1 00:00:06,360 --> 00:00:09,560 You're listening to the Back Home Network presented by Home 2 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:19,840 Field Apparel. Welcome back to Crimson. 3 00:00:19,840 --> 00:00:21,720 Cast folks. Galen Clavier joining you here. 4 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:27,240 It is the 17th of April. And one day after Indiana got 5 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:29,440 some more good news in the basketball portal on the men's 6 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:33,200 side, we're going to talk about that to start off this show real 7 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:36,080 quick and dive into a bunch of other content. 8 00:00:36,080 --> 00:00:38,000 We had a bunch of content coming up throughout the course of this 9 00:00:38,000 --> 00:00:41,600 week and I hope you enjoy it. We we had Courtney Cronin on 10 00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,240 you. You either watched or listened 11 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:46,200 hopefully to that podcast beforehand. 12 00:00:46,480 --> 00:00:51,280 We've got Rachel Brown, who is one of the commentators for the 13 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:54,920 Little 500 broadcast coming up later on in this show. 14 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,880 And of course Little Five week is this week, the the world's 15 00:00:58,880 --> 00:01:02,840 greatest College weekend back again here in Bloomington as the 16 00:01:02,840 --> 00:01:05,040 women's race is going to be taking place on the 19th the 17 00:01:05,040 --> 00:01:08,440 men's race on Saturday the 20th. Rachel going to be helping to 18 00:01:08,440 --> 00:01:11,880 commentate the women's race alongside Zion Brown, Katie 19 00:01:11,880 --> 00:01:15,840 Capusto, Riley Woodall and Kara Adams, so be sure to tune in. 20 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:20,240 That's a 4:00 start to the broadcast, followed by the race 21 00:01:20,240 --> 00:01:22,800 very shortly afterwards. And then on. 22 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,560 Saturday, it'll be the men's race with the broadcast starting 23 00:01:25,560 --> 00:01:26,800 at 2:00. You can find 24 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:32,880 those@broadcast.iu.edu. Just go to broadcast.iu.edu, 25 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:35,600 You'll be able to find the links from there. 26 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:39,720 And yeah, I think if you haven't watched the broadcast before, 27 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:41,640 I'm biased 'cause I produced the broadcast. 28 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:44,640 But I think it's a really good show and it's a really 29 00:01:44,640 --> 00:01:47,000 fascinating event if you've never been to little 500, or if 30 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,840 you went and you were in an altered state of mind when you 31 00:01:49,840 --> 00:01:52,640 went. It's a really exciting athletic 32 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:56,280 event and and there's there's great competitors, great 33 00:01:56,280 --> 00:01:59,240 athletes participating and even if you know nothing about 34 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:03,720 cycling, it's a lot of fun. So TuneIn to little 500 35 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:07,160 broadcast again, broadcast.iu.edu 4:00 Friday of 36 00:02:07,160 --> 00:02:10,560 this week, 2:00 Saturday. Before we get to our 37 00:02:10,560 --> 00:02:14,000 conversation with Rachel, I wanted to talk a little bit 38 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:17,560 about the news that's been going on with IU over the course of 39 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:20,320 the last couple of what really about the last week. 40 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:23,800 Some good news coming down the Pike with IU finally getting 41 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:27,320 some Portal signings and a couple of really impressive 42 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:31,200 looking players coming in. Of course the news I think it 43 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:36,120 was late last week that Miles Rice gonna be joining IU was a 44 00:02:36,120 --> 00:02:40,360 freshman guard at Washington State and you know some really 45 00:02:40,360 --> 00:02:44,200 impressive metrics for a freshman 6, three, 180 lbs. 46 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:48,040 So you know is built you know in a way that you know has some 47 00:02:48,040 --> 00:02:54,360 athleticism, was in the top 300 in assist rate was among the 48 00:02:54,360 --> 00:02:57,520 players that played the most minutes in the country. 49 00:02:57,520 --> 00:02:59,920 I think it was 100, like basically 210 minutes in the 50 00:02:59,920 --> 00:03:04,360 country as far as total percentage was concerned and was 51 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:08,080 a player that really generated a lot of of defensive stops, had a 52 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,760 lot of steals. And you look at his statistics 53 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:14,960 offensively and and clearly from a shooting perspective still a 54 00:03:14,960 --> 00:03:18,800 work in progress. As you know he shot about 28% 55 00:03:18,800 --> 00:03:23,280 from three but shot 51% from 2 and looks like a very good free 56 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:26,200 throw shooter as well. So you know that looks like the 57 00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:28,720 player that Indiana's going to roll with as their starting 58 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:30,760 point guard coming into this season. 59 00:03:31,080 --> 00:03:34,280 And I think that that's about as good of a landing as you could 60 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:37,480 get overall in the portal as Rice only a freshman 61 00:03:37,480 --> 00:03:40,320 hypothetically would have multiple years remaining in 62 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:42,560 Bloomington. And then of course the news 63 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:46,160 today or I guess yesterday, technically I'm recording this 64 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:49,480 right on the tail end of of Tuesday the 16th. 65 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:55,400 But the news that Omar Balo, the senior out of Arizona is going 66 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:58,960 to be coming to Indiana and this is a really it's on the one hand 67 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:01,560 it's exactly the type of player that you'd expect Mike Woodson 68 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,240 to get out of the portal. On the other hand, this is a 69 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:07,320 really exciting player. This is a player who according 70 00:04:07,320 --> 00:04:11,280 to several transfer portal ranking systems is ranked first. 71 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:14,240 Like the the most sought after big. 72 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:16,560 At least maybe not for some player. 73 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:20,560 For some teams who who play at a smaller size, maybe not the type 74 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:23,240 of player they're looking for. But Indiana, as we know, loves 75 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,680 to play through the post under Mike Woodson and Ballow's 76 00:04:26,680 --> 00:04:29,160 numbers are are just awesome. I mean, this is a guy who was 77 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:31,360 basically top 200 in Offensive rating. 78 00:04:32,160 --> 00:04:35,440 He was one of the most efficient shooters in the entire game of 79 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:38,760 basketball. He was literally a top 20 80 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:41,880 rebounder in the country. Both defensive and offensive 81 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:44,080 rebounding didn't turn the ball over that much. 82 00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:47,840 Shot 66% from the field, which is ludicrous. 