The LTK & O Show

Our guest today is a baseball coach, avid outdoorsman and fisherman, and a drummer in a band called Whiskey Burn. He recently caught a monster Lake Trout on Lake Superior and he shares that story. We chat about music and baseball and have some fun. You can find Zack's band Whiskey Burn at: whiskeyburnmn.com and his outdoor group on instagram @supduudes_outdoors

My good friend and college baseball teammate joins the show. I ask him his thoughts on the new Gopher basketball coach and we get into some Twins talk as we question their toughness as a team. We finish by sharing a road trip story.

We preview the Minnesota Twins and this year's squad, including some odds I came up with for this season. We also mix in Minnesota Wild takes and we share a few decent stories.

We give our thoughts on new Gopher basketball coach Ben Johnson, Alex Kirilloff and the Twins, and the NHL ref caught with the hot mic.

We go unscripted in this one as we talk a little Twins baseball, share some of our worst injuries, and we give our thoughts on the Subway dining experience.

My cous Kristen is back! She recently started her business as a yoga & meditation coach so we catch up on that big news and have a fun convo as usual. You can find her yoga/meditation offerings at her website: www.kristenkangas.com

We're back at it with some intriguing talk about the weather and college hoops amongst other things.

The creators of 2 Dads Bloody Mary Mix join us to talk about their story - from idea to a great product in stores now. Then we chat about what we think is wrong with college football. We also talk Gopher hockey for the first time in a while as the squad is off to a hot start.

"Fiddlin" Dan Hochhalter talks about his recent CMA performance - which was epic - and has brought him national attention recently. Luther and Dan square off in a game of Garth Brooks "name that tune". And we ask Dan some questions about some of his unique experiences as a musician.

We catch up with Kries again and we get his thoughts on the Vikings season so far. He also gives us some insight into his political career and the current political landscape. Then he shares some great stories from his much improved golf game this summer.

I share an embarrassing sports memory before we get into would you rather today. We also touch on the Twins recent moves and the current state of the Vikings. We also recall a few funny stories between us.

We kick things off with Erik and his weight loss progress. Then we share both our biggest personal sports thrills and embarrassments. And we show some love for our buddy Dan Hochhalter who shredded on the fiddle at the CMA awards - you should prob see that if you haven't already.

This is one of our first podcasts together (back by popular demand). We talk Twins and music and we play a little game in there. Oh and this one has the Menards story.

In this one we chat with golf teaching professional Jon Reigstad. We talk about his playing career and how it lead to him becoming an instructor, we share the challenges and joys of coaching, and the state of the game today and what it may look like in the next few years.

We get it going with some would you rather questions with me answering this time - I battled. Then we talk about the coaching philosophies of Zimmer and PJ Fleck and which one we prefer. From there we riff about the way people mispronounce words, how swearing is used as punctuation, and Erik offers up a good impression of a former Minnesota athlete.

My cousin Kristen joins this one as we talk about our time spent vacationing in Arizona. We chat about the interesting people we ran into at the hotel pool, and how palm trees are awesome. We also share with each other our best and worst jobs of all time, our celebrity crushes, and we stumble upon a million dollar idea.

We get it going with a quick game of would you rather today. We also talk about the Vikings woes and the negativity that us Minnesota sports fans really bond around. Then we transition into a bunch of random topics that we find amusing. Oh and why it took Erik six months to get his office desk put together.

I'm rocking a solo episode today and lead off with my thoughts on the Twins and their disappointing finish to the 2020 season. I then give my opinion of the issues facing the Minnesota Vikings under coach Zimmer. I do mix in some positivity with Golden Gopher football. I also explain LTK Athletic and my logo and what it means to me.

Erik and I catch up with our friend from the old Greenhaven neighborhood (where we grew up as kids) Chris Barthol. One of the best boot hockey goalies I've ever played with, Chris talks about how he got into music and his progression as a musician. We also talk about the mischief we caused in the neighborhood as kids (Chris and Erik were usually the culprits). We end this one with a music/sports trivia game between Chris and Erik.

