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Hey, everybody, welcome into the Winklerverse. I'm Bart Winkler. It's just a random Tuesday, February 10th. And I've got... Classic Packers Brewers, Bucs.
Chatter. Yeah. Here this morning, I was going to. Do a show that was heavily edited. And Not a mistake or dead second to be had.
But I'm going to try to do it live anyway.
So it's not it's not a shortcut. I feel like I'm working. Smarter, not harder.
So I'm going to be playing some different videos. Uh from the past. to aid the conversation. This isn't just Hey, I should put out an episode. Clip show.
It's not that. It might feel like that a little bit, but it's not. It's not, I promise you. because I've been alluding to some things that I want you to see. If you're live with us in the year of 2026, remember, this is into the Winklerverse.
There are new people finding this podcast and joining us all the time.
So the lore of Winklerverse. is not known to everyone. But I would say that the people that do. probably listen, I've been listening for a while. And so You might know about when I say Charles Lee is very with the players, why a lot of people were tweeting me that.
after the hornets Got a fight with the Pistons and going to have some guys suspended.
So, good on Charles Lee there. Couple things I want to talk about, Brewers. Packers. Bucks. Bucks lose to the magic.
On Monday, they got him again on Wednesday. We'll talk a little bit about that to wrap things up. Uh we can close the book on the Super Bowl. Got a voicemail on that. Do you want to talk about LaFleur with some comments that Ed Policy had?
And perhaps I need to go up the food chain. When it comes to who my enemies should be. And We'll start with The hat I'm wearing, which is of the Fond du Lac Doc Spiders. Great logo, great team, great league. The Northwoods League collegiate baseball.
You can see this beautiful hat. Thank you. Nice fitted hat. By the way, maybe I can be a little backwards hat kind of guy. Hate it.
Wow. Shit, do I hate that look. And I hate the look with no hat. And let's go front-facing hat. All right.
And it's a sick hat. Thanks to my friends at the Dock Spiders for hooking us. Up. One of my friends at the Doc Spiders was Caleb Durbin. Got to meet Caleb Durbin.
A couple of weeks ago. I got to meet Caleb Durbin a couple of weeks ago. And we had a nice conversation that I. Shared. Just a quick little six-minute hi, how are you?
But then the event that I did. was sitting down with Caleb Durbin and doing the QA with him. In front of like 150 people in Fond du Lac. I felt like a big deal. Until Durban FaceTime with Pat Murphy.
And Pat Murphy was on some stage in Green Bay with Lance Allen. To like 7,000 people. I was like, uh. I thought I, you know, I yeah, hey, hey, hey. We can't be living our lives.
Looking out our window into our neighbors.
Okay, you got to cherish the things. That you do have. In your own Abode. Caleb Durbin got traded, as did everybody who played third base for the Brewers. Essentially, last year.
And the Brewers are. They're you know. They're really trying to outbrewer themselves. Um I loved this tweet. From Grant Bills.
We know him from mm-hmm mm mm. And then Pete and Grant go after it in the comments. The Brewers deserve the benefit of the doubt, and I enjoy when they trade guys away. But after 24 hours, I've decided this Caleb Durbin deal is too much. of a heat check.
That's a great way. to put it, Grant will be back next week as with Paul Imig. He is still in parts unknown.
So we'll return.
Next week. But I wanted to get that out there. And we'll revisit some if you're dying to hear Paul and Grant's voice. You'll hear it via the clip show. Formatting of this.
Edition of the Winklerverse here. Today, as we kind of take a look back at the LaFleur situation. But with the Brewers, it does feel heat-checky. This is something they've done where they take guys. that are good.
And when you're a team When you're a team.
Okay. And you have. Ninety-seven wins. The last thing other teams. Are going to expect you to do Is start trading some of those pieces away.
That helped you get there. The Brewers have to kind of straddle the line. They got to try to be competitive.
Now and competitive later.
So, what they end up getting is a bunch of guys. that are young and good. Before they get the big payday. With exception. But they're also filling out the roster with guys that are young and maybe good.
The Brewers coming into these. Seasons for the last however many years. It's been a lot of. Yes, these guys should be good. And then, if this, and if that, and if that.
Then you're looking at and a lot of times the ifs have worked. Like the Brewers are not going to be a good team in 2025. Unless they get, like, you know, maybe, maybe if they get a couple of these guys to be. Rookie of the Year contenders. They did.
Isaac Collins. and Caleb Durbin. And then other ifs keep coming along the way.
So, what the Brewers seem to do. Is they seem to be Really, going forward into the future, let me try to. come up with an off-the-top analogy. The brewers Let's say their lottery ticket they scratch is a $20 ticket. That's pretty good.
If you can win a $20 ticket, Um on a two, three, five dollar ticket. Good for you. What they're kind of doing is turning those lottery tickets in. Getting some money back. And then also getting more scratchers.
So We don't know if these things are going to be worth anything, but they had a 20. And then now they have a 10 and some other scratchers. And now they're turning in that 10. And now we don't even know if they have $20 yet. What I'm saying is they have value.
And they are continually backing off the value. giving other teams their value. Which they also need to be consistently good now.
So that They're like It's like one step forward, two steps back, but maybe forward and not at all. It's weird. We've never really seen a team. Do this. We've seen teams plan for the future.
We've seen teams be competitive. We have not a lot of times. Scene A situation where a team is doing both. Like the the Brewers They are never going to go all in. They're just not.
Because if they go all in and it doesn't work out. I'm talking like all in, all in. Like they are going to do everything possible to win in 2026, whether that's trade prospects, whether that's spend money. They are never going to do that. They are going to bite of the apple.
Okay. But it doesn't even feel like they're doing that anymore. It feels like they're just planting seeds. It it just I don't know. It just feels kind of messed up.
what they're doing.
So, but it has worked. But how much longer can it work? And I think that is why Grant is right to talk about Some sort of a A heat check. With Caleb Durbin. And we've seen these kinds of trades in the past.
