Happy Hour with John Gaskins

Are we there yet?
 
No. Well, kinda.
 
There are still 29 days until college football gameday in South Dakota, with SDSU hosting Stetson and USD hosting Central Connecticut State.
 
Plus, a large portion of both fan bases might also watch North Dakota State's debut as an FBS squad that day, and take a peek a little more Mountain West football than they have in their lives.
 
To pass the time, all of the shows listed below have featured plenty of pigskin talk this week and will continue throughout August.
 
For this week's edition of "The South Dakota Sports Lounge," you'll see and hear the following clips:
 
Happy Hour with John Gaskins — A bigger picture look at USD football and its entire athletic program from the ultimate fans! The Howling Podcast will enter its third season later this month. Hosts Chad Birger, Mark Wendt, and Jordan Decker express their views on athletic director Jon Schemmel, the possibility of the Coyotes one day moving up to the FBS level, and how fans feel about the constant player movement in the NIL and transfer portal era.
 
The Nate Brown Show — Voice of the Jackrabbits and SDSU Associate AD for Communications Tyler Merriam sizes up the MVFC and why SDSU is favored to win the league. But first, plenty of viewpoint about American Legion baseball in South Dakota.
 
Hot Mic with Dom Izzo —  Air Force coach Troy Calhoun on what makes his program and unique and how he feels about NDSU entering the Mountain West.
 
Coyotes Lounge — Sioux Falls Live sports editor Matt Zimmer and reporter Trey Houchin give their observations on USD's first day of practice.

In the words of noted philosopher Allen Iverson, "we talking about practice, man!"
 
The Coyotes on Wednesday opened their official practice season leading up to their Aug. 29 season opener. The Jackrabbits broke the seal on Thursday. 
 
Sioux Falls Live sports editor Matt Zimmer attended both sessions and shared plenty of what he saw during Thursday's weekly "Nobody's Listening Anyway" hour from Gateway Lounge with the Happy Hour host.
 
Chase Mason threw missiles and rockets to a wealth of wideouts and tight ends. The three USD quarterback candidates had their first chances to impress, and Zim has a feeling about where things are heading at QB1.
 
There were "wow" moments and the number of snaps some players took might indicate where things are headed in all position battles. Or, it might not.
 
If you wanted an inside look and a nuanced discussion about practice No. 1, you got it.
 
How much does it all matter? Who knows. We'll find out.
 
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Vikings launched their training camp on Wednesday and all eyes and microscopes were on quarterbacks J.J. McCarthy and Kyler Murray.
 
What was their snap count? Who performed better? What did Murray say about it afterward, and how did Kevin O'Connell answer a poignant question about McCarthy fighting for his job after just 10 NFL starts?
 
Oh, by the way, it's still baseball season, and the Minnesota Twins won Thursday afternoon's rubber match against Kansas City 4-3 with a walkoff grand slam by Roger Clemens' son Kody. 
 
How much of a difference did that one swing make, considering the Twins had a literal 99 percent probability to lose before Clemens' at-bat? Zim thinks it made plenty of difference. With the Twins in close striking distance in both the A.L. Central and wild card races, what should they do before Monday's trade deadline?
 
Plus, an ode to "Dead Guy of the Week," former University of Minnesota baseball coach John Anderson. Zim tells a story about an unlikely phone call from the popular skipper who always punched above his weight through 43 seasons and 19 NCAA Tournament berths.
 
That story prompted the Happy Hour host to recall a similar story about a former University of Nebraska golf coach. Needless to say, Zim and the host had different experiences with these coaches.
 
Bonus: We found a way to toast Clark W. Griswold.
 
Cheers!

It's time to go camping.
 
The Jackrabbits, Coyotes, and Minnesota Vikings all launch their preseason practices this week.
 
Happy Hour blasts off the month leading up to the season's kickoff with a glimpse into the three-horse quarterback race at USD and the two-horse race in Minnesota, plus the only horse SDSU hopes to ride in 2026.
 
