Happy Hour with John Gaskins

So, how strong is the urge for South Dakota State's athletic director and head football coach to move up to FBS now that arch football rival North Dakota State has gone bigger time?   How strong is the Summit League as the conference shrinks to eight teams soon, especially with reports and rumors of unrest among the non-Dakotas schools?    What can SDSU possibly do to keep its best athletes happy...

Thursday will provide a beautiful snapshot of the splendors of this time of the year on the sports calendar.   The Minnesota Twins will play their opening day game in the afternoon in Baltimore. Shortly after that concludes, Nebraska and Iowa will lock horns in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.   It's (almost) the most wonderful time of the sports year. Why will Sioux Falls Live sports editor M...

Thursday will provide a beautiful snapshot of the splendors of this time of the year on the sports calendar.   The Minnesota Twins will play their opening day game in the afternoon in Baltimore. Shortly after that concludes, Nebraska and Iowa will lock horns in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.   It's (almost) the most wonderful time of the sports year. Why will Sioux Falls Live sports editor M...

They aren't in the Big Dance, but the South Dakota women's basketball team is still dancing. And they like it. A lot.   The Coyotes won their first WNIT game on Sunday — it was a second round game after receiving a first round bye — and the group led by senior transfers from all over the country spanked Northern Colorado with much of the same "juice" and "joy" they've displayed in their 24-8 seaso...

It came in a big wave on Monday and Tuesday — reports and announcements of Summit League players entering the transfer portal.   Five North Dakota State players are bouncing, including three of the Bison's top five scorers, with All-Summit first teamer Trevian Carson also expected to jump.   At least three from North Dakota will be gone, including Greyson Uelman, an All-Summit League second team m...

The Huskers are the darlings — or at least one of the darlings — of the NCAA Sweet 16 field.   The obvious reason for that status is that before Thursday, Nebraska was the only Power Four conference team to  not  win an NCAA game, ever, until the Big Red wiped out Troy in the first round.  But the thrilling second round win over Vanderbilt — with a half-court Vandy shot to win popping in and out o...

It came in a big wave on Monday and Tuesday — reports and announcements of Summit League players entering the transfer portal.   Five North Dakota State players are bouncing, including three of the Bison's top five scorers, with All-Summit first teamer Trevian Carson also expected to jump.   At least three from North Dakota will be gone, including Greyson Uelman, an All-Summit League second team m...

What  didn't  happen in local and regional sports over the weekend? Other than no football games being played, nothing.    Monday's Happy Hour covers it all:   * SDSU's 14th trip to the NCAA Women's Tournament in 18 years   * Augustana hockey coach Garrett Raboin stays in Sioux Falls despite reported offer from Minnesota to replace mentor Bob Motzko   * Huron upsets undefeated Lincoln for first bo...

Trent Singer on the shocking news of Augie hockey coach Garrett Raboin turning down Minnesota job, plus state hoops thoughts

Why was this Jackrabbit team unable to become the sixth to win at least one game in the NCAA Tournament? What sense can we make of euphoric wins for Nebraska and Iowa to meet each other in the Sweet 16? 

Jackrabbit-to-be Blake Ellwein on Huron's state championship, his basketball family, and why he chose (and stuck with) SDSU

Aaron Johnston on SDSU's latest NCAA trip, Brooklyn Meyer's legacy, transfer portal, what keeps him at SDSU 

The thrills and spills of South Dakota's own March Madness aren't limited to what happens on the court, as long-time SDPB-TV sportscasters (and former Sioux Falls radio partners) Mike Henriksen and Craig Mattick can attest. They called high school state tournament basketball and football together for over 20 years, narrating some of the most memorable moments in the lives of thousands of young ath...

And, so here we are again, at that week on the sports calendar unlike any other.   The national sports holiday of March Madness in the NCAA men's basketball tournament unfolds on TV's in sports bars and computer monitors in cubicles all over the country.   Meanwhile, South Dakotans are also occupied by the boys state basketball tourneys and which major conference squad the Jackrabbits women are re...

