It's time for coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day. Now here's Nick coffee. All right, let's get it started,
Ladies and Gentlemen, Hour number two Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's here
on Sports Talk seven ninety Getting you set for the weekend. Sorry, doing
a little live producing, getting our guests rearranged. We had to shift some
things around, but that's okay. We're gonna talk to Doctor Ben's here shortly,
and also Jeff Greer's gonna join us to talk about the big match tomorrow
over there at Lynn Family Stadium. Actually are they both? Like I know
is Lynn Family Stadium? I know that's where Racing Lou plays. I know
that, but lend them and loose City were they both called? Because the
UFL Soccer stadium is Lyn Standa. That's it, Doctor Mark and Cindy Lynn
Stadium. There we go. I knew, I knew they were both basically
paid for or you know, sponsored by the great Lynn family, but I
didn't know how you know the naming of each. But so Lynn Family Stadium
that's where you need to be tomorrow at four o'clock for their for their big
match, and if you've never been to a Racing Louisville game, you can
get yourself a free ticket, which you know that gets you in the door.
You could take advantage of the two dollars happy hour beers they got before
the game. So again, take advantage. You wouldn't want to, you
know, I mean, if you don't have plans, I know it's going
to be hot, but you know, should be good vibes. It's a
legit I mean, it's the only legitimate, like top level professional sports team
we have in this town. And again, you can get in free if
you've never been before, and actually you can if you've been before, you
can still get a discount of ticket. So I tweeted out the link at
Twitter on my Twitter at the card Connect, and all you have to do
is fill out this little form. It takes just less than a minute.
Really, just give your information and email that kind of stuff and you'll get
a complimentary ticket. And the first two thousand fans that make their way into
Lynn Family Stadium will get two thousand dollars or not two thousand dollars two The
first two thousand fans will get a T shirt. Don't want to te two
thousand dollars. You're not going to give you two thousand dollars, but it'd
be great if they did. But yeah, tomorrow at four o'clock as they
take on the uh Bay Football Club, is that what they're called. It's
a stupid name. There's any BFC. Yeah, BAFC, some of those,
some of those the names they give clubs, they're I mean, like,
I mean, am I supposed to be scared of BAFC. I mean
where they located? That Tampa Bay or something. I feel like I need
to confirm the name. Now. Well I'm looking at it and it's BAFC
dot Com. That's them. I'm on, So I think you're right.
But yeah, where they located the Bay area? Does that mean San Francisco?
Yeah, so they're coming coming from the West coast. But yeah,
they're uh, they're going down tomorrow. That's all I know. And I
believe, and we'll get clarification from mister Greer is going to join us a
little bit later on. But I do believe that with their draw meaning racing
Louisville, they are currently I think in line for the last playoff spot.
So let's hope they can keep some momentum rolling here right. If you guys
want to join us on the show, you can five O two five seven
seventy nine hundred is the number. If you want to give a call,
you can also text in on the Ellen and Federal Credit Union text line five
O two six five three zero seven ninety. Let's go to the text line.
That's a good question. I mean, it's a question that often that
often comes. Actually, let's go to a different question because some good stuff
that came in earlier. I want to go later, get back to this
one, because it's it's it's a it's the typical hypothetical question that you get
in the off season, but somebody put an interesting twist on it, and
I want to wait and get to that once we have a little more time.
But this says Nick, are you surprised to see Trenton Flowers not get
drafted last night? Do we thank him for leaving because he could have helped
Kenny? Or do and do we claim him he was here? What do
we do? Well, you do whatever you want. I mean, you
mean he was here, he didn't play, he bailed and you know at
the time that happened, and you know, John, I know you don't
listen to every single word I say, and you don't keep track of my
takes from many, many many months ago. But I'm pretty sure I defended
Kenny in that and saying that, like, there really wasn't a whole lot
that Kenny could do to keep that kid from deciding to leave. Like I
was critical of Kenny for a lot of things. When Tritton Flowers left again.
He was here, money was there, he was already getting paid,
and he at the last minute decided to up and leave and go to Australia.
And I don't, you know, Kenny can't control that, but I
think given how the season played out, it's probably not a crazy thing to
think about how maybe he could see how dysfunctional things were, how unorganized things
were, and he could just see the writing on the wall that regardless of
the p personnel here and regardless of my ability, I got to get out
of here. I don't want to be attached to this because he was.