To some, Chase Mason may appear to be more hype than reality, considering the former University of Nebraska baseball player has only started nine games in his career at QB1.
 
But the Happy Hour host explains why the 6'5 gunslinger with blazing speed should light up the Missouri Valley Conference Football season. Meanwhile, Coach Dan Jackson explains Mason's progress in leadership and health during the offseason.
 
Hear first year Coyote coach Matt Vitzthum's description of the three QBs jockeying to replace Aidan Bouman. What factors will determine who wins the job? When "Coach Vitz" plans on making the call?
 
Meanwhile, Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell whipped up another word salad in depicting the competition between Kyler Murray and J.J. McCarthy, but a recently retired Vikings legend provided a little more candor and clarity about where things might truly stand.
 
 
Voice of USF Tom Frederick returns!
 
Last summer, Frederick joined Happy Hour to walk through his over 40 years in broadcasting, including nearly 30 years calling play-by-play for University of Sioux Falls football and basketball.
 
At the time, Frederick had just retired from calling hoops and was about to find out what life was like without spending winter Friday and Saturday nights traveling the cold and snowy interstates and highways of the Dakotas and Minnesota in the NSIC.
 
Now, he's traveling the entire country and the globe. Hear his accounts of France, Spain, Utah, and the Western railways on an Amtrak train.
 
Does Frederick miss calling basketball? What advice does he have for those who have retired (or are about to retire), and how they can spend all that free time happy?
 
And, how about the '26 Cougar football team? 
 
 
Patrick Lalley breaks down Larry Rhoden's runaway win
 
It's over!
 
After an early June election failed to yield a clear-cut Republican nominee to be South Dakota's next governor, two months of more mud-slinging campaign ads on your television set came to a screeching halt on Tuesday night— an early halt.
 
That's because Gov. Larry Rhoden's Republican primary runoff win over first-time political campaigner Toby Doeden was called by 8:08 p.m.
 
The final score in percentage of votes— Rhoden 71, Doeden 29.
 
How did Rhoden — the 67-year-old rancher and welder from West River who became Kristi Noem's lieutenant governor and ascended to governor one Noem took a job in the Trump administration — turn the tables so wildly on bombastic auto dealership owner Doeden, who notched the most votes of the four Republican candidates in the June 2 primary? 
 
Sioux Falls Live editor and veteran South Dakota political reporter Patrick Lalley breaks it down over Happy Hour beers at Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls, where all the world's problems are solved.

It's over!
 
After an early June election failed to yield a clear-cut Republican nominee to be South Dakota's next governor, two months of more mud-slinging campaign ads on your television set came to a screeching halt on Tuesday night— an early halt.
 
That's because Gov. Larry Rhoden's Republican primary runoff win over first-time political campaigner Toby Doeden was called by 8:08 p.m.
 
The final score in percentage of votes— Rhoden 71, Doeden 29.
 
How did Rhoden — the 67-year-old rancher and welder from West River who became Kristi Noem's lieutenant governor and ascended to governor one Noem took a job in the Trump administration — turn the tables so wildly on bombastic auto dealership owner Doeden, who notched the most votes of the four Republican candidates in the June 2 primary? 
 
Sioux Falls Live editor and veteran South Dakota political reporter Patrick Lalley breaks it down over Happy Hour beers at Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls, where all the world's problems are solved.

Last summer, Frederick joined Happy Hour to walk through his over 40 years in broadcasting, including nearly 30 years calling play-by-play for University of Sioux Falls football and basketball.
 
At the time, Frederick had just retired from calling hoops and was about to find out what life was like without spending winter Friday and Saturday nights traveling the cold and snowy interstates and highways of the Dakotas and Minnesota in the NSIC.
 
Now, he's traveling the entire country and the globe. Hear his accounts of France, Spain, Utah, and the Western railways on an Amtrak train.
 
Does Frederick miss calling basketball? What advice does he have for those who have retired (or are about to retire), and how they can spend all that free time happy?
 
And, how about the '26 Cougar football team?