Jake & Ben: Full Show | Setting the Scene for Utah at Wyoming | Cody Tucker gives a Preview of Ut…

Jake & Ben: Full Show | Setting the Scene for Utah at Wyoming | Cody Tucker gives a Preview of Ut…

And now it’s 10:00 a.m. Let’s just get down to it and it’s time for your sports picks. Strap yourselves in, folks. From two guys who have covered the teams you’re passionate about for years, we are professionals. This is Jake Scott and Ben Anderson on 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Jacob at 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Jake Scott, Ben Anderson, thank you for making us a part of your Wednesday. Does that mean we have what you got? Wednesday. 11:30. Yes, it does. Okay. Well, that should be fun. How’s it going over there, Ben? Doing well. You black on black today. And I wore black. God, it’s a dreary day. I look Oh, black. Oh, man. It’s going to be a It’s going to be a uh dark show. It’s going to be a a sad show. Brace yourself. I mean, what do what do we want to bring up? Want to play the Casey Kasem thing? You know, I got sad about Jim Crochi dying at 30 years old the other night. I was watching some Jim Crochi live performances and I thought, man, first of all, he looked 60, but 30, that guy could really write a song. Operator, that’s a that’s a sad one. That is a That’s a sad song. Sad one. But man, that guy could could write some tunes. So, I have a Jim Croachi live album. Okay. And it includes all his uh like midsong banter and all that stuff. Pretty funny, I bet. Yeah. Like you wouldn’t think funny. With all due respect, but kind of funny. If you’re going to look like that, you better have a sense of humor. You better. Yeah. Dude looked like a character from the game Guess Who. Not a standup comic, but like you listen to Operator and it’s like, “Oh, this is kind of this is kind of a dreary dude.” Sad song. And Yeah. But he had a way of making a joke. And he had some funny songs, too. Yeah. Well, yeah. I like Jim Crochi. Why are we They just You said And I got sad the other day thinking about Jim Crochi dying at 30. We’re both wearing black hats. This dude died before you were born. You make it sound like he died the other day. No. No. Jim Croy. It’s like losing somebody who would have been Yeah. 82 now and just would have been would have had a catalog of great music. Yeah. Bad bad Leroy Brown didn’t come out in 2015. Was he and the little Uzi Vert had a duet? You know what this is? This is our fault. Actually, this is You know what? Our fault. Correct. We We explain things to Christian because he just he’s so young. Yeah. Of course, he has no idea who Jim Crochi is. Like, we Why didn’t we start off the bat by explaining that Jim Crochi was a singer in the 60s who not in Not in a mood to joke around? That’s why we’re in all black. Died before his time in a plane crash. Yeah. Died before your guys’ time, too. Yeah. before they counted time before recorded time. Okay. All right. The re started the show. When was the There for a minute a surprising amount of not only rock stars but celebrities were dying in plane crashes. When was the last plane crash that took a rock star? John Denver. Aaliyah, right? Was that a plane crash? Wasn’t it? I don’t think so. Yeah, I think it was. Was it? Yeah. Oh, okay. Aaliyah was So, is that the last one? I mean, Richie Travis Barker almost died. Yeah, Travis Parker almost died one and his DJ did die, right? I think so. Yeah, that was 01 for Aaliyah. Um, what’s her name? Sweet Home Alabama. They had a plane crash, right? Leonard Skard. Mhm. Yeah. Lots. Just Yeah. Steve Rayvon. That has to be Richie Valins. Yeah. Well, yeah. And uh the big bopper. Yeah. In the in the same uh plane crash. Roberto Clemente. Buddy Buddy Holly, obviously. Yeah. And Roberto Clemente. Goodness, I’m glad that doesn’t happen as frequently. Yeah, me too. Same. That used to be a really like abnormal frequent thing. Kobe, but LA Times. Yeah. Yeah. So, I was thinking like at the beginning of this thing, Rockstar. Yeah. Kobe. I mean, it was a helicopter, but Yeah. And that certainly wasn’t that long ago. No, it was not, man. Was that out of the blue? That’s still horrible. That’s so sad. And the the children involved. It is awful. Uh, all right. Well, there you go. There’s our There’s We’re wearing black. There’s our bleak start. Yeah. I don’t know. I don’t know why I should have worn something else. I’m going to wear some color tomorrow because you know my problem was I had too much color with my pants and so I thought I we got to go d You and I were wearing the same same outfit today. It’s finally happens. We’re wearing the same clothes. Weird. I don’t want to wear the same clothes as you. You are You are a dreary dresser. I try not to be. All right. I didn’t even wear colorful socks or anything today. Well, how about that, Ben? What does that what does that spell out for you? Uh, we got a lot to do on the show today. Uh, we can uh talk some football as it is game week for the youths. Weird. You know, early buys I think are are strange. Feels like you just got rolling and now they’re taking a week off. So, nothing uh for the Cougs. Uh, and Utah State opens up conference play with the mighty Falcons of Air Force. Yeah. Which will be a great challenge. I’m I you know I watched the uh&m game and it looks a lot like a Bronco Menhal team. Not that I think we’re going to go a lot over Utah State today, but maybe. But I listen Utah State is interesting. Bronco makes Utah State more interesting. He absolutely does. And yes, they lost what 4422 which a they did cover the spread which is not surprising. I bet you Bronco covers the spread way more often than not because it’s really easy to undervalue his teams from a roster standpoint and then they get on the field and it’s like, yeah, they weren’t perfect against&m by any means, but they just feel they’re tough. They execute well. The penalties they do make are not the penalties they were making last year or committing last year, which was just like it seems like a bunch of guys playing for themselves. Just like kind of some basic procedural stuff that I think they’re going to clean up. But no, Bronco, I hope he sticks around for a few years because he’s going to have Utah State back in clicking. I don’t see why he wouldn’t. While you were out of town, we had a a long chat with Scotty G about the Aggies and Bronco and I I think it’s actually a a really good fit for his life and he’s a really good fit for them and and they’re uh a really good fit for him. I I think to sum up kind of what you were saying about how Utah State played was they represented themselves well. I mean, not that they, you know, the first half was rough, don’t get me wrong. I mean, rough. Yeah. Go in at halftime, you say, “Hey, we’re not gonna we’re not gonna be embarrassed, right? We’re not going to go out like that.” Like that. Uh like that and fought and fought tough. Very Bronco very very much. I He’s going to be really good for Utah State. I I truly think that. And he does make Utah State more interesting uh interesting. And this is kind of, you know, the the Mountain West can be interesting. Air Force has always been interesting. Ben, I’ve been doing this job for a long time talking about teams getting ready for for uh Air Force. It’s a funny quirky thing about the Mountain West for years that Air Force is always dangerous because of how they play and you have to figure it out and you’re probably going to come out of that game just beat to shreds because they’re mean and they’re dirty and they’re tough and they’re not there for NIL. They’re there to serve the country and it means they’re it’s there’s a little bite on that program. It’s never easy. Even when they’re not good, it’s it’s never easy. I mean, that stuff is is interesting. I agree. I’ve always liked Air Force as the idea of a college school and yet the way they play, you certainly feel it. And then you get a nice little bit of a reprieve against Mcnes after that, but then you’re at Vanderbilt. Do you think uh coming up the servicemies in this new day and age eventually are just going to have to not go away because that’s not going to be a thing. Are they going to have to drop a level or something? I mean, not being able to do to participate in the transfer program or the NIL situation. I don’t know. Maybe it’s maybe it’s dividing up the same amount of players and the guys going to those schools were never going there for football reasons, you know, and they competed anyway. Maybe there’s an argument to be made there. But I could imagine in today’s day and age if you you know how do you get a player to go play at Air Force like a like a truly talented football player other than uh service of the country which is which is a great a great sales line for a certain number of people. It’s kind of funny that Army is kind of bucking the trend. I guess you would think they would you would think these teams would go independent and Army just joined the American, right? So, you’ve got more teams joining leagues as opposed to maybe what I would think would be the opposite. They would go independent and try and figure out, yeah, we’ll play a few games. That way, we can stay FBS and not have to go to the FCS level, but they’re not going to have to compete head-to-head with these same teams over and over. Yeah. Have the transfer portal or have whatever. Maybe they can get old and stay old better than maybe than other schools. Maybe that’s their advantage. Of course, the option has always been I mean, it’s the reason Princeton has won games in the NCAA tournament. I mean, if you play a certain way, you automatically even the playing field, and they do that, and it is what makes them interesting. And Utah is a former Mountain West foe in Wyoming that they’re taking on that should not, I don’t think, present that big of a problem to the youths. However, I never thought Utah would go to Laramie again, right? Well, this this is going to be one of the last times. I wouldn’t say never again, but talk to anybody who covered uh the Mountain West Conference when Utah and BYU and you know, anyone who’s covered Utah State certainly in the Mountain West, but everybody’s got a Laram story. Yeah. Everybody Everybody’s got a covering Wyoming story. We used to play that um that Did you ever hear that song? I think it was made famous on that Bob and Tom radio show. That beer run song. BR You win beer run. Yeah. Kevin heard that song once covering Wyoming at the Wyoming tailgate and we could never mention the Cowboys without playing that song