Happy Hour with John Gaskins

Thursday will provide a beautiful snapshot of the splendors of this time of the year on the sports calendar.
 
The Minnesota Twins will play their opening day game in the afternoon in Baltimore. Shortly after that concludes, Nebraska and Iowa will lock horns in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
 
It's (almost) the most wonderful time of the sports year. Why will Sioux Falls Live sports editor Matt Zimmer be front-and-center to watch his beloved Twins even though he predicts them to be, in his own words, "dog (bleep)?"
 
Far more surprising is who Zim will root for when the Huskers and Hawkeyes hit the hardwood. Is he the latest to hop on the Big Red bandwagon? How is the Happy Hour host, a die-hard Husker honker, processing his inability to watch the two greatest Nebraska victories of all time in real time due to work last week?
 
These topics lead off a busy "Nobody's Listening Anyway" show from the Gateway Lounge in Sioux Falls over Zim's Bud Light and the Happy Hour host's Busch Light — a toast to the brand of beer Nebraska fans ran Oklahoma City dry last weekend.
 
Also on the docket:
 
* The "portal pity party" is real, Zim says, as he makes gloomy sense of the departures of several of the Summit League's best players from this season to the greener pastures of college hoops. It's enough to make one wonder why anyone would want to be a mid-major coach.
 
* In better news (for now)... boys state AA hoops gave SDSU fans one dynamic reason to be excited for next season — Huron's 6-foot-10 swiss army knife Blake Ellwein
 
* Meanwhile, a two-time state champion boys AA high school coach stepped down after a decade of success. Roosevelt's Mitch Begeman is not yet 40 years old. He is taking a job in the private sector, the same thing his father Mike did around age 50 after 25 years in head coaching.
 
* How do we make sense of Augustana hockey coach Garrett Raboin turning down a (reported) offer from Minnesota? Zim has his theories.
 
* After a fourth consecutive Summit League Tournament title but falling short of a seventh NCAA Tournament win, what do we make of the future of SDSU women's hoops now that all-timer Brooklyn Meyer won't be around? 
 
* Neither NLA host attended Sunday night's Sioux Falls show of one of their favorite musicians, Bob Dylan? Why? It leads to a conversation about seeing idols in person.
 
Carrie Eighmey, USD women's head coach
They aren't in the Big Dance, but the South Dakota women's basketball team is still dancing. And they like it. A lot.
 
The Coyotes won their first WNIT game on Sunday — it was a second round game after receiving a first round bye — and the group led by senior transfers from all over the country spanked Northern Colorado with much of the same "juice" and "joy" they've displayed in their 24-8 season.
 
Second year head coach Carrie Eighmey joined Happy Hour to describe her affinity for a team she cobbled together via the transfer portal after a disappointing 11-20 campaign last season. She also explains the instant love affair her new group developed with USD fans, particularly in Vermillion. She gives keen insight into the personality of each of her key players.
 
And, yes, Eighmey addresses the (unfounded) rumor she was in the mix for the St. Thomas opening and puts on the record her commitment to USD.
 
Will she continue to build teams via the portal?

Thursday will provide a beautiful snapshot of the splendors of this time of the year on the sports calendar.
 
The Minnesota Twins will play their opening day game in the afternoon in Baltimore. Shortly after that concludes, Nebraska and Iowa will lock horns in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
 
It's (almost) the most wonderful time of the sports year. Why will Sioux Falls Live sports editor Matt Zimmer be front-and-center to watch his beloved Twins even though he predicts them to be, in his own words, "dog (bleep)?"
 
Far more surprising is who Zim will root for when the Huskers and Hawkeyes hit the hardwood. Is he the latest to hop on the Big Red bandwagon? How is the Happy Hour host, a die-hard Husker honker, processing his inability to watch the two greatest Nebraska victories of all time in real time due to work last week?
 
These topics lead off a busy "Nobody's Listening Anyway" show from the Gateway Lounge in Sioux Falls over Zim's Bud Light and the Happy Hour host's Busch Light — a toast to the brand of beer Nebraska fans ran Oklahoma City dry last weekend.
 
Also on the docket:
 
* The "portal pity party" is real, Zim says, as he makes gloomy sense of the departures of several of the Summit League's best players from this season to the greener pastures of college hoops. It's enough to make one wonder why anyone would want to be a mid-major coach.
 
* In better news (for now)... boys state AA hoops gave SDSU fans one dynamic reason to be excited for next season — Huron's 6-foot-10 swiss army knife Blake Ellwein
 
* Meanwhile, a two-time state champion boys AA high school coach stepped down after a decade of success. Roosevelt's Mitch Begeman is not yet 40 years old. He is taking a job in the private sector, the same thing his father Mike did around age 50 after 25 years in head coaching.
 
* How do we make sense of Augustana hockey coach Garrett Raboin turning down a (reported) offer from Minnesota? Zim has his theories.
 
* After a fourth consecutive Summit League Tournament title but falling short of a seventh NCAA Tournament win, what do we make of the future of SDSU women's hoops now that all-timer Brooklyn Meyer won't be around? 
 
* Neither NLA host attended Sunday night's Sioux Falls show of one of their favorite musicians, Bob Dylan? Why? It leads to a conversation about seeing idols in person.

They aren't in the Big Dance, but the South Dakota women's basketball team is still dancing. And they like it. A lot.
 
The Coyotes won their first WNIT game on Sunday — it was a second round game after receiving a first round bye — and the group led by senior transfers from all over the country spanked Northern Colorado with much of the same "juice" and "joy" they've displayed in their 24-8 season.
 
