# Jerry Brewer on 2025 Weight on 2026 M’s, Kiffin, Future of Apple Cup

An episode of [Softy & Dick Interviews](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1245866571), 4 Sep 2026, 17 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/98a2599f-cd9b-4f2a-9be4-b22c00e585f2/907d6469-cef5-4bda-9f13-b2f100f49399/74f665df-d046-4b46-a8f4-b4bb0010f442/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=26b16ce4-8fab-44ea-88d4-b2f100f493bc

Jerry Brewer from The Athletic joins Dave Softy Mahler and Dick Fain to listen and react to Bryce Miller’s comments about the 2025 weight on the 2026 Mariners, Lane Kiffin at LSU looking to add former NFL players to his team, the 2026 Apple Cup being Sunday and the future of the rivalry game plus the state of rivalry games around college football. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: This is Duke of Duke Seafood, letting you know that
[0:02] Speaker 1: this hour of Softie and Dick on your home for
[0:05] Speaker 1: the Huskies and Kraken is proudly brought to you by
[0:07] Speaker 1: Duke Seafood. Why not make it a Duke's night tonight?
[0:11] Speaker 1: Reserve your table today at dukesseafood.com on Sports Radio 93.3.
[0:16] Speaker 2: KJRF. Right now.
[0:18] Speaker 3: It's time for our weekly conversation with award-winning columnist Jerry Brewer,
[0:23] Speaker 3: brought to you by Northwest Handling Systems. From forklifts to
[0:26] Speaker 3: pallet jacks, conveyors to loading dock equipment, we sell, rent,
[0:30] Speaker 3: and service all your warehousing needs. Request a quote today
[0:34] Speaker 3: at nwhs.com or give us a call at 425-255-0500. Now
[0:37] Speaker 3: with Jerry Brewer, here's Softie and Dick.
[0:44] Speaker 4: All right, here we go from Jimmy. He's getting ready
[0:46] Speaker 4: for game one of four against the A's. Jerry Brewer
[0:50] Speaker 4: joining us, courtesy of our friends at Northwest Handling Systems. And, Jerry,
[0:55] Speaker 4: I want to play a clip for you if we can.
[0:57] Speaker 4: I don't know if you heard the Bryce Miller interview
[0:59] Speaker 4: from the last segment. I know you're a big fan
[1:01] Speaker 4: of the radio show, and you support us and tune
[1:03] Speaker 4: in as much as you can. Did you happen to
[1:04] Speaker 4: hear that conversation, by the way, last segment?
[1:07] Speaker 2: No, I didn't. I was writing. Otherwise, I would have listened.
[1:11] Speaker 4: Just another lame excuse, man. I mean, doing your job.
[1:14] Speaker 4: What are you doing? Just terrible. Well, Bryce was on
[1:17] Speaker 4: with us, and he made a comment during the interview
[1:20] Speaker 4: where he talked about how he thought that they were
[1:22] Speaker 4: talking about what happened last year, right, Dick? Way too
[1:25] Speaker 4: much during the season. And so we asked him a follow-up, like,
[1:29] Speaker 4: you know, what do you mean by that? What does
[1:31] Speaker 4: that look like when you're talking about how you were
[1:32] Speaker 4: talking about last year's season? too much during this season.
[1:36] Speaker 4: I want to play a clip for you, Jerry, if
[1:38] Speaker 4: I can, about a minute long, okay? And then get
[1:41] Speaker 4: your reaction to it. This is Bryce Miller. We followed
[1:44] Speaker 4: up and we asked him, when you talk about the team,
[1:47] Speaker 4: maybe discussing 2025 a little bit too much during this year.
[1:51] Speaker 4: What do you mean by that?
[1:52] Speaker 2: Check it out.
[1:52] Speaker 5: Coming into this season in spring training and just about
[1:55] Speaker 5: every single meeting that we've had as a team up
[1:59] Speaker 5: until about a month ago, it was every single time,
[2:03] Speaker 5: you know, it comes up of, Oh, you know.