We saw Josh Hayter get dealt. And then you see Devin Williams get dealt. And you keep seeing guys that can help the big league team now get dealt for guys that. Certainly are expected to help later, but You also need to try to figure out a way to Be good now, and guys continue to do that. Like Durbin was one of those guys.
Quinn Priester, one of these guys where you trade for him, they take a flyer on him. It's for the future, but then they're also able to be a part of a team that's going to win. 97 games. This Brewers offseason. Has been Very active.
I think right after they got bounced, you know, guys elect for free agency. Bringing Brandon Woodruff back was about the peak right now. of where a lot of us Felt.
Okay, he's going to come back. We thought we might lose him. He's coming back. That's great. What else can we do?
The Brewers make a trade in the middle of December, sending Isaac Collins away with Nick Mears. For Adhal Yarpa. I believe is the pronunciation. From the Royals.
So they get a lefty. They trade. Mears, a reliever, and then Collins. who a lot of us liked. Uh for a lefty pitcher.
Okay. And then we get into January. January that Comes the Freddy Peralta deal along with Tobias Myers. For Brandon Sprout. a righty and then Jet Williams, who they like.
That can play shortstop, and he's going to be one of these shortstop second, you know, maybe. Middle outfield, these up and down guys. The Brewers love building, they've done this for a long time, but they love building up and down. The lineup are up and down the middle of the field. is what they like to do.
Okay, so so now we're making some trades. And across the league, it was: how can the Brewers trade Freddy Peralta when they won 97 games? A year ago. How can they do it?
Well, if you thought that was weird.
Now they've traded Caleb Durbin. Andrew Monasterio. And Anthony Sigler. For two lefty pitchers, Kyle Harrison, who they like a lot, David Hamilton. Who is a second baseman?
Maybe he'll go play third. Uh I I don't know what's going on. With third base right now. Matt Arnold did speak. to the brewers media.
And I do have Part of that. Uh I couldn't Save it and share it, but this is Matt Arnold. talking about what they're going to do at third base. Courtesy of the Milwaukee Brewers. Matt.
Arnold. And this is why I was going to do some editing. I figured it would play. Uh It is not playing.
So I will try again. Tim, if you just want to get all this in post. That'd be great. Here's him talking about third base. Certainly, yeah.
I think, look, I mean, you talk about a lot of the infield depth that we have here. It's, you know, the on top of Jet Williams and. Uh and Hamilton here. You also have Bryce Terang and Joey Ortiz. Uh, in the mix, you know, we really like the defense.
Uh here for sure on our infield. But you also start looking at the future here with guys like Jesus Made and Um you know, Cooper Pratt and Luke Adams and Luis Pena and Andrew Fisher. I mean, there's just a lot of these types of guys coming, we feel like in our system that can absolutely handle the left side of the diamond. That have really high upsides. And so we feel like we have the ingredients now to weather the loss of somebody like Caleb Durbin, who obviously meant a lot to our franchise.
But we feel really good about the infield depth both now and in the future as well. See, and this is a thing, Matt Arnold courtesy of the Brewers. I think I closed it there enough. But this is the thing that's happening with Milwaukee. They are thinking future forward.
They can't get caught. They can't get caught thinking we held on to this guy too long.
So, what's happening is it seems like they're trading some guys a bit early. I mean, Caleb Durbin. And Isaac Collins. These guys were both in rookie of the year voting. Top five guys.
And they're trading them. Already. Ken says, This team is like DiCaprio. As soon as you turn 25, we trade you for a younger model. They are they are they are not They are not aging.
They will not age. They do want to stay relatively young.
So here's something to think about, and I don't know the answer to this. And I don't know that you'll get it out of Matt Arnold. I don't know that you'll get it out of anybody. in the brewers organization. Or of baseball.
And that is Are you trying to win in 2026? Or are you setting yourself up for a post-lockout? Campaign. Because what would make sense for a team like the Brewers? Would it make sense for them to go all in in 26?
And then there's a strike. And then they lose all these guys. And then it's God knows when. If we're locking out in 27, I'm not expecting baseball in 27. We might get some sort of COVID year, maybe, but I'm not expecting baseball in 27.
I may be wrong on that, but again, I am just getting myself to a point where I personally am not expecting baseball in the summer of 2027.
So if you're the brewers in 2026. Are you trying to set yourself up more for 2028? This is not a team that's going to win the World Series in 2026. Just like they weren't going to in 25, 24, 23, 22, but they put together competitive teams that they could get a bite of the apple. There's different worlds where the brewers you know are able to do it The system and the strategy works.
It's just it's working. for other teams. And typically those other teams are beating us. To have it work. Our strategy has gotten other teams.
Into the World Series. It has not gotten us there. But our strategy's working. For other teams. It's not working for us.
So I do wonder that. in the brewers um Transactions and the justifications. Of it all. Zach in the Falls likes my hat. Courtesy of the Doc Spiders.
Q says a summer of passion and entertainment always starts with a winter. of disappointment. Tom says, Why the hell are the Brewers still dragging their feet with Contreras? That's another thing. That needs to happen.
What are we doing? There Jake says division titles postseason baseball every year. That's as much as you can hope for, given all their default disadvantages. Maybe they luck into a title, but that's as much. As you expect.
Brew City loves what the Brewers are doing. No longer have to worry about injuries.
Next player up mentality: the Brewers' Way. Works. Justin asked if Boston was furious. about the picture we got back. that being Kyle Harrison.
Yeah, they're not making these trades for guys that are terrible. They are making dread. The Brewers have proven that if they're going to target a guy, and that's interesting, they're going back to Boston. Who they got priester from. But if they're going to target a guy.
That guy Under the Matt Arnold era, at least. Like you you You believe in what they're getting back. You believe in what they're getting back. I do at least. It's just.
When is this for? It does not feel like They have any I don't want to say desire to contend in 26, but they do feel like they're setting. I mean, all those names that Arnold just listed, these are guys that we're not going to see this year. Pratt, my day. You know, these are guys maybe at the end of the summer, but we're going to see these guys mainly.
