Drum roll, please.
Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, are one of the 10 finalists in the media, entertainment, and sports categories.
IU Athletics, plans to install a bronze statue of Bob Knight in Assembly Hall.
Make sure he lives on forever in the walls uh within Assembly Hall.
America cannot stand to not win. Unless, of course, I get on the Georgia national team.
Cheer for Georgia.
That would be insane. Can you name the three agricultural productions that Indiana ranks number one for? From South Bend to Evansville and everywhere in between, this is Get In, the show focused on the Hoosier State and the incredible stories happening here today. I'm Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, and I will be your host for today's conversation. Get Indiana. com is your one-stop shop for everything Indiana, from festival and event guides to blog posts covering hidden gems, local businesses, small towns, and more.
or check it out and learn something new about the Hoosier State at get Indiana. com. And don't forget to subscribe to our weekly newsletter right there at the top. Today is Friday, February 20th, and we're going to dive into some of the top headlines across Indiana. We're going to talk about the Junior Achievements 2026 best and brightest award finalists. Two Indiana distribution centers that will create 450 job opportunities.
It was a record-breaking year at the Southbend International Airport. We got a few sports stories taking us to IU, Grand Park, and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and a few big events to keep on your radar. And if you listen to the end, we will list our top spring break station recommendations. You are not going to want to miss that. Uh, spring break's right around the corner, and I'm excited to dive in today. Shane, let's get in.
I'm excited.
We're starting with what we learned about Indiana this week. I have an interesting one. This is crazy to me that there are aerospace companies building satellites that will go into outer space right here in Indiana. Up in Upland, uh, which is over by Taylor University, there's a company called Near Space Launch. And for the last 12 years, they have been working on building satellites that then go onto like SpaceX rockets to get launched into orbit. They're working with universities like Purdue and Notre Dame and Valpo and Taylor to build satellite equipment that gets launched into outer space.
We actually have an episode coming up with Matt Voss. He's the president of Near Space Launch. That's crazy to me. When I think of like who's working in space, you think of like the coast, you think of SpaceX, you think of Florida, not necessarily Upland, Indiana, but it was a really it's going to be a great podcast. You're going to love learning more about it. Uh he he does a great job, I think, too, from the times that I've talked learning like not making it too far over your head and trying to figure out what space exploration has to do with our current life today.
So, I'm really excited to share that episode uh later on in in the month of March.
And I've got one. It's just has to do with semi-state last week. Uh I wish that there were wrestle backs at the state tournament.
If you know, you know. If you follow high school wrestling in Indiana and you want the best of the best kids at the state tournament, I think wrestle backs uh solve that problem.
Yeah. I think that's a whole thing in high school sports where uh Indiana does everyone gets a chance. Everyone has a shot for their their hooers moment, but then it also sometimes pairs up some of the best teams or best individuals too early on
early in the tournament.
Yeah. Okay. That's that's to be reminded. Shane loves the not necessarily learning something new, but being reminded of the the reality.
Like now I have 11 months to forget about it.
Okay. I don't know if I want to lead this one.
You can't take this one. Yeah. Uh, we got to be humble here in this studio, but Junior Achievement about 10 days ago now announced their 2026 Indy's best and brightest finalists. This has been an ongoing uh event of recognition for some of the top leaders and young entre entrepreneurs or uh business leaders, whatever they may be in central Indiana. So, there's 10 different categories. There's law, there's health uh and life sciences, there's education and nonprofit se uh sectors or categories. And there's also a media, entertainment, and sports category as one of those 10 categories. There's 10 individuals recognized per category. And 10 days ago,
drum roll, please.
You, Nate Spangle, founder of Get Indiana, are one of the 10 finalists in the media, entertainment, and sports category. So, congratulations on that. You will get a nice little plaque at that ceremony on April 22nd at the Fischer Event Center. We've got a little room here on the shelves to place that. But
yeah,
they also select a winner from every category. So, we're not just going there
to get that participation trophy. We want to bring home the big one.
Dude, that's Well, one, everyone needs to know that Shane was already a finalist maybe three or four years ago.
Yeah, I think three years ago
when you were with the Indians, you were a finalist in sports media. same unfortunately did not
I got the participation.
