It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day. Now here's nick coffee. All right, let's get it started.
Hour number two here on a Monday afternoon coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's
appreciate you guys hanging out with us. If you are just now joining us
here in the four o'clock hour, welcome in. And if you've been with
us, stick around. We got two more hours left. So I know
you guys do not care at all about my vacation, my my, you
know, I mean, I wouldn't say my personal life. I mean,
I know you guys don't really care, but you know, at times,
sharing some stuff from within your personal life can lead to, you know,
some interest. I don't know, but real quick, I want to echo
something John said last week when he returned from vacation, and that was going
places you've never been before like that is that's I've always I mean, I've
always felt like I enjoyed trips to places for the first time, but I
just don't go on them as much anymore. And mostly it's just because it's
just not convenient, and you know, I don't get unlimited vacation and I
don't have unlimited money. Traveling is not cheap. And when it comes to
trips with kids, trips, solo trips, just me and my wife,
like you know, everybody's different. There's certain places I'd love to go,
but I know i'd never go with my kids. There's certain places I'd love
to go, but I know my wife wouldn't want to go. So you
know, everybody has their own preferences and whatnot. But I really want to
start when I do think of a trip to take. If I'm thinking,
Okay, I got some vacation to burn, let's get away for three or
four days or something like that, I mean, I want to make it
a point to make sure I go somewhere I've never been, just to enjoy
the experience. So this trip that I was on, I mean it felt
like, you know, I didn't feel like I was gone for that long,
to be honest with you. But Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, so
three days away from the show. But then of course, you know I
was there for the weekend. But I ended up at Table Rock Lake in
Missouri. I think Kimberling City is is the town in Missouri. So I
have family that lives in Favel, Arkansas, and in Springfield, Missouri,
and the lake I guess, you know, there's a lot of lakes down
there. That's the Ozarks essentially. I mean that's where I was. The
region that we were in was the Ozarks. And it's just beautiful. I
mean, just seeing a place for the first time, I mean, it's
just it's awesome. So I have my aunt and uncle. They were celebrating
their fiftieth anniversary wedding anniversary, which shout out to Uncle Mark and and Linda
that it's a hell of a run fifty years and they're still going strong.
So this is my mother's sister, who is the oldest of the family.
My mom is on the younger side. And since I've been alive, they've
always lived in different places. My uncle Mark's job would take him, you
know, different area different I mean, he grew up in Green Bay,
Wisconsin. The two of them met at Western Kentucky many many, many many
years ago, and then after that he started to you know, he got
out of college and you know, started working in his career in his field,
and you know, they ended up in Murphysboro, Tennessee. They lived
in a small town in Arkansas, and then I think he, yeah,
he's retired in the faye Val area, which is where they live now,
but his kids, one of them lives in Favor, one of them lives
in Springfield, Arkansas. So we were really close. I mean, i'd
say it's probably my you know, two of my closest cousins and two of
my closest aunts and uncles, but we just don't see each other that often,
so it was just cool to be there. I mean, my mom
went, my stepdad me of course, and my kids and wife and my
sister and her son went, and then it was just a good family trip.
There's always some real benefit in having other family with you that you know,
you're not gonna make him watch your kid while you go out and you
know, have a day to yourself. But it's just nice for your kids
to be around other family to where it's not as much work when you've got
little ones around. But it was, it was great and without even really
any attempt, like it wasn't something I thought about, but I was as
unplugged from my phone social media as I've been in a really really long time,
and I never really, never really even thought about it, and that's
probably because I was just enjoying time being around family that unfortunately I don't get
to see that often because we live so far away. But it's the first
time I've returned from a trip in a long time where I feel like,
Wow, that was great. I've had good trips, trust me, It's
not like I had bad ones, but I feel like relaxed in a way.
And I don't really know. And we drove John by the way we
you know, that's not typically stressed, but I was. So we ended
up doing Wednesday night in Springfield was not Springfield, but Saint Charles, Missouri,
which is just right outside of of Saint Louis, and that town was
cool to hell. I mean it's it's a little older, uh, I
mean both in like it's got a very historic, like old main street area
of downtown and it's also like an older crowd. My wife and I ended
up there at a perfect night because on Wednesday we got an airbnb that was
like over top one of the coffee shops there in town. But they shut
down like three blocks in their little, you know, the heart of their
small downtown in Saint Charles, Missouri, and they have live music and it
was a lot of fun. We were probably the youngest couple there by,
you know, maybe twenty years, but hey, the older couples were having
themselves a good time. The band was really really good. So yeah,
it's just nice to experience things you've never experienced before. And I think it's
okay to say, like, you know, I don't know if I'll be
back there, wouldn't mind it, But I don't have any like I don't
know why. Maybe it's I don't know if it's something within our culture as
Americans, and look, everybody travels different. But I do feel like a
lot of people they have their spot. They when they going on a trip,
they know where they're going and they love it. And that's okay.
