Transcript of Caitlin Clark on “Life Changing” Rookie Season, Chiefs Fandom, NBA Ratings Debate and more | Ep 120

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You know the NCAA? They don't have many rules on much anymore.

Women's sports has blown up with the NIL stuff.

It's been great for everybody, honestly.

You're a little bit closer to the NIL world. Have you heard of anybody paying their taxes? I definitely wasn't fucking ready to pay taxes when I was in college. I wasn't I'm thinking about that shit.

I know. That's what I always think about.

Welcome back to New Heights, ladies and gentlemen. How's it going? A Wondry show, produced by Way Sports and Entertainment. And big thanks to our presenting sponsor, Audible. Start listening today when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible. Com/newheights.

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All right, now, Audible getting in there, sliding in there for a little sponsor. I got to shout out Audible. We're your host. I'm Travis Kelsie. This is my big brother Jason Kelsi out of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, Cincinnati Bear Cat Alums. Subscribe on YouTube, 100 plus or wherever you get your podcast, and follow the show on all social media @New Heights Show with 1-S. Jason Listen, let the people know who we have coming up.

I'm not going to beat around the Bush, guys. This is a big one. It's the guest you guys have all been waiting for.

We all have been waiting for it.

You've all really been demanding. We finally got her. Probably got one of the business schedules out there. Kaitlyn Clarke is here. That's right. You heard it. That's right. You heard it? Right. She's in the building, folks. We're going to hear a nice conversation from her in just a few seconds. We're not going to really do too much before that because we're going to get ready to this conversation because it was fantastic. But first, we are going to get to a little bit of that new news.

New news.

New news is brought to you by Accelerator, the Orange Icepop. There we go. Who loves? I need this Accelerator.

Do you I do.

I'm a fan of the orange. I still prefer the Grinidine. I still prefer grinidine, cherry ice pop. But I think it's good. I'm a fan.

I'm always in on a little orange soda. They call it Late Night with Jason Kelsi premieres this Friday, January third. Javis, Jason. Javis, Jason, can you give us a tease or an anecdote?

A tease or an anecdote? I don't know. I don't know what to say. I think we're going to have some awesome guests on hand. Really, the whole purpose of this show is to just celebrate the sport of football. Obviously, we got playoffs coming up. This is the last week of the regular season coming up. It's just honestly an excuse to get together a bunch of guys and bullshit about a sport that we all love, do a bunch of fun creative comedy bits with some incredible writers. Being creative is just a joy. I think that we have between the band, between the audience, between the players, and all the people that are going to be there. I think it's just going to be a lot of fun. Incredibly intimidated by it. I'm terrified of how this is going to go. That's such a good feeling to have. At the same time, it makes you feel alive. There's something about being afraid that makes you excited, right?

Every time, man. Every time. Yeah. Anyways, excited for it. Well, that's all, man. I'm happy as hell for you, brother. I can't wait. You said something about a band, and now I got to ask, are you breaking out the sacks?

Listen, I got what this is.

No, not focusing. I'm still too far away to be able to read that.Oh, you got some new...Got.

Some reads.

Got some reads.

We'll see. It probably won't happen show one.

I don't know what the plan is. No pun intended. I didn't read that on the box. I just thought in my head, what could this possibly have to do with a saxophone and what would be in that? The reads.

I bought some reads. I don't know when. We got some plans. We'll see. We'll see what happens. I don't know if it's going to happen show one. There's a whole litany of things that could happen in this episode. Anyways, excited.

Again, that's Friday, January third, ladies and gentlemen. They call it Late Night with Jason Kelsi, the Man, the Myth, the Legend. We also will be back for our regularly scheduled episode starting next week. Football schedule in the Holidays threw us off a little bit with me playing on Christmas and having all these short games or short weeks back to back to back. So it's making it a little tough to keep knocking these episodes out with you guys. But New Heights will be back talking all things NFL playoffs and whatever else comes next week.

Sounds good, bubba.

And that's it for new news brought to you by Accelerator. Upgrade your energy and get you some of this orange ice pop. Shit's fucking popping, son.

All righty, our guest today is a 6-foot guard from the University of Iowa, the NCAA All-Time Division 1 scoring leader, the first pick of the WMBA draft, WMBA Assist Leader, All-Star, and 2024 WMBA Rookey of the Year. She's the most requested guest in the history of our show, and the Time magazine, Athlete of the Year, Ms. Kaitlyn Clarke. Please welcome everyone.

I appreciate it. I'm excited. I don't get excited about many things, but this is on top of my list.

We made it, Jason. We've made it.

How many accolades did we leave off? How many accolades do you have right now at this point, Kaitlyn?

I think you might have made some up. I don't know.

Yeah, I don't think so. I'm pretty sure on that. I feel like you're like Wayne Gretssky for basketball right now. The Gretsky. I mean, the amount- It is.

If you go to the Wikipedia page and you look at the list of awards and achievements, it's endless.

It is. We had to limit it to this list just to get the show started.

I appreciate it.

Thank you. Is there any accomplishment, I guess, of all these accolades that has meant the most to you?

Oh, gosh. That's a good question. Well, I'd give you the answer my mom would is probably academic all-American. She was proud of me for being a good student in college.

That's the answer. Nobody thought about that.

That's what I'm talking about.

I did all right in school, so hung in there. But other than that, they're all cool, but you don't really care. It just comes with it. It comes with having fun. I think the time athlete of the year was cool, too, just because you see the list of all the athletes that they've had prior to me, and a lot of those people I idolized growing up, and LeBron has been the only other basketball player. It's cool as a woman. They haven't had many females on the cover, too. For women's sports, it's special, but just comes with playing the game and having fun, as you guys know.

That's awesome. I love it. What did you study in college? What was he in?

I was in a business school. I got my degree in marketing.

You're a marketing major?

I'm a marketing major.

I'm a marketing major.

There we go.

You guys are great at marketing. We're all right. We're good at it. We got to figure You got to figure I got to go on dating shows just to get my name out there. I actually have a funny... Made the dean's list once in my life. Did you? There we go. It was when I got kicked out of school, and it was a part That was the criteria that I had to reach just to stay on the team.

So you were capable of doing it?

That's all that matters.

Listen, I find... Listen, I find... That's all that matters.

And Kelsey always said I was capable. You just have to focus. You have to give it your all. No, my mom was actually the one paying for my tuition at that point, so I had to make sure I did my mom right. I could just throw away the grades knowing mom was paying for them. That's right. I share that with my mother.

Let's talk about your biggest accomplishment. Being a part of Chief's Kingdom. How long have you been a part of the Kingdom?

I'm sorry, Jason.

You're going to apologize to me. I'm an honorary member.

I'm a Midwest kid. There's this picture that's been circulating from a couple of years ago when I was on Payton Eli's Monday Night Show, where I'm in a full Chief's outfit. I had family in Kansas City, and I grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, which is only three hours from Kansas City. Oh, yeah. That's just the closest NFL team. My dad was a big Chiefs fan growing up. People think I'm a bandwagon Chiefs fan. I'm like, No, I was there before Patrick and Travis. We were ride or die. We've been big fans, and now, obviously, all the success you guys had has made it a lot of fun for us.

Who was your childhood?

My brother loved Tony Gonzales. That was his guy.

Tony G?

Yeah.

What a guy.

He was the Chief. We would go to one game a year growing up with my cousins down in Kansas City. That's so fun. We still try to go. We went to the Christmas Day game last year. I think the year before, you might have played on Christmas Eve, maybe. We went to that. We were sitting outside for that one. My toes were about to fall off. My fingers were about to fall off. I don't get how you guys play in that type weather, but it's fun.