You got the participation which is why I like this specific award show. Uh one I'm super honored uh shout out to all the listeners. Shout out to everyone that I mean nominated us and and put me up for this award. It's uh a crazy cool honor to be a part of that. But I like this one because there's a winner. Uh I think that's really cool. I think a lot of awards ceremonies like brings every everyone's great. Everyone's which is true. The list is crazy. like there are some of the most notable like and I'm like how the heck
rising stars across
how the heck am I in this list which is it's super honored but there is a winner which I love cuz some of these lists is more of like a big sponsor pays gets on the list and everyone you know celebrates and it's a networking event which is awesome like there's a space for those but when there's
gonna say a lot of future podcast guests probably at an event like this
yeah absolutely but when there's a winner and it just means a little bit more I like that uh so I'm excited Again, we're one honored to be in the running. It could not happen without all the listeners, without the amazing team we have here at Get Indiana. We've been putting in the work. Uh I, you know, happen to be, you know, I get to the the lucky role of being the face of a lot of the videos and content, but without Robert, without Will, Austin, Jenna, oh my gosh, Caitlyn, like really crushing the Fisers newsletter, like I mean a lot of people put in a ton of work to build everything that is Get Indiana. And so it's it's an all of us thing. Like I get to represent us out there. But yeah, it's gonna be exciting to see. I think it's uh April 22nd. Yes.
Wednesday night at the Fischer Center. First time it's been up there.
When I was in it, it was down at uh I think the Hilbert Theater there on the Circle.
Very cool. I got to be in attendance to support Shane that day. Again, unfortunately we didn't win that one, but uh hopefully round two and then maybe if I don't get it, then Will and Robert down the road. Hopefully.
Hey, we're throwing a party regardless.
Absolutely. Let's go. Well, I'm excited about that. Shout out to Junior Achievement. Appreciate y'all. Um and honored to be uh to be part of that list. But let's let's dive into some other big headlines. One is I believe Sweetwater up in Fort Wayne is doing a $36.7 million expansion to their distribution center. That's going to create $300 new jobs up in Fort Wayne. Like, that's wild to me. uh from a district. I mean, if anyone doesn't know, Sweetwater sells audio equipment. Uh we got actually they were our first partner, our first sponsor. Our studio is completely outfitted from our friends up at Sweetwater. Really cool to see this momentum uh going into the next phase of growth for Sweetwater.
I didn't realize that they are the ninth largest private company in Indiana. Their revenue in 2024 was $1.7 billion.
That is wild.
Yeah. and they a billion dollars in revenue
almost two
like they do such a good job of attracting and recruiting talent from across the country LA like people with music degrees uh from LA and Nashville end up coming to work at Sweetwater in Fort Wayne if you haven't made it over there to like check out the whole campus and see the whole it's it's incredible they do shows during the summer they have uh just an awesome awesome campus there and I think so this distribution center is going to add 168,000 square feet it's going to create 300 new jobs and yeah oh I mean over a $30 million project
they already employ 2500 people
dude that
that just tells you how big this place is
uh and I mean yeah yeah diving into that that's awesome there's another distribution center that's breaking ground in up near L yeahin uh 1.2 2 million square ft distribution center for John Deere. Nothing runs like a John Deere.
125 million.
Yeah. 125 million. Holy smokes. Now, this one's creating early estimates said between 400 and 500 jobs. So, that's pretty interesting to see. Oh, I think the the low projection is 150. So, while they could spend four times or three, I don't know, no public math, but spend a significant amount more. I wonder if there's just more automation and stuff within a John Deere manufacturer.
Feels like there would be. Yeah. Uh which is cool to see one IEDC they do a ton of work to bring economic development to the state of Indiana. And so yeah, when you can get someone like John Deere to invest in the state and then you also are uh helping grow the locally grown businesses like a p uh like an enterprise like Sweetwater as well as John Deere like you need a little bit of both. You need the global corporations. Obviously Sweetwater is a global corporation but you also need these I mean where is it? De Mo, Iowa.
Uh Iowa's got
Molen. Is it Molen Illinois? Where's the headquarter for John Deere?
Uh yeah, Molen.
They got the John Deere Classic.
Yeah, that's that's uh right on the cities. Yeah, it's like right on the border of Iowa and Illinois. Uh but to see them, you know, expand over to Indiana, up in the northwest Indiana. I know people from the region always say we don't cover the region enough. Well, hey, this is two this is two shows in a row that we've done these where we've talked about stuff going on up that way. You could get you could go pick up some parts for a John Deere tractor and see the Bears. There's a game in, you know, in Gary and there would be your weekend in Northwest Indiana.