In whatever new baseball looks like. Whenever that happens.
So it's very interesting what's happening with the Brewers. It's interesting because people are still looking at them. of the frame of they're a 97 win team. What are they doing? They're looking at them like they're the Phillies.
Or the Mets. A team that can Spend. And we'll spend. and are trying to compete like every year's World Series or bust. The Brewers aren't that.
The brewers aren't anything or bust. They're not even playoffs are bust. The Brewers are How can we straddle the line of being good today and being good tomorrow? Even if we never win, we're at least not bad. And we're always in contention.
We've talked about that. A lot. Is that something you like? I would like to see one year where they go all in. Before I die?
I even resigned to the fact that I don't think I ever see them win a World Series, but. You know, we'll see what happens. I did mention Caleb Durbin.
So this is one of the things that I wanted to share here. Is When I talked to Caleb Durbin three weeks ago, Isaac Collins had just gotten traded. And the Brewers had just traded Freddie that week.
So Uh I wasn't sure Caleb Durbin was safe. And at the time, you'd be like, well, then who the hell would play third base? Right now, I guess no one. But Caleb Durbin has been traded twice before, both times in the offseason, even though the Brews are reporting this week. Still counts as the offseason.
I did ask Caleb Will or Caleb Durbin. about his thoughts on being traded. And It did not say.
So now so now I'm all I'm over two. I'm trying to uh I don't know why that didn't save. Um Anyway. Wh where the hell is all this going?
Something's going on. I'm putting clips in my iMovie and then I'm. Anyway, uh Caleb Durbin. Said you always you never can uh fuck, it's ruined Tim. Edit that in post.
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Each and every Order. I'm pulling up here. The YouTube video at least With me and Caleb Durbin. Here's some of the things I like to watch. Conan And guys talking about uh Marvel.
But I do talk to Caleb Durbin about trades. In this clip thing in the world.
Someone said, Hey, you go there, but then someone's like, We want you, and also you have to uproot your life, and you did it twice. Yeah, I think it's an underrated. Part of the business that a lot of fans don't really think about is They trade for a player, yay, but for that player, their whole life's kind of changed. All of a sudden, they're in a new spot. For me, No, I'm I'm getting ready to play in New York and all of a sudden I'm playing an hour from where I grew up.
For me, it worked out to where a lot of family and friends could come out and watch me play, so it was pretty cool. Yeah, any time you get traded, it it's kind of comes out of nowhere for for most guys. Yeah, so watching that, I mean, that's sad. He was a brewer. Three weeks ago.
The Doc Spiders, man. Doc Spiders play collegiate ball in Fond du Lac. It's an hour away. He's from Lake Forest, I believe. He was in a perfect scenario, and it seemed like he was going to be a cornerstone of the Brewers for a while.
And now he's a Boston Red Sox. The one time I get somewhat of an in. With a brewer? You trade them? A lot of people jokingly Tax like.
Did you get him traded? It kind of feels like it. Caleb. Oh, that's a bummer. That is a bummer.
Happy PlaceHemp.com. Again, promo code is Bart. 25% off. Each and every order. Uh I did not look yet.
Do the Brewers play The Red Sox. They do to start the season. And it is in Boston. It's that first. Long weekend of April.
Six, seven, and eight. Is that Easter weekend?
So the Brewers play the Red Sox, and it's in Boston. Man.
So, the Doc Spiders, they can't even get because they got a thing playing with a Durban bobblehead, and they had a whole. And they can't even get that. Brutal. Gentlemen, whether you're two dates in or going 20 years strong, a Valentine's Day gift is always a good idea, even if you let the kiddos pick it out. Just hit the Walmart app and get it delivered in an hour with express delivery.
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Do like and Subscribe. I want to talk a little Green Bay Packers. If I may. And I want to do this. to show my consistency On Matt LaFleur.
So this part should work. I'm not going to need. Shea for this. This part should work. I've been consistent.
I think a lot of people. That Oh, I can't afford anything close to a boat. I mean, we need to go to Mars. We need to go to Neptune. for me to get a boat.
This podcast. I need to be like. I need to cut a deal with Netflix. Before I'm even thinking boat.
Okay. If I drink enough of these. And like Lay on a pillow in my bathtub. I feel like I'm on a boat. I feel like I'm the captain.
LaFleur. I've been consistent on the floor, and I've been consistent on the Packers, and I feel like I've been betrayed a little bit. I think what it comes down to for me. is a sense of betrayal. This you made like the pigeon.
In classic Bart Winkler victim. Mising himself. But the two times, the two things that get me the most mad Well, really, it's one. It's when I'm confused. It's when I either don't know how to do something, I think I should know, I get furious.
Or when something is happening and I feel like I'm missing a detail. I feel like we were all. On board. with what our expectations were. for the Green Bay Packers in 2025.
I feel like we all agreed after the Eagles beat the Packers in the playoffs a year ago. I feel like we were all in the same spot. I did a post-game show that night. I was not furious. I was pretty calm and rational.
But I was saying Next year. This is me from January twelfth. On Packers, the Packers, Eagles. Postgame show. Lafleur He is a good coach.
There's a lot of talk. I had a call this week. About how, because I there's guys that are coordinators and not coaches. There's guys that are coordinators and not coaches. LeFleur is not that.
He's better than a coordinator. He is a good coach. But is he a great coach? Absolutely not. And is he a good leader?
I don't know. I don't know. And I know his body language and the emotion and all that kind of stuff gets talked about, but. I don't Trust him? I don't Feel like he's gonna come up in a big spot.
We were not the team that was going to beat the Eagles. And there's a lot of reasons why. We're not good enough, which is fine. I don't think we're there yet.
Next year is where the expectations come. Yeah, I think there's a ceiling and floor to LaFleur. The floor is good. You're not going to have a bad year. The ceiling, I mean, it's basically a Mike Tomlins situation.
