It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day. Now here's Nick Coffee. It doesn't surprise me at all anymore.
The things that we discussed on this show that have nothing to do with sports
at all usually end up getting the most reaction, which doesn't mean that like
it's something that everybody wants to talk about, but it's relatable, right,
And we'll get into that in just a moment. I do want to let
you know it is Coffee and Company, that's us. It's actually our number
two, but it is five o'clock because we had a shorter show today than
usual because of some UK baseball. But that's okay, really odd week with
the schedule. But next week back to routine and uh not that I want
the weekend to go by fast, but I'm looking forward to it. I
need structure, I need some consistency, and I feel like the last couple
of weeks have kind of just been hectic and all over the place, all
right, So trust me, we are going to get to some hard hitting
sports analysis and conversation because that's what you tune into this show for, because
we're just I mean, that's what we do nothing but sports, sports,
sports, sports, sports. But I asked the question when we came back
from our last break, is it frowned upon to drink beer at a kid's
birthday party? A kid who's turning four years old? So my son's birthday
party is tomorrow, and it's going to be a pool party. It's at
my mother and stepfather's house they host each and every year. And somebody made
a good point on the text line say, Nick, I think it all
depends on the situation, right, if it's And one thing I got to
do better at is highlighting certain parts of these texts that you know are really
the overall comic because I can't read all I mean, I can't read,
but I can't read all of it if it's like, you know, eight
sentences. But yeah, somebody's basically say, Nick, you're good. If
it's a poll party, people wouldn't be surprised or bothered at all. If
somebody's having a cold beer by the poll that's kind of what people. And
you're right, But I guess if I was, like, I don't know,
if I snuck beer into some you know, chuck E cheese, which
I think they sell beer too, there actually, so maybe I wouldn't need
to sneak it in. But look, the reason I ask is because if
I mean, I have friends who like if I told them, and I'm
not kidding you, if I had buddies who and I do, but some
of my friends that are I'm really close with, if I told them,
like, hey, we're having Mason's party Saturday. Should be a lot of
fun, but just remember, you can't bring beer. They would send their
kids and their wife and they wouldn't come. I mean they might, but
like I'd never heard the end of it. You can't let me drink beer
to kid like It's so we're not a bunch of raging alcoholics, but it's
just you know, it's a social thing for parents too. But the reason
I bring this up is because there are going to be kids there that I
don't know much about, because there are kids from his baseball team or his
daycare, and I don't know their parents, but they're going to bring them,
and that's you know, I want to make a good impression. Right
he's only four years old, but right, like I don't want his friends
from daycare. I don't want their parents to think bad of him because you
know, Moose's dad was just pounding bush lights at his kid's birthday party.
Like, you know, you never know what people are gonna think, right,
I mean, the majority of my friends that have kids that are around
my kid's age, and like, we all know each other. But it's
you know what if first impression matters, probably wouldn't be good. But what
if you joked with the parents who didn't know and said, you don't put
a bush light in your kid's lunchbox every day? Yeah? I again,
somebody who doesn't know me at all probably wouldn't think that that's a serious comment.
But you never know, if they don't know me, maybe they don't
pick up on sarcasm, which I've I've gotten pretty good over the years of
you know, really saying things in a certain way that even though it sounds
like there's no way he's being serious, the way I say it makes people
think I am being serious. But yeah, we're not going to play beer
pong, you know, with with the four year olds, but if parents
want to get a quick game in after we open up presents and cut the
cake, I'm I mean, I'm down. As long as you know,
we keep our eye on the kids and keep them safe. But again,
most people have chimed in on the text line here the Llen and Federal Credit
Union text line to say that it's fairly common for a summer party with kids
to see people with, you know, a cooler full of some drinks,
as long as we're all being responsible, in which we are. Now,
once the party ends and you know that's over, maybe I, you know,
maybe maybe I really let loose. Maybe Kekestan Nick comes back. Yeah.
I haven't done Kekestan since that that tailgate before the Notre Dame game.