Kaeding has been an analyst all season long for Midwest Sports Plus (mostly for Class AA games and some games with the Happy Hour host on the play-by-play mic) and will be on the call for every Class A tourney game in Rapid City on SDPB.   For the second consecutive year, Sioux Falls Lincoln comes in as the far-and-away AA No. 1 seed, this time at 21-0. But the Patriots' 22-2 squad last year dropp...

And, so here we are again, at that week on the sports calendar unlike any other.   The national sports holiday of March Madness in the NCAA men's basketball tournament unfolds on TV's in sports bars and computer monitors in cubicles all over the country.   Meanwhile, South Dakotans are also occupied by the boys state basketball tourneys and which major conference squad the Jackrabbits women are re...

Zim and the Happy Hour host go down a rabbit hole of Matt describing some of his favorite sporting events he has ever covered — which leads to a story about the presence (and scent) of Alex Rodriguez.   Also covered in this epsiode:   * Kyler Murry to the Vikings — good thing?   * Zim's new "Jacks Chats" series of 1-on-1 conversations with football players   * Biggest takeaways from SDSU spring pr...

A couple of days before St. Patrick's Day, fabled South Dakota sportswriter Matt Zimmer received a stroke of good luck.   The Sioux Falls Live sports editor saw South Dakota State's name pop up under a pod of teams headed to Fort Worth, Texas, for the NCAA women's basketball tournament's opening weekend.   For Zim, this was fortunate news because he gets to avoid flying, an activity he avoids like...

  A couple of days before St. Patrick's Day, fabled South Dakota sportswriter Matt Zimmer received a stroke of good luck.   The Sioux Falls Live sports editor saw South Dakota State's name pop up under a pod of teams headed to Fort Worth, Texas, for the NCAA women's basketball tournament's opening weekend.   For Zim, this was fortunate news because he gets to avoid flying, an activity he avoids li...

The State AA boys basketball tournament is just about to get underway in Rapid City. This is where our host, John Gaskins, is, so we bring in Trent Singer and Patrick Lalley to have a quick chat to kick off the week.    They chatted about the teams set to face off this weekend, the Augustana Hockey team, and more. Make sure to tune into Midwest Sports Plus for our coverage of the state tournament....

He was 6-foot-4 in seventh grade and the first ever player that age to play on the Yankton High School varsity team. He had to wait for the school board to approve that.   As a freshman, he broke the school's all-time single season scoring record and hit the game winning shot in the state championship game, securing Yankton's first title in 40 years.   By his junior year, some of the country's bes...

Oh, sure, it is the most wonderful time of the year in both high school and college basketball, offering plenty of compelling topics to discuss, such as USD deciding to give Carrie Eighmey a new deal after het second season and the decision to "ride it out" for Eric Peterson's fifth and final contract year instead of working on a new deal.   There's the Augustana hockey team's first-ever postseaso...

The Yankton legend and third all-time leading South Dakota high school basketball scorer started on the varsity boys basketball team as a seventh grader was recruited like crazy by every Big 12 and Big 10 team (so it seemed) and went to Wisconsin only to come back and play four years at SDSU, with his last game coming a week ago in the Summit League Tournament. He looks back and explains why he ha...

In his weekly appearance on Happy Hour, the Sioux Falls Live sports editor shares his views on the news of USD basketball coaches' deals (Eighmey getting a new one, Peterson not), plus: * The reality of USD and other mid-majors losing their best football and basketball players to the transfer portal and NIL money the school cannot compete with * The Summit League Tournament's viability in Sioux Fa...

USD athletic director Jon Schemmel on the future (contracts) of both men's coach Eric Peterson and women's coach Carrie Eighmey, the reality of the major sports losing their best players to more lucrative NIL deals, the stability of the Summit League and level of unity among school leaders, the prospects of the Summit League Tournament ever moving, and the conference's TV deal.