[2:05] Speaker 2: Last year we did this.
[2:06] Speaker 5: Last year we were in the ALCS. Last year we
[2:10] Speaker 5: almost went to the World Series. And I think there
[2:14] Speaker 5: comes a point where we recognize that, you know, we
[2:17] Speaker 5: had a good season last year and we have expectations
[2:21] Speaker 5: that we want to meet. But there also comes a
[2:24] Speaker 5: point where you got to let go of that. This
[2:27] Speaker 5: is a new season. what we did last year has
[2:29] Speaker 5: nothing to do with what we do this year. And
[2:32] Speaker 5: we just got to go out there and play, you know,
[2:34] Speaker 5: it is, it wouldn't have mattered if we were in
[2:36] Speaker 5: the world series last year or not, that's not going
[2:38] Speaker 5: to change the results that we have this year.
[2:40] Speaker 2: And I think that's.
[2:42] Speaker 5: You know, something that we, we kind of, as a
[2:45] Speaker 5: team talked about in our, our last meeting was like,
[2:49] Speaker 5: all right, whatever our expectations were, whatever happened last year,
[2:53] Speaker 5: it's done.
[2:54] Speaker 2: We can't relive it.
[2:55] Speaker 5: You know, it's, it's, We're living now. We're living in
[2:58] Speaker 5: a new season with new difficulties and new opportunities. And,
[3:06] Speaker 5: you know, it's time to move on and go out
[3:09] Speaker 5: and win today and win this series, win this month
[3:13] Speaker 5: and get into the postseason and make a new story.
[3:17] Speaker 4: Any thoughts on that, Jerry?
[3:20] Speaker 6: Well, first of all, Bryce is a damn good quote. Like,
[3:24] Speaker 6: I think he's one of my favorites on the team.
[3:26] Speaker 6: It seems like he just is always incredibly honest. And
[3:31] Speaker 6: I would also say that I think this explains a
[3:34] Speaker 6: lot of why it feels like this year has weighed
[3:38] Speaker 6: so heavily on the players individually.
[3:42] Speaker 2: And, you know, this is the kind of.
[3:44] Speaker 6: Thing, like once the season starts, like you can use
[3:47] Speaker 6: that as Last year, off-season motivation. Last year, spring training motivation.
[3:53] Speaker 6: But I think once the year gets started, you're trying
[3:56] Speaker 6: to create something new. It's not the same 26 players.
[4:02] Speaker 2: Not the exact same group.
[4:03] Speaker 6: Like, you don't get to start a new season in
[4:08] Speaker 6: the eighth or ninth inning of game seven of the ALCS.
[4:12] Speaker 2: You got to get all the way back. And just like,
[4:16] Speaker 2: I mean, I hate to.
[4:17] Speaker 6: Make the comparison with the Seahawks and the Mariners, but
[4:20] Speaker 6: I'm going to, maybe it's lazy, but I'm just going.
[4:23] Speaker 2: To do it.
[4:24] Speaker 6: Uh, I don't hear a lot unless you ask the
[4:27] Speaker 6: Seahawks about them being champions. And you may be a
[4:32] Speaker 6: little bit annoyed about how, uh, Mike McDonald has, has
[4:37] Speaker 6: framed his messaging about like, not exactly like defending the title.
[4:42] Speaker 2: Like you're going to go get something new, trying to
[4:44] Speaker 2: take this.
[4:45] Speaker 6: Thing as far as you can, uh, That's the right
[4:47] Speaker 6: messaging for a team because the only thing that matters
[4:51] Speaker 6: is today.
[4:55] Speaker 7: Well, you brought up the comparison, so I'm going to
[4:57] Speaker 7: take it another step further. I mean, the Seahawks have
[4:59] Speaker 7: a sign in the VMAC that says consistent championship expectations.
[5:05] Speaker 7: And the Mariners have told us that they have consistent
[5:10] Speaker 7: competitive expectations.
[5:14] Speaker 6: So.
[5:14] Speaker 7: And that kind of marries into what Bryce Miller is saying.
