1 00:00:10,840 --> 00:00:12,880 You're listening to the back home network. 2 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:15,360 Presented. Presented by Home Field Apparel 3 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:26,240 You're listening to the Back Home Network. 4 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:41,000 Presented by Home Field Apparel. All right. 5 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:43,560 Folks, welcome back to Cranston Cascade and Javier joining you. 6 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:47,360 It is Tuesday, 22nd of April. It's Earth Day. 7 00:00:47,360 --> 00:00:50,760 Happy Earth Day, gentlemen, Happy Earth Day. 8 00:00:50,760 --> 00:00:54,760 And we are live here in the Franklin Hall Studios 8A at the 9 00:00:54,760 --> 00:00:57,920 Media School Indiana University because it's little five week 10 00:00:57,920 --> 00:00:59,680 and we need to talk about little 5. 11 00:00:59,960 --> 00:01:02,840 We've got the gentleman who are going to be calling the races 12 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:09,000 this Friday and Saturday on IUI guess it's broadcast.iu.edu, but 13 00:01:09,000 --> 00:01:11,280 also on YouTube. We're going to talk all about 14 00:01:11,280 --> 00:01:13,320 the broadcast setup. We're also going to talk about 15 00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:15,760 the races themselves and just kind of the preparation of all 16 00:01:15,760 --> 00:01:20,280 of this here on Crimson cast. And first of all, just wanted to 17 00:01:20,720 --> 00:01:23,440 remind everybody, we are brought to you by our presenting 18 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:25,720 sponsor, Home Field Apparel. Your place to go for the finest 19 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:28,440 in college fashions, the softest fabrics, the coolest designs. 20 00:01:28,800 --> 00:01:32,240 I don't know if you all saw this, but Home Field's going to 21 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:35,160 be in town. They're coming up this weekend 22 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:39,680 as they're going to have a little 5 pop up store on Friday 23 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:41,960 at Upland Brewery from 3:00 to 7:00 PM. 24 00:01:41,960 --> 00:01:47,200 And then on Saturday from 11 to 5, there'll be exclusive new 25 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:49,840 Little 500 gear. I'm excited about this. 26 00:01:50,080 --> 00:01:53,160 As well as free gifts and giveaways, you'll be able to 27 00:01:53,160 --> 00:01:55,680 shop the new collection online as well. 28 00:01:55,680 --> 00:01:58,200 That'll appear at 10 AM on Friday. 29 00:01:58,520 --> 00:01:59,960 And the new collection's awesome. 30 00:01:59,960 --> 00:02:02,280 There's a great trucker hat involved. 31 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,360 There's a tank top which is, we know it, it is it's tank season 32 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:08,520 here in Bloomington. Certainly. 33 00:02:08,880 --> 00:02:12,240 There's a nice multi colour, kind of sixties, 70s style 34 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:14,080 graphic tee. There's one that looks a little 35 00:02:14,080 --> 00:02:18,520 more art Deco and then there's a kind of a a light blue hat as 36 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:19,280 well. So check that out. 37 00:02:19,280 --> 00:02:23,320 Head over to Upland for the in person pop up or you can go 38 00:02:23,320 --> 00:02:25,440 online at home field, apparel.com, use the code home 39 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,800 23. Get 15% off your first order. 40 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:31,360 All right, let's go ahead and dive into things. 41 00:02:31,680 --> 00:02:33,640 Let's welcome first to the podcast. 42 00:02:33,640 --> 00:02:38,240 We've got Austin Platt on my left and then we've got Zion 43 00:02:38,240 --> 00:02:41,760 Brown who is on my right. You gentlemen are back once 44 00:02:41,760 --> 00:02:43,320 again. It's great to have you on the 45 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:46,160 broadcast for the second year in a row. 46 00:02:47,080 --> 00:02:52,800 Let me start off, I guess, by asking you both what the process 47 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,480 has been like over the course of these last couple of years being 48 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,320 the voice of Little 500 and, and how that's felt, what the 49 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:01,760 process has been like in terms of preparation and just kind of 50 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:05,320 getting to know this event that is so central to I US culture. 51 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:07,120 But it's something a lot of people really don't know that 52 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:09,200 much about. Yeah, it's it's weird in the 53 00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:12,720 sense that it's one of the the biggest events, probably like 54 00:03:12,720 --> 00:03:15,720 collegiate events in the country with a ton of obviously hype, 55 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:18,920 anticipation, but not a ton of like real information behind it. 56 00:03:18,920 --> 00:03:22,080 And you look at everything that you know, we go through and the 57 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:24,200 information you get with spring series and talking to the 58 00:03:24,200 --> 00:03:28,040 riders, it's very specific on how get information and how we 59 00:03:28,040 --> 00:03:30,720 kind of decipher ourselves who the the best teams are. 60 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:33,760 And having done this now for a few years, the preparation 61 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:36,920 process, it's you can streamline it and essentially, you know, 62 00:03:36,920 --> 00:03:39,600 it's kind of almost set up to the point where you know, qual, 63 00:03:39,600 --> 00:03:42,040 so you know the exactly who's going to start where in the 64 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:43,720 race. And then you start to figure out 65 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:46,960 through individual time trials and team pursuits, which teams 66 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:48,360 are deep, which riders are the best. 67 00:03:48,360 --> 00:03:49,720 And you can kind of go from there. 68 00:03:49,720 --> 00:03:51,680 And then it's just talking to the teams and figuring out all 69 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:54,560 the little things that they do that separate themselves from 70 00:03:54,560 --> 00:03:56,200 the rest. But in terms of the preparation, 71 00:03:56,400 --> 00:03:58,680 I think it's, it's gotten a little bit easier for me in the, 72 00:03:58,680 --> 00:04:01,200 in the sense that you can once you have kind of the, the big 73 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:03,320 outline, then it's easier to, to go from there. 74 00:04:03,320 --> 00:04:05,400 And then it's just filling in the, the tidbits. 75 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,520 And sure, it's a little tedious to go through and be, you know, 76 00:04:08,520 --> 00:04:11,400 copy and pasting numbers from all the emails that we get from, 77 00:04:11,400 --> 00:04:13,120 from the race director throughout the, the course of 78 00:04:13,120 --> 00:04:15,120 the semester. But the process itself 79 00:04:15,120 --> 00:04:16,800 definitely gets easier than the more you do it. 80 00:04:17,839 --> 00:04:19,720 I would agree with that as far as the fact that it has just 81 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:21,800 gotten easier the more that I've gone and the more that I've gone 82 00:04:21,800 --> 00:04:24,000 along with it. And and like you said, Austin, 83 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,320 so much of this race, as big of a deal as it is, you may not 84 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:30,120 there may not be as much accessible information right to 85 00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:31,960 find ourselves. So we kind of have to dig it up 86 00:04:31,960 --> 00:04:34,000 ourselves and whatnot. And I was just talking to you 87 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:35,560 over there, you know, in the comments here at the media 88 00:04:35,560 --> 00:04:38,240 school about how Instagram helps me prepped so much for this 89 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:40,640 race. Like I never really use 90 00:04:40,640 --> 00:04:42,680 Instagram when I'm prepping for like any other sport or anything 91 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:44,960 else that I do. But for this very specific race 92 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:47,440 where there's no like BIOS necessarily that you can find on 93 00:04:47,440 --> 00:04:50,560 a website or anything like that, it's like, hey, let's look up 94 00:04:50,560 --> 00:04:52,400 this team on Instagram. Let's see who they're tagging in 95 00:04:52,400 --> 00:04:55,080 me in these in these posts. And then I'm just kind of 96 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:56,600 digging in. So it's, it's really funny the 97 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:00,400 process of, and obviously it, it is just however you want to do 98 00:05:00,400 --> 00:05:01,880 it, right? As a broadcaster, it's just 99 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:03,840 however you want to do it. And, and what makes sense to 100 00:05:03,840 --> 00:05:05,080 you. And So what makes sense to me, 101 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:07,520 part of what makes sense to me, I'd say is go and do those 102 00:05:07,520 --> 00:05:10,400 Instagram stories and, and posts and whatnot and just finding 103 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:12,000 what you can. And like you said, just getting 104 00:05:12,000 --> 00:05:14,600 those numbers out from IT, TS and team pursuit and missing out 105 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:17,280 and seeing or 18 places in the spring series and whatnot. 