ever. All of a sudden he got obsessed with it. I mean the rest of the world knew about it years before but Kevin’s like wait what what is this beerun song and then just identified with Wyoming which was funny. Yeah absolutely was funny for sure but everybody had a story like it’s a it’s kind of a notorious place. Whit talked about it in his press conference of his his story of going up there when he was he talked about a as a player and losing up there while playing for BYU in the snow and just a terrible game. But talked about his dad’s pants getting caught on fire because it was so cold they had the heat torches out and that was back in the day when it wasn’t a dish. I think it was literally just a huge open flame, right? And they his dad’s pants caught on fire. Hilarious. They had to douse him in water, which I can’t imagine being dowsted in water in the freezing cold in Laram and then having to coach the rest of the game was a pleasant experience. But yeah, it it is the town ripe for those types of things. Oh, there was the power outage infamously. That was in ‘ 04. Yeah, I mean there are there’s just a lot of stories. We made the jokes on the air afterwards that the the sheep wandered into the power like chewed the cords. Yeah. Right. Like whoops. Oh, get out of there. Yeah. All of a sudden it would just dark. Yeah, but they do legitimately still have hitching post for your horses, right? And I’m trying to remember the controversy of it. They like didn’t come back to it. I think that’s what it was. There was a there was a television controversy that was associated with that too, that they like went away from it and didn’t come back. I couldn’t. Somebody else might uh might remember that. But yeah, that was during that 04 season thumping Wyoming and then all of a sudden, bam, lights go out. Yeah. Why? It’s it’s it’s interesting that we’re talking about Air Force and Wyoming. It feels like we are rewinding the clock. But you know what is the character of college football that I like. Oh, I do too. I Well, all those old relationships with the Mountain West schools were great. That was a that was a great league to I mean, it wasn’t a P whatever or whatever we were calling it at the time, but like it was competitive. It was more competitive than it probably had a right to be in both football and in basketball. And it had some built-in like it was around long enough at least in various forms. Those schools were together long enough to create history that made it interesting. I mean, you think of some of the BYU UNLV basketball games like Hoffa knocking that dude’s teeth out or whatever it was playing down in New Mexico. Yeah. Or Yeah. I mean, the the old Let’s see. The only what was it? Is it the I believe it was the only Mountain West team to beat Urban Meyer was New Mexico. Yeah. At Rice Eckles Stadium, the season opener. No, it wasn’t the season. No, it was like the the middle of the year. Okay. He obviously didn’t lose one in 04. I think that was the only one he lost in 03 and it was definitely to New Mexico. Okay. Uh, like you could think like Ronnie Mack, Colorado State, like Sunny. Uh, no. Uh, Sunny. Um, I almost said Sunny Dykes. That’s not it. Uh, God, why am I getting so old, Ben? Uh, man. Sunny Sunny Lubik. Yeah, the Urban Meyer’s mentor. Sunny Lubik. Yeah. You know, there was some there’s history there. And, uh, it it was fun. There’s there was I remember when Utah or Wyoming finally beat BYU I think during the Croin era and it was the best thing to happen to Laramie since you know oil was struck in Wyoming all those years ago. I’ve talked about it a lot. It’s why I love the NFL. I love the big production of the major games. It’s why I’m excited for Utah to play Texas Tech at 10 a.m. I know people are worried about the 10 a.m. game. The fact that you’re getting the best cameras and the best talent and it’s on, you know, it’s on big Fox, it’s cool. the production level is higher. There is character that I do think you start to lose with some of the games of some of the old Yeah, the power went out. It’s like you just had to go up there and play the game. You had to figure out how to get it done. And the surrounding story lines were part of the story. I mean, it was part of the product. It just needs time. I mean, honestly, there will be a story after the Texas Tech. Of course, there will be like th will be two undefeated teams. the two teams that are probably the hottest in the league, Iowa State, maybe you could you could throw in there. Uh, you know, going head-to-head early for the early jump on the on the conference race. Like that’s that’s a storyline for a really big game and a a game you probably remember years uh going forward, you know. So, um I remember those I remember we we talked about this what yesterday when we were talking about how when there’s only three teams in the league, how interesting is it because there’s only, you know, three games that you have to pay attention to a year or whatever. I remember all of those TCU, BYU, Utah games. Yeah. Yeah. Of course, all of those in that little four or five year stretch when those three teams were dominant in those leagues. You remember every single game there was a lot of red hair and Andy Dalton in there. Yeah. a lot of that guy. Yeah. Remember uh who was it? Jerry uh who uh Dustin Hensel shut down on the outside. Jerry I shouldn’t we shouldn’t do these segments where I sound so old because I can’t remember people. Two for two. I know. Uh but he was dominant like all American dominant and Hzel fell out of nowhere and shut him down. Yeah. Wild stuff. I mean but you gota have time to get all that. Jerry Hughes. Jerry Hughes. And shout out Dustin Hensel uh who was not dominant. Dustin I met several times because he and Kyle Gunther were very good friends and Dustin I think is now a high school teacher but was just blessed with a huge body. Well, he was all conference by the end. Don’t sell our guy short. I’m not. But Gunther famously told the story that if Dustin Hel didn’t fall down in practice during a rep, he won the rep. Not meaning he was so good that he beat you. meaning that was the qualifier. Just don’t fall down and we’re going to count that as a win for you and then you got him on the field and he was a true gamer. He was just a real animal uh and a staple for great the best Utah football teams, you know, at least of that era. So, yeah, funny how again, those are the stories. Those are the fun stories and that’s not I guess necessarily what you get now. you still get some great one-on-one matchups and you know Utah remembers blowing up Jared Goff and Cal uh when they got into the Pack 12, but even then that was because Utah I don’t think had quite arrived yet as a real competitor in the Pack 12. And what did Goff have six interceptions in that game? I mean, he was just not good. But yeah, those storylines seem to come out more from the Mountain West. But maybe that’s just time and lore that comes with it. Uh, Hance is part of the history of the 2008 BYU loss to TCU. If you want to hear funny, I mean, as long as we’re talking about funny stuff. And my guy Hance I he’ll pro he’ll love this story. So, not in 2008 though, Ben. In 2007, Hance was new to the radio and fresh off the AFL field. Uh, and I think it was the Cougar Club invited Hance to come down and speak. Okay. So, on the air all week, Hance had been saying that he thought that DCU was going to win the game. He stands up in front of the Cougar Club, and this is why I love Hance. He’s not He’s not going to go the other way and say that that the Cougs are going to come out and beat him. So, he stands up there in front of all the most loyal, true blue people and is like, “Man, the Cougs are going to get stopped today. Dude, we got TCU in this one. I mean, stunned room of fans. Like, no. Really? Is this the Hansel? Is this picking the our Hansel? Picking the horn frogs. Huh? Did TCU? Uh, no. BYU won. The Cougs responded. Good. Uh, but then you’ll remember famously going into 2008 in camp, TCU had dressed up all their tackling dummies with BYU uniforms. And all of a sudden after that upset and it was fairly evenly matched, but I call it an upset. BYU beating uh TCU in Provo, which Hans predicted against um was the marked game on that schedule for for TCU. They were like, “Hey, we could lose every game, but we are beating the Cougs.” And that was that since uh camp. And really, it was a one-sided performance. It was like BYU’s worst performance in 2008 was the TCU game. And TCU just came out on fire. and uh stomped the Cougs. And then Utah beat TCU, you remember, in absolutely of a prayer of a comeback fashion. True Brian Johnson magic to beat TCU. And uh obviously that was kind of a charm season because he did the same thing to Oregon State. Yep. And then uh culminated in beating up on Alabama. But that TCU game was wild. Those those teams were awesome. Max Hall, Dennis Pitta, BYU, you’re looking at uh at Andy Dalton and Jerry Hughes and man, they had more weapons than that offensively. Like good teams. Well, college football hadn’t been I don’t want to say ruined, but it hadn’t been hurt the way it’s been hurt now. You know, there were the ability to be a very competitive nonP5 team still existed. Um, and I know we weren’t giving them credit, which is why we changed the bowl system and added the playoff and like the idea maybe, you know, or the BCS and being able to allow Utah to bust into that, but I do think we probably had more good G5 teams at that point. And that’s not to discredit what Boise State’s done historically or what South Florida’s doing this year apparently, but it did seem like it was possible to get a Utah and a BYU and a TCU all in the same league where that might consist of the entire country now that there’s three teams of that level. And there’s probably not even three teams of that level. Maybe. I hope not. I hope not, too. But I’m not I don’t have a lot of faith. Those were really good teams, though. They were cool. But what the coaches would have told you at the time is the number ones were really good, but the twos and the threes were the difference between Utah in the Mountain West and and Utah in the Pack 12 or or if you want to look now into the Big 12 era. But look, Utah I mean Utah is the reason why that doesn’t exist anymore. And I don’t mean because Utah went to the Pack 12. I mean Utah’s the type of school that goes and gets Deon Dampier. And that used to be the Brian Johnson or the Andy Dalton or the whoever good G5 quarterback now goes and takes a million dollars to