You'll have good years under Matt LaFleur, but will you win a Super Bowl? No. At least, I don't think so. Can you imagine Matt LaFleur? Coaching four games in the playoffs win.
Or lose. Win or die? That's what I was saying now now we're back to present day. That's what I was saying about Rodgers. Like, I thought Rodgers in the playoffs this year with the Steelers.
Could have an interesting run. But did I think he was going to do it four games in a row? No. Can you imagine Matt LaFleur getting in the playoffs of the seventh seed, winning that game, winning another game, winning a third game, and then winning the Super Bowl? I cannot.
I cannot imagine that. I don't think it's possible.
So that's where I was. A year ago. Is Matt had three years with Rodgers, three years with Love. You know, typically, once you get to a certain point, but it's almost like it's two different tenures. I can get behind that argument.
Coaching Roger, like, no coach, you know, he's going to be in his eighth year, but he's really going to be in his fifth year. Of love.
So I can understand that argument to Keep him. I do think the Love and Rogers things were different. LaFleur's the coach. Whereas before I called him. A co-manager.
Now that was the 12th. That was after they lost to the Eagles. We did. the following, you know, Wednesday or whatever, with Paul and Grant. And so we looked ahead.
The question and the topic was. Because last year again There were injuries, it was bad. Excuses were made for the Packers in 2024. And we had agreed, at least I thought, that we weren't going to make those excuses again in 2025.
So again, leading up to the season. We talked about, well, what if this happens again? What if What happened with LaFleur and the Packers? Against the Eagles. What if that happens the following year?
Now, it actually ended up worse because they were up 21-3 against their division rival and they lost.
So it wasn't like the same thing happened. No, it was much worse.
So keep that in mind. This is what we had talked about. Would LeFleur Than be on the hot seat. Packers have a similar or worse season in 2025. LaFleur should be on the hot seat a year from now.
Mm-hmm. Or mm-mm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I'll echo it right away.
I think that's perfectly stated. Every detail of what you just said, I would agree with. I think he's great. And I think he's proven that he's very, very capable. I think this is a really bad year in a lot of aspects.
Some I can't explain. Like, who gets bad at clock stuff six years into their coaching career? You know what I mean?
So part of that might just be fluky. And I expect a lot of that to regret it. I think this offseason is huge for him, and I think he'll attack it, and I think he'll be better next year. But yes, if next year is the same or worse, then he's on the hot seat. I'm not saying he should be fired, he'd be on the hot seat.
I don't think LaFleur is on the hot seat. Wait, okay. Wasn't the question. Was not the question. That was a dick that.
Why did I say that? Those are the questions. But if the same thing happens next year, okay, that's the question. Yeah. I think that this year.
As much as we're tempted to like Shit all over La Fleur. And shit all over Jordan Love. I'm very much just, we need one more spin of the dice. Yep. You do.
Very much that. And I've talked about this with the Chargers. Where Harbaugh gets there. They were never going to win the Super Bowl this year. Yep.
But he built in his system, and now he's got to get his players. And after year three, Then you can start to be like, all right, is this working? Yeah. I think because LaFleur came in, and I know there's what, people after seven years, there's only a few coaches that have ever won. LaFleur, I think, is in a different.
He's he's at two different, completely different jobs. Yep. Yep. Mm-hmm. Pay respect to that.
So When he's got Jordan Love, he essentially got. a new position and I've said this of head coach and no longer co-manager.
So, there's a lot of things that we want to do now. We want to attack Jordan for the contract. We want to attack Matt LaFleur for. Many attackable things, but I still think we should wait. Day of next year.
And then an evaluation needs to happen if they don't have great success.
So I'm totally fine having a very. Quite offseason in terms of Being mad. Can I uh Follow up with Mike. Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. I asked you.
If Mike McCarthy wanted to come back. I'd take him over LaFleur right now. Perfect. There's been plenty of time. I've always thought he should have tenure.
Remember? He's got a new quarterback to work with. He doesn't have the, you know, maybe Jordan Love, Jordan Love, like Jordan Loves. Maybe he's harboring three years of resentment under the LaFleur era. I don't know.
Maybe he saw Aaron Rodgers go out there and shit the bed. That final couple of weeks, maybe he thought he could go out there. And do it. We don't know. We don't know that everything's keen and on the uppity up with fluor and.
LaFleur and Jordan love.
So I added that last part in there, back to live action. I added that last part in there to show my consistency. Without naming names. I do feel like A lot of people in the Packer broadcast sphere. Think I'm out of my fucking mind.
I feel like a lot of these people think I am. Crazy cuckoo nuts banana boy. Maybe. But it's not out of the blue. The stuff I'm saying right now about LaFleur, I've done, been saying for years.
And McCarthy wanting him back. I've said this for LaFleur. This is why I got so mad.
Okay. There's one day. That weekend, I cannot handle. Wisconsin-Chicago playoff games. I can't.
So the next time it happens, I'm not going to be able to do anything with it. I can't handle it. I can't handle the lead up. I can't handle the actual game. I can't handle the aftermath.
Win or lose. I should just never talk about it again. I can't do it. I even knew it. I knew it.
Said, I can't go to one of these games. And I went to one of the games. I knew it. It's too much for me. I care too much.
I care too much. Wish I didn't. I care too much. So I've been consistent, and I felt like last year we all kind of. Felt the same way, like, okay.
Let's give another year. And then we're right. What I just said after the Eagles game is what a lot of you guys are saying now. Where, ah, you know, injuries, and we weren't going to do it. Let's see what happens next year.
But I thought this year was the year for us to see what happens here. I know Micah Parsons got hurt. I know Tucker Kraft got hurt. We didn't expect either of those guys.
Well, one, we didn't expect to be here, but we didn't expect either of those guys. Craft, we weren't even sure he was a tight end one yet.
Some people accurately said it, and good for them. that have been going to camp. Noticed it. Talked about it. And they should take a victory lap on that.
