It's time for coffee and Company. Fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety
Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think when we are get
off our show. Idiots. The kids are crying and turning off. The
countries are screwing it up. Gold Play Inner Murals, Brother, gold Play
Inn 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? I'm here Today. It wasn't
an issue with the headphone. Sometimes that can be an issue where I realized,
oh oh, it's three o'clock and my my earbuds are still in my
backpack. That wasn't the issue today. The issue was, for some reason,
the main microphone here that's in front of this giant board. We have
let's see one. Two. We have five microphones in this studio looks like
connect thank you do. So we've got a lot to choose from, and
they're all kind of set up the same other than this one. It's it's
the one that like kind of hangs from above and it was completely on the
other side, like I don't know what happened. I don't know how that
happened, but I'm looking around. It's somebody remove the microphone and sure enough
it's here. But it was just slid all the way to the other side.
So apologies for the delay, but better late than never. We're here.
It's Coffee and Company fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety. My
name is Nick Coffee, the company man mister John Alden alongside today as we
take you up until six o'clock. And I've got roughly four more shows counting
today and then I'm out here for vacation. And I don't know what it
is, but I've got the itch right. I've had a lot of time
off this summer. I'm very fortunate to have tomm off. I hope that
the TVT squad the vill keeps winning and I can enjoy watching them play whenever
I'm not. You know, I'm not here next week. It'll be a
bummer I'll have I'll be missing it if they can keep it rolling. But
man, I don't know. I saw Vinetti post something on Facebook today him
and his wife on the beach, and you know, kind of made me
sad because I realize how old Vinetti is. I mean he looks great,
by the way. It's not a shot about his appearance. I mean he
looks phenomenal. I mean he's Tony Vannetti. But you know he's his kids
are old now, right. He's got one kid that's probably going to be
finishing college here soon, John who's you know, is killing it up at
Purdue. And then his daughter, Maggie, she's now in college. Like
so, Vvenette's getting older and he's talking about buying condos down in Florida and
rinting him out as like a hustle, you know, and mentioning retirement soon.
So that made me kind of sad, but I was also jealous because
you know, I'll be on the beach next week and I'm looking forward to
that. There's something about when you get close to to, you know,
a vacation. You know, obviously I'm gonna I'm gonna give it my all
the rest of the week here, but it's almost like, you know,
kind of care free. I don't know why that's the case, but you
know, typically this time of the year, man, it's it's a it's
a pain in the ass to try to, you know, find things that
are worth talking about that are on the sports side of thing, the sports
side of the world. I mean, obviously, well we'll mix it up.
We could do ten hours straight talking about nonsense. I don't know if
that'd be good for anybody, or if anybody would want to listen to it.
But when it comes to like, you know, finding things of interest
as we get later into the summer, anxiously waiting for football to get here,
you know, it's a little difficult. But hey, I'm care free
today because we've got a lot of things to get to. We're gonna have
some fun, and I am looking forward to these next three hours. I
am a little worried, though, I don't know. I assume this this
issue with the media strike company. They clearly cast some issues with airlines.
Have you seen John, like what's going on with Delta Airlines? No,
So I think this is I think this is spot on. This would be
getting way more coverage, slash attention. You know, if we didn't have
some other major things going on in this country that are clearly dominating the headlines.
You know, that's our current president deciding, you know, months before
the election, that he's not going to be actually running for reelection not that
long ago, somebody tried to assassinate the former president who's now attending to become
the president again. So like that, that obviously is is is dominating the
headlines, and you know, any any real big story is probably not going
to get the same level of attention, and that it would had we not
if we didn't have what was going on with the you know, the presidential
race and that kind of stuff. But and we're not flying Delta, but
man, just some of the pictures I've seen from airports and just it's it's
wild, you know that Apparently it's it's only getting worse, Like I don't
know, it's I guess other airlines have been able to recover from whatever that
technical outage last week? Did it was it was last week? Wasn't it?
Yes, it's a glass Friday or something. But this is, this
is nearly six thousand Delta flights have been have been canceled, and the costs
are at one hundred and sixty three million in climbing. Uh, there's rows
and rows of luggage. Atlanta's Hartsfield Jackson Airport is an absolute mess. And
that's what that's what I'm seeing as far as you know pictures and videos.
I mean it looks like a warzone. I mean it's it's awful. In
fact, it says mothers with small children on the floor in the terminal.
The line for customer service is a half a mile long. There's no rental
cars, few hotel options. People have been stuck there for days. They
did have to arrest someone at the airport who decided, you know, instead
of getting naked like that one guy in Nashville a few years ago that we
reference every now and then, this person just decided to take a dump in
the airport like in like, which is just a vile, disgusting act.