go play in the P5. Yeah, we’ll see how frequently that happens. Continue. I mean, this South Florida kid, if you haven’t watched South Florida yet, I don’t know what class he is. I mean, he looks like Cam Newton. He’s just enormous and he runs and he can throw the ball. Like, he’s going to get $2 and half million dollars this offseason by a huge P5 school as soon as he hits. He should shut it down now. through the transfer portal. Um but but that’s what we’re going to see happen. Top three stories of the day. KSLports.com coming up next. It’s Jake and Ben 975 the KSL Sports Zone. It’s time to break down the biggest stories of the day. This is the top three stories of the day on kslports.com. 975 KSL sports. Jacob Ben 975 KSL Sports Zone. Time for the top three stores of the day. kslports.com brought to you by Jbrooks Jewelers. Cherish your love with Jbrooks Jewelers. Explore their expertly crafted engagement rings made from the finest materials. Jbrooks Jewelers. All right. Uh Christian, where do you want to start today? Number one, Jackson Benny had a pick six for the Utes on Saturday. Share Shaw has high hopes for him. Jackson was primarily a safety, but we moved him inside with the thought and expectation that he would be able to use a lot of his natural ability, his length of speed to just make some plays and he’s done that. It doesn’t really account for things that he hasn’t done because we still we’re just a ways away. Another guy who Whit has talked about maybe getting even more reps on the offensive side of the ball. I think he had the first catch of the first game against UCLA if I remember correctly. at least he had a big catch, but uh Whit has talked more about getting him going offensively in addition to his defense, which I will see as they got, you know, Wyoming, um probably doesn’t pose the biggest threat to Utah, but as they start getting into games like Texas Tech, how how much are they going to use these guys both ways? I’m curious. You know, it’s it’s interesting listening to to Share talk corners and talk about his players and he has so much um credibility. And I got to tell you, I remember when Sheree first got hired, Ben, and God, I I’d have to go back and look at the year, but do you remember Sharief’s relationship with the program before that at all? No. Remind me. Uh Christian Sharif Shaw was a corner for the youths uh back in the early to mid 90s who eventually got his law degree and uh was a a practicing lawyer, a partner at a law firm around town and would come personal injury, right? Yeah. would come and be around the program from time to time because Sheree has a great story and he’s a really great example of what coach Wit wants out of a football program athlete is developing humans and all all these things. He has he has just a remarkable story and he’s he’s smart and he’s a great communicator and he would come around the program and he would have an influence but it would more be like, “Hey, come be a positive influence around the program. talk to our guys and and that sort of thing. And he was really good at that. And Whit made him a corner coach. Just plucked him out of the boardroom, the the law office, the courtroom. Yep. And dropped him in as a corner’s coach. And I thought, how’s this going to go? Yeah. Like I I thought, okay, recruiting wise, I’m sure he’s going to going to really identify with young people, like a real strength, but there’s more to recruiting. you know, there’s more organization and nuts and bolts and stuff that that he’s never done and then come on and be a coach. And I I admittedly had public doubts that it was going to be successful. And fast forward to just listening to that clip, that dude has all the coaching credibility in the world, coaching this position at Utah, part of this staff. And if you look at the players that have come um you know the the big storyline in the Bears game the other day I’m watching as it’s getting ready to to kick off and we’re going to watch fingernails deal the the uh what Joe Buck and Troy Aman were like huge storyline in this game guys I don’t know how the Bears defense is going to function without Jaylen Johnson big star huge impact NFL player you know like share is a total success story at Utah. And part of the reason that everybody has such high hopes for for Utah is because nobody doubts the defense for a good reason that they’re consistently good and they have a good staff and they recruit well and they recruit to what they do and Tonavasa left and and you know he’s doing great at BYU. Did did anybody in this room have any doubt that they were going to find guys that were going to be great? You know, they’ve had a stud corner at Utah going back pre Share Sha. They find a guy every year they do it. Yep. And it’s it’s pretty remarkable. They did deserve a lot of credit, but Sheree deserves a ton of credit as a coach because it it was no guarantee that he was going to come in and and be awesome. That wasn’t his background. That wasn’t his thing. I’ll be very curious what his role is when Wit decides to retire and Morgan moves up to be the head coach. And what role if maybe just continues to play corners. I don’t know. We’ll see if he gets a bigger role. You know, I don’t know if he wants one on. He may not want. Yeah, this may be the ideal role for him. Uh regardless, If he wanted to make a zillion dollars, you know what he’d be doing? Be a partner at his law firm. Yeah, he probably could be already. Or open his own firm and now use his name. Uh I I will also add it’s just going to be interesting to watch how the corners progress. Corners are a room that has a lot of talent. Smith Snowden, Benny is a very good player. They need to play better than they have so far. And I don’t mean those two specifically, though. Jackson Benny even had blown coverage. But I think finding solidifying that group is going to be really key throughout Big 12 play. Now, how about this to uh for a transition to another huge story today? Okay. Share Shaw is married to Jen Shaw. Local reality TV star Jen Sha. Yes. Yes, sir. In other local reality star TV news, Taylor Frankie Paul will be the next Bachelorette from which is not our number two story actually in No, this is I’m tying this into story one, but this is 1.5 1B. I’m tying it in. Jake, remind us who Taylor Frankie Paul is. She is the star. She’s kind of the She’s one of the stars, but she’s like the main one of the secret. You feel like she’s the main one? I do. I kind of feel like she was like 1 A, 1B. The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives. Taylor, Frankie, Paul will be the next Bachelorette. Yeah. If you were a contestant, my buddy Bill almost made that show. He made final cuts on casting for uh The Bachelorette. Like a wine maker, so he had a fairly interesting uh handsome guy. M uh but if you were a contestant Ben, would you be competing for the heart of Taylor Frankie Paul or would you be kind of mailing it in? I think you probably get paid the longer you survive, right? Don’t you I would imagine you get, you know, maybe 10 grand an episode or something like that if you’re a contestant, five grand an episode. So yeah, stick around and then leave her at the alter and then be the guy who left Taylor, Frankie, Paul at the altar. The couple from uh Love Island just broke up. Winning couple. There should be a contractual obligation for them to stay married for a period of time and they should film that. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like you have to stay married for five years. If you want to get to this five million bucks or whatever at the end of the rainbow, you have to stay married for five years and we’re going to film every second of it TV style. Okay. Revisit Ed TV Christian was a uh a movie television. Yeah. Uh, starring Matthew McConna, a younger Matthew McCv. I thought you said MTV. Ed TV. Ed TV. In in probably what would you say, Ben? Early mid 90s. Matthew McConna, the Texas fan. Uh, yeah. Uh, Ellen randomly later than that. It was right around Truman Show, right? It was. Yeah, they came out. 90s, early 2000s. Around the same time. Yeah. Woody Harelson’s in it. Pretty good. Yeah. The concept of following somebody with a camera was Ed TV. Crazy. It was. What’s next, Christian? Number two, Lowry Markin and Finland are advancing to the Final Four at Euro Basket. Coast passed Georgia today, which was basically the best uh opponent you could face. Georgia had also kind of stunned some teams and Ruth. They beat France in the round of 16 to advance to the the group of eight and is a lesser opponent than you know, Giannis and Greece and uh Luca and Slovenia that is still playing. So, they got to avoid them, but they were up 17 at the half. They it got a little closer in the third, but they really coasted this morning. So, they go to the uh round of four now, the semi-finals, the farthest Finland’s ever gone. Cool story for Lowry. This is He was already the biggest athlete in the uh country of Finland, and now he’s truly a legend. There’s not some uh football player that’s a bigger deal than Lowry. Um there’s hockey players that are a big deal, and there’s probably been a couple of soccer players. his brother was a professional soccer player. But no, Larry, I mean, Larry just won the Finnish sportsman of the year, which is like a hu he’s the first basketball player who’s ever won it. But he’s just excelling at a level I think that we’ve not really ever seen before. And Euro Basket’s huge. Eurob Basket second to the Olympics is is the best European basketball tournament. How are the Georgians still playing? I don’t know. There’s Batzi is on that roster. Okay, cuz you know then this is this is such a stupid American like discussion, but uh there are plenty of Eastern European countries that are very good at basketball. I just for some reason don’t picture the Georgians being one. Maybe it’s because the most famous Georgian of all time is Stalin who is quite short. Uhhuh. But I just don’t picture the Jordans Georgians being good at basketball. I do wonder if some of what we have seen and this isn’t the case. You know, Lowry beat Joic. I mean that was that was a pretty loaded team. It wasn’t everybody. I think Bogdon Bogdanovich was hurt and didn’t play. But uh some of these teams like France specifically doesn’t have Wii and doesn’t have Rudy Gobar right now and they still have a very talented roster. But I wonder if they have shaped their roster so much to be about those guys in international play that when they disappear they don’t actually know how to play. So