It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day. Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think we are.
Get off our show, idiot. The kids are playing or trail off.
The countries are screwing it up. Gold Play Inner Murals, Brother,
Goldplay Inner Murals. They're supposed to be mature adults, but they're really not.
Who's the kid here? Who's the kid here? Are you kidding me?
Now? Here's nick coffee? All right, let's get right to it,
ladies and gents. Welcome in Happy Monday. A lot to get to
today, A loaded show. We've got a solar eclipse about to happen,
which I don't remember there being something talked about this much nationally, and they're
being this much like local interest. I guess we're in position in the area
I guess mostly southern Indiana to be in like one of the best spots for
this eclipse. But again, it's a big deal, and I've never felt
less interested in something that is such a big deal. And I'm confused,
like, didn't we just do this in twenty seventeen? And then I read
something about why this makes this is so much more special. This is more
rare because this is the first time we've had this kind of solar eclipse since
eighteen oh six. But then I read more information and like, no,
it's actually the same thing since twenty seventeen. But they believe this will be
just bigger. So anyways, I don't have a whole lot to add to
that, but I know it is a big deal. We've got the Final
Four to react to National Championship game tonight, two best teams clearly in college
basketball playing for it all. I mean it when I say it, the
women's Final Four was better, the games they were better, and I mean
women's college basketball took a huge step forward in these last couple of years as
far as just the reach. I mean, the game has grown so much
and it's crazy to see, but to see. And then, of course,
some big news last night that I really just didn't think was real,
and that's John cali Perry's leaving Kentucky to take the job at Arkansas. And
outside of the initial because I think the reaction here from like everyone involved Arkansas
meeting, they're fans Kentucky's fans, the administration at Arkansas, the administration at
Kentucky, like this is a win win for everybody, Like this is a
good thing for everyone involved. But it still just doesn't seem like it really
happened. John Cali Perry's leaving Kentucky to take a job against or to take
a job in the same league, and it's real, it's happening. And
yesterday I was I was just you know, having a lazy Sunday, essentially
ended up going and seeing some family who's in town, which, by the
way, how random is this. My family from Arkansas, from Fayetteville is
in Louisville right now visiting during this whole stuff. So I saw a couple
of tweets about it, and I just assume, well, that's just like,
that's gotta be fake. And I have become now, I guess,
just a little bit more weary of what you see on the platform Twitter,
just because it's so hard to really get Let me back up, I'm not
going to give people one out here, because it's not that hard to figure
out if what you're seeing from a certain account like how believable it is.
You don't really know if what people are reporting via source, like you just
never know how true it is. But it's pretty easy to actually spot something
that you would know, Okay, that's not a real account. They're just
you know, trying to fool people. So I knew that a couple of
the folks that put it out that there may be some truth to it,
that hey, I'm hearing this could be actually real Arkansas and Kentucky. You're
talking. One of them was a sports director for I believe, a TV
station in Little Rock, a real guy worked in the sports business, media
business for a long long time, and you know, maybe he just heard
from it. But again, here I am thinking, Okay, this guy's
on the older side, maybe he's really gullible. And sure enough, like
each hour that passed, you'd see more and more appearing on the timeline from
like each hour there was more noise about Caliperry in Arkansas. And then I
think also each hour it was noise from people that you would know have info.
And that's when it started to seem like, here we go, like
this may be happening. And sure enough I woke up this morning thinking no
way that was real, right, Like that had to just be some foggy
like there may maybe I had a dream or something. And then every time
I popped open any social media app Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, I'm missing
anything else. There's like snapchat and what are some other ones? TikTok,
Yeah, TikTok, but those aren't necessarily like timeline specific, right, Like,
it's not LinkedIn. That's where I go for all my sports media information,
right Like, it's where I got all my content for the show is
just just perusing LinkedIn. But I mean it's a big deal. I think
it's you know, I know it's very much a local topic to us here
in Kentucky, but I think it's actually, in a way kind of trumped
the national championship game, which, to be honest with you, I mean,
this is a this is a huge title game. These are clearly two
really really good teams, the best two teams all year in college basketball,
i'd say, And I think Yukon deserves to be the favorites here and I
think they will win. But I mean, let's be honest, Purdue has
something that nobody else has, which is a giant who also happens to be
insanely good at basketball. So Kentucky, the job opening itself, Caliperry leaving
to go to a conference foe I mean, it's it's juicy. You can't
make this stuff up. But again, once you get pasted, I guess
the overall surprise and shock, I think everybody is thinking this is this is
this is good? Like this this worked out perfect for Kentucky because you know
that marriage was was over. They were just sticking together for the kids.