I saw towards the end of the draft they were doing the ten available and
he was in there towards the bottom of the ten. But like, if
he's at Louisville last year and he's you know, because to be honest,
talented kid, he wouldn't have made a damn bit of a difference. He'd
have given you another body, And they did have injuries last year at times,
so like maybe they'd had another win or two wins along the way,
but it wouldn't have changed the overall situation. Right, But I feel like
he probably made the right decision because I feel like his draft stock would have
been worse had he played in college and been a part of that because he
wouldn't have been close to the best player, but he would have showed glimpses,
showed upside, but his numbers wouldn't have been like great. And I'll
put it this way. Trey White who is now at Illinois, talented guy,
you know, meaning he's got good size. He's not really bad at
anything, although other than defense, which I'm not sure if he's ever even
anybody. He might not even know what defense is. Like maybe if somebody
told him what it was and what the what the objective is when you don't
have when your team doesn't have the ball, like, maybe maybe he'd be
pretty good at it because he's super athletic, has good size, and you
know, he was an all Pack twelve freshman performer for a good USC team
and then you know he comes to Louisville and you know it just didn't work
out. But like my point is this, like he wouldn't he would Trent
Flowers would not have been as productive as Trey White when healthy. And that's
not to say Trey White's great, but like you know, it's just he's
a true freshman. So hopefully he can. You know, I don't,
I don't have much. I don't I don't really care what happens. I'm
not saying, you know, like when I say I don't really care,
it sounds mean, But what I'm telling you is that, like I don't
wish that he doesn't have a great career because he left Louisville. But I'm
not gonna lie. He would be fake and be like, man, I'm
really hoping he has a great career. I just you know's it doesn't really
relate to me. So like I'm not going to spend time thinking about what
happens with Trenton Flowers. But to answer your question, I don't see how
anybody from Louisville whatever, like if he does into the end up in the
league, which he signed signed with somebody, but I'm not sure if he
signed a two way contract or if he signed just when the summer league.
He probably signed a two way contract, to be honest with you, But
whatever he did sign, if he does end up having, you know,
a long career in the league and he's successful, I mean, you could
do what you want, but I would feel like it would be very disingenuous
to claim him because he didn't play here and he left, Like, I
think it's weak when Kentucky fans claim Innis Canter and Shade and Sharp, although
Shade and Sharp you shouldn't. I mean, he didn't. He didn't claim
you like he didn't want to play for you. He used you, so
like, I don't know why you would ever claim him, but Canter wanted
to play didn't and it was because d N s DOAA, So like I
feel like it's a little bit more. It's still weak because he never actually
played a second at Kentucky. But that makes a little more sense. Trn
Flyers was here, took money and left. But there's also again that other
component to where like I can't say that I blame him for not wanting to
be a part of what was last year, and as it played out,
it's a little more believable now that he left because he knew that he was
not going to be a part of a successful team and he probably wasn't even
going to be top three leading scorer. And you know, it's still a
weak thing to do in the grand scheme of it, but these guys got
to look out for themselves and that was his that was his exit strategy,
is to just bail and go to Australia where he you know, he had
moments, he had flashes. But yeah, it looks like he signed with
the Clippers, but I can't I can't figure out if it was actually a
because there's a huge difference in signing, Like when you signed to be on
somebody's G League team, that's not a trend like they're gonna they're gonna pay
your way to be in Vegas for the league. I think you get some
type of compensation for that, But I mean it's not a contract, like
there's no you know it's it's really it's not even a tryout. It's just
you know you're here and you may get ten twelve minutes a game and that'll
give you a chance to kind of show what you know, what you can
do. So, yeah, it looks so like he did sign Let's see
here, Yeah, it says it's unclear what type of contract he signed,
which again that's a big factor in in in how all that comes together,
like for example, DJ Burns, which, by the way, did you
see how much weight DJ Burns lost? No, he lost like forty five
pounds in the draft process, and that's a quick forty five considerable it was
just in the final four. Let me, let me, let me just
double check this, because I feel like saying forty five is like, no,
he lost fifty. He lost more than fifty pounds in the lead up
to the draft, and he still looks like a big guy. But you
know, he signed I think it was a summer league, you know,
a agreement with UH with it might have been the Cavaliers or something, so
yeah, with the Cavs. So you know that's not I mean, he
should go to the summer league. Here's here's how it works. If you're
fresh out of college and your best opportunity is G league or as a contract
in the summer league because you didn't get drafted and they didn't give you like
a two way deal. You should go to the Summer League and just you
know, see what you can pull off. Maybe you can really ball out
and turn some heads and end up on somebody's training camp roster and find your
way on their roster or find a two way right because that's if they sign
you. Like this is a scenario that I could see happening for DJ Burtns.
He goes to the Summer League and you know, despite being a very
different player than most as far as how he plays, style and all that
stuff, he's still is effective and ends up getting an opportunity to sign with
them a two way deal on their and be a part of training camp and
then they probably wouldn't keep him on the fifteen man roster, but it may
turn out to where they have him in the G League. So look,
if you're in the G League and you're on a two way contract, or
you're in the G League and you were on your rookie contract meaning you were
drafted, you know, you're not making the high end of the NBA salary,
but you're making a good You're making a lot of money, you know,
compared to guys who are just on a G League contract. So But
what happens is these guys understandably so once they've done the Summer League a couple
of times and they realize, you know, I still haven't turned this into
an NBA opportunity. A lot of these guys don't play Summer League because they
realize it's better off for them to not risk injury and really take advantage of
the type of money they can make in Europe. Guys will chase the NBA
dream, I think, until they realize it just wasn't meant to be,
and then they can use the rest of their time where they're young enough and
healthy enough to play and go make a great living playing in different countries.
