Happy Hour with John Gaskins

So, how strong is the urge for South Dakota State's athletic director and head football coach to move up to FBS now that arch football rival North Dakota State has gone bigger time?
 
How strong is the Summit League as the conference shrinks to eight teams soon, especially with reports and rumors of unrest among the non-Dakotas schools? 
 
What can SDSU possibly do to keep its best athletes happy and in Brookings despite impossible-to-compete-with NIL offers coming down the pike? 
 
What is new and improved in Jacks football from Dan Jackson's first year to the second?
 
The Happy Hour host and video producer Cordell Wright were invited to speak to a class of journalism students at SDSU on Thursday. 
 
So, why not track down Justin Sell and Jackson for some Happy Hour conversations while they were at it? 
 
Both men were gracious with their time — about an hour each.
 
Sell covered many tough topics he deals with daily, including navigating the NIL and transfer portal, which can keep mid-major and FCS coaches up at night.
 
After 17 years leading the athletics department, Sell, as usual conveys the steady optimism of a veteran who has seen it all. He evaluates the first season of Jackson and men's basketball coach Bryan Peterson.
 
How restless are fans about the performance and future of those programs, plus the portal vortex that is pillaging rosters all over the MVFC and Summit League... and what can Sell assure them to continue the momentum in Brookings — where, for now, SDSU experiences large and engaged crowds for its bigger sports?

Jackson told Sioux Falls Live's Matt Zimmer last week his football team is "light years" ahead of where it was last year during the early stages of spring football, and that the Jacks are "creating an identity."

What is that identity? 
 
How have Chase Mason, Chase Van Tol, Lofton O'Groske and other stars progressed — both in their health and skill set — since their injuries took a toll in a 9-5 campaign?
 
How much of difference does actually having a strength coach make? Who are some of the emerging fresh faces, especially at running back, where Jackson is excited to have the "home run hitter" the Jacks lacked last year?
 
And, yes, does NDSU's climb into the Mountain West make Jackson want to lead the Jacks to the "next level?"

So, how strong is the urge for South Dakota State's athletic director and head football coach to move up to FBS now that arch football rival North Dakota State has gone bigger time?
 
How strong is the Summit League as the conference shrinks to eight teams soon, especially with reports and rumors of unrest among the non-Dakotas schools? 
 
What can SDSU possibly do to keep its best athletes happy and in Brookings despite impossible-to-compete-with NIL offers coming down the pike? 
 
What is new and improved in Jacks football from Dan Jackson's first year to the second?
 
The Happy Hour host and video producer Cordell Wright were invited to speak to a class of journalism students at SDSU on Thursday. 
 
So, why not track down Justin Sell and Jackson for some Happy Hour conversations while they were at it? 
 
Both men were gracious with their time — about an hour each.
 
Sell covered many tough topics he deals with daily, including navigating the NIL and transfer portal, which can keep mid-major and FCS coaches up at night.
 
After 17 years leading the athletics department, Sell, as usual conveys the steady optimism of a veteran who has seen it all. He evaluates the first season of Jackson and men's basketball coach Bryan Peterson.
 
How restless are fans about the performance and future of those programs, plus the portal vortex that is pillaging rosters all over the MVFC and Summit League... and what can Sell assure them to continue the momentum in Brookings — where, for now, SDSU experiences large and engaged crowds for its bigger sports?
 
Jackson told Sioux Falls Live's Matt Zimmer last week his football team is "light years" ahead of where it was last year during the early stages of spring football, and that the Jacks are "creating an identity."

What is that identity? 
 
How have Chase Mason, Chase Van Tol, Lofton O'Groske and other stars progressed — both in their health and skill set — since their injuries took a toll in a 9-5 campaign?
 
How much of difference does actually having a strength coach make? Who are some of the emerging fresh faces, especially at running back, where Jackson is excited to have the "home run hitter" the Jacks lacked last year?
 
And, yes, does NDSU's climb into the Mountain West make Jackson want to lead the Jacks to the "next level?"
 
It's all there and more. A road trip well worth it.

Those J-School students likely learned a lot of how not to do this. But hopefully they, and SDSU fans and Happy Hour consumers, got something out of it. The host and producer sure did.

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.