And I don't really know even who the kids would be in that analogy,
but like, I think the fear of not being with one another was was
a factor and it wasn't going to be easy. Divorces are expensive, right,
I don't know that from experience, but I think that's saying is probably
true. In fact, Tony Vinetti has one of my favorite lines, well
one of my favorite Vinette lines, and there's some great ones, but his
wife that she married him twice, like they've been divorced and then got remarried,
and Vinetti always says it was the most expensive fight we ever got in,
and like because the divorce is not cheap. So you know, with
that said, the divorce not being cheap in this analogy was that it was
going to cost thirty three million dollars to get rid of Cow, and it
could have been done like it was possible, because really anything's possible, but
it was far from from an easy thing to do, and it you know,
it would have made it. Look, when you're gonna do that,
you better be ready for somebody to step in and obviously not loose to Saint
Peter's in Oakland and whatnot. But like, also like you got to get
a good coach. But with Cal deciding to leave on his own, I
mean, it literally is a gift to Kentucky. Now. I don't know
how good they're gonna be next year. Nobody knows who their coach is going
to be for sure, but I think Arkansas they feel alive more than they
ever have in basketball because look, as much as we make fun of Cal
and even their own fans didn't like. Like, I know, Kentucky fans
will remember the good days of Cal more than probably anything. But you haven't
liked this guy in years. He hasn't liked you guys in years, So
you know, it got real stale with that relationship. And there's a reason
that that job is a job that really I don't know if it's even possible
to thrive in that role longer than ten years. I mean, everybody has
said it. Cal has said it himself. And after being there about ten
years, it just it started to not work. It was just a very
very dysfunctional situation from top to bottom. So that's all real. But with
Cal and we'll get into this little a little more, a little bit more
later on, because I feel like now he's going to be like Arkansas is
going to act as if they just got the best basketball coach of all time.
And I think it's gonna bother Kentucky fans because they're gonna say, hey,
have fun with it, because you know, he's stubborn and he's he
doesn't do modern basketball and he you know, he's I don't know what they'll
say about him, but like Arkansas, I feel like should have that.
I mean, would you say, John Arkansas should feel good that they just
like take out the whole rivalry dynamic between Louisville, Kentucky, Indiana. Like
you could understand Arkansas feeling like they just absolutely like won the lottery, right.
Yeah, And I'm sure that they weren't expecting to get anybody with the
caliber of Caliperry. No, and look, they had Jerome Tang and Chris
Beard turn him down. They were talking to a mid major coach within the
state of Arkansas. I believe it Little Rock maybe yes. And now they've
got John Caliperry, so like I understand their level of like, wow,
we just you know, this is crazy. But I told John this before
the show started. I think he's either going to be super energized and motivated
not to you know, make Arkansas razorback Nation happy. He's going to be
motivated and energized to stick it to Kentucky, make no mistake about that.
And I think everybody like it may be hard to hear that because you know,
there were some good times, but this man has hated everything about Kentucky
in the last few years. He feels so bitter and so betrayed by fans.
And you know, Matt Jones, I guess since the twenty twenty one
season when they won nine games, and it has consumed him so much that
he's really unraveled, Like it's it has bothered him so much that he's like
things that like he should be a avoiding, like he can't avoid like walking
into press conferences after a win not to talk about, you know, how
good his team played, but to like stick it in the face of the
four media members who made the road trip because in his mind, like I
shouldn't say hate, but let's be honest, man, this guy has not
been happy there. He's he's I mean, he wanted to go to Texas.
And this is what's crazy to me, is that last year, you
know, we talked about it on the show, John Texas was like the
only realistic lifeline because they could pay whatever they could. They're Texas, and
they had an opening and they just went and hired Chris Beard, which I
think showed that they do have a commitment to being good in basketball. But
then they decided to retain Rodney Terry, and had they not done that,
they could have gone after Cali Perry and he would have left. Like he's
wanted out of there, but because of the price tag that comes with him,
he's not gonna And he's such an arrogant coach. And look, some
of his arrogance has probably justified, right, I mean, he's he's had
a hell of a run overall as a coach. I think there's some you
know, some specifics in each of his stops that kind of make you question
how good he really was. But either way, the man's in the Hall
of Fame, so he's not going to come for the cheap. So like
they were just stuck together. And I didn't think it was realistic that anybody,
I mean, the thought of him leaving for another job. He got
brought up here and there, but I think a lot of people just quickly
vanished from their mind because you would think, like, well, who would
go hire him and pay him what Kentucky could pay him? You know who
wants to And again it's not to say because he's a bum, but like
the recent and we live in a world where it's quite clearly what have you
done for me lately? Right, cal Perry has not been like relevant at
the top of the game in quite some time, and in fact, when
the eyeballs are on the sport at a level like they never are March Madness,
the last few times he's been there, he's been embarrassed. He lost
to a fifteen seed and a fourteen seed, So it just didn't seem likely
that there would be a compatible rebound, if you will, Right, Like
he's dumping you guys, but you all agree it's over. But he's not
going to be alone. He's not going to walk away from the game.