106 00:05:17,280 --> 00:05:20,000 Just as the, as the weeks go along, you get more and more 107 00:05:20,000 --> 00:05:21,520 information. And then right now we're just 108 00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:24,400 like formulating everything together and making it all make 109 00:05:24,400 --> 00:05:26,920 sense in our heads and it in order to deliver it on the 110 00:05:26,920 --> 00:05:28,880 broadcast. Yeah, to pick up on what you 111 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:31,960 were saying, the teams use Instagram a lot and. 112 00:05:32,000 --> 00:05:33,600 Especially I don't know about the men's field, if they use it 113 00:05:33,600 --> 00:05:36,440 as much the women's teams, like some of them have like two or 114 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:38,640 three accounts per team, they'll have like a meme account or 115 00:05:38,640 --> 00:05:40,600 something like it's ridiculous. It's. 116 00:05:40,600 --> 00:05:44,080 It's pretty fascinating and it's complicated in a way that a lot 117 00:05:44,080 --> 00:05:47,360 of people who haven't got tremendous experience with the 118 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:51,400 race might not understand. Like on Sunday, we finally got 119 00:05:51,400 --> 00:05:53,440 the final four riders for each team. 120 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:57,480 So that's, that's, you know, 4 * 33 * 2. 121 00:05:57,760 --> 00:05:58,840 Yeah. So you got men's race and 122 00:05:58,840 --> 00:06:00,280 women's race. People understand that some of 123 00:06:00,280 --> 00:06:05,000 these teams have 567, even 10 riders available in the pool 124 00:06:05,280 --> 00:06:08,200 that they might not decide upon until right before. 125 00:06:08,480 --> 00:06:11,600 And there is, as you mentioned, there's spring series, which if 126 00:06:11,600 --> 00:06:14,160 you've been part of Greek life or if you've been part of a 127 00:06:14,160 --> 00:06:17,560 Little 5 culture, you know, spring series is so important. 128 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:20,360 And it's not just qualifications, it's missing out 129 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:23,440 and team pursuit and all these things that highlight like, what 130 00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:25,520 are the strongest teams? What are the strongest 131 00:06:25,520 --> 00:06:28,760 individual riders? It's a lot of information to try 132 00:06:28,760 --> 00:06:31,680 to take in. And even if you, like you 133 00:06:31,680 --> 00:06:34,840 gentlemen, you know, have done it for a couple of years, it's 134 00:06:34,840 --> 00:06:37,760 not necessarily the most intuitive thing to think about. 135 00:06:38,160 --> 00:06:39,800 Wow. I've got to encapsulate all of 136 00:06:39,800 --> 00:06:42,280 these times and all these people and try to figure out who are 137 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:43,920 the ones that we should be watching on race day. 138 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:47,720 It it's weird because you can do all the math you want and crunch 139 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:51,400 numbers and all right, if I take the the third best ITT rider in 140 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:53,640 each team like is it, does that really show how deep it is? 141 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:56,400 But then yet again, like some teams just do not care about 142 00:06:56,400 --> 00:06:58,440 spring series like Qualls. It's like, all right, we'll 143 00:06:58,440 --> 00:07:01,280 we'll get ready for, you know, right after spring break. 144 00:07:01,280 --> 00:07:03,680 It's that Saturday afterwards and you know, if we put down a 145 00:07:03,680 --> 00:07:05,800 time, then great. And everything shifts in the the 146 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:08,920 first few laps of of both races. But and then, you know, this 147 00:07:08,920 --> 00:07:10,920 year, like the weather, it's like team pursuit and missing 148 00:07:10,920 --> 00:07:12,360 out. We're both, you know, kind of 149 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:14,800 crammed into one weekend. And there were some teams that 150 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:17,920 knew they couldn't be there for the mid the initial date for 151 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:20,240 missing out and then they were here, but if they weren't signed 152 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:22,640 up, so they couldn't do it. So spring series, it's a 153 00:07:22,640 --> 00:07:23,880 complete kind of shot in the dark. 154 00:07:23,880 --> 00:07:26,600 And I think from what I've seen, at least on the men's side, more 155 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:29,480 and more teams are really kind of training through spring 156 00:07:29,480 --> 00:07:32,400 series and just using it as a tiny bit of a marking stick and 157 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:34,200 not like, all right, we are training for this event. 158 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:37,000 And if we don't finish the top five and we are in trouble for 159 00:07:37,000 --> 00:07:38,080 the the race, That's just not how. 160 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:39,880 It works and with the weather, that's a great point. 161 00:07:39,880 --> 00:07:42,360 It was even worse for the women's because Claws isn't 162 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:43,600 technically a part of spring series. 163 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:45,920 The women's spring series occurred a couple weeks ago from 164 00:07:45,920 --> 00:07:48,440 Wednesday to Sunday. It was it was ITT Wednesday, 165 00:07:49,040 --> 00:07:51,200 Friday was missing out and then on Sunday, team pursuit. 166 00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:53,480 So a lot of these teams, especially the ones that that 167 00:07:53,480 --> 00:07:55,360 know they're, they're in a good position regardless. 168 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:57,240 We're just like, hey, let's just get through this, right? 169 00:07:57,240 --> 00:07:58,920 We have to do 3 races in five days. 170 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:01,280 Let's just get through this. And so it may not be the most 171 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,440 accurate indicator as it is in other years as far as who's 172 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:07,080 going to do well and who's going to do what in the race. 173 00:08:07,080 --> 00:08:08,760 But it was definitely interesting this year. 174 00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:10,960 But you're right about that. It just changes a lot based off 175 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:12,600 just what teams are prioritizing. 176 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:14,440 Some people don't even prioritize quads that much. 177 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:16,440 They just they just want to play somewhere and then get to the 178 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:18,160 race. Some teams are really big on IT. 179 00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:19,640 TS are really big on team pursuit. 180 00:08:19,640 --> 00:08:22,080 So it's important. Spring series is important to 181 00:08:22,080 --> 00:08:25,080 just kind of line yourself up in a way, but it is not necessarily 182 00:08:25,200 --> 00:08:27,640 a tell all for what's going to happen on Friday and Saturday. 