We have that as well with destin. But I do find as I get
older, I get a little burned out of places. And it doesn't mean
I don't like them. It doesn't mean I'm never going back, but I
find myself lately really wanting to explore more. And you know, it doesn't
have to be a big destination spot, right Like, it's not like I
got a bucket list of all these places. I mean, there are places
I'd like to go and see before I die. But there's something fun about
just ending up somewhere and kind of learning about it as you're there and just
kind of taking it in. I guess it's, you know, kind of
spontaneous in a way. I'm with you, and I know I laid out
a lot a lot of that last week when I talked about why we were
in Delaware and that kind of stuff. But I've never I guess whenever I
was a kid, I had my family always had the same spot, and
that changed over time. But what we would do is we would go to
the same spot. We would go there for probably three or four years in
a row, and then we would not really intentionally, but we would eventually
just switch spots. But for some reason, always got burnt out on those
as a kid. So yeah, and it's not that you don't like it,
it's just you know, you only get you know, a couple of
those trips maybe a year, right, And yeah, and the reuds.
There's a whole lot out there that you haven't seen exactly, And there's a
different type. There's all different types of trips, like the long weekend,
the weekend it away. Hey, Well, just we're gonna fly somewhere far.
But we're only gonna be there for a couple of days. But it's
okay because we've got to we've gotta we got a flight, we don't have
to drive. But I think you can enjoy. I don't know. I
just I feel like there are some people that if they end up going somewhere,
it's not a place that they find themselves making sure they already are planning
their next trip like it. It's a sign of them feeling underwhelmed with it.
And I don't. I don't. I there are plenty of places that
I've gone to. Heck, maybe maybe it's table Rock, Like I'm sure
I'll be back there at some point in my life with family. I don't
know. But you know, even if I don't, it doesn't mean it
wasn't great. You know. It's just I don't know more than anything like
destination spots right like big cities or you know, the Bahamas, or I
mean Florida, I guess is where most people around here go on vacation for
like a full week, or Alabama when it comes to like Gulf shores and
things like that. But I don't know. I'm looking forward to our trip
to Destin next month, because you know, I love that trip and it's
beautiful. It's our family vacation. We'll probably do it as long as the
kids want to keep going. I'm sure when they get older they won't want
to go, but we'll make them go and we'll have fun because that's what
parents do. But you know, I just really really found myself, you
know, enjoying the It's one of those things where I can't give you anything
crazy and exciting that we did that was like, Wow, you won't believe
this. This was a crazy experience. But it's still a lot of fun.
And it's good to see family, I know, that's for sure.
And my kids did great in the car. I was so proud of them.
They were a little restless on the way there, I think because they
knew we were stopping early. But on the drive home yesterday, we didn't
even get as early of a start as I would have liked. But my
daughter slept almost the entire way, which was just a gift from God.
And Moose woke up and got a little whiny, little restless, but then
he fell back asleep and we were good to go. So yeah, it
was a good trip. Now, the drive from Saint Louis area to where
we ended up in. I guess it's Kimberling City, Missouri, and which
I'm sure none of you ever heard of. It's a really small town.
I wouldn't even really call it much of a town, but it's it's what
connects you to that lake that we stayed on. I mean, I now
know why they call it the Bible Belt. A lot of churches, a
lot of billboards wanting you to know that Hell is real and letting you know
that. You know, if you don't, you don't get yourself right with
God. Hell is constant torture. Like just seeing those things on billboards is
not something you typically see around here. A lot of a lot of tourism
stuff. That was about caves, which I've never seen any I don't,
you know, but I guess the Ozark area there's a lot of caves.
Yeah, I mean, and you know, not a whole lot to see
in that area of the country, and I guess it'd be considered the Midwest.
But uh, yeah, I don't know why they call it the Bible
bel because they they're you know, but but the little you know, little
you know, those who are very religious and wanting you to know about Hell
being real and why you need to get right with God. You know,
they don't own all the inventory on whatever interstate I was on, because it
was a little while to see okay, church church sign about Hell being real,
something about Trump twenty twenty four, and then seeing a huge billboard that
says the Lions did exit Exit forty five, I mean a little inconsistent with
the messaging. There was one store called the Pleasure Zone. We didn't see
the store, but like billboards, there's not a whole lot to see,
so the billboards actually stand out when you're in the middle of nowhere, you
know what I mean. It was Hell being real, Trump's Trump with the
country needs Trump back. That's what the sign said, you know, promoting
church, you know, all kinds, and you actually see some of the
churches right there off the interstate. And then the occasional sign for a porn
store. I guess which is what the Pleasure Zone and the lions Den.