So I always think it's silly when people all have fun in Europe have fun
in you know, China. I'm like, well, I don't know about
you, but I think it's a dream come true to be able to play
the game you love and make a living. So I just think it's funny
how people kind of mock that. But anyways, let's bring him in.
He's doctor Larry, Ben's from pro Reha physical Therapy. How are we doing
this afternoon, Larry. We're doing wonderful, Nick, but more importantly,
how are you. I'm doing well. It's a Friday. There's some good
vibes here in this great city of Louisville, and I am excited to chat
with you. And you are, obviously folks know Larry from for a variety
of reasons. Doctor Ben's a prorae physical therapy. They've been partners with us
for years, partners with the University of Louisville. But you also are connected
with the University of Louisville specifically, and I'm just curious to get your thoughts
on the big news that came out a couple of weeks ago, and it's
been talked about it. I don't act like it's been ignored, but I
don't know if people realize how different college athletics may look here in a couple
of years once these universities have the option. And I say they have the
option, I mean if they don't choose to pay them, I don't know
how they're going to, you know, have a good athletic department. But
you know, we'll have to wait and see what it all looks like down
the line here. But just kind of your initial thoughts is that as the
settlement took place, and now schools are allowed to pay up to twenty two
million annually to student athletes across the board. Yeah, no, it's very
interesting, Nick, And there's a series of what I would refer to as
knowns, and there's a lot of unknowns right now and pending. You know,
certainly there has to be a sign off by the judge on the settlement.
Let's not forget that. And they've already promulgated at least with the distribution
of the house settlement would be member the house. Athlete who filed it was
a swimmer, and it looks like swimmers as a percentage aren't going to get
very much. So it's kind of has a bit of twisted irony there.
But effectively, what's happened is you take step back and you just talk about
college athletics as an industry outside of the NFL. It's the largest revenue industry,
far bigger than the NBA, Major League Baseball and the like. So
you have to look at it and it's a sizable group. And what's happening
here is it's not going to be professional. Now, you could argue this
nil wild West name image likeness because of the no real rules has turned into
just paint players. But that will end in terms of the big picture of
things and the way they arrived at this. You cited twenty two million,
and that's just indexed for that year. So if this starts in the fall
of two thousand, you know, effectively a year from now, budget approvals
by athletic departments across the country, we'll have to take this settlement into account.
Now might get pushed an additional year. I personally hope it does,
but the reality is it's likely going to be in the fall this you know,
coming up next fiscal years. Most universities are on a July fiscal year.
The way this is, Yeah, I was just going to say,
I was just gonna say, the way this was playing out, I feel
like a lot of a lot of athletic directors universities across the country were I
don't know if they expected this number, but like this wasn't probably a huge
shock to them. It kind of seemed like this was where that where it
was heading. Now, that's right, I think that. You know,
the first question is where did the twenty two million come from? Well,
that's a revenue share, like in the NFL and other sports where you might
have a fifty percent revenue share. I think they decided, well, all
fifty percent is too high, We're going to go with thirty percent. So
this is somewhat arbitrary with some delveration, if you will, And that's where
this twenty two million dollars is index. But then there's a whole series of
thoughts around, well, there's offsets to the twenty two million. You know,
we're not going to have scholarship limitations anymore, and so if you have
ninety you know football, you know right now we have eighty five. If
you go to ninety, if you go to twenty five in baseball, if
you go to certain numbers, those scholarships will reduce the twenty two million dollars,
meaning that theory, every dollar reduction is a dollar or less that you're
effectively paying players. So there's a little bit of a trade off there and
misaligned incentives if you're being honest, because the less scholarships you have, the
more money you'll have to distribute to paying players. I would estimate that the
bulk is going to be, you know, obviously football, followed by men's
basketball and women's basketball. Just like you're saying with the settlement. You know,
the proposed percentages there are likely going to align, but schools will be
have the flexibility to do what they want. And I would suggest or believe
that in the Power five conferences that if you're not at that high end of
the twenty two million dollars, you're not going to be competitive. Y.
It's just the you know, it's just the fact. I mean, that's
why you have minor league sports and you have major league sports. They could
pay differently. You were just and seeing the G League a few minutes ago.
There's a big difference in compensation. The other factor is that name,
image and likeness will have a series of rules around the fact that it is
supposed to be for name, image and likeness. When those become propagated,
who knows. But that is a big part of this because a lot of
things, people think the collectives will go away, and I don't think that's
the case at all. While I think the universities are going to have to
support the athletic departments in this twenty two million dollar rep share, you're still
going to have a collectives that fulfill of necessary purpose, just like you have
professional football players that get endorsement deals. For their name, image and likeness.
