Nobody's Listening Anyway

Plus, thoughts on Octoberfest beers, Gruden's firing, NFL ratings, and Vikings most recent... Vikings thing.

Answering our critics after Cousins answered his in win over Seattle. Zim describes being at a rock-bottom Goofs loss. Why is John (somewhat) optimistic about Nebraska? And what is Augie really trying to do in the long game by going D1 in hockey?

Both Matt and John's favorite teams lost in head-banging fashion. Are the Vikings cursed with kickers? Will Nebraska ever be great again? And what is there to take away from the fourth Sanford International? 

Why ORU is a tough SCHOOL to root for, USD's NCAAW and football nightmares, ISU chickening out, and even some HS hoops talk!

Was a fan-less tourney proof fans DO make a HUGE difference, especially for SDSU? Plus, Matt and John exchange stories about drinking on the job.

It was a (mostly) awesome weekend to be a Jack fan, and beat writer Zim. Does either host buy any conspiracy about the USD men's hoops Sunday cancelation? And why is Noah Freidel brave for sitting out the rest of the season?  

Plus, our thoughts on the frigid weather, Valentine's Day, and Tom Brady drunk in public.

How does Zim imagine reacting to a Vikings' Super Bowl if they finally made it after 40 years of life? The same way it has been for John the last two years as a Chiefs fan?

How much blame does Rodgers deserve for GB's decade full of title flops? Did Brady prove he was the true alpha in NE? Would Mahomes make other teams elite? Plus, a bizarre story from USD hoops and someone who got lucky not gambling on it.

John and Matt talk about getting fat, Christmas presents they received from spouses, favorite and least favorite Christmas flicks, and if the Vikings should fire Mike Zimmer after a 3rd straight infuriating loss and disappointing season.

Jacks-Yotes rivalry gets a punch in the nuts from Noah Freidel (6:00). What would it take to get Sioux Falls an affiliated team now that the Saints have joined the Twins (28:30)? Plus the Dan Bailey blame game (41:45). Ben Leber on Vikings (46:30) and his observations on two flawed CFB teams -- Minnesota and Nebraska, a game he analyzed on FS1. 

SDSU (9:00), Vikings (37:20) but we begin with John (kinda) relating to the guy who slept in Tom Brady's vacant house, and end with Carson Wentz's woes and future.  

SD native Tim Miles (38:00) on his loyalty to Coors Light, his TV gig & new podcast, the weird new world of CBB, Jacks & other teams who played in Sioux Falls,  reflections on his Husker tenure. But we start with the overblown heroes Chad Beebe and Kirk Cousins beating overblown old flame Teddy Bridgewater in a mud bath for the ages. 

At 53:00, veteran Nebraska and Iowa sports talk host Travis Justice describes why the Big Red (still) blows at football, why Husker fans are an easy target, and the budding Black Friday rivalry.

Yes, the Vikings are in the playoff picture, but do they feel like a playoff team? Why should there be pessimism heading into the Bears game? Plus, how covid keeps messing with sports, including locally, and SDPB's voice of prep state championships Craig Mattick joins John to get us up to speed on life after his daily radio show of 20 years was canceled -- and took look back on the 7 years of "Craig and John."

A Vikings vent after putrid loss. If Zim & Cousins were canned, would we object? And as Gophers/Huskers and Big 10 start, why are Zim and John just aren't in the mood. Plus, insight into HUGE college hoops event coming to Sioux Falls. 

Cousins, Vikings are a steaming pile. Mahomes, Russell, Brady, Cam. Huskers flex muscle then get testy after saving B1G football. Personal Gardy stories that will make you laugh and smile.