He's got to find somebody. And the compatibility is the fact that Arkansas has
money. They have, I mean, and they care about basketball. And
Eric Musselman reminded college basketball the world the sport that Arkansas can be really,
really good and they care. And now they've got people throwing out money that
basically got Cali Perry and eight to nine million dollar salary and also about five
million dollars annually. It sounds like for nil, which is important. So
Arkansas saved Kentucky and Caliperry, make no mistake about it. But I think
Cal's either going to thrive and really like he'll like all these things he wouldn't
do because he felt like it would be him admitting that he's wrong. His
stubbornness got in the way, right. He wanted to play his two bigs
together because he knew that you all hated that. And you think I'm joking,
I'm not, Like, I mean some of the pettiness about like how
much like remember when Dante Allen played there a few years ago. He didn't
want to play Dante Allen. You know why, because he knew that fans
knew that Dante Allen should play more because he's a shooter. And if he
gets in the game and he knocks down shots, that's cal essentially admitting he
or being proven that he was wrong. It's like, you know, he
can choose not to be as young as he is right, but he wants
to do it his way. He wants to relow with freshmen every year.
He would never ever want to admit that, you know, others were right
and he was wrong and he had to listen and make adjustments. His ego
and his arrogance, his stubborness would never let that happen. But now he
can do all those things at Arkansas, and it's not admitting that he was
wrong. It's just embracing this new world, this new challenge. So he
may make some necessary adjustments as far as his philosophy that kind of stuff,
and he may knock it out of the park and really thrive there. Or
he may be a guy that looks at Arkansas and thinks they should be worshiping
him that he's even there and that he's going to do it his way,
and if there's any level of criticism or questioning, you know, then they
can go kick rocks because they should just be in all of his presence,
and if that's the way he's going to go about it, he's going to
crash and burn. So I don't believe there's gonna be much of a middle
ground because I just I mean, if he's there for three or four years
and they are maybe you know, in the tournament every year, but never
a good seed, maybe the farthest they go is one Sweet sixteen. Like,
I mean, there's no way Arkansas fans would sit back and say they
got a return on set investment, considering what they paid him, and also
knowing that Eric Musselman went to two bi llid eights in a Sweet sixteen in
a three year span. So one thing I do want to share with you
really quickly here because this was posted on Twitter right as soon as the show
started today, no joke, like right before we went live on the air.
Cali Perry's apparently walking his dog along Richmond Road and Lee Howard of w
KYT and Lexington, I guess they were just camping out around near Cow's house.
And I don't I mean, I don't know Richmond Road very well.
I don't know the Lexington area all that well, but from this video,
it just looks like cala is just strolling with like I mean, visibly in
front of everyone. It's all I mean again, it's he wants people to
see him. He's in Lexington, he's walking his dog on what appears to
be very busy public street. I mean, I've heard of Richmond Road,
but I don't know Lexington, so therefore I feel like Richmond Road is a
very very highly traveled road. Like he wants people to see him. And
he's not wearing uk gar, although he's wearing something that looks kind of blue.
He's not wearing his Arkansas hog stuff just yet. But he was asked
for a comment. And again I'm hearing this for the first time, so
it may just be a bunch of dead sound as they're following him walking his
dog, so you may just hear like wind and outside noise. But eventually
he does he does ask he is asked, I should say, if he's
going to give a comment, it's doing the stupid, stupid thing again.
We'll make some adjustments here because we got to play this and even it's probably
very and I do know how to avoid the one channel thing, meaning that
you know, if we play it over the radio, well, we're playing
everything over the radio. But if you're listening on the radio not stream,
you don't hear anything. If you're listening on the iheartstream or you know,
and I guess the heart stream is on the app or it's or it's on
or it's on the website, then then you hear it. Fine, But
I can now avoid that by doing this. And just I mean, I
need to learn the tricks of the trade. Well, if you learn them,
let me know, because I don't mean, here's what happens and nobody
cares about it. But when we play something from a different source, if
I'm playing a video from Twitter, if I'm playing it from you know,
any other platform like that, and it's coming out of just one channel,
meaning one side left and not right, and that's when it messes up.
But there's no way to avoid that unless you know, there's no a weekend
of what. I don't know if it's something on the board or whatever,
but here here it is. Hey, coach, you guys, thank you.