Obviously, we got heaters on the sideline. They let us cheap.

Arrowhead is not too bad, so good spot.

It's a blast. You already know.

Have you ever messed with those heaters on the sideline? Have you ever seen those things?

We played a basketball game outside in college, like an exhibition game. They had those on the sidelines. I was like, I didn't really never know what they were, but they had them. They get so hot.

It's too hot. It's too hot.

I know. It's funny. You'll see some guys throw on those winter coats, and if they get too close to the heaters, you just hear them pop. They're just like... Really? You'll just see feathers start flying everywhere. It's crazy.

I had to tell them to turn it off. I'm like, Just let it be like a normal bench.

I'm out on the heaters. It has to be below 20 degrees for me even to think about sitting on the heaters. That's why I'm sitting on the water coolers right now every time we're off the field. I hate it. I can't feel too hot.

For sure.

If I feel too hot, I'm going to start to... It's like a heated blanket or something. I'm going to start falling asleep.

I think they said, Yeah, there's a fire marshal over there, watch in, make sure it doesn't catch on fire.

Why don't we just do our own safety check here and just cut these things?

Yeah.

You said your brother's favorite player was Tony Gonzales. Who is your favorite player or is?

Is? I mean, obviously Travis is up there. Yeah!

I made it.

But I'm obviously a I'm a big Patrick fan, too. How can you not be? The both of you, you're pretty great.

I'm here.

But it's been fun. Obviously, I've known Brett Beach for a while. It's actually crazy. When I was in college, we played the Big Ten tournament in Indianapolis, and it was at the time of the Combine. Brett was staying in our hotel, and that's how I first got to know him, my sophomore year of college. Then we just stayed in touch ever since.

Yeah, Brett's the man.

Yeah, he's obviously done really And he's fine. He's cool, too.

The whole family, the Veatch family is the best. I love seeing them. Good people.

When I first got into the league, Veatch was Andy's assistant in Philadelphia.

How crazy is that?

So to see where he's at now and the success he's had, it's pretty awesome.

The Eagles had all this right there and there. Don't shut up. I'm not going to do that. I'm not doing that. You guys are killing it.

We're doing just fine.

You guys are doing great right now.

That's funny. All right, Travis, earmuffs. Put your earmuffs... Take your earmuffs off.

They technically are on.

Okay, we'll take your earmuffs off. What What do we think about 2024 Chiefs, Kaitlyn? What do we think about where the team's at?

I'm feeling good.

You're feeling good?

I'm feeling good. I mean, we're what? Thirteen and one right now.

Pretty good. Oh, man.

Can someone say Thirteen in one?

That's not too bad. But also, you guys have made it interesting as a fan.

We just keep everybody at the edge of their seat.

I know. I think that's what I appreciate about you guys the most. You and Patrick, especially, is you guys just have that edge to you, that clutch factor. A lot of people don't have that. When you get the ball in the minute 30, you need to go 80 yards and score. I'm feeling pretty good.

We like the ball in Pat Mahomes' hands for sure. We do. Our defense has been saving our ass a lot. Let alone our field goal block team. It's been a full team effort this year.

Is it 10 games, consecutive one, single-score games or something like that?

Yeah.

I don't know.

There's some crazy stats, the first team ever to do that.

Something like You killed it.

Great performance. Last time, Night 2 Percenters saw you with Travis was the heiress tour. How was that?

That was so much fun.

Electric. It was great. My mom was begging me to take her. She's like, I got to go. Everybody's talking about it. I'm like, Okay, okay.

Yeah, it was right there in Indianapolis.

Yeah. I literally live right downtown, too, right next to Lucas Oil. Nice. The night I didn't go, I'm on my balcony trying to listen. But no, obviously, it's just a great show and a lot of fun. Full Swift. Turned my mom into a full Swift now.Nice. Two of my brothers were there, too. Good time. Oh, yeah.

Good time. You mentioned that was your second night going to it, right?

Yeah. Second night in a row, and that was my third show. I went early on when Taylor first went on tour in Minnesota at US Bank. One of her early concerts, and that was a lot of fun. Went with some of my college friends, and we had a good time together.

It's hard to not have a good time at a concert.

I don't know how you couldn't have a good time, something like that.

This is so fun, man.

Well, we mentioned earlier that a few weeks ago, you were named the Time magazine, Athlete of the Year. Time asked you to define your year in one word, and you said historic. We can do better. We can give you two words to define your year. What would they be if you could do that?

Two words?

Two words.

That is hard.

Yeah, one word is easier.

I can't use historic?

I mean, I guess you can. It's your definition.

It's your words.

Majorly historic?

I would say, I don't know, life-changing, maybe.

That's a great one. That's a really good one. I think all in a good Today.

I mean, things just change really fast. As you guys know, that's just how the world works. And especially with social media, people see a lot of your life, but that's what makes it fun and why I've had so many cool opportunities, too. It's crazy looking back at a A year ago today or around this time, I was just beginning my senior year at college. Obviously, people knew who we were and people attended our games, but it's obviously not in the magnitude that it is now. Life just changes fast, but that's what makes it fun and cool. Quickly started a new chapter of my life, too, moving here to Indianapolis. I feel lucky I'm still in the Midwest. I know you guys like the Midwest.

I've been in the Midwest my entire life. Jason is officially an Eastcoaster now.

Yeah, but Philly, of all the East Coast cities has like some Midwest feel to it.

I don't think Philly wants to hear that.

They'll probably hate that I said that, but whatever.

They're not going to like that comment. They want to be far from the Midwest. No doubt.

I mean, It was just a crazy year because you go all the way up to the national championship game and then you're playing right away. One of my coaches early on in my career said, your rookie year is always so hard because you're in a new city, you're in a new place, you're with a new team, new coaches. There's There's so much that's not part of the routine that you're so used to. You had that as magnified. Are you looking forward this year to having some, I don't know, more of a routine? Familiarity. You had the familiarity? For sure. Yeah.

It's just so unlike any other professional sport, really, from the standpoint of... I played in the national championship, and I basically went to the draft right after it got picked. Then you basically pack up and move. You're moving in April, you don't even finish senior year of college. I guess for you guys, what was it? You go to the combine. How long do you have to prepare for the combine? A few months.

Then you get drafted and you still got a little time to get acclimated to the new city.

For sure. You have camp, whatever. It's not like that. Camp for us is like a week and a half.

Let's go play.

Yeah. But I think it was good a little bit, too. You don't have time to overthink things. It's just like, boom, boom, boom, boom. You're just on to the next. But at the same time, I feel like I never really ended the chapter of college. It was just like, you've been left. But maybe that's good. You don't have a lot of time to think about it. I think that's definitely the weirdest part of a woman's professional basketball, and obviously college basketball, too, is just that change. But that's how it has to be, too. It's just different. But I feel lucky, too, because we had the Olympic break, so I got a month off in the middle of the season because we had to pause the WMBA season because the 12 girls go and play in the Olympics and everybody so you're not doing much. Got a month off, which I really needed, obviously, because I've been playing basketball for just a year straight. But obviously, so much different from the NFL or the NBA or whatever it is.

I remember coming into the NFL, one of the biggest challenges for me was finding my professionalism, in a sense. I was such a leader on my team at Cincinnati. At least I felt like I was the main one of the voice of the team. When When I got to Kansas City, there was guys that had just been perennial pro bowlers and guys that had already had that culture set. Then on top of that, Coach Reid. I struggled trying to find my lane and really feeling like I could give a piece to the team or find a role on the team. Was there anything like that that happened to you early on, knowing that it all happened so fast?

