Until Kalen DeBoer wins a national championship at Alabama, some Crimson Tide fans and national media will never be satisfied. And until Kalen DeBoer wins a national championship at Alabama, what he says on a microphone about trying to win a national championship at Alabama will also likely not satisfy those folks. South Dakota's most famous football son took his turn at the mighty podium at SEC Media Days on Wednesday and, as usual, kept his statements classy and concise and not much astray from how he publicly communicated about NAIA national championships when he was University of Sioux Falls head football coach (and winning three national championships). Yet, it is what he didn't say that had eternally-parsing ESPN pundit Paul Finebaum pontificating on how DeBoer did himself no favors. Happy Hour host John Gaskins and Sioux Falls Live sports editor Matt Zimmer pick apart the pick-aparting from the Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls in the latest weekly "Nobody's Listening Anyway" show.

Until Kalen DeBoer wins a national championship at Alabama, some Crimson Tide fans and national media will never be satisfied. And until Kalen DeBoer wins a national championship at Alabama, what he says on a microphone about trying to win a national championship at Alabama will also likely not satisfy those folks. South Dakota's most famous football son took his turn at the mighty podium at SEC Media Days on Wednesday and, as usual, kept his statements classy and concise and not much astray from how he publicly communicated about NAIA national championships when he was University of Sioux Falls head football coach (and winning three national championships). Yet, it is what he didn't say that had eternally-parsing ESPN pundit Paul Finebaum pontificating on how DeBoer did himself no favors. Happy Hour host John Gaskins and Sioux Falls Live sports editor Matt Zimmer pick apart the pick-aparting from the Orion Pub in downtown Sioux Falls in the latest weekly "Nobody's Listening Anyway" show. Also on the docket: * The Jackrabbit and Coyote football teams both start official practices next week. Who are the players Zim is most anticipating watching, and what storylines loom the largest for both squads? * The Minnesota Twins continue to live in the lingering limbo of "buyer or seller" as the Aug. 3 trade deadline nears... but why does Zim think they should act like a team going places? * The Sioux Falls Canaries have ripped out of the All-Star break on a five-game heater. Why? And why should there be belief they'll be title contenders again? * After Happy Hour spent some time on the legacy of T. Denny Sanford earlier in the week with Patrick Lalley, Zim offers his own perspective on what Sanford (specifically, his money) had done for the sports landscape in Sioux Falls and South Dakota.

Some things have changed drastically at Augustana in the eight years Josh Morton took the reins as athletic director in 2018. Other things have remained the same at the private Lutheran liberal arts university in the middle of Sioux Falls. In both cases, it's been a pretty good thing. The Vikings applied to move up from Div. II and into the Summit League, where they would join old North Central Conference rivals SDSU and USD, but the application was denied. Instead of just doing nothing, Morton, Augie president Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, and other university leaders decided to pivot. Oh, what a pivot it was. Augustana created a Div. I hockey program — which in three years has exploded into a Top 20 operation — and raised money to build a $74 million state-of-the-art hockey arena while remaining in Div. II in all other sports. Most of those teams continued to perform at or near the top of the Northern Sun conference. But you knew that. What you may not know is how Morton and company accomplished it. It starts with being able to raise money. Lots and lots and lots of money from wealthy individuals and companies. Augie hired Morton from Michigan State, where he was assistant athletic director and raised $23 million in major gift commitments in his five years there, according to his Augustana website bio. Before that, as associate athletic director at North Dakota — a long-time Div. I hockey powerhouse — Morton had a front row seat to that school's transition from Div. II to Div. I in all sports besides hockey, a process that required — you guessed it — raising a lot of money. Surprisingly, Morton had zero fundraising experience prior to that UND job, his first in athletic administration. He had spent over a decade as a local TV sports anchor and reporter in Fargo and Charleston, South Carolina. But what Morton did have is a background since birth of the life and "language" of college athletics as the son of a head football coach who won a Div. II national championship at North Dakota State (1979-83), bolted through a couple of winning seasons at Div. I Tulsa (1985-86), then got swallowed in the quicksand of Big Ten football from 1987-89 at Wisconsin. Don Morton made his own pivot before age 50. He transitioned into the business world and became the chief of staff the CEO of a Fargo software company that Microsoft eventually bought in 2001. That CEO is Doug Burgum, former North Dakota governor and current U.S. Secretary of the Interior. By age 16, Morton saw first-hand the peaks and one valley Don had navigated in high-stakes college sports. And he witnessed his father's successful pivot firsthand. Hear all about how all this played out in Happy Hour's 76-minute conversation with the former walk-on quarterback at UND. Plus, plenty of updates and views of major happenings in Augie athletics over the last few years: * Hockey coach Garrett Raboin's decision to eschew interest (if not an offer) from blue blood Minnesota and stay at Augie * 20-year national championship softball coach Gretta Melsted's recent departure to coach the Gophers and the hiring of replacement Colleen Powers from Div. III St. Catherine * Why did Augie hire as its new volleyball head coach Erika Bute, a 25-year-old who was playing for the school just three years ago? * The Elmen Center's $3 million renovation and the pivot of basketball games back to campus from the Sanford Pentagon * The 2024 departure of 21-year men's basketball coach and 2016 national champion Tom Billeter and the decision to replace him with assistant and former player Cody Schilling * The hiring of women's basketball coach Nate Vogel, which came after the decision to fire Jillian Flores Bennett after just one season (7-20). The latter replaced legend Dave Krauth, whose teams produced 33 winning records in his 34 seasons