Right now you will say I'm good, come on, palm, come
on, my dog, my dog is walking me. Come on, I'll
yeah. I think the rest is just loud noise from traffic. But I
mean, it's the biggest story in college basketball right now, on the day
the national Championship game is being played, and he's walking his dog down a
very public, busy street in Lexington, visible for everybody to see. That's
not a coincidence. That is him wanting you to see him now. He
didn't want to say anything, but this guy, I mean, one more
thing before we go to our first break. This is something that came up
last night, I believe for Matt no orlander about him having interest in the
Ohio State job. But the timing wasn't right because they obviously didn't want to
wait for a coach that could potentially be playing deep into the tournament. They
didn't know that wasn't going to be an issue because he played one game in
the tournament and lost. But he told them to wait because he felt like,
you know, he had a really good chance to make a deep run,
which is, by the way, you know what every coach should think
going into the tournament, right, And he did have a really good team
this year. They were three ced. They should have never lost to Oakland.
They wouldn't have won the national championship, I don't think, but they
clearly should have been playing into the second weekend, I would say, but
this is a guy who felt like he was about to have the breakthrough year
in the tournament where he goes deep because they're really good. They had phenomenal
Burt, that trio was phenomenal this year, Reeves, Dillingham and Sheppard.
But he wanted to win big and make that deep run snap the drought.
However long it's been since the second weekend snapped the drought, since I guessed
twenty fifteen for a final four. He wanted to do that and then get
the hell out of town and tell you guys to go, you know,
take a nap or something like that was his mindset. Now what you've actually
done it after winning a title, maybe there'd be so much love for him
that he would just be completely intoxicated with it and he would go back to
the way he felt in his first five six years or whatever. Or maybe,
and I think this is more likely. This man is so stubborn and
loyalty is so big to him that he has felt a level of betrayal.
And which, by the way, if you're in Kentucky, like you didn't
betray him, you criticized him after he won nine games. I mean,
like it's what comes with Kentucky, but he never really had to deal with
that before. And I think he has just been trying to get the hell
out of there for quite some time. And that that, I mean,
that's another reason why in the end of at the end of the day,
this is good for everybody. But what I am curious to see, and
only time will tell, will it be? I mean, if he just
retired and walked away, he'd be bitter. They'd be, you know,
worrying about as he you know is I hope wish nothing but the best for
him. Now he's going to coach against you in your same conference, and
I just I kind of feel like it's going to be impossible for the you
know, the early stages of the Caliperi era in Faateteville, however long it
lasts. Initially, I mean, he's gonna he's gonna want to kill him.
I mean, he's gonna he's gonna he's gonna feel that he's there because
you all did it, you all ran him out of town, I guess.
I mean, it came out last night that one of the one of
the factors is because he did not feel once today Kentucky, which honestly it's
the truth. But I guess in his mind he thinks that's absurd and that's
betrayal. But at the end of the day, like you're paid to do
a job that is very hard to do, and you were not nearly good
at it, nearly as good at it as you should be in the last
five years. So anyways, who the next coach is. I'm just here
to tell you I think it's gonna be a very boring coaching search. And
that's that speaks to what the job is like. This job's not gonna get
offered many people without somebody taking it. Let's just be real and they'll be
They'll be guys. They don't get they don't get offered the job because there's
been enough. There's been enough, you know, I guess back and forth
to know that they're not worth actually offering the job and getting to that stages
in the conversation. All right, we're loaded today, John's back. Welcome
back the company, man, What a day for you to return, so
much to get into plenty. So let's let's keep it rolling along again.
It is coffee and company, and we are fueled by Thornton's right here on
Sports Talk seven ninety. That's right. Feel free to give us a call,
share your thoughts on you know this Caliperi stuff. Is Kentucky and Louisville
are going to have new new basketball coaches next year, which this cannot be
something that's happened in my lifetime where each of them have a new coach in
the same offseason. But here we are not only that there's a I don't
know if it'll work out this way, but you could have a you could
have a you know, two rosters next year when these two teams play,
where every scholarship player is new was not there the year before, So crazy
times, all right? Five two five seven seventy nine hundred is the number
if you want to give us a call. Bold lines are now open,
and if you want a text, and you can do that too, five
O two six five three zero seven ninety. It's the L and N Federal
Credit Union text line. And the solar eclipse like did it just happen?
Like is it over? Pretty sure it was during our first segment. Yeah,
right as we started, I knew like three oh seven or three O
eight or something was like the was the I mean, and the world didn't
end right. There were some people saying that this was another sign of the
apocalypse. Well, I mean we're still here, I mean hopefully. Like
what if like what if what if it was just us left, just me
and you is talking to So again, I don't want to, you know,
pop on the parade if people think this was like a really really awesome
cool thing that they did, because like, you know, if your kids
are interested in this stuff, and or even if you are, like you
know, knock yourself out. I am interested in things and would find things
fascinating that like a lot of you guys would probably think that's lame as hell.
So you know, everybody's got their own interest that kind of stuff.