I probably will never do one again because I'd never been good at it before.
But the momentum was there before the game. The vibe check was going
well, we were about to finish it, and I, I mean,
I don't think I'll ever have a Kexstan that's as good as that one.
And it was Miller Lite too, which I hate, but I powered through
because the adrenaline was was taken over all right, So something we did discussed
the beginning of the show today, the Coleman Hawkins situation, which I guess
we can call it a situation. He is available in the portal. He
pulled his name out of the draft at the last minute. Louisville was involved
a few weeks ago, but then they landed a handful of players in the
front court, which maybe just assumed that there wouldn't be any any any future
there. And I still don't know for sure if it's going to be something
that really materializes, as Louisville is one of a few schools that's going to
get a visit, but it's it's certainly possible, you know. I I
know they have thirteen scholarships that have all been taken taken at this point.
But I remember a few weeks ago talking to somebody who said, if there
was a player that they felt could really help them, which Coleman Hawkins,
is that the transfer from Illinois, And you know, they knew they had
they knew they could land him with the nil money they have available and his
interest in joining the program, that they would make that they could make it
work. Now I don't know what that means. I don't know what they
do to make it work, but they have I think a plan in place
to where if in fact they could go ad somebody, they could make a
scholarship available. I don't think that's booting somebody off the team and you know,
making it to where you're telling them, we took your commitment, but
now we don't need you any more. You know, pack your bags,
hit the portal. But they have some type of plan in place that if
need be, they could free up a scholarship. So I would say by
Monday, we will probably have a better idea as far as which schools are
really pursuing him. Have I guess an offer that's in the range of what
he's looking for, and see where he wants to schedule visits. I'd say
thirty percent chance Louisville's in the mix there, But that's just me guessing.
It's just a guess because it wouldn't shock me at all if he's doing the
UFL flirtation online which he sends deleted because he wants to drive up the price
and let others know that. Louisville again, because Louisville, as much as
it is all exaggerated, and I don't mean just for Louisville, I mean
everybody. Louisville is one of maybe five six schools in college basketball that has
been tabbed by many as one of the bigger spenders in NIL. So again,
I think if you're And I don't know if Great Osibor ended up doing
that or not, but I remember throughout his entire recruitment, during that few
weeks where he was taking visits, I gave him the benefit of the data,
and I guess I still do. But like, this is a different
ballgame now, Folks like it could like it's not. I'm not like reaching
and throwing out something that's just insanely unrealistic to say that he might have all
along known he was going to go play for Danny Sprinkle at Washington, but
he needed to draw it out, Go visit Louisville, go visit Kentucky,
go visit Texas Tech, and then finish that visit at Washington to where they
know that all those schools want him. They know that innile money's been offered.
And that's the way in which Danny Sprinkle can let his people know the
collective, whoever it is, hey, we need this guy, and we
got to pay big, big, big dollars because schools like Kentucky, Louisville,
and even Texas Tech are involved and they can pay. Like it seems
silly to waste all that time, not only your time, but other schools
times to do all that if you really know where you're going to go.
But it's also there, you know there's something in it now money right the
end of the day, you're doing these things for the big payoff at the
end to get the big bag from a school. It's probably not time wasted
on your end. That was the strategy. That's how you were able to
get it done. So I don't know what Colemanhawkins is thinking as far as
which school he prefers. He did say he wouldn't want to play in the
Big East or the Big Ten. I would imagine that's probably just you know,
Colemanhawkins kind of being the character that he is. But make no mistake
about it. If he's interested in Louisville, as I believe, could make
it work. As far as getting him a scholarship available and they have nie
all money, that would be you know, enough to get him Hell yeah,
he'd be I mean to be honest with you, he'd probably end up
being your best player. As far as just portal rankings, depending on where
you look. I know some people are really really high on Terrence Edwards Junior,
which I am too fat. I mean he's he's a top twenty,
top fifteen guy in the portal depending on where you look. So I'm not
getting my hopes up just yet. I'm not really you know, I don't
think we need to spend a ton of time tracking it just yet. But
Monday, or maybe Tuesday of next week, I would imagine there'll be some
clarity as far as which schools appear to be really in the mix, and
I think Arkansas is certainly going to be one of them. And then from
there, I don't really know, like if let's think, let's see,
like who Marquette, Let's use Marquete as an example or maybe I don't know,
maybe I you maybe you know, not a good example who should be
good in the Big ten next year? Produce still projected to be pretty good.