83 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,120 Drew a lot of fouls. Blocked a lot of shots, like the 84 00:04:51,120 --> 00:04:55,840 classic rim protector scorer combo that you know that Mike 85 00:04:55,840 --> 00:04:58,160 Woodson loves. Not a great free throw shooter, 86 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:01,120 but you can't have everything. And you know, as the joke has 87 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:06,000 been, he'll fit right in. IUT I'm mostly kidding, but I 88 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:08,160 know a lot of people have gotten upset about the free throws over 89 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:11,240 time. But no, both of these players 90 00:05:11,680 --> 00:05:15,560 really good gets for Mike Woodson and you know, clearly 91 00:05:15,680 --> 00:05:21,040 the nil money is working. And I tip my cap to Mike Woodson 92 00:05:21,040 --> 00:05:25,640 and the and the staff because we talked a lot on this podcast 93 00:05:25,640 --> 00:05:29,880 about how difficult it can be if you look at what little evidence 94 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:31,880 we've had up to this point. But there there at least has 95 00:05:31,880 --> 00:05:35,840 been some evidence for leading players like to to make them 96 00:05:35,840 --> 00:05:38,360 want to come to teams that are not coming off of NCAA 97 00:05:38,360 --> 00:05:42,240 tournament appearances. And you know, the message seems 98 00:05:42,240 --> 00:05:47,360 to be resonating as Indiana has other visits that are going on 99 00:05:47,360 --> 00:05:48,960 right now. And I think you got to like 100 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:52,920 Indiana's overall chances with a couple of those players and and 101 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:56,640 these are high caliber players. And you know, if you think about 102 00:05:56,640 --> 00:06:00,960 the way that the cycle has progressed over the course of 103 00:06:00,960 --> 00:06:05,160 the last month and a half, maybe two months, you know, if you go 104 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:10,280 back to February 16th, things are about at their lowest ebb in 105 00:06:10,280 --> 00:06:14,280 Bloomington as far as the perception of the basketball 106 00:06:14,280 --> 00:06:18,280 program and where things are AT. And you know, Indiana has just 107 00:06:18,280 --> 00:06:21,640 lost on the road to Purdue and they're in the midst of what 108 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:24,680 would be a four-game losing streak and a lot of questions 109 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:26,880 being asked about everything. And then obviously the next 110 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:29,640 couple of weeks happen the losing continues and it really 111 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:32,400 feels like things are falling apart now you know how much of 112 00:06:32,400 --> 00:06:35,000 that was was rumor how much of that is fact. 113 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:39,000 You know what was obvious and we we talked about before there was 114 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:42,280 something wrong with the way the team was was playing and gelling 115 00:06:42,280 --> 00:06:46,520 and then that got to some degree fixed over the course of the 116 00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:49,960 last few games of the season. So coming into the off season, 117 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:56,720 the question was, well a can Mike Woodson and his staff 118 00:06:56,720 --> 00:06:59,800 retain the players that they want to retain on the roster? 119 00:06:59,800 --> 00:07:03,240 And that was always the first hurdle in my mind that Indiana 120 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:06,040 was going to have to jump over. And Indiana seems like they've 121 00:07:06,040 --> 00:07:08,520 retained all the players that they wanted to keep. 122 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:12,720 Obviously you had a couple of defections, but you look at the 123 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:15,720 fact that you've been able to hang on to not just Trey 124 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:19,160 Galloway, not just Malik Renew, but also Mackenzie and Bako. 125 00:07:19,640 --> 00:07:23,680 That provides a real solid core of players that played a lot of 126 00:07:23,680 --> 00:07:25,800 minutes last year for this IU team. 127 00:07:26,280 --> 00:07:28,960 And you retain some depth pieces as well. 128 00:07:28,960 --> 00:07:31,840 Obviously Gabe Cuff's still on the roster, you know, so that 129 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:35,720 look that that was a good sign. And so you come out of that 130 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:39,240 hurdle and you say, all right, well, you don't have a very 131 00:07:39,240 --> 00:07:41,800 stock roster at that point. What 6-7 players? 132 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:46,760 So you know, how do you fill the void of the players that you 133 00:07:46,760 --> 00:07:49,480 have to go get that are going to have to fill at least a couple 134 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:53,080 of starting roles with Khalil Ware leaving and Indiana's 135 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:55,960 managed to fill some holes in the starting line up as it looks 136 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:57,640 like they've acquired their center and it looks like they've 137 00:07:57,640 --> 00:08:00,800 acquired their point guard. And now the big question is you 138 00:08:00,800 --> 00:08:04,560 know where does Indiana go next? And you know I would look at it 139 00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:07,680 like you know, Scott has always talked about on the not always 140 00:08:07,680 --> 00:08:10,080 but like basically since last year the idea that getting 141 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:14,160 Khalil Ware in the portal was a a home run type of get. 142 00:08:14,840 --> 00:08:17,640 But then you look holistically at the way that Indiana's portal 143 00:08:17,640 --> 00:08:20,720 year went last year and it really didn't deliver what the 144 00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:23,320 team needed. It's hard to say. 145 00:08:23,320 --> 00:08:26,440 I mean you know at this point Indiana's transfer class right 146 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:28,240 now is ranked number one overall. 147 00:08:28,240 --> 00:08:31,320 Evan Mayakawa has that ranking. That can change. 148 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:36,080 But the fact that Indiana's pulled in two starter caliber 149 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:40,240 players we you know with their their portal activity you have 150 00:08:40,240 --> 00:08:43,360 to tip your cap to the coaching staff and and to to Hoosiers 151 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:46,920 connect and and the nil collective that you know that 152 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:48,960 helps make these things possible these days. 153 00:08:48,960 --> 00:08:51,800 I mean Indiana's figured out a way to step up and they've also 154 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:54,040 been able to sell a vision. We as much as we've talked about 155 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:58,600 the vision selling and how difficult that can be to to Rice 156 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:03,400 and to borrow that vision clearly resonated in a way that 157 00:09:03,400 --> 00:09:06,520 they felt comfortable with. Obviously there are still some 158 00:09:06,520 --> 00:09:09,240 concerns and you know, people have expressed concerns about 159 00:09:09,240 --> 00:09:11,360 where's the outside shooting because that is clearly 160 00:09:11,360 --> 00:09:13,240 something that Indiana needs to get better at. 161 00:09:13,560 --> 00:09:18,000 And clearly you need to be able to go out, get a player who at 162 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:20,880 the very least can compliment the type of shooter that 163 00:09:20,880 --> 00:09:23,440 Mackenzie and Bako became at the end of the year. 164 00:09:23,800 --> 00:09:27,840 I mean, you know, over the last basically half of the season and 165 00:09:27,840 --> 00:09:30,600 maybe be able to also free up Trey Galloway so Galloway can 166 00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:33,360 get back into his rhythm and and maybe Galloway ends up shooting 167 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:37,000 more like his, you know, more like his junior year as opposed 168 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:41,000 to how he shot last year. So there's still work to be done 169 00:09:41,040 --> 00:09:44,240 and you know the 3rd and final hurdle once you get past the 170 00:09:44,240 --> 00:09:47,200 portal and again, really good work so far, but but clearly a 171 00:09:47,200 --> 00:09:50,120 couple of more pieces need to be added to make this a complete 172 00:09:50,120 --> 00:09:52,360 team. But you get through that and and 173 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:55,600 that final hurdle and I think the thing that's going to 174 00:09:55,800 --> 00:10:00,480 probably have a lot of IU fans still withholding the type of 175 00:10:00,480 --> 00:10:04,480 enthusiasm that they generally will show unabashedly. 176 00:10:05,560 --> 00:10:08,360 What's the chemistry look like with this team. 177 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:14,720 You know, how do the new players interact and and create 178 00:10:14,720 --> 00:10:18,440 chemistry very quickly with players that are already playing 179 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:20,480 for IU. And frankly a team that didn't 180 00:10:20,480 --> 00:10:23,040 look like it had a lot of chemistry for most of the 181 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:24,920 season. And I think that that's 182 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:27,920 ultimately going to be one of the two big question marks as 183 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:30,440 far as the Encore product that just fundamentally aren't going 184 00:10:30,440 --> 00:10:34,280 to be able to be answered until we start to see this team out on 185 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:36,520 the court. And the other one is of course 186 00:10:36,720 --> 00:10:39,720 does the scheme change. You know you bring in BOLO and 187 00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:42,800 we've heard, you know Jared on assembly call has talked about 188 00:10:42,800 --> 00:10:44,600 this quite a bit. Tony's mentioned it as well. 189 00:10:45,640 --> 00:10:48,480 There's been a lot of discontent with Mike Woodson's offense and 190 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:51,560 the way that it runs and it is a very old school looking offense 191 00:10:51,560 --> 00:10:55,960 the way that it has run. But if you're going to run that, 192 00:10:55,960 --> 00:10:59,000 you better get the best possible players that can run in that 193 00:10:59,000 --> 00:11:00,880 system. And certainly Bolo, he's a 194 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:03,520 different type of player than Khalil Ware, but that looks like 195 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:06,760 a guy who can slot right in and maybe do some different things. 