They were absolutely right. But even a year ago, at this time, I don't think we thought he'd be one of the best tight ends in the league, that him getting hurt. Even before Parsons got hurt, him getting hurt could. Ruin our whole season. We didn't think that was going to be the case at the time.
But it ended up being the case. And even still, In twenty twenty five, I didn't wait until the Packers lost in the playoffs to get all crazy about LaFleur or wait for a five game losing streak. They were losing games to the Panthers and the Browns that they shouldn't have. And had they won those, they could host a home game. They wouldn't have to go to Chicago.
Chicago barely gives a shit that they lost to the Rams. Because they beat us twice in a month. They don't care. They beat us twice in a month. They got what they wanted.
They're happy. And now, power rankings are out, and the Packers are ahead of the Bears, and they go right back to bitching about being little brother. It's perfect. Oh, it's all lining up great for Bears fans.
So I don't understand it. We were at a place last year where we're like, this isn't good. You get another year.
Now the next year happened, it actually ended worse for them. Nobody's meter moved. Nobody's meter moved. One of the differences I would love. For us to not have had to talk about this as much.
Because if LaFleur had like two years left. I would have still said you should probably fire him. I would have still been on that bandwagon. I'm on that bandwagon right now. I would love A new coach in Green Bay.
Now who are you going to hire?
Well, that's the problem. That is the problem. Because that's what's keeping Matt LaFleur employed. Matt LaFleur. I do think there's good coaching ability to him.
Like he knows what he's doing to a degree. But I don't look at him the way that I look at Mike McDonald. With the Seahawks. That's his second year. In Seattle.
And he's he like I saw him doing an interview where he's like, I didn't play past high school. I can't yell at these guys. You know, I can't do what they can do, but I can set them up and put them in the best position. To win. The week leading up to the Super Bowl, McDonald, they had looked at all the Patriots' linemen.
And they could tell the linemen were giving tells based on how they were lining up and how they were standing. They could tell this is going to be a run. This is going to be a pass. They could tell. They got the advantage because McDonald scoured the tapes to find one.
Does LaFleur do that? Does he ever scour the tapes to find an advantage? Yes, he does. During the fucking games when he's on his Microsoft Surface Pro. Mm-hmm.
So if he waits until during the games, maybe the Wi-Fi is not as good in his office. He's got to be actually on the field. To get it done.
So yeah, I'm upset. I'm upset that LaFleur is still the coach. I'm also upset because I thought we were all in this together and we're not. And I'm on an island now. And I'll have to talk to.
I don't know where I stand with a lot of these people once I threw out the LaFleur picture and them having a beer. One of those people. Was Aaron Nagler, who I'm very fond of. I don't know where I stand with him right now, but I saw he had a thing. Where it said.
I walked around the Super Bowl and people can't believe That Packer fans want LaFleur fired, they can't believe it. And one of the things that he had said was. You look around, all these other teams, all these other coaches just are in bad situations that Green Bay is enviable. What bothers me about that is LaFleur is getting credit. For not being as shitty as everybody else.
Shitty. I don't like what he is. This is not good. but it's good enough. Matt LaFleur.
Is Good enough. To get his team into the playoffs. With Half of the league making the postseason. He's good enough to do that. There's a lot of teams that their coaches aren't.
And so Ipso facto, LaFleur is at least an above average head coach. Not based on what he's doing. LeFloy. The floor. LaFleur is like Billy Madison.
Retaken first grade. Yeah, of course he's gonna be the smartest kid in the class. You're with first graders. Of course LaFleur is going to be an above average coach. A lot of these people are stupid.
LaFleur is just slightly less stupid than everybody else. And he gets the benefit of the doubt for that. That's ridiculous.
So Ed policy is keeping the Mark Murphy tradition alive. Not in the Five questions, or the Murphy takes five. I think it's called policies. What is it called? Pol Policies Perspective.
Okay. And I'm not going to necessarily mark Murphy this one. Evil Mark Murphy. We're not to evil Ed Policy yet. We could be.
But I do want to share the answer. With what policy had said, I'm sharing the. Clip from Packers.com. Uh this is Kim from Grafton. Dear Ed, I'm a Packer fan, 66 years in.
I know you have a lot of decisions to make. But I do hope you keep Matt LaFleur on as head coach. He loves our organization. And honestly, his season-ending press conference really solidified that for me. That man wears his heart on his sleeve, and his players care about him.
I was sad how things ended this year, but with all the injuries the team experienced, we did what we could. And I'm embarrassed by all the nasty comments that are being made. No one should have to take that kind of verbal abuse. That's my two cents worth. Good luck with everything in GoPack Go.
I'm going to go to Grafton right after this, knock on every door, and look for this Kim because I don't think she exists. This email's fake. They're not going to put in Bart from Shood. Hey Ed, LaFleur fucking sucks. They're not going to publish that email.
They're either going to find the nicest one possible or make one up. I do hope you keep LaFleur as head coach.
Okay, that's fine. He loves our organization. His season-ending press conference solidified that for me. A real human being did not say that. There's no fucking chance.
All right, so what did What did policy say here? Um Thanks, Kim. Matt and I were both excited to extend. His contract. Uh oh.
Fuck you, bitch! I'm keeping LaFleur. His eyes suck. All right, we don't need to call that to Kim. Thanks, Kim.
Matt and I were both excited to extend his contract. I have worked closely with Matt for more than seven years. And this decision was based off first-hand knowledge of that seven-year body of work. Our record with Matt at the helm is 76-40 and one. See, he's getting benefit for Rodgers.
I haven't read this whole thing yet, so whatever anger I have is going to be raw. Since 2019, no other coach in the NFC has won more games than Matt, and only two other coaches in the NFL have won more than him in that time. I've been at every one of those games and witnessed the highs and lows. Matt is a teacher, first and foremost. All great coaches are.
He comes from a family of teachers. watching his parents teach and coach. I've been impressed with his ability. His work with quarterbacks is unparalleled. I've heard some of the same negatives you have coming out.