I think what was really cool with this story, too, is that John Deere, they had some international manufacturing plants and they're actually bringing one uh manufacturer, removing it from Japan and building one in Kansas. So these this Indiana project near Lel and Hebrin was actually one of two that they announced are groundbreaking and and going to be installed and here over the next 10 years $20 billion
in manufacturing here in the United States.
Yeah. The investment is part of John Deere's broader $20 billion 10-year commitment to US manufacturing which is good because I feel like a few years ago they were like closing up shop a few places and the their community really did not like that. like their commitment to US manufacturing is uh it's a big deal.
Yeah, ton of big deal. Um, moving on as we get to we have to talk about staying in Northern Indiana. The Southbend International Airport tracked more than 1.1 million ticketed passengers in 2025, surpassing their previous record of 991,000 set in 1997. That is a lot of people traveling in through South Bend. Wild. Have you been to that airport? I have never flown out of South Bend. No.
But this is a five-year trend now. This isn't just like an outlier. They've had growth year-over-year. I think it was up from 2024 23 1.5% increase in passengers going out.
41 of the busiest days in airport history happening last year alone. There was a video where now they are like you can board a pl or board a bus in South Bend and fly out of O'Hare. like it'll they'll bus you along over to O'Hare and you can fly out of there. But it's technically I don't know how that all works, but I saw they had a creator go up there and like book a flight. So park at South Bend, you bus over to O'Hare and you fly out of Chicago. Really interesting, very like innovative way to yeah, you know, continue to add on more destinations.
Last year they added flights to obviously one one more to O'Hare. Uh a non-stop allegant route to Fort Lauderdale. They offer 17 destinations through five major airlines. That's pretty cool. Uh it's obviously convenient, cheaper to park. It is it I think that bus thing has some legs.
Obviously, you still have to drive, you know, you have to spend the hour the two hours or whatever it is to get over to there, but parking probably way less expensive at South Bend, I'd have to imagine. I know hair can be a nightmare.
Yeah, like getting a bus over there. I mean, not a bad move if you're in like central northern Indiana could be something to keep in mind too as with those other additional direct flights. Uh, you know, a lot of people look for Indie and Cincinnati and then Chicago, but starting to mix in like the Fort Wayne.
Yeah. I mean, getting down to Fort Lauderdale, come on.
Uh, moving on. This one is our uh our historical Indiana lovers slash our sports lovers are going to love this. IU Athletics plans to install a bronze statue of Bob Knight in Assembly Hall. Shane, what do we what do we think about this?
That's awesome. They announced it on Monday, February 9th. They were actually playing the Oregon Ducks down at Assembly Hall and they were recognizing the 1975 and 76 men's team that Bob Knight was the head coach of. That is the last undefeated national champion in men's division 1 basketball. So, they had that team recognized. Bob Knight obviously no longer with us, but they're going to make sure he lives on forever in the walls uh within Assembly Hall. So that statue, it'll be a bronze statue in the south lobby of Assembly Hall.
Now, wait, what years did he
He was there for a long time. Yeah, he
1971 to 2000.
That's crazy. And then three national championships, correct?
National titles in 76, that undefeated team I just mentioned, 81 and 87.
Yeah. So the 1976 team was the undefeated season, 81 and 87.
Like
11 Big 10 titles, 662 wins for the Hooers, 92 all time because when he was done at IU in Bloomington, he actually went down to Levik. He was at Texas Tech.
So he became when he retired, he was division 1's winningest basketball coach. He's sixth now. Coach Kane and a few others have passed him, but yeah, over 900 career wins.
And like this guy was the epitome of just like a little bit of a
He was intense. He was intense.
He was fiery.
Fiery. Yeah.
A lot of adjectives he could use, but
Yeah. His, you know,
I think the passion
Yeah.
that IU that was when IU basketball was obviously at its peak. You're winning national titles. You're always in the running to win a Big 10 championship. They were dang good every single year and he was at the forefront of it.