196 00:11:06,760 --> 00:11:11,040 And that's going to be really fascinating to watch as we've 197 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:12,400 all seen. Those of you who are out in 198 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:15,360 Vegas for that game against Arizona, you saw Ballo up close. 199 00:11:15,360 --> 00:11:18,000 Like, that was a guy who I remember thinking as I was 200 00:11:18,000 --> 00:11:20,360 watching him, like, I don't know the guy you could ever really go 201 00:11:20,360 --> 00:11:22,360 get a guy like that. And I think other than the 202 00:11:22,360 --> 00:11:24,720 normal recruiting process, that's not a guy Indiana's 203 00:11:24,720 --> 00:11:27,240 getting. I mean he was at Gonzaga and 204 00:11:27,560 --> 00:11:32,200 went to Arizaga I think came with Tommy Lloyd or was in very 205 00:11:32,240 --> 00:11:35,240 close proximity to when that that transition happened where 206 00:11:35,240 --> 00:11:37,200 Lloyd went and took over the Arizona program. 207 00:11:37,560 --> 00:11:40,360 But it I remember watching him in that game in Vegas and being 208 00:11:40,360 --> 00:11:45,440 like Woo that is that is a guy who just looks like a different 209 00:11:45,480 --> 00:11:48,040 type of basketball player that I'm used to Indiana getting. 210 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,160 And so that's where the Portal can come in handy and that's 211 00:11:51,160 --> 00:11:56,240 where for a player of that size and that caliber, you've got a 212 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:58,440 lot to sell. If you're Mike Woodson because 213 00:11:58,440 --> 00:12:01,400 you can point to Trace Jackson Davis, you can point to Coleal 214 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:03,720 Ware and say those two guys, well you know one of them's in 215 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:05,840 the NBA and is playing incredibly well. 216 00:12:05,840 --> 00:12:09,080 One of them's going to be in the NBA that's going to be you next. 217 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:14,240 And that's you know alongside the nil money you've got to have 218 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:16,000 those two things. It's not just about one or the 219 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:17,840 other with that caliber of player. 220 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:22,800 So you know, obviously I don't think that you can give a final 221 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:26,080 grade on the portal until you know probably mid-May because 222 00:12:26,080 --> 00:12:27,280 there's going to be some scrambling. 223 00:12:27,520 --> 00:12:30,160 I think up to that point, we've still got about a month of this, 224 00:12:30,160 --> 00:12:35,120 but it is gratifying that the IU fan base can rest a little bit 225 00:12:35,120 --> 00:12:38,240 easier because these weren't just Portal editions, these were 226 00:12:38,240 --> 00:12:41,280 big portal gets. And for Indiana to be able to 227 00:12:41,280 --> 00:12:44,120 say we got these two guys, that's going to be a selling 228 00:12:44,120 --> 00:12:46,280 point that goes elsewhere and I think the fans can relax a 229 00:12:46,280 --> 00:12:48,600 little bit at least in terms of there's going to be talented 230 00:12:48,600 --> 00:12:51,600 players out there playing basketball for Indiana. 231 00:12:52,120 --> 00:12:54,280 You know, how do they look? How does that come together? 232 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:56,600 You know, that is that is an open question. 233 00:12:56,600 --> 00:13:00,720 And I think that there's some deserved skepticism about how 234 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:04,240 everything gets put together going into this upcoming year. 235 00:13:04,440 --> 00:13:07,680 But I do think if you were feeling doom and gloom about 236 00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:11,280 Indiana or if you were being like, you know, really skeptical 237 00:13:11,280 --> 00:13:15,320 about the chances of of things materializing, This is why you 238 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:19,960 you really can't ever close the door, I think, on where a 239 00:13:19,960 --> 00:13:22,960 program is AT. And again, it's part of the 240 00:13:22,960 --> 00:13:26,240 equation, and there's a lot of other elements to it that come 241 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:30,000 down to style of play, come down to, you know, will we see as 242 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:33,320 successful of an offense, as you saw with Trace Jackson Davis? 243 00:13:33,320 --> 00:13:35,240 Is that possible with the style of offense? 244 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:36,760 Where does the shooting come from? 245 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:39,040 From the outside? I think all of those things are 246 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:42,840 valid questions. But I also think that you can 247 00:13:42,840 --> 00:13:45,120 acknowledge that there's something special that's 248 00:13:45,120 --> 00:13:47,880 happened in terms of being able to get these two players out of 249 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:51,440 the portal, being able to keep a lot of the key pieces together 250 00:13:51,520 --> 00:13:54,320 from this last season. And I think you can feel good 251 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:58,520 about that as an IU fan and be very curious and and 252 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:00,480 anticipatory about what happens next. 253 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:05,720 So looking forward to talking more about the remainder of the 254 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:07,400 Portal season. I think we might have some more 255 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:09,560 movement coming up this week, maybe even by the time this 256 00:14:09,560 --> 00:14:12,400 podcast drops. So definitely worth keeping an 257 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:14,280 eye on things. And if you didn't catch the 258 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:17,920 emergency podcast that our friends at Assembly called did 259 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:21,720 with Omar Balo signing I think the Rick Rick Bozich came on I 260 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:23,760 think they had a couple other people on go check that out. 261 00:14:23,920 --> 00:14:27,160 It's a nice blow by blow and a kind of a re evaluation of where 262 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:30,480 he he fits into the landscape. Just a reminder I mentioned 263 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:32,520 Assembly call we're all part of the back home network brought to 264 00:14:32,520 --> 00:14:35,200 you by home field apparel. It is a little five week and as 265 00:14:35,200 --> 00:14:39,000 we go into our interview with Rachel Brown, you know, former 266 00:14:39,400 --> 00:14:43,840 twice race winner when she was in school. 267 00:14:44,680 --> 00:14:49,200 You know, Little 5 retains such a special spot within the 268 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:54,640 culture of Indiana University and it touches so many lives and 269 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:58,600 there's never really been a huge amount of merch around the 270 00:14:58,600 --> 00:15:01,120 Little 500. You know, home field put a shirt 271 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:02,760 out a couple years ago, which I wear proudly. 272 00:15:02,760 --> 00:15:05,160 Really enjoy that. There's, you know, if you, if 273 00:15:05,160 --> 00:15:08,560 you're working the race as I have done every year, you get 274 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:11,120 some polos or things like that. But there's not a lot out there, 275 00:15:11,920 --> 00:15:15,160 you know, with Little 5 branding and yet that's changing because 276 00:15:15,160 --> 00:15:18,680 of home field apparel. A little 500 merch drop coming 277 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:23,960 up this Friday and Saturday and it's I think 8 pieces of Little 278 00:15:23,960 --> 00:15:26,360 500 merchandise, some amazing looking stuff. 279 00:15:26,360 --> 00:15:30,560 If you haven't, go to their social media and check out the 280 00:15:30,560 --> 00:15:34,400 pictures and I think you'll be thrilled at what you see. 281 00:15:35,840 --> 00:15:39,480 If you go to Upland on Friday or Saturday here in Bloomington, 282 00:15:39,480 --> 00:15:43,480 you can get 20% off the little 5 merge, so take advantage of 283 00:15:43,480 --> 00:15:44,920 that. If you're not in Bloomington, 284 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:46,120 it's fine. You get his order straight off 285 00:15:46,120 --> 00:15:50,800 of home field apparel.com use the code home 23 get 15% off 286 00:15:50,800 --> 00:15:54,920 your first order again, home field apparel.com Some little 5 287 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:56,520 merge this year. Really excited. 