Of the Bears' loss, and I understand it. Care how deeply our fans care about the team. They hold us. to high expectations.
However, in my seat, you must rise above emotions and analyze objectively an entire body of work. To make a long-term decision that puts the team in the best position to compete for Super Bowls. year in and year out. That's the process I went through following our season. Candidly, over the years, I've grown to appreciate ownership groups that build dynasties through level-headed, steadfast continuity.
in lieu of emotional chaos. There's a diff there's a difference. Look, we're going to find out if this is going to work or not. Either it is or it's not. Either they're going to be right or I am.
Maybe somewhere in the middle. I doubt it. He's either going to win a Super Bowl and he's not. And if he's not, I'm right. And if he is, I'm wrong.
'Cause that's what it's about for me. 'Cause that's where my bar is. My bar is Super Bowls. I understand not every team can win every time. I understand the Brewers are not going to win the World Series, but there's fun things that happen that you can still cherish as a fan.
I understand the Bucks suck. But you know, there's there's still I I've always said I'm a championship or bus guy, and I am. That's what I root for. I got to plug in my thing. I root for championships.
I also understand. It's not going to happen every year. It's impossible.
Now, some teams are better at getting closer each and every year than the Packers are, but I do understand it's not going to happen every year. I think the way that I've talked, you might get the impression that. I think you have to win a championship every year. Otherwise, I'm going to hold your feet to the fire. I want you to do what's best.
To win a championship as soon as you can. You should be setting up moves for that.
So, for the Brewers, I don't know that they're setting themselves up for 2026. I wouldn't say they're not. It seems like they know they're not going to win in 2026. They're worried there's going to be baseball or not in 27.
So they're sort of building for 2028, unless now they trade these guys by that time. You never know. I mean, Bye. Has a team ever had two guys finish top five rookie of the year and then they both got traded? What the fuck?
With the Packers, I think they're at a spot where every year should be competing for a Super Bowl. The roster's good enough. The talent's good enough. The path is there. You can do it.
You can do it. You don't have to be ashamed. You can try to win a Super Bowl. But it feels like they're taking more of the brewers approach. Like, maybe we'll get one.
Go be the Green Bay Packers about it. Go be the Green Bay Packers. There's a like you can be somebody. What was the line he used? He doesn't want to let emotions.
You know, factor into a decision, but you can also be so afraid. of doing something like i don't know is it too emotional if i do this It might be the smart move, but you don't do it because you're worried it was too emotional.
Now this year. I don't know that there was a coach that was going to come in here and turn it around. Harbon McCarthy, you know, I like McCarthy. You know, whether you've got. you know, a Kubiak or whatever.
We don't know. I think you could have said Vrabel. I think you could have said Ben Johnson. When Mike McDonald got hired, all we did was joke that his name sounds like four other different coaches' names. We knew he was with Baltimore.
We didn't know much about him. We know a lot about him now. He got Seattle to a Super Bowl with Sam Darnold in year two. And LaFleur's at Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love for seven years. And we got the one NFC championship game, two Niners.
How do they do it and we can't? But Malafloor, he doesn't get compared to Mike McDonald. That's what I think we should be doing. We should be comparing Matt LaFleur to the coaches that are good. But all we're doing is looking at the coaches that suck and saying, oh, he's better than that.
Better'n that This level of complacency. That's why I'm so mad. That's why I go on tweet rages. That's why I spend time digging through old videos. to show you where I was a year ago.
Because It's not good enough. And I thought we were all in agreement with that. And I feel betrayed. from the Packers, from a lot of you, from a lot of the media. I'm the fucking crazy guy.
For wanting LaFleur fired. I don't want anything from the Packers. I don't need a credential. I don't need to being good for interviews. I don't do any of that.
Plus When that does happen And I have an in with someone, they trade him to the Red Sox three fucking weeks later.
So I don't know if that's it. But not only am I saying things that I think a lot of the people that cover the Packers would not say. There there seems to be a level of like Like, you can't even fathom why I'm saying it. And now, for Ed Policy to come in and be like, no, this is fine, that's disappointing. I thought.
Do we even know the contract extension yet? And it's not even that. Versace is still here, they talk glowingly about him. McManus is still going to be the kicker. We're not going to change anything.
You were up 21-3 to the Bears. I just, I don't know. I feel like. I'm the the Packers have changed and I have not changed with them. Could you imagine any other time?
If McCarthy was ever up 21-3 against the Bears, if 2014 happened against the Bears and not Seattle. McCarthy's gone, dude. If Holmgren and Favre ever pulled that shit. But LaFleur gets a pass for some reason. Because Title Town is done.
Title Town is done. We don't even care about division titles. Every team's won one since we won one last in the division. We don't care. You just want to get your one weekend in January when you can get free yellow shots from your neighborhood bar.
That's all we care about is the one playoff game. It sucks. And I'm not with it. And I don't understand why.
So many have left. I don't understand why I got left behind here. I don't understand it. Jake says, I've taken the LaFleur coddling personally. This world is proving that if you're protected, There's no accountability.
I at least should get it with my sports. Yeah. I mean, totally different scenarios, but It Makes sense. I can throw the link out if you want to join. It makes sense.
It makes sense. So it's frustrating. It's frustrating for me because I thought we were all there together and then everybody left. And it'd be one thing if you had higher expectations. And I was like, no, but you guys, your expectations got lower.
How did they get lower? Jeez. Gentlemen, whether you're two dates in or going 20 years strong, a Valentine's Day gift is always a good idea, even if you let the kiddos pick it out. Just hit the Walmart app and get it delivered in an hour with express delivery.
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It's from David, David in Buffalo. From the national show, which has not been on now for almost two months. If you ever want to know when the last show was, it was when. That two-point conversion was a fumble, and then Charbonnet picked it up for Seattle against the Rams that Thursday night. Which helped the Seahawks get the one seat and eventually the Super Bowl.