But I'm just I've had a tough time really understanding what makes this such a
spectacle, and I from what I've gathered, it's just because this is this
apparently is believed to be you know, the best, the biggest coverage is
that what it is like for our area, yes, which I believe was
ninety nine percent, so you're almost in full and the total darkness, as
they call it, the path of totality, yeah, I just you know,
I feel like we just did this in twenty seventeen. And that's what's
really kind of because a lot of folks that were really into that when it
happened, I feel like they were underwhelmed and kind of felt like that was
it, you know, all this for that, and here we are doing
it again, and whenever, you know, people push back like, hey,
we had it not that long ago and it was very underwhelming. I'm
not getting hyped again. Well then, well no, no, this was
different. This one's different. Well, you know, I'm just assuming people
who say that are telling the truth. But then if you do, like
I mean, you know, it's not like I'm getting it from some random
internet site. I mean there are rite ups that like you know, NASA
and stuff like that that that you know, that tell you that it's actually
the same thing. It's just expected to I guess had you know, total
solar eclipse is what this is, and I've been told that, well,
no, this one is the twenty twenty four. It's it's more total.
We'll know, like they're technically classified as the exact same thing. But I
guess maybe there could be more, Maybe it reaches more human I mean yeah,
I mean so if you had fun and you know you're enjoying it,
knock yourself out. Southern Indiana apparently is like the like Seymour Indiana up there.
They they're apparently like you know, sold out of hotel, hells and
everything because people are traveling across from across the country to kind of be there
to see it. Look, that's cool. I just can't you know,
I can't relate to that being something that I would be interested in. They're
seeing more of the eclipse and see more. When you think that, God,
I missed you. I'm so glad you're back. That's just that's I'm
so glad you're back. That was that was great. They are seeing more,
and Seymour they they hopefully they coined that, like that's the thing needs
to be, Yeah, it needs to be all right. So, uh,
before we get back into the Kentucky stuff really quickly, here the Final
four, the NC State Perdue game. I'm just gonna say it, awful
basketball product. Like that game sucked, and I think Purdue kind of likes
games to be played that way. H n C State, you know,
they just really ran out of gas and clearly like Purdue is just a much
better team than them. And at halftime, you know, I thought NC
State played pretty poorly and made a lot of mistakes that Purdue had nothing to
do with, and yet they were only down what five six something like that.
It was in a good spot. Uh But sure enough, you know,
Purdue played better in the second half. And Zach Edy is you know,
he's a monster. But one thing that like the coverage of like the
duo of Iron Eagle, is it Ian or Iron Eagle. I've heard it
hurt Iron, yeah, more frequently. Iron Eagle and and Bill Raftury are
great. But like Grant Hill is so bad. Like he's such a vanilla,
you know, likable, seems like a good dude, like he's he's
he's you know, he's he seems like a nice man. But man,
he's so vanilla and he just like you know, it's he annoys me.
And one thing that stood out more than anything in that game that just you
know, irked me, is that any little miss cue by n C State
anything that you know that they were thinking about Edie around there, just thinking
about his here they're worried about Edie. You know, if the guy misses
a layup wh when heat he's around, like he may have like gone up
awkwardly because he was in fear of getting blocked, but like you know,
dudes missing free throws. You know why they're thinking about Edie down there?
You know the water the water boys slips and falls and spills water on the
court getting it to the players up he's thinking about Eddie. Like Edie's a
giant, clearly, and he impacts the game in a way that nobody does
with his size. And he's also a dude that's a giant. And there's
been many giants that have played college basketball, but he's just different. He
can play for a long time. You know, he's skilled. But I'm
hoping tonight that like it doesn't turn into her every single play if there's any
mistake made by Yukon. You know what they're thinking about Edie. Just knowing
he's just knowing he's near just annoyed me. And I was annoyed because I
wanted NC State to win. But Purdue is deserving. I mean quite literally,
they've won every game in the tournament to get here. But you know
they're they're a team that had the the not the bulls eye on their back,
necessarily because that's been Yukon, but nobody really felt like they knew that
there was no belief that they were actually going to get here despite being a
one seed that was really good all year, and it's because Purdue had never
made the Final four under Matt Painter, and this same team almost last year
lost to who was it, I know it was the sixteen Dicks, Yeah,
Fairley Dickinson. So I'm hoping we get a really really good game tonight,
But wouldn't shock me if Yukon kind of mean Yukon if they win this
game by double figures, which nobody would be shocked if that's what ends up
happening, right, I mean, they will have been that. This will
have been the most dominant tournament run ever as far as just beating the hell
out of everybody. They played, really two straight tournament runs of dominating.