183 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:31,440 You did the race last year, both of you. 184 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:34,440 Zion's done the women's race, Austin's done the men's race. 185 00:08:35,200 --> 00:08:37,960 It's such a different type of broadcast experience than doing 186 00:08:37,960 --> 00:08:40,120 football or basketball or baseball. 187 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:41,840 I've always likened it to auto racing. 188 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:43,799 In a lot of ways, it's like doing an IndyCar race or a 189 00:08:43,799 --> 00:08:47,920 NASCAR race, but it's different in that there's humans like, 190 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,360 like clearly involved. There's exchanges, There's all 191 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:54,080 of these different dynamics. As you're going in to preparing 192 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:56,720 for doing the broadcast and just thinking through all of the 193 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:01,560 variables, what do you try to focus on the most as you go into 194 00:09:01,560 --> 00:09:03,680 the race itself? What tends to be the most 195 00:09:03,680 --> 00:09:05,360 important things? Because this is something I 196 00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:07,880 think a lot of casual fans or people that want to learn more 197 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:09,800 about the race may not know that much about. 198 00:09:10,120 --> 00:09:12,520 Like, you know, you've learned this from former writers, the 199 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:14,960 people that we do the broadcast with her on color commentary or 200 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:17,320 whatever. What's work for you in terms of 201 00:09:17,320 --> 00:09:19,760 really being able to isolate the right information? 202 00:09:21,120 --> 00:09:24,200 For me, I think that's where I do lean on my color commentator 203 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:26,960 in this place, Rachel Brown, I mean a A2 time champion, right, 204 00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:29,040 with Theta. So like she knows how it works. 205 00:09:29,040 --> 00:09:32,080 And so I'm asking her during the race and, and leading up this 206 00:09:32,080 --> 00:09:34,800 week I'm asking her. But even on the broadcast during 207 00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:37,120 the race, I'm like, Hey, why is that team doing that basically 208 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:38,440 right? Like I, I say it in a more 209 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:40,720 elegant way, but it's like, why is this happening? 210 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:42,360 And she does a good job of explaining it to me. 211 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,800 This year in the women's race, it's there's been a big shift in 212 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:48,880 the pits where a lot of the top teams are pitting in, in turn 213 00:09:48,880 --> 00:09:51,400 three this year, whereas in the previous years, it was usually 214 00:09:51,480 --> 00:09:53,840 pretty much every one of the top teams was in turn 1. 215 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:55,640 And then Melanzana would be in turn 3. 216 00:09:55,640 --> 00:09:57,000 They would just be by themselves in turn three. 217 00:09:57,200 --> 00:09:59,160 Well, Melanzana's still in turn three this year, but now they're 218 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:01,920 joined by quite a few other of those top teams this season like 219 00:10:01,920 --> 00:10:04,960 like Delta Gamma, Novus and and WSR, who we might talk about a 220 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:06,600 little bit here. A very interesting team they 221 00:10:06,600 --> 00:10:09,120 are. So it's, it's strategy and, and 222 00:10:09,120 --> 00:10:11,440 just figuring out why certain things are going the way they 223 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:12,920 are. And that's really what's 224 00:10:12,920 --> 00:10:15,240 interesting because the women's race is interesting. 225 00:10:15,240 --> 00:10:17,600 It's 100 laps. And so, you know, it, it could 226 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,440 change so quickly. And then the race is just over 227 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:21,800 almost it feels like sometimes. So it, it, it's really 228 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:23,920 compelling to find out why certain things are going on the 229 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:26,120 way they are. And for me, I'm watching just 230 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:28,520 all over the track to see what's going on and to see why A-Team 231 00:10:28,520 --> 00:10:31,000 may be, you know, racing in a certain way, why they may be 232 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:33,520 exchanging, you know, so quickly or why they may be waiting a 233 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:35,920 long time before exchanges. Just all these different 234 00:10:35,920 --> 00:10:37,840 elements of it are, are so hard to keep track of. 235 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:40,720 But it, it is about just looking at it, assessing what's 236 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:42,520 happening. And then for me, once again, 237 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:45,400 just asking Rachel, hey, why? Why could this team be doing 238 00:10:45,400 --> 00:10:45,720 this? What? 239 00:10:45,880 --> 00:10:48,320 About you. The, the kind of the big thing 240 00:10:48,320 --> 00:10:50,600 the last few years in this kind of post COVID era. 241 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:52,160 Now this will be the, the 4th year. 242 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:54,720 So kind of these seniors will kind of be the, I guess the end 243 00:10:54,720 --> 00:10:56,880 of the first post COVID generation in a sense. 244 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:00,240 But a lot of it is like been failed, like attempts to to 245 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:02,600 break away in the men's race. Like we've seen it the past few 246 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:05,160 years. Sig AAP tried it two years ago. 247 00:11:05,160 --> 00:11:07,080 SAE infamously tried it last year. 248 00:11:07,080 --> 00:11:10,120 Those teams met LED for the most laps in the race and end up 249 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:12,480 getting got caught and they, you know, couldn't quite piece it 250 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:14,280 all together, made too many exchanges engages and 251 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:15,920 essentially burned out their top riders. 252 00:11:15,920 --> 00:11:19,240 And once once the the pack was, which has gotten so much deeper 253 00:11:19,240 --> 00:11:21,600 over the years, was good enough to realize, all right, now we 254 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:24,280 can you know, we sense kind of all right, they're tired, let's 255 00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:26,680 go catch up to them. And then once the race kind of 256 00:11:26,880 --> 00:11:29,280 gets back clumped up again, then it's kind of anyone's race and 257 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:31,200 nobody's favored. And then you just favor the team 258 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:33,800 that has the the most rested rider. 259 00:11:33,800 --> 00:11:35,280 I think that's been the biggest theme. 260 00:11:35,280 --> 00:11:37,760 And I guess for the for the men's race, considering it's 200 261 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,480 laps, it's I think for me, it's focusing on kind of what does a 262 00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:42,840 little 5 mean for these for these athletes? 263 00:11:42,840 --> 00:11:46,040 Really, I mean, these are people that train, you know, every 264 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:49,720 single day, essentially 24/7 for for one day a year. 265 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:51,560 And I think that's what makes this special. 266 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:53,840 And these are guys that, you know, train all year round but 267 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:56,360 don't get the attention and they rely on the alums. 