Uh that was our last show. That was the last show we ever did. But David who would call a lot Is getting in via the Carls Place voicemail line. 402 Nine. Carl's plays voicemail line.
I do have the link on the YouTube video. It's also on the Facebook. It's the title of the video. Check out Carl's Place Golf Simulators. If you can't get one in your house, and you know anybody who's got one, we've all got.
An uncle or a wife's in-law or somebody that has a house that you've been in and you've thought. I would love to hit some balls here. Let him know about Carl's place. 402-915-2278. Here's David.
In Buffalo. All right, what's going on? This is David from Buffalo. Let me give you some final thoughts here on the Super Bowl. Seattle won that game in the trenches on both sides of the ball.
They ran it great. Defensive line overwhelmed New England's offensive line and Greg May. Um break May, you know, the story of the week part. Jim Nance brought this up at the AFT Championship game. And I listened to a fair amount of radio roll coverage and.
I mean, you know, besides people promoting Gatorade and Metrex and, you know, all these different plates, Culvers, and Perry's Ice Cream, and all these places out there. Bart, honestly, man. It it it it got nauseated to hear about. You know, Drake May went to the Super Bowl 10 years ago with his father, and Cam Newton was a hero. And, you know, he went as a Panthers fan.
And what a story. Dude, Trevor Immelman growing up idolizing Gary Player when he won the two thousand eight Masters. Think that story was shoved down our throat. Jerome Bennis is from Detroit when the Steelers won the Super Bowl in Detroit. Can't believe how much that story was covered.
All right, that's a little bit of David. I think it's coming through fine. And now I think I might be. Too loud. I should probably.
Um Use headphones while I'm doing this. This is more of a, it's a podcast. It's a podcast. We've, I think there's been some good content here, but it's also a little bit of a discovery. I tried to play a video, that didn't work.
That audio was a little fuzzy. But I think it's still played. I should wear headphones. I hate I hate when people on broadcast. Where Had f I mean, I don't know.
I don't I hate I don't I don't know yet. I hate AirPods. I hate how AirPods look. I'll wear them, but not on a fucking video. You see reporters out in the scene and they're wearing these AirPods.
Looks terrible. Um It just even Any of those look terrible. The big cans. I guess I could go with the big cans. Then I have to find an adapter.
I just don't want to be. I don't want to be iPhone headphone guy. I think it looks. I think it looks bad. I know that we're in like.
The fact that I'm even broadcasting out of my basement. Is kind of insane. The fact that I do TV news hits. Is a bit insane, too, from my basement. There still needs to be some level of decorum.
Mike Golick was at the Super Bowl and he was doing a hit from his hotel room. I don't know if I love that. I don't know if I love. Being able to see where you sleep. Like in that shot, Mike Golick, when the computer's not on.
is walking around that room from shower to the dresser. But make it. I shouldn't see that part of Your life. Anyway. Uh Jake, where are you at?
I'm I'm multitasking. All right. You get disembodied hot take today. Oh boy, I was really fired up from the first part of the show. I understand, Bart, maybe you having some.
You know, a little trepidation about trading Durban. That's your guy. Like, you have a personal stake there. But for people that don't like the trade, and then it just gives them license to. Chime in with their ignorant takes about Margot Astanasio and how the Brewers run their operation.
Just, I'm fully realizing that baseball, or at least at the major league level, Is not made for casual fans. If you don't understand the economics of baseball, you need to shut the fuck up and stop commenting about it and stop acting like the Brewers are on an even playing field with other teams. First of all, if you look at the trade itself, I think they absolutely cleaned up in the trade. Especially a guy like Harrison, who just a year ago was the centerpiece of the Raphael Dever's trade.
Now, people look at a guy like Jason Priester. Did anybody see that coming last year? No. This is what the brewers do. This is, they get them in the pitching lab.
They get, you know, Jason Priester was sorry, Quinn Priest. I don't know why I keep saying Jason, but Quinn Priester was a top-level prospect, or at least viewed as a top-level prospect for a long time. Didn't work out. You get him into a different organization. They get him into that pitching lab.
And you're thinking of Jason Priestley. Pre yeah. Dinner dunna, dun dun duna.
Sorry, that's a 90210 reference for any of the young people that don't understand what the two unk are talking about. But yes, Quinn Priester, thank you. He's the guy that they resurrected his career. And you look at a guy like Harrison, he's the lefty version of that potentially. You got to trust the brief.
We like this trade, but it doesn't, like, the trade's fine. It's just They're not competing for 2026. I mean, people have said that about 2025. They said that about 2024. Like every year we're waiting.
They they they have a model. They think no matter what they do. They can win 90 games. Yes, and it's proven to work.
So that's what I don't need to do. They're right where, but they're right where, aren't these two connected?
Well, I guess on the surface, I don't understand why people are so upset about a guy like Caleb Durbin. Like, he's a replacement-level player. I think he doesn't offer a ton of positional versatility. And the upside in a trade like this is massive. I think it's because you already traded to get younger, and now you keep trading to get younger.
It's, I mean, again, this is one of those where you have to hate the. Fond ducks. Look, Fond du Lac's pissed. I mean, Fond du Lac can be pissed. You got to allow Fonduac to be pissed.
Who really cares about what Fond du Lac thinks? I fucking care. I know you do, Bart, but you know, you and Grant have a tears I've burned through in that town. Yeah, I mean, you have a personal stake in this. I'll give you that.
You know how many cop cars I sat in the back of somehow without ever going to jail in that town?
Well, that should be a separate podcast altogether. I want to hear about that. I was passed out face down in a Taco John's. Yeah. There's like a whole jam.
Like as a car.
So cars park between the lines. And I Lay down like I was a car. In between the lines in the middle. This is like the most nard dog thing you've ever brought up on the podcast here. Like.
You're fond of like that's what the how uh where did Nard Dog go to school uh at Cornell? Cornell. That Fond du Lac is your Cornell. Like, those are your glory days for sure. I'm not sure.