They were a lower just like a four seed I believe last year, but
they still killed everybody. They snuck up on people when they got into the
term where they were good enough to make it clearly. But yeah, four
seed. But I don't think nationally people really knew how good they were playing
until like a fluky championship a little bit last year. Yeah, but and
even the fact that they had to play San Diego State in the title game,
Like you knew they were deserving of it, but you didn't know how
good that team actually was compared to other champions. And now you know it's
it's not a brand new team, but man, a lot of new pieces
on this team, and the same guy that's leading them is Dan Hurley,
who, in my opinion is is currently the top I mean the top guy
in the sport. I mean, he's about to get his second title tonight,
which I believe he will, and he'll do it back to back years.
He'll be one of two coaches that has two titles that are currently coaching.
And it's hard for me to think that Dan Hurley has not surpassed Bill
Self. I mean, Bill selves had a lot of other good teams.
But you know, Dan Hurley's been at Yukon what five six years now,
and man the few the last few years they have turned into a monster.
And you know, will this be the last game he coaches at Yukon?
I doubt it. Do you think win or lose it matters for the Kentucky
perspective because I feel like a lot of people thinking that if he loses,
he's more than likely to go to Kentucky, which I see, I see
why they would think that, but you still have it rolling and Yukon can
always counteract with whatever off for Kentucky wants to make. Maybe they don't have
the same kind of money obviously is Kentucky, but you've got it rolling it
in a way that no one's had it, I guess really since Florida,
Since in Florida. This is one of those things where it's really gonna it's
gonna come down to things we don't know about Dan Hurley as a person.
And what I mean by that is does he care that, like, overall
the women's coach is a bigger name than him at Yukon. I mean,
it's just the truth Gino Arima is I mean he's I mean the run that
they've had and look they've made the final four this year, they haven't won
a title in the last few but still, like, you know, does
he care about that? I doubt it? Right Yukon fans, clearly,
there's a lot of them, but they're in, they're in you know,
they're in stores Connecticut, like it's not a big market like those are things
that it's just down to personal preference as a human being rather than anything basketball
related, or does he want to be the man because at Kentucky it's again,
it's the best job in college basketball. You know, pains me to
say that as a as a diehard Louisville fan, but it's just the truth.
It's the best job in the sport. I think it's better than Carolina.
I think it's better than Kansas. And it's because they've had what six
different coaches win national championships there in a variety of different eras, different lifetimes
really, and they have a fan base that is probably one of the biggest
in college sports. And again, if you're I mean, I'm not telling
people. I'm not telling anybody listening something they don't already know. And you
can go to Pluto for vacation and you're gonna see Kentucky fans. You can
go to you know, wherever in the world, you'll run into him and
they'll be wearing blue. They're everywhere, and having like that army with you
when things are going great has got to be a great feeling. But I
don't know if Dan Hurley values that. I don't know if he cares about
that. To me, I think he's clearly in a great spot at Yukon,
and if he wins his second title, it would be hard to envision
him walking away. But if he loses, you know, I guess maybe
they're I don't think it makes that big of a difference what happens tonight,
John, But I would say it would be a better chance to get him
if he likes But then again, I don't know just envisioning him walking away
at Yukon when they are quite literally on top of the world in the sport,
and I think, you know, I think he likes being able to
say we don't even lead Sports Center, you know what I mean? Like
he it would almost be like leaving Yukon for Kentucky. It would almost be
like he is he's justifying why they haven't, in his mind, got the
attention that they deserve. Does that make sense because Kentucky would, There's no
doubt about it. If Kentucky was in the midst of doing what Yukon is
doing right now, it would be a bigger story nationally. And I don't
mean in college basketball, because college basketball obviously is covering it and talking about
it, but I mean bigger on shows like Sports Center. You know what
I'm saying. So I don't know him well enough. I don't know him
at all. But Kentucky's also the job that anybody taking it, and I
mean anybody taking it, you cannot says a surprise. You can't because it's
Kentucky. Like Jay Wright coming out of retirement. I don't predict that.
I don't think he would, but if he did, you could certainly understand
why Billy Donovan would he leave the Bulls. I don't think he would at
all. I actually don't think Billy Donovan has any interest in coaching in college
basketball at all, because the things that he hated about college basketball ten years
ago are even worse now because you don't have to just recruit. You got
to rerecruit your guys every year. You got to make sure nil is in
place. He didn't. That guy left college to go to the NBA because
he was tired of just the previous world of college hoops where it wasn't this
complicated. But again, if he did leave the NBA to come to Kentucky,
at the end of the day, how surprising would it be. In
fact, I guess the surprise level there would be the fact that it took
him three chance, three tries to get him and then he finally said yes.
So when I say this search is going to be boring, it's more
so just because the four names everybody is talking about I think are going to
be the four that they pursue, and it'll be it'll be one of them.