For sure. You come in as a rookie, and like you said, you're trying to figure out a new environment, new teammates. You don't want to say too much, you don't want to say too little, and it's just so hard. But in my scenario, and obviously you guys, too, you're already highly thought of. People are turning to you to be something or be someone. It's hard. You're trying to get your feet wet, but also not do too much. I think that's what I struggled in early on is, I don't know what to say. I don't know how to say it. I don't know how they're going to react.

For not knowing, you nailed it. But also, I had a lot of really good vets around me, too, so I feel very grateful for that.

We We had a fairly young team, too. People had been through it fairly recently, so they knew how I felt. But I feel like that definitely is a huge challenge. That goes for whatever professional sport. You're trying to learn, but also people are looking at you like, You got to perform and be what they drafted you to be, and that can be tough.

I remember Jason, you got tossed into the fire early in your rookie year, especially because you guys didn't even have offseason workouts. It was the lockout.

We missed the whole offseason workout. If you weren't a first or second day pick, you didn't get the playbook. So I got the playbook like two days before training camp, so we just started right from there. But that was one thing. You mentioned the vets, and I think for me, at least, there was a lot... Some vets were incredible. Some of the vets, obviously, you're competing for jobs, so there's a little bit there. But you lean so much as a young player on your vets, and you lean so much from... Even just in Philly, there's so many great players that played for the Eagles that Harold Carmichael, who was a legendary Philadelphia Eagle, was always around and willing to lend advice or anything. Did you have many former players or current players reach out to you that really helped you in transitioning into the WMBA?

Yeah, there was quite a few. Somebody that comes to the top of my head is Tamika Cetchings, who was an MVP in the WMBA. She won their Championship here. I think I want to say 2012, when the Fever won their Championship. She was like, What made the Fever really good. That was our prime. That was when we were really good. Then after Tamika retired, the Fever went down a little bit as every team does once your franchise player retires and moves away from basketball. She's still really big here in the Indianapolis community. She was one of the first people to text me after I got picked and still checks in on me. It's cool. It's somebody that's not in your building every single day, but means so much to your community and to the organization. To have that, she's like a legend. Her her numbers up in the rafters. That's somebody I idolize and looked up to. For her to just take two seconds to check in on me and see how I'm doing. That's obviously really special. I would certainly say her. We still have that relationship and it's still growing. She still comes around now and then.

Her Championship trophy that she won sits in our locker room. It's right next to my locker. I'm like, great. The coaches probably placed that down for me.

Hey, no pressure.

I have to look at it every day.

These are the shoes.

It's got its own glass case. I'm like, great.

Oh, yeah, better. Just a little motivation.

This is what we're working for. No doubt.

Absolutely.

We were not drafted in the first round. What was it like being a first round pick?

Well, I felt like- The first pick. It's crazy. Because of COVID, I could have actually gone back to school for a fifth year.

Were you considering that?

Well, early on, yes.

It looks like you're having a good old time over there. I'm not going to lie. It looked like you were having a good time.

I mean, it's college. You're there with your friends and the game's just easier. It's just how it is. You don't want that chapter of your life to end. It's fun. I hear you. You do fun things. You guys know how it is. It's easygoing and whatever.

I imagine that decision is probably made even harder now that there is an N-I-L. When Travis and I played, there was no ability to make any money. For sure.

It was way different. I got to capitalize on this check.

But yeah, so I was considering that. But then I got to the point where I was like, Yeah, I'm totally leaving. I know this is going to be the end for me. Just I felt very content in that. Then obviously, I had a very good feel that I was probably going to be the first pick. But you're still sitting there and everybody gets nervous and jittery, no matter where you're projected or what you're going to be. This is a moment you've always dreamed of as a kid.

Jason was a train wreck. Are you kidding me? The guy was pacing back and forth in the room. Yeah.

How did you guys feel going into the draft?

I I knew. I guess Travis, do you want to... I guess I'll go first. We'll go chronological. I'll go first, then you go. All right. So first day, I wasn't doing anything because I knew I wasn't going to get drafted in the first round. I was just like, Man, this is cool watching the draft. Second day, I think the later on, guys, your agent is taking any inkling of positivity he can. So he's like, There's a chance you'll go in the third round, even though there's no chance you're going to go in the third round. So I'm watching that. I'm like, All right. But the third day, me, Trev, mom and dad, Uncle Don, we all went bowling because I didn't want to sit there and watch it go by and watch a bunch of people get picked. It just pissed me off even more. So it's like, I'll just go bowling, ignore it, and somebody will call me at some point. We finish bowling, and I still hadn't got a call. It was super awkward. It was like, All right, let's just go back to the house.

We paid for the two hours.

We did the two hours.

Did we keep fucking rolling these The third day was still good.

It was like the sixth round. We went back to my house and then finally got a call from a 610 number, I believe it was. Or was it 215? I think it was. It might have been 215. Anyway, Philadelphia area show popped up. It all went down there. Dad came rushing and crying. There's nothing better than... Then you could hear when it finally... Because I was in a separate room and they were all in the living room watching on TV. I was still on the phone, and then I knew when they all knew because they all started cheering in the living room. That was exciting. But it was nerve-wracking until the moment you get picked, and then it's like, Forget about all the other crap. You're just like, Yeah, I'm in the NFL now.

Yeah. My situation was a little different because I did have the year that I missed playing, but that ended up being the year that I switched into the tight-end room. It was a perfect match for me. That's when I really thought that, Oh, wow, I actually love this game. Before, I was just back there playing the old backyard sport. Now, I don't know. I felt like I could give more to the game, give more to the team. I was in Pittsburgh because that's where my agent was, had all the friends and family out. I knew first round wasn't there, but I always thought in the back of my mind, all the tight ends that were going to get drafted, I could play with those guys. I might not have shown on film that I'm better than them, but I know that I've shown that I could play in the NFL just as much as they can. Yeah, I ended up just Getting, like Jason said, getting told that maybe second round here, if this guy doesn't get picked, they're thinking about you. And finally got a call from a Missouri number thinking I was going to St.

Louis because I had no idea that Kansas City was even in Missouri. From there, it was Coach Reid on the phone telling me, You better not mess this up.

You didn't?

No, I didn't. I almost did a few times.

How many rounds are there in the NFL draft? What?

There's seven now. Seven. It's been seven for a long time. There used to be something crazy.

It's like the MLB where they had a thousand rounds.

Exactly. Yeah. Insane. Now it's seven and then undrafted. And really, once it gets to this later round, sometimes it's better to even be undrafted. Yeah.

So you can just try to pick a good situation to go to. Exactly.

You get an autonomy in that.

What was harder?

High school, college, or going from college to the pros?

That's a good question. Well, my high school to college transition was so weird because I was COVID. I didn't even know when I was going to go to college. I didn't even technically graduate high school. I did, obviously, but I didn't ever walk, really. We had an outdoor thing, but other than that, it was so weird. Then two weeks before, we're in the summer, and Iowa was like, Yeah, we want you to come to campus. And literally, the only people there were us and the football team in men's basketball.

Wow.

It was so weird. In the dorms, it was literally just athletes in the dorms, no RAs. It was like a huge mansion with just college kids running wild.

I'm not going to lie, that sounds so much fun. Sign me up.

It was a bit concerning, but it was also... It was a lot of fun. I don't know if they knew that. I still don't think they know that that was the situation. At least that was the situation on a few floors that I was near, but it was a good time, honestly. It was just so weird. I didn't have that normal college experience. I think my first semester, I was taking everything online, just trying not to get COVID because we were testing every day and just trying to play.

Gosh, thank God we're out of that.

I know. Just crazy. Then obviously, going from college to the pros, I think it's just the time span. That's just what's so weird about it. It's just so short and condensed. You don't have much time. But at that point, it is what it is. Everybody has to deal with the same thing. That's what I told myself is there's no point in complaining. Everybody's dealing with it. It's not any different.

It's a good mindset to have. What's your What's your Welcome to the WMBA moment, if you could have one?

Welcome to the W.

I tell people this. It was early on. I want to say it was our 10th game of the year. We're playing in New York versus a celebrity who ended up winning the Championship this year. Somebody set a screen on me and I hit my ear just perfect on the girl where my ear drum popped and ruptured. I knew it right away because I've done it before, and I was just like, It hurts so bad. I don't know if you guys have ever done that.

I have doneHow did you do it before?

Can I guess? I was too... Oh, yeah, I guess. It was very Midwestern.

You did it in water. You did it in water. Something with water.

I got launched off in two.

Why did you just get so excited? What are you, some brainiac?

Because that's how I did mine. I went off the dime before trying to do as many flips as I could and smacked the side of my head in the Heights high school swimming pool.

Jason was a male swim cadet, so he had to be performative.

This wasn't your swim cadet. Don't put me on blast like that, Travis.

That's funny. But yeah, I got launched off a tube in the middle of a lake. I was underwater. I'm like, Am I okay?

That's some Midwest stuff right there.

But yeah, so that was my welcome to the W moment.

Wait, so when you pop your drum, what happens to that?

There's not really much you can do. It takes months to heal. After the season, the doctor had to go back in and look and see if it closed. If it doesn't close, you have to have a minor procedure. But lucky enough, it closed, so it was fine. Oh, thank gosh. You have to be careful about getting water in there. You can't go in lakes and pools. It's weird. Sometimes it'll bleed when it pops, but mine didn't, thankfully. It's just really annoying. It sounds terrifying. Your hearing is really off. Jason, you're probably noticed. Your hearing is just off for a few weeks.

Yeah, it's muffled and just feels weird for sure. Because you brought this up because you're from the Midwest. I love the fact that you hurt your ear tubing. Are you a lakes or are you an ocean? We're pro-get outside. Because Kylin's big-time ocean and I'm outnumbered.

I love both. It's hard because my family would always vacation down to Florida. That's for spring break. That's what we would do. I'd go with my cousin. We love the beach. My parents are beach people, but you just grow up around lakes in the Midwest Yes. That's what you do.

What beach down there in Florida?

St. Pete's.

St. Pete's? That was our spot. St. Pete's? Nice. We were Marco Island.

Okay. That was our spot. But I love lakes, and they're just easier. I'm not as scared going in the water. I'm not going two of it in the For sure.

I don't know what's down there.

I'm not messing with that saltwater.

Exactly. At a lake, you feel a little more confident. But yeah.

What is a snake going to get me?

How about you guys?

Doubt it. I'm the lake guy for sure.

Like you said, I like both. We actually have a shore town. In Jersey, they call it the shore. Jersey Shore. Jersey Shore. Not the North Jersey shore. Not the show. We're South Jersey.

We're civilized down there in South Jersey. All the The shores over there in Jersey are the same. Every last time.

He's trying to hype one up over the other.

I do love the shore. I love the ocean. We grew up going to Florida, but there's just something about lakes. In particular, I like four-season lakes. I like when the lake freezes over. We played hockey growing up. I like going on snowmobiles. I like the summers. I like hiking. I think there's so much- Big hiker. All right. I have been hiking, and I enjoy it.

That's his new hobby. He had to pick it up.

I didn't know you were a hiker. Well, you did. You've hiked Mount Kilimanjaro.

That's right. I'm lighter now.

He's a retired athlete. He just picks up hobbies. Got you.

All right. We don't need to put me on the last All right, here we go.

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You guys played hockey?

I didn't even know that. Jason played a little longer than I did. Once I got to high school, I switched over to basketball because it was the same season.

Trev hurt the entire Cleveland Heights hockey community because he was the best hockey player ever in Cleveland Heights youth hockey. He was very dominant. Then when he chose basketball, it just really deflated.

You got to be a pretty solid basketball player.

I just couldn't dribble. We were known for basketball, and all the basketball games were absolutely rocking.

Really? Sold out?

Yeah, and I had hoop dreams, so I chose basketball. But yeah, I definitely loved playing hockey the most. Hockey was so much fun. It was probably because of the guys that I played it with, more so than actually getting out there. But yeah, that's half of the youth teams I was on anyways.

I like to put a helmet You get on the ice and play a little or what?

Were you always a hooper or what other sports did you play?

I played soccer growing up. It was soccer and basketball. Honestly, hockey isn't really that big in Iowa. It wasn't really a big thing, which is weird. You think it would be, but It was more of nobody really did it.

I feel like wrestling is so big in Iowa. All the guys, wrestling.

Racing is huge. All the Iowa football players usually are really good high school-Tristan Wurfs, freaking Tyler Lindembaum. Jason was a wrestler. Really athletic, but big and athletic. Great wrest, state champion wrest, but that would be like, freak O-lineman or good tight ends or whatever it was.

I love watching me two big old muscle-bound men, just wrestling it out. There's nothing better. Give me the heavy weights. I want to see the heavy weights.

That's funny.

How did you end up at Iowa? You almost ended up in Notre Dame. I did, yeah. What led to the decision to go to Iowa?

I basically narrowed it down pretty early on when I was going through my college recruitment that I wanted to be in the Midwest, just a homebody family person, just wanted to stay fairly close to home. That narrowed a lot of stuff down. I visited Oregon and Texas and a few other places, and I liked them, but it was just like, I knew it was too far. Then visited Notre Dame a bunch of times. I love Notre Dame. As a kid, you want to go to Notre Dame. It's the same with Notre Dame football. It's the coolest thing in the world. It's Notre It has that tradition. They've had so many great players go through there in every single sport. But I just knew something. I could feel it in my gut. I was like, I'm not supposed to go there.

I picked Iowa.

Iowa was really good at women's basketball before I went there, too. Made a few sweet 16s, made the lead eight. Our coach had been there for quite a while, but they hadn't been to the final four since 1992. I wanted to go somewhere that was good, but maybe had it been a blue blood, for say, in quite a few years and help them to that. Then it was obviously my home state, too, and two hours from where I grew up. Perfect distance where your parents can't show up, but also you could go home if you wanted to.

No doubt.

It's important. It just all worked out perfect. Obviously, I may It was a good and okay decision, and it worked out pretty well.

Worked out real well.

Yeah, it did.

Did you take visits to Notre Dame and Iowa? Yeah.

I took quite a few to both. What was your guys's dream schools growing up? Or did you even have one? Because I wouldn't even say Notre Dame was my dream school. It was more so I just thought it was super cool. Sure.

No, for sure.

I would say dad was a big Notre Dame fan. He grew up Catholic, and he went to Catholic school growing up. I think that anybody who's Irish Catholic, I grew up with, especially in the football world. Then Ohio State was really good.

Ohio State was probably the one school that I was like, as a kid, I was like, That's the school.

No, you like Michigan. You just stop flexing right now. I like Michigan. I I'm always a Michigan fan.

You can't like Michigan and Ohio.

Exactly, Kaylee.

The thing is, I can, and I did.

He liked the helmet. I mean, you can, but Michigan and Ohio State fans are not going to be happy about that.

Exactly. I didn't go to either one of them, so it's all good.

I will say this was when he was younger. This was when he was younger. By the time he was high school, he was on the Ohio State. It was just like... Anyways.

Ohio State Stadium is legit. When we would go to play at Ohio State, we would drive past and I'm It would make Iowa Stadium look so small, and it still seats 70,000, but that place is just gigantic.

I do love Iowa Stadium, though. There's something very awesome there. Obviously, the thing they do at the Children's Hospital is awesome.

The wave is really cool.

I'm trying to remember the name of it. I watched the game. I took a visit to Iowa.

Kinnec, yeah.

Kinnec, yeah. Great atmosphere.

It's great. The wave is pretty awesome because the children's hospital looks right over on the stadium. It's It's always been a thing, but the wave has really become a thing probably in the last eight years, I want to say, because we have a kid captain for every game because the hospital is such a big deal. It's usually a kid battling some disease or has beaten some disease, not always cancer, but whatever it is. That's always fun. They get to pick a song that plays after the first quarter, and I get the chills every time. It's sick. It's probably one of the best traditions in all of sports, if not the best, honestly.

Wait, so what's this thing about the wave? The wave just started?

Yeah. So after the first quarter, everybody turns because the children's hospital looks on top of the football stadium.

I remember seeing them wave.

I thought you were talking about the wave.

They started doing a wave? They incorporated Are you coming in the wave?

I'm in the wave. Maybe we can get that started, too.

Maybe you're on to something, Jason. You don't know. Maybe you're on to something, Jason.

Iowa fans are going to be fired up now. They're going to be doing it at the same time.

Exactly.

That was so stupid.

But no, it's pretty cool.

We heard you got your first recruiting letter in seventh grade?

Yeah. Is this true? Yeah. At the time- That's insane.

That's insane.

Were you playing with high schoolers at this point?

Yeah, it's honestly sad. We're in college, recruitment has gone. It's just insane. But also, I feel very fortunate. My parents were just... They told my older brother, Go get the mail. We don't want your sister to see that. They wanted me to be in seventh grade and enjoy middle school and hang out with your friends. You shouldn't worrying about where you're going to college.

I love that so much.

Yeah. I didn't really take any visits until after my freshman year of college, and then I didn't decide until my senior year. I was never in a rush. My parents did a really good job of make sure I have a good circle around me. It wasn't always about college recruitment. I wasn't posting my offers. Also, that wasn't really a thing when I was growing up.

But it is now. It had to be close to when you were growing up.

It was close. People were starting to do it, post like, Oh, I got an offer from I got an offer from here.

And especially in basketball.

Now, it's all you see on social media. It's like, only people talk about. It's crazy. But obviously, times have changed, too.

Oh, times have changed.

Yes. Seventh grade was wild. And I was playing up two years. So I was playing with high schoolers. But yeah, I didn't really think anything of it. I was just going out there and hooping and having fun. It's just what came with it.

How much basketball did you play? Because nowadays, these kids play. It's like nonstop. I know.

It's crazy. It's crazy. It is crazy. I played AAU, and then I played for my high school team. But my mom would be like, She's not playing more than three games or two games in one day. That's crazy because sometimes they would want me to play for the seventh-grade team and the eighth-grade team. My parents were really good about that. They didn't want me to lose the love of it. You don't want to get burned out. You still want to be having fun when you're doing it as a pro if you're lucky enough. Maybe as a kid, I was like, Mom, no, I can keep going. I can keep playing. But looking back, I'm very fortunate for that because I haven't lost that fun of it and that passion for it and always wanting to get better. Sometimes that's why people get burned out is because they did it too much as a kid and their parents forced it on them or whoever forced it on them too much. That was never something I really had to deal with. So I feel very fortunate.

Got to have that balance. That's awesome that your parents made sure of that, or at least were cautious of it.

Yeah, absolutely.

I think the only recruitment letter Travis got in seventh grade was to St. San Ignatius. San Ignatius was just trying to get him over to the high school. To play hockey. Was that what it was for?

Yeah. That's the only sport anybody wanted to be in seventh, eighth grade. It was that in La Crosse.

We need It's a hockey highlight tape.

We're going to get back out there. We got to get out there with the Watts. That's the goal. We got to get out there with TJ and JJ and all those dudes. All right, let me ask you this. We're going to try this segment. We've never done it. It's probably going to be very short-lived. It's called Name a Person. We're going to go around the horn and each name an athlete from Iowa until we can't anymore.

Oh, gosh.

I feel like you're probably not going to struggle. Can you name current players?

No, they just have to be an athlete.

Have to be former players? Can they be current?

No, they can be former. They have to be former. Have to be former.

No, they can be current.

I'm going to try to do NFL current players, see if I can do.

You might beat us in that, too. Travis says, Actually, we both really have the positions. Let's see how it happens. All right. Who's starting?

I'll start. George Kittle.

I knew that was going to be the first person he was going to say.

I'm going to say Sam Laporta, just to take Travis's answers away from him before.

I'm going to go Tyler Linderbaum on the raid. No.

Nice. I love it. Nice. I'm going to go Claire Kittle.

Tristan Wurfs. That's right. Solid answer.

The Eagles, actually, rookie, Cooper D. Jean from Iowa.

Nice.

Nije, what about a little- All about for us.

Tj Haka-san.

That's right. I always heard about him. He's on the Vikings, right?

Yes. He's finally back healthy doing his thing.

That's awesome. I'm going to get a throwback here. I'm going to get a throwback. Robert Gallery.

His wife actually played basketball in Iowa, too. What? There we go.

Look at that.

That's where they did it. They actually came to quite a few of our games the last couple of years. Great people. Cool people. Nice. Oh, gosh. Okay, let's see. This is tough.

We stomped her. We stomped her.

I'm thinking about She's still thinking of NFL.

She knew all day.

I'm going to go Gino Stone. I think he's on the bangles now. I'm pretty sure he had a pick six this past week.

All right. I'll take you with Gino.

All right. We respect Gino. I'm going to go a little Chief's tight-end when I first got to Kansas City, Tony Mowiaki, my down, my Shai town brother. Shout out to Timo, man.

I'm going to go another former teammate, Julian Vandeville-E. Julian Vandeville-y. No way.

Did anybody say Dallas Clarke?

No, the legend. I was holding on to that one. No gloves. I'll stay in the tight-end world over there. Noah Fant.

That's right. Seahawks, I think?

Yes. 8:7 over there in Seattle. All right.

I'm going to go Marshall Yanda.

This dude is pulling out his brand name.

I'm pulling up the old schools.

I'm going to go Reilly Moss on the Broncos. I'm going with the younger players. He's in school with me.

Well, I'll show my age and Jason's as well because he was the same recruiting class. He was also a Kansas City chief when I got to Kansas City. Ricky stands Cee, quarterback, Iowa.

Oh, man, this might be where I...

This is where it ends.

This might be... That was pretty good. I'm pretty sure Matt Tobin played for Iowa. Pretty sure? I'm next to positive.

Then you lost. If you're pretty sure, you lost.

All right, we'll end it there. I think we all did very respectful.

We did great. I'm impressed.

That was fun. That was fun. Who was it?

Tobes with the I. Well, I knew it, Tope. All right, there we go.

That was a fun one. What was one of your most favorite memories from playing at Iowa, though?

That's tough.

There's a lot. Yeah. Maybe one that everyone doesn't know about.

Every four years in college basketball, you get to take a foreign trip and you go and play some teams overseas, in the summer before your season. What?

