Let's face it — Mid-July is the Sahara Desert of the sports events landscape, locally and nationally.

But that doesn't mean there aren't some fun local and national topics for Happy Hour host John Gaskins to bounce around over beers on an idle Wednesday afternoon at The Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls with Sioux Falls Live sportswriter Trent Singer:

• What do we make of the "Swing Off" determining the MLB All-Star Game winner?
• Why does baseball have the best all-star game?
• Why is "run it out" is the most annoying fan whine in baseball?
• Why are the Canaries such a fascinating watch full of incredible individual characters and stories?
• How does USD, of all schools, have an incredible pole vaulting dynasty?
• What should we most look forward to for MVFC Football Media Day on Monday?
• What are the top Sioux Falls Metro high school football storylines heading into the fall? 
• Wu Tang Clan in Denver or Nelly in Minneapolis — Who saw the better show?

They didn't exactly solve the world's problems, but John and Trent at least killed an hour that hopefully may have made your day, or your long drive or jog somewhere.

Before that...

The college football world opened up its eager eyes toward Alabama and South Dakota native Kalen DeBoer on Wednesday.

So, what was the former University of Sioux Falls Cougar's highlight while facing the white hot spotlight in Atlanta, just a few days after "Kalen-Palooza" swept Sioux Falls last week?

While some Crimson Tide fans or talking heads like Paul Finebaum may think the former University of Sioux Falls player and coach is on a "scorching hot seat" after the worst season in Tuscaloosa in 17 years, Happy Hour host John Gaskins pegged one statement at the podium, plus DeBoer's track record as reason to believe Bama will be back in the national title hunt in second season.

 

The college football world opened up its eager eyes toward Alabama and South Dakota native Kalen DeBoer on Wednesday.

So, what was the former University of Sioux Falls Cougar's highlight while facing the white hot spotlight in Atlanta, just a few days after "Kalen-Palooza" swept Sioux Falls last week?

While some Crimson Tide fans or talking heads like Paul Finebaum may think the former University of Sioux Falls player and coach is on a "scorching hot seat" after the worst season in Tuscaloosa in 17 years, Happy Hour host John Gaskins pegged one statement at the podium, plus DeBoer's track record as reason to believe Bama will be back in the national title hunt in second season.

 

Let's face it — Mid-July is the Sahara Desert of the sports events landscape, locally and nationally.

But that doesn't mean there aren't some fun local and national topics for Happy Hour host John Gaskins to bounce around over beers on an idle Wednesday afternoon at The Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls with Sioux Falls Live sportswriter Trent Singer:

• What do we make of the "Swing Off" determining the MLB All-Star Game winner?
• Why does baseball have the best all-star game?
• Why is "run it out" is the most annoying fan whine in baseball?
• Why are the Canaries such a fascinating watch full of incredible individual characters and stories?
• How does USD, of all schools, have an incredible pole vaulting dynasty?
• What should we most look forward to for MVFC Football Media Day on Monday?
• What are the top Sioux Falls Metro high school football storylines heading into the fall? 
• Wu Tang Clan in Denver or Nelly in Minneapolis — Who saw the better show?

They didn't exactly solve the world's problems, but John and Trent at least killed an hour that hopefully may have made your day, or your long drive or jog somewhere.

At first, a small town the size of Brookings is not what a Minnesota "Mr. Football" finalist from just outside of Minneapolis had in mind for college football.

Then Jake Wieneke met South Dakota State coach John Stiegelmeier on his recruiting visit in January 2013, and everything changed on a dime.

All Wieneke's decision to become a Jackrabbit led to was catching more dimes for more yards and more touchdowns than anyone in the history of the program and Missouri Valley Football Conference. 

The 6'4 speedy wideout burst out of the gates and finished runner-up for the Jerry Rice Award (top freshman in the FCS), then continued to team with quarterbacks Zach Lujan and Taryn Christion and offensive coordinator Eric Eidsness to re-write SDSU record books and elevate the Jacks from a Top 20 program to a Top 10 juggernaut, a stretch that included SDSU's first MVFC title in 2016 when Wieneke was a junior.

Now a missionary for athletes at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Wieneke looks back a career that helped transform SDSU into the powerhouse it is today and shares stories about those prolific quarterbacks and future NFL teammates like Zach Zenner and Dallas Goedert.

His stories are vivid, real, and raw: The Jacks' landmark win at North Dakota State in 2016 — including his game-winning touchdown catch with one second left — to his career ending in a nightmare loss at James Madison in the FCS semifinals (after which he had perform a random NCAA drug test that dragged out a while), to the moment he decided to retire from football after a few years in the Canadian Football League.

The hour-plus conversation starts with the good-natured Wieneke catching us up on how he got started in his current profession and ended up in Lincoln. The chat ends with how he applies all his athletic experiences to the Big Ten athletes he now mentors.

Before all that, Happy Hour host John Gaskins provides a John-o-logue...

There's a classic Seinfeld episode (Season 8, Ep. 22) where, after he was fired by the New York Yankees but receieved a three-month severage package, George Costanza relishes in having an entire summer off and proclaimed "The Summer of George!"     Tuesday, smack dab in the middle of July and midsummer, after Monday's MLB Home Run Derby and ahead of Tuesday's All-Star game, Happy Hour host John Gaskins declared 2025 "The Summer of Buck!"     Already one of the game's most all-around studs, already having his best pro season, Byron Buxton supplied two wow moments within three days when he hit for the cycle on Saturday — completing it with a 427-foot home run to centerfield — and by blasting 20 moon shots in the first round of Monday's derby.   Yet, many die-hard Twins fans like Monday's Happy Hour co-host Matt Zimmer still can't watch these golden moments without lamenting what could have been.   Gaskins has a message for all those who find the Summer of Buck to be bittersweet, plus a reminder of what fans can catch when they come to The Birdcage to see the Sioux Falls Canaries play on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights this week:   The highest-scoring (by far), most home run hitting (by far), and highest-hitting team in the American Association of Professional Baseball, with six league all-stars, including two local players among the league's best five hitters. With 42 games left, the Birds are 33-25, which is excellent but good only for third place, 4.5 games back of the loaded west division's lead. But they are on pace for their third consecutive playoff berth.

There's a classic Seinfeld episode (Season 8, Ep. 22) where, after he was fired by the New York Yankees but receieved a three-month severage package, George Costanza relishes in having an entire summer off and proclaimed "The Summer of George!"     Tuesday, smack dab in the middle of July and midsummer, after Monday's MLB Home Run Derby and ahead of Tuesday's All-Star game, Happy Hour host John Gaskins declared 2025 "The Summer of Buck!"     Already one of the game's most all-around studs, already having his best pro season, Byron Buxton supplied two wow moments within three days when he hit for the cycle on Saturday — completing it with a 427-foot home run to centerfield — and by blasting 20 moon shots in the first round of Monday's derby.   Yet, many die-hard Twins fans like Monday's Happy Hour co-host Matt Zimmer still can't watch these golden moments without lamenting what could have been.   Gaskins has a message for all those who find the Summer of Buck to be bittersweet, plus a reminder of what fans can catch when they come to The Birdcage to see the Sioux Falls Canaries play on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights this week:   The highest-scoring (by far), most home run hitting (by far), and highest-hitting team in the American Association of Professional Baseball, with six league all-stars, including two local players among the league's best five hitters. With 42 games left, the Birds are 33-25, which is excellent but good only for third place, 4.5 games back of the loaded west division's lead. But they are on pace for their third consecutive playoff berth.

At first, a small town the size of Brookings is not what a Minnesota "Mr. Football" finalist from just outside of Minneapolis had in mind for college football.

Then Jake Wieneke met South Dakota State coach John Stiegelmeier on his recruiting visit in January 2013, and everything changed on a dime.

All Wieneke's decision to become a Jackrabbit led to was catching more dimes for more yards and more touchdowns than anyone in the history of the program and Missouri Valley Football Conference. 

The 6'4 speedy wideout burst out of the gates and finished runner-up for the Jerry Rice Award (top freshman in the FCS), then teammed with quarterbacks Zach Lujan and Taryn Christion and offensive coordinator Eric Eidsness to re-write SDSU record books and elevate the Jacks from a Top 20 program to a Top 10 juggernaut, a stretch that included SDSU's first MVFC title in 2016 when Wieneke was a junior.

Now a missionary for athletes at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, Wieneke looks back a career that helped transform SDSU into the powerhouse it is today and shares stories about those prolific quarterbacks and future NFL teammates like Zach Zenner and Dallas Goedert.

His stories are vivid, real, and raw: The Jacks' landmark win at North Dakota State in 2016 — including his game-winning touchdown catch on the second-to-last play of the game — to his career ending in a nightmare loss at James Madison in the FCS semifinals (after which he had perform a random NCAA drug test that dragged out a while), to the moment he decided to retire from football after a few years in the Canadian Football League.

The hour-plus conversation starts with the good-natured Wieneke catching us up on how he got started in his current profession and ended up in Lincoln. The chat ends with how he applies all his athletic experiences to the athletes he now mentors.

What a weekend it was to be at Target Field!

Twins ace Joe Ryan got the 2-1 pitcher's duel win over National League All-Star starter and Cy Young candidate Paul Skenes in front of a sellout crowd, followed by a one-hour concert from still-jacked 50-year-old Nelly in front of a still-amped throng.

While Happy Hour host John Gaskins attended that, his Nobody's Listening Anyway co-host Matt Zimmer had the fortune the next day of witnessing Byron Buxton hit a 427-foot home run to complete the cycle on Byron Buxton Bobblehead Day.

These awesome experiences, plus Buxton's appearances in Monday's Home Run Derby and Tuesday's MLB All-Star game, lead off a midsummer's daydream full of baseball and football conversation from the Gateway Lounge in Sioux Falls.

Is Buxton one of the very best players in all of baseball? Can we enjoy this joyride he is on or is it still bittersweet considering so much of his talent has been squandered due to injuries?

Meanwhile, the Sioux Falls Canaries have six players in their league's All-Star game next week, with two of them up-and-coming local talents from Augustana (Jordan Barth) and USF (Josh Rehwaldt), the latter who Zimmer things should have gotten a call to join an MLB operation by now.

While baseball is in midseason form, Alabama coach and USF player/coaching alumnus Kalen DeBoer stopped in Sioux Falls last week for a few speaking engagements before heading to Atlanta for SEC Media Days this week. Zimmer walks through his takeaways, including the connective tissue of DeBoer's 67-3 tear while head coach at USF to year two leading Fresno State, Washington, and now the Crimson Tide.

Meanwhile, you can watch and hear Happy Hour's one-on-one with DeBoer from last May here.

He covered South Dakota State coaching legends John Stiegelmeier and Scott Nagy during both trying and triumphant times, and Aaron Johnston through a seemingly smooth ride to instant big-time success (partially interrupted by AJ's fleeting turbulence of leaving SDSU for another job only to change his mind). 

He witnessed and wrote about thrilling games and historic moments like the first Summit League Tournament in Sioux Falls and NCAA March Madness games from Detroit to Lubbock to "The Pit" in New Mexico.

He traveled coast-to-coast — from Southern California to New York City and random Midwestern college hamlets like Macomb and Terre Haute in between — to document with wide-eyed curiosity the adventures in the new Division I frontier of SDSU sports.  

Through it all, Terry Vandrovec delivered to Jackrabbit fans the stories that marked a wild, at-times wonderful and at-times weird transition from the old and glorious Div. II North Central Conference era that made complete sense, to the bizarre dues-paying and later glamorous payoff of modern mid-major Div. I life.

New Jersey Tech and IUPUI and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, oh my. Court stormings at Sioux Falls Arena and the PREMIER Center and jealous Summit League opponents. FCS playoffs and scaring the daylights out of Nebraska and scraping and clawing to take down the Bison beast.

Zenner and Vogel and Wolters.

Vandrovec looks back on his dynamic decade at the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls.

Before he became a decade-long Sioux Falls-based beat writer for South Dakota State athletics, Terry Vandrovec had spent nearly a decade forging his skills covering a wide variety of sports in Fargo-Moorhead, where the Jamestown native attended college. 

Since he stepped down from the Jackrabbits beat in 2015, Vandrovec has stayed in local sports as a marketing specialist for Sanford Sports while developing a social media presence. 

Vandrovec dives into all that before Part 2, where he goes down memory lane during his memorable stint covering the early Div. I SDSU years in Brookings and border-to-border.

He covered South Dakota State coaching legends John Stiegelmeier and Scott Nagy during both trying and triumphant times, and Aaron Johnston through a seemingly smooth ride to instant big-time success (partially interrupted by AJ's fleeting turbulence of leaving SDSU for another job only to change his mind). 

He witnessed and wrote about thrilling games and historic moments like the first Summit League Tournament in Sioux Falls and NCAA March Madness games from Detroit to Lubbock to "The Pit" in New Mexico.

He traveled coast-to-coast — from Southern California to New York City and random Midwestern college hamlets like Macomb and Terre Haute in between — to document with wide-eyed curiosity the adventures in the new Division I frontier of SDSU sports.  

Through it all, Terry Vandrovec delivered to Jackrabbit fans the stories that marked a wild, at-times wonderful and at-times weird transition from the old and glorious Div. II North Central Conference era that made complete sense, to the bizarre dues-paying and later glamorous payoff of modern mid-major Div. I life.

New Jersey Tech and IUPUI and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, oh my. Court stormings at Sioux Falls Arena and the PREMIER Center and jealous Summit League opponents. FCS playoffs and scaring the daylights out of Nebraska and scraping and clawing to take down the Bison beast.

Zenner and Vogel and Wolters.

Vandrovec looks back on his dynamic decade at the Argus Leader in Sioux Falls, which followed a decade covering a wide variety of sports in his home state of North Dakota. 

But he starts with a look back of this past decade, when he decided to "drop out" of the media game for a family-friendlier gig with Sanford Health that still allows him to be part of the most exciting sports action in the state.