288 00:15:56,640 --> 00:15:59,160 Go check it out. And we appreciate their support 289 00:15:59,160 --> 00:16:01,520 on the podcast. We're going to go ahead and get 290 00:16:01,520 --> 00:16:05,320 to our interview with Rachel Brown and there's no ending to 291 00:16:05,320 --> 00:16:07,280 this podcast. The podcast just kind of cuts 292 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:08,400 off. We had to do that because of the 293 00:16:08,400 --> 00:16:12,800 way that we recorded it earlier. So enjoy my conversation with 294 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,080 Rachel. I'm going to, I'm going to 295 00:16:15,080 --> 00:16:17,640 change time and space. I'm going to jump into a studio, 296 00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:19,480 so you're going to see me there. If you're watching a video, if 297 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:21,720 you're just listening, you're just going to hear A quick pause 298 00:16:21,920 --> 00:16:25,840 and we'll get to our interview with former two time race winner 299 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:29,160 and color commentator on the women's Little 500 broadcast, 300 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:33,320 Rachel Brown. Coming up now and joining us on 301 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:36,840 a special edition of Crimson Cast LITTLE 500 Edition, Part 302 00:16:36,840 --> 00:16:37,760 one. We're going to have more of 303 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:41,480 these because the LITTLE 5. 100 races of course are coming up 304 00:16:42,240 --> 00:16:46,000 next week, next Friday and Saturday, and we are thrilled to 305 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:51,440 have on Crimson Cast today not only a member of a winning 306 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:57,280 Little 500 team from the 2018 season, but also one of our 307 00:16:57,280 --> 00:16:59,840 broadcasters for the Little 500 broadcast. 308 00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:03,520 Rachel Brown back for a second season on the Little 500 309 00:17:03,520 --> 00:17:04,800 broadcast joining us on the show. 310 00:17:04,800 --> 00:17:06,800 Rachel, great to see you again. It's been a while. 311 00:17:06,800 --> 00:17:09,599 How are you doing? Galen, good to see you too. 312 00:17:09,760 --> 00:17:12,319 Everything's great, especially now that it's April. 313 00:17:12,480 --> 00:17:15,720 My brain basically just switches from working to this being the 314 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:19,839 primary thing that's on my mind, So I'm feeling really excited 315 00:17:19,839 --> 00:17:21,920 for the upcoming couple of weeks. 316 00:17:22,920 --> 00:17:25,200 It's always a lot of fun. It's something that a lot of 317 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,560 people still in the IU universe don't know that we do, which is 318 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:31,200 cover Little 500. But you know we've it's been an 319 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:35,000 in house production that's streamed through IU broadcast 320 00:17:35,000 --> 00:17:38,400 since basically 2016. It's something we get a lot of 321 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:40,240 students involved in. You got a chance to work with 322 00:17:40,240 --> 00:17:43,360 some of them last year, but we also like to get alums from 323 00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:46,680 Little 500 involved and you've been very much a part of that. 324 00:17:47,280 --> 00:17:51,640 Let's start with that. First and foremost, give us your 325 00:17:51,640 --> 00:17:54,360 background. How did you come to IU in the 326 00:17:54,360 --> 00:17:56,320 1st place? Like where did you grow up and 327 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,800 and what got you interested initially in riding Little 5? 328 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,960 Sure. So I think where I can start 329 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:08,640 then is I'm from Fishers IN for those who are Hoosiers born and 330 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:10,320 raised. I went to Hamilton Southeastern 331 00:18:10,320 --> 00:18:12,520 High School. I played sports my whole life 332 00:18:12,520 --> 00:18:17,000 just as a lot of Hoosiers do, and then made that transition 333 00:18:17,120 --> 00:18:22,600 from here to choosing to come to IU not quite knowing exactly 334 00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:24,480 what was going to be on the horizon. 335 00:18:24,560 --> 00:18:27,280 I knew that I was going to be pre Med and I wanted to work 336 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:30,960 hard and figure out who I was. But pretty much like any 18 year 337 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:32,720 old, I couldn't tell you what that was going to look like. 338 00:18:33,160 --> 00:18:37,760 And then I found that the Little five was the thing that, like, 339 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:42,120 gave a scaffold to create sort of an identity for myself, to 340 00:18:42,120 --> 00:18:44,360 figure out how to work hard and to do it with other people. 341 00:18:44,680 --> 00:18:49,040 And for me, that looked like joining Kappa Alpha Theta as a 342 00:18:49,080 --> 00:18:53,400 freshman, joining the bike team thereafter, and then pretty much 343 00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:57,080 double majoring in whatever I was doing to get into Med 344 00:18:57,080 --> 00:18:59,080 school. And then besides that, just 345 00:18:59,080 --> 00:19:02,120 doing a little 5. And so that was pretty much the 346 00:19:02,120 --> 00:19:05,200 most formative experience of my life for those couple of years. 347 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:09,920 And that led for me to join on with my teammates for 348 00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:13,240 back-to-back victories in 2017 and 2018. 349 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:17,560 And now it's just an absolute privilege to be able to still be 350 00:19:17,560 --> 00:19:20,400 involved in the race almost a decade down the line. 351 00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:23,480 Yeah. It's it's a fascinating 352 00:19:23,480 --> 00:19:27,160 community because I think a lot of people outside of the Greek 353 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:30,560 system don't necessarily understand like who participates 354 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:35,560 and why and and how much work goes in not just to being a top 355 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:40,760 rider like you were, but also, you know, doing the academics 356 00:19:40,760 --> 00:19:43,680 that you need to be able to get into medical school and and 357 00:19:43,680 --> 00:19:46,280 trying to balance the amount of work that goes into one with the 358 00:19:46,280 --> 00:19:47,880 other. And what you take from each of 359 00:19:47,880 --> 00:19:49,880 those things that kind of sets you on your pathway. 360 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:54,400 I mean, you know, so you join Cap Alpha Theta, which if for 361 00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:57,200 those of you who aren't familiar with the race, like Cap Alpha 362 00:19:57,200 --> 00:20:01,680 Theta is among the most decorated and most successful. 363 00:20:02,160 --> 00:20:04,720 If not arguably the most decorated and successful of all 364 00:20:04,720 --> 00:20:07,000 of the women's teams historically. 365 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,840 So you joined a a team that had a tremendous legacy going in. 366 00:20:11,280 --> 00:20:14,400 You know, how how quickly do you learn about that as a student 367 00:20:14,400 --> 00:20:16,680 and and how quickly do you kind of figure out? 368 00:20:16,680 --> 00:20:19,880 Yes, not only you know, is it something that I want to do, but 369 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:22,280 it's something that I have the skill and the ability to do at a 370 00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:24,720 high level. OK, good point. 