Second year head coach Carrie Eighmey joined Happy Hour to describe her affinity for a team she cobbled together via the transfer portal after a disappointing 11-20 campaign last season. She also explains the instant love affair her new group developed with USD fans, particularly in Vermillion. She gives keen insight into the personality of each of her key players.
 
And, yes, Eighmey addresses the (unfounded) rumor she was in the mix for the St. Thomas opening and puts on the record her commitment to USD.
 
Will she continue to build teams via the portal?  They aren't in the Big Dance, but the South Dakota women's basketball team is still dancing. And they like it. A lot.
 
The Coyotes won their first WNIT game on Sunday — it was a second round game after receiving a first round bye — and the group led by senior transfers from all over the country spanked Northern Colorado with much of the same "juice" and "joy" they've displayed in their 24-8 season.
 
Second year head coach Carrie Eighmey joined Happy Hour to describe her affinity for a team she cobbled together via the transfer portal after a disappointing 11-20 campaign last season. She also explains the instant love affair her new group developed with USD fans, particularly in Vermillion. She gives keen insight into the personality of each of her key players.
 
And, yes, Eighmey addresses the (unfounded) rumor she was in the mix for the St. Thomas opening and puts on the record her commitment to USD.
 
Will she continue to build teams via the portal?

It came in a big wave on Monday and Tuesday — reports and announcements of Summit League players entering the transfer portal.
 
Five North Dakota State players are bouncing, including three of the Bison's top five scorers, with All-Summit first teamer Trevian Carson also expected to jump.
 
At least three from North Dakota will be gone, including Greyson Uelman, an All-Summit League second team member. 
 
Same for two talented guards from South Dakota, Uzziah Buntyn and Isaac Bruns.
 
Naturally, fans of the teams are bummed not just by the departures of good players, but by the painful truth of mid-major basketball. 
 
"Can't blame the players, but NIL and the portal have killed low and mid-major basketball," said a tweet from the Jackrabbit Illustrated account. "I guess I'm lucky that I got to watch Nate Wolters and Mike Daum for four years. Even cheering against (NDSU's) Ben Woodside, (IFPW's) John Konchar), and (Oakland's) Keith Benson was fun. This is no fun."
 
No fun at all? Mid-major hoops ruined?
 
Not so fast, says the Happy Hour host, who dives into the reasons why the sport at this level is still fun and fans will still support it.
 
Bruce Chubick, Nebraska basketball (1990-94)
The Huskers are the darlings — or at least one of the darlings — of the NCAA Sweet 16 field.
 
The obvious reason for that status is that before Thursday, Nebraska was the only Power Four conference team to not win an NCAA game, ever, until the Big Red wiped out Troy in the first round. 

But the thrilling second round win over Vanderbilt — with a half-court Vandy shot to win popping in and out of the cylinder at the buzzer — has elevated the Huskers' national status even more.
 
So, too, has the overwhelming Husker fan presence in Oklahoma City, where a sea or red took over the arena and multiple bars ran out of beer because of the literal once-in-a-lifetime Big Red party going on.
 
One of those fans was Bruce Chubick, who played a prominent role on Nebraska teams that reached the Big Dance four years in a row under Danny Nee (1991-94) but painfully lost each first round game.
 
Those teams are still folk lore for a fan base mostly tortured by either lousy or mediocre basketball, fans who until this season have been treated to heartbreak whenver Nebraska actually appears on a March Madness bracket. As in, 0 for 8 until Thursday.
 
So, what did it mean to "Nebrasketball" immortal like Chubick — a long-time high school hoops coach in Omaha — to see Fred Hoiberg's crew pull it off not once, but twice?
 
And how did the Huskers do it? Why was this team the one?
 
Now, Nebraska draws rival Iowa in the Sweet 16. Some Huskers fans are dejected by the pairing, not wanting to withstand another loss to a school that owns the Big Red in football.
 
Chubick, who grew up a Hawkeye fan in Iowa, likes the matchup. Hear why.
 
And stay for the epic stories about the fabeled, foul-mouthed and festive Danny Nee, the coach who delivered hope but never an NCAA win to Nebraska when Chubick played.

The Huskers are the darlings — or at least one of the darlings — of the NCAA Sweet 16 field.
 
The obvious reason for that status is that before Thursday, Nebraska was the only Power Four conference team to not win an NCAA game, ever, until the Big Red wiped out Troy in the first round. 

But the thrilling second round win over Vanderbilt — with a half-court Vandy shot to win popping in and out of the cylinder at the buzzer — has elevated the Huskers' national status even more.
 
So, too, has the overwhelming Husker fan presence in Oklahoma City, where a sea or red took over the arena and multiple bars ran out of beer because of the literal once-in-a-lifetime Big Red party going on.
 
One of those fans was Bruce Chubick, who played a prominent role on Nebraska teams that reached the Big Dance four years in a row under Danny Nee (1991-94) but painfully lost each first round game.
 
Those teams are still folk lore for a fan base mostly tortured by either lousy or mediocre basketball, fans who until this season have been treated to heartbreak whenver Nebraska actually appears on a March Madness bracket. As in, 0 for 8 until Thursday.
 
So, what did it mean to "Nebrasketball" immortal like Chubick — a long-time high school hoops coach in Omaha — to see Fred Hoiberg's crew pull it off not once, but twice?
 
And how did the Huskers do it? Why was this team the one?
 
Now, Nebraska draws rival Iowa in the Sweet 16. Some Huskers fans are dejected by the pairing, not wanting to withstand another loss to a school that owns the Big Red in football.
 
Chubick, who grew up a Hawkeye fan in Iowa, likes the matchup. Hear why.
 
And stay for the epic stories about the fabeled, foul-mouthed and festive Danny Nee, the coach who delivered hope but never an NCAA win to Nebraska when Chubick played.