Georgia beats France as a team that’s very fractured and the key identity of their their team is gone. while you know Georgia has betad that’s their best player or Finland has market and that’s their best player and they really kind of know how to play around him and they’re getting those those countries are getting better having those NBA players Betad Markin starts to breed more players from those countries right they I’m sure Lowry has put a ton of money into Finnish basketball I don’t know that for sure but just kind of knowing how these things work you just get a guy Steve Nash in Canada and now look 10 years later Canada’s a near superpower in basketball and Tony Parker comes through in France and now they’re in your superpower. And same thing’s going to happen for Serbia. Finland already has a kid coming up. So, uh, there’s you’re going to see these countries just continue to get better and better. Are you kidding? If I were Lowry, I wouldn’t give him a dang dime. Why would he? You give me money. They should give him money. Yeah. Is Michael Jordan giving Team USA basketball money? No. He might be giving North Carolina money. They’re also paying him though, right? As a Jordan school. So, he’s milking them for probably every penny he can get. Typical Lowry doesn’t owe him anything. He doesn’t. But you know, you give back. You become a national hero. It’s hard to turn that phone call down. I’m sure most people don’t. You know what he did? He went and served in the army. Well, two years ago, a legal requirement, but yeah, but yeah, fine. Actually, there is somebody who’s not doing it. A hockey player who’s not doing it, and they’re like, “You can’t do that.” And he’s like, “Watch me.” Well, an off season at boot camp sounds a whole lot better than jail. So, I don’t know. I don’t know. There’s a Finnish player. I think it’s a Finnish hockey player who’s not going to go do it and then now can’t go home. That’s That sounds great. I know. Worked for cancer. Different reasons he couldn’t go home. That is not a funny joke. He couldn’t go home for different reasons and came dangerously close to not going anywhere for the rest of his life if it weren’t for Yeah. He’s in an airport. An airport. It’s Miko Ranin. He’s like he’s a huge name. Yeah. Place for the stars. Yeah. Well, he’s staying in the States for a while. Yeah. I’m not sure exactly what the story is and how he’s trying to get out of it, but yeah, it’s like a huge deal. Just go for an offseason and do boot camp. Yeah, you’ll be fine. Probably not. Lowry did it there. I don’t think they’re going to send you to war now. They’re closer every day, so we’ll see. All right, what’s next? Number three, the NBA to change rules on end of quarter heaves. So, if you’ve watched the NBA, and this has been a quiet pet peeve of mine, but I think everyone who watches the league is guys are afraid to shoot fullcourt heaves or halfcourt shots at the end of quarters because they’re afraid it’s going to hurt their field goal percentage, which is an area where analytics has over invaded sports to make people care so much about these couple of percentage points of, you know, taking five. How many have you taken a season? Honestly, 10, 15, maybe? You’re talking about 15 missed shots. Really radically changing. the league is going to change it to a missed field goal for the team and not a missed field goal for the player. So, while the team’s field goal percentage will dip, the individual player will not dip. So, you will no longer see guys taking that one extra step. You’re like, “Oh, didn’t get the shot off in time, but I still shot it.” Uh, guys are going to shoot that ball more, which I guess is a good fix, but just say, I mean, look, I don’t know how you fix it, and you’re not you can’t find players for not shooting the basketball, but come on, guys. Shoot the basketball. Who cares if it affects your field goal percentage by 1% at the end of the year? This is a problem. And there are guys who probably get paid based on what their field goal percentage is. You get bonuses for things like that. And I’m sure there are guys out there who’d say, “Yeah, it cost me $10,000 to shoot that shot, so I’m not going to.” But yes, this is this is a problem that did not need solving. Correct. It should have been solved otherwise. Should have been an email. Shoot the shot. The the problem is is that people are dumb and so they only look at numbers and they think that that is truly the identity of everything going on. Players are smart enough to know that people are dumb. So they’re not going to It’s the whole Shador Sanders taking a hundred sacks instead of just throwing it away. Yeah. And it’s We’ve lost the point. Yep. We’ve lost the idea. You know what players don’t shoot it then just dribble out the clock. One of those goes in a season. Yeah, I think we’ll all survive if you just dribble it out. This is this is a solution searching for a problem. And the solution, as every good cat in the wall, enables the problem further, the actual problem further, which is that players, fans, owners, general managers are way too wrapped up in the stats. Way too it’s way too important to everybody involved. and instead of just taking a big step back and being like, “Wait a minute, you’re talking about 10 shots a season here.” And that’s if you actually play. So, right, what are we talking about? What exactly are we talking about here? I am glad more players are going to be shooting the shots. So, if that fixes it, I guess, but it it just But truly, you don’t care. Part of you is like, “Oh, okay.” Well, to the point I’ve never talked about it before. You don’t really care. No, I’ve never written about it. But I’ve never talked about how it bugs me. It does when I watch it. This hopefully makes it a little bit better. But you’re right. This is a big sol not big change a whole lot, but it’s a solution to a problem that wasn’t overwhelming. Clearly, the league didn’t care and people didn’t care. This doesn’t bring more eyeballs to the sport. You know what this is? This is my guess. Okay. This is somebody in the NBA office that their whole job is doing nothing. Okay. and they’re getting paid a crazy amount to to Oh, like your CIA job, right? To to do nothing. Just take up space. And they’re like, “Okay, well, once in a while I got to do something just to look at that Ben Anderson. Yeah, he’s doing something. I got to do something.” Yeah. And this guy’s like, “Do I have a solution for you?” Fix full. Oh, we’re going to fix it. And we’re going to fix it good and you’re going to look like a champ. And they go, “That’s why you work here, Bob. See it next year. Oh, what a stupid story. Anyway, okay. Well, I’m sure I’m sure happy for the the heavers of the world that it will not count against them. I’ll be curious how many players still forget that that’s a thing and take the extra dribble. You know, you’ve never seen Dame take a full court shot because he would always do the extra dribble. You saw way too many guys do it. It was annoying. Hopefully it fixes it, but we’ll see if guys still forget that that’s the new rule. I find so many things players do annoying. Yeah, Joe Engles doing the take foul. Yeah, was maybe the most annoying play in the history of basketball. They did get rid of that. Uh, all right. Stay tuned. We’ll have more Jake and Ben coming up next. Update to Kawhi Leonard’s story. We have further evidence. Ben, I’m curious to how you’re reading it. Okay, stay tuned. 975 DKSL Sports Zone. It’s another battle for the Aggies and the KSL Sports Zone has it covered. The Aggies kick off conference play as they welcome Air Force to Logan, your home for all the playbyplay coverage of Aggie football is right here on 975, the KSL Sports Zone. You’re listening to Jake Scott and Ben Anderson. Let’s lock in on 975, the KSL Sports Zone. Jacob man 975 the KSL sports zone my uh it’s Wednesday that means it’s a win ticket Wednesday let’s give away some ticks shall we uh caller 12 right now 801 575 zone we’re going to hook you up with a pair of tickets to go see Breaking Benjamin and 3 days grace they’re co-headlining with special guest return to dust Saturday is September 27th at Utah first credit union amphitheater caller 12 right now 801575 zone this segment is brought to you by our friends at Peach Doors and Window Amazing home transformations begin of course with Peach or fivestar views are the norm. Call them today for your free in-home estimate. 8015661255. Peach doors and windows. Ben, I’m curious if this uh is evidence or or a big nothing burger in the Kawhi Leonard saga, which I do think will continue to be a big story. Agreed. Until the NBA sweeps it under the rug, most likely. Okay. But, uh, the latest now, Kawaii was getting paid $28 million for a no-show endorsement gig for a scam tree planting company. Planting brokerage. Really, it’s not even a tree planting company. Aspiration. People are saying Steve Balmer, who invested in the company, was basically finding a way to pay Kawhi Leonard an extra $28 million, which is an incredible sum of money. Yeah. Well, Ramona Shelburn reported that uh Aspiration, according to Clipper sources, Aspiration bid almost double the $550 million that Indowit successfully bid for the naming rights to the new building. The Clippers chose to go with the more wellestablished company and brand. Folks out there are saying this shows that the Clippers knew like because Steve Balmer’s defense has been the whole time like I got duplic. Yeah, I got got these guys uh got me. Some people are saying that this is evidence that they knew what this company was all about all the way along and so we’re not going to take So it would have been over a billion dollars for their naming. Listen, having watched the Jazz go from the Delta Center to Energy Solutions Arena. That’s why I’m glad you brought this up. One of the Okay, Energy Solutions, let’s let’s just call them controversial. I mean, it it goes to show that they’ll take money from anyone to put their whatever up there. That’s honestly that’s their job. They’re not their job isn’t to necessarily judge their clients. It’s to take all that dough and and be a marketing tool. That’s the point. That’s the point of it all. I’m sure I don’t I don’t know what the Miller’s exact take on Energy Solutions was at the time, but I’m sure it wasn’t their top choice. It is funny. Energy Solutions is also one of these companies that gets government credits, right, for disposing of of waste. Of waste. Yeah. Just like aspiration. Well, different. But yeah, no, this is the