371 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:28,600 So I think that it's honestly pretty, I'd say it's easy enough 372 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:33,840 if you're a freshman at IU to sort of find your own enclave or 373 00:20:33,840 --> 00:20:37,600 your own group and then not get that much exposure to Little 5 374 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:40,760 beyond the understanding that there is a large social 375 00:20:40,760 --> 00:20:44,880 gathering of all kinds happening in the spring, but. 376 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:51,640 Social gathering folks, Yes. But for me though, I knew that I 377 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:56,640 was looking for something to put my energy into. 378 00:20:57,080 --> 00:21:00,680 And so at least when if you're going through Greek recruitment, 379 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:04,320 then it's going to be mentioned. Oh, and by the way, we have a 380 00:21:04,320 --> 00:21:06,040 really good bike team by the way. 381 00:21:06,040 --> 00:21:08,840 This is something that we care about a lot and people are 382 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:11,720 basically investing their entire college experiences into. 383 00:21:12,240 --> 00:21:16,880 And for me, I did not know coming to IUI didn't have some, 384 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:20,040 you know, alumni parent who had raced in the past and so was 385 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:24,800 raised to expect to do this. Rather, my experience was just 386 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:28,560 meeting people who said we care a lot about this, We are 387 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:32,120 dedicated people and are on a team and that's what matters to 388 00:21:32,120 --> 00:21:33,280 us. And I just kind of thought that 389 00:21:33,280 --> 00:21:36,880 that was the coolest thing that you could really envision in 390 00:21:36,880 --> 00:21:40,640 terms of making the most of your college experience. 391 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:44,000 And I think that's pretty much what all the Little 5 riders who 392 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:46,560 are involved in this and invested in it, that they've 393 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:49,240 realized that this is just how they can make the most of being 394 00:21:49,240 --> 00:21:53,360 in college. What's the for you? 395 00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:58,920 You know you're on the two teams that win back-to-back in in 2017 396 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:01,600 and 2018. You you put the amount of work 397 00:22:01,600 --> 00:22:06,120 you put in and all the training and you you get to that point 398 00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:09,600 and you're on a team that wins. I mean, what is that feeling 399 00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:11,160 like? Very few people have actually 400 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:13,640 been able to experience that of all the people that have raced 401 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:16,120 in little five over the course of time, even like top level 402 00:22:16,120 --> 00:22:18,680 riders. How have you tried? 403 00:22:18,680 --> 00:22:21,640 Like how would you contextualize that for for anybody that's been 404 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:23,440 involved in other athletic pursuits? 405 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:26,280 Like we know how given that it's a team thing as opposed to not 406 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,240 necessarily an individual thing. Right, right. 407 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:34,920 I think that actually being able to win Little 5 is something 408 00:22:34,920 --> 00:22:39,600 that anyone who goes into the race and decides to dedicate 409 00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:42,360 themselves to it knows that they could put in four years and just 410 00:22:42,360 --> 00:22:45,320 never see it happen despite being the best rider in the 411 00:22:45,320 --> 00:22:49,320 field, despite being the best team out there, Just because the 412 00:22:49,320 --> 00:22:54,360 nature of the race is so fickle that you only get one chance 413 00:22:54,360 --> 00:22:59,360 every single year and that's it. So I think by and large, anyone 414 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:01,440 who's ever won this race will tell you that it's absolutely 415 00:23:01,440 --> 00:23:05,200 surreal because they have envisioned knowing I could do 416 00:23:05,200 --> 00:23:08,520 this for year after year after year, and the expectation should 417 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:11,720 almost be that I won't win. But I also have to go in with 418 00:23:11,720 --> 00:23:14,560 the attitude when I train every day that I'm doing this, because 419 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:17,560 I want to be able to at least give myself the best odds to win 420 00:23:17,560 --> 00:23:21,480 on race day. So anyone who wins, I think that 421 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:25,240 you can see just from the post race interviews that they don't 422 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:27,600 know what to make of themselves. It's surreal for them for the 423 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:29,840 next couple of weeks. And if they're seniors and they 424 00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,240 go on to graduate, I don't think that it hits until you're like 425 00:23:32,240 --> 00:23:34,960 sitting in your office job in September that you can't believe 426 00:23:34,960 --> 00:23:39,080 that that actually happened. Yeah, you also had some 427 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,960 individual accolades as well. You know in terms of you, you 428 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:46,520 win missing out while you're here, which is explain what that 429 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:50,320 is to people who don't know. Well, I'm biased. 430 00:23:50,320 --> 00:23:53,280 I think that Missing Out is the most exciting event that happens 431 00:23:53,280 --> 00:23:56,840 for the Spring Series. There's qualifications which 432 00:23:56,840 --> 00:24:00,400 does not go towards the Spring Series standings, but does 433 00:24:00,400 --> 00:24:02,000 determine where you start on race day. 434 00:24:02,400 --> 00:24:05,360 There's the individual time trials, which is just suffering 435 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:07,800 for four laps. As hard as you can to get the 436 00:24:07,800 --> 00:24:09,320 best time. Riding by yourself. 437 00:24:10,160 --> 00:24:12,200 Team pursuit, where you're riding with other people for a 438 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:14,560 certain number of laps, but missing out is the best one 439 00:24:14,560 --> 00:24:18,360 because it's the most competitive in terms of actually 440 00:24:18,360 --> 00:24:21,000 using your strength and your speed strategically. 441 00:24:21,680 --> 00:24:27,760 So it's kind of a bracket style race where you start off with a 442 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,080 certain number of people all at the start, finish line and then 443 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:35,240 like musical chairs one lap after another, whoever crosses 444 00:24:35,240 --> 00:24:37,760 the finish line last is eliminated. 445 00:24:38,160 --> 00:24:43,960 And so that leads, I think to being very, very strategic over 446 00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,840 the course of the day in terms of how do I use my energy in 447 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:51,600 order to really use it when it counts because you're not trying 448 00:24:51,600 --> 00:24:53,800 to win every lap, you're just trying to not lose every lap and 449 00:24:53,800 --> 00:24:55,400 then win at the very, very, very end. 450 00:24:58,640 --> 00:25:02,640 Yeah, your your transition over to a broadcaster has been an 451 00:25:02,640 --> 00:25:04,400 interesting one. I mean, you and I talked a lot 452 00:25:04,400 --> 00:25:06,000 last year. This last year was your first 453 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:09,280 year on the broadcast. How do you take what you know as 454 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:13,280 a rider and as a former champion and try to put it into words in 455 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:16,920 a way that that is able to translate what you experienced 456 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:20,360 out on the track to what an audience, most of whom have you 457 00:25:20,360 --> 00:25:22,440 know, if they've been on a bicycle, they've probably never 458 00:25:22,440 --> 00:25:25,720 raced competitively on a bicycle, are trying to get their 459 00:25:25,720 --> 00:25:27,800 heads wrapped around while they're watching this event. 460 00:25:29,120 --> 00:25:31,880 Well, I found it, I think, appropriately challenging, 461 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:36,160 understanding that I'm putting on a different hat than what I 462 00:25:36,160 --> 00:25:38,240 was training for every day when I was in college. 463 00:25:38,600 --> 00:25:42,120 But I think that the main things that I'm trying to focus on is 464 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:44,840 just being able to cater to both audiences. 465 00:25:45,040 --> 00:25:49,320 I got the benefit of knowing what it looks like to have 466 00:25:49,320 --> 00:25:52,120 watched race tape through the eyes of someone who is trying to 467 00:25:52,320 --> 00:25:57,360 learn how teams manage to win and where teams had the points 468 00:25:57,360 --> 00:26:00,280 at which something went wrong and that was the reason why they 469 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:03,600 lost. And so trying to keep an eye for 470 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,040 those things, for the people who are watching really, really 471 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:11,480 critically and have seen 10203040 little 500 races that I 472 00:26:11,480 --> 00:26:15,160 think I want to be able to speak to that audience and also speak 473 00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:18,000 to the audience of people who are finally coming to this for 474 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:21,240 the first time. They've got their kid who is in 475 00:26:21,240 --> 00:26:24,600 little 500 for the first time. And they, I have no relation 476 00:26:24,600 --> 00:26:26,520 whatsoever to the cycling community. 