Baseball heavy today! Twins Daily writer and co-founder Seth Stohs joins to talk some ball. We talk about Minnesota Twins prospects Royce Lewis and Alex Kiriloff, Byron Buxton and his future, the impact of Derek Falvey and Rocco Baldelli, and we get into team predictions for the 2020 squad.

We're joined for a very interesting conversation by the founder of the MindStrong Project. Harvey is a human performance coach who specializes in teaching breath work and mindset. He's worked with many pro athletes and we talk about how we as humans can improve our performance simply by focusing on our breath. Harvey talks about his playing days as a pitcher in college and the minor leagues - and how his curiosity for the mental side of the game has always been there.

Staff Sergeant and Purple Heart recipient John Kriesel joins to share his story. In 2006 while serving in Iraq, he lost his legs in a roadside bomb explosion. He spent 8 days in a coma and months in recovery and rehab. It's not all serious though as he tells a few hilarious stories from basic training and we share some laughs talking about his antics in high school as he was known for being a class clown. This episode contains mature content.

The former Philadelphia Phillies catcher and 2008 World Series champ joins to share his remarkable story. He broke into the big leagues at the age of 33 after 11 years in the minors and we chat his crazy minor league journey. He talks about how he continually had to prove his doubters wrong at almost every step of his minor league career. He shares that his preparation was the key to him taking advantage of his opportunities which led to him finally getting the call to the bigs.

The former NHL veteran of 16 seasons joins the show to discuss his playing career. We talk about his beginnings in small town Ontario to becoming a draft pick of the Vancouver Canucks. Matt shares some stories of him finding his role early in his NHL career and how he had to evolve as a player after serving some suspensions. He also talks about winning the Stanley Cup with a super talented Penguins team in 2009.

Former Minnesota Twin and two time World Series champ Al Newman joins us in this episode. I got to know Newmie through coaching and we talk about how important being a coach and mentor is to him. We then delve into his baseball career from his days in California as a high schooler then into college on a stacked team that included Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. We also talk about his minor league experience and what it was like getting "The Call". Then Newmie shares his experiences on both the '87 and '91 World Series championship teams.

Former NHL player and Stanley Cup winner Ryan Carter joins the show to talk about his playing career. We start all the way back to his roots and how he got into hockey as a youngster. We then go through his progression as a player into high school and his interesting transition to junior hockey that includes some dynamite stories. He then shares parts of his college experience in Mankato and how he ended up deciding to turn pro. We finish things off talking about his 10 year NHL career.

Kellen talks about his progression as a baseball player - from him starting out as a self admitted bad baseball player in high school, all the way to him being drafted and currently playing in the minor leagues with the Clevland Indians. Barta shares some Blizzard baseball stories and we finish the episode with some baseball trivia - Barta vs. Rholl.

In this episode I'm joined by my friend Dan Hochhalter. He's currently the fiddle (and guitar) player for Dierks Bentley. We talk about how he got into playing the fiddle and his journey early on learning the ropes of the music industry while growing up in Minnesota. He also opens up about his cancer diagnosis and his battle with that and how it's shaped his view on life. We then get in to his move to Nashville and how he got his big break with the band Lonestar and his ride up to this point in Nashville.

In this episode I'm joined by Minnesota Twins bullpen catcher Connor Olson. We talk about how he got the job with the Twins and what his first season was like with the team. He shares a star struck moment that he had, what it's like to catch big league pitchers, the unreal season the Twins had, and we delve into what he learned about analytics and how big it was for the Twins this year.

My friend and fellow baseball lifer Adam Barta joins the show and we discuss, in a nutshell, his baseball life. We talk about where it all started in small town Minnesota, his progression into high school and college, his influences, and the hot minute he spent in pro ball. We then talk about how he got into coaching and how the Minnesota Blizzard all got started.