You got to have a little bit of crazy in you to build something that's elite. I mean, he even got a gold medal in 1984. He coached the US Olympic team, which is just like
I mean, when you think of legendary coaches across the sport of basketball and obviously Indiana as well, like Bob Knight, again, probably a pretty polarizing figure. Like I could bet there's a lot of like maybe alumni players that didn't make it all four years or like had a bad experience because he just cared so much and was a was a firecracker when it came to all things who's your basketball. Again, I think you have to have a little bit of that to build or it's one way. There's a lot of different ways to skin a cat when it comes to building elite programs, but like I mean you look at like the Nick Sabins of the world, it's like they're pretty serious. Like this is a job. It's a career and they take it very seriously. even college kids or not. Like I imagine, you know, I don't know. I don't know what Bob Knight would say in the in the current NIL era of uh
they might retire like a lot of them have.
Yeah. Right.
Because now recruiting it's like Yeah. You get a guy for a year, he performs, gets a bigger payday somewhere else and he's gone and he's never yours from the moment you tell him and his family like, "Yeah, we're going to take him in. We're going to make sure he graduates. We're going to make him a dang good basketball player and hopefully send him off to the league." Like I feel like back in like the the 70s, ' 80s, 90s, like parents were a little more like, "Oh yeah, you know, but Bob, we trust you." Like you can get on them a little bit. And now it's kind of like the opposite where it's like people don't people aren't uh as receptive to exterior just being
here's the blank check.
Yeah. Right. It all starts with the the money these days. But keeping on the uh the topic of sports, the NFL flag championships are going to be played at Grand Park. And this is like a a really big push leading into the 2028 Olympics in LA where flag flag football is going to be an Olympic sport. Talk to me about what we're seeing and how Grand Park's playing a huge role in this.
This is a big deal for Graham Park. It's just another economic boost to Westfield up north. And you've got Graham Park having the third annual NFL flag championships. The first two years were in Canton, Ohio, which is where the NFL Hall of Fame is at. But now Graham Park gets thrown into the mix. Officials with the NFL in in running the ship there on the flag championships, they haven't determined how long it's going to be at Grand Park, but I know Grand Park is a host. They know how to put on a show. And this is not going to be a one-year deal. This is hopefully a multi-year partnership where we're hosting these championships.
Is this adults playing or is this
this is youth flag football? So 350 teams is the estimated amount that's going to be coming into Westfield. It's like 25,000 spectators. So, think of hotels, restaurants, everything up north that's going to benefit from them coming in for four days except for July 23rd through the 26th this summer. So, if you know any youngsters around that are looking to
Bro, we might need to We might need to get on a team.
Put a team together.
We got to put a team together.
Let's head over to Broadripple Park.
Yeah. All right. We're going to do practices here. Get some I I would love to. Have you seen like the helmets they wear for Flag Now? Dude, you need to make those but like leather like or not like actually leather but like the shaper like the one you wore up. Yes. Like it looks like new rocks back like that would be so iconic. A lot of them are like you know blue or pink or whatever and it's like if you had the leatherhead ones that would look so fun.
Now this was something that reading that article about the championships coming to Grand Park I thought was interesting is that flag football. Now I had no idea about this. I did know or we coach wrestling. Bishop Chitaard is one of these schools that has flag football, but high school girls flag football is played in 38 states right now and there's over 100 colleges across the country that offer women's flag football.
No way. As like a
as a sport.
A sport.
Like a Yeah,
that's really cool. I mean, it's growing like a weed for sure.
You had someone from the Indiana Valor reach out.
Yeah, we talked about that in the last one, too. But that's tackle football, though.
That's tackle football. But there's the step to it.
Yeah, that's I mean it is really cool to see I mean we've had you know elite swimmers and we've had obviously we talk a lot about wrestling. We've had Mason Paris and Wyatt Hendrickson, but to see these other sports and create more opportunities, especially leading into the Olympics, like obviously I think people assume that obviously American football like you know the United States will like lead the charge when it comes to flag at the 2028 Olympics, which like as a you know an American patriot, I would probably agree, but it's a little bit of a different game. Like there's a lot of nuance rules I feel like and and it's just not the same as like what you see on Saturdays or Sundays, you know, in the NFL.
When we get to the 2028 Olympics, I am curious to see what that men's flag football roster looks like for the United States.
Olympic flag football is a five-on-ive format with primary positions focusing on speed and agility rather than physical blocking. The core offensive roles are quarterback, center, wide receivers, running backs. Defense roles consist of rushers and defensive backs/safeties. Okay, so quarterback obviously, you know, does quarterback center snaps the ball and immediately acts as a receiver. Then you have two to three players uh running routes doing that whole thing. You have a designated player who rushes the QB and Okay, so the center is kind of an important role.
