In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the Wisconsin Badgers football team announced that they are suing the University of Miami. They’re accusing the school of tampering with the Badgers’ signing of Xavier Lucas, who supposedly already signed a contract with Wisconsin before being called away to Miami. What do those contracts look like? Who knows, the schools are all pretty secretive about the whole deal. But the NCAA and the Big 10 are certainly backing Wisconsin in this fight. A legal win for Wisconsin would give some validity to signed contracts and might even give the NCAA some teeth in fighting school hopping and poaching of student athletes from any college sport. But, it could also lead to issues down the road for the NCAA too, as pretty soon it would be hard to argue that the players aren’t employees, and employees can unionize, and we know the NCAA doesn’t want that. But while we don’t know how strong these contracts are exactly, they have to be strong enough for Wisconsin to think they have a chance here. The bottom line is this though: we’ll have to wait for the courts to do their thing and Lucas isn’t playing in Wisconsin no matter what.

Meanwhile in the NBA, Oklahoma City beat the Pacers to take home the national championship after Tyrese Haliburton went out with a torn achilles. He’ll likely be out at least most of next season, which means another top NBA player is out with injuries. The best players in the league are out here suffering, Oates says, and the owners need to really think about toning down their schedule a bit. Just look at how many Bucks playoff runs have been derailed due to bad injuries, including just this year! Meanwhile, the “experts” sitting behind a broadcast booth on national TV were accusing Haliburton of faking it to get out of playing in the finals, because what competitor would want to sit out of a national championship game?

But that’s the past, and in the near future of the NBA is the draft, taking place this week. The first two spots are likely already taken by Cooper Flag and Dylan Harper, but the rest of the spots are anyone’s guess. Where does that leave John Tonje? Oates thinks he’s a second round pick, and while that doesn’t guarantee any sort of future in the NBA he thinks he has a good chance. He’s a versatile player who can hit three’s, so hopefully someone can find a long-term home for him.

Finally, there’s set to be a great matchup at American Family Field Wednesday night as two of the top young pitchers go head-to-head: Jacob Misiorowski and Paul Skenes. If you can catch the game, it will be a great one to watch. Misiorowski only has two games under his belt so far, but they’ve been more than impressive. Skenes, meanwhile, is more proven even with a not so great team. The matchup is great for the entire sport, Lucas says, but even more so for the Brewers as their hitting begins to wake up only a few games behind the Cubs.

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Oates is on assignment, so Lucas brings in a new co-host for the week: Mike Mahnke! If you don’t know his name, you certainly know his voice if you’ve been to a Badger Football or Basketball game in recent decades. Mike has been the PA announcer for Camp Randall and the Kohl Center since the early 90s, and he has no intention of stopping. After taking over the role after the passing of Jack Rein, his first called football game was a nationally televised game against Colorado. Sure, the Badgers got their butts beat and the game took place on the due date for his second child (his wife was in the audience, at least it’s close to Meriter hospital), but since then Mike has been the voice of Camp Randall and the Kohl Center.

Mike grew up in Racine, and after graduating high school in 1977 started a career with the Army. After a few years overseas in Germany, he came home and started his college career at UW Madison, graduating with degrees in Theater and German Literature. While he came from a family of educators, his heart was initially set on either TV or radio, though he realized that that was not meant to be. He got a job in marketing in Madison after one semester of grad school, and works with clients both locally and nationally. While working at a firm he also began calling women’s basketball games, and eventually became the voice we know today.

Maybe his most infamous calls came just a few years into his career when he gave a personalized spin to calling the runs of Ron Dayne (or as he would say, Roooooooonnnnn Daaayyyynnneee). Mike says he didn’t even know that the fans would repeat it back to him, but later they would ask him to emulate his calls for answering machines and even wedding ceremonies. Mike was a fan of football, so he says it’s only natural that he would put a little excitement into the plays of such a great player. Years later, Mike says Dayne thanked him for giving him a little extra love on the field.