268 00:11:56,360 --> 00:11:58,920 And it's it's a brotherhood and all the cliches that you hear. 269 00:11:58,920 --> 00:12:01,760 But I think focusing on what little 5 means to these guys and 270 00:12:01,760 --> 00:12:04,240 then like talking to black key bulls this spring, it's like, 271 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:06,720 all right, now that you've won, kind of how do you how is your 272 00:12:06,720 --> 00:12:09,400 perception of little 5 changed? And they all kind of gave 273 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:12,120 different answers to how it's, it's really more than just the 274 00:12:12,120 --> 00:12:14,560 one race day, which The thing is the big, the biggest thing that, 275 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:16,840 you know, the casual viewer does not fully understand. 276 00:12:16,840 --> 00:12:19,320 Yeah, it's there's a lot that goes into it. 277 00:12:19,320 --> 00:12:22,520 And if you haven't watched two days in April, the docuseries 278 00:12:22,520 --> 00:12:25,120 that tries to capture a lot of that, you can go to Instagram, 279 00:12:25,120 --> 00:12:28,880 go to the IU sports media page and catch more information on on 280 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:31,320 what those different teams are doing and and how they make it 281 00:12:31,320 --> 00:12:33,800 not just through the spring series, but also what they're 282 00:12:33,800 --> 00:12:35,960 doing throughout the rest of the year. 283 00:12:36,920 --> 00:12:38,840 As we go into this particular race. 284 00:12:39,320 --> 00:12:42,200 Zion Levy, let's talk with the women's race 1st and then we'll 285 00:12:42,200 --> 00:12:45,480 go to the men's Austin. So you know, you mentioned a 286 00:12:45,480 --> 00:12:48,840 couple of teams earlier on as as being contenders and, and you 287 00:12:48,840 --> 00:12:51,320 look at the qualifying right now, you've got Theta who's 288 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:54,440 always up there. You've got DG on the pole, Delta 289 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,000 Gamma Novus right in the middle of row one. 290 00:12:57,360 --> 00:13:00,040 And then you've got some teams that have have been relevant 291 00:13:00,040 --> 00:13:02,560 here lately. Melanzana in row 2 obviously is 292 00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:06,000 1. You know, Akio is, is certainly 293 00:13:06,000 --> 00:13:08,200 a contender this year. The women's race tends to be a 294 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:10,760 little more compressed in terms of the most of the contending 295 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:14,000 teams are at the front of the Packer close to it. 296 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:16,520 But this is an interesting one because it feels like we have 297 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:19,360 several teams that could really be in contention this year. 298 00:13:19,360 --> 00:13:22,360 What are you seeing in terms of your analysis and what are you 299 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,440 expecting to be the most contending teams as we go into 300 00:13:25,440 --> 00:13:28,400 race day on Friday? I think the overarching theme in 301 00:13:28,400 --> 00:13:32,320 the women's race is that it is a very young field as far as the 302 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:34,440 experience that a lot of these riders have. 303 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:37,440 I mean, I think last year was maybe on the more experienced 304 00:13:37,440 --> 00:13:38,280 side. And so of course you get a 305 00:13:38,280 --> 00:13:41,160 little bit younger and but I think you have to start with 306 00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:42,800 Ako, right? In the women's field, they won 307 00:13:42,800 --> 00:13:44,920 the spring series. Once again, doesn't mean going 308 00:13:44,920 --> 00:13:46,640 to win the race, but they won the spring series. 309 00:13:46,800 --> 00:13:48,800 They have Libby Lewis, who has kind of taken over a lot of 310 00:13:48,800 --> 00:13:50,840 headlines. She won ITT as a freshman, the 311 00:13:50,840 --> 00:13:53,440 first freshman to ever do that. So I think it starts there for 312 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:54,920 the woman's race. You look at them and you're, 313 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:57,160 you're curious to see what they can do Theta. 314 00:13:57,520 --> 00:13:59,000 They do have experience, right, coming back. 315 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:00,880 They have three of their four riders from last year. 316 00:14:01,000 --> 00:14:03,360 Their best rider last year was Audrey La Valle, who who is gone 317 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:05,560 now. But the three, three of the 318 00:14:05,560 --> 00:14:07,880 other riders that rode and won them the race last year are 319 00:14:07,880 --> 00:14:09,560 returning. So I I look at them and you say, 320 00:14:09,560 --> 00:14:12,720 OK, they are going to be there in that top five top 6 grouping 321 00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:14,680 at the end that could really break away and win the race. 322 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:16,520 And then DG intrigues me a lot, right? 323 00:14:16,520 --> 00:14:18,840 They they won the poll. So obviously they're doing 324 00:14:18,840 --> 00:14:20,520 something right. And then everybody keeps calling 325 00:14:20,520 --> 00:14:21,240 them. I was talking back there. 326 00:14:21,240 --> 00:14:22,600 Everybody keeps calling them a rookie team. 327 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:24,840 Caitlin May wants everyone to know if you're listening, 328 00:14:24,880 --> 00:14:27,800 Caitlin, she is not a rookie. She just, she went abroad last 329 00:14:27,800 --> 00:14:30,920 year in her junior year, but she rode 2 years ago as a sophomore. 330 00:14:31,160 --> 00:14:32,680 So they are not a full rookie team. 331 00:14:32,680 --> 00:14:34,720 They have a little bit of experience on race day. 332 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:36,840 And then obviously the other three are, are talented enough 333 00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:38,240 as you saw with the winning claws. 334 00:14:38,240 --> 00:14:40,280 So those are the three or four teams I'm only looking at. 335 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:42,840 You've mentioned Novus as well. Dorothy Curran Munoz is very 336 00:14:42,840 --> 00:14:45,840 likely or very possibly the best writer in the women's field, 337 00:14:45,840 --> 00:14:47,680 right? It's obviously it's a team race, 338 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:49,440 so you you need all four to come through. 339 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,760 But Dorothy has been great for a few years now and she's somebody 340 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:54,960 who is really hungry to get that win right. 341 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:57,520 Obviously she's so energetic about this race and it would be 342 00:14:57,520 --> 00:14:59,760 a great storyline to see them cross the finish line with her 343 00:14:59,960 --> 00:15:01,720 win the race for him. And as you mentioned, it's 344 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:04,760 interesting with the women's race because it's shorter, it's 345 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:06,680 100 laps. And so you've just got a whole 346 00:15:06,680 --> 00:15:09,960 different set of strategies. We have seen a team successfully 347 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:13,240 break away a couple of years ago and and essentially lap the 348 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:15,400 field and by the time everybody figured out what was going on, 349 00:15:15,520 --> 00:15:17,920 it was over. But that hasn't been the case 350 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:21,440 with most of the women's, you know, fields over the course of 351 00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:23,840 time. And so it, it is really 352 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:25,400 interesting because the race is shorter. 353 00:15:25,400 --> 00:15:28,480 The other thing to keep in mind for Friday is that is the day 354 00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:31,920 that's got the weather in the forecast, rain, potentially 355 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:35,280 thunderstorms. We had a situation a couple of 356 00:15:35,280 --> 00:15:37,800 years ago, I think it was actually in the same race where 357 00:15:37,800 --> 00:15:40,080 we had the breakaway where they actually had to delay the start 358 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:43,000 of the race by like almost an hour and a half because of rain. 359 00:15:43,280 --> 00:15:46,480 So now going into this not knowing what the weather 360 00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:48,720 situation is going to be, but knowing it's going to be warm, 361 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:50,280 the track is probably going to be tamped down. 362 00:15:50,280 --> 00:15:53,360 It could be a faster track as a result of that, but it could 363 00:15:53,360 --> 00:15:55,920 also affect strategy, not just in terms of pitting, but if you 364 00:15:55,920 --> 00:15:57,640 have to have a stoppage or things like that. 365 00:15:57,680 --> 00:15:59,960 There's so many different factors you can't really think 366 00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:01,960 about until you get into it. Absolutely. 