a CEO or without like a sound own business planner structure in place. You know, the quarterback leaves NLV today, that's an undefeated G five team. A lot of people think they can go to the CFP. He's like, where's my one hundred k? The head coach is like, I didn't say that we were going to give you that. He's like, wait, the assistant did.
And he leaves. He's their starting quarterback and he just leaves.
It's an insane thing. And this is where I have a lot of like mixed feelings on the future of nil and like how best to handle this? But you know, we're talking about He's like, ohere's my one hundred thousand dollars, And then the report I saw was like, we're talking about three thousand dollars a month. So there's a gigantic gap in between like a lot of these numbers that are being thrown out there and what we think and maybe what's actually being hitting bank accounts here in certain places.
But I mean, you know, so the initial feeling is where are the guardrails who enforces this? There needs to be strict rules, but that doesn't happen in the real world. If you have a contract for one hundred thousand dollars, and unless you are the Mountain West in the fact, you you know you have something that's enforceable to get your hundred thousand dollars right, But there's just so many backroom deals here that why is an ink on paper for your one hundred k before you before you take a snap?
That's the bottom line.
Matthew Sluka is his name, and according to Sluca and his agent, Marcus Cramarti, an assistant coach, gave him a verbal promise that was quote, come play here and we'll pay you one hundred thousand dollars. Kids, get it in writing, okay, just whatever it is, get it in writing.
Do whatever you have to do is put us ten k to be here for this hit.
Porter Falk was promised ten k. Do you have his Venmo? Can my assistant?
Oh okay, get in writing ten k for a beer bar hit would be phenomenal.
All right, let's move over here.
So you know, I've been pretty honest about my opinion on the lack of information coming from the University of Utah about their quarterback situation. However, I'm also an adult and I understand what the deal is. And Intel Intel coach Wig gets that email from the Big twelve that says, hey, you got a report. Okay, we're making everybody report Thursday night, Friday morning, whatever it is, kind of like the NFL does.
Until that happens.
And by the way, let's pause here, that will happen all of these sports. Now, college football is not as front facing about being in bed with gambling companies as the NFL is. The NFL, you turn on a game and you can get live odds while the game is going on. They give you a QR code to ruin your life if you're prone to a lot of dopamine hits with no reward. I don't love where we're at as far as these sports being in bed with the
gambling companies. But because they're in bed with the gambling companies, who your starting quarterback is is information that's worth hundreds of millions of dollars, So at some point the mandate will come in.
Until it does, Coach Wit is under.
No obligation to tell me or you or anybody else who is starting quarterback is.
So I understand why.
Here's aaron. What makes it different this year, in my opinion, well last year as well. If the reports are true, the Cameron Rising is being paid seven figures to play quarterback for the University of Utah, and a lot of that money comes from season ticket holders, boosters and alumni.
The community is going to want.
To see him play football now. My opinion is he's hurt and he'll be back when he's healthy. I honestly don't know, but there is this general feeling of here we go again with the Utes.
This year what are your thoughts?
Yeah, no, I think it is. I mean I heard you, you know before before the break say you're expecting Isaac under center unless thon until you see Cam under there. Yeah, I think that's a reasonable position to take at this point, right,
you know, I'm curious. I mean, I'm mixed on what the fans rode versus what the boosters are rowed, and also what the boosters will be willing to pony up next time when you know, when it's Isaac Wilson's turn for one hundred or for a million dollars or whatever, Like, is there that same level of desire if you feel like maybe you didn't get you know, the truth out of somebody on this and I you know, obviously it's different this year, and that this is a you know,
this was an injury. We saw that happened. You know, it's not like he was hiding a knee injury for you know, in the off season or whatever. Right, Like, but I'm very interested in what people are, what the value is of this quarterback or of a position or what you know, an nil contract if you're going to be preserved this way, right, Like, who who do you owe the who do you owe that's giving you this money? And that's that's where I'm really stuck right now.
Yeah, And ultimately it will go the way of the pros, where they'll unionize and collectively bargain and then we can have a conversation about whether or not let's just say can makes a million bucks this year, is that guaranteed money like it is in the NBA in Major League Baseball and is growing towards that in the NFL? Or
do you put stipulations on it? Like if you're a business and you decide you want to pay Cameron Rising two hundred and fifty grand this year to play football, because you're allowed to do that via nil and he doesn't play in any games, You're just kind of like, well, what did I pay it? Like, unless they collectively bargain and they make all these contracts guaranteed, then it doesn't matter.
But guaranteed contracts, in a way I think, have kind of ruined the NBA because of the load management stuff.
It's complicated.
But until they have the ability to collectively bargain after they unionize, all of these questions.
Will be up in the air.
We have a big day tomorrow, like one of the ironies of this SLUCAS stuff at UNLV is. On Thursday, the NCAA, the P four conferences and their attorneys must file a brief in the House anti trust Settlements, and we're hoping to get a little closer and closer to that being finally ironed out with the direct revenue sharing and the schools being able to pay.
But that's not even done yet.
And until that's done, we're going to see the quarterback from ULV bounce. We're going to see kids not feel like they need to step up and play if they're being paid, because right now nobody seems to know which way is up or which.
Way is down. I don't know how it's gonna unfold.
Yeah, my kids aren' getting their braces. I mean, right on this. You know. Again, if if it's you know, I think you know, unionizing is definitely the thing that's that's going to happen and probably be the best outcome for for athletes and frankly most parties involved, sure, because otherwise, if you have a congressional you know, intervention or it's
the NCAA, there's still going to be a squeeze. We're still you're still not going to get like a truly fair outcome for your workers, your players, if if it's the billionaires in charge of it making making those decisions.
One hundred percent.
So you know, I believe we're high speed ahead to the day where college football is leaving the n CUBA to become its own governing body with a commissioner. But that's still a few a few years off. All right, final thing and then we'll set you loose to to get back to it. What are you willing to say today about b yu's four and oh start man Conference contender?
Better than we thought? Like, what's what's the take as of today?
Yeah? For me, better than we thought? Uh, Conference contender feels that that feels like a big step. That was an outstanding game filled with a lot of incredible things that you probably can't replicate on a weekly basis. I mean to get those three takeaways to give Rett's laugh short fields three times in short order like that, that's that is the best possible outcome for a guy who was coming in maybe having a little bit of issues
with with turnovers things like that. A punt return that's gonna be you know, it's a play of the year that you're you know, certainly can't bank on that anymore. And and then you have a surprise in in Moa coming out and running people over that just probably nobody had on scouting report right, and so a great win.
I think they can beat Baylor. I think that. I think maybe a good thing for v y U. Now is the last time I remember, like any hype is is that big Baylor win in Provo a couple of years ago, and there's there's excitement when you go to Oregon smoke yeah and every all the airs out. So I think even if you even if they lose the Baylor, it's gonna feel You're gonna feel much better than you did a couple of years ago. So there's a chance
to rebound, to get back on track. But I Conference Contender feels really like a really far.
Stepithy, Yeah, I'm not there yet either, Very impressed. Happy for Klanni and those guys for sure to see the start. Dare we get weird and talk about an undefeated Holy War November the ninth in Salt Lake. It's always better when they're both good erin it's always better when they're both good.
I mean, it's good for it's good for the schools, it's good for the fan basis, as much as they pretend they don't like it, it's good for us. I mean, let's let's have that.
Let's self serve me media, let's be the top of the power ringing. I love it, man, all right?
How can people go support the good folks at the Solid Tribune, Hey.
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Woke all right, man, good to see it. We'll chat to you, okay, all right. The Great Aaron Falk