energy solutions was not a scam. Controversial, but not a scam, right? People didn’t want them disposing of waste in their backyard because of the type of waste it was attracting to the community. It was a controversial yet necessary service. aspiration was doing nothing but taking investors money and spending it on not trees. Yeah. So inventing numbers to defraud investors which is a very different thing than energy solutions and want to be very careful about that. I more bring up energy solutions as an example of like Delta Center made a ton of sense. Delta home uh or as a hub in Salt Lake. Delta is a part of our community for that reason. It’s a big part of our commerce. Although all made a lot of sense. It even sounded cool, right? The Delta Center. You know what? I’m thinking of Wiki, which was a scam. That was a scam. The energy solutions in Wiki are not the same thing. And Wiki never had naming rights to the building. Now, Wiki sponsored all sorts of stuff. And that there was a different connection there. There was like a polygamous organized crime connection with Wiki that made that energy doesn’t just dispose of like radioact material, right? But does does a real job but is a real company that does a real thing. You’re right. My apologies. They were just not. Yeah. Anyway, well, the other aspect is my point is they’re not passing on double the dough because they’re like, “We’re going to go with a more consistent name.” Sure you are. Yeah. Boulder Dash, right? you didn’t go with that company because you knew that there was a good chance that that company wasn’t going to be around for another dang day. And another part of the issue is that Kawaii’s guy, Uncle Dennis, was do was asking for no show jobs from the Toronto Raptors. Like before he signed with Clippers, he’s been asking for exactly the lineup he got with the Clippers. It’s a bad look that he was asking for this and one team gave it to him and he signed with that team. It’s going to be hard for them to prove that they didn’t have anything to do with this. But the NBA doesn’t want to do anything. That’s the thing. They don’t want to do anything about it because he’s worth a zillion bucks. He just built the state of the art arena. He did it with all his own money. The NBA owners will, and that’s who David Stern works for, or excuse me, Adam Silver. The NBA owners, if they’re not all doing this, and it doesn’t sound like they are, will want to make sure this gets invested. So, how good is Adam Silver at his job? We’ll see. Because does he rule with an iron fist like say Goodell or even David Stern before him? All right. Uh, we’re going to talk some Wyoming football with Cody Tucker coming up next. Stay tuned. 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Nobody gets you ready for Utah football more than the KSL Sports Zone. Ready? Ready? Ready. Kyle Whittingham and the youths hit the road for a battle against Wyoming in Laram. Your home for the best coverage of Utah football is right here on 975P KSL Sports Zone. You’re listening to Jake Scott and Ben Anderson on 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Jake and Ben 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Join JJ and Alex at the Utah RV Super Show. Uh coming up tomorrow from 3 to 6 at the Mountain America Expo Center. Unplug from distractions and pull into family at the Utah RV Super Show. pile into the RV and hit I80. Right. Yeah. Heading out to Laram. Uh joining us now to preview the youths and the Pokes. Uh he’s the founder and publisher of 7220 Sports covering the Cowboys. He’s Cody Tucker with us here on Jake and Ben. What’s going on Cody? Hey Jake, Ben. How’s it going fellas? Thanks for having me on. We’re doing terrific. We love rekindling this old rivalry uh and seeing Utah head up to Wyoming. What does this mean? Wyoming isn’t it’s not totally foreign for them to get a big uh opponent in. But you know a Big 12 team doesn’t roll into Laramie every weekend. No. Um but I will say Tom Burman the athletic director in Laramie he’s been there for like 18 years. He’s done a fantastic job. I mean, Texas, Texas A&M, Nebraska, Miss, Virginia, you know, he’s he’s brought in a lot of big teams into War Memorial Stadium, and that’s a lot of things that these uh, you know, group of six schools can’t do very often, and he does it with more regularity than most. Tell us about this year’s squad. You know, so far so good. Obviously, like most uh programs around the country, a ton of new faces. Uh however, the Cowboys did retain about 83% of their offense according to ESPN, which is fourth most in the country. Uh a lot of guys turned down a lot of money in the portal this offseason to stay here and uh really tight unit. So, uh defense is brand spanking new and uh nine new starters on that side of the ball and a ton of depth that has never played at the FBS level. And uh so far, guys, they’re they’re three penalties away last week against Northern Iowa from pitching two shutouts to start the year. So, uh, you couldn’t ask for a much better start. They’re getting after the quarterback. They’re creating turnovers. You know, don’t get me wrong. I know, uh, you know, Akran and Northern Iowa are not, uh, this isn’t Alabama and Florida by any stretch, but, uh, maybe Florida’s not a good one to say this week, but, you know what I mean. Uh, these aren’t world beaters, but you know what, for this Cowboys team that went three and nine last year, they finished on a strong note. Uh, they really gave Ashton Genty and Boise State all kinds of hell last year in the home finale. and then they go to Pullman and beat Washington State and turn around and pitch a road shutout and then take care of an FCS team the way they should. They lost to Idaho last year in War Memorial Stadium. So, uh, so far so good. And, uh, Ken Anderson took a vicious hit last week, but, uh, he’s, uh, all good to go and is supposed to be starting Saturday against the youth. And if I’m correct, they’re familiar with Devin Dampier, right? In fact, they’ve beaten Deon Dampier already. Yeah. Uh, they’ve beaten Deon Dampier twice, but it sure doesn’t feel that way. He uh he uh rushed for 207 yards and three touchdowns on 12 attempts last year. And if it wasn’t for an untimely pick six from Dampier in the fourth quarter, there’s no way Wyoming wins that game. So, uh yeah, and Dampier as a as a freshman in 2023 damn near led New Mexico back. They were down 22 to9. He comes into that game and you could just see how electric he was and we all kind of looked at each other and said, “How in the hell is this guy not the starter?” Like, he’s he’s got the goods. And when we heard he was going to Utah, I was like, talked to Jay Saveville about it at Mountain West Media Days and he said, “Man, I thought we were done with this dude. He is an absolute headache.” If Wyomi could have things go perfectly for them, what kind of game would it be? Would it be ugly and slow? Would it be high scoring? What do they want to do? Um, I think right now you’d probably have to go with the more ugly uh, you know, hold on to the football, time a possession, pick up some third downs kind of kind of stuff. But uh also, you know, Utah does not turn the ball over and Wy and Wyoming needs that to happen. Uh they need to get a couple of turnovers, need to create some mistakes and kind of muddy up the water. Uh that’s what they did when they beat Texas Tech two years ago in Laramie. That’s what they did uh in 2019 when Missouri came in here and took an L. Uh they they have to have a lot of things go right for them and they have to create those turnovers. We know the Mountain West Conference is in a seemingly constant state of change, but Wyoming feels weirdly solid to me. Am I totally wrong on that? How do you view them? How do they view themselves big picture? Um, yeah. I mean, I think they’re they’re a founding member uh of the whack in the Mountain West and they’re very happy in the Mountain West. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the Pack 12 would have extended the invite. They would have gone. Uh but however, they feel like they feel like they’re comparable situations and uh you know, they also feel like they’re going to have some money coming their way here when these lawsuits get figured out. So, uh very happy members of the Mountain West Conference. Unfortunately, you know, the rivalries are going by the wayside. You know, I I grew up here. I I grew up going to Wyoming, Utah. I miss Utah. Uh don’t ever tell anybody I said this. I miss BYU. Uh Colorado State. The fact that there’s about to be a two-year gap in the border war is it’s gross. It’s absolutely gross. So, my thought on realignment was, man, I I just as long as Wyoming and Colorado State are together, that’s all I care about. And unfortunately, that uh that’s not going to happen. Uh how for those who haven’t been up there in a while, including Coach Whit himself, is the reception for the opposing team still as notorious as uh it ever was? Uh yeah. Yeah. I would say cell phones have kind of screwed that up a little bit. Uh, I grew up in the more uh, you know, late 80s, early 90s kind of student section where uh, and they sell beer in the stadium now. It’s not people sneaking in whiskey in their boots anymore, unfortunately. Uh, that was the really rowdy stuff. But yeah, man, it’s a great atmosphere. War Memorial Stadium. Uh, I would argue the best in the Mountain West. Uh, even with Boise State, uh, they’re right on top of you. It’s 25,000 now. Uh, they have the suites and the low seating now, so the capacity is down to about 25K. But it’s uh now a really hot ticket and it’s an event and it’s the place to be and um you know it’s just it’s rocking and it’s great and it’s a big reason fellas why the John Michael Gillenborgs and the Chris Durers and the Jack Walshes of the world didn’t leave in free agency this offseason. They they said why would we go anywhere? We have fans that love us and we’re not leaving on a three and nine note. It ain’t going to happen. Is there any money coming in from donors that allows them to avoid some of the transfer portal losses that other schools have suffered? Sure. Yeah. Yeah, there’s some money. I mean I mean we’re not talking big money and not everybody’s getting a truck or anything by any stretch, but you know it’s it’s good. It’s comparable to their peers for sure. Uh it’s very comparable if not great compared to their new peers like Utah, Northern Illinois and things like that. Um so that’s not bad. Uh the one thing though that Wyoming just never can duplicate and I