367 00:16:01,960 --> 00:16:04,440 And that's something to watch for as far as crashes go as 368 00:16:04,440 --> 00:16:07,360 well, because last year we had a couple of early crashes because 369 00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:10,280 the women's foot wasn't used to having a 433 up until last year. 370 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:12,480 Well, back-to-back years now they have that 433. 371 00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:14,520 There were 36 at quals this season. 372 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:16,800 And obviously three of them didn't didn't make the race, but 373 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:17,920 that's something to watch for, right? 374 00:16:17,920 --> 00:16:20,040 It's going to be even more kind of clustered up there, 375 00:16:20,040 --> 00:16:21,200 especially at the beginning of the race. 376 00:16:21,200 --> 00:16:24,160 So depending on what the weather is, I'm still, I look at it like 377 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:27,120 every like four or five hours Galen, I'm like, OK, when the 378 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:28,920 race starts at 4, it'll be like this. 379 00:16:28,920 --> 00:16:31,440 And then around 5530. So it's just like. 380 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:35,160 I've been looking at it for 45 days, so you know, every couple 381 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:37,760 hours it it. Just always changes, right? 382 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:40,000 It was like last at the beginning of last week, it was 383 00:16:40,000 --> 00:16:41,880 like, oh man, it's going to be pretty bad for both races. 384 00:16:42,160 --> 00:16:44,240 Then last Wednesday or Thursday I was like, oh, it, it might 385 00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:45,840 look pretty good. And then we get to this weekend. 386 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,560 It's like, never mind. So like you still have no clue 387 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:51,000 even what are we a little over 72 hours out now? 388 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:53,680 You still have no clue exactly what it's going to be like. 389 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:56,000 And like you said, that'll definitely change team strategy 390 00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,400 just depending on how hard it's coming down on Friday. 391 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:02,120 Platt, let's talk about the men's race. 392 00:17:02,120 --> 00:17:04,560 Like this is a different type of field. 393 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:07,599 You've got a lot of teams that seem like they're really close 394 00:17:07,599 --> 00:17:09,960 to each other in this process. What are your thoughts going 395 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:11,640 into this one? It's kind of the opposite of 396 00:17:11,640 --> 00:17:13,160 what Zion said. There's a ton of returning 397 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:15,920 riders, I think, and there's like they're looking back at 398 00:17:15,920 --> 00:17:17,359 last year. Like there's a few name big 399 00:17:17,359 --> 00:17:19,800 names that graduate Josh Herbs is probably one of the biggest 400 00:17:19,800 --> 00:17:23,000 ones from from delts. But a lot of the the top teams 401 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,400 and it's a 3 headed monster here like Blackie bulls, SAE and 402 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,040 Qatars are the top three and talking to people, people would 403 00:17:29,040 --> 00:17:32,200 be surprised if those aren't the three in the at the podium at 404 00:17:32,200 --> 00:17:34,840 the very end. But, you know, basically most of 405 00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,000 the the top riders are back. SAE returns all four riders from 406 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:40,680 last year and they have the best rider in the race and Luke Noss. 407 00:17:40,920 --> 00:17:43,000 And just the question is, are they going to be able to save 408 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:45,400 them up for a Sprint finish? Because nobody wants to be going 409 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:47,920 against Luke Noss in a Sprint finish if that's the way it 410 00:17:47,920 --> 00:17:49,800 ends. But he's just one of two riders 411 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:51,520 that's riding in his fourth race. 412 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:54,120 But there's three or four teams that return all four riders. 413 00:17:54,120 --> 00:17:57,320 Blackie Bulls returns their top 2 with Will and Wiley. 414 00:17:58,040 --> 00:17:59,800 Both were on that winning team last year. 415 00:17:59,960 --> 00:18:01,880 And then I mean, it's Judah Thompson with cutters. 416 00:18:01,880 --> 00:18:04,280 And you could, you know, put the three of us in that race with 417 00:18:04,280 --> 00:18:06,760 Judah and you'd still give us a shot because that's how good 418 00:18:06,760 --> 00:18:08,800 Judah is and that's how much experience he has. 419 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:10,720 And he won the race his freshman year. 420 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:13,560 But I think one of the biggest things is how talented, how deep 421 00:18:13,560 --> 00:18:18,840 this field is that the times come from, from Qualls this year 422 00:18:18,840 --> 00:18:22,560 to last year, insane teams are getting 7-8, up to 10 second 423 00:18:22,560 --> 00:18:25,160 improvements in time. So the field is deeper, the 424 00:18:25,160 --> 00:18:27,640 field is stronger. And that's why I think no one 425 00:18:27,640 --> 00:18:30,120 expects, you know, that breakaway 10 because the pack is 426 00:18:30,120 --> 00:18:32,920 good enough to catch up and you really have to do it perfectly 427 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:35,400 if you truly want to break away. And it's going to be tough to 428 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:37,320 lap the field. Mellon's on it, you know, put 429 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:39,880 that, you know, basically to a tee when they did it 430 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:41,800 successfully. The men's race is not as easy to 431 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:43,840 do that. But for me, it's the experience 432 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,040 that a lot of the teams bring back the returning riders. 433 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:50,560 And it still is those top three. But I think a lot of teams still 434 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:53,040 give themselves a shot to finish in the top five. 435 00:18:53,040 --> 00:18:55,320 And if something happens like the way it did last year were 436 00:18:55,320 --> 00:18:57,840 the, you know, a crash in the pit boxes was essentially what 437 00:18:58,080 --> 00:19:00,480 ended the race for for Sigapp and Will Pitts then. 438 00:19:00,800 --> 00:19:02,160 And obviously anything can happen then. 439 00:19:02,560 --> 00:19:07,000 It's interesting you mentioned Cutters as as one of the teams 440 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:11,040 that is in contention. They're on the outside of row 4. 441 00:19:11,040 --> 00:19:14,800 They didn't have a great calls, you know, Blackie, Bulls and SAE 442 00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,720 right up there at the front. That can be a big issue early on 443 00:19:18,720 --> 00:19:21,400 in the race because it's when everybody's the closest 444 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,600 together. You get those issues in terms of 445 00:19:23,720 --> 00:19:26,240 of people not knowing where they are in, in relation to other 446 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:29,040 riders. We've seen early crashes and 447 00:19:29,040 --> 00:19:30,280 things. So something to keep an eye on 448 00:19:30,280 --> 00:19:31,960 with cutters if they can avoid all of that. 449 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:34,320 They're normally really savvy writers though, so it's it's not 450 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:36,920 as much of A concern. And the fact that you have that 451 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:39,920 many writers in general in the field who know what they're 452 00:19:39,920 --> 00:19:43,760 doing is going to be, I think, a really interesting thing, as it 453 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:45,160 should be, a more professional start. 