Mike gives his thoughts on the differences between calling games at the Kohl Center versus Camp Randall. For one, he gets to sit right on the floor at the Kohl Center, instead of his little booth at Camp Randall. Sitting on the floor not only gives him a close-up view of the game, but it allows him to better feel out the fans, and lets him act as cheerleader to help rally the team. The energy is completely different, he says, with the intimate environment of the Kohl Center helping to fuel his calls. But whether he’s calling basketball games, football games, or even the occasional volleyball matches, he says he isn’t going anywhere. Even if Greg Gard continues to scout in Europe and brings in more players with difficult-to-pronounce names.

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Lucas and Oates remember Jerry Petitgoue, who passed away at the age of 84. Jerry is the winningest coach in Wisconsin high school basketball history, achieving a staggering 1027 wins in his career. Most of those wins were made in Cuba City, where he coached for over 50 years. He was a giant, Oates says, and his record will likely never be beat. Petitgoue was a flexible coach, which you have to be when you coach for over 50 years, and took home a handful of state championships. His championships spanned decades, winning in 81, 91, and 98, and each team was a little different. He developed a lot of great talent and knew how to adapt to the talent that he had. But aside from just coaching, he also taught history in Cuba City for over 30 years. Petitgoue dedicated his life to the development of young people both on and off the court, and his name will be remembered statewide and, maybe more importantly, in Cuba City, where he is remembered fondly and helped foster a love of basketball across town.

On other topics, the finances of college sports are changing. A judge has ruled that colleges can only share around $20 million with their athletes every year, effectively putting a salary cap on all college sports. Now, NIL still needs to be discussed, and the lawyers are still going to be very happy padding their pocketbooks with future litigation, but it’s finally a step in the right direction. Maybe. How will that $20 million be distributed between teams? $9 million for football, $9 million for basketball, and scraps for everything else? Just look at how many medals UW Madison’s Track and Field team is bringing in, how much are they entitled to? While there will be more lawsuits in the future, at least it’s the beginning of some guardrails and hopefully they do it right.

Moving to the NFL, Jaire Alexander is gone from the Green Bay Packers. There is a lot of good and a lot of bad with that. When he’s healthy, he’s one of the best cornerbacks in the league. But he needs to be healthy, and since 2021 he’s only played in about half of the games. The Packers are going to be a bit shaky in the cornerback position this season, Lucas thinks. Even if their starters are alright, what happens when one of them gets hurt? Do you bring out Bo Melton? Finally, Aaron Rodgers finally has a team to play for this upcoming season: the Pittsburgh Steelers. They got him for a steal too at around $13 million base salary. They’ve had a rough few years with at their quarterback position, so they better not squander the fantastic deal they just got. Rodgers can still throw, and his football brain is still there. While he might not be as mobile as he once was, he’s still a threat. We will see how much of a threat he really is when the Packers play them in Pittsburgh though…

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, there is some breaking news as we begin recording as the Knicks announce that they have fired head coach Tom Thibodeau after their playoffs loss. Is he a scapegoat for that loss? Kind of. He’s not a bad coach, and he has a good track record of getting teams a long way. Sure, he got them into the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in a very long time. But can he get his teams over the top? He won 56% of his games with the Knicks, and didn’t get along great with all of his players. One thing is known for sure is that whoever their next coach is will have a tough job. Not only do the Knicks have a bad owner, but they’re in New York. When you play in New York, everything you do is going to be magnified. So who will take the job? Well, Coach Bud could use a job…

Moving to the Bucks, Oates says he’s confident that Doc Rivers will be sticking around again next season. If he were to be fired, he would have been fired by now. But the question of Giannis is still being debated, at least by some pundits. He still says he doesn’t want to leave, and it’s not like the Bucks are a destitute team. Giannis seems like he wants to play his whole career in Milwaukee, Oates thinks, they just need to find the right guys to put around him.

Finally, the Brewers are red hot in Milwaukee. As of recording on Tuesday they were on an 8-game winning streak, sweeping the Phillies over the weekend. They played them at just the right time as they came off a double header and Bryce Harper was still out of commission. Winning and losing streaks never last long in baseball, but the Brewers are starting to do what they’ve needed to do all season: hit the ball. They’re pitching is still holding up, even if it’s held together by duct tape, and they can hit up and down their entire lineup. Pat Murphey’s move to make Yelich a designated hitter and keep him out of the field has been a great call too. He’s staying healthy, at least when he isn’t being hit by pitches. Their defense is looking great too, which was a big part of their success last year. They’ll need to keep this up if they want to catch the Cubs, though, and if they want to stay competitive in a great division.

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, Wisconsin basketball superstar Nigel Hayes may not be in the NBA but he’s still making waves. 10 years after helping the Badgers get to the Final Four, he’s now playing Euroleague basketball in Turkey where he was awarded the MVP for their Final Four. There are new rumors that he might be getting some NBA tryouts in his near future, and good for him! In Wisconsin, he got better every year. While it’s difficult to watch his more recent games, clips show that he’s been continuing his upward trajectory. He’s become a really dynamic player, Oates says, which is a real asset considering he was also a real team player when he was with the Badgers.

Hayes played only a handful of games in the NBA, which is surprising considering his performance in the 2015 NCAA Championship Tournament. But when you look at that 2015 Badger Men’s Basketball team, no one has really met expectations in the NBA. Frank the Tank played for a while in the NBA, as did Sam Dekker. But none of them really made it in the NBA, which is unfortunate for such a fantastic group of players. Maybe Hayes can get another shot, but his age might be a deciding factor against him. If he doesn’t get another shot at it, hey, at least he’s likely not too upset about spending his time in Istanbul.

Turning to football, as of recording we are exactly 100 days away from the beginning of the NFL season. While the season will officially open with the Eagles taking on the Cowboys, the Packers will have a difficult week 1 as they take on the Lions. Their mandatory minicamp is just a few weeks away on June 10-12, and Lucas has to ask: what are we to focus on in this year’s camp? Do we go for the obvious and watch how Jordan Love performs? Or maybe how the team can perform with, or maybe without Jaire Alexander? He is still a big question mark for the team, but they seem to be trying to come to some sort of agreement. He takes home a pretty big paycheck, and Oates thinks that when he’s healthy he can live up to it. But the emphasis there is the word “healthy.”

With 100 days left until NFL Football, ESPN has a list out of players to watch this season that includes two Packers. The first is Edgerrin Cooper, who Oates thinks will play a major role this season. When he’s healthy, he’s one of the best players on the defense, and when teaming up with Quay Walker they have a chance to really dominate. The second is Elgton Jenkins, who is anticipated to be moving to Center. He’ll be a great asset, though he’s still in a contract dispute because of his move to Center. He’s a versatile player who can move around, and he thinks he deserves a bit more money because of it. Oates says that he’s likely correct in that assessment, and the Packers should do what they can to lock him down for what will likely be the best years of his career.

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the MLB announced that Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson will now be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame. That’s great and all, but would they actually get in? Probably not, Oates thinks, if the Hall of Fame voters’ view on steroid users is any indication. At least in Pete Rose’s case, his sports betting scandal really cut to the integrity of baseball itself, and will the voters forgive him? They shouldn’t. But the views on sports betting has changed dramatically in just the past few years. It’s hard to watch any sport these days without seeing an ad for some sports betting site pop up. But it wasn’t just his sports betting that made people mad, it was his attitude toward it. Ironically, that attitude is also what made him hall of fame eligible in the first place. But just look at how people view Ryan Braun today. He still gets booed for how he handled his steroid scandal.

Speaking of baseball, the Brewers are not looking too hot these days. Recently, they were even shut out of four out of five games, which speaks to just how cold their hitting is these days. Manager Pat Murphy even has a decent excuse, they haven’t spent any money to fill the hole that was created when Willy Adames left during the offseason. Sure, Rys Hoskins is doing alright, but he’s not doing enough. Really, though, we shouldn’t be surprised. During the offseason, owner Mark Attanasio made his priorities clear when he said his job is not to win a world series, but to create a “summer of fun” for the fans. You know what would be really fun for the fans? Winning some games.

Finally, a new sport is looking like it’s coming to the Olympics: flag football. The NFL has given the OK for players to play flag football in the 2028 Olympics. Flag football as an Olympic sport is interesting, mostly because it’ll likely be a battle for second place. But who would that second place even be? At least in baseball, there are plenty of other countries that are sending great players to the MLB. Do other countries even have enough football players to make up a team? And if they did, would they really want to go up against the likes of Lamar Jackson, Tyreek Hill, and Travis Hunter, who all seem perfectly suited for flag football? That is, at least, who they would be going up against if their coaches let them play in the Olympics. We have to wonder if they will allow the tush push in Olympic flag football…

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the NBA may still be holding their playoffs, but it’s already time to start thinking about the NBA draft. Back in ‘85, there were conspiracies abound when the Knicks were given the first pick. Who wouldn’t want the biggest player playing in the biggest market? Well, the conspiracies are back as the Dallas draw number one in the draft and are likely to be taking home Cooper Flagg. Because of course they would! After all the bad press in trading Luka this season, Flagg is a similar player who will likely fill that hole. It’s all rigged, says the internet pundits! But Oates says no it’s not. There are too many people involved today and too many moving parts for something like that to happen. Sure, they had minuscule odds to draw the number one pick, but that’s called luck. At least something a little bit memorable is happening in this draft, unlike last year’s completely forgetting one. Can you even remember who the number one pick was last year?

The Bucks don’t get a first round pick this year, and they won’t until the 2030s. So with that in mind, how are they going to build around Giannis? There’s been reporting this week that he is “open to discussion about his future,” and while these stories happen every year now these reports might have a bit more meat on them. Who could blame Giannis for wanting out of the Bucks? They haven’t built any great team around him, which is what is needed for them to be truly competitive, and Doc Rivers has failed to create any sort of identity within the team. Add in the fact that Dame might be out for next season already and it’s no wonder Giannis is looking at tax laws in other states. Now, he hasn’t given any indication yet that he actually wants to leave, so for now it’s all speculation. Oates thinks he’ll be back next year, but they’ll have to make some moves to put some fresh talent around him.

Finally, it’s the NFL schedule announcement extravaganza! They’ve turned it into a whole moment, a three day event where everyone is clamoring to know who’s playing who when next year. Is Oates clamoring with them? No, because he isn’t looking for hotel rooms in Lambeau too much any more. But what is important is the international games. There will be seven international NFL games next year, and the Packers don’t play in any of them. After last year’s loss in Brazil we can only be happy about that. The Vikings, however, aren’t so lucky, and are playing two games in Europe in back-to-back weeks. Which, all things considered, at least gives them time to recover there, so they shouldn’t be complaining too much.

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

In this week's episode of The Wisconsin Sportscast, the Bucks have lost to the Indiana Pacers and are out of the NBA playoffs. But that part was expected, at least it was after their first few games. What was expected was what happened after the game when John Haliburton, father of Tyrese Haliburton, got on the court and into Giannis’ face as soon as the game came to an end. Giannis handled it about as well as you would hope, both in the moment and after the game, and John Haliburton has been asked not to attend any more games this season. Let’s see if he actually sticks to that. Tyrese himself is a Wisconsin native, and possibly one of the best players to come from the state in recent years. He was a late bloomer but brough Oshkosh North to win the championship. Oates calls him a winning NBA player, one of the biggest compliments he can give. Sure, he can be a little mouthy, but for him the team comes first.

With the Buck’s latest first round ejection from the playoffs, it’s once again time to speculate about Giannis’ future with the Bucks. Will he go to Houston? Or maybe San Antonio? Oates doesn’t think so. The Bucks won’t want to trade him, there aren’t enough draft picks out there and they don’t want another Kareem Abdul-Jabbar situation on their hands. And Giannis has said that he wants to stay and has a real life set for both him and his family in Milwaukee. There will be a lot of talk in the next few months, but Oates says he thinks he’ll stay put.

Finally, a big headline in college sports this week is that Texas is expected to spend $20-40 million on their football team this year. After seeing how well Duke did in basketball with that strategy, who can blame them. The Big 10 announced that they had over $900 million in revenue last year and each school will be getting around $62 million each. And Nebraska Quarterback Dylan Raiola signed a big NIL deal with Adidas. The money is certainly flowing in college sports these days. Let’s just hope the players' transcripts and GPA grows with their pocketbooks…

The Wisconsin Sportscast with Lucas & Oates is a Cap Times podcast produced by Nate Wegehaupt. Find it on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.