don’t even know if Utah can necessarily duplic or duplicate it is you know the big question around here is would Josh Allen estate if there was the transfer portal. Uh Wyoming fans would have thrown as much money as it took to keep him here but you can’t replicate being a Texas quarterback playing in Kyle Field against Texas A&M on Thanksgiving with a chance to you know win a conference title and and go to you know the national championship. That’s just stuff you cannot replicate. So, Wyoming’s lost some guys, but they’ve lost some guys to some huge programs and some big programs and a lot of guys have not really flourished. And that’s another reason uh some have. I don’t want to discredit all of it, but some some that haven’t. That’s really sent a message to the guys that are still on this roster that man, you know, it’s not always going to work out. And I believe, and not to not to dump on Justin Stevenson because I love the kid and I think he’s a great dude. You know, he’s he’s uh buried on the depth chart right now in Salt Lake City. He probably would have been number two or number three right now in Laramie. Who would have to buy a beer first in Laramie? Josh Allen or Theo Radliff? Oh, Josh right now for sure. For sure. Theo was the man. He was the the the king when I was a kid. But, uh, Josh Allen is uh the man of the hour for sure. And he’s coming back on November 22nd to have his jersey retired. And that game sold out in a few hours. They sold 7,000 additional tickets. in seven in like three hours when it was announced last Thursday. So, he’s beloved here and to have the NFL MVP and and just such a great ambassador and and not only because he’s a great guy, but because like Wyoming’s commercial that they they bought during the Super Bowl says, you know, Wyoming’s where underdogs are made and and uh he’s a poster boy for that. He’s not gone to Hollywood. No, no, not at all. Never will. No, not that guy. That’s good to hear. I was on the I was on the sideline when uh Joe Glenn gave Kyle Whittingham the finger uh after that onside kick after halftime and I will always remember the angry look on Cowboy Joe’s face. That was really a moment. Well, um you couldn’t see the angry look on my face. I was just a fan then, but I was in the upper deck of Bryce Cycle Stadium and uh Salt Lake City police fine policeman escorted me out of the stadium after that one. And uh you know I I had seen enough. I’d seen enough anyway. So it was my time to go back to Wyoming and get the hell out of there. Man, Whit Whit really has changed as a coach. If if memory serves, Joe Glenn was just talking at like a pep rally. He was just talking. He’s like, “Oh, we’re going to go down there and give it to him or something like that.” And Whit’s like, “He said what?” Just hilarious. In my in my opinion, guys, like Yeah, you’re right. You’re That’s in context. He was talking to a bunch of kids just saying, “Yeah, we’re going to go get him.” Really? What? In my opinion, what happened was Wyoming beat the hell out of Utah the week or the year before in Larammy. They they hammered him and it was it was 31 to nothing in the third quarter of that game. So, I think that had a little more to do with it. That coupled with Joe Glenn talking about a guarantee. Uh he got Wyoming a 50 nothing burger that day in Salt Lake. Powder River letter buck as Joe used to say. Uh I love that guy. That was when Mountain West Conference uh what teleconferences were truly magic. Uh Cody Tucker with us, founder and publisher of 7220 Sports covering the Wyoming Cowboys. Cody, a pleasure to have you on the show. Thank you. And uh let’s uh let’s hope we all enjoy the game this weekend. Yes, sir. Appreciate you guys having me on always. Thank you. Thank you, Cody. Cody Tucker, we were talking about like characters you miss with the high-profile. Cody Tucker is the guy, right? Like you have to understand, we all know Cody Tucker’s every team kind of has one, but like it’s a guy who started a website as a fan, has now built it into whatever his job is. I can’t imagine he’s making a million dollars a year running 7220.com, but it’s a real passion project. He probably puts an insane amount of hours into it. He sounds great. He knows all the history. Those are the guys that really built up college football, you know? Those are the guys that that the backs of of college football have been built on and and I’m glad to have them. Honestly, here’s why I kind of will always like Wyoming and there’s some other examples uh that that I can get to and I think Utah and BYU both actually are or were examples of this at at some point, but the West is so spread out and especially like I mean you get into, you know, Montana and Idaho and I mean Colorado. I mean, really spread out. And then you get to a place like Wyoming, which is this giant state, but has the smallest population of any state in the country. Like Rhode Island has a higher population than Wyoming. And Rhode Island would fit into Yeah. like a little corner. It’s You get what I’m saying? Vast geographic distance. Yeah. And there are these pockets of fan bases that are just uberly into whatever. I mean, Wyoming certainly qualifies. Like he’s talking about, they’ve got a lean and mean 25,000 and it’s going to be nuts. I bet it’s going to be I bet it’s going to be crazy. Yep. But you look at Montana and you look at Montana State and there are other examples out there where it’s what the town does. It’s what the community does. It’s what you know if you live within on the Wyoming side of Lar you know Laramie or whatever and you live within what been 200 miles of Laramie you’re gonna go to the Wyoming game. I’ve got a buddy I went to college with a buddy who grew up a Colorado fan and moved to Wyoming and not even Laramie but is now the most diehard Cowboy fan on the planet because that’s what everybody does. I love that. I do. I I love that stuff. And I wish this sounds stupid, but I wish the Pack 12 would have invited Wyoming. I guess I get why they knew Pack 12. Yes, I guess I get why they didn’t. And yeah, it is 25,000 fans and that’s probably about it, but it’s 25,000 passionate fans. Passionate Yeah. Cowboy fans that are kind of notorious. They have this rep. You know, New Mexico is similar in basketball where Yeah. It’s not a ton of fans. It’s not a huge to-do, but the ones that are into it are crazy into it, and it it it is what kind of college sports is all about. So, I hope that’s not fading. And talking to Cody, obviously, you know, Wyoming’s going to continue on being Wyoming, but they will they will bunker down and they will survive the storm like a real cowboy. They will make it through, but Wyoming Grand Canyon isn’t really doing it for me. No, it’s not. No, Wyoming Northern Illinois doesn’t make a lot of sense to me as divisional matchup, you know, or conference matchup. So, I’m with you. I I would have liked to have seen them make the jump with some of those teams as an original member of the WAC and the the Mountain West Conferences he’d mentioned. So, I I like Ive always had a fondness for Wyoming. I can’t believe Utah hasn’t played them since 2010. That’s crazy. 15 years. That’s wild. I just it it doesn’t seem that long ago to me, you know, those matchups because they were heated, because they were significant, because they were a pain, uh are memorable. I can’t believe it’s been a decade and a half. No, that when Utah and BYU for that matter to a lesser extent because they needed the games. But when Utah got out of the Mountain West, I think it was a lot like when a teenager leaves a small town. I’m never talking to you both ever again. Shake the dirt of this town. You guys have been annoying me for 30 years. I’ve had enough. We’re going to go play Fresno and Florida. I guess Fresno is technically in Mountain West, but uh not Wyoming, you know what I mean? and let alone go to Laramie. I still can’t believe they’ve agreed to play this game. Yeah, I’m glad they did. I’m glad they are, too. Yeah, I think it’s cool. Would I rather Utah play Ohio State? Sure. Would I rather Utah play Wyoming than Northern Illinois? Absolutely. Glad this is a Wyoming game with some history and the fans can drive location. Fans can go. Yeah. Yeah. All right. Stay tuned. What you got Wednesday is coming up next. I have no idea what we’re doing. Yeah, we have not picked a thing yet. We’re in trouble. Sometimes that spawns the greatest idea. It’s gonna be something good. Coming up next, Jake and Ben 975D KSL Sports Zone. It’s another battle for the Aggies and the KSL Sports Zone has it covered. The Aggies kickoff conference play as they welcome Air Force to Logan. Your home for all the playbyplay coverage of Aggie football is right here on 975, the KSL Sports Zone. You’re listening to Jake Scott and Ben Anderson. Let’s lock in on 975 the KSL sports song. What you got? What’s the deal? Jake’s got rules out there. Flush it down. Flush it down. [Music] Emo skater Ben with a devious grin. Jake rolls his eyes, lets out a sigh within. If rules had feelings, they cry. Jake and Ben 975, the KSL sports zone. Join Hans and Scotty coming up tomorrow from noon to 3 at the Edge Powersports in Draper. Get ready for Suzuki demo event on Friday and Saturday. Come in for a test drive where adventure begins and the thrill never ends. Time for watch Wednesday. If you’re new to the show, Ben and I go headtohead in two five selection drafts, one sports related, one not, and then we put it out uh for you to vote on who’s the winner. Uh what happened last week, Christian? Last week, best NFL studio analyst, Jake, you won 72 to 28. domination. Best fast casual restaurants. Ben won 65 to 35. It’s not really my genre of food, but I know what I like and I’m with the people. All right. What is uh today’s sports related topic, which Ben has uh the first selection for our sports draft today? We are going to have you guys draft the top NFL quarterbacks right now. Just current NFL quarterbacks. This is kind of a stretch. It’s in honor of Josh Allen, who is a Wyoming Cowboy who the youths are playing this weekend. Uh, I’m going to go Josh Allen. I do think Josh has probably crossed over to being the best player in the world and I think he showed that in week one. Uh, that comeback, his arm talent. They made a lot in the broadcast about how he’s improved his throwing motion. They also did that in Hard Knocks as well. just how much he has changed his game to become the superstar that he is. And Christian, you said yesterday, you know, his first year and a half in the NFL was not that pretty. And