You're going to have the same thing in college, but they'll be more
driven around, you know, a regulatory environment as opposed to right now where
there's zero regulations. So you know, that's been critical for the University of
lov I mean we have five or two circle. It has been the lynchpin.
The community support and the broad based support of it has been the reason
why we have such an excitement on men's basketball right now, certainly in football
and some of the other sports as well. I think Dan McDonald and baseball
and others that are Yeah, they're thriving. And the thing about it is
is that the the biggest asset I think our five pot two circle has is
the collective wisdom around the coaches, the athletic department, and the collective working
together. Because in a lot of programs around the country it's a disjointed effort,
but not at University of Little So I think that's a good thing.
Now back to this twenty two million dollar rupture, It's going to create some
interesting, you know, series of consequences because right now student athletes get a
scholarship, if thronoical scholarship, they get what's known as Alston money, which
is a dollars meant for somewhat academic is that essentially the stipend people reference exactly,
Well, there's two stipends, So the Alstin money, there's some requirements
they have to meet either a certain GPA or they have to you know,
the schools have their have ways they require to get the entire you know,
I call it fifty nine hundred dollars, and that varies from school to school,
but it's based on the It was, you know, another legal settlement.
The guy's name was Austin, and the reality was that students athletes were
to disadvantage because they couldn't get academic money because they were student athletes. And
so they said not, now you get academic money. That's where this you
know, this money comes in. But then they also get the stipend called
cost of attendance. So the cost of attendance at the University of Louisville might
be six thousand, at the University of Alabama it might be thirteen thousand.
And it's determined by local governments and such working together to try to replicate what
would be the amount of money a student athlete needs to support themselves. Outside
of scholarship. I mean, they need gas money, they need additional money
for food and you know all the type of things this student closes and the
like. And that was the original thought behind cost of attendance several years ago.
So, unbeknownst to the general public, student athletes have in theory been
you know, at major universities have had access to this Alston money and access
to cost of attendance. At least at the University of LOUISLL that could be
ten thousand dollars a year. It go a long way for a college kid.
It absolutely you know, it can buy a lot of a lot of
you know, a lot of Big Max, a lot of beer for a
college kid, There's no question about it. The question will come into well,
how will those dollars be factored into this twenty two million? In theory
there might be a credit. Well, if they're a credit, are they
taxed? Are they not taxed? And so it's a mess, and there's
going to be lots of you know, considerations, and right now nobody knows
a lot like how where's the twenty two million in it come from? Well,
there's a lot of ideas floating around each university is going to have to
figure it out for themselves and then they'll be best practices in the like well
where there'll be transparency. Well, I know what the quarterback at the University
of Alabama is being paid out of that twenty two million? Will that impact
the quarterback? You know that we're recruiting for university at Louis. You know,
in the NFL and the NBA and others, salaries are effectively slotted.
There's almost complete transparency. Will that happen in college sports? I don't know.
You know, then will you supplement that through NIL? It'll be interesting.
But the reality is, whether you like the settlement or you don't like
it, you have to adopt because where this is where we are, and
we have seen that late you know, kicking people come into things kicking and
screaming and do not accept the change. Are the ones that you know don't
do as well as early adopters. And so given the fact that the University
of Louisvelle has done so well with NIL, I suspect with the leadership of
Josh hur and President Chattle and the groups are working within their department, I
believe will be early adopters. I believe will be very successful at it.
But until we get more direction and clarity around the rules, around the regulations
around the dollars, right now, everything's a little bit of speculation. Yeah,
And I think as a fan myself, it's nice to see that from
from all From from what I can tell, everybody at the University of Louisville
has has handled this, as you just mentioned, just knowing, like regardless
of thoughts on it or challenges this, this is what. This is where
we are and we will always strive to be as competitive as we can be.
So we're going to do what we have to do, you know,
to make it happen. And I know you may not have all the you
know, I'm sure you don't have every detail about the money that goes here
and there, but I'm sure there are some things internally that could could save
some money, that they could eliminate that like we wouldn't even know about.
I'm sure there's things that from the outside looking at people say, why would
they do that, that's a waste of money. Well, I'm sure there's
value and there's a reason why they're doing They're not doing it just to do
it, But there probably are some things they can tram along the way that
would would you know, probably not going to give you twenty or twenty two
million, But you know, I'm sure they have some things in mind as
this was approaching to where they could they could save some money. And I'm
not talking about cutting sports. I'm just talking about making just making some changes.
No, that's absolutely right. I mean, you look at an average
you know, the budget at University of Little athletic department is of one hundred
and fifty million dollar range. It represents about eight and a half nine percent
of the university's total budget. Other universities those those those numbers are different.
But it also brings in a lot of money in the university because it brings
in in scholarship and housing and everything, about twenty seven million dollars. Because
you've got you know, five hundred plus athletes that you've got spirit teams banned.