Imagine, if you will: One of the greatest, most electric, most prolific football players in South Dakota State University history almost never played football. That was a shocking revelation during Cade Johnson's 72-minute Happy Hour chat on Tuesday. In the first 28 minutes, we catch up with Johnson's life now. He's in pro football limbo while working in Omaha, the metro area he grew up. Hear what it was like to be the son of a Husker football legend, Clester Johnson, who was also a state wrestling and state hurdles champion both men's high school alma mater, Bellevue West. Why did Cade not hit a gridiron until he was 16? How did he become such an elite player so fast?

He shared plenty of stories about the Jackrabbit A-listers he played with (and for) during his 2016-19 career, making the hour-plus chat worthwhile: John Stiegelmeier Dan Jackson Jason Eck Eric Eidness Taryn Christion Dallas Goedert Jake Weineke The explosive wideout from the Omaha area was a first-team All-American in his third and final season wearing blue and yellow in 2019, and he owns the school records for most receiving touchdowns in a game (4) and a season (17). Johnson burst onto the season as a redshirt freshman in 2017 by setting the single season SDSU record for kickoff return yards (839) and was the first Jackrabbit to score more than one touchdown on a kickoff return in a season in 54 years. One of those scores came on a 95-yard bolt in the third game of his career. Now a commercial realtor back in Omaha — while still training for an NFL call that could come any day — Johnson ranks in the top 10 in every career receiving category and would have threatened the top spot in all of them had he played a fourth season of eligibility in Brookings. Instead, COVID cancelled the 2020 season until the spring of 2021. By then, Johnson had decided to become eligible for the NFL Draft. He wasn't selected, but he signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks, whose uniform he wore for three seasons. He also recently tried out with the Los Angeles Chargers.

Imagine, if you will: One of the greatest, most electric, most prolific football players in South Dakota State University history almost never played football. That was a shocking revelation during Cade Johnson's 72-minute Happy Hour chat on Tuesday. He shared plenty of stories about the Jackrabbit A-listers he played with (and for) during his 2016-19 career, making the hour-plus chat worthwhile: John Stiegelmeier Dan Jackson Jason Eck Eric Eidness Taryn Christion Dallas Goedert Jake Weineke The explosive wideout from the Omaha area was a first-team All-American in his third and final season wearing blue and yellow in 2019, and he owns the school records for most receiving touchdowns in a game (4) and a season (17). Johnson burst onto the season as a redshirt freshman in 2017 by setting the single season SDSU record for kickoff return yards (839) and was the first Jackrabbit to score more than one touchdown on a kickoff return in a season in 54 years. One of those scores came on a 95-yard bolt in the third game of his career. Now a commercial realtor back in Omaha — while still training for an NFL call that could come any day — Johnson ranks in the top 10 in every career receiving category and would have threatened the top spot in all of them had he played a fourth season of eligibility in Brookings. Instead, COVID cancelled the 2020 season until the spring of 2021. By then, Johnson had decided to become eligible for the NFL Draft. He wasn't selected, but he signed an undrafted free agent contract with the Seattle Seahawks, whose uniform he wore for three seasons. He also recently tried out with the Los Angeles Chargers. This means Johnson has excellent Happy Hour stories about: Russell Wilson Pete Carroll Jim Harbaugh Josh Allen The last of those names was the quarterback who threw Johnson's older brother C.J. plenty of touchdown passes at Wyoming. Johnson's younger brother, Keagan, played wideout at Iowa and Kansas State. Their father Clester was the leading receiver on Nebraska's 1995 national championship team, one of the highest-scoring and most dominant teams in Div. I history. So why did Johnson almost never set foot on a gridiron? And who nudged him toward Jackrabbit stardom and living out his NFL dream? Hit play, and find out, Bucko! Cheers!

The Jackrabbits hoisting a comined 20 men's and women's basketball tournamemt championships in packed Denny Sanford PREMIER Centers, and their 20 subsequent memorable trips into March Madness. The Coyote women going through four such experiences of their own. SDSU football not just joining the FCS ranks, but becoming back-to-back national champion. USD finding its groove in Div. I and reaching the quarterfinals three times, including a near-stand alone game on ABC. John Daly, Ernie Els, Berhard Langer and other PGA Tour legends teeing it up in Sioux Falls for some of the biggest PGA Tour Champions crowds of the year, every year. Div. I hockey regionals, an NCAA women's basketball Sweet 16 and Elite 8, and Div. II national championships in hoops, wrestling and volleyball. The Huskers, Hawkeyes, Cyclones and Gophers basketball squads gracing the Pentagon along with other college powerhouses and Hall of Fame coaches in regular season games that count. Iowa vs. Gonzage in a Top 5 tilt on CBS on a Saturday afternoon. State of the art youth and high school sports facilities at a complex that make for training grounds of blue chip athletes from all over the region, boosting their college prospects. We could go on. Sioux Falls and South Dakota has experienced a sports boom that was unthinkable 25 years ago. None of it would exist without T. Denny Sanford. The credit card magnate and health care/community philanthropist is worth $2.4 billion and spent $2 billion on charitable pursuits in local medicine, the arts, and certainly athletics. Sanford died on Saturday at age 90. Sioux Falls Live editor Patrick Laley wrote a detailed obituary and joined Happy Hour fro. Orion Pub on Monday to discuss Sanford's legacy. It is a complicated and controversial one that goes beyond the rightfully glowing tributes so many of South Dakota's most powerful political and business leaders penned in the hours after the announcement of Sanford's death. Lalley is not afraid to address the blemishes on the Sanford file.

The latest sign that North Dakota State's plunge into the FBS is for real came last week at Mountain West conference football media days. The Bison were the new kids in town, but not necessarily the belles of the ball. That distinction went to UNLV, the hometown team of the new site of the media day event and the league offices. As their Dakota school rival fans watch the Bison's maiden voyage from afar, Happy Hour tracked down 30-year Forum of Fargo-Moorhead columnist Mike McFeely to get a feel on things like: * How already is NDSU being treated by league officials and new opponents as the Bison come in hot as the titan of the FCS? * The league's commissioner was asked (by McFeely) about potential expansion from 10 teams. Hear what she said and if SDSU and USD would be near the front of the line for consideration... if either school would even be financially ready to make the FBS leap. * How equipped is NDSU, depth-wise and via its style of play, to contend for a conference title immediately? * What did New Mexico coach and and former SDSU offensive coordinator Jason Eck have to say while comparing the level of play in the MWC to the Missouri Valley Football Conference?