454 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:46,520 I think that maybe we've had in some past. 455 00:19:46,520 --> 00:19:49,440 Years, hopefully, yeah. And I think that the rain that 456 00:19:49,440 --> 00:19:51,840 we're supposed to get Friday and then a light rain Saturday 457 00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:54,440 morning will definitely help the track in that sense. 458 00:19:54,440 --> 00:19:56,960 And although another thing that casual doesn't understand is 459 00:19:56,960 --> 00:19:58,840 rain helps the track, this is good for the riders. 460 00:19:58,840 --> 00:20:01,800 It makes it safer, makes it so that those loose sediments don't 461 00:20:01,800 --> 00:20:04,000 necessarily pop up and you're not, you know, getting a bunch 462 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,240 of dust that flies up and, you know, that the tires are 463 00:20:06,240 --> 00:20:09,120 skidding as much. That should create for a safer 464 00:20:09,120 --> 00:20:10,480 start. To the race and obviously with a 465 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:13,280 ton of experience you would expect that either way, but the 466 00:20:13,280 --> 00:20:15,760 rain is a good thing if we do get a little bit of it Saturday 467 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,360 morning. One of the other things to note 468 00:20:18,360 --> 00:20:20,960 about this race is just the pageantry and and kind of the 469 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:24,480 atmosphere on race day and especially in that hour or so 470 00:20:24,480 --> 00:20:26,640 leading up. It's always my favorite time on 471 00:20:26,640 --> 00:20:29,960 campus in any given year. You know, you get the you get 472 00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:32,080 back home and get Indiana, you get the Anthem, you get all the 473 00:20:32,080 --> 00:20:35,360 different things in the lead up. What's that like being in the 474 00:20:35,360 --> 00:20:37,600 broadcast booth and just kind of watching all that happen? 475 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:39,080 These guys aren't generally talking. 476 00:20:39,360 --> 00:20:41,360 We're down on the field with the PA Mike. 477 00:20:41,360 --> 00:20:43,600 So you get a chance to absorb it a little bit before you jump 478 00:20:43,600 --> 00:20:46,200 back in into the main broadcast itself. 479 00:20:46,200 --> 00:20:49,800 Like, how do you process that as a broadcaster and how does that 480 00:20:49,800 --> 00:20:51,880 help you get ready for what you're about to do? 481 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:56,360 For me, last year, I would say it was like a 5050 split of like 482 00:20:56,360 --> 00:20:59,440 me, like appreciating and taking in that pageantry that you're 483 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:00,760 Speaking of. And also me being like, all 484 00:21:00,760 --> 00:21:03,400 right, well, I got to like, like, like be like, all right, 485 00:21:03,400 --> 00:21:05,560 well, this is it. Like I've been, you know, 486 00:21:05,600 --> 00:21:07,360 prepping for this for a few months and like here it is. 487 00:21:07,360 --> 00:21:09,760 So like, it's a it's a strange feeling, right? 488 00:21:09,760 --> 00:21:11,640 It's like, it's like we see, I think it's Chris Jones on the 489 00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:14,440 Chiefs who like one tear will come out of his eye during the 490 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:16,480 national anthem. And it's like the strangest 491 00:21:16,480 --> 00:21:18,120 thing ever. And he's preparing to like beat 492 00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:19,520 up on some random quarterback, right? 493 00:21:19,760 --> 00:21:22,360 That's like, that's how I feel watching like back home again, 494 00:21:22,360 --> 00:21:24,880 being played there and then the invocation and all of that. 495 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:27,400 It's like, OK, well, this is like the time to to get ready 496 00:21:27,400 --> 00:21:29,480 and just, you know, lock in for the race. 497 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:31,560 I'm sure the writers are probably experiencing something 498 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:32,840 similar, right? Like they're looking up at their 499 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:35,360 fans and their their cheering section like, wow, look at this. 500 00:21:35,360 --> 00:21:36,960 And they're also like, well, here we go. 501 00:21:36,960 --> 00:21:39,400 Like I've been training for this since August and this is it, 502 00:21:39,400 --> 00:21:43,360 right? So it's definitely harrowing 503 00:21:43,360 --> 00:21:45,480 moment, a little bit maybe humbling moment just to be like, 504 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:47,520 wow, we're here, right? And this is the moment, this is 505 00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:50,200 the start of the race. So it's fun, but it's also just 506 00:21:50,200 --> 00:21:52,360 a lot of thoughts going through the head during that time. 507 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:54,160 Plaid, I want to ask you a different question. 508 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:57,080 You're not an Indiana native. You're from Connecticut. 509 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:00,080 So what's it been like? I mean, you, you came here. 510 00:22:00,080 --> 00:22:02,720 I don't know if you knew what to expect when you came to IU, but 511 00:22:02,720 --> 00:22:06,160 to be in what I've always said, it's got one of the most unique 512 00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:08,760 cultural experiences for any college or university. 513 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:11,520 And it's very Indiana thing. Like how has it been being not 514 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:14,080 just an observer to that, but a translator of that to people? 515 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:18,480 It's it's spine tingling almost and you know, experience it and 516 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:20,360 then trying to explain it to other people, it's like 517 00:22:20,360 --> 00:22:22,280 impossible. It's how do you go back home to 518 00:22:22,280 --> 00:22:23,960 New Canaan and like explain all this? 519 00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:26,040 Like how does that work? It doesn't work. 520 00:22:26,040 --> 00:22:27,160 It's like, all right, you're just here. 521 00:22:27,160 --> 00:22:29,520 I'll send you the link for the race and watch the beginning and 522 00:22:29,520 --> 00:22:33,080 what it is, what it is, But it's tough to like truly take it in. 523 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,600 Like the riders. There's a certain point where 524 00:22:35,600 --> 00:22:38,080 they want to look at this, the fans and see everyone that's 525 00:22:38,080 --> 00:22:39,600 there supporting them. That's like, all right, we want 526 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:41,880 to lock in and we don't have to, you know, think about the fans 527 00:22:41,880 --> 00:22:43,680 for the rest of time. For me, it's the opposite, like 528 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:45,080 during the national anthem and back home again. 529 00:22:45,080 --> 00:22:47,240 It's like this year, I really want to make sure like take a 530 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:50,120 video during all of it, like and try and take it all in because 531 00:22:50,320 --> 00:22:52,920 it's not easy to do that. And I'm like, I'm telling myself 532 00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:54,000 like, am I going to cry during this? 533 00:22:54,000 --> 00:22:56,760 Like is it going to be like emotional at all you have? 534 00:22:57,080 --> 00:22:58,560 You have essentially interns this year. 535 00:22:58,560 --> 00:23:00,160 You have spotters. You should have them take the 536 00:23:00,160 --> 00:23:01,360 videos. For you, I can do that. 537 00:23:01,360 --> 00:23:03,680 Yes, I do. I do have the the the that's a 538 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:04,920 good point. Do not think about that. 539 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:07,320 Add that to the list of fans that for man spotters to do 540 00:23:07,320 --> 00:23:08,400 right. Thank you for that. 541 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:10,600 I'm the executive producer. I've come up with the ideas. 