You also have people who go to major colleges because they're have a Division
one sports, and so you have a lot of indirect you know, aspects
of this. I think last year I've been reading financials of athletic departments around
the country, like I'm trading football cards, and you could my numbers here
are going to be, you know, directionally correct, and that the ACC
schools have been supporting their universities in the tune of about fifteen million dollars a
year, so you're going to have more. You're going to have more academic
and other support from the university. You're going to have to in order to
be in the Power five division one kind of thing. So I think,
you know, what are some trade offs and what are some good news about
this? Well, the settlement is going to mobilize things for a while.
All of a sudden, you don't hear too much about conference realignment right now,
and for good reason. Everybody's got to try to figure out this new
repshare model. Focus is shifted. The focus has shifted in a major way.
Right now. Everybody's scrambling for nil. But you know this is going
to change and this scourry here. In about nine months, we're universities trying
to figure out their budgets for athletic departments. It's going to be fun to
watch from both the spectat are in from the participant level. So I'm very
excited by it, and I fundamentally do believe that this is long overdue to
some extent. I take the position at student athletes, for the most part,
have been exploited over a many year period. I know some people would
probably disagree with me, but I believe when you have lots of profitability and
money coming on, when you got these media rights and some you know it's
the Big ten and the SEC going forty fifty sixty seventy million dollars at media
rights, that money should be shared more to the you know, proletariat and
the labor that's produced it. Where has it been shared in the last several
years. Well, the money has gone to facilities, and it's gone to
coaches and coaches salaries. You're now going to have limitations in the number of
coaches for football. Will those salaries increase? I predict that they won't.
I think in the NFL right now, their facilities are good, their training
facilities, everything, they're great. But you have to manage these things like
a business. And so right now, when you're having an unfunded mandate to
get twenty two million dollars or you know, it's going to make for some
interesting desis vision making and you're going to have winners and losers, that's for
sure. But it's going to be extremely exciting time for the Power of Five
conferences, particularly football, and there'll be better transparency, I think in what
people are being paid. Doctor Larry Bens and Pro pro Reapdesic Therapy is our
guest joining here. Really informative conversation. I have one more question for you
as we shift gears here. The TBT coming up next month. A lot
of excitement from the Loisle fans to see these former Cardinals competing with a chance
to you know, excite us and win some games and win some money for
themselves. And the big addition this year is Montrez Harrel, who is going
to be playing. Trees is coming off of an injury that kept him out
of the NBA last year. He tore his ACL and his meniscus and I've
seen some you know, this happened in October of last year, and I've
seen he's working out, he's playing, he's sharing some clips of him in
different open open runs and whatnot, and he looks like he's, you know,
he's he's ready to go. I don't think he'd be playing if he
felt like he wasn't. But just the timeline there, you know, to
know when that injury took place, and as we sit here in late late
June and a lot will be when these these games take place. Is this
a This is a typical time frame you'd expect from someone like him to have
that kind of injury. Yeah, it's interesting. First of a couple of
things. Pro Rehab is going to be supplying the sports medicine for here we
go. You we're very excited about it, and you know, so I'll
know have a little better uh you know, firsthand knowledge when when we see
it. But yeah, the timeframe fits again not knowing the extent of his
injury, because as you mentioned, he not only had ACL I think he
had some miniscal some other things going on there. But I think that's part
of it. I think the other part of it is the number of minutes.
You know, keep in mind this is a shortened season, and if
I recall last year, which brought a lot of excitement to our fans,
they played a fair number of players. So how many minutes will he be
expected to play? What type of contributions will those minutes increase? You know,
the further they get in the tournament. I mean, this is a
very interesting tournament, as you will know if you remember years ago it started
out as a one and done. Now you've got a little opportunity and so
the dollars are pretty huge. Yeah, it's awesome. I cannot wait.
It was very exciting last year and I know it's going to be just as
exciting this year. I'm sure Pat Kelsey is going to be on hand doing
what he does, getting people excited and really just sharing that infectious energy that
he has. So good vibes, no doubt, Larry. I appreciate you
making time for us to know you're very busy man, so again we appreciate
it. Enjoy your weekend and we'll talk soon. My friend absolutely, thanks
Breddy. It's doctor Larry Ben's pro Rea physical therapy. Always appreciate his time
and always informative. But some really good stuff there as far as the financial
component of college athletics, as things are about to change in a major way.
All right, quick break, we'll come back on the other side and
we'll welcome in the one the only mister Jeffrey Greer from Soccer Holdings to talk
about tomorrow's big match and other things as well. We always go in a
lot of their different directions with mister Greer, so stick with us right here
on Sports Talk seven ninety Coffee and Company. About halfway through here on a
Friday, as we get you set for the weekend, and we now bring
in the one, the Only, mister Jeff Greer. Jeff, how are
we doing here on a beautiful Friday afternoon. I'm doing great, Nick,
And I gotta tell you this might be the first time that I did not
recognize a Turn to Action song there? What what song was that? Though?