But I was going to try to, like I'm what I was trying
to get at is that if those if there's a school from the biggies to
the Big ten that had a very attractive role for him, a lot of
minutes, yeah, and a lot of money, maybe Ohio State, he'd
go there right like he wouldn't, not mean like for those wondering around even
asking this, he said at the NBA draft combain he did not want to
play in the Big East or the Big Ten, but he said it was
because of football, which I don't understand, Like, you know, that's
just I think him being you know, the character that he is. But
again, really good player. If you could get him, that would be
that'd be huge, all right. So we also talked bracketology, and we
had a good point that was made by somebody in the text line as far
as how you could find yourself in the tournament next year if you're Louisville.
So Leonardi again, it's so stupid to talk about bracketology in May, but
here we are in Louisville. This has got to be their first appearance in
any of joe Lenardi's brackets. And by the way, they're not even really
They're in the bracketology, but not in the field. Leonardi has Louisville and
Pat Kelsey is the first team out. But I would be willing to bet
that Louisville hasn't been involved in any of Joey Brackett's updates in three years.
Like when Mack was in his last season. At the beginning of the year,
they might have been in but then again, maybe not because if you
remember that that season never really got started off very I mean that season never
really got rolling, right, I mean that was they were not terrible,
but I mean they's lost. Yeah, they lost to Furman in like the
third game when Mack was suspended. So it may have been the you know,
Lenardes because Leonard's bracket, his last bracket in the twenty twenty one tournament
was the year Louisville was essentially in and then bid Steelers and then they ended
up being the first team like they were the first team out in that year.
So it's been a long time, but anyways, he has Louisville as
the first team out. Kentucky has a seventh seed, Indiana as a four
seed. But Louisville, if they're on the bubble, if they're in this
position where they're like, you know, that close and you really need a
break to go your way or just the committee to kind of side with you,
I think, and again credit to this person on the text line who
brought this up. It really comes down to how good the acc is,
because when you're in that position, your conference affiliation matters, right, You're
gonna get the benefit of the doubt from the committee. If your league is
competitive, and you know, I mean, your numbers are going to be
influence. Your numbers are going to be dependent upon that too, right Like
if you know, if there's not a whole lot of quad one, quad
two opportunities in your league, that's going to keep you from being able to
really climb in those rankings, the net rankings, the Ken Palm, all
that kind of stuff, your strength to schedule. So I don't think the
ACC to be honest with the's gonna be a lot better than it was last
year. I could be wrong, but it needs to get I mean,
that's that's a big factor. And I know people say, well, the
Big twelve they just manipulated these rankings because they played nobody in the non conference
and then when they get into conference play, they just beat up on each
other and they all have good records at that time. When they first get
in the league play, they all have good numbers in the initial net and
the Ken Palm because they're playing teams ranked in the two fifty and up and
they're demolishing them, right, because you have to do that or you won't
or you won't climb in those in those numbers, and that's true. However,
the reason the ACC has slipped and no longer gets the benefit of the
doubt is because in the non conference they don't they don't win. You know,
you'll you'll have a handful of games. In fact, you have now
the ACC Big Ten Challenge or no, I'm sorry, it's the A C
C SEC Challenge, and you know other non conference games out there in these
mtes, the Christmas Turn the Christmas you know, I guess it's more Thanksgiving
tournaments or whatnot that you know, the Maui, the Battlefort Yeah, the
Battle Forortlantis and whatnot. And the ACC just hasn't done good enough in that
stretch of the season to where you're worthy of the benefit of the doubt.