I'm hoping I haven't had my glory days yet, but. I guess we all have that secret hope, but sometimes we've got to face reality, but let's be real. Why are people talking about me being on OnlyFans? Everybody's got their thing. I don't even know what part of me you'd even like to pay for to see.
Forehead picks. Yeah. Pay to see my hair. Yeah. But yeah, like the if you want to see my Body, just go outside and Pick mushrooms.
Jesus. Wow, that is a vivid photo in my mind I just got. But like the smallest mushroom of the patch. Yeah. The one that you're like.
Are we sure this is a mushroom? And not like Tree bark. Wow. We are really getting into some personal stuff here, Barteh. I'm sorry to hear that.
What else you got?
Okay. Um, that was the main thing. I was just pissed off because I'm just I'm tired of Brewers fans trying to treat this like it's fair. And if you don't like it, that's fine. I get that, but then don't watch baseball because that you can't.
You can't hold the brewers to the same standard as other teams. I'm sorry, you cannot. I think they're navigating being the small market team as well as you possibly can. And the same people that are crying and bitching about not going, quote unquote, All in. Would be so, so incredibly upset and calling for the team to leave Milwaukee if we went all in and then did eight, nine years of just.
40, 50 wins.
So I think it's hypocritical at best. And I applaud. I think Mark Otsenasio is one of the best owners in sports. All right. Come at me, bro.
Hey, they redid the kids' zone. Did you see that? I did not. I I tend to stay away from that kind of thing, especially in the times we live in. You don't want to be people getting the wrong idea, you know?
I don't like that you know that Bart, to be honest with you. I have a kid. Uh this is true. You're off the hook for this one. Though that not yet, I don't.
I don't wanna go to a game though. I don't wanna go anywhere. I don't wanna go contract measles. Yeah, I wonder what the next thing's gonna be. Oh, I found out.
I think it was August 13th, is the day we're losing gravity and. Couple hundred million. Oh, it's August 12th. I was just telling some people about that. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
So, you know, if you got nothing going on, maybe stay home. Um Lock yourself. We're not losing gravity. We're not losing gravity. Yeah, but I don't know.
I might um I might you know randomly be sick that day, call into work, just you know. You never know. Somebody was telling, they looked it up that we assume if you lose gravity, you'd go right up into space. Right. But they looked it up, and it said you would go up off the ground and then hurl forward.
Because of the Earth's rotation. Yeah. Which I don't think it made sense. But I also didn't I haven't done my own research on that one yet.
Well, I mean, I can't believe you even believe in gravity. Yeah. Bro. Do you believe in gravity? I don't know.
I love it. How is Epstein connected to every single thing that's happened in the last 30 years of the world? That's what including Fortnite. Fortnite, Bitcoin, culture wars. He's probably the one that booked Bad Bunny for the halftime show.
He's alive.
Now he's got a beard. Yeah. All right. Thanks, Jake. Yeah, love you, buddy.
I take Jake. Come for the Durban, stay for the Epstein. Bucs lost last night. I can touch on that. Um Before I go upstairs and So I don't even know.
Eat a whole bag of MMs like a piece of shit. 118 to 99. The game. I don't know what the fuck. We want them to lose, right?
Isn't that the consensus? We want them to lose. We want Cam Thomas to come in here and be tank commander. He didn't want to shoot. He finally shot.
I just don't know what's going on. I don't know how to look at them. Jake was just talking about People not looking at the brewers the right way. How are we supposed to look at the box? What do they want?
Were they trying to win or not? I don't know. Because they were and then And then they weren't. Bobby Portis. Had 17 minutes and Jericho Sims had 28.
Fuck having there. Bobby's like, we got to rebound more. He had zero. Pete Nance was playing well and then he's Dang the new guy played barely at all at garbage time? Like, why'd you?
What do we? I don't know what the goal is. It feels like the goal is losing. We'll have to talk about this a little more. On another podcast.
Maybe we can do it with Paul and Grant, but. The NBA has been, I mean, this is dog shit. There's just nobody nobody's playing. Nobody cares. Too many teams are in the playoffs, man.
I don't know how you fix it. I'd probably do that as a topic. How do you fix the NBA? And then two hours, I'd just take the dumbest fucking calls. I never liked those nights.
I never liked the How do you fix the All-Star game? And then you just ride three hours of calls on it. Where by the third hour, people are they're just trying to come up with a new idea. You should play the. What you should do is you should.
The All-Star game, the. In the Ulster game, the infield should actually not be dirt, it should be water. And uh, the you can stand on the base, but you have to swim uh to first base, and you have to swim to second, and then you got to swim over to third. It'd be real exciting. Uh, guys would have to get in and out of the water if they uh got a ground bug and stopped there, but it just it's just something different.
I don't just think about it. Yeah, instead of a best of seven there, how about you have a division go best of one round robin, and then you have the highest seed play the lowest seed of the other division there, and then you go out there and then take guys off the court like. First quarter, you play five on five, second quarter, four on four, third quarter, you bring a fan from the stand, and then the fourth quarter, you have to play with no shoes on. What the fuck? Anyway.
Some slight editing that I will assign Tim to do and post. And that will stack up on his Desk. I'm sure. We'll have some more later this week. I talk more brewers.
I might do a Bucks Thunder one. Thought about going live last night, but... I got another four-pack of these upstairs. Actually, it's a two-pack now. 'Cause uh we need a little Edward 40 hands.
with these. See, it's 20 milligrams, so you put two together. And then you have 40 hands. Yeah. What a stupid game that was.
Edward Fortihans. All right, we'll be back later in the week. Thank you, as always, for your contributions and your listening and viewership. Like and subscribe. Give all your money to our sponsors.
And spread the word. Thank you, as always, for stopping into the Winklerverse. Gentlemen, whether you're two dates in or going 20 years strong, a Valentine's Day gift is always a good idea, even if you let the kiddos pick it out. Just hit the Walmart app and get it delivered in an hour with express delivery.
Sound good? Great. Subject to availability, restrictions and fees apply.