I was just playing so producer John, I'm he may not be able
to hear me, but you can relay the information of Okay, it was
Don't put out the Fire by Dirty Honey, Don't stump you, don't put
out the fire by Dirty Honey. That's the song. I was gonna guess,
like reda Van v I feel like that style. So yeah, good
stuff, and you know, like to keep we got to keep you on
your toes career, come on, you know we keep you on your toes
a little bit. So with tomorrow's match, obviously you guys are looking to
fill the fam and and I'm expecting to see a huge crowd out there for
you guys. But not all draws are created equal, correct, Like the
draw from from your most recent match was pretty significant, and and and it's
put you guys in a spot. And I may be wrong here, but
you know, playoff postseason still clearly in contention. Right, Yeah, for
sure, we're still in a playoff spot and very much in the thick of
it. But you're right, you know. I always liking this to my
to my non soccer loving friends. Basically, we were trying to kill a
power play for eighty minutes, is basically how I described it. I mean
we were a player down from the ninth minute on, so eighty one minutes
playing with one fewer player and anyone who has seen the size of a soccer
field, I mean, that is a really challenging thing to do. But
it took a really good team effort, a lot of hard defending, and
then literally the last kick of the game, we just kind of dropped the
ball into the box, knocked it on and poked it in with one of
our rookies. It was really a great finish. It was fun to walk.
I was already on the field waiting for postgame interviews when the when the
ball went in and our team is celebrating, and it's there's nothing more fun
than being part of a team on an away arena and a place that was
previously just full of life and ready to go party being absolutely silenced. I
mean that it's so much fun on those environments, and we've done that a
couple of times this year, so we're coming back with a little win in
our sales. For Yeah, I can say it creates a momentum for you
for sure as you have this this match tomorrow that obviously again hoping to see
a great crowd out there taken on BAFC, would you say that there's somewhat
of a comparable type of team as far as where you guys stand within the
NWSL standings. Obviously you're not going to overlook any kind of an opponent,
but this is certainly a winnable match. Yeah, for sure it is.
And to your point, I mean, we've learned from last year. I
think going into the last day, there were if my memory serves, there
were four playoffs spots taken out of the six available and this and they've expanded
the playoffs this year, but last year I think it was like the other
six of the other eight teams were fighting for the final two spots on the
last day of the season. So this is an incredibly, incredibly competitive league.
Every year there are so many tough games, and this is yet another
one where it's just like, yes, we're favored playing at home, but
this is going to be an absolute dogfight. They are an expansion team this
year. They're one of the two new teams a AFC out in San Jose,
San Francisco area. But there's got a lot of talent and it should
be a pretty evenly matched game. Jeff Grez our guest joining us here on
Sports Talk seven to ninety. Again, if you guys have never been to
a Racing Louisville game, I mentioned this throughout the show. You can get
in for free tomorrow. I tweeted out the link earlier. If you just
go to the website. There's a banner right there at racingloufc dot com.
It's to fill the fan banner. You click on it and you'll see the
link there where you can fill out that form. You can actually get discounted
tickets for students, and there's also a special group rate if you bring ten
or more. So hopefully we can do exactly that and fill the fan tomorrow.
So pregame happy hour for two bucks. The first two thousand fans and
attendance are going to get a free T shirt. But what I need to
know is live karaoke. What are you going to sing for us tomorrow?
Well, I recently put on a solid performance at a karaoke barne birthday U.
And I you know, Nick, I'm sure you're the same way.
I'm kind of like an R P O karaoke singer, Like I like to
get up to the line of scrimmage and just read the bar. You gotta
see what the vibe is. Like I was at a Kikos a few years
ago. You're there to deliver what they want, and you can't really know
that until you're up there and you feel in the crowd. You kind of
they're gonna take you in the direction exactly. So like there had been probably
I mean, I'm not a big country guy, and and and that's fine.
You know, there are probably about ten too many country songs in a
row at a Kikos a few years ago. So I had to mix it
up a little bit and get up there. But and I'm trying to remember,
Oh my gosh, of course I bring it up now. It's a
Kanye song she gives Me Money, Oh gold Digger yoah Lord, I couldn't
think of the name of the son great carry. I would never think to
sing that song. That's a good karaoke song. It's a great when when
when the when, the call and response for we want prenup? Oh yeah?
The bar shut it down and the rest of the night was the rest
of the night was a great night at the kikos h This week, I
thought like, maybe we needed to have a nice relaxation moment out in Seattle.
So I sang Sex on Fire by Kings of Leon and just belted it
out, calmed the bar down a little bit, let everybody have a drink,
and then the others got back to it. So, you know,
you just got to feel things out, re read the linebackers at the line
of scrimmage, and really figure out what you want to do. As a
reason, they call him the man of the people because he gives the people
what they want. And those two songs specifically, I mean, those are
great karaoke songs. I wouldn't I wouldn't have thought to perform those and a
keikos man, it's a little intimidating. I feel like, I've been there
a couple of times in the last few years, and you know, you'll
see some very amateur singers and then you'll see some people and you're like,
oh my god, they came here to let everybody know this is their domain.