And here's the thing. When you end up getting the benefit of the doubt
as an ACC member, in recent years, it's been your Duke Carolina.
I mean, those are the schools that will get the benefit of out because
of who they are. So if you're gonna play quality caliber opponents in the
non conference, you need to beat some of those teams. And also,
let's be honest, the ACC has had teams that have scheduled two point fifty
plus and lost to those teams. I mean, Louisville is as guilty as
anybody. Louisville losing Quad three and Quad four games the last two years killed
the ACC. I mean they weren't alone. There were other bad teams too,
but Louisville was clearly the worst of the worst. So, you know,
if Louisville is in fact right there on the bubble, and it's just
gonna come down to maybe stealing a game in the ACC tournament no bid stealers.
I think a big factor in them getting getting in rather than being left
out, will be did the ACC have a solid year? And you know
right now and already has the ACC with just six teams in. I'm sorry,
I don't think that would be a solid year. And the six teams
he has in from the ACC, Miami is an eight seed, Duke is
a one seed. Who else? I would imagine Carolina is in there somewhere.
Yeah, they're a three seed. Who else from the ACC? And
they don't They mentioned the number of teams, but they don't tell you which
ones it is. It's Virginia in there, I'm sure they are. They
usually get the benefit of the doubt from Joey brackets. Let's see, although
maybe they see Pittsburgh. Okay, so yeah, so that's kind of like
so they're in but kind of not in, right, Yeah, yeah,
so Pitts, Pittsburgh, Miami Carolina, Duke. Who else is there that
I'm that we're missing? Wake Forest is a non seed? So look,
this is I mean, and again, like I know, there's still people
that really always defend the ACC and act like because they've had teams go like
n C State going to the final four. I'm sorry, great does not
mean that the league was great, Like it doesn't at all, doesn't really
prove anything, to be honest with you, I know, winning in the
tournament is how you're evaluated, and I get it wouldn't really have it any
other way. But it's what's unique about college basketball, right sixty eight teams
get in and if you get in and get hot and make a deep run,
that's all you're gonna be remembered for, and that that's what makes it
cool. But it also doesn't change history, like the ACC having NC State
in the final four. You know, to me, State team was was
lost from Louisville away from losing its head coach. Yeah, I mean they
were terrible. I mean they played. I mean again, they were I
think they won like three of their last eleven games going into the postseason.
So not only is six teams getting in realistic, you got to keep in
mind what's also realistic is some of these teams are barely in wake as a
non seed pit playing playing its way in. So that's another reason to be
honest with you why I think Louisville can get in and why I think they
can ended up having a much better year than most would have expected because they
don't play in a great league. I wish they did. I used to
love it when Louisville was in the ACC in the Big East and week in
and week out, one of your two games was going to be against a
good team where if you won, there was real value there, there was
currency for you to collect and add to your resume. And now you have
in recent years you'll play one game a month. It seems like where there's
real value there. And that's not an exaggeration. Go look it up.
So we shall see. I also, real quick before we move on and
take our first break here in the five o'clock hour, Duke being a one
seed kind of surprised me in this Linardi bracket because you know, Duke is
Duke. They get the benefit of the doubt. They usually have talent,
They're never terrible, but they were kind of I mean, they've let's just
be real, they've been pretty black, pretty mid as the kids say in
the early John Shire era, right like, they did make the Elite eight,
and therefore that's that's a pretty good run for a in his second year
as a head coach. But he also had, you know, I mean,
with Duke, there's expectations, and you could make the claim that with
Kyle Pilapowski back, they still kind of underwhelmed. But either way, one
reason why Duke may be getting an extra bump more so than they typically get
is because Cooper Flag may in fact be like the best freshman we've had in
college basketball in a long time. And I know, freshman don't impact the
game the way they used to because there's a lot more old guys that are
sticking around and a lot of teams are old now because you can be with
the portal, you don't have to be young if you're a head coach,
and most coaches are going to prefer not to be young. But if he's
one of those guys, meaning an elite of the elite is Zion Williamson,
Trey Young, Anthony Davis, those kind of I mean, if you know
John Wall and I'm not comparing him to that, but if if he's got
that kind of talent, which it sounds like he does, and he physically
is ready to go, then he could, you know, he could be
a superstar. And I think college kind of needs those guys, because again,
Hunter Dickinson could play seven years in college basketball, which he probably already
has another I think about it, and he could be a first team All
American putting up great numbers for a great team. But he's not going to
sniff the NBA and that limits the overall, like national publicity that he's going
to get. But anyways, real quick, the last time we had one
of those freshmen that were just you know, next level, I mean,
Zion I feel like was probably it. And you know, I'm going to
go through this list here. So in twenty nineteen, the year after Zion
Anthony Edwards was the number one player in American he was as good as advertised,
but he played for a bad, bad team that Tom Cream coach did
Georgia and it really limited like he was. Georgia wasn't appointment viewing because they
were so bad. I mean they weren't even just like, I mean,
they were terrible. James Wiseman was number two. There was a lot of
hype for him, but he didn't deliver on the hype. I don't think
did he. I mean, in fact, he's actually going to go down
as a humongous bust because I think his NBA career is about to come to
an end. Cade Cunningham was in the twenty twenty class. He was really
good and I feel like there was a lot of national intention on him,
but like his team wasn't. In fact, his team actually had a postseason
bad but they wouldn't have made it anyway. And that was a really weird
class too, by the way. Like that class had Jalen Green who went
to the G League, Evan Mobley, who you don't really remember a whole
lot about him. I know he's in the NBA having success. BJ Boston
was the number six player in America. We all know that didn't really pan
out to be legit. In twenty twenty one, I think Paulo Benkerro.
I would say he was. He was probably like the closest thing we've had
since then, wouldn't you agree, Like he was really highly superstar. Yeah
he wasn't drawing headlines every single day, but yeah, he was really good.
They look. Part of it is when you enter college, are you
a marketed star yet? And that may sound silly like Chet Holmgren was and
he was a good player again zaga, but he I mean he was like
the fifth best player on his own team. Was that the same year with
Brandon Miller as well? Or to the follower? Yes, yeah, so
I you know Brandon Miller. Let's see, let me see here, I
think I think you know. I'm sorry. Brandon Miller was the year after
that. But here's a good example. Bari Smith at Auburn was really good,
you remember, Yeah, but nobody knew who he was because he wasn't
ranked that high, Like he didn't have that much like he wasn't expected to
be. Like the best case scenario for you to be the ultimate hype machine
as a freshman in college basketball is for you to have like top five billing.
Your recruitment plays out to where you're picking from the big schools. Everybody's
watching to see which one you pick. And then you get there at one
of these big schools, you're already hyped and then you deliver like that is
that is notoriety pub you know, marketing that you can't buy anywhere else,
and you can't get it anywhere else, Like go to the G League,
nobody's gonna watch play. Go Overseas, nobody's gonna watch play. So like,
yeah, and then twenty twenty two was the year where Brandon Miller was.
I mean he was, I mean he was. Some people think he
might have been National player the year had it not been for Yeah. Yeah,
and you know he was. He was the top. He was like
twentieth in the country. So it's been a long time since there's been a
freshman I'm not saying we have to have that, but I do think it's
good to have it every now and then because it does bring, you know,
a different type of fan to the college basketball game, pro fans who
want to see the next NBA star in college and maybe that is who Cooper
Flag is. All Right, terrible clock management on my part. Apologies.
We'll have a couple more segments here before we get out of here for the
weekend. It's Friday. Let's get it started. I was talking to John
about this during the break, and it's there's an obvious reason for it,
but we have talked so much basketball in the last couple of months, more
like more so than we usually do this time of year. But I do
think moving forward, basketball is going to be talked about more so in the
spring and early summer months because we have free agency season and there's a lot
of moving parts and it's actually pretty fun to cover. It's hard to keep
up with the times, and it's been really hectic with Louisville and even Kentucky
because both programs are starting completely over thirteen new scholarship players. But Louisville football,
like I talked a little, actually, we talked more football yesterday than
we have in a while, just talking about some of the some of the
pieces back on defense and whatnot. And we'll get there. But I don't,
you know, I don't want to act like we're ignoring or Louisville football
because you know, Jeff bron being home coming off ten wins, going to
the a SEC Championship game in his first year, like it's perfect situation for
Louisville, and I see no reason why they can't do the exact same thing
they did last year. I mean, we'll see against schedules tougher, but
it's just been all basketball. But not because we don't love football, not
because we don't love brom Again, I think most fans agree that this year
could be just as good as last year. But with basketball being in the
dump for the three years that it was, and now you have reason to
be excited, you have reason to be you know, optimistic. The team
could actually be pretty damn good next year. We don't know that for sure,
but you have reason to believe, and I think you're justified in thinking,
hey, we should be a tournament tournament team next year. I think
because of the drastic difference in vibe in the last couple of years compared to
now. I think that's why there's just such a like People are his hell
about Louisville basketball for obvious reason. But again, I don't want people to
think I'm, you know, like not as madly in love as Jeff Brahm
as I was years ago. I still love the man and have him happy
that you know that he's here as I now. Transition to a basketball thing.
So Pat Kelsey did one of his social media videos yesterday. Look,
these things are so like I always knew that engaging your fan base mattered.
I always knew that doing things to get people excited can only help you.
It can generate interest and engagement with your program, People buy tickets, there's
more people into it, like it's the best of both worlds. But always
thought deep down that that stuff doesn't really matter and it's not needed if you're
winning at a high level. And Patino never did anything like that. He
didn't even have social media. Mac would do the occasional stuff on social media,
but you know, he wasn't a showman by any means. And Pat
Kelsey is, and this stuff matters more now given the recent situation for Louisville
than it ever has. And last night he did a minute video just talking
about the talking to the fans and also talking about each of the players.
I mean, he didn't do a full breakdown of the roster, but he
named all the guys. And I'm not making fun of anybody, because I
was just as excited and fired up to see it as anybody. But man,
like, we needed a guy like this to come in and inject energy,
enthusiasm, passion, and you know, say things like you know he's
ready to win now, like there's no you know, this program isn't broken,
that kind of stuff, and we'll see, you know again. Only
time will tell as far as what the results are, and the results are
really all that ultimately matters. But Kinny Payin had no results other than horrible
poor results. And he also didn't do anything like this, and that's why
it ended up being, in my opinion, the worst hire in college basketball
history. Yo, cardination, PK here, big week. I'm sure you've
been following on social media all our guys being announced. They're all starting to
arrive for summer workouts. So excited. See if I can do this.
Cadre Javon, Chucky James Terrence aka Fat Frankie, Reino, Ali Kobe,
Noah, Cason, Kanai and Corn I call him Scoring Korn, little nickname
drop there. Why not? Ton of buzz, ton of energy around the
city. We've had a great spring putting this roster together. Fired up about
getting in the gym. Hey, there's big stuff going on this weekend up
the street at football, coach Brahm has a huge recruiting weekend. Those guys
are getting it done. Huge shout out to all the head coaches at the
University of Louisville Athletics just bending over backwards to help my staff and I in
this transition. This truly is a family, and I'm lucky, lucky,
lucky to be a part of it. Hey, we'll see you all soon.
Go cards. L's up. So Koran scoring. I don't know if
that's score and core and I don't know if that's if that's gonna hit or
not, but it might just be cheesy enough to where like it just becomes
a thing, you know what I mean. Like also like Reino for Raine
Smith. Yeah, because he's he's a marksman, he's a shooter. But
yeah, that I would imagine that's why they call him Reino Draino, that
kind of thing. But fans, and I don't just mean Louisville fans,
college fans, who college sports fans, you know, the diehards. They
get aroused at unreal levels when their coaches hype up the other coaches in their
in their program, you know what I mean, Like Pat Kelsey hyping up
brom for the visits he's having this weekend, Pat Kelsey going out and you
know, participating in a spring practice, putting on pads. You know,
Jeff brom doing national interviews this spring and talking about Pat Kelsey and talking about
how great he is. Like fans love that stuff. I mean, I'm
I'm I'm with you. I'm one of the fans too. But it's just
I can't explain why it is, but like people love that. Like when
Chris Mack and Sadderfield were here and they had their little bromance and Mac would
do a video with the social media group to help promote Sadurfield and him did
a video or ma I don't even know that. I don't remember the story
of the video, but Matt, I don't know. Was Mack had a
guitar and it was basically a way to get people to buy tickets to the
Music City Bowl when Louis was playing in Nashville. But the toilet papering the
house houses, that was like it was just it was so different because we
had relatable coaches that kind of seemed you know, like you know, relatable,
more down to earth than the previous two leaders we had in those sports.
Rick Patino, who is the most unrelatable human I've ever been around in
my life maybe, and Bobby Petrino, who I'm convinced is not human.
I think he's a robot. And then you have guys who you know kind
of one of the boys, and Mac ended up tpeeing Sadderfield's house because they
lived just down the street from me each other, and it was to congratulate
him for winning ACC Coach of the Year. I think Christy videoed it and
they went up on social media, and like, I'll always remember that reaction
from fans because it did kind of blow me away as how much people thought
that was the coolest thing ever. But it was more than anything. It
was just a drastic difference than what we were used to. But it also
reminds me that stuff matters now when you're not getting when there's no opportunity to
get results right, it's good to do that kind of stuff, win or
lose. You should do these kind of things, I think, just because
I think it's in your best interest if you're not winning enough, and it's
borderline, if fans like you, they'll be more willing to give you the
benefit of the doubt and let you write it out now fans don't decide who
the coaches. But you know what I mean, like it is in your
best interest to engage your fan base. And you know, don't be faked,
don't be phony. People will leave that. But like be relatable,
you know, make it it seem as if you do enjoy having the position
that you have, and it could go a long way. And I think
Kelsey's clearly going to do that, whereas Kenny Payne didn't. But I always
use this example, like, you know, Sadderfield was, you know,
all you know, all shucks, loving them up, you know, and
we loved it because it was different than what we had with Bobby. He
was all about loving them up culture and you know he was corny, but
he was our cornball when he went when he went eight and five in his
first year. But like you know, as soon as they start losing,
all you better quit loving him up. You better, you better toughen those
guys up. They're gonna get their ass kicked if they don't start acting like
men like things you loved about him initially. When they don't win, it
gets weaponized against them. The best examples Mac Macca is a pretty normal dude.
In fact, Mac in my opinion, is a really good basketball coach.
He was too normal for this job because like, you know, at
some point, like he didn't really enjoy that. You know, I don't
think he was ever like bothered by the amount of people who knew who he
was. But you know, he wasn't a showman. He didn't want to
be out in front of the fans doing some of the stuff that Pat Kelsey's
doing, just because that's not his personality. So they you know, he'd
lose a game and you might see him the next day watching the Bengals at
roosters, or you know, in the summer, he might get off a
recruiting trip. They might miss on a player, but he'll probably be at
the lake with his family, crushing beers, having a good time. So
like those are things like man like he eats at roosters like me, we
get the same kind of wings. I saw him at the lake. He
goes to the same lake I go to. Man, I love this guy,
he's one of us. But then start losing results aren't there. He
better get his ass out of roosters and get back to the gym and start
working with this team, because they suck. You better get off the lake
and hit the recruiting trail and get us some five stars. We're crazy.