You throw that person in prison for life. Uh, you know, if
it's up to me. But yeah, just flying always makes it, you
know, convenient because you get there quicker, and you know, I don't
like driving eight to ten hours anywhere. But again, you're it's really out
of your control if you think about it, like, no matter what you
do, as far as you know, if you've got insurance, if you've
got a meaning like you know, if you're like a premium member with certain
airlines to where they'll they'll they have an agreement I guess to I guess look
out for you if something bad happens, more than just their average regular,
you know, poor customers. But at the end of the day, like
you have no clue if you're actually gonna get where you need to go,
and you have no you have no control over it. So that that that's
given me a little bit of anxiety when it comes to this trip we're about
to go on. But you know what, out of my control. We'll
see what happens, all right, So let's talk about what happened last night.
Another win for the Villa and the TBT. Another phenomenal atmosphere at Freedom
Hal. Clearly not as big of a crowd as what they had on Saturday,
but it felt louder because the game was you know, it was a
thrilling finish. It was you know, and and the fans. I mean,
this is not an exaggeration. It may sound corny, but it's the
truth. The players even said it after the fact, that's probably not a
game they win if they were not playing in front of a Louisville Cardinal basketball
fan base that is, you know, desperate for something to cheer about.
And obviously these guys have given us something with the tbt. I mean that
was that was a game where I felt like it's gonna come to an end
and it would have been a bummer. I mean it's not as if I
was, you know, thinking about the long walk back to my car as
I'm crying, but you know, it would have been a bummer. There's
no way around it. And they they held they found a way to win,
and I wasn't gonna say they clawed it out. They held on.
But like, I don't even think you can use those kind of words when
you talk about a basketball game that doesn't end when the clock strike zero.
The elam ending has made it to where you can't just hold on. You
can't just you know, survive in advance. I mean, I guess you
can advance, but with the elam ending, you gotta go win. You
got to go make shots to win the game. You can't just you know,
turtle up and know that the clock's on your side because you're melting at
the worst opportunity. But there's not enough time left, right, they don't
have enough time to get back in it because they were down twelve with two
minutes left. I mean, it is completely changed how you look at the
end of a game, and you know, there are instances where if a
team's got a twenty five point lead and they get to the four minute stoppage,
I mean that. I mean, that's probably not going to be a
very exciting finish. In fact, it'll probably be a pretty quick finish.
But last night, I mean, John, you were watching, it sort
of looked like louis was gonna lose, didn't it. Yeah, it was
crazy. I tuned in right as the elam ending was getting underway, and
it was one of those things. I think you already kind of set it
up perfectly, the fan atmosphere that you got it in Freedom Hall, so
you could feel that on television. Oh my gosh. Absolutely, And it
was a crazy thing to see because the other games I've been watching are taking
place in Hinkle Field House. The atmosphere is not terrible there, but in
comparison to what's going on here at Louisville, it is a totally different level
of energy going on with these games. And that's, you know, hats
off to the Louiell fans for that. Yeah, I mean, I look,
I I felt mean, I have not been to a game, and
honestly, I haven't been to a game and set in the stands ever with
my kids and watched it like my son and I know it's not really like
a U of L game, but my but it kind of is. And
my kids certainly doesn't know that. And you know, he's he's on the
edge of his seat, like he now is old enough to understand. So
like when I think about my first time watching, you know, even though
it's not really U of L basketball, but the first time watching as he
calls them the go cards play when we're in attendance and it's a close game,
and like he's he's got his arms crossed, which I guess is going
to be like his nervous sign when he's when he's antsy. You know,
some people bite their nails, some people pace. My four year old just
crosses his arms, and you know, it looks nervous, but it's it's
amazing and I don't want to overdo it. But I think everybody who's gone
to these events rather be last year, this year, maybe both. I
mean, it's given this fan base a reminder of what it's like to just
be, you know, on the edge of your seat, cheering like crazy
and knowing that it doesn't guarantee that you're gonna, you know, you're gonna
be able to to give them enough life to climb out of a hole and
win a game. But man, last night was a reminder of that stuff
matters. And I could tell you this, man, these players, what
they're saying on social media, you know, it's it's not I mean,
I'm sure some of it is just because they do want to keep fans aware
that they appreciate them, and they want to have another good crowd when they
play tomorrow night. But I think they've really been reminded of what it's like
to play in front of a juiced crowd and you know, you know,
have them really lift you up whenever you need momentum in a major way.