Like I was blown away by some of the talent, legitimate talent that
you see at that place. Yeah, and it's one of my favorite spots
in the city. I haven't been in a few years now. One of
the all time nights that I've ever had, my brother was in town for
literally it was like twenty four hours he had He was a surgical fellow,
so he had one of those like fellowship interviews, so you fly in,
you meet with a bunch of doctors, and then they give you a few
hours in the at that night to do whatever you want. And we went
to this like festival where it was like smoked meats. This was years ago,
and we like we had an incredible night eating all sorts of different barbecue
and stuff, and then we ended up at a kikos and at like two
in the morning, we're singing Toto's Africa and in between, like during the
instrumentals, my brother kept shouting we're brothers, very loud in case somebody didn't
know. Yeah, and the crowd just ate it all up. So I
love that place. But you're right, unless you've had enough of your bush
lights, buddy, it's not going to be uh, it's not going to
be a friendly crowd. Well, I'm sure it wasn't even something you planned
to say, but you said it perfectly. We ended up at a keyko.
You don't really make plans, you know what I'm saying. You end
the night kind of leads you there, and if the night does lead you
there, it's usually it's usually a pretty good night. All right. I
got a couple more questions for you. We'll stick with with racing lou here.
I just want to give you a chance to kind of shout out some
of the personnel within the squad here. Obviously you got some momentum mentioning the
big draw last week when odds were against you guys, But who are some
of the players that you feel like have really been, you know, delivering
this season so far. I don't want to, you know, I know,
I'm sure everybody collectively has been doing their part. Everybody has their own
role, But who would you say has really kind of emerged this year and
kind of help get this thing in the position where you guys got a chance
to go to the postseason. Yeah, I mean a familiar name for soccer
fans, Savannah Tamelo. She was on the US national team last fall at
the World Cup. Started a couple of games. She's our leading scorer.
She needs one more goal to tie the club record for most goals in a
season at six, and surely she'll she'll blow past that and the the second
part of the season. I'll point out two other players who I think are
just really fun for people, and they're both rookies. We got a kid
out of UCLA. She won a national championship. She was an All American
and I heard your discussion with doctor Ben's before I came on. She was
the very first NIL athlete signed period by Nike oh Leyland Turner. And yeah
she is. I think she's only twenty one. I don't even think she's
turned twenty two yet. But she scored that late goal for US the other
day in Seattle, and she's just oozing with talent. So I'm really excited
to see her play. Sign her to a longer term deal and then Ema
Sears, who went to Ohio State. You'll love this nick. She somehow
was not on anyone else's radar at the draft this past year. But our
coach, one of our coaching staff members who does a lot of our draft
prep and previously had worked at Ohio State. We've been scouting her for like
three years, and so when the opportunity came for us to grab her at
the end of the second round, which is incredible value, we snapped her
up quickly. And you know, we had like three or four teams come
over and say, oh man, we really wish that we had drafted her.
It's like, yeah, well you had. You had twenty seven opportunities
to do it, and we snagged her. But she's second in the league
in goals for rookies. That's awesome. She's statistically one of the top like
two or three dribblers in the league. And she is faster than I believe
the last I checked, she's faster than half of Louisville City's roster. Yeah.
So, I mean, she is a freak athlete and it's very very
fun to watch ms Ars and will be one of the stars of this league
for years to come. So I think those two in Savannah Demelo have been
so much fun to watch, and their goal scorers and they beat people off
the dribble, and it's just it's fun to watch those types of players.
I love when things come together like that to where you were aware that nobody
else was talking about her and and meaning you know, your coach who had
coached her before, was well aware of what she could do. There wasn't
a ton of buzz and sure enough you take that chance and know that you
know it's not something maybe anybody else would have drafted that, not somebody that
somebody would have drafted that at that time, but then't sure enough she's delivering.
You mentioned second in the goal, second in the league, among in
goals among rookies. So uh, that is that is certainly awesome. Right,
last question for you, Jeff, how many years does Brownie James play
in the NBA? Wow, that's a curveball. As long as it he'll
be there. Yeah, I was gonna say he'll be he'll be on the
Lakers as long as Lebron is there. But but look, I mean,
and you know, I know it's hard for people on the on the in
the Eastern time zone to watch pack, Uh, what is it packed?
Twelve games now at RP. I don't know what USC H whatever league USC
is going to be going into, but I watched them more than once,
I want to say times, and you know it's he's one of those guys
and gosh, there a dime a dozen. It seems like at this point
where you could point to them and say, you remember Troy Williams Indiana and
yeah, like, oh my gosh, this guy just had there's something there.