That sounds like a glass.

That's great.

We went to Italy and Croatia, two great spots.

Would you like more? Which one? Which one would you like more?

Honestly, Croatia.

I've heard Croatia is awesome. It's great.

I went to Split and do Rubnik. It's awesome. I tell people, I'm like, If you're going to go one place overseas, that has to be the spot. It's clean, the water's beautiful, things to do.

Oh, that's cool.

Food's Great.

Nice.

The basketball wasn't that serious. We meet everybody by 80, but it was just so much fun. We had so many fun nights together.

You guys were the dream team over there.

People don't get to hear about those type of memories with your friends, your college friends. We're going to get shot.

Oh, my gosh. I can only imagine growing overseas with- Croatians.

We just recently found out we were Croatian.

We didn't even know why. That's why I got so excited when you said Croatian.

I was like, Yeah, he's proud. I got some blood.

That's me. That's funny.

We talked about NIO earlier. How much did that change when that became a thing your senior year? Because you were unique where when you first got to college, it wasn't a thing, and all of a sudden it became a thing.

It became a thing after my freshman year. It was weird because everybody was like, Okay, so what is it?

Trying to maneuver.

You know the NCAA? They don't have many rules on much anymore. There weren't many rules. It was more so like, Okay, what can we do? What can we not do? We're also the first. You're trying to figure it out as you go. My family helped me a lot. But as you get going, you just figure things out. It's fun. It obviously should have been a thing for a really long time. The NIL part of it, the true endorsements, you're doing a commercial for the local coffee shop or whatever it is. It's something so easy and so simple. I think a normal student could do that, but why couldn't an athlete? It's just such a simple thing that should have been a thing for a long time. But Also, it was challenging to navigate, and it still is seeing these college students that they don't have the right resources around them. It stinks. It's hard. I think that's something that needs to become, I don't know, more prevalent. I know universities are trying to start having in-house NIL people or whatever it is, or in-house lawyers or whatever it is to try to manage that. They're doing the best they can, too, but obviously, there's not many guidelines or rules, so it makes it hard as well.

But it obviously changed a lot and it's made it fun. I think it's also helped women's sports grow, too. I think you've seen- Yeah, it's a great point.

Women's sports has blown up with the NIL stuff.

That's such a good- Everyone's become more familiar.

Absolutely. It's been great for everybody, honestly. Nice.

Have you ever heard of anybody? You're a little bit closer to the NIL world. Have you heard of anybody paying their taxes? Because in my mind, I'm like, I definitely wasn't fucking ready to pay taxes when I was in college. I wasn't thinking about that shit.

I know. That's what I always think about. Luckily enough, I had obviously great parents and people that helped me with that. But these people are getting this money and little do they know You're going to see maybe half of that.

Especially, yeah.

And so I don't know. They're spending and you just worry. But if you guys got to pick any NIL deal in college, what are you going with?

Adriatico's Pizza. I could sell that shit in a heartbeat. I used to go there every fucking day. If you're ever around University of Cincinnati, gone up there to Clift and then have some Adriatico's Pizza, get you a Bear Cat Pizza. It's one of the best.

All right. I'm going to do it. I like it.

If I'm going for business-wise, you want to get in the P&G family.

Proctor and Gamble. That's a marketing major right there. The correct answer is go to the biggest brand in the city.

The biggest It's like oversight of all these brands.

You need something a little more- I'll say this.

I would go, selfishly, the one that I would do would be Skyline because it's such a representation for Cincinnati, very unique to the area. Well, do yourself a favor, don't go. You I truly hate it. Don't do it. It's very acquired. You have to drink it at least. You have to eat it at least three or four times when you're drunk. It's really true.

I appreciate it. Before you actually enjoy it. I've seen Jason eat more Penn Station at the University of Cincinnati than I did Skyline. We What's your name?

Penn Station here.

Penn Station is good.

Penn Station is good. One of the best cheesecakes in the land. Great cheesecake.

What do you think about that, Jason, as a Philly guy?

You're going to put me on blast because I love Penn Station cheesecakes. This is a heated debate between Kyla and I. You're about to divide a family, Kyla. Kyla, I took her to Penn Station to have a cheesecake. I'm like, You're going to love this cheesecake. It is so good. She was like, This is a cheese and steak sandwich. This is not a cheesecake. I'm like, What the hell? You can just switch it. It's the same ingredient. It's the same thing. She could not stand it, was flabbergasted that this thing would even be called a cheesesteak. I do love Penn Station cheesesteaks, but I'm Philadelphia.

Ky likes the nacho cheese on the cheesesteak, though, so that's a little...

See, I don't like the nacho cheese.

She does American stuff. I'm not going to let you do this to Kylie. The one thing that I think everybody's a little bit with is the transfer portal. There's a kid, Penn State, more recently, what is it? Their starting quarterback just announced he's transferring right before the playoffs.

Yeah, I saw that. I was thinking it was her backup, but like- Oh, was it?

Okay, sorry.

But he played in a few games, even quite a few games, because I think Drew Aller, whatever his name is, got hurt or something. That's what it was. But yeah, the transfer portal was crazy, especially in football. I think that's where it's gotten the craziest because that's obviously where all the money is at.

Everybody's a free agent every year.

Well, not just every year. It's like twice a year, right?

Adam Schefter is reporting, Yes, they've negotiated a new deal for him to stay at the university. I'm like, Yeah, where else is he going to go? It's crazy, and it's sad. You lost that little bit of, I don't know, amateurism of college sports. I don't know, that's why it's so fun. But also, it's the world we're living in.

Like the level right below being a professional like that, I don't know, gets you ready for the- It's like a Minor League football, basically, now. Yeah, that's exactly what it is.

I don't know. What do you guys think about the transfer report? Do you think there should be different rules?

I'm too old school. I didn't get the opportunity to transfer I don't think that people should be leaving before the playoff.

I think that they should figure that out. I think that there should be a commitment level from the player to the university that there isn't right now. I don't know if that means signing term contracts? Maybe it's a two, three-year contract that you're agreeing to stick with a team or a university as long as there's not a coaching change.

That's what I thought it was. I thought it was the original reason why they came up with the transfer portal was, one, because of COVID, but two, because Because coaches just were up and leaving and players were being forced to just be there with whoever came in, knowing that the new coaching staff wasn't the ones that really wanted them or recruited them. So they were put on the back burner. I think if a coach leaves, then a player or whoever on the team gets to be able to enter the transfer portal. For sure. It should go back to the old rules if you ask an old Timer like me to where if you transfer, you have to sit out a year.

I know. I agree. I don't know. Or I think you get one free pass.

Every situation is different, but just- For sure.

Or you get a free pass if your coach leaves or whatever.

That makes a ton of sense, having one free.

But now we got people on their fourth school in their seventh year. It's just getting egregious.

Insane. I was being a kid, and when I see a football, the video game came out, I was like, I just have to. I have to buy it. I have to play this. I have to act like I went to every university. Then I was like, Oh, I don't have to just go and create a new player, I can just transfer. I played at four different schools, one the Heisman at each school. I'm just like, Man, could you imagine a player doing this? Because NIL, if he wins the highsman early on enough, they're going to get enough money to stay at their-Stay in college? Yeah, to stay in college for as long as they want or as long as their eligibility to let them.

What do you have to say in college for three years in college football? What do you guys think about that? You think that's good or you think- That should remain. That should remain, yeah.

Yeah, I'm in favor of that.

I don't know.

I don't like restricting kids. If they're good enough, go. But there's a physicality that I feel like is still very different.

But it'll get to the point where it's not even the physical. It'll just be guys will leave knowing that they have the potential to become that. You know what I mean? So guys will just get drafted based off a potential even more.

Right.

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Just go to thefarmersdog. Com/newheights to get 50% off. That's thefarmersdog. Com/newheights. All right, before we get back into the action, let's talk about something everyone needs as we roll into the playoff season and the new year. Jason, tell the people about AG1.

Oh, man, AG1 is a game changer. It's like your morning fuel. It's a daily It's a healthy health drink that's just one scoop mixed with water, of course, like a smoothie or water. Just plain water, feeling like not being fancy. It's got vitamins, minerals, and pre-amp probiotics, and more.

Wait, you said probiotics.

That's right.

It helps to keep things moving because after all those holiday meals, 92% might need a little extra help getting it out.

Okay. I don't think that's what probiotics necessarily are. But I feel you a C1 does have probiotics and digestive enzymes to keep everything moving smoothly. Less bloating, not being backed up. That's right. It helps to keep your gut healthy, basically. You can focus on the important stuff.

What about taste? I'm not trying to They have to choke down something that tastes bad.

It's got a fruity taste that's actually good. You can't trust me, it tastes better than it looks. It's not just some green juice they have to choke down. It actually tastes bomb.

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Just head to drinkag1. Com/newheights. That's drinkag1. Com/newheights to get your free gift and start your new year on a healthier note. We end all of our conversations with a segment we call We Got to Ask, But You Don't Have to Answer, Kaitlyn. So it's as simple as that. All righty, Kaitlyn. You're up and you don't have to answer these. You could tell us to just fuck off. Did you see the new NBA All-Star format?

I did.

How do you feel about this? See, that's tough. Four teams of eight with one team being the Rising Stars.

So I saw Kevin Durant said this today or maybe yesterday or whenever it was, but they should go back to the East versus West. That's when I loved it. I think it should be East versus West. That's true All-stars. No doubt. East versus West, battle it out.

That's what it was about.

Yeah. I think that's what it should be, but obviously not the Commissioner. I'm on board for East versus West All-Stars. I think that's the whole point of it. That's why you're an all-star. It's the best from the East versus the West. Play each other, see which side is better.

I'm with you. I'm not going to lie, I'm not a fan of any of these in-season tournaments that the NBA is doing. I was actually talking about this today. How are you?

What is there to not be a fan of?

All the funky floors, and then there's tournament, and they don't mean crap. The funky floors. Can we just play basketball? Can we just play basketball?

I'm getting a migraine looking at the neon green.

I feel like it was a hit the first year, the NBA Cup or whatever it was.

It toned down a little bit this year, but it's interesting. They're trying to spice it up a little bit.

I don't know what team is what team. The jerseys aren't the same, the colors aren't the same. Jason is such an old stubborn dude. This is hilarious.

All righty.

That's funny.

Obviously, Kaitlyn, you don't need to help with the ratings, but it's been in the news a lot recently that the NBA ratings are down. Should we brainstorm a few ideas besides changing the NBA courts to bring back ratings into the NBA? What do you think? That's a great- You're the marketing major.

Come on. I've been asking a lot of people about this and why they think they're down. But also it's interesting because I'm pretty sure opening day was the NBA's best opening day in a while. So it's interesting And obviously, I think competing- Because the Cavs are back, baby.

The Cavs are fucking rolling right now. You know what I'm saying? It just makes the league better when Cleveland's thriving.

They're really, really good.

I'm going to pull that out of my ass. They are fun to watch right now.

Well, let's ask this. What are your suspicions potentially as to why the NBA ratings will be down?

Honestly, I feel like the average just basketball fan doesn't understand how good NBA players are, and they think it looks like they're not trying. I promise you, they're trying. They're just so good. That's why it looks like they're not trying. Obviously, the physicality of the league has changed a lot, and I wasn't around when it was much more physical, and maybe people want more beef and physicality, and people think it's gone soft. But I think that's also because the skill has just changed. That's what's great about basketball. It's always evolving. It's going to be different than when MJ played. It's going to be different in 10 years than it is now. It's hard for me to put my finger on why it has gone down. Also, it's competing against a lot of football right now. You have to take that into consideration. Football is just that's America's favorite thing. I think people should... I love three-point shooting. I love seeing guys just launch threes, but not everybody loves that.

I don't know. What do you think about a four-point line?

I love that.

Let's do it. That's a great idea. That's actually genius. That is genius.

I made a silver four-point line.

How does the criminal justice major come up with the best marketing plan right here?

Sometimes you just got to open your eyes, Jason, look at the sheet of paper in front of you.

Or we can get just two spots.

Yeah, What about you're saying that everybody's questioning how physical the game is? What do you think a hockey-style fight once a game? Just everybody picks a fighter.

Who doesn't like a box of gloves?

So nobody gets too hurt.

Two minutes, penalty box, then you can come back in, you don't get That's what I'm saying.

All right. This guy's got some reach on to bring that physicality back.

That's what a hockey guy wants that.

What about an NBA Jam rule where if you start making a third bucket, it's worth more.

It's like heating up, like you're on fire.

If you're on fire, it's worth more. I don't know. That would be cool.

That would be cool.

That would be cool. Just made me want to play NBA Jam. Have you ever played NBA Jam, Kaylyn?

Yeah. I used to have this. It was like the whole arcade, the arcade NBA Jam.

That's so sick. Oh, yeah. I'm jealous. It's just- Yeah.

I haven't played in a while, but yeah.

Is it potentially because they're playing too many games?

I think that's for sure, probably something. 82 games on somebody's body. So many. It's insane. They And they're not practicing a lot. It's just hard.

If it's to the point that your star players are having to take time off, why don't we just play less games? I know. So the star players don't have to take time off because... I don't know. I feel like the NBA and Major League Base So grew up in times where ticket sales was your main source of revenue. And now it's all driven by ad dollars from TV contracts. So to increase TV revenue, it's like, just play less games in more impactful times I don't know.

Yeah, there's definitely ways to solve that. I mean, 82 games, and we play half of that, and that's going to go up as we add more teams to our league. But I can't imagine her in 82.

I heard Kansas City is shopping around for a team.

I I'm trying to bring one. I know. They got a good basketball arena there. What is it? The Sprint Center? Sprint Center, yeah.

Or T-Mobile or whatever. You're right. God, Lee, you just took me back. It used to be Sprint. Sprint sold to T-Mobile, so now it's T-Mobile. I knew it was one of them. Big 12 attorneys there every year.

Yeah, it's a great spot. Then Power and Light district down there. It would be great.

The high God. Go down there.

Have some fun. Great women's basketball could be great there. For sure. I support it. But yeah, I don't know. I think 82 games is a lot on somebody's body and mentally, that's hard. What is it for football? You're playing what? 15?

You're playing 17 regular season.

17, and they're trying to add an 18. Which I think it's too much.

I think the NFL should be playing less regular season games, but I'm losing that back.

What are you playing, Travis? You're playing three in the next... Three in 11 days or something like that?

Yeah. It already started. I'm going to be playing two in the next, what is it? Eight days?

Yeah.

How do you even prepare for that? That's crazy.

You just put your shoes and pads on just like the other team.

We're in this together.

You put your face in the fan. You just know it's coming.

We're all in this shit now.

To be honest, we're ending that skit on the three games in the 11 days. We're ending it on Christmas, and it's like, who can't get excited to play on fucking Christmas?

That's true.

We didn't last year, and you saw that firsthand. But this year, I think we're ready.

We're going to rebound on Christmas. On Netflix, we're over here. We learned from last year.

On Netflix, we learned from last year. Yeah, exactly.

You recently played in a proam with Anika Sorens' staff. I did. You hit a person on a tee box. I don't know how you do that. Okay. Who would hit a person on a tee box?

I know I can relate. Jason, I don't know if you played in enough proams. You don't have to hit anybody.

The video that was going viral where I completely tapped it. It's crazy. We're playing these long par-3s that are 200 yards. I'm like, I'm not good enough to hit a par-3 200 yards. I whip out my hybrid. I'm teeing up my hybrid club. Just top it, straight out of fan to the left. Been there.

But I think they got it.

Down the third baseline.

But I nailed somebody on a different part three, like some woman right in the shoulder. Shoulder? I saw a TikTok the next day, just black well on her arm.

Well, that's just how you hit her good. She's got a black well. Are you more competitive in golf or basketball?

That's hard. I think golf makes me more mad because I'm not as good at it. I'm just the average hack. You want to be good. You're competitive, just like basketball or football. It's like, Why am I not good at this? It's an individual sport, and we're used to team sports, so I think that's what pisses me off, too. It's all on me, and I know it's all my fault.

I share your pain. Are you more nervous on the free throw line or at the first tee?

First tee, not even close. I'm shaking. I can't put my ball on the tee. You're like, Can't get it to stay on the tee. You're shaking so bad trying to put the tee in the I mean, you're average at golf. At least you're confident in the actual sport you play.

Touche. According to your teammates, you are quite the karaoke person. What is your karaoke song of choice? Or what's your go-to?

That's tough. It switches up.

Yeah, it depends on what mood you're in.

You know what's good? Where is the Love by the Black-Eyed Peace? That's a good- It's a good song. It's a good karaoke song.

She gets it.

Yep.

Honestly, it changes up. I like a little duet action, so you could go up there with your friends.

Okay. Nice.

I haven't done karaoke in a while. What's your guys' go-to song, if you had to pick?

I have one song, and I go to it routinely. That is Total Eclipse of the Heart by the Dan Band. I will sing that at any time.

I'm anything '80s rock and roll. '80s, '70s, '80s rock and roll, throw it on, Springsteen, you name it, any of it. I'm I can only do one, though. If I'm going to do ACDC, I can only do one.

Yeah, that takes a lot out of you. Because I can only stay like that for so long.

Then my voice is gone.

I will go Colt 45 Afroman if I am feeling like the cruiser is the right- Colt 45.

That's what he's saying.

What's the GOat basketball shoe?

I play in only Kobe's. Kobe's on my... I'm I'm a great Kobe fan.

What numbers?

The five and the six. I like the six probably better, but five and six, they're low tops.

That's where I was like, I can do the ones. That's about it. But they look cool. In terms of hooping.

Yeah, they look cool. Trust me, I've sprayed my ankles a thousand times. There's no stopping it anymore.

I forget which number it is, but he came out with the ones, I think after he popped his Achilles, I actually went up, like halfway up the calf.

Yeah, and they're making those again.

Are they really?

Yeah, I got a pair in white and maybe red. That could be the shoe you hoop in.

There it is.

It goes all the way up his leg.

Make sure he doesn't. I'm not rolling my fucking angle of his. I know that for sure. Just wearing a winter boot. Yeah, literally. If you weren't playing basketball, what would Kaitlyn Clarke be doing? You said you were a marketing major. Would you have gone more into that world, or you think you would have jumped into something else?

Man, that's tough. I think if my basketball career would have ended, I still would have loved sports just because it was So such a huge part of my childhood and what I did. So I don't know. Maybe try to work in a front office of a sports organization or something like that. I think that would be cool. Not the coaching side of it, but the operations side and getting to do free agency stuff I think that would be really cool.

Apparently, you have talked about opening a rib restaurant. Is this true? Yeah. Are you opening a rib?

This was such a random thing when I was growing up. I told my mom, there was this plot of land by where we were We lived. I had this weird obsession with ribs. It was like what I asked my mom to bake me for my birthday.

Ain't nothing weird about it. Let me tell you, nothing weird about that.

I was like, Yeah, I'm going to open the rib crib, have this barbecue joint I don't know. We'll see. I've phased out. I love ribs still, but I've never made ribs for myself. But I'll just hire a chef. Maybe he can run the restaurant. You can just be the face behind.

There we go. There's your baby What's your spare ribs?

Baby back.

Baby back? All right.

You're giving them a baby, baby.

Are you a Kansas City-style barbecue sauce?

Or are you going- I'm Kansas City, yeah. Yeah?

All right. That makes sense. That adds up. It has to be. What about? What sides are we having? What sides are we having?

This dude didn't talk about it. He's all in. I haven't had an offensive lineman at heart. Have you ate today, Jason?

Full disclosure, I haven't had dinner yet, and now I'm off to salivating.

I got to go like some mac and cheese. Okay. What else are we going with?

Cornbread? Some cheesy corn.

I have to have cornbread.

Yeah.

Maybe some green beans with bacon or like... I don't even know. Green beans with bacon.

Baked beans?

Baked beans.

Baked beans are great. Jason's just answering his own question.

Baked Beans are great. I love baked beans. I haven't had barbecue in forever. You're going to make me crave it.

My mouth is legitimately water right now.

Come on down to Arrowhead. We'll get you some barbecue.

Can I get the banana pudding for dessert?

All right. Piece of advice for the next Kaitlyn Clarke watching.

That's tough. I think just enjoy every single moment because it goes so fast and life changes so fast. You only get to do a lot of things once. So have fun, enjoy it. Remember why you do it because you love it, you're passionate about it. Don't take it too serious. So I would say that. That's how I've tried to live. Obviously, some moments are better than others. As you guys know, you get competitive and caught up, but just enjoy it. Have fun and keep loving it.

I think that is a very wise answer, especially for someone going into their second year. I took so much shit serious when I first got in the link.

I was just like, I have to do this. I have to, and this and this. Now I'm just telling everyone, You know it's not that serious.

That's funny.

Before we wrap, do you have any questions for us?

You got any?

Feel free to ask none.

Feel free. I don't have any.

It was fun. You guys were great. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

Kaitlyn, close.

Yeah, baby.

Thanks, Chelsea Bros. You guys were awesome.

You're absolutely amazing. Can't wait to see you and the Fever go at it again next season. When are you guys starting What time for a training camp?

April.

April? Oh, nice. You got some time. I got some time.

So hopefully I can make it to a Chief's game here soon. Maybe a playoff game or something.

I'll tell you what, we punched our tickets. So we're definitely- I know. We're going to at least have- I know. Love it. I would assume we at least got one at But you're invited to them all. All right.

Appreciate you guys. Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for coming on, Kaitlyn. All right. And that wraps up another episode of New Heights. Thank you so much to our guest, Kaitlyn Clarke. We will be back next week for a brand new episode. Make sure you're subscribed on YouTube to the New Heights channel, and follow New Heights on the WNDYRI app or wherever you get your podcast. Reminder, you can listen to new episodes of New Heights early and ad-free right now by joining WNDYRI Plus in the WNDRI app or on Apple podcast.

Once again, New Heights, a WNDRI show produced by Wave Sports and Entertainment. And a big thanks to our presenting sponsor, Audible. Start listening today when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible. Com/newheights. Let's follow the show on all social media @New Heights Show with 1-S as usual. And thanks to our production crew and 92% as you guys are our favorites for tuning in and also making us look better than we are. Love you guys. See See you guys next week.

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