And that's what happened last night. I mean, it was far from a
good performance, really, I mean, I think they've been able to and
again, maybe that's just what this team is going to do. Like,
I don't know what the ceiling is for this group. You know, you've
got guys like Russ and Peyton, who I know, Peyton just clearly is
not healthy enough to give you a whole lot. He only played ten minutes
last night. You know, Russ played a lot, but didn't play towards
the end. I'm not sure if that was just the decision from Rhees Gains
or if that was Russ. You know, maybe he wasn't. Maybe he's
dealing with some kind of an issue as far as injury or something. I
don't know, maybe he's hampered in some way. I mean, I thought
it make total sense to keep Chris Jones out there because he's been a great
asset, and obviously David Johnson. I mean, he's got a lot of
tools. He's a very skilled offensive player, and he didn't shoot it well
from three, but you know, he's he's the best player on this team
right now. And it's because one he's skilled, he's talented, but also
he's young, and these other guys aren't, you know, comparatively speaking in
regards to like, you know, of the other guys, you're like Alonso
Verge, that's a guy who you know, he's twenty twenty two, twenty
three years old, just like David. So it's you know, I don't
know what again, no clue what the ceiling is for this group, but
I don't think they played that well last night. You know, they only
shot it twenty five percent from three forty percent. Overall sloppy at times,
shot selection not great. And here I am, you know, just completely
ripping them. But it's just the truth. Like I don't think it was
a great game, but like because of what this event is, I'm not
sure people really care about how it looks. You just want to win,
keep this thing going because the nostalgia is awesome, and I mean, it
was just a great night. And I think at times, you know,
when especially when it comes to the rival, you know, you set yourself
up a little bit to you know, be made fun of. Maybe you
kind of walk into a joke to where you're you know, your your your
program's gonna get clown But but I don't care. I mean, last night
was one of the coolest atmospheres for a Louisville basketball related event in a long,
long, long time, talking four or five years. I mean not
because the crowd was full. I mean again, I'm not even sure what
the attendance was, but those that were there were were losing their mind and
you know, loud as can be. And I'm glad to hear you say
that. It came across on the television because I assumed it did you never
really know. And you had Jeff Brown there getting into it. You had
Donovan Mitchell show up and sit next to Pat Kelsey. There was a ton
of former players there as well that were, you know, that were getting
into it. You had the Louisville roster, the current team. They were
on the far end, you know, kind of towards where the bleacher seats
are, and I can't think of I mean, these guys were cheering as
if they were just diehard fans that grew up in Louisville. I mean,
you had Noah Waterman, you know, cheering as if he's watching his favorite
team play and he's a fifteen year old kid like it and he doesn't know
these guys. I mean, wouldn't be a shocker if a lot of these
guys on the team before they got here and got acclimated, they didn't know
who most of these guys were. But you've got Kannie Russ, the only
true freshman on this team, stepping up and leading like four different cards chants
to the entire crowd. This kid's seventeen, eighteen years old, and he
wasn't even being recruited by Louisville until Pat Kelsey randomly decided to pick up the
phone and say, hey, there's a kid that decommitted from Michigan out there,
top thirty caliber player, Let's give him a call. Like it's just
the energy and the overall vibes around Louisville hoops right now. It's amazing.
And again a lot of it is because we've missed it so much. The
bar is low as far as for us to get something, you know,
for us to have something to be excited about. But man, I'm hoping
they can win on Guess tomorrow night, Wednesday night and keep this thing going.
I mean, the team they're going to play, you can't overlook him
now because they've made it this far. But they're the eight seed team DRC,
which you know, I never made the connection as to why they were
called, and it's because they are led by former NFL defensive back to Dominique
Rogers Commarti. I mean, he was a former All Pro. Don't know
much about his basketball background or if he even has one, but you know,
they've made it this far. They knocked off the one seed team Diesel
on Saturday, and then last night they got pasted. I can't think of
the name of the team they played. But you know, either way,
they they were the lower seeded team, meaning they were not expected to win,
and they found the way to do it. Now, when I watched
this team play, because I did watch a little bit of it last night,
I mean, to me, they don't look I mean, to me,
they look like a team that you would seed at the at the eight
line. They got some guys who, you know, I wouldn't call him
out of shape, but they're just you know, they're bigger, if you
know what I'm saying, hefty, you know, Dominique Rodgers, Comarty.
I mean, he's he's a guy who you know clearly loves basketball. He's
doing this, you know, I mean just I guess just for fun,
and I guess in the hopes of making some money along the way. You
know, they they've got a full staff of three assistant coaches a GM.
So you know, I don't want to take I'm not gonna take them lightly.
I think Louisville, if they don't play well, they can they can.
You know, they can loose to anybody, right, But I kind
of feel like this is setting up to where you reflect on those first two
games, realize you're kind of fortunate to be able to be in this position.
However, you know, regroup and you know, play your best performance
tomorrow and you probably could could potentially cruise and then you wait and well,
I guess at that point you'll know what happens in uh in Lexington because Kentucky
plays tonight their team La Familia in Lexington to clench their appearance. And I
guess what's the elite eight? So if Kentucky wins tonight and Louisville wins tomorrow,
they will play each other. I think the dates to be determined and
it'll be freedom all. One thing I'm not super cool with is uh because
Kentucky plays tonight in Louisville doesn't play until tomorrow. With the with the victory
tonight for lat familiar John, Kentucky can go ahead and start buying tickets,
so like they're gonna go Yeah, it's kind of you know, like they're
gonna have a big head start on buying tickets. Now what I don't know,
and I could be wrong here, but like if Kentucky wins in Louisville
doesn't, why wouldn't they host it and rup we'll gonna be. So if
that's the case, then would they So Louisville was able to be the next
round host because they sold more tickets, so they have to be in the
event too, I would assume, So, like I don't know. I
mean cause again, like you've got a lot of personnel from u of L's
Athletic department that is helping out, and you've got the Kentucky Exposition you know
the fair people that are that are there as well. Of course those are
the people who you know work not for Free Them Hall, but you know,
work on work for the exposition center. Who has you know, all
these events at these different venues and whatnot. So I just don't think it
would make a lot of sense to have the Lexington team if they win,
not playing Lexington if Louisville loses. But again, what do I know?
So with that said, it could be a situation where you don't really have
to worry about it because I would assume if you're a Kentucky fan wanting to
go to this next round if they win tonight, your decision will be based
upon where it is right because if you're in Louisville, makes way more sense
for you to buy a ticket to go to Freedom Hall. You know,
I'm sure there are people that are from Lexington and Louisville that would travel to
go because you know, it would be kind of cool because there's the rivalry
component here. But Peyton Steviah did confirm that, like that that's how it
works. Is tonight when tickets go on sale, they'll be able to buy
them. But then again, how you buying tickets when you don't know where
it is. If that's the case, I can't buy a ticket for rub
they don't have the same seating start, you know what I mean? Yeah,
I mean this is just a shot in the dark. But I feel
like if they're able to go ahead and buy tickets for Freedom Hall, I
bet the game's just automatically going to be played in Freedom Hall, no matter
if Louisville advances or not. Maybe I'm totally wrong on that. I mean,
a quick text message to somebody can probably answer that question for me.
But yeah, like, I don't even think you would put tickets on sale
if and here here's the thing, the Exposition Center, you know, Freedom
Hall, they would want to host it regardless, I think because it's a
chance for them to open their doors and potentially make some money. Yes,
you know what I mean, So like I I and there's plenty of Kentucky
fans. Yeah, absolutely, so I guess it is. It's probably,
I mean, that's that probably is the situation where it's going to be at
Freedom Hall regardless of Louisville wins, and they're going to have they'll have.
In fact, they'll there'll probably be a lot of fans that didn't go to
RUPT that are in the Louisville area or closer to Louisville that would go to
this because it's more convenient for them. So you know, that is a
little bit of a a of a bummer to know that they're going to have
a little bit of a head star potentially. But either way, you know,
there's not a bad seat in Freedom Hall. And I just don't see
a scenario that if you get Louisville and Kentucky in that next round that it
wouldn't be the record. Seventy two hundred is the record for the most people
attended, most people in attendance for a TBT game, and Louisville's been close
to it now. I mean, I think now Louisville is they've got two
of the top five all time as far as most attended TBT games that didn't
count last night, it was one from last year and then the one that
they the one on Saturday. So you know, fingers crossed that Louisville can
get past Team DRC tomorrow. All right, we're loaded the rest of the
way here. We'll continue to you know, and I enjoy a lot,
you know, I will admit I did neglect some of the text line yesterday
that had put people you know, sharing their thoughts on the experience of the
TBT, so we could continue to you know, discuss that and you know,
hopefully they can keep this thing rolling. Right. So the ACC kickoff
Day two underway, and I feel like it's been relatively quiet today because obviously
you're not hearing from the commissioner. It's just the teams and the handful of
players that are there doing their media rounds. And I think this is really
when it comes. This is when it gets to like the you know,
the real boring side of it, especially if it's if it's a you know,
if your team's not there right like well you're from Jeff brom Tomorrow,
I think three Louisville players are going to be there Quincy Riley, Ashton Jalotti,
and Tyler Shuck. So you know, that'll give us something to chew
on once they actually arrived for their day in Charlotte. But that's that's not
until tomorrow now, is the Big Ten media day is going on as well?
Yes, thought so, because I did see that Tony Pettiti. You
know, he's not he's not afraid to say that they'll expand again at some
point. I mean I think he kind of said that right that they're pretty,
they're they're they're they're okay, and they're comfortable. I think that was
the word. He's comfortable with the current roster that they have in the Big
Ten. But you know he did go on to say that it could change
down the road and that it probably will. So that's not like a crazy
statement for the Big Ten commissioner to make. That's going to get everybody reacting
to it. But if, in fact, I mean, in that scenario,
he's got to be when he says problem will, he's he's saying that
the acc probably will get blown up, like because what else you gonna do?