I don't know what it is. I don't know if it'll ever all
come together, but there's definitely something there. And that's how it felt about
Bronnie, Like there were these little moments that he would do things and you're
like, Okay, I can see he's got he's got a little DNA that
will help him out. I could see, I can see what he's got
going on, and maybe there's a player there. I just don't know if
I would have tried to go into the NBA now, I maybe would have
tried to cultivate myself a little bit more at the college level. But so
I'll it's a long answer. I'm waffling a little bit, but I'll say
I'll give him three years. I'll give him three years in the NBA in
some form. Does that include the G League? Yeah for sure, Yeah,
because that's probably where he playing something. I think one of the things
about Bronnie that nobody could talks about is that he doesn't try to be his
dad when he plays. And I think that's you know, most people can't
be Lebron because he's Lebron James. But I feel like that's actually an undervalued
thing for this young man who's really a kid essentially. He he kind of
knows who he is a player. He's a defender, he's he's an athletic,
uh, you know, off the ball kind of guard, and you
know, he's not terrible. It's just it's just so obvious that he entered
the draft way before he should have, and he got drafted specifically put because
Lebron and a lot of a lot of a lot of pressure comes with that.
But uh, I'm pulling for him. You know, I'm not going
to turn into a Lakers fan or whatnot, but you know, I think
it's been he's carried himself. So the example I used earlier, Jeff was
this, look at how Deon Sanders children behave. Not to say they're terrible
guys, but like their show, like they are clearly just you know,
in your face show, like a lot of a lot comes with that.
And I think Bronni's kind of handled himself as good as you could. Is
somebody in that position. Yeah, well, and I'll throw one other thing
out, Nick, And you know this increasingly, and like Peyton Steva would
tell you this, Russ Smith, there are so many more opportunities to play
professional basketball. And I know that they've been there for a long time and
but they're expanding in a way that makes it more financially viable for people like
Brownie's never gonna have to worry about money. But there are so many opportunities
to play at a high level. And that's another part of this too,
is like, look, if there's no shame in you not making the NBA
or sticking in the NBA, you'd go play in Spain. You have a
nice life. I mean, look at Kyle Carrott, you could have a
really nice life. And now Granton, he's playing at one of the best
clubs in the world. But I mean there are guys who who've had decade
long careers or longer playing second second level pro basketball overseas. So I mean,
I just I think there's an opportunity for him somewhere, and I'm sure
he'll stick. I just don't know if it's going to be with the Lakers
past Lebron's on the day he up as Sneakers. Jeff, you are the
man. Thanks for making time for us on a Friday, and best of
luck to the club tomorrow. Hopefully they can get it done. All right,
thanks my man. I appreciate you, all right. That's Jeff Greer.
Always appreciate the time and the conversation. Quick break. Will come back
for a quick segment, super quick segment to wrap at the four o'clock hour.
And then it's five o'clock on a Friday. Folks, buckle up Will
Smith on a Friday? Or is this good summer vibes? Yes? Smith.
For a second, I thought it might have been all cool Jay,
but no, it's definitely Will Smith. I recognize it now, all right.
Uh you know who else I recognize as the leader in real estate services
relative services, I should say in this market Kentucky, Ina, it's my
friends at Edlin and Edlin. I mean, they all recognize not just by
myself but probably by just about everybody, and those who don't recognize them as
the leader in real estate service, they're just wrong. So it's Edlin and
Eland. They'll help you throughout the entire process if you're buying or selling a
home, and again usually you are doing both if you're gonna put your house
up for sales because you're buying one, or I don't know, I guess
there are maybe some situations to where you wouldn't be doing that, But either
way, Etland and Eveland is who you need to turn to. Give them
a call five oh two five nine nine twenty eight hundred. Eedland dot com
is the website E D E L E in and they will help you save
money throughout the process, which last I check, that's pretty important. Wouldn't
you want to keep a lot of your hard earned dollars in your pocket throughout
this They'll list your hope for just one percent. They have a one percent
buyer's rebate. And not only will they help you save money, they're gonna
not only just do what they're supposed to do as your realtor, but also
make it as convenient and effortless as possible for you, right, because there's
a lot that goes into this. It's a process, but it won't feel
like it quite as much when you reach out and rely on the folks at
Eland and England. They're a full service residential real estate brokerage. They've been
in business since nineteen seventy six. You don't stick around that long unless you're
taking care of customers, providing a great service, and that is exactly what
they do. So and give them a call five hundred or check them out
online at Elin dot com. So very little time left here to really get
into anything else but a load at five o'clock hour coming your way, a
lot to get into. We'll reset some things from last night, talk a
little more about the NBA draft stuff, and get yourself for the weekend.
It's Friday, folks. Let's let's let's get it started right. Maybe your
weekend starting right now. We got another hour to go, but you know
we're almost there. Keep it locked right here. It's Coffee and Company.
Phil Beth Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety