The McFeely Mess: Fish are biting in Minnesota, but it's WeFest weekend so angle at your own risk

Forum sportswriter Eric Peterson joins host Mike McFeely in a last-second, emergency podcast (Mike just got back from Sioux Falls, S.D., covering the Summit League tournament and had nothing prepared) to chat about the North Dakota State women's basketball team, potential Summit League transfers, the Minnesota Vikings' free-agent moves and the now-relevant Minnesota Timberwolves. It's a smorgasbord of sports talk!

Forum columnist and former local TV news reporter and director Jim Shaw joins host Mike McFeely to talk about North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum refusing to say whether he would've certified the 2020 presidential election in which Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump. Burgum is angling for something from Trump, possibly a Cabinet position. Also, Shaw offers a couple of thoughts on the Republican gubernatorial race between Tammy Miller and Kelly Armstrong.

Forum columnist and reporter Tammy Swift joins host Mike McFeely and turns the tables. Tammy asked if she could be the one asking the questions to learn more about Mike. He agreed. So Tammy fires away. Does Mike think he has a large ego? What's one thing about him that would surprise people? What does he fear? It's like a therapy session, in podcast form.

WDAY-TV sportscaster Dom Izzo joins podcast host Mike McFeely to talk about the pair's "Drive For Five (Thousand)" campaign to attract 5,000 fans to the North Dakota State vs. North Dakota basketball games Feb. 24 in Fargo.

There likely won't be anywhere near 5,000 fans for either game, but the guys ask the question:

Why is basketball attendance for the men's team dwindling and what can be done to boost the number of fans at women's games?

Denver Post sports columnist Sean Keeler joins podcast host Mike McFeely to chat about one of North Dakota State's opponents this fall, the University of Colorado. Keeler recently wrote a column calling Colorado head coach Deion Sanders — you might have heard of him — "a false prophet, the Bruce Lee of B.S., Harold Hill in designer shades."

Keeler and McFeely talk about the column, the reaction to it, and the upcoming matchup between the historically powerful FCS team in NDSU and the upstart and very popular FBS team in Colorado. It is sure to be a game watched intently both nationally because of Prime Time and regionally because the Bison get another chance to play an FBS Power Five team.

Forum sportswriter Eric Peterson joins podcast host Mike McFeely to talk about North Dakota State football's latest quarterback recruit Jacob Kilzer, the addition of three new assistant coaches and this year's great success of Minnesota State University Moorhead's men's basketball team.

Noted Bismarck, N.D., author, historian and humanities scholar Clay Jenkinson joins host Mike McFeely to discuss, mostly, the sorry state of the American republic. The United States is in the hurt bag because of an electorate (mostly on the right) that is stuck in its partisan fantasy land and politicians (mostly on the right) who won't push back on Trump. 

Jenkinson is the principal behind Listening to America (formerly The Thomas Jefferson Hour), a weekly podcast/radio program, newsletter, and website LTAmerica.org dedicated to "traveling less visited byways and taking time to see this immense, extraordinary country with fresh eyes while listening to the many voices of America’s past, present, and future."

Forum columnist and business reporter Tammy Swift joins host Mike McFeely to talk about several things, but mostly about columns she's written about her elderly mother's illness. Tammy's columns have been deeply personal, opening the door to thinking about her mom's mortality and her own. 

Forum reporter Tracy Briggs joins host Mike McFeely to talk about her stories on King Leo's, a long-ago popular hamburger joint in south Fargo that has readers stirred up with excitement. As is always the case when Tracy and Mike begin to talk, the discussion goes off-course into their careers, their spouses, travel, their aversion to math and other non-related topics.