we were comparing him to uh Fingernails to see if he can come back and put it together for the Bears. Josh Allen has, and he’s just I think he’s exactly what you want in a quarterback. Uh I’m a little torn on this one, but I’m gonna go with Lamar Jackson. Okay. who statistically is the best quarterback in the NFL with both uh Jackson and um and uh well, we’ll see where you go. I’ll I’ll fill this in after uh after you make I think I have to take Mahomes. I mean, it’s Patrick Mahomes. And still, if I was picking a one quarterback to win me a Super Bowl this year, I may actually still take Patrick Mahomes. See, the thing I Yeah, that’s fine. I think that’s who I would have taken, too. But my debate was is that Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson ain’t won a dang thing. They haven’t. You know, it’s like MVPs, but nothing else. It’s like if uh Elway were playing against Marino in 1990, you know, it’s like, well, I think these are the two best quarterbacks in the NFL, but haven’t won a thing. Haven’t won. Yeah. So, I was I was debating on Holmes at Mahomes at two just because or for my first pick, our second pick, just because he’s actually one. But to be honest with you, our board has gone one, two, three, how I had it on my list. This is how I have it, too. Uh, this is where it gets interesting though. I think it really opens up here. There’s a clear second tier of players beyond behind those three. I’m gonna go with Jaylen Herz. Okay, he has one. I need a winner. Um, and he he’s looked great. He’s a great quarterback. I love Jaylen Herz. I loved him at Alabama. I loved him at Oklahoma. I loved the went with the Eagles and got that job and then has just done nothing but quite literally and figuratively run with it. He is He’s awesome. That’s why I picked him. He’s Jason Tatum of the NFL, right? It’s like he wins, he’s young, he’s awesome, and for some reason, no one’s quite willing to be like, “Yeah, but you’re one of the guys.” He’s like clearly one of the guys. He rules, but people like he’s not even the best player on his team. Yeah, I know. It was a great pick, Ben. Thank you. Pretty dang good. I’m just talking about how I like Jaylen Herz. Fill in some segment. Um, it’s not where I would have gone. It’s the wrong pick. I’m going to go I’m gonna go Joe Burrow. I know you’re in love with Joe Burrow. I could have predicted that. Stay healthy, Joe. I wish they had better teammates around you, but uh yeah, Joe Burrow’s awesome. He’s probably the best college football player I’ve ever seen. Uh, let’s see. I’m gonna go with Justin Herbert. Hard to argue after week one beating Patrick Mahomes and maybe the best game I’ve ever seen. Yeah, he’s really good. He’s really good. He was He was really good at Oregon. I hope this is his breakout. Crazy that he was a walk-on at Oregon. He’s actually from Eugene. Made him made him earn it. They accidentally found the best quarterback in the country. Just fell into their lap. What a joke. And he’s a lot like Josh Allen. You’ve I’m sure you’ve talked to him a few times at Pack 12 Media Day stuff. Just awesome dude. Way down to earth. Just seems like a nice kid. Exactly what you want to have in a quarterback. Dating a pop star. Yeah. Who’s he dating? Madison Beer. Madison Beer. That’s right. Love. Turns out I was wrong on her. I got her mixed up with another person. Okay. She’s just like a Tik Tocker. Madison Beer is. Yeah. Yeah. That’s like all she does. She has released music, but it not like hits. I like her. It’s so funny to be like Yeah. Yeah, I just got a Tik Tok page and now I’m dating an NFL quarterback. Or Josh Allen’s like, “Yeah, I just went to Wyoming and now I’m married to Haley Steinfeld.” Weird world. These guys live uh strange lives. All right, I will go with this is tough for me. Picking between two guys here, but I’m going to go with Jane Daniels. I I just think he’s the real deal. I think he’s going to continue to become a star. I think he’s going to lead Washington to heights they haven’t seen in a long time. I’m a real believer in him. Um, well, if you can win with the commies, yeah, can win anywhere. You can probably win anywhere. Uh, I’m going to go with someone else who’s at least one. Matthew Stafford. Okay. He was number 10 on my board. Oh, good for you. So, I think you reached on him. Congratulations, man. I’m going to beat you like 95 to five in this. This is going to be crazy. This is going to be our most lopsided result ever because you’re reaching on all these guys, which is why I’m taking Jordan Love at five. I think Jordan Love really belongs on this list. Yeah, fine. But Matthew Stafford’s a better quarterback than he is right now. You think so? Yeah, Matt Stafford’s better than Jordan Love today. Today? I don’t know if he is. I’m excited. I’m watching Matt Stafford in person on Sunday. I’m very excited to see that game. Uh go I don’t want that guy. It’s like who? I’m gonna go with Goff. Yeah, Goff’s the right answer. Absolutely. Jared Goff. I know we had a bad week one. At least the Lions did, but we went 10 for 10 on my board. This is exactly who I had the top 10. Christian, anyone we left off that’s think should be here. Baker, I think is the only one that you can make a true argument for. Oh, man. It’s so nice to have a guy and not Baker Mayfield. And I mean, I like Baker. You and I have both talked about what a great story that is and he’s really good. But like the difference between Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Jaylen Herz, Lamar Jackson, even Justin Herbert and Joe Burrow and May Baker Mayfield is enormous. I think Baker is better than golf and maybe and maybe Stafford, but that’s about it. Like the the rest of the list is pretty uh un undebatable. Well, you’re wrong. He’s great. He’s really He’s a really good player. He’s had a fun career. He’s figured it out. Has he? We should have just taken 10 best NFL players. Really opened it up. All right. Now, our our not sports. Do you want to recap? Oh, yeah. Ben, you had the number one pick. You went Josh Allen, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Jaden Daniels, and Jordan Love. Jake, you went Lamar Jackson, Jaylen Herz, Justin Herbert, Matthew Stafford, and Jared Goff. All right, today’s not sports topic is so up your alley. We’re gonna go with how how do we word this? Biggest celebrity spirals. Like celebrity downfalls. Celebrity downfalls. Yeah, I think that’s falls from grace. Oh, this is right up my alley. So up your alley. And I get the number one pick in this one. And I think there is an automatic number one. Do you? Yeah, absolutely. Interesting. I’m curious. Christian, do you feel like there’s an obvious number one pick? No, there’s been far too many. Seems like every celebrity for the most part. OJ Simpson. Okay. OJ Simpson is admit OJ was number two on my board. OJ’s number one. He is the number one pick to go from not only to go from all American and then sports star and then crossover celebrity into culture to murderer. Yeah. To what? Kidnapper to prison inmate. Right. Then right back to the country club. Right. And then dead. OJ Simpson. OJ is the answer. Um, yeah, you’re not wrong. OJ is OJ’s up there. He’s He’s the worst. He’s the worst. Just the worst. All right, I will go with my number I had my number one on my board. It’s who I thought of immediately because he was equally beloved. Uhhuh. It’s got to be Cosby. Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby. Christian. Bill Cosby was a uh TV dad, former stand-up comedian, had the number one show in TV, which is pretty revolutionary for a black family at the time. And uh he’s the worst he’s one of the worst human beings that’s actually alive right now. Absolutely abused that power in the worst way as human being could. Bill Cosby went around shaming other people for how they live their lives. Made a made a real uh identity out of shaming other people for not taking life seriously. This is the wor This is the worst guy. That’s absolutely the worst guy who’s ever existed. This is Shame on you, Bill Cosby. This is just the worst. But you love it, my man. All right. God, I think I can get that one later. I got to go with R. Kelly, the I believe I can fly guy. Similar issues to Bill. Have you watched The Dock on on Netflix? It’s rough. currently incarcerated. I mean, R. Kelly ey or just Y. Uh, ke L L Y. Just why? R. Kelly. We sang that song in my sixth grade graduation. I believe I can fly. I believe I can fly. Uh, not him, guys. We’re not doing R. Kelly songs anymore. That song just doesn’t hit like that anymore. Hey, Bump and Grind is a bop. That guy like that. He has an absolute hits, but had a spiral downfall. Yeah. Um, this is a tough draft. This is a tough draft. All right. I’m gonna go with Michael Jackson. Along those same lines, I’m going with MJ. Michael Jackson. Yeah. Uh, you know what? May have inspired R. Kelly. I’m gonna go with I’m gonna go with this one. Matt Lowour. Okay. The biggest cancelure. The biggest thing in in what or morning news or whatever, he was making like $20 million a year. Even before it was fashionable to be making $20 million a year. The guy had a a self closing door. Yes. That would lock that would trap people in his room. Hey, when a man when anybody asks for that, but when a man asks for a door that shuts and locks from a button, CEO of the company, NBC, whoever is leading you, Les Moon or whoever it was, you got a problem. You got to turn it off. I think that was the CVS guy. I think the CVS guy that Howard Stern hated. Uh Matt Lowour. Yeah. And you know what? Like unlike R. Kelly who’s incarcerated, uh he is excused from polite society. When was the last time you that Matt Lowour was Not welcome anywhere. No, not welcome anywhere anytime for good reason. Um Matt Lowour. Matt Lowour. All right. You know what I’m going to say then? This isn’t criminal, but he really It’s hard to believe he is where he is today. I’m going to go with Drake. Drake like three years ago was the biggest pop star in the world. And Kendrick Lamar has turned his career into a joke. And I I think he’s probably making some type of comeback, but he will always be remembered as losing the feud with Kendrick Lamar. And that’s really hard to do when you were as big as Drake was. So that’s not criminal, even though there are some allegations against Drake as well. But I’m going to go noncriminal related because the rest of my board’s probably going to be criminal. It is funny seeing Drake on a list with OJ and R. Kelly, Bill Cosby. Yeah. All right. Um, I’ll go with a more recent