[5:17] Speaker 7: It's like, hey, we did such a great job last year.
[5:21] Speaker 7: We're living off of that. What I would love to know, Jerry,
[5:23] Speaker 7: is who was bringing that up? Was it a Dan
[5:26] Speaker 7: Wilson thing? Was it a Jerry DiPoto thing? Was it
[5:28] Speaker 7: a players thing? What was your vibe when you heard
[5:31] Speaker 7: him say? Who do you think was bringing that up?
[5:35] Speaker 6: I mean, it seemed like the conversations they were having
[5:37] Speaker 6: as an entire team. So I would assume that's starting
[5:42] Speaker 6: with the manager.
[5:44] Speaker 2: Um, but yeah, I would love to, you.
[5:45] Speaker 6: Know, depending on what the answer to that is, you
[5:48] Speaker 6: can go a lot of different directions with it. But
[5:51] Speaker 6: I think some of that inevitably has to be a
[5:54] Speaker 6: part of Dan's messaging. And I would just say that
[5:58] Speaker 6: that messaging is just wrong. And I don't think that
[6:00] Speaker 6: it's ill intent. And I think the reason that we're
[6:03] Speaker 6: talking about this is, uh, because of like greater problems
[6:08] Speaker 6: within the team. And we can just kind of feast
[6:11] Speaker 6: on this specific emotional motivational type of thing.
[6:15] Speaker 2: They're bigger problems.
[6:18] Speaker 6: But this is something tangible that we can lean on.
[6:23] Speaker 6: I mean, I feel all year, and again, there's a
[6:28] Speaker 6: lot of other stuff, injuries, playing in the baseball classic
[6:32] Speaker 6: and all of that that goes into Cal's season, but
[6:36] Speaker 6: there's been a weight on Cal, and I feel like
[6:38] Speaker 6: Cal felt like he had to have the perfect encore
[6:42] Speaker 6: for a 60 home run season, and that just was
[6:45] Speaker 6: never going to happen again, guys. And I think trying
[6:48] Speaker 6: to be the Cal Raleigh of 2025 may have cost
[6:52] Speaker 6: him like a 40 home run season, which would have
[6:54] Speaker 6: been beautiful. And like, you know, beyond what you should
[6:58] Speaker 6: expect from your catcher, who is just like an incredible
[7:02] Speaker 6: defensive catcher as well. And so I think there's a lot.
[7:05] Speaker 2: Of other things there. I mean, you.
[7:07] Speaker 6: Know, I still hear the recording of Julio, you know,
[7:13] Speaker 6: hollering in pain after that game seven and, I feel
[7:17] Speaker 6: like he's been back in game seven of the ALCS
[7:20] Speaker 6: a lot this year. They should have flushed that in April, guys.
[7:26] Speaker 6: Should have flushed it in April because once again this
[7:28] Speaker 6: year they got behind. And, yeah, like it's a little thing. But, again,
[7:34] Speaker 6: we're talking about two, three games, four games here or
[7:38] Speaker 6: there is the difference between– feeling like you're in perfect
[7:41] Speaker 6: position for where you should be versus where they are
[7:45] Speaker 6: right now, which is, what, eight under, and, you know, really,
[7:49] Speaker 6: really having to grind and catch up these last 22
[7:52] Speaker 6: games just to get to 81 and 81.
[7:54] Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt.
[7:55] Speaker 4: I mean, this A's thing, I think people say things like, oh,
[7:58] Speaker 4: they got to win them all. They got to win
[7:59] Speaker 4: them all. I mean, come on, right? Like, you need
[8:02] Speaker 4: to win all of these games this week, these four games.