Like I guess, five names, and I think all Kentucky fans are
saying these names. I think everybody has a different preference as far as which
direction they go, how they would be ordered. But I think every Kentucky
fan, and maybe there's a Kentucky fan listening that has a different option,
a different idea different direction, But I feel like the vast majority of the
fan base is talking about these names, in no particular order. Dan Hurley,
Billy Donovan, Jay Wright, Natoates, and Scott Drew. Have you
heard any other name mentioned? I've heard Patino mentioned, and I just don't.
I heard someone say Richard Patino had plus seven hundred and fifty odds or
something. Yeah, I mean for never, And then Mark Pope was up
there as well. But like if you're Mitch Barnhardt, you wouldn't even want
to pursue Rick Patino, right, Like, take take out all of the
history there. He wouldn't go after it Patino, right Like, he's just
on the older side and you're only going to get a few years out of
the tops. Yeah, in Kentucky's the kind of job where look, clearly,
if things are going well, you know you want it to last as
long as possible. But like, does Rick have ten years left the coaching
in him? I don't think so, but again don't know, but I
will say this, I mean, if they hired Rick Pertino back, what
would that do to this state? I mean, I think Dougie Vans would
root for him because what are they going to do not cheer for him?
And I think they know he's a good coach. But it would just like
just the thought of that happening, which again I think it's highly unlikely.
But I'll tell you of those five who I fully believe it will be on
the other side, because I think the experience that Mitch Barnhardt had with Caliperry
for fifteen years is going to make him go in really one direction for this
hire. We'll talk about it next right here again Coffee and Company. I
feelbout Thorton's on Sports Talk seven ninety so. A lot of businesses were I
think strategic and how to really cash in on this totally lips. You know.
There was some like I think French Lick Resort up in Southern Indiana,
which I guess that's considered southern Indiana. But they had some type of like
special edition bourbon that they sold to people who bought like a ticket to like
have a viewing of the solar eclipse there up in French Lick, and it
you know, the bottle just basically says, you know, total solar eclipse
version of whatever brand bourbon it is, and like the amount of money people
paid for that is probably very high. And then just kind of the fun
marketing angles you could go with, like this this Gentleman's Club, which I
can tell you sincerely I've never been there, but Seventh Street, I'm sorry,
the Thoroughbred Is Lounge, which I think is on Seventh Street. Their
sign is what I posted up before the I posted on Twitter today and I
wasn't there, you know, not that I would be afraid to go there,
because you know, I'm sure it's a fine establishment, but somebody on
Facebook could share their sign because it's funny to me. It says, if
the sun can block out on a Monday afternoon, so can you. And
if you just look up the you know the if you just google Thoroughbred Lounge
signs, there's the there's a lot of really good ones over the years.
I'm sure other adult establishments have had this before, but it just says we
we you know, the sign says we fired the ugly one. They had
that one up there at one point. This says our corona doesn't have a
virus. I remember they were all in like nobody else at supporting Rick Patino
when the Katina pal stuff went on, which you know, I'm sure they
were really supporting Rick Putino, but you know they you know, I think
you guys get the connection and why that's funny to some people. So yeah,
shout out to shout out to everybody enjoying today and you know, making
money off of it. I hope it's successful. Kids got out of school
today, which I don't know, Like my daughter's in school and she you
know me not today, but she's in the school system. She's the second
grader. I don't remember if like, was this actually you would know,
John, your wife's teacher. Was this scheduled off because of the eclipse or
was it already planned? I think they always plan it for the Monday after
spring break. It was just a lucky coincidence. Okay, that makes a
little more sense. But anyways, happy you know. Total eclipse day,
Total solar eclipse day. All right, let's talk about Louisvillmen's Clinic. Fellas.
Look, I've been telling you for quite some time. And if you've
been listening knowing that I'm talking about you, and I reference the type of
men this could help, then you're being foolish for not doing something about it.
And it's okay, it happens. It's life. A rectalitis function.
Nobody would want that, but it's life. It happens. And I'm telling
you there's some folks here at the lot of Men's clinic that can help you
and can get that taken care of for you. A variety of different treatment
options for rectalitis functions. So go see them. I mean, you can
call them before you go see them. Louisvill Men's Clinic dot Com is the
website five two four four four four thousand is the number if you want to
give them a call and set up some type of consultation, you know,
get in front of doctor, would talk to him about areas where you think
they could help. Rather it be a rectalitis function, low testosteray, her
own weight loss therapy, hair restoration. It's an all male clinic meeting.
Everybody that works there is male, so it's you know, it's they're super
professional. A lot of I guess wannabes have popped up over time offering very
similar services, but they don't last because you know they're not They can't compete
with our friends over at the louis of men's clinics, So again, go
check them out a Louivelemen's Clinic dot com. Five oo two four four four
four thousand is the number. We'll talk a little more about the Louisville basketball
side of things. Not a whole lot to update you on from the weekend.