It's important, but they can release.
Okay, so we played flag football in inter mural and I was always the center and we ran a center screen. So, it's like you you would I'd snap the ball and I would engage and then as the rusher went by, I just flipped about seven yards down the field. Boom, you're golden. We scored many a touchdown. Shout out to Cole Taylor. He threw me a bunch of touchdowns on that. Led us to a DEPAW inter mural flag football championship. Now,
if you were to draft and to create the best American flag football team, five on five, how would you do it?
I'm taking Jir Gibbs. Oh, he's shifty.
He's shifty. He can release out of the back field. Like, you need a passcatching back.
There are a number of receivers, too. Like, you could look at Jackson Smith and Jigba.
I honestly just from it, it's like you need like the
He hasn't had a ton of success in the NFL, but I think in flag football, he could. Kyler Murray,
like someone like that that is just like
running around back there, buying time, escaping the pocket.
Kyler Murray could be an elite Well, he could be an Olympic gold medalist before a Super Bowl champion.
Yeah. Like I would take him over a Josh Allen.
Yeah, cuz that's also a lot more body to like, you know, get
Yeah.
easier to get to your flag.
It's like you almost need a Kyler Murray. Like you need the jittery.
Hear me out about this. I He's probably, you know, he's been in the content game a lot lately,
but does Johnny Manzel make a return to play for US flag football? Like prior to
What's his eligibility? Because didn't he go to the CFL as well? Could he play for Canada?
Oh, ex. Here's the real question. So, many people might not know, but I was adopted from the country of Georgia. My parents went to Georgia to get me when I was a baby. I could technically claim
try and play for Georgia.
Should I try to submit a highlight tape to play for the Georgia national team for flag football? Could I play center? If anyone out there knows how to get on an Olympic roster, I will send my JVD3 highlight tape over to the Georgian Olympic Committee and see if I can get on the roster. That would be a heck of a content.
And then I hope you're in the same pool as the US. And you've got like Micah Parsons lined up across from you or whoever.
Micah Parsons would be an elite center.
Yeah.
Oh yeah.
On the offensive side as well. Like you think of people like that like who are the
like who just like the freak
that could Yeah. freak athletes. Like who's the biggest body that runs the quickest 40
45
but also has hands
250.
Like imagine me as center and Michael Parsons is the rusher. I would chop block him, dude. I would just be down in the knees.
Take out that knee again.
Yeah, right. Like that would be me, honestly. Okay, I'm going to do some research and see if I can make it. would be fun to build.
Yeah.
Build.
I feel like the other option to go to would be just like a vertical like who's the tallest receiver with the biggest
I was thinking like a DK Metaf.
Yeah.
Or someone that could catch jump like like in his prime like Megatron.
Yeah.
You know here locally like an Alec Pierce.
Yeah. Someone who could just like win the jump balls. Uh I wonder if they are you know quicker on the like less physical. I don't know. It would be so or like Rob Gronowski is just lining up in the slot. Like that would be hilarious. Like if retired NFL players really made this their thing. The other side of it though is we have like someone's going to win the NFL flag championship this year and I'm sure they're like no we don't want NFL players coming in taking our turf. I feel like there's going to be like a little
I think there has been a little rift because once the news came out about NFL players being able to participate, those who have not been good enough to be in the league, but have maybe moved on from college football and now are in flag football, they're like, "Yeah, you're you're treading on our turf, man. We can't play in your league. Why do you get to come play in ours?" And they're like, "Well, because
we're the best."
Yeah. Like I mean, and we want the best. like you, America cannot stand to not win. Unless of course I get on the Georgia national team and then we'll talk we'll talk for Georgia.
That would be insane. Uh if anyone knows a Georgia flag up here,
dude, that would be that would be wild. Like that whole experience would just be if anyone knows how to get on an Olympic team, let me know. Moving on, I want to talk through a couple big events that are coming to Indiana uh over the next month or so. And the first thing that is I won't say it's big for everyone but is actually a really big economic driver is Monday Night Raw Wrestling like WWE wrestling is coming to I believe Gainbridge Fieldhouse and it's part of like our whole deal. Obviously Pat McAfee is here and helped recruit WWE to come and host events. Um, obviously major live TV event puts Indiana uh at the center stage there, but also brings a ton of people from hotel stays out of town like restaurant. Like people travel for WWE wrestling. Pretty crazy.
I'm sticking on your theme of wrestling. I mentioned this on our last show, but the IHSA state wrestling finals are today and tomorrow at Gamebridge Fieldhouse.
Yeah, you're going to see us down in the corner
at in the corner at Gamebridge. Shout out to our boy Jack
around like 3:15, 3:20. We will be there. Uh it's going to be fireworks. Uh
it's fun every year. It's more fun when you have a wrestler participating.
Very much. Uh and obviously like uh I mean it's just one of the best sporting championships like specifically the state finals where they do 14 matches, one for each weight class. Again, we're biased because we're in it all the time, but it is really awesome. But also on on a bigger scale, cool to see WWE and their commitment to Indianapolis doing big things here. Um, there's a bunch of local fans, but people travel for something like a Monday Night Raw. The next event I want to talk about is coming to Brown County on Saturday, March 14th, and this is the Phil Collins story.
So, the Phil Collins story is a 2026. It's a touring docu concert and m musical tribute. It chronicles the legendary career of Phil Collins. If you ever seen Tarzan, absolutely banger of a soundtrack. uh spanning his time with Genesis, his massive 1980s solo success, his Academy Award-winning Disney soundtracks, and it stages an immersive live experience to highlight hits like In the Air Tonight. I mean, this is going to be uh from everything that I've read and saw about this, it's a wild experience.
And Phil Collins, I mean, everything he has slaps. It's just so good. And it's a perfect target for the Brown County Music Center. Like I think that it'll be really really cool. It is cool to see a lot of these legacy uh artists that are now on like their reunion like tribute tours. Like we went and saw Alan Jackson during his final uh tour even though he's still going on it.
Like it was supposed to be his last tour but they extended it indefinitely. And it's like one part awesome to see like your like the legends and the heroes of these but it's also kind of like they're old now.
Oh yeah. It's just like the it's the bell. Uh, and like another one, uh, Melanchamp is doing a tour, uh, this summer too, which I think I'm going to go see at RUF. Like again, he had his beef with, uh, Pat was interesting or whatever, but he still has bangers and is an Indiana legend. So, uh, on Saturday, March 14th, the Phil Collins story in Brown County. Uh, Shane, any other big events?
I've got two more. I'll stick with Saturday, March 14th. So, if you're not not going down to Brown County or not willing to travel south, come here to Indianapolis. Go to Gamebridge Fieldhouse. Cardi B in her Little Miss drama tour at Gamebridge Fieldhouse. She also has plenty of bangers, some of which we probably can't play here in the studio. The other one I've got is next week,
okay?
Right here in Indianapolis as well. It's been here annually for seemingly the last 20 to 30 years, but the NFL scouting combine is down at Lucas Oil Stadium. That is next Thursday, February 26th through Sunday, March 1st. It's free to the public, which is great. take kids out, see their favorite college stars, sling the rock, run a 40, do the vertical jump, uh, rep 225 on the bench press as many times as they can. And also, there's a fan experience, so it's free to attend and see all these great college athletes as they're going to try and become NFL stars, but uh, you can also run the 40-yard dash. You can also do the vertical jump. I don't think you can bench, but there's a photo op for you to get on a bench and act like you're benching 225, but I went to the NFL draft in Kansas City a few years ago.
Yeah,
it was for a bachelor party, which is a great bachelor party. Like,
we're all fans of the NFL. We've all got our favorite team. You're all waiting for that as your team is on the clock, especially round one when the big names are flying off the board. But there was a 40-yard dash, there was a vertical jump, and we were all doing it
and we're all like far removed from our prime days as football players or just high school sports or college sports. So, you get to run your 40 and we're waiting in line and it's all people that are our age that are in this. It's not like there are some kids trickled in that want to run and see how quick they are, but this is a lot of guys like, "All right, let's see if I still got it. I still got it."
And I am on deck with one of my buddies. We're lining up and we're trying to pair up cuz we know who's the quickest in our group and like who's going to push each other down on this 40 yard and the guy in front of me halfway down pulls his hamstring. I mean straight up pulls it and he was fast. He was flying. He was smoking the guy next to him and he just pulls up lame. And that was a horrible thing to see as we're all like not stretched out, not in peak condition. And then we're just going to go rip a 40 years deep too at a Bachelor. Did you still Did you still haul the mail?
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah. I'm not like backing out after I saw that guy. So, once he got stretched off, no, he he limped off, but once he was off, I'm like, "All right, let's just not make let's make sure that doesn't happen."
What was the time?
Uh, my time 49.
Dude, that's respectable.
I think high school was like a 47.
That's respect. Hey, only
I was still sub five, which I was I was pleased with. Dude, I think that that is like the most iconic like washed up old sports guy thing to do. It's like you see like anytime you see a field goal kicking station or a 40 yard dash or vertical
like I used to hit
I hit from 50 and then they're like hit this 30 yard
and you smoke it into like like one you take off the holder's hand and two you smoke it into the center in front of you like classic. But that is just like a sports guy thing to do. Yeah. Now we have our next segment is presented by Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance and we're going to talk all about agriculture and it's a game. It's all about agriculture. Shane's our resident in-house farm boy. Can you name the three agricultural productions that Indiana ranks number one for?
Are we talking about crops, animals?
Both. It could be either. It's an agricultural production you have to figure out. We There's three categories that we rank number one for. Do you know what they are?
Every Midwest state is in the running for corn and soybeans. I know we're top five in probably
both of those,
but are we number one?
Are we number one? I lean more toward soybeans being number one than corn.
Yeah, we're not number one in corn.
We're not number one in corn. We're also not number one in soybeans.
How many are crop based?
Two crops, one livestock. It is more of a boutique crop, I would say, but don't overthink it. Uh, think about the legacy companies and faces in the state of Indiana.
Uh, I got one.
What's number one?
The home of Orville Red and Bacher. We've got popcorn.
We are number one in popcorn production.
I was thinking about popcorn festivals. I think we're going to hit one up maybe this year. There's one down in Cordon. Yeah,
there's one up north in Valareerezo. Renbacher's from Brazil, Indiana.
If you live in Cordon and know how I can man the popcorn cannon,
just spray popcorn during the They make it snow popcorn and I would love that job. So, let me know about that.
Okay, I got one. One more crop.
This would be like found on the side of the road. Like if you were driving down a country road, there usually have these for sale.
Oh, I'm thinking like Wilson farm market.
Uh more like a farmer's like just like on a like on like a trailer or a table out in front of a farmer's house is where I feel like I've seen them the most. Or like a farmers market. It's festive, but not the most festive part of this time.
Now I'm in the fall. I'm thinking like
Yes. Yes.
Uh
but not the number one thing you would think about in the fall.
Like apples.
No, not that.
Pumpkins.
Not that.
Like squash.
That's the closest you've gotten to it. So close. So close.
I don't know if this is technically a category.
Gourd.
Yesour. We are number one in gourds. Gourd production. What is a gourd? What does gourd cover?
A gourd is a hard shelled non-edible fruit from Oh gosh. It's related to pumpkins and squash. So, not a squash, but a gourd. We are number one in gourd production. Cousin.
Yeah. Cousin to gourds or squash. Yeah, gourds are a cousin to squash and to pumpkins. Okay, there we go. And then there's one more. This is livestock. There's one spot specifically up in northern Indiana that just runs this area. Uh, again a niche livestock.
Chickens are pretty. Not really niche.
Chickens are close.
Turkeys.
Not a turkey the other way.
Geese or ducks?
Ducks.
Ducks.
Ducks.
Yeah. No one's eating.
Indiana. Indiana ranks number one in the production of ducks. And I think it's Maple Leaf Farms up in northern Indiana.
Where at? In northern Indiana.
Yeah. Milford, Leburg, up in that area. Maple Leaf Farms crushes when it comes to production. Indiana ranks number one in the production of duck, gourd, and popcorn. Those are our three big number one best in the nation. Okay.
We teamed up with Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance to bring our list of who's your spring break stations. Shane, I have a few trail recommendations, a few hike recommendations, too easy, too hard. I'll start there and then I want to know what yours is. So, four hikes that I think you all should go on this spring break. Number one is a loop of the Knobstone Trail from Spurgeon Hollow to Delaney Park. This is a 12mi loop.
You get about 1500 feet of elevation through southern Indiana. It's got 4. 6 stars, over 325 reviews. Lots of them are four and five stars. Pro tip, hike it clockwise for an easier end to the journey. Uh, you know, I look at some reviews.
This place looks awesome. Uh, I'm training for an ultramarathon, so I'm probably going to get down there and and hit this loop. 12 miles is great. 1,500 ft of gain. Number two is in Brown County State Park. This is the Trail 8 loop to Hesitation Point.