[8:05] Speaker 4: against the A's and get back in this thing because
[8:07] Speaker 4: you're going to have to go, even if Houston Jerry
[8:09] Speaker 4: goes 11-10 the rest of the way, you've got to
[8:12] Speaker 4: go 17-5 just to catch him, which is 125 win
[8:15] Speaker 4: pace over the final 22 games of the year. So, yeah,
[8:18] Speaker 4: they've got to win them all. But Jerry Brewer is
[8:20] Speaker 4: with us on the radio show. I know you're a
[8:23] Speaker 4: big college football guy. You love the game the way
[8:26] Speaker 4: we do. What do you make of what Lane Kiffin's
[8:28] Speaker 4: doing at LSU? He's being sued now by his own
[8:31] Speaker 4: conference for his refusal to drop this idea of bringing
[8:36] Speaker 4: former pro players back to college.
[8:41] Speaker 6: It's embarrassing and it's a bad look for Lane. And
[8:44] Speaker 6: it's another thing where Lane always needs to be in
[8:49] Speaker 6: a place where there's a strong leadership and people who
[8:51] Speaker 6: can push back on him. And it's clear that after
[8:55] Speaker 6: their recent struggles, which haven't even been that long with
[8:59] Speaker 6: Brian Kelly, they're just desperate to do whatever it takes
[9:03] Speaker 6: to get back to that where they feel like they're
[9:06] Speaker 6: LSU and competing for a title. I think it's weird.
[9:10] Speaker 6: And we know, you guys know how long it takes
[9:14] Speaker 6: to get people to understand this game and all of this.
[9:18] Speaker 6: I think it's weird that you want that many new
[9:20] Speaker 6: players this late. And I don't care that they were
[9:25] Speaker 6: in NFL camps.
[9:27] Speaker 2: They're not superstars.
[9:30] Speaker 6: And I can't imagine that that they would be like
[9:34] Speaker 6: appreciably better than.
[9:36] Speaker 2: Everyone else is on the roster.
[9:37] Speaker 6: But this is just tells you like, he hates a
[9:39] Speaker 6: lot of the guys on the roster or he just
[9:41] Speaker 6: feels like they're all disposable and he just wants to
[9:45] Speaker 6: do what's best for lane in the moment. But, um,
[9:49] Speaker 6: you know, this lawlessness, you know, it's exposing like his
[9:53] Speaker 6: worst instincts as a leader. And it's embarrassing to me that, um,
[10:00] Speaker 6: LSU doesn't have the leadership, you know, um, you know,
[10:05] Speaker 6: in the administration, the upper administration, and certainly not the
[10:10] Speaker 6: leadership within the athletic department to say, dude, like, enough
[10:14] Speaker 6: is enough. And not just Lane, you know, it's Will
[10:17] Speaker 6: Wade as well. They're making a mockery out of college
[10:22] Speaker 6: or what's left of college athletics. And we're not asking
[10:25] Speaker 6: for much. We're just asking not to do this dumb stuff.
[10:30] Speaker 7: Jerry, we've gotten to traditional Apple Cup weekend, Sunday in September.
[10:35] Speaker 7: Nothing says Apple Cup like Sunday in September. But what
[10:38] Speaker 7: does the future of this rivalry look like to you?
[10:42] Speaker 2: I mean, I hope they still play it. I mean, obviously,
[10:46] Speaker 2: like I know, it's very much in jeopardy. And I
[10:50] Speaker 2: feel like a.
[10:51] Speaker 6: Lot of it is what exactly do the Cougs want
[10:55] Speaker 6: to do here, you know? I... From Washington's standpoint, do
[11:02] Speaker 6: they absolutely need to play the game to get to
[11:05] Speaker 6: where they want to go?
[11:07] Speaker 2: Of course not.
[11:09] Speaker 6: But should they want to continue the rivalry for what
[11:12] Speaker 6: it means to their fans and the others?
[11:15] Speaker 2: Absolutely they should. Um, and you know, I'm a big proponent.
[11:19] Speaker 6: It doesn't matter if it's Kentucky versus Louisville or Oklahoma
[11:23] Speaker 6: versus Oklahoma state.
[11:25] Speaker 2: And they're not playing right now. Washington versus Washington state.