However, Pat Kelsey continuing to make contact with a lot of players in
the portal as they have ten scholarships to fill before the season starts, which
I've got a theory on how the roster will come together, not that I
have any idea as far as who's going to be on the roster, but
we'll save that for the second hour because I do think it's it's gonna be
almost impossible for anybody to put together. I mean, to add thirteen scholarship
players, you can do it, but I think, you know, there
may be some guys added that down the line you're not super thrilled about.
But you got to keep in mind you're not going to play thirteen players.
So we'll get to that a little later on, but real quick. When
it comes to who is going to be the next coach for Kentucky, I
don't. I don't. I mean, I'm just guessing like anybody else.
But as I mentioned earlier, it's not going to be a long search because
the job's not going to be turned down by many people. And I believe
the four to five names that have been discussed, it's going to be one
of those, and it could be any of them, I suppose. But
I think Jay Wright is not going to leave the TV world because I think
he really likes it and he's had opportunities to take jobs like Kentucky. Maybe
not Kentucky. Actually he did turn Kentucky down. I think the first time
around, but I just think he's content. He wouldn't want to get back
in now that it's changed so much. As far as what that job is,
I don't think Billy Donovan would do it because again I think he's been
in the NBA this long because he wants to be in the NBA. And
again, as I mentioned earlier, he left college complaining about recruiting and all
that stuff and AAU before it became a completely different world like it is now
with the last few years with Nil on the portal. So then you get
to Dan Hurley, Natos and scot Drew Hurley. Again, I it's hard
to imagine anybody walking away when you're on top of the world at a place
like Yukon, which, by the way, like if they win this title
tonight, not only will they be will this be their sixth title? I
think it is. It would be since nine, Yeah, I mean six,
it's their sixth title and it's their six and ninety nine, So like
they're not a blue blood because they don't have titles from the sixties, seventies,
eighties, But who's been more dominant in the last twenty five years than
Yukon. They'd also be undefeated in championship games if they win tonight, So
I mean they're gonna be two behind Kentucky and they just started in ninety nine.
Think about that. So just hard to imagine somebody walking away from that.
But again, I don't know enough about Hurley to know, like if
he values what makes Kentucky the best job, because as far as like what
he needs, he's gonna get paid a lot of money regardless if he leaves
or not. I mean, Yukon is going to pay him a lot of
money. Kentucky could pay him more, but like, if he's got eight
nine million a year from Yukon, I'd say probably be more inclined to stick
around there. And then with Nate Oates, I think you could get him.
I just don't know if they would, you know, if they would
go that route because of what happened last year with the whole Brandon Miller situation.
I mean, I know some people will say, what are you talking
about? Who cares? Well, if there's one person that might care,
it's Mitch Barnhart. So I think Mitch Barnhart working with a guy he did
not work well with at all, and they didn't like each other. Let's
be real, they weren't friends. That whole TV interview was nonsense. They
don't like each other at all. And it's a guy that you know was
difficult their relationship. I wouldn't even say it was toxic because it was just
non existent. And that's not normal or healthy for anybody in an athletic department.
If the college basketball, if you're the coach of your top program,
doesn't view his boss as his boss, kind of does whatever he wants.
So I think there's going to be a real I mean, obviously you got
to go hire a winner, you got to go hire a goa coach.
I think there's gonna be an emphasis for Mitch on hiring somebody that he knows
can win and as a successful coach, a good coach that he also knows
he will align with and he will work well with. And you know who
that is. That's God Drew. That's god Drew. He's a national champion,
has you know, done some great things at Baylor. Again, I
think a lot of what you look at with Baylor, you know, the
fact that he's viewed as a great coach one is because he does have a
freaking national championship. Not many people have that. But also Baylor is Baylor
now, which I'm not even really sure what that equates to, but like
it's him. He did all that, and I think he'd leave for Kentucky.
But you never really know as far as you know what what coaches truly
prioritize in a job. Again, things that we saw firsthand here with Louisville,
the things that you know, one of the things you would say that
makes Louisville such a great job is is you know the fact that it's such
a big deal. Right, there's a lot, a lot of pressure,
there's a lot of eyeballs. You are, you're more than a basketball coach.
Destin May didn't like that. It wasn't comfortable, didn't want that.
Well, a guy like Pat Kelsey, I mean, he thrives with that.
That's what he wants. I'm sure that's the only reason. But I
bet by the end of the week they have a new basketball coach and it's
one of those one of those names. Who do you who do you guess
it is? John? I'm with you. I think you laid it out
perfectly with Scott Drew. Yep. I think it's who it's going to be,
but we shall see. I know we got a run. Sorry for
being so late. Here two more hours left right here on Sports Talk seven ninety