Who else is you gonna go get? You know, there's no means
yeah, exactly, So we can get into that also when it comes to
Lebron James. Mostly the conversations about Bron lately have been about nepotism, his
son and all that, and that's all fair. However, he's going to
be the first ever United States flag bearer from the men's basketball side of thing
at the Olympics, and if you really it's one of those it's one of
those moments where you know, you look at Lebron's age and you look at
what he's still able to do. I mean, he's been the best player
for Team USA in these whatever you call him, the pre you know,
pre Olympic games they've had, and he's still playing at an insanely high level.
And I just hope that one day people will shut the hell up about
the Jordan and Lebron stuff and just let both of them be great. Because
you don't like Bronze antics and drama and is flopping and all that, that's
fine. And if you like Jordan better and you respect Jordan as a competitor
and you think he's the best player of all time, that's great. But
Lebron James is as far as just talent. Why I mean, he's unbelievable,
and when he's retired, the game will go on. There's already kind
of a new wave of stars in the league that I'm excited about. But
if you had a chance, regardless of what you think of Lebron James as
far as again all those things I mentioned, if you've been able to watch
his career from start to finish, you can say that you, in my
opinion, watched something that will never be recreated by anybody, meaning that frame,
that skill set, that athleticism, and the longevity. The way he
is still able to play this game like he's twenty five years old is insane.
Also on the NFL side, Joe Burrow's new hair, we'll talk about
it, and the NFL going from seventeen to eighteen games in the regular season.
I mean, at this point, I feel like every few years they're
just gonna add a game. These guys are gonna be playing thirty games a
year before too long, and hey, that's probably not safe. I'm sure
the Players Association would never let that happen, but I wouldn't be complaining.
Make the NFL a year round thing. We have to work year round.
We put our bodies through it here in the radio world. Why can't they
do it. It's the same thing, all right, It's coffee and company.
Feel about Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety to isolate David Johnson,
here go one on one. I like it, don't settle get to
the rim, Johnson. I mean, I took your word for it,
John, but I did go back and listen to some of the clips there
of John Fanta and David Patchett just to confirm, and you're right it was.
It was loud, it was rowdy, and U Freedom Hall, I
mean clearly, it's it's the arena where Louisville basketball became a premier program and
even hosted some n SUAA tournaments. Never never a final four, but I
know there were many inn C Double A Regionals I think that were that were
played there years ago. So you know, I hadn't been in Freedom Hall
for a basketball game, as I talked about yesterday, in a long long
time. And I swear I love the UMP Center, but there's something about
Freedom Hall that's just different. I don't know. It's like I think it's
louder. You don't have to be as loud for it to sound as loud
as it is, if that makes sense. You know, it's got some
history to it. It's it's got you know. I can't put into words
why. It's probably just a nostalgia I suppose, and trust me, the
MP Center when it's rock and it's phenomenal. I mean, it's an NBA
arena, uh for a college basketball program, and there's no doubt it can
only help you when it comes to recruiting. But I wouldn't I wouldn't be
opposed to play in a few games at Freedom Hall every year because that place
is awesome. And if you think about it as old as Freedham Hall is,
there are probably I don't know countless I was gonna throw a number out
there, but I would be just completely pulling it out of my rear end.
But think about how many college basketball programs, some of them in Power
five leagues, would die to have the arena that Louisville left what fourteen years
ago. I mean, again, it's not and I don't say it's nice,
you know, as far as like you know, amenities and all that,
it's old, but man, it's an awesome venue and I can't wait
to be back, to be back out there tomorrow as they take on Team
DRC. All right, it's coffee and company. Feel bouth. Thornton's here
on Sports Talk seven ninety. You know, right before I made my way
here to the studio downtown, I stopped in to see my friends at the
Louisville Men's Clinic. Had to get my lab work done. Always a pleasure
to stop in to see doctor Wood and his team. And let me tell
you, if you've never been, you should. I mean, I guess
you can just show up if you'd like, maybe give him a call ahead
of time, schedule a consultation and that kind of thing. But they've helped
me in a major way, and they can help you too. When it
comes to a rectilis function. They've got a variety of different treatment options.
Low testosterone, they can help you with that. That's where they've helped me.
Weight loss therapy, hair restoration. I mean, they can do a
lot for you and they take pride in it. So you got to keep
in mind there's probably a lot of folks who you know, just giving them
a call in regards to something like you know, a rectalitis function or Peroni's
disease, or even like you know, STD testing, Like they offer that
too, Like those are things they offer one of you know, those are
three of the mini services they offer. And they're aware that when you pick
up the phone to like, you know, talk about those kind of things,
that it's probably not going to be a comfortable conversation for a lot of
men. So they're prepared. They're going to make you as comfortable as possible.