We're crazy people as fans like, and it really is a it's a psychological
thing that I just, you know, I can't really compare it to anything
else, but I wouldn't have it any other way. The one and the
only Tony Venetti one time said something that has never really it's never really left
my brain when I think about college athletics, and it hasn't changed my mindset
as far as how I you know, am as a fan. But like,
and I'm not saying it, he said it like it like college like
dialhard college fans are suckers, especially within the world of nil Like like who
else would pay a donation just to be able to buy season tickets to something?
People who are obsessed with their alma mater, their school because they love
it and if they have, you know, they'll make it work financially because
they love it that much. Fans donating money while they also pay a lot
of money for tickets and all that kind of stuff to get to pay the
players is if you really think about it, insanely stupid. It's just it's
it's crazy However, it's the way that it is, and if you don't
do it, you probably won't get good enough players, and that's not what
anybody wants. You want to succeed. Now, maybe that you know,
maybe that changes a little bit whenever they become employees, if that's what ends
up happening. But in al's not going away. It'll just be looked at
as the additional money that they get that kind of separates them from just the
other guys who are getting paid it as an employee, but not as you
know, like they are not getting as big of anil deal. But anyways,
with Pat Kelsey, he's doing all the right things, saying all the
right things, which is really all you can do right now because you know,
he can't coach a game until we get to we get to the season,
which is still many many months away. But I am curious to see
how involved in how active he is during the TBT because Louisville again is hosting
at Freedom Hall, and you know, that'll be a good opportunity for him
to be around fans and stuff, because there'll be a games, I'm sure,
and I would imagine they'll interview him during one of the games. Just
like they did last year with Josh Hurd. They would have interviewed Kenny Payne
probably, but you know, he only went to one game, and this
is silly. We don't need to talk about Kenny. It's Friday. I'm
feeling good. But Jeff Brown went to more of the TBT games for Louisville
last year than Kenny Payne did. Like think about that. All right,
quick break, we'll come back on the other side with very little time left,
but we do have the tip time and the date for the Louisville Kentucky
basketball game next season, So we'll get to that as we finish it up
here and get chat here for the weekend right here in Sports Talk seven ninety.
So we will see Louisville and Kentucky play each other next season. By
the way, first obvious game between the two new coaches, a new era
here within the rivalry Pat Kelsey and Mark Pope. It's going to be on
Saturday, December the fourteenth, and of course at rupp Arena, a little
earlier, I feel like than what it's typically been, and that's okay by
me. I liked it. It's a Saturday. I don't really care when
the game is because I'm gonna watch it regardless. But what this does is
this is the Saturday after the college football conference championship week, so no major
bowl games have happened just yet, and you're not going to be going up
against a whole lot. It's actually going to be a pretty light weekend when
it comes to football, and that is usually like the first and really only
day in December where college basketball's got a time. You know, He's got
the spotlight on a Saturday because of that, and that's when this game will
be played. So again, I don't know when it's gonna start as far
as tiptom, I'm mistake. I thought they put out imagine it probably be
the middle of the afternoon. But yeah, can't wait. There's gonna be
a lot of three point shots taken, given the fact that Charleston and BYU
last year were both in the top three when with three point attempts per game.
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Edlin dot com. Any big weekend plans company? Man, you know I
don't. It's funny. I feel like whenever I get asked this question,
it's easy to just not think about what I have going on this week because
I don't really care and think of anything. Man, Sometimes weekends are are
are great when you don't really have a whole lot going on. Not you
know, you don't want to be bored all weekend, Although sometimes it is
nice to have a chill weekend and not do a whole lot. However,
I will say this, my favorite weekends at this point in my life are
where I don't really have a whole lot playing, but I end up,
you know, kind of spontaneously getting into something and having a good time.
Yeah, that's that's a lot of fun. Or do have my son's birthday
party tomorrow, which will be which will be fun, but other than that,
it'll be four. Moose is getting older, which makes me sad,
but uh yeah, four years old. All right, John, You have
yourself a good weekend, my friend. To talk to you guys on Monday.
Take care,