[11:28] Speaker 6: Like I, the rivalry games, you know, especially if it's
[11:32] Speaker 6: within the state, the rivalry games are what makes the
[11:35] Speaker 6: sport for me. And I mean, we're already having a
[11:39] Speaker 6: deal with like this apple cup floating from date to
[11:42] Speaker 6: date to date. And so it's already different. And the
[11:44] Speaker 6: tradition is not the same. But I do want it
[11:47] Speaker 6: to continue. I was reminding my wife earlier this week,
[11:51] Speaker 6: who's a UW grad, like, hey.
[11:53] Speaker 2: The Apple Cup is Sunday. And she's like, that's not
[11:56] Speaker 2: the Apple Cup. It's not the Apple Cup to me anymore.
[11:59] Speaker 6: And I was like, man, that's incredibly sad, and it
[12:02] Speaker 6: really speaks poorly on the sport, a sport that we're
[12:05] Speaker 6: going to keep watching whatever form it is, guys, right?
[12:09] Speaker 6: But it sucks that we just can't have nice things
[12:13] Speaker 6: anymore anymore.
[12:14] Speaker 4: Well, your point about, you know, they should keep it
[12:17] Speaker 4: going for the fans, I'm not sure if Cougar fans
[12:19] Speaker 4: want this to continue, honestly. I mean, I think that's
[12:22] Speaker 4: the whole key to this entire process. Do Wazoo fans
[12:26] Speaker 4: want this thing to continue? You know, Dick and I
[12:28] Speaker 4: have been talking all week long that all the Cougs
[12:30] Speaker 4: in our building, Jerry, they're not even going to the game.
[12:33] Speaker 4: They don't give a damn. So do they want this?
[12:36] Speaker 4: Would you want this thing to continue if you were
[12:38] Speaker 4: a Cougar fan?
[12:41] Speaker 2: I would want the thing to continue.
[12:43] Speaker 6: And also, I mean, this is year three when they're
[12:49] Speaker 6: not in the same conference, right? And did the Cougs
[12:51] Speaker 6: not win that first game?
[12:53] Speaker 2: Yes.
[12:54] Speaker 6: And did that not define a lot of their joy
[12:59] Speaker 6: for that season and set them on a good path
[13:03] Speaker 6: until they kind of hit the skids.
[13:04] Speaker 2: Later that year? Like, I just.
[13:09] Speaker 6: especially if I'm the school that people somehow perceive as
[13:14] Speaker 6: like little brother, I always want to play big brother,
[13:17] Speaker 6: you know, like I'll cause I, and you can, you
[13:21] Speaker 6: can hand it to me eight straight times, but that
[13:24] Speaker 6: ninth time that I beat you, I'm talking and I'm
[13:27] Speaker 6: talking and I'm talking. And if I got to talk
[13:29] Speaker 6: about it for a whole nother decade or half decade,
[13:32] Speaker 6: I'm doing it right. Like that, that game still benefits you.
[13:36] Speaker 6: And you have to look at it practically like, If
[13:39] Speaker 6: you don't do this game, how many Big Ten teams
[13:40] Speaker 6: are you going to be able to play?
[13:42] Speaker 2: Right? Like, hey, if you're.
[13:46] Speaker 6: Not in the Big Ten or the SEC, you need
[13:49] Speaker 6: to be playing a Big Ten or SEC opponent. You know, like,
[13:53] Speaker 6: I mean, when you think about greater implications, you know,
[13:56] Speaker 6: for the year when you go 11-1 and you want
[14:00] Speaker 6: some legitimacy to be in the playoff conversations. Um, if
[14:06] Speaker 6: you're just boxed out of all that, they'll just look
[14:08] Speaker 6: at you and they'll say, well, you know, I think
[14:10] Speaker 6: this eight and.
[14:11] Speaker 2: Four Oklahoma team is better than you. You didn't play nobody,
[14:14] Speaker 2: you know?
[14:15] Speaker 6: So, um, you have to think about the, the, the
[14:18] Speaker 6: bigger picture and all of that. And I, and I mean,
[14:21] Speaker 6: I get the frustration and really.
[14:24] Speaker 2: With Coug fans a lot.