They're going to let you know that, hey, we're here to help.
And you know you're not alone. You're not you know you're not.
You're not the only person that deals with this kind of stuff. So can't
recommend them enough. Again, it's the Louis of Men's Clinic. And I
did see this this plaque that's hanging on the wall there. I took a
picture of it. You see it, John, It says Louis Men's Clinic.
They have successfully treated over thirty thousand men since twenty fourteen, and they
say thank you for allowing us to be your key to a better life.
So shout out to the louisvill Men's Clinic. I bet may be the best
average I've ever done for him. It may be, and it maybe because
I just left the office and I just I've still got that energy that you
get from the Louisville Men's Clinic, and that's the good energy to have.
I can tell you that. All right, let's go to the text line
five two sixty five three zero seven ninety. It's the Llenn Federal Credit Union
text line. Members get more at Ellenn Federal Credit Union. You can learn
more and open your account today at lnfcu dot com. All Right, this
text says one of the things I've always heard you say about Mantres Harold Nick
is his motor never stops. It looks like it hasn't started since he arrived
back in Louisville. What's the deal. I mean, that sounds a little
harsh to me, but again because these guys are like they've already given everything
they can to Louisville basketball, the program and the fan base. So like,
that's why it's weird for me to like, Because I'll be honest with
you, Trees doesn't look the same. I don't know if it's because he's
rusty. I don't know, if it's because he's been away from the NBA.
I don't know, but you know, he's still been effective, but
he just he's kind of been lacking that motor, as you said, and
it is worth mentioning that he he did apologize to fans last night for his
performance, which I thought was, you know, unnecessary, But hey,
I mean, I think he's aware that he's probably not played to the level
that maybe he thought he would in this event, and certainly maybe some fans
because I don't know if it would have been fair or realistic to expect him
to dominate, because you know, as much as Montreal has accomplished in his
career and as talented as he is, I mean, you've got dudes out
here playing their ass off because you know, they don't care Montreal Montres Harrell
is. They want to win. They want and these guys, you know,
even if they have a different and background, they didn't play the same
level of college basketball. You know, you got to line up and play,
man. I can tell you firsthand. There's there's a lot of guys
that you know that I know of, some that I played against growing up,
that never did anything as far as like a phenomenal college career for a
variety of reasons. Maybe it's great, Maybe they just didn't have their head
on straight. Maybe they just never got the opportunity. But like you know,
when it comes down to getting on the floor between the lines and competing,
you know, you can't just coast in most situations, no matter how
talented you are. So you know, I don't want to act as if
you know Tres isn't dominating and it's only because of Tres I think, you
know, I have a lot of respect for guys in this event because it
you know, it's for money, So it's not the can't I can't give
you the corny Well, it's for the love of the game, but there's
a collective buy in from every team because of what's at stake here again,
could be maybe life changing money for certain people. Right, you get exposure,
and this is something that I wouldn't have thought of, makes total sense.
But when you're there at the TBT and you see the folks that are
there, I mean they're scouts that are here, agents that are here because
they they're scouting talent to sign to represent when they play across the country or
you know, across the pond in a different country or whatever it may be.
So like there is something to gain here even if you don't win.
But yeah, with Tres he just yeah, the motor hadn't really been running,
and I don't know if it's rust or what it is. You know,
he did not play basketball last year because he is coming off of of
I think it was an ACL injury. I mean, it doesn't look like
he's in poor shape. But yeah, the tres that's just this, you
know, tenacious, just you know, I'm trying to think of the right
word to use, but I mean, he just never stops, right,
He's relentless, he'll you know, he's physical, and it's not that he's
not doing those things. It just hasn't really been what I think a lot
of people expected, and maybe that isn't fair on our part, but I'm
with you. You know, at times it looks like he's kind of asleep
out there. You know. I don't want to say he's not trying,
because I mean that's something only he would be able to tell us as far
as how much he's trying. So so I don't think that it is that.
But yeah, he just as much as at least see what his numbers
were last night, because he actually had a pretty good game statistically against the
Bellerman squad and then last night not as much he only had eight points three
of ten from the field, did have eight rebounds in thirty six minutes,
so not his best performance, which is why he decided to tweet this out.
Said man I love or said man, I apologize Cardination, but a
survive in advance, but I will never give you guys another stinky performance like
that. Thanks for sticking with me, Cardination. Yeah, good stuff,
all right? This question, says Nick, did Donovan Mitchell happen to be
in Louisville or did he randomly just decide to come in for this game?
I mean, I think he randomly decided to come in to support these guys.
