Poor Mark Gronowski. South Dakota State's two-time national championship, Walter Payton Award quarterback is getting dragged through the mud by Iowa fans and national pundits alike. The "Two Million Dollar Man" has thrown for the fewest passing yards (127) by a Big Ten quarterback through his first two games. Ever. By 50 yards. He pilots a Hawkeye offense that is 135th of 136 FBS teams with 65 passing yards per game, with the next-worst "Power Four" team gaining twice the total. But how much of it is Gronowski's fault? If not a lot, who is most to blame? Happy Hour host John Gaskins lays into that while playing spectacular clips from irate Hawkeye podcast hosts. Today's guests are South Dakota football coach Travis Johansen and Sioux Falls Canaries manager Mike Meyer, whose teams are headed in opposite directions. The Coyotes are 0-2 and looking subpar at best, while the Canaries are two wins away from clinching a league championship series berth. Both teams are at home this week.

Johansen chat — It is one thing to field 20 minutes of questions about your football team if it has started 2-0 and scored a dramatic, massive road win against one of the top programs and most hostile environments in the country.

It is another thing to field over 20 minutes of questions after a mistake-filled, offensively sputtering 20-13 road loss to an unranked team to fall to 0-2.

Johansen answered directly, decisively, and deftly the questions surrounding the Coyotes from Happy Hour host John Gaskins on Tuesday.

Is there a common denominator cause of some of the problems, particularly from an offense that has not scored a touchdown after their both game-opening drives and posted only three points combined in its two second halves?

How do we assess senior quarterback Aidan Bouman's play, and what does the film say about obstacles he has faced from both opponents and teammates?

What does Johansen mean when he says he sees "growth in the building" from a team that, no doubt, is less experienced than the squad that busted out of the gates in 2025 en route to 11 wins and a semifinal berth?

And what kind of observations and expectations does he have for a fan base that has grown with the newfound elite status of the program, but now has an 0-2 outfit in the DakotaDome on Saturday against Northern Colorado, a team that was 1-11 last year but almost beat FBS Colorado State last week?

Yotes fans have questions. Johansen had answers, and not of the vague, excuse-making, lip service, tap-dancing variety.

Mike Meyer chat —

Sports do not get much sweeter, if not sappier, than the too-corny-for-movies way the Sioux Falls Canaries took down their league's best team, the Sioux City Explorers, on the road in the first round of the playoffs. Having been flattened 5-0 at home in Game 1 and then nine outs away from their season coming to a crushing end (down 5-2 in the seventh inning of Game 2), the Birds exploded for 14 runs in two innings to win 16-8 and tie the series, then blew out the Explorers 7-2 in Sioux City the next night to win the series. How? How did the seemingly smothered Canaries all of sudden bolt out of their cage and wreak havoc on the American Association of Professional Baseball's Behemoth? Ninth-year Mike Manager has guided the Canaries from the very bottom of the league in every facet his first couple years, to back-to-back playoff first round playoff exits (2023-24), to now being the favorite to win their first league championship series in 17 years. They are the top team standing of the final four. This kind of comeback did not come out of nowhere. Meyer has built the team from the ground up and explains how it was always in them, and how emotional and proud he was at the comeback. Now, the Canaries host two second round playoff games at The Birdcage on Thursday and Friday at 6:35 p.m. against another rival — the Fargo-Moorhead Redhawks. The series is tied 1-1 after the squads split the first two games in Fargo on Monday and Tuesday. Meyer all but confirmed the future status of all-time league home run king and Canaries Hall of Fame shoe-in Jabari Henry. Could these be his final swings in The Birdcage? If the Canaries win both games in front of home fans, they will advance to the championship series of the American Association of Professional Baseball for the fourth time in the 33-season modern history of the club. If the Canaries and Redhawks each win a game on Thursday and Friday, The Birdcage will host a winner-take-all Game 5 on Saturday night at 6:35 p.m., offering all the same deals. First pitch is at 6:35 p.m. both nights, with gates opening at 5:35 p.m. All tickets to these games are just $10, except in the "Diamond Club" behind home plate, where for $30, fans get padded up-close seats and an "all-inclusive wristband," meaning all the hot dogs, bratwursts, and hamburgers you can eat, plus all the domestic beer and/or water you can drink. Also, 12 oz. Cans of Coors Light will be on sale for $2.25 until first pitch.

Tickets can be purchased online at tickets.sfcanaries.com, by calling the box office at 605-336-6060, or by visiting The Birdcage front office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Walk-up tickets will be sold at The Birdcage ticket windows starting at 5 p.m.