Sioux Falls was the mid-summer "work vacation" destination for head coaches and select players in the Missouri Valley Football Conference, including the Jackrabbits and Coyotes. On the slate— a trip to Great Shots for some golf games and high-end downtown dining at Parker's Bistro. Meanwhile, it was "Viva, Las Vegas" for long-time MVFC kingpin North Dakota State. You can imagine what kinds of places Bison players and coaches could go to enjoy their time in Vegas. Things are different when you move up a level to the FBS. The sites of league media days are a shining example. In both cases, conversations with the Bison in the desert and their former opponents on the plains yielded plenty of anticipation for the upcoming season. There was no shortage of coverage from either event. Both media days were broadcast live on Forum Communications stations — WDAY+ in Fargo and KSFL-TV in Sioux Falls. Sioux Falls Live and the Forum of Fargo-Moorhead websites are filled with stories and videos. This week's edition of South Dakota Sports Lounge features three lively and informative conversations and a story from Midwest Sports+ reporter Zach Borg on how the MVFC moves on without the Bison. The chats: * SDSU coach Dan Jackson, quarterback Chase Mason, and defensive tackle Logan Green with Happy Hour host John Gaskins, Sioux Falls Live sports editor Matt Zimmer, and Mitchell Republic reporter Marcus Traxler * USD coach Matt Vitzthum 1-on-1 on "Happy Hour with John Gaskins" * Mountain West associate commissioner John Sullivan on "Hot Mic with Dom Izzo"

One way to beat the sweltering, sports-dead dog days of Mid-July is to have a conference football media day event. Players and coaches all over the Missouri Valley Football Conference gave local sports fans something to talk and read about, and both Sioux Falls Live and Happy Hour dug in their heels on Tuesday and Wednesday -- ample coverage you'll find on this site. Another way to smother the summer sports blues: Take a road trip! Happy Hour has taken local viewers and listeners into sports bars since its inception 18 months ago. The weekly "Nobody's Listening Anyway" podcast featuring Sioux Falls Live sports editor Matt Zimmer and the Happy Hour host have bellied up at Gateway Lounge for six years. On Wednesday, that duo traveled to Lincoln, Nebraska, to take in the sights and sounds of the American Association All-Star Game and Home Run Derby, a day after MLB held its Mid-Summer Classic. Four Canaries played in the game, and two took swings in the Derby -- veteran Mike Hart and 6'7 masher Josh Rehwaldt, a University of Sioux Falls alumnus who owns one of the top five batting averages in the league at .358. The hosts interviewed the two sluggers on the field before their first at-bats, then watched up close as Rehwaldt launched missiles and moon shots, mostly over the right field wall, until Fargo-Moorhead's Jose Sermo surpassed Rehwaldt in the two-man championship round. After taking in some of the game, the hosts took seats in the outfield bar area with cold Coors Lights in their hands -- their first beers of the day! -- and shot the Happy Hour breeze with the game, the stadium, the sunset, the cracks of the bat, and the organ music all behind them. Topics: * Takeaways from MVFC Media Day and the preseason poll that billed SDSU as the strong favorite and USD slotted to finish fifth of nine teams * Jackrabbits coach Dan Jackson's revelation to the Happy Hour host that he plans to work with Coyotes coach Matt Vitzthum on elevating the prestige and energy of the "State vs U" football rivalry * Speculation of SDSU athletic director Justin Sell as a potential candidate for the open position at Iowa State, and what Zim has learned of the seriousness of that possibility from Sell himself But first, some baseball talk. The hosts offer their up-close observations of the best professionals in their Midwestern independent league. Both the Canaries and the Twins sat one game under .500 at their All-Star breaks. How are the teams similar in their strengths and weaknesses, and why are there reasons to believe they have second-half surges and playoff berths ahead? By the end of this Happy Hour, the sun had set, the sauna-level temperature had cooled, and all felt right in the world. And it was time for another beer! We recommend you have a cold one while watching and listening. Or two. We won't judge or tell.