The Lion's Den was. But I would say this real quick. By the
way, I'm a Christian, but that stuff right there, I've never understood
it. And there's there's different locations across the country, typically rural areas that
have always signs, and I just I feel like most people who aren't Christians,
they just they just laugh at those things. It's getting the message across
to anybody. I feel like, yeah, you're right, and I'm glad
you said that because I think for you as someone who uh and I don't
won't speak for you, but I think you are a little you're more into
your mean, you're you're very active within your church, and you are a
Christian and I am as well, but you are someone that probably sees that
as more harmful to whatever message. Yeah, I would you know what I'm
saying. Yeah, So, like I totally get it, especially if it's
like you know, I mean, heck, I'm sure it actually could be
effective at times for people who might just think, like, you know what,
if you know, let's just say I ended up there, I wouldn't
want to be tortured. So maybe I should, you know, get right
with God and if that, you know, if that helps, then you
know, I guess you did something good. But it's just aggressive, right,
just driving down the road. Hell is real? Okay, next billboard?
Hell? You know is constant torture? Yeah, so yeah, apparently
the biggest This is not a huge city, although it's a bigger city than
I realized. Where where Missouri State University is. And by the way,
they just made the move to division on FBS. I think they're the latest
member of the Conference USA. But Missouri State is in Springfield, Missouri.
Have you ever heard of Springfield, Missouri? Yes, so I've heard of
it and and I've been through it before. But it's a bigger area than
I realized. Like there's it's a they've never don't mean, is it the
capital of the state. Maybe you wouldn't know that. I think it might
be, But yeah, I mean, like that's a place to where.
Again I don't know if I'm ever gonna end up there for a night or
something like that, but like, it's a bigger area than I would have
ever thought. And it's apparently believed to be the the buckle of the Bible
belt. Like it's right there in the middle. And once I once I
saw a tagline for the for the for you know, you're entering Springfield or
whatnot, I knew exactly, you know, they make total sense given the
fact of all the signs that I saw on my way there, but actually
a little quick fact for you, John, the first ever bass Pro shops
was created and was started in Springfield. This is a massive like the one
across the road. Yeah, it's huge, and apparently the lake that we
were on it's man made and there's all kinds of like I mean, you
know, it was not like any lake I'd ever been to. Not I'm
not a big lake guy anyways, but there's a lot of cool stuff that,
like, you know, activities and stuff for kids, like there's just
a lot of things that have been added to the lake we were at,
all by the guy who started bass Pro. So yeah, it was a
good trip, but I am I'm happy to be back, and I mentioned
this earlier within the show if you guys weren't with us, But I do
return here on a big sports to day only at sports that I just I'd
be lying if I said I really cared about them, and that is We've
got Game three of the College World Series final tonight. It's going to be
Texas or Tech I'm sorry, Texas A and m or Tennessee who end up
winning the College World Series. And then we've got Game seven of the Stanley
Cup, which again we talked about it earlier. Hockey is a sport that
both and I, both John and I said we wish we were a little
more into because it just seems like if you're like the experience of being in
a big game as a hockey fan, I think would be a lot of
fun. I just I can't relate. I've never actually been able to.
I've mean never been in that situation, right, I've never had a team
I care about, and I've just I wasn't exposed to the sport a whole
lot. Again, I talked about it earlier. The level of knowledge I
have of hockey in any way, and there's not much of it is just
what I saw in Mighty Ducks growing up with Coach Gordon Bombay. Shout out,
Coach Bombay. Did you ever see that movie? I'll bet you didn't.
I didn't. I'm aware of it, but I haven't seen it.
It's right after your time, like when we started watching movies as a kid.
That was a little little dated at that time, but really good movie.
D two Mighty Ducks was also really good. And didn't they I think
they brought that back as like a series, and I couldn't do it.
I couldn't bring myself to watch because I feel like I would have been sad,
Like it just wasn't needed. Kind of like Happy Gilmore too. I'm
uneasy about it. I'm gonna watch it. I can't not because I'm a
Happy gill More guy. It's one of my favorite movies ever. I've got
Madam Sandler shirt on right now. But this just wasn't necessary, you know
what I mean, Like there's no chance they can give us something close to
what they did in the original and that makes me sad. But anyways,
back to hockey. Edmonton was the two hundred and eleventh team in NHL history
to go down three to zero in a playoff series. They're just the tenth
team to come back and tie it at three apiece. Only four of those
ten came back to win the series. Only one of those was in the
finals. That was the Toronto Maple Leafs. They did it when in nineteen
forty two. The last team to do it was in twenty fourteen, the
La Kings, who won their first round series against the San Jose Sharks.
So this does kind of put in perspective just how rare this situation is because
I again I don't keep up with hockey at all. I don't follow it
at all, but I remember in twenty fourteen, ten years ago, it
was a it was included within the national storylines of sports that, oh my
god, can you believe it? The San Jose Sharks collapsed. They were
up three to OHO and lost the series. Because it's I mean, losing
a series up three to OZHO Again, it has happened, but it's so
rare, and tonight it could happen. So eight o'clock it'll be on ABC
and ESPN plus, So I guess they put it on yeah, because they've
got their relationship with both TNT and ESPN now, which if you remember,
and this is a good example, and I'll move on from this because I
know that nobody cares. But whenever ESPN got back in bed with the NHL,
I'm night have to look this up now because at one point, when
I was a kid, you used to see a whole I mean, you
used to see hockey on all the time on ESPN. I mean I wouldn't
want to watch it, but it would be on. Yeah. So the
NHL returned to ESPN in twenty one twenty two, So just a couple of
years ago. It's the first time they've they've had games on those stations since
two thousand and four. And I won't claim that if ESPN would have kept
their deal with in NHL, that I would have been a bigger fan.
But I used to be exposed to it more because it would when even when
they don't have games, they are still more inclined to show you highlights because
they're still going to show highlights regardless if they have the games or not.
That's what they do. I mean, that's Sports Center, but they're going
to be more involved in the coverage. They're going to be more inclined to
show you extensive highlights if it's on their family of stations. So that's why
the NBA, I think there's a false sense of the actual viewership. It's
all they talk about on these roundtable shows. But it's because it's a business
relationship. They're in bed together. I mean, it's it's past the point
of the Hawk Tua relationship. Like they're in bed together every night, you
know what I'm saying. Like the NBA in ESPN Disney, they're like one
big family essentially, So ESPN the night I'm sorry, ESPN Plus if you
want to watch it through stream, and ABC so a national broadcast tonight.
All right, let's get to a quick break. We'll come back on the
other side talk a little more about this trip that Louisville's making to the Bahamas
next month, as to why you should try to make it happen again.
Everybody would love to go, but I'm here to tell you it's probably more
doable than you'll realize. Also, Mark PLoP, Mark Mark Poop, Mark
Pope, Poop PLoP, Mark Pope. That's his name, Mark PLoP.
My son calls him Mark Poop, but his name is Mark Pope. He
was spotted earlier today on an airplane, not flying first class. It wasn't
a chartered flight. My man was flying coach. And I think the reaction
to this is entertaining, and we'll talk about it. And again, I
don't want to nerd out too much, but we do have some numbers to
run through here as far as u of L's recent athletic board meeting, we'll
talk about some of the goals the university has from an athletic department standpoint,
as far as you know, ways to increase more revenue. They need it,
and we'll also look at some of the unexpected expenses they had that were
not included in the budget, and of course one of those is Kinny Payne.
All right, don't go anywhere. It's coffee and company. We are
Field abou Thortons right here on Sports Talk seven ninety Coffee and company. Field
by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven to ninety nit coffee. That's me the
company man. Mister John Allen alongside said hey, as we're about halfway through
on a warm, very warm Monday, and let's get to the text line.
Five two six five three zero seven ninety is the number if you guys
want to text in on the L and N Federal Credit Union text line.
I don't I don't want to neglect you guys too much. But when we
were talking earlier about the Louisville Athletic Department budget and just some of the takeaways
from their recent ULA board meeting last week, i'd mention just some things that
they can do that can probably save more money than you'd realize. And if
you do enough of those things that just you know, save you I don't
know, couple hundred thousand a year to no longer use this company for transportation,
use this I mean, again, I have no clue what the actual
prices would be, but there are some things you could cut that if you
do enough of it, that you could actually create money by eliminating those expenses
that can help you start paying players. But you're going to have to do
before too long. But I'd mentioned the hotel stays that they would have for
Louisville football that I remember learning about it during Charlie Strong's time here, and
I know Bobby still did it. I'm not sure if if Brahm does it
or not, but we had somebody who wrote in This is from Steve who
says that Howard Snellenberger actually started putting the team up in the executive inn when
he coached U of L. So maybe that's when it started. And look,
I'm sure there's some benefits to having everybody there the night before to make
sure you know, as best you can get in everybody on the same page,
same environment. There's a curfew that kind of stuff, but you could
probably do that and not you know, block off an entire hotel whatever that
costs. And I'm not sure if they're doing that. And maybe that's more
valuable than some other things they could do that would save money. I'm just
referencing things that I feel like, to me at least, seemed like a
waste of money. But I guess it's not a waste of money if you
have it. But here's what I do know, U of L and many
other schools across the country don't just have a surplus of twenty plus million dollars
sitting around that they can just readily use to pay these athletes. So anyways,
here are some other numbers from the board meeting last week that I found
to be I don't know if i'd say interesting, but at least, you
know, notable. So football tickets sales has generated twenty six point two million
dollars, which you know, that's to me, that sounds pretty substantial.
But comparatively speaking, I'm not really sure where louisvill would rank, but twenty
six point two million to me, sounds like a lot of money. Men's
basketball tickets those sales came up one point nine They came up one point nine
million short of the budget. They also have acc legal costs that have cut
into some of the money that has been provided by the league. The ACC
Network studio that is on campus, which by the way, the ACC required
every ACC member to have their own studio. Uh And apparently the projections exceeded
revenue projections by four hundred thousand dollars. And let's see the one point five
million over the budget on travel costs that was that was last year, and
then Kenny Paynes buy out. The cash expense was three point four million.
So obviously, you know, Kenny Payne is going to still receive money from
u of L from now until I mean, I think it's kind of think
it's quite a while. I mean maybe over the next three years. So
I don't know if that cash payment was just a big you know, to
get a bunch of it out of the way before you you know, to
where now you're paying him. I don't know. Well, here's what we
do know. Kenny Payne got away with a lot of money and did nothing
but cause damage to this program. And I know a lot of people see
that number in there, just like man that you know, they feel like
the university, they love the program, they loves being robbed, and I
get it. I can't disagree. But that's just how these contracts work.
There's nothing quite like it, because at some point winning and losing is not
how you are evaluated in performance under these contracts. I mean, I don't
want to go down this path again because it leads to nowhere. But every
now and then, like right now, I just think about it. On
what planet is your job as a coach? Not? Like how can you
not be fired with cause for being bad at your job? Like it just
is it is crazy how that works out. I mean, you could lose
every game in your entire career and if they don't have cause to fire you,
they will pay you every dime that's on the contract. And I just
think it's wild that cause cannot be you know, you can't say you have
to win X number of games type of thing. Yeah, I mean it's
I don't know. I mean I think there could be clauses within a contract
that do buy you a little bit of time, But at the end of
the day, like, I don't know how we're not in a point where
after two years Kenny Payne can have the record that he has and it not
be a well we're going to exercise this clause because clearly we now see that
there's been nothing done to show that this is a good investment and in fact,
you owe us money. Bum. I doubt that would ever be in
any contract. But it's just crazy to me. It takes me back every
time. I mean, it just kind of stops me my track seeing and
thinking about somebody being able to make that much money and they did nothing for
that money. I mean crazy. Also, assistant coach and support staff buyouts
of four hundred thousand dollars. I mean, that's that's not I mean that's
a lot of money. I mean that's not a lot of money when we're
talking about like the salary for a head coach of football or basketball. But
I mean still that's a lot. Also, some unbudgeted expenses that they had,
meaning these are payments they had to make that were not in the budget.
And look, that happens every you know, every every every business,
which that's what this is. The UL Athletic Department is a business. Uh,
and they're going to have expenses that come up. Doesn't mean that you
can't afford it and you had to, you know, take out a loan.
It just means it was not in the budget. One of those was
a final payment to Papa John, who got two million for the naming right
settlement. Obviously, Pat Kelsey's buyout was one point one million dollars. The
ACC Championship game cost you four hundred thousand dollars to go to like the everything,
Like the overall athletic department expense was fore und k to go there,
which I mean they have to pay to go to play USC as well.
I mean they have to pay to travel. Yeah, I mean, oh,
okay, yeah, that's what the expense is, just to travel.
I mean, I mean, yeah, if you play in the ACC Championing,
you're not paying to get in. You're not buying very weird, You're
not buy Yeah, I mean that's all looks it's operational costs, Like that's
what all this is, like operational costs to keep this thing rolling right,
like you have to have. I mean one of the unbudgeted expenses was five
hundred and forty thousand dollars in credit card fees. That was over budget for
the credit card, I suppose, so some other budget challenges for next season.
They only have six home football games, which I feel like that's normal,
but I guess at times you've had seven, and I think there's a
rare year where they had eight, but they have six also losing Indiana on
the schedule. I mean, you replace them with Jacksonville State. What I
don't know is Indiana they bought out of that deal, right, yes,
but I don't know what that you know. I feel like it was around
a million. Yeah, I don't remember the exactly. That'll probably be made
up for, but I don't know because you've got to keep in mind,
I mean, Indiana, despite being not a great football program, you replace
them with Jacksonville State to where you know, you have to pay Jacksonville State
to come in here, right, that's that's a by game. So if
if because Indiana in Louisville, that that are you know, those are those
are two Power five programs. They're not paying each other to play each other.
It's not a by game. So when you have to go pay Jacksonville
State to come and play you if that's a million dollars you pay, which
is not crazy. I don't know the actual number, but some of these
schools get over a million to go pay to get their ass kicked. I
mean that's essentially what they're doing. And I hope that's what we pay Jacksonville
State to come in and get a butt whooping, But you know that's unexpected
expense. So again, if it's a million even and that's what the buyout
was, then I guess it's a wash. But you know, if they
bought out it was less than that and you have to pay, Jackson will
state that's a loss. You also have six road trips to California because of
the new league members. That's going to be expensive and that's certainly a challenge
for the budget. And then this is also listed evolution of NCAA rules,
which basically means more family members are allowed to come on recruiting visits, et
cetera. So when they when they change these rules, and I think they're
also going to make it to where And this is one of those things that
I didn't think of this instantly whenever the news broke, But I'm pretty sure
there's been a change made to official visits that players can take. My wrong
on that there is. I believe they unlimited. Yeah, they'll have a
certain amount that they can only take. It's whatever they want. So I
mean I'm thinking, hell, yeah, that's cool. Like Nope, that
gives you even less recruiting restrictions. Everybody, you know, you can host
it. You know, these guys can take as many trips as they want.
You have to worry about a guy that you like not being able to
take an official because he's already taken five. But I'm sure those that work
kind of behind the scenes within athletic departments within the college landscape are thinking,
Man, that's gonna be a lot more money, right. You know,
those official visits are paid for by the school, by the way, and
it's not just paying for a kid to get on a plane. It's paying
for a kid and maybe eight people with him. So that's more money that's
going to be. I mean, that's and that adds up too. Right.
We're not just talking about football, we're talking about basketball, other sports
too. So we'll talk more about the the the takeaways from last week's ULL
the board meeting later, because I do have some thoughts on their upcoming revenue
goals, meaning some things they're trying to, you know, goals they're trying
to accomplish that of course, will bring them in more revenue, which is
needed, there's no doubt about it. And it's not just say that.
You know, Louisville needs money because they're they're broke. Everybody in college athletics
needs more money now because of the annual twenty million to twenty two million dollars
that you are going to be expected to pay players. Now, will everybody
be able to do it? Certainly not. But I'm actually more curious to
see how creative these schools who don't have as much money are when it comes
to the messaging. Because those who can pay twenty two million annually to ever
you know across the board, and who knows what that actually trickles down to
when it comes to each sport. But if you're somebody that you know,
hey, our school could only come up with ten million to spread across the
entire university, I'm curious to see what kind of marketing and messaging you you
put in front of that to where it's not I mean, it's gonna be
weaponized against you oftentimes. But yeah, college sports has changed so much off
the field in the last few years, and it's about to be even more
different once schools are you know, paying these players, which will be happening
before too long. All right, if you're somebody that you know in your
thirties, it could be happening to you before too long. That's low TE
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it hasn't impacted you yet because everybody's different, right, not everybody is the
same. So you could have low T and not even know it, or
you could have, you know, symptoms that you are thinking to yourself,
like why is this the case, and you just assume, well, guess
it's just because I'm getting older. You'd chalk it up to father time.
You blame him, and he is at fault here to an extent. But
when it comes to your testosterone, every year when you get to your thirties,
you lose a certain percentage, a small percentage, of course, but
it adds up. You lose the testosterone, and your doctor when you go
get blood work done, lab work, you know there's a humongous range of
testosterone to where it's not going to probably alarm your doctor. If your levels
are in the range of somebody that's closer to sixty but you're actually thirty five,
well that's probably If that's the case and that's you, it's probably because
that's probably why you're a lethargic. That's probably why you're developing some extra flab
around your waist. Maybe the man boobs are getting out of hand. It's
because the testosteronees lost, So do something about it. Reach out to my
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They've helped me Lovemen's Clinic dot com. Check them out online, give them
a call five two four four four thousand. All right, quick break will
come back on the other side. Keep this thing rolling along. Get back
to the text line as well, so keep it locked right here. Coffee
and Company, Philbeth Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety all right, So we
had a caller earlier who referenced an old call he'd made to Adam Lefkoe,
who, for those who don't know, Adam lefko used to work here in
the Louisville market for Whas eleven and he has since become you know, a
big deal. I mean, he's I'm not even really sure what his title
is, but I know he works for Turner TNT and you see him on
He's a studio show host for the Inside the NBA. I mean he's he's
heavily involved in tn t's NBA coverage. Also has his own podcast that's become
pretty popular. Yeah, I mean, just to give my main leftco the
proper credits here for his accomplished resume. He serves as the host for NBA
on T and t's Inside the NBA Studio show. He also hosts Tuesday editions
to the show, filling the role which Ernie Johnson's known for. Shaq and
Dwayne Wade as well as WNBA player Candice Parker r on air with him.
And he also has studio coverage for the NAA Tournament, which makes total sense
given the fact that you know that's a Turner tn T CVS deal. And
yeah, this is the other part of his podcast that I was not familiar
with. So in December of this past December, he became the co host
of The Big Podcast, which is Shaquille O'Neal's podcast. So he in Shack
do a podcast together and he's also I mean, he's on Dan Patrick a
lot, so he used to be here Louisville wasn't for a very long and
I think he always knew he was aiming to bigger and better things. But
when in Louisville, he did a great job for WJS eleven and got to
know him a little bit. And you know, I feel like if I
texted him he'd return the text, but like if he didn't, it wouldn't
shock me, because you know, he's kind of, you know, in
a different world now. But somebody on the text line fobout two six five
three zero seven ninety is the number if you want to text in on the
L and N Federal Credit Union text line, says Nick. Correct me if
I'm wrong. I've heard Adam Lefko was supposed to be the seven ninety KRDST.
Well, if you can provide more, I mean, I think i'll
this. I forgot all about that even as we were talking about him earlier.
But yes I can. Here's the story about Adam Lefko. I don't
think I'll get in trouble for sharing this because I don't think it matters at
this point. This was ten years ago. Roughly maybe even I guess close
to ten years. Maybe maybe a little bit longer. I don't know.
Anyways, he was here in Louisville and at the time, and I don't
know why this. I don't know why this changed. I mean, I
know I have some theories. But it used to be really it was a
regular thing that if Tony and Dave were out as the acting underdogs they were
on vacation, one of the local sports anchors for the TV stations would fill
in. Like we used to have a relationship with w was it Way three
Now our news partners are. I mean, we still have relationship with him.
Everybody around here is pretty friendly when it comes to local media, but
our actual deal through iHeart our news partner is WK. I used to do
Wave three. So back in the day, if Tony and Dave were out
when they were on the underdogs, or you know, let's say Joby and
Denny were out, I mean, we usually have an internal filling. But
I think even whenever you know, Jody Dimmling was out because he used to
host the morning show before he moved on from radio full time, and it
would be one of the Way three guys, like a Kendrick Haskins or maybe
a John Bowle. At that time, Kent Taylor was was with Wave three.
Now he's with WOKHY. So it's just a known thing that, like,
hey, if guys are gonna be on vacation, a program director would
call some of these guys and they would come in and fill in. It
was perfect because they are very well plugged into the local sports around here.
It's what they do, it's their job, and at that point, I
feel like they really liked doing radio. Maybe radio, you know, is
now not cool for those guys, but I would love for it to and
I'm sure money, I mean, how they got paid to do it.
Maybe there was some budget reasons. I don't know why that changed, but
it used to be a known thing that if we weren't going to be here
on vacation or whatever it may be, they go. The first calls were
too those guys, and not only were they most of the time willing to
do it, they were good like it. It was a good situation,
I feel like for everybody involved. And I don't know why that ended,
but at one point left Coo was that guy. So whenever Jody left Leftko
came in and did. I don't know. I feel like it might have
been an everyday thing, or maybe it was a few days a week,
but whenever they were trying to figure out what they wanted to do. Actually,
never mind, I take that pack. This was when this was when
Drew left. That's what they were trying to figure out what they were going
to do. Because Jody ended up getting the job later, but at the
time, whenever Drew left and went across the street, essentially they were trying
to figure out what they were going to do and Leftko was one of those
guys that I think one of the job. I shouldn't say that for sure,
but you know, I don't think he'd be doing it as much as
he did if he wasn't interested in potentially doing both, meaning being a sports
anchor and reporter for WHS and then doing radio in the morning. And he
was good. I mean, clearly, the guy's talented. I mean,
he's an entertainer, he knows his stuff, he's sharp. He wouldn't be
where he is today without that. But and and everybody wanted him to be
the guy. Like I remember as a listener at that time, I think
I was I wasn't able to. I mean, I hadn't broken in and
gotten a chance to make radio my my my career, my full time job.
But I was working for another station in the market, doing things,
you know, at a lower not I don't, I don't say a lower
level, but I mean, I guess it was a lower level. But
you know what I mean, I was I wasn't doing a three hour show
every day, so I would listen, and I grew up listening to sports
radio. And I'm still a huge nerd for the industry, if you want
to call it that. And left Goo was great, and a lot of
people, myself included, kind of wanted him to be the guy because he
was good, he's entertaining. He was young, but not, you know,
not like a young kid like I. Some you know, I remember
the first time I ever hosted a show on this station with people calling in,
who's this kid? I don't know. It's because the things I said
or the way I sounded, but I I guess that sounded very young.
You don't have to worry about that with Left COO. So they ended up
not and I say they these are people who no longer work here at iHeart.
They decided to not offer him the job, knowing he would have done
a good job, and knowing he would have taken it, because they were
fearful that he won't be here long because he's not from here. He's probably
going to excel in his career and we may be looking for a new guy
in a year if we hire him. So it used to be something we'd
go back and forth about. When I say we, I mean my colleagues,
people I work with. They're just people in in this business, in
this market. You know, did they make a big mistake by not hiring
him? And you know they ended up going with Jody, and Jody to
this day is still as connected as anybody to U of L. And that
had its benefits. So it wasn't as if they, you know, they
hired the wrong guy but left Coo. You know, he was just different
at that time than I think what you you at that time heard on the
airwaves around here. And you know, I get it from a business standpoint,
because there's so much that goes into this that people don't realize it.
I'm sure they don't care, but like you need to have a guy that
or girl, you know, somebody on air that you know can work with
clients that you know, is you know, familiar with the market, the
area of the city, so they can help promote products and services that are
clients pay you know, pay us to promote. So if this guy is
going to be here for a year and he's not from here, and you
know, it just I guess in their mind, it didn't make a lot
of sense. But I also, you know, we'll never know. But
I actually think if he was here and he did really well, he probably
would have left still, right, I mean, how could you not.
I mean, he ended up leaving Louisville. I think initially go work for
Bleacher Report. Who then I think TN T Turner bought Turner Sports bought Bleacher
Report from somebody, and then that's how left Goo kind of worked his way
up to being, you know, one of T and T's top guys.
So he still would have left, But it would have been cool to see
him do when you know, a show with Pot, with a podcast show
with Shaq every week, to see him on Inside the NBA, which by
the way, is like the most popular sports show there is, it would
be cool to say that, you know, and we can't say it.
He did work here, he was on the air. I mean, he
was paid, he just wasn't a full time host. Uh, and they
decided not to Uh. I mean again, I don't I don't mind saying
it now. He was bothered that he didn't that they didn't they didn't want
to hire him because he wanted to do it, and he was pretty good
at radio. But I'm sure that's I'm sure it's not in his brain once
since he left, considering how how much he is flourishing as a as a
pro and I believe in I think I think he lives in New York now,
I think that's where he resides. But yeah, he came on the
show a couple of times with me. I think maybe like four years ago.
I guess no, probably longer than that, because four years ago it
was the pandemic, but before the pandemic, like writer, during the Patino
stuff, like the Patino fallout, the early part of Max's career. I
think he came on a few times. He was on with Venetti. But
yeah, he's crushing it. He's doing well. So yes, I mean,
I don't remember that being like a local story in the news, but
you are correct that there was an affiliation there and he almost became our morning
show host and they decided to go to a different direction. But you know,
worked out well for him. Probably not a good look. I mean,
if you explain it, obviously it makes sense, but like, I
don't know if it's something we should be saying, Yeah, we we were
going to hire Adam Lefko. We've said it not to you. But again,
if you consider it from like all that goes into it, then most
people would know you could at least understand why they decided because look, he
might have asked. He might they might have asked him, And I don't
know, it wasn't part of these conversations. I didn't work here yet,
but there might have been a conversation like, hey, do you see yourself
staying here longer than you know your contract at WS eleven. And if he
said no, then I think it would have been a no brainer that we
want somebody who we feel like can grow here and actually you know, be
here long term. All right, quick break, one hour left, don't
go anywhere, a lot more to get into. Stick with us right here.
It's coffee and Company. Phil but Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety Yes, really