one, too. And this guy may have cost himself a billion dollars. Billion with a B. Uhhuh. Kanye West. Kanye’s got to be on the board. Kanye West. Had that what? The sneaker deal with Adidas. Yeah. The Yeezys. Yeah. Yeah. The most popular sneaker on the planet. Kanye has legitimately lost his mind. Like Kanye doesn’t have anyone in his corner anymore, you know? There’s no Well, there’s his nude wife. There’s his wife that he uh they got divorced. No, they’re back. I think they might be back together, but yeah, he said this is this is my wheelhouse. They’re back. Her mother um quite literally. And uh Kanye, I’m gonna go with your favorite person of 2024. I’m going to take Katy Perry. Oh, the who quite literally came back to Earth now was was orbiting uh the dark side of the moon and a crash back to Earth. We’ll take care. Kissed the ground for some reason and now she lost her not husband husband. Well, yeah, her super and uh baby daddy. Katy Perry. Katy Perry had a funny fall now rebounding with Justin Trudeau which I think that only lasted like 10 minutes. Yeah, it did not. All right, I’m going to take another one from the world of sports. I’m gonna go with Tanya Harding. Okay, Tanya was on my list. So Tanya, think about this. I I mean, it’s tough to remember Tanya before the the clubbing, but she was a national story before that because it was this rivalry. It was this Nancy Tanya thing. It was a big deal going into the Olympics and then culminated in just craziness. But she was like I don’t know if she was on top of the world before that but she was like the best two or three three figure skaters on the planet. Yeah. She she was number two. So she knocked out number one to be number one. Yep. And is now one of the great celebrity American shames of all time. Crazy. Yeah. I will go with the other person on this list and it’s just a disgusting person. So give me Joe Pno. I’ll close out the list with Joe P. who was the beloved grandfather of sports of college athletics and uh he wasn’t committing the crimes but he wasn’t stopping him it doesn’t sound like his downfall killed him he yeah yeah quite I mean they tore down his statue or they moved it and uh and he died like a week later very shortly after man that was a dark one uh review wait is there anybody we left out some honorable mentions that we left out Ellen DeGeneres Ellen would have been good I think uh Britney Spears or Lind Lohan. Yeah, Britney’s was pretty infamous. I can’t believe you didn’t draft Puff Daddy, who had an insane 2024. Yeah, pretty. But you know what? He wasn’t found guilty on all the chart. Like, he’s going to be back. Puff Daddy’s going to be freaking off again before we all know. Yeah. Crazy. Richard Nixon. That would have been a good one. I didn’t think I didn’t think politics. I mean, honestly, Elon has had a pretty horrendous 18 months. He was as big as you could ever be. There were some and you know he’s he’s not even as of this morning he’s not the richest person in the world anymore. There was some way darker ones like Jared Fogle. Yeah. Yeah. Subway Jared. Uh Subway sandwiches. Christian used to be a place where you could go and buy sandwiches and then Jared Fogle closed the business down. Uh Chris Brown. Yeah, Chris Brown. He’s still selling out uh he’s still selling out arenas. Oscar Ptorius. Oscar Ptorius definitely in the conversation. Do you know who Oscar Ptorius is, Christian? He was a double amputee who tried to be in the Olympics and they basically said, “No, your prosthetics give you too much of an advantage.” Because he was setting world records, right, with prosthetic legs. I don’t know about world records, but yeah. And then he murdered his girlfriend. Shot her through the bathroom door, I believe. Through the door. Yeah. It was horrible. Right up there with Drake. Uh Lance Armstrong. Lance. Yeah. America’s hero. All of Major League Baseball in the late 90s. recap. Okay, go ahead. Jake, you had the number one pick. You went OJ Simpson, R. Kelly, Matt Lowour, Kanye West, and Tanya Harding. That’s a strong list. Tanya Harding and being like, I hit her in the knee. I’m on a list with OJ Simpson. Ben took Bill Cosby, Michael Jackson, Drake, Katie Perry, and Joe Pno. Yeah, Katy Perry literally did the least of all these people. Maybe Drake did less. Katy Perry just over went on a flight. Yeah, she oversold a plane flight and she’s now on a list with OJ. Way to go. 40,000 feet instead of 30,000 like every other plane ride and we’re like you can’t you’re not welcome here anymore. But she s she sung a song. Apparently it was very touching. That’s why we have to think of our list ahead of time. We can’t do that. It’s always No, that was our best draft ever. That was like our best draft ever. We are going to get a lot of votes. Stay tuned. Dude, we’ll wrap up the show next 97 Gibson. The KSL Sports Zone. Nobody gets you ready for Utah football more than the KSL Sports Zone. Ready? Ready. Kyle Whittingham and the youths hit the road for a battle against Wyoming and Laram. Your home for the best coverage of Utah football is right here on 975P KSL Sports Zone. You’re listening to Jake Scott and Ben Anderson on 975, the KSL sports song. [Music] My star. Oh my [Music] Jacob Ben wrapping up a Wednesday show. Want to remind you to nominate the youports volunteer you know for the Hercules Hero of the Week. Submit your nomination kslports.com/contest and listen every Thursday to JJ and Alex for the winner. Help us celebrate the efforts of those volunteers making an impact with the Hercules Hero of the Week sponsored by Hercules First Federal Credit Union and Beehive Meals. Tell me, Jake, is this the funniest troll job that we’ve seen from an NBA team ever, or is this just raw ignorance? Okay. Uh March 17th, the Charlotte Hornets have announced that they are going to be hosting sports betting night in their home arena and they are welcoming in none other than the Miami Heat who feature Terry Rosier who was investigated for sports gambling and used to play for the Charlotte Hornets, right, for a while. Yeah. And that’s one layer of it where it’s very funny. March 17th happens to be Terry Rosier’s birthday. All the days you play 41 home games. They only have 18 themed nights. So you could have gotten bet 365 or whatever this website is that is hosting this to host any of the nights. The night they signify is the night against their former player. Their former player who got investigated for sports gambling. their former player who got investigated for sports gambling on his actual birthday. Okay, I hope let me put it this way. I hope the marketing person that came up with this was ignorant, not trolling. Okay, because they’re probably going to be fired either way. But if they’re trolling, then they’re never going to get a job again. That’s also true because there’s no way the NBA wants anybody to call any sort of attention to this, right? And if a team went out of its way to call attention to it in any way, shape, or form, that is going to attract backlash from the NBA. Maybe not. We don’t we probably won’t read about it and the Shams isn’t going to be tweeting about it, right? But the marketing bozo that came up with that is going to be fired one way or another. And if they’re basically being insubordinate by calling attention to that, they’re done working in sports. Yeah. They might end up changing this night. And you’re right. The person who came up with this idea who didn’t check it might might lose their job. It’s like the person of the Orals that came up with white bread night or white heritage night or whatever it was. Yeah, it was white bread night or white pride night or whatever it was. And it was not a clan rally, but it was someone being like, “Isn’t it funny that white people like friends?” And yeah, just a bozo idea gone. That went too far. Yeah. So yeah, whoever came up with that is getting fired either way. You’re probably right. Someone’s going to lose their gig. But I hope it was ignorance cuz if it was on purpose, then they’re getting fired with malice. You know what I mean? I will say, and I know marketing people, they’re generally not this creative. They generally just say like, “Heed coming to town, decent game. Put it on the put it on the board. That’ll work for us. We don’t have anything else going on that night. I’m with you with and that don’t mean that as disrespect towards uh towards marketing people, but generally I don’t think that much thought goes into it. See, we used to, my friends and I used to to joke about what could we do that would get us on national news the quickest. Not anything nefarious, but just, you know, what kind of public scene could we create to to if you played a game, how could you get Adam Silver on the phone the fastest? This would be it. Yeah. If your goal was to get Adam Silver on the horn personally firing you, this is the way you do it. What do you think? Sorry, I know we’re up against it. I don’t I think this is all a crazy coincidence. I think you’re right. I think this is going to be a really bad look, man. NBA teams are so cautious about this stuff. NBA teams are so cautious about not offending other players. It has become so much about making sure everyone’s happy and everyone feels welcome in every city and you don’t offend any other players and you don’t make enemies and Yeah. So that is a lot of coincidences. It is a lot of coincidences though. Yeah. And the Hornets are a very unserious organization. They are. And they know Terry Rosier very well. He played for them for a long time. Traded for Kemell Walker if I remember. No. I I if he did if they he whatever did it on purpose, they will be fired before the end of the day. Regardless, they’re getting a call from Adam Silver’s office saying, “Do you not have the matter with you?” Yeah. Do you not have one brain? Everyone else put this together immediately and you didn’t. Hansen’s got here next 75 the KSL Sports Zone.

Jake & Ben Full Show from September 10, 2025

Hour 1

• Setting the scene for Utah at Wyoming this weekend

• Top 3 Stories of the Day: Utah DB Coach Sharrieff Shah has high expectations for CB Jackson Bennee, Lauri Markkanen & Finland advance to Final Four in Eurobasket, NBA Changing Rules on End of Quarter Heaves. 

• Is this evidence against Kawhi Leonard?

Hour 2

• Cody Tucker, founder and publisher of 7220 Sports, joined to preview Utah at Wyoming. 

• What You Got Wednesday: Best NFL Quarterbacks, Biggest Celebrity Downfalls. 

• The Charlotte Hornets have gone viral for what is either a clever troll job or a massive oversight.