[14:28] Speaker 6: But I just do not follow that track of, like,
[14:30] Speaker 6: I don't want to play my rival. I think Oklahoma
[14:35] Speaker 6: State's bitterness towards Oklahoma has done Oklahoma State a real disservice,
[14:41] Speaker 6: and they should be playing that game. And I don't
[14:44] Speaker 6: want that to happen. Don't forget, I'm from the Commonwealth
[14:47] Speaker 6: of Kentucky. I won't just call it the state.
[14:50] Speaker 2: And my core memory growing up, guys... is.
[14:54] Speaker 6: March 26, 1983. We call that the dream game. What
[15:00] Speaker 6: happened in that game? Louisville and Kentucky had to play
[15:04] Speaker 6: each other in the Elite Eight for the right to
[15:06] Speaker 6: go to the Final Four. And Louisville, the Doctors of Dunk,
[15:10] Speaker 6: beat Kentucky 80-68 in.
[15:12] Speaker 2: Overtime in that game.
[15:14] Speaker 6: It's the first time they had played in forever because
[15:17] Speaker 6: Kentucky would not schedule Louisville. And what happened as a
[15:20] Speaker 6: result of that game? Um, they put it into state law.
[15:25] Speaker 6: that Kentucky and Louisville have to play once a year,
[15:29] Speaker 6: once a year.
[15:29] Speaker 2: Now, I mean, you could also.
[15:31] Speaker 6: Say like, Hey, like in, in, in, in the Commonwealth
[15:35] Speaker 6: of Kentucky, don't they have greater concerns about whether the
[15:38] Speaker 6: university of Kentucky and university of Louisville play?
[15:41] Speaker 2: Um, but like basketball.
[15:43] Speaker 6: Is everything in our state and they, all those state
[15:45] Speaker 6: legislators got together and they put it in the law
[15:49] Speaker 6: that Kentucky and Louisville has to play.
[15:51] Speaker 2: And for the last, you.
[15:53] Speaker 6: Know, 43 years, you know, they've, they've played every year.
[15:57] Speaker 6: There was a, there was a year in which, um,
[16:00] Speaker 6: for pandemic reasons, they had to kind of move it
[16:03] Speaker 6: and it was going to move, you know, um, instead
[16:06] Speaker 6: of being a game in December, kind of in the January.
[16:10] Speaker 6: And like, it was a thing about like whether somebody
[16:12] Speaker 6: was violating state law or not, like that was among
[16:15] Speaker 6: like a little bit of the conversation just because they
[16:17] Speaker 6: needed to push the.
[16:18] Speaker 2: Game back a little, but it matters that much. And, um, Uh,
[16:24] Speaker 2: you know, like.
[16:25] Speaker 6: Washington, Washington state football isn't quite the same as like
[16:29] Speaker 6: Kentucky Louisville basketball when it's like the only thing we
[16:32] Speaker 6: care about in that damn state.
[16:33] Speaker 2: Uh, but.
[16:36] Speaker 6: I was born in the like believing that your two
[16:40] Speaker 6: central rivals in the same state need to play each
[16:44] Speaker 6: other and that there is an incredible social value. And
[16:49] Speaker 6: I'll stand on that, you know, even though I'm 2,500
[16:53] Speaker 6: miles away from there.
[16:54] Speaker 3: Yeah.
[16:55] Speaker 4: Jerry, great stuff. Always appreciate it. Let's catch up very soon.
[17:00] Speaker 4: Don't be a stranger and love having.
[17:02] Speaker 2: You on, man.
[17:03] Speaker 6: Thanks, Jerry.
[17:05] Speaker 2: All right, any time, fellas. Take it easy.
[17:07] Speaker 4: You bet. Jerry Brewer, we should talk about this, by
[17:09] Speaker 4: the way, because there are some differences in Kentucky versus
[17:14] Speaker 4: Louisville versus UW and Wazoo. No doubt about it. We'll
[17:17] Speaker 4: come back and chat about some of that next on
[17:19] Speaker 4: 93.3 KJRFM.

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.