Donovan Mitchell is one of the bigger stars in the NBA. I mean,
he's got one of the biggest contracts in the NBA now after he just
resigned with Cleveland. He's been a multi time All Star, He's broke records.
I mean, I don't think I need to tell you guys how accomplished
he is. And he's not done accomplishing big things. He's still relatively young,
but he you know, he loves Louisville. He loves the fan base,
he loves the people that still work at U of L. You know
I saw when he arrived. One of the first people that I saw him
walk up to and greet and and you know, I guess catch up with
was Kenny Klein, who a lot of us know who Kenny is former U
of L s I D who you know, did this for a long long
time. But you know, Donovan Mitchell as big as a star as he
is and maybe will continue to be, maybe even he'll be a bigger star
at some point. Like he has a lot of appreciation for everybody that was
here at u of L. And you know he's going to support Pat Kelsey.
I don't think that those two had met until last night, but it
wouldn't shock me if throughout the season, if Louisville gets a big win,
he'll be on social media promoting Louisville basketball and promoting Pat Kelsey. And you
know, that's what makes this event so much fun for like everybody involved,
because obviously the guys that are playing in this event that none of them have
had the career that Donovan had, but he is somebody that can relate to
what these guys are feeling. Right He's not out there playing because you know
it would never happen, but I would imagine to answer your question one of
the reasons. And by the way, it's not that hard for Donovan Mitchell
to get from Cleveland to Louisville when he probably has a private jet he could
use if maybe he has his own, I don't know. And you know
why he's watching basketball and he's catching up with guys that he knows. I
mean, he didn't play with a lot of these guys that are on this
team, but he certainly knows them. Him and Peyton Siva became close.
Peyton, I know, was around in the summers when Donovan played and was
you know, was somebody that he talked to a lot in regards to how
you deal with Rick Patino being your coach because he's so demanding in that kind
of stuff. So, you know, Donovan loves the fan appreciation that he
gets here, and it's different. This is where it all started, right,
He's been a star in Utah and he's a star in Cleveland now.
But like Louis, Louisvill's kind of where it all started. And these guys
again, like I know, they they want to play to potentially win some
money. Right, It's not as if like you got to force him to
do it. But I think one of the biggest tape other than potentially winning
money that you know, could go in their pockets and help them and their
families. I bet the best part of this for these guys is playing in
front of these fans again, so you know, to see the guys that
are here playing, to see the guys like Donovan, who's an NBA superstar
coming back to be a part of it as well, and to see the
other countless players that show up, like last night. You know, you
have Trey Lewis who was in town. Former Louisville player Malik Williams was there.
I mean, there was a few others. I mean Darryl Griffith was
there. He played. By the way, griff looks like he's in better
shape than anybody who's playing in the tvt Like I'm convinced Daryl Griffith could get
out there and give somebody fifteen and eight tomorrow if they need him. Like
Darryl Griffith, there's something like he's got to have access to something that no
other human has because that man has not aged in thirty five years. He
looked older when he had his beard. Whenever he played back in the day.
I mean Daryl Griffith. I mean, it's unbelievable how he looks thirty
years old. So shout out to griff So, yeah, I mean I
would say, to answer your question, I think he was. He did
see that they were going to play. He knew he could get there and
thought, you know, why not? Why not? All right, let's
get to a quick time out. We'll come back on the other side.
Got some questions coming in about the ACC preseason media poll as far as where
Louisville will finish. I don't have any strong thoughts, but I do I've
noticed that they are kind of not I don't want to give you the fake
oh they're being disrespected, because I don't. I don't really believe that,
nor do I care if they are. But there's some other teams that are
starting to now as we get closer and closer to the season, that are
starting to kind of edge ahead of Louisville as far as being like this darling,
this sleeper. So we can talk about that then a lot more.
And Joe Burrow's hair too. It's Coffee and company. Feel about Thornton's right
here on Sports Talk seven ninety so during that last segment. UFL officially released
their non conference schedule for the upcoming season, and I think we've know of
most of these opponents, we just didn't know the exact dates, and now
we do. In fact, the only opponent I think, and maybe this
is out there and I just didn't see it, but the only opponent on
Louisville schedule that I'm seeing that I had not heard they were going to play
or hadn't been reported they were on the schedule was UTEP. So they're going
to start the season on November fourth against Morehead State, and then Pat Kelsey's
second game as the Louisville head coach is going to be against the Tennessee team
that I really don't know what the expectations are for Tennessee this upcoming season,
but I mean they're coming off of an Elite eight a lot to replace,
but that's kind of everybody now, right like you, A lot of teams
are replacing key players this day and age, and in a previous world,
I mean that would mean, Okay, they're going to be maybe not rebuilding,
but it's going to take a few years for them to develop another,
know, another star player, to kind of get them to the point where
they could potentially make another run of the Elite Eight. Now you reload in
the portal, and I don't know where I really don't know where Tennessee ended
up in a lot of the different rankings, But just looking at ESPN's rankings
right here. This is updated as of July first, from Jeff Borzello at
ESPN. I mean, he's got Tennessee preseason number thirteen. So you know
there's gonna be some challenges right out of the gate for Pat Kelsey. So
some other notable Well, I guess I'll just get to the schedule here.