477 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:30,000 And to be able to sort of pull them into, to recognize, like 478 00:26:30,000 --> 00:26:34,480 what a beautiful exemplar of sport and college achievement in 479 00:26:34,480 --> 00:26:38,600 general that it is. Yeah, how exciting is it this 480 00:26:38,600 --> 00:26:41,280 year with the women's race that we have a full field? 481 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:43,920 I looked. We have not had a full field 482 00:26:43,920 --> 00:26:47,360 since 2014. So honestly, I don't know that 483 00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:49,160 I've ever really seen it for myself. 484 00:26:49,160 --> 00:26:53,440 And given that the year after COVID we had 17 teams, this is 485 00:26:53,720 --> 00:26:58,400 truly stellar because I think that coming out of COVID we knew 486 00:26:58,400 --> 00:27:03,400 that it was going to take a lot of effort in order to I think 487 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:07,160 really bring back the community and the tradition because that's 488 00:27:07,160 --> 00:27:09,720 so crucial to how Little 5 operates. 489 00:27:09,960 --> 00:27:13,640 And so I think seeing that teams are coming out and either re 490 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:17,520 emerging after not having a team for a couple of years or are 491 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:20,640 deciding to do Little 5 for the first time is seriously 492 00:27:20,640 --> 00:27:23,920 thrilling because it's really not the same if you've got like 493 00:27:24,120 --> 00:27:27,520 17/18/19. Twenty teams is having every 494 00:27:27,520 --> 00:27:30,280 single pit filled. Yeah, it. 495 00:27:30,360 --> 00:27:32,000 And it makes, it does make a big difference. 496 00:27:32,000 --> 00:27:35,280 I mean, they've been great races over the last decade, you know, 497 00:27:35,280 --> 00:27:37,480 without the full field. But there's something about 498 00:27:38,000 --> 00:27:40,920 seeing all of the pit lanes completely filled, seeing the 499 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:42,480 stands completely. Filled and all of the. 500 00:27:42,480 --> 00:27:44,960 Different colors and supporters groups that come out from the 501 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,920 various teams and especially with the women's race, I mean 502 00:27:47,920 --> 00:27:50,040 the women's races, it's at a different time of day. 503 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:52,000 It's not, you know, it's 4:00 on a Friday. 504 00:27:53,000 --> 00:27:55,000 You know, you can get some really great visuals as the race 505 00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:59,320 comes to a close around 5/20, 5:30 in the afternoon and just 506 00:27:59,320 --> 00:28:02,640 kind of the feeling of having more people invested in the 507 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,600 race. I think it it amps it up for all 508 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:07,040 of the other teams that are there. 509 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:09,360 It's it's a really special thing that's hard to describe unless 510 00:28:09,360 --> 00:28:12,360 you've actually been there. Yeah, I agree. 511 00:28:12,360 --> 00:28:17,920 I think it's good to see just that we're getting to the point 512 00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:21,520 where I think women's sport more broadly is becoming something 513 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:26,720 that I think people are finally recognizing has deserves just as 514 00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:30,800 great of an audience as sport. That is also done by the men's 515 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:33,400 teams as well. And so I know that's something 516 00:28:33,400 --> 00:28:37,200 that for someone who's raised, that was never important to us 517 00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:39,680 in terms of who's coming to the race, who's seeing it. 518 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:41,960 Because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. 519 00:28:41,960 --> 00:28:44,920 We've seen it in like 2021 that even if there's not a single 520 00:28:44,920 --> 00:28:46,800 member in the audience, people are still going to go out, 521 00:28:46,800 --> 00:28:49,520 they're going to ride hard. But I think just having the 522 00:28:49,520 --> 00:28:52,960 continued growth, other community and having teams that 523 00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:56,720 are perennially competitive as well as teams who said that's 524 00:28:56,720 --> 00:28:59,400 also for us and we want to give it a shot even if we're not 525 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:01,120 going to be in contention our first year. 526 00:29:01,320 --> 00:29:04,440 I think counts for a lot in terms of people recognizing 527 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:07,360 really what Little 5 is for beyond just the couple of teams 528 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:12,160 that have always been there. So let's talk about the race 529 00:29:12,160 --> 00:29:15,520 this year on the women's side. So let's talk about 530 00:29:15,520 --> 00:29:17,680 qualifications, placing and kind of where everything's AT and 531 00:29:17,680 --> 00:29:19,320 what you see is the main storyline. 532 00:29:19,320 --> 00:29:22,280 So for those who who haven't seen this yet, I'm actually 533 00:29:22,280 --> 00:29:25,880 going to, I'll do a little magic here with my screen and let's 534 00:29:25,880 --> 00:29:28,880 just call up the qualifications Big board for the women on the 535 00:29:28,880 --> 00:29:33,480 left here you can see. So teeter on the pole, Alpha 536 00:29:33,480 --> 00:29:37,160 Chi, Omega, Novus and then you've got Delta, Gamma Kappa, 537 00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:39,120 Alpha Theta and Alpha Fasta Bica. 538 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:42,400 I I mean, what sticks out to you, I guess, when looking at 539 00:29:42,400 --> 00:29:44,560 not just the first couple of rows, but just kind of the way 540 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:46,680 the qualifications shook out so far this year? 541 00:29:48,160 --> 00:29:51,120 I'd say first, I mean deeply unsurprising. 542 00:29:51,120 --> 00:29:53,320 The teeter was at the front. They were bringing pretty much 543 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:56,480 everyone back this year and they look incredibly polished from 544 00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:58,440 the get go. And I know that they were out 545 00:29:58,440 --> 00:30:02,440 there riding their bikes like the couple of days after Little 546 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:05,760 5. So them coming together and 547 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:09,040 putting together a really stellar performance day of is 548 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:11,880 just exactly what I would expect of them. 549 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:16,640 I think that beyond that, I want to acknowledge that like Novus, 550 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:20,640 Alpha Fasta, Bica, teams like those are not teams that I have 551 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:23,000 that much familiarity with, just because I think that they've 552 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,640 emerged in the couple of years since I graduated. 553 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:28,000 And Alpha Fasta Bica may be new as of this year. 554 00:30:28,320 --> 00:30:31,160 So for them to be able to, you know, come up to the upper 555 00:30:31,160 --> 00:30:35,840 echelon is really exciting. And then beyond that, I'll also 556 00:30:35,840 --> 00:30:39,720 say Qualls is always kind of awash in terms of like it's 557 00:30:39,720 --> 00:30:41,520 consequential for where teams end up. 558 00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:46,120 But if you ask me, Rachel, which team is really good based off of 559 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:50,080 looking at the calls board, I'd say I don't know, just because 560 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:53,080 it really is just based on the time of day. 561 00:30:54,000 --> 00:30:59,640 Right, Well, So what should people who maybe wouldn't think 562 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:01,840 to look at anything other than the calls board as far as who 563 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:03,920 the contenders are? What what would you recommend 564 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,640 they look at and what are you keeping an eye on coming into 565 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:08,240 the race this year? Sure. 566 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:13,240 So I think not surprisingly looking at the overall metric of 567 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:16,920 where do teams land in spring series that cumulatively that 568 00:31:16,920 --> 00:31:20,280 does show the overall strength of a team. 569 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:24,720 And so if you go and look at where do teams stack up when it 570 00:31:24,720 --> 00:31:27,240 comes to the end of the day on Spring series performance, that 571 00:31:27,240 --> 00:31:29,960 would be the easiest and fastest way, I think, of figuring out 572 00:31:29,960 --> 00:31:33,240 which teams just have the most firepower for day of. 573 00:31:33,600 --> 00:31:38,000 But beyond that, I think it's very interesting just to see who 574 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:42,920 which teams have really, really strong primary riders by going 575 00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:44,840 through ITT's and then getting a sense. 576 00:31:45,400 --> 00:31:50,160 Yeah, just being able to get get a quick look at. 577 00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:55,840 Oh, if a team's got their top four riders in the 1st, 15 or 20 578 00:31:55,840 --> 00:31:58,440 of ITT's, that means that pretty much every single one of their 579 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:00,560 riders is one of the strongest riders in the field. 580 00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:07,160 And as you see here folks, Jenna Rogers from Alpha Chi Omega, 581 00:32:08,040 --> 00:32:09,160 actually this was last. Year. 582 00:32:09,200 --> 00:32:11,400 Oh yeah, I don't know if they've uploaded them. 583 00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:12,560 Over. You know they haven't uploaded 584 00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:13,600 them. That's my bad. 585 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:15,560 So that's but that's the page you would be looking at. 586 00:32:15,560 --> 00:32:17,320 I'll, I'll dig up the actual one, yeah. 587 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:19,880 I know it's a second entry because I've been spending a lot 588 00:32:19,880 --> 00:32:23,600 of time looking at it as of. Late, It's a it's a lot, 589 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:25,280 absolutely. But yeah, that's that's the 590 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:27,320 thing to keep an eye on. And obviously there's a lot of 591 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:28,840 different aspects that go into it. 592 00:32:28,840 --> 00:32:31,240 I mean, right now one of the things we're looking at for this 593 00:32:31,240 --> 00:32:37,200 upcoming race is, is the weather situation which goes back and 594 00:32:37,200 --> 00:32:38,400 forth. I mean, last year we had a 595 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:40,760 really weird time. We actually had a postponement 596 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:44,160 for about an hour of the start of the women's race because of 597 00:32:44,160 --> 00:32:46,760 rain. And what does that do? 598 00:32:46,760 --> 00:32:48,840 Like give us a little bit of a sense of, you know, from a 599 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,360 conditions perspective, what are ideal conditions to ride in? 600 00:32:52,800 --> 00:32:55,800 You know, how does rain affect things like as a rider, What do 601 00:32:55,800 --> 00:32:57,360 you think of in those circumstances so. 602 00:32:58,080 --> 00:33:01,480 I think primarily first and foremost ideal conditions. 603 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:05,240 If I were a rider and could just summon whatever I whatever 604 00:33:05,240 --> 00:33:10,800 weather I wanted, I would say if it could be 60°, it's cloudy and 605 00:33:10,800 --> 00:33:15,240 maybe it rained the night before or the morning of just a little 606 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:17,120 bit. So that way the track could be 607 00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:19,280 padded down. In terms of the cinders being 608 00:33:19,280 --> 00:33:23,080 smooth and consistent, then that's what I would like ideally 609 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:27,680 have in terms of the conditions. I think that if it gets hotter 610 00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:33,080 and drier, then the cinders can become loose, and I think it's a 611 00:33:33,080 --> 00:33:35,280 lot easier than for bikes to fishtail, especially when 612 00:33:35,280 --> 00:33:36,600 they're going really, really fast. 613 00:33:37,360 --> 00:33:41,560 And then on the other side of the spectrum, if it's rainy, it 614 00:33:41,560 --> 00:33:44,200 can just be honestly pretty atrocious conditions. 615 00:33:44,200 --> 00:33:46,440 You can get puddles where the teams have to decide if they 616 00:33:46,440 --> 00:33:49,040 want to go through it or ride around, and that can kind of 617 00:33:49,040 --> 00:33:51,520 even just cause the pack to break up a little bit and it can 618 00:33:51,520 --> 00:33:53,320 get more dangerous from that perspective as well. 619 00:33:54,440 --> 00:33:58,960 Here's this year's top 20 finishers for ITT and so I I 620 00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:02,600 wanted to call these up. So as you mentioned, you know if 621 00:34:02,600 --> 00:34:05,640 you've got a cluster of your best riders in the top 15, 622 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:07,120 that's generally a pretty good sign. 623 00:34:07,120 --> 00:34:11,800 Audrey Laval, the overall ITT champion for this year. 624 00:34:12,600 --> 00:34:16,239 And then you've got kind of an interesting mix of of you know 625 00:34:16,239 --> 00:34:20,560 of of riders from other teams. Teeter's got, I think all do 626 00:34:20,560 --> 00:34:22,199 they have all four in the top 15? 627 00:34:22,199 --> 00:34:24,520 I think that they do, which, which goes back to what you were 628 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:26,960 talking about in terms of the qualifications and whatnot. 629 00:34:28,719 --> 00:34:33,400 Yeah, I think that Teeter and Theta both have their top four 630 00:34:33,520 --> 00:34:37,920 in the 1st 20 of IT, TS. So right away you know that 631 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:41,080 there's just not a weak link for other teams to be chipping away 632 00:34:41,080 --> 00:34:43,679 at. And beyond that, I think that 633 00:34:43,679 --> 00:34:47,679 we're seeing not surprisingly like Melanzana, they've got a 634 00:34:47,679 --> 00:34:51,760 really good sprinter and then Dorothy for Novus and Allison 635 00:34:51,760 --> 00:34:53,679 for Delta Zeta. I think that those are teams 636 00:34:53,679 --> 00:34:57,360 where my impression from this is that those girls had been 637 00:34:57,360 --> 00:35:01,280 putting in like a consummate amount of effort without having 638 00:35:01,280 --> 00:35:06,360 like the pre-existing training that some teams do from year to 639 00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:09,080 year. Like Delta, Gamma and Theta are 640 00:35:09,080 --> 00:35:10,880 gonna be doing the same training every year. 641 00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:15,840 But for like Novus and for DZ, for them to have riders that are 642 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:19,080 in the top five ITTSI think that those girls have really been 643 00:35:19,400 --> 00:35:22,880 working hard to create stuff, maybe from scratch, even in 644 00:35:22,880 --> 00:35:26,080 order to be able to be up in the same echelon as some of the 645 00:35:26,080 --> 00:35:28,800 other riders from teams that you typically see on the podium year 646 00:35:28,800 --> 00:35:31,640 to year. Yeah, it's there's so much that 647 00:35:31,640 --> 00:35:35,600 goes into that. I mean people and again most of 648 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:39,000 the public only sees the race outcome like what happens that 649 00:35:39,000 --> 00:35:41,880 day. I mean what are we talking about 650 00:35:41,880 --> 00:35:43,160 training wise? Like what? 651 00:35:43,160 --> 00:35:45,880 I mean what is the, what is the the full commitment that you're 652 00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:50,440 doing as as a a starting like a a top four rider on a team 653 00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:54,240 that's a contender on a weekly basis or or even a daily basis? 654 00:35:55,160 --> 00:35:58,880 I think that people try and probably downplay just how much 655 00:35:58,880 --> 00:36:02,160 it is that they're putting into it because they understand that 656 00:36:02,920 --> 00:36:06,040 it can just sound like a lot to people who aren't in it. 657 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:12,320 But it really does look like scheduling out most of your life 658 00:36:12,320 --> 00:36:16,120 in order to permit you to be able to do the equivalent of 659 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:18,320 like a part time job whenever you can fit it in. 660 00:36:18,560 --> 00:36:22,840 So like most teams that are really, really strong, or riders 661 00:36:22,840 --> 00:36:27,040 who are strong individually are biking six days a week with an 662 00:36:27,080 --> 00:36:29,960 off day just so that way that for the other six days they can 663 00:36:29,960 --> 00:36:33,440 go harder. Otherwise they'd end up doing 7 664 00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:35,640 if they could. It looks like scheduling your 665 00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:38,600 classes with the intent of being able to give yourself enough 666 00:36:38,600 --> 00:36:42,520 sunlight to be able to make the most year round you decide if 667 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:45,680 you're going to study abroad based off of when little 5 668 00:36:45,680 --> 00:36:47,480 happens. And like may forego that 669 00:36:47,480 --> 00:36:50,920 entirely just for the sake of being able to not miss your fall 670 00:36:50,920 --> 00:36:54,400 training semester and then even like, deciding where you're 671 00:36:54,400 --> 00:36:56,840 going to take a summer internship based off of, like, 672 00:36:56,840 --> 00:36:58,240 how good the writing's going to be. 673 00:36:58,560 --> 00:37:03,280 So people like genuinely will plan out like the entirety of 674 00:37:03,280 --> 00:37:05,000 their four years in order to make the most of it. 675 00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:08,040 Like if you can spend a summer in Colorado just to get the 676 00:37:08,040 --> 00:37:10,560 elevation gains, then like there were people who will go to that 677 00:37:10,560 --> 00:37:15,120 point just to be able to know that they've like, maximized 678 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:18,880 their time. That's it's amazing and it's 679 00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:20,120 laudable. I mean that amount of 680 00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:22,680 dedication. I mean it's hard to it's it's 681 00:37:22,680 --> 00:37:26,640 it's interesting thing right now I think about college there's 682 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:30,360 it's like fashionable to bag on college kids for a variety of 683 00:37:30,360 --> 00:37:33,720 reasons like they're unmotivated or XY or Z or they want things 684 00:37:33,720 --> 00:37:35,120 handed to, which I've never really believed. 685 00:37:35,120 --> 00:37:38,560 Like I I love the students I work with on a daily basis. 686 00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:41,280 You've met some of them you know in the sports media program who 687 00:37:41,880 --> 00:37:43,480 they put. They're not putting that amount 688 00:37:43,480 --> 00:37:45,800 of physical exertion in, but the amount of time they're putting 689 00:37:45,800 --> 00:37:48,240 in to prepare for what they do and then going out and actually 690 00:37:48,240 --> 00:37:53,080 doing it is is really far beyond I think what most people would 691 00:37:53,080 --> 00:37:56,000 think. And it's it's amazing. 692 00:37:56,000 --> 00:37:59,280 You think about you like little five you're talking about for 693 00:37:59,280 --> 00:38:05,280 each race, men's and women's, it's not just 130 some riders 694 00:38:05,280 --> 00:38:08,640 that are you know, the the on the teams that are preparing, 695 00:38:08,640 --> 00:38:12,400 but there's extra riders on the teams that don't make the final 696 00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:14,440 four that are still putting in this amount of effort. 697 00:38:14,440 --> 00:38:17,080 Like it's a lot of people putting in a lot of time. 698 00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:21,240 And it's, you know, the fact that that many people get that 699 00:38:21,240 --> 00:38:23,800 much out of it from an emotional perspective, from a growth 700 00:38:23,800 --> 00:38:27,600 perspective is is really it's it's something again, that I've 701 00:38:27,600 --> 00:38:30,000 been very impressed with the more I've gotten to know the the 702 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:32,000 riders and the people that participate in the race. 703 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:37,240 Yeah, I I couldn't agree more. I think that first I want to say 704 00:38:37,240 --> 00:38:39,680 that the media students are just consummate professionals in 705 00:38:39,680 --> 00:38:42,800 terms of how they approach this. And so I really appreciated that 706 00:38:42,800 --> 00:38:47,600 because I know that coming in as an amateur they are really on 707 00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:52,240 top of it in terms of being able to both do their job and offer 708 00:38:52,240 --> 00:38:55,200 appropriate guidance. And beyond that, I just think 709 00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:59,560 that there's been, I've been very impressed by all of the 710 00:38:59,560 --> 00:39:04,480 little thigh riders who have come after me in terms of just 711 00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:08,040 the overall level of maturity and commitment that they're 712 00:39:08,040 --> 00:39:11,720 demonstrating from like 1819 years of age. 713 00:39:11,880 --> 00:39:17,360 Now looking back with a fully formed frontal lobe and I think 714 00:39:17,360 --> 00:39:21,080 how easily like you could be spending your time on other 715 00:39:21,080 --> 00:39:23,320 things instead. Seeing that people are choosing 716 00:39:23,320 --> 00:39:26,360 to dedicate themselves to something that I think really is 717 00:39:26,360 --> 00:39:30,080 just for the sake of self improvement and to know that 718 00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:33,400 you're going to be trying to grow alongside other people at a 719 00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:36,800 formative period of your life is just really impressive to be 720 00:39:36,800 --> 00:39:39,120 able to see. Absolutely. 721 00:39:40,160 --> 00:39:42,520 So for those of you who are going to be tuning in and we 722 00:39:42,520 --> 00:39:44,560 hope that everybody does this will be available on 723 00:39:44,560 --> 00:39:47,160 broadcast.iu.edu. I'm actually going to drop the 724 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,360 link for the broadcast for both the women's and the men's race 725 00:39:50,720 --> 00:39:52,600 in the description of this podcast. 726 00:39:53,200 --> 00:39:56,400 Rachel will be our analyst up top. 727 00:39:56,600 --> 00:39:59,560 So she'll be working with Zion Brown who's one of our play by 728 00:39:59,560 --> 00:40:03,400 play broadcasters in calling the action on the track throughout 729 00:40:03,400 --> 00:40:06,720 the course of the race. The the broadcast starts at 4:00 730 00:40:07,120 --> 00:40:10,160 on Friday. April, is it 19th? 731 00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:13,600 I think it's the 19th. It is the 19th, yes, I have to 732 00:40:13,600 --> 00:40:15,960 double check, but 4:00, Friday, April 19th. 733 00:40:16,800 --> 00:40:19,320 But you won't be the only one involved 'cause we'll also have 734 00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:22,640 down on the field our field reporters Kara Adams, Riley 735 00:40:22,640 --> 00:40:27,440 Woodall and Katie Capusta who is not only a former writer but 736 00:40:27,440 --> 00:40:29,480 also a former media school student. 737 00:40:29,480 --> 00:40:31,360 So there's some nice synergy there. 738 00:40:31,680 --> 00:40:34,760 She'll be be our on field expert trying to give an analysis of 739 00:40:34,760 --> 00:40:38,440 what's going on down in the infield and and down in the pits 740 00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:41,160 while you're providing kind of the top down view of everything. 741 00:40:41,520 --> 00:40:44,640 So it should be a lot of fun. It's always a a fun broadcast. 742 00:40:44,640 --> 00:40:47,840 The woman's broadcast is always my favorite one because it's a 743 00:40:47,840 --> 00:40:51,560 more compact product. Like there's, you know, the the 744 00:40:51,560 --> 00:40:54,080 the men's race and I love the men's race too. 745 00:40:54,080 --> 00:40:56,720 But it kind of feels like if you ever watched an Indy 500 all the 746 00:40:56,720 --> 00:41:00,320 way through, there's that period at like lap 80 where you're 747 00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:02,520 like, man, we got a long way to go. 748 00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:06,920 But whereas at lap 80 in the women's race, like that's when 749 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:09,840 that's when the real action is starting, like that's when you 750 00:41:09,880 --> 00:41:12,840 know the you're you're down to brass tacks so to speak at that 751 00:41:12,840 --> 00:41:16,040 stage of things. Yeah, usually you can find a 752 00:41:16,040 --> 00:41:18,960 point where you could like take a nap, go to the bathroom, get a 753 00:41:18,960 --> 00:41:21,680 snack during the men's race and not miss too much. 754 00:41:22,040 --> 00:41:24,560 Women's race are pretty hard pressed to find a moment where 755 00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:28,480 you could say that you could get up from the stands, leave for 5 756 00:41:28,480 --> 00:41:30,680 minutes and then not have missed something incredibly 757 00:41:30,680 --> 00:41:34,640 consequential. Yeah, it's, it is, it is little 758 00:41:34,640 --> 00:41:38,120 5 on steroids essentially just in terms of how, how compressed 759 00:41:38,120 --> 00:41:41,880 all the action is. So we will be going on air live 760 00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:45,800 at 4:00 Friday, April 19th. We'll have Rachel on the call. 761 00:41:46,200 --> 00:41:49,080 We'll have Katie Capusta on the call, Zion Brown, Kara Adams, 762 00:41:49,080 --> 00:41:51,640 Riley Woodall, Emma Watson, Lauren Brewer producing the 763 00:41:51,640 --> 00:41:53,200 broadcast. We're really looking forward to 764 00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:55,320 it, Rachel. Looking forward to seeing you 765 00:41:55,320 --> 00:41:57,720 back in town. I know you're coming in next 766 00:41:57,720 --> 00:42:02,480 week, so we will catch up some more than and thank you for 767 00:42:02,480 --> 00:42:03,600 taking the time to talk with us today. 768 00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:05,680 This is great. Yeah, well, thank you for having 769 00:42:05,680 --> 00:42:06,320 me. I can't wait. 770 00:42:07,360 --> 00:42:10,040 Absolutely. Rachel Brown, our color 771 00:42:10,040 --> 00:42:14,400 commentator for the 2024 women's LITTLE 500 broadcast. 772 00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:14,760 Thank you.