542 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:13,760 What can I say, you know. But no, look, you guys have done 543 00:23:13,760 --> 00:23:16,440 a great job with it and it's always gratifying for me. 544 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:19,760 I remember when I when I approached people about working 545 00:23:19,760 --> 00:23:22,840 this race, whether it's you all or Riley Woodall or Cara Adams 546 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:27,120 who are going to be in the field for us as student reporters, or 547 00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:29,720 Emily Fox or Kennedy, Ray Clower, Brenda Tanaka or any of 548 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:31,560 the folks in the control booth, Henry thus going to be the 549 00:23:31,560 --> 00:23:35,320 director. It's tough because little five 550 00:23:35,320 --> 00:23:38,760 week and especially little five weekend, it's like the it's the 551 00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:43,720 culmination socially for most people on campus and most people 552 00:23:43,720 --> 00:23:45,960 are at the bars or they're at the stadium and then they're at 553 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:48,040 the bars or their house. I mean, everybody who's been to 554 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:50,400 IU knows how a little five week goes. 555 00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:52,680 So you have to kind of voluntarily give a lot of that 556 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:55,760 up in order to work the race. So I just want to say I 557 00:23:55,760 --> 00:23:57,920 appreciate both of you being willing to do that for a couple 558 00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:01,160 of years seriously, because when I pitched this to students, I'm 559 00:24:01,160 --> 00:24:02,560 like, well, this is really prestigious. 560 00:24:02,560 --> 00:24:05,520 It's probably the thing that I enjoy us doing in sports media 561 00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:07,720 the most in a given year, certainly thing I enjoy 562 00:24:07,720 --> 00:24:10,400 producing the most. And yet I know it's a big social 563 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,640 sacrifice for a lot of people. But I hope that like, the event 564 00:24:13,640 --> 00:24:16,440 itself ends up being worth that sacrifice. 565 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:20,360 And plus, like Saturday night exists, as I always tell people, 566 00:24:20,360 --> 00:24:22,240 it's not like that goes away because you have to work in the 567 00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:23,760 middle of the day. Yeah. 568 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:27,120 And and the thing I would say is just not many people get to do 569 00:24:27,120 --> 00:24:29,720 something like this right from a broadcasting perspective. 570 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:33,160 So for me, it's like, OK, I give up going out on Thursday night. 571 00:24:33,160 --> 00:24:37,040 Like whoop Dee Doo, you know, you know, every Thursday nights 572 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:38,200 we can now you gave this you gave. 573 00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:39,800 That one night. Congratulations. 574 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:42,280 Well done. But it's like, but it's like not 575 00:24:42,280 --> 00:24:45,320 many people get to to call this race and and be a part of it in 576 00:24:45,320 --> 00:24:46,760 this way. So it's just like it's a, it's a 577 00:24:46,760 --> 00:24:49,440 fun opportunity. It's something it's only unique, 578 00:24:49,440 --> 00:24:51,520 you know, as we're going into the job market looking for jobs, 579 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,120 it's like, Hey, I called this random race, but it's like, and 580 00:24:54,120 --> 00:24:56,160 it's like, I probably won't call anything like this random race 581 00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:59,520 wherever I go, but it just shows I can do random other events, 582 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:03,000 you know, So it's like it, it's so fun and it and I would not 583 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,440 trade a couple nights more nights at the bar for it. 584 00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:09,600 Yeah, it's I, I think to myself this a lot. 585 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:11,720 And I'll probably tell people this, this is probably like the 586 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,840 coolest thing I'll ever do, like from a broadcasting perspective. 587 00:25:14,840 --> 00:25:18,000 And something as uniquely Hoosier is literally what the 588 00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:20,800 little 500 bio says. That's literally we're going to 589 00:25:20,800 --> 00:25:23,720 take it as. But it's a unique experience. 590 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,120 Talking to the riders for me is like the, the most rewarding 591 00:25:26,120 --> 00:25:28,360 thing. And like last year the day after 592 00:25:28,360 --> 00:25:31,080 the race, like getting texts from people like, Hey, I watched 593 00:25:31,080 --> 00:25:33,000 the race back. My parents said this like that's 594 00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:35,920 like the most rewarding part because it's about them And it's 595 00:25:35,920 --> 00:25:38,760 about these people who, you know, work year round, you know, 596 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:41,640 they're that, you know, we go on spring break or we don't usually 597 00:25:41,640 --> 00:25:43,120 go on spring break. We're usually broadcasting 598 00:25:43,120 --> 00:25:44,560 stuff. These people don't go on spring 599 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:45,800 break. They're here in Bloomington 600 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:47,640 around the track. You know, we go home for the 601 00:25:47,640 --> 00:25:49,280 holidays. They go to Florida on a, on a 602 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:52,640 trip, drive 18 hours and bike. So that's kind of what you're 603 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:54,600 doing it for. And I think that's the the most 604 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:57,560 rewarding part is to see them appreciate the work that we do 605 00:25:57,560 --> 00:25:59,320 because it's nowhere near the work that they do. 606 00:25:59,400 --> 00:26:02,560 But obviously it's still a complicated process to to get to 607 00:26:02,560 --> 00:26:05,080 race day as broadcasters and eventually to talk to all the 608 00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:07,360 riders, which is not easy. As we've mentioned before, 609 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,520 trying to put people schedules together is is not easy right 610 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:12,320 And. Well, and I think it's it's an 611 00:26:12,320 --> 00:26:15,920 important point and I just wanna say thank you to IU Student 612 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,120 Foundation and to all of the teams. 613 00:26:18,960 --> 00:26:21,840 Like, you know, we cover IU varsity athletics all the time. 614 00:26:21,840 --> 00:26:24,520 You guys have gotten the chance with Mike Wells class to cover 615 00:26:24,520 --> 00:26:26,800 some professional sports up in Indy, which has been great. 616 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:30,680 But all of those experiences there are media relations people 617 00:26:30,680 --> 00:26:33,000 or sports information people. They're they very tightly 618 00:26:33,000 --> 00:26:36,560 control access who's communicating what and they have 619 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:38,400 reasons for doing that. They have organizational 620 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:41,760 reasons. But the openness with which most 621 00:26:41,760 --> 00:26:44,200 of the teams work with us and the riders and their willingness 622 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:49,000 to talk like this is it's a, it's a much more direct form of 623 00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:51,840 interaction with athletes than what you're normally able to get 624 00:26:51,840 --> 00:26:54,880 if you're working full time in sports media because the the 625 00:26:54,880 --> 00:26:57,040 barriers aren't there. And for most of them, it's about 626 00:26:57,040 --> 00:26:59,480 telling the story of the team, telling their individual 627 00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:00,800 stories. I've always felt that that was 628 00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:04,080 kind of the coolest aspect of it is how open the access tends to 629 00:27:04,080 --> 00:27:06,440 be. Yeah. 630 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:08,080 I think that this is the the best part. 631 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:10,480 And I think over the last few years, I think teams are more 632 00:27:10,480 --> 00:27:14,840 receptive to us and willing to, to talk and tell their stories 633 00:27:14,840 --> 00:27:17,960 and try and differentiate basically every single team on 634 00:27:17,960 --> 00:27:20,120 what they do. And it's for me, it's like, I 635 00:27:20,120 --> 00:27:22,720 want to know, like the funny stories, like what's the, the 636 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:24,720 spring break moment that brought everyone together? 637 00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:26,800 What's that meal that, that everyone loves to eat? 638 00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:27,880 Who likes to cook? Whatever. 639 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:31,240 It's the, the little things that you can kind of you read on BIOS 640 00:27:31,240 --> 00:27:33,400 during, you know, the basketball team, those little, the, the 641 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:35,040 personal information. That's the stuff I like the 642 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:36,600 most. And that's the stuff I try and 643 00:27:36,600 --> 00:27:38,400 look for when talking to the writers. 644 00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:41,720 No, I, I would agree with that. It is, it's a lot different than 645 00:27:41,720 --> 00:27:44,840 like you said, those, those pro or, or Division One high level, 646 00:27:44,880 --> 00:27:46,680 you know, college athletics where it's just like, OK, well, 647 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:49,680 we just find their e-mail, find their phone number and say, Hey, 648 00:27:49,800 --> 00:27:51,160 would you answer these few questions for me? 649 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:53,040 And the way I'd always put it is like, Hey, I don't want to 650 00:27:53,040 --> 00:27:54,960 misrepresent you guys on the broadcast, right? 651 00:27:54,960 --> 00:27:57,960 Because as, as Austin knows, that'll come back around to you. 652 00:27:58,040 --> 00:27:59,880 You know, it's maybe it's happened with softball this year 653 00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:02,200 where it's like, oh, you said this about my daughter and that 654 00:28:02,200 --> 00:28:03,640 wasn't right. Or were you just like, well, I 655 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:08,000 it's the e-mail, you know, so. Check the spam folder. 656 00:28:08,200 --> 00:28:10,000 Literally that. So with little 5, it's like, 657 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:12,480 hey, just answer the e-mail and we'll, we'll do our best to 658 00:28:12,480 --> 00:28:15,240 represent whatever you and your team stand for and, and whatnot. 659 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:18,080 And so it's fun to reach out and to, to realize they're just 660 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:20,040 people, right? These are we, we go through it 661 00:28:20,040 --> 00:28:22,120 during the season with, like you said, the other sports, 662 00:28:22,120 --> 00:28:23,920 football, basketball, baseball, softball, whatnot. 663 00:28:24,200 --> 00:28:27,120 But it's different when it's just little 5 and these people 664 00:28:27,120 --> 00:28:29,200 are, are as humble as you are, they're on some sort of 665 00:28:29,200 --> 00:28:31,760 scholarship or whatnot. They're just, they're a junior 666 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:33,920 senior like we are, and we're just chatting it up and just 667 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:36,400 being like, hey, how do you prepare for the race or some 668 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:37,480 things you like to do in your free time? 669 00:28:37,480 --> 00:28:40,000 And just just realizing that that these are just people just 670 00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:42,320 like us, but they're also been training. 671 00:28:42,360 --> 00:28:44,600 They've also been training since August and are about to be on 672 00:28:44,600 --> 00:28:46,600 this huge broadcast and this huge race that they're going 673 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:50,440 through. There's also been now in four 674 00:28:50,440 --> 00:28:53,000 years of of being around this race, there have been three 675 00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:55,120 different race directors, which is another thing that like 676 00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:57,000 completely like throws a wrench into things. 677 00:28:57,880 --> 00:28:59,320 Exactly. So it's like everyone has a 678 00:28:59,320 --> 00:29:00,960 different opinion. You know, certain some people 679 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:04,040 are former riders and they kind of changes the way you see the 680 00:29:04,040 --> 00:29:06,360 race and go about talking to people and your kind of 681 00:29:06,600 --> 00:29:09,040 perception of the race because that was something like coming 682 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:10,640 in like, I have no idea what this race is about. 683 00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,400 Like I remember I met with the thing was Hank Duncan in my my 684 00:29:13,400 --> 00:29:15,080 freshman year and I was like, all right, like now I have 685 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:16,880 actually have an understanding what this is about. 686 00:29:17,040 --> 00:29:20,360 And now it's Peter Schultz, a former AK Si writer, or there 687 00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:23,040 was ironically no team last year after he was on the team two 688 00:29:23,040 --> 00:29:24,920 years ago. So that's kind of a funny story. 689 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:27,040 But yeah, working now with different race directors. 690 00:29:27,040 --> 00:29:30,080 And obviously Emily Carico's still around the race, so she's 691 00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:32,600 obviously a great talking point. But it's always you can always 692 00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:34,480 pick someone's brain and get something different. 693 00:29:34,600 --> 00:29:35,760 Yeah, it's amazing. I love it. 694 00:29:36,120 --> 00:29:38,400 Well, you guys do a great job with things and we'll look 695 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:40,560 forward to tuning in. Well, the rest of you look 696 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:42,240 forward to tuning in. I will be sitting in the press 697 00:29:42,240 --> 00:29:45,280 box, I guess doing something this year. 698 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:47,640 Emily Fox has made it so I don't have to do a whole lot. 699 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:49,200 So thank you to Emily for all of that. 700 00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:52,840 She's been great coordinating things behind the scenes and we 701 00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:54,880 hope everybody tunes in for both of these races. 702 00:29:55,160 --> 00:30:00,080 It'll be a 4:00 start on Friday as the women's race will get 703 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:04,440 underway about 4/27, 4:30 somewhere in that range, but you 704 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:08,360 don't want to miss the pre race. And then on Saturday, we will 705 00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:11,160 start the broadcast at 1:00 PM. All of this weather permitting. 706 00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:15,040 Be sure to tune into the IU Sports Media Twitter feed or you 707 00:30:15,040 --> 00:30:17,280 can just you'll catch Crimson cast on Twitter. 708 00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:19,160 I'll probably tweeting some stuff out about it as well. 709 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:23,080 But Zion Brown and Austin Platt, thank you for joining me. 710 00:30:23,520 --> 00:30:25,560 Have a great broadcast. Looking forward to hearing what 711 00:30:25,560 --> 00:30:28,640 you guys do and have a great week here just in general as we 712 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:31,320 get ready for the Little 500 race weekend. 713 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:33,040 Thanks for. Having us. 714 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:35,640 Thanks for joining us, folks here on Crimsey Cast. 715 00:30:35,640 --> 00:30:37,240 We'll be back with more later on in the week. 716 00:30:37,240 --> 00:30:40,280 New signing for IU basketball, which I guess means another 717 00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:43,080 emergency pod at some point, so you'll probably see me on that. 718 00:30:43,240 --> 00:30:46,120 Until then, stay never daunted. Bring back the Bison. 719 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:46,960 So long, everybody.