NOTICE: This weekly show is now part of the "Happy Hour with John Gaskins" daily podcast, which you can find at SiouxFallsLive.com, MidwestSportsPlus.com, and most podcast platforms like the one you find here! So, if you enjoy the topics Matt & John cover, you'll get those topics, plus relevant local guests, every Monday through Thursday on Happy Hour... so we highly recommend you check that out! What could possibly be better than shooting the bull over beers for an hour about the state of both Jackrabbit and Coyote football and the big "State vs U" Top 25 high stakes showdown on Saturday in the DakotaDome? How about shooting the bull while guzzling cans of the official in-state brewed beers of both universities?  The hosts of the weekly "Nobody's Listening Anyway" sure enjoyed the procedure. Happy Hour host John Gaskins and Sioux Falls Live sports editor Matt Zimmer cracked open the "Ears Up" SDSU beer from Sioux Falls' Ferson Brewing and the "Coyote Legacy" blonde ale from Vermillion's XIX Brewing.  It made for sublime liquid encouragement to bring out fluid and unfiltered observations of the Jacks' wretched 24-12 loss to lowly Indiana State and the Yotes' impressive, momentum-swinging, narrative-changing 26-21 mild upset of then-No. 8 North Dakota. As mentioned in Monday's show, all of a sudden this matchup between No. 8 SDSU and No. 22 USD seems different and a lot spicier given the changed and opposite recent trajectories of the teams.  Zim, the Jacks beat writer, pulls no punches in his analysis of how ugly and inexcusable SDSU's loss was. Meanwhile, can we definitively say the Yotes have figured out their winning formula?  Can USD beat the Jacks simply by running well, completing just a couple big downfield passes, and scoring with both defense and special teams? How can SDSU solve its offensive problems against a thriving defense that shut down one of the nation's best FCS offenses and quarterbacks?  Will Chase Mason play? If he does, will that make the difference between winning and losing? Who is the favorite? What percentage of the DakotaDome will be in blue? How far might this game go in determining these two teams' playoff fates? Oh, and which school has the better beer? Belly up with your own brew and take a listen. Along the way, you'll also hear about Augustana and USF's heaters with backup freshmen quarterbacks. Plus, a crystal ball look at the high school football state semifinals in Class 11AAA — Jefferson vs. Lincoln and Harrisburg vs. Brandon Valley. You can watch both games on TV or any device with the Midwest Sports+ app. Cheers!

NOTICE: This weekly show is now part of the "Happy Hour with John Gaskins" daily podcast, which you can find at SiouxFallsLive.com, MidwestSportsPlus.com, and most podcast platforms like the one you find here! So, if you enjoy the topics Matt & John cover, you'll get those topics, plus relevant local guests, every Monday through Thursday on Happy Hour... so we highly recommend you check that out! You can see it in the changing color of the leaves, and then how quickly they are falling off the trees.  You can feel it in the chill of the air in the mornings, evenings, and sometimes all day. As November — which for those of us up here in the north means early winter — nears, the weather and ever-shedding trees represent the cold, harsh reality of winter drawing near, and the cold, harsh reality of some football teams' goals slipping away. South Dakota State no longer looks like a national title contender, at least in the health they are in. North Dakota State exposed that.  South Dakota not only no longer looks like a national title contender they were projected to be by most FCS experts in the preseason, the Coyotes look less and less like even an FCS playoffs team. Their failure to score more than 20 points in all but three of nine games exposed that. But that's how things look now. Both the Jackrabbits and Coytes have November to change those narratives — four regulasr seaosn games each to flip the script. The margin of error is slimmer for both. The depth of both teams is thinning, too (as injuries tend to smother all teams at all levels by this time of year). On a cold day requiring flannel for John Gaskins and a hooded sweatshirt for Matt Zimmer, the two "Nobody's Listening Anyway" hosts require just a tiny extra dose of alcoholic nourishment to adjust to the temperatures and impending winter, not to mention to digest and unpack both what the SDSU and USD seasons have become and still could be. The cold, harsh reality of the Jacks is the kind of players that led them to national titles in 2022 and '23 — Mark Gronowski, Tucker Kraft, Isaiah Davis, Pierre Strong, the Janke twins, and a host of pro-level 605 Hogs and defenders — are not walking through that door, and the injuries of Chase Mason, Lofton O'Groske and Chase Van Tol made winning an MVFC of national title even harder.But, does that mean the Jacks' chances of accomplishing something special with a brand new coaching staff and mostly-turned-over roster are toast?  The cold, harsh reality of the Yotes is they struggle to score points, which makes it hard to win games against teams that aren't the worst in the Missouri Valley Football Conference. Presumably, USD must beat three consecutive top-tier league teams to reach the playoffs. But does that mean we can stick a fork in the chances of a third consecutive postseason berth in Vermillion? Fire up the Budweiser and add a shot of Rumple Minze. There's a lot of brutal reality football to talk about, and that includes the latest bumpy ride Kalen DeBoer's Alabama took in the SEC, the make-you-hurl Brian Kelly experience at LSU that is mercifully over, and the broader conversation of all these major college teams sending their head coaches packing — with suitcases full of dozens of millions of dollars in buyout money — before the leaves start falling. Zim and John cover all that, plus the surest sign that autumn is ending: The World Series, state football playoffs, and Halloween. Is Shohei Ohtani already the greatest baseball player of all time? Are Brandon Valley and Lincoln on a collision course for back-to-back meetings in the Dakota Dome in Mid-November?  Should an almost 50-year-old man still be dressing up for Halloween? You'll hear the answers, but spoiler alert — like the local college football discussions, it's complicated.

NOTICE: This weekly show is now part of the "Happy Hour with John Gaskins" daily podcast, which you can find at SiouxFallsLive.com, MidwestSportsPlus.com, and most podcast platforms like the one you find here! So, if you enjoy the topics Matt & John cover, you'll get those topics, plus relevant local guests, every Monday through Thursday on Happy Hour... so we highly recommend you check that out!