It's 11 miles with 1100 feet of gain. Plus, you can stop in Nashville afterwards for a treat. Maybe an ooey gooey cinnamon roll.
When we were down in Nashville, did you uh Is that the one you hit?
I don't know if I hit this one. I just recently
Melo and I we didn't do 11 miles. I know that it was like three and a half.
I recently got into All Trails and like getting on there and searching is a great way to find new hidden trails all across the state. Now, if you're looking on the lighter side, you could check out the Indiana Dunes. You're going to hit Johnson's Hill to trail 8 9 and 10 loop. This is 5 miles and a large portion of it is right up against Lake Michigan. Like it has to be if you start it the right way, you can end your run with Lake Michigan out on your side. Like that's a spectacular way to to finish your run there or a hike. You don't have to run at all. Um finally,
you're headed down to Versailles State Park. It's not Versailles, it's Versailles State Park to hit Potato Peeler in Wormhole Loop. This one's got 4.8 stars. It's just over eight miles, almost 800 feet of gain. It's built for hiking, trail running, and also mountain biking. So, I think that, you know, getting out there, you can make a little day trip and go and make it a a hike across the state. We kind of spread out there. We have south down along the Ohio River. We have southeastern Indiana. We have
all the way to Lake Michigan.
All the way to Lake Michigan. Come on now.
Yeah. And in spring break, usually the second, third week in March. Yeah. So, weather dependent, but you get some good weather in any part of the state. plenty of hikes to to enjoy whether you're hiking or running. I'm going to stick here in central Indiana and actually downtown Indianapolis.
On the park theme, not really for hiking. You could run down here. Plenty of green space. You've got the canal, but White River State Park, there are a ton of attractions in White River State Park to check out. They've got seven in total. A couple are out of season right now.
Indians baseball will not have started yet at Victory Field. They don't start up till the end of March. I think March 27th is their home opener. The Everwise Amphitheater as well. Not quite concert season yet, but the other attractions there. You've got the zoo, you've got the Indiana State Museum with the IMAX theater inside.
You've got the Idol Jorg Museum as well and the NCA Hall of Champions. So, you can make a full day or make a weekend out of it and hit up all those places for cool exhibits. There's hands-on uh simulators at the NCA Hall of Champions. I've been in there a couple of times. So, plenty going on down at White River State Park.
My final recommendation for a great Hoosier spring break is to make a theme of it. Like Monday you can make it race themed and you can go check out the new Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. They put a huge renovation into there. It's so cool. Like honestly, and I would say like there's interactive spots for kids. You make that the theme.
You go down there, they get to like do an interactive pit crew like part. There's racing sims you can get on. There's a really cool video experience and a ton of really cool cars I would say. And they rotate it out every 3 months. So even if you've been before, I think every like three or four months, you're going to see something new. It's awesome.
Number two, you could do like a basketball theme day. You could go check out the Milin 54 Museum down in Milin that uh honors the legendary basketball team that Hoosiers is based off of. They they've done a ton of work to renovate that space and, you know, get get your kids pumped up for March Madness right around the corner.
Third, you know, a couple other options. You could do Dino Day at the Indiana Dinosaur Museum up in South Bend. You could do excavation day at dig dig for kids. Indiana's largest indoor sandbox. Like these are good kid recommendations. Uh pioneer day, weather dependent obviously, but Spring Mill State Park has the Pioneer Village. Like I think you can pick five days, make it a theme, go travel the state of Indiana and and have a really cool themed spring break here in the state.
You don't always have to chase warmer weather for spring break.
Come on. It's a little bit about your mentality, right?
Those are our spring break recommendations. Let us know what you're doing for spring break. Uh, obviously, you know, cool events coming up. The Phil Collins experience. We've got Cardi B coming to town. We'll be at the Indiana State Wrestling Finals tonight and tomorrow. If you see us out there,
knock on one.
Yeah, that that's a wrap. I hope you have the greatest weekend that you've ever had. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of Get In and we will talk to you soon. This show is made possible by our friends up at Sweetwater. Whether you're looking to start a podcast or take your content to the next level, click the link in the description to see all my gear recommendations at Sweetwater. If you want a behind-the-scenes look at everything we're doing across the state, make sure you follow me on Instagram and Tik Tok, Nate Spangle. Thank you so much for listening and being a part of what makes the Hoover State great. We'll see you next time here on Get