Bellerman, there'll be your third opponent. You play them on November nineteenth,
that'll be at the Young Center, and then you'll play Winthrop November twenty second,
So you've got four games before you head off to the Bahamas for the
Battle of for Atlantis. Morehead Tennessee, Bellerman and then Winthrop. So went
throwop. I think a lot of folks know the connection there. That's where
Pat Kelsey got his first start as a head coach. And they're currently led
by Mark Prosser, who I believe is the son of Skip Prosser, who,
of course Pat Kelsey. He comes from the from the Skip Prosser coaching
tree. He and a handful of other coach which is so uh not a
surprise when you see somebody kind of climb the ladder in college basketball and going
back to where it started and give it because that that's that's a that's a
bye game for for Winthrop. You know, they're hopefully you don't lose by
games that can happen. Louisville actually has lost a handful of them in in
recent years. But they were they were middle of a pack, Big South
team last year. So those are your first four games before you take off
to the Bahamas and look the battle for Atlantis. We don't know schedule on
that yet, do we. No, we don't. We don't know matchups
or anything. We just know the teams. We'll get it. We'll get
it soon though, Like I wouldn't be shy. I mean, in fact,
maybe we go back and look at a quick Google search and see when
they unveiled the breakdown the bracket of that from you know, from from previous
years, because I would imagine they do it relatively soon. But you know
it's loaded. You've got Louisville of course, and then Indiana, Oklahoma,
Providence, Gonzaga, Arizona, West Virginia, and Davidson. So I would
say, I mean, we looked at it whenever we talked about Kelsey's first
schedule a couple months ago, whenever that was I mean, I don't care
who you break down, you're you're likely gonna end. I mean, I
guess if you played Davidson, West Virginia and maybe maybe Oklahoma or Providence,
it could but that I found that highly unlikely that those would be the three
teams that you'd play. But that would leave it to where maybe you don't
you don't you know, play a highly highly ranked team. I mean Arizona,
Gonzaga, Indiana, I think are certainly going to be teams that you
that you see get a lot of love early on in the preseason rankings.
And I know mentioning preseason rankings may not do much for some because they don't
really matter. However, this event takes place so early in the season that
at that time be highly shocked that something happens to where Gonzaga is no longer
a preseason top five team. I mean, at that point they would be
a currently ranked top five team, but that's where they are in this uh
in this ESPN ranking that I'm looking at here Arizona number nine, Tennessee,
as I mentioned, number thirteen, Indiana number eighteen. So this event has
a lot of talent in it, and you know, ready or not,
here we go and when you get back from the Bahamas, you got a
quick turnaround. You go play ole Miss in the sec ACC Challenge. And
while I've got this top twenty five lists pulled up, ole Miss is right
number twentieth. So then after that you will have a UTEP on December eleventh,
and then Kentucky at RUP on December fourteenth, and then EKU will wrap
up your non conference schedule on December twenty eighth. So nice to see aw
Hamilton bring his team in. I know ek you used to be an opponent
Louislle would play kind of here and there, and I don't think they've played
since Coach Hamilton's been there. Who I got, you know a little bit
over the years. He's a Kentucky native and it's done a really good job
at EKU and anytime he's got a team that I feel like has a chance
to you know, be pretty good and maybe make the tournament. You know,
they they lose their best players to the portal, which kind of happens
to those kind of teams. So we'll talk more about this. I've got
some other obvious takeaway, some potential worries that I have about how this schedule
is put together. But we'll do that and a lot more. Again,
we are loaded the rest of the way. Two more hours left. We'll
talk more about what Tony Petiti, that's fun to say, the Big Ten
commissioner had to say about expansion. And we had a good question that came
in that I didn't get a chance to answer because of the breaking news in
regards to the non conference schedule for Louisville hoops. But as far as where
should we expect Louisville to come in in the preseason ACC media poll, not
that many people. I mean, it doesn't matter, right, you won't.
I mean, Louisville, I think last year was picked to finish what
seventh or eighth or something like that, ended up being in the conference championship
game. So it doesn't matter. But at least it'll give you a sense
as to, you know, how people are viewing you, and it'll give
you a chance to you know, maybe have some bulletin board material if you
need it, So stick with us. We've got two hours left. It's
coffee and company Field. Beth Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety y