It's time for coffee and company. Fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine
day, Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think when we
are get off our show, idiot, the kids are crying or trail off
their countries are screwing it up. Gold Play Inner Murals, Brother, gold
Play Inner Murals. They're supposed to be mature adults, but they're really not.
Who's the kid here? Who's the kid here? Are you kidding me?
Now? Here's nick coffee? All right, boys and girls, let's
get this short week started. Happy Monday, everybody. Hopefully you had yourselves
a good weekend. And I gotta be honest, I think today it feels
like the best weather we may have ever had, like in the history of
the world, at least where I am here in Louisville, Kentucky. Have
you noticed how nice it is outside? John? Yeah, actually down to
the waterfront earlier. I was here early for some some recording sessions, and
in between that and the show, I spent about forty five minutes down by
the rivers. Not a nice not a better day to do it. Not
a better day. I mean, it's beautiful and in fact, you know
I got to thinking, like it's clear it's still hot, Like I think
eighty degrees is currently what it is, which is you know, it doesn't
doesn't sound so bad whenever we've had like ninety six and ninety seven not that
long ago, but like it's clear today's today is a really really good I
guess reminder of just how humidity really impacts how comfortable you are, because we
have currently thirty nine percent humidity according to the Weather Channel, which I wouldn't
know if that's like really good or really bad. I've been outside, so
I assume thirty nine is perfect because of how it feels. But you get
to like Wednesday, you know, we've got ninety four as the high humidity
is seventy three percent, so like we could stay I just just sounds horrible.
Temperature like this with humidity at this level is is perfect, but yeah,
we don't get much of that. But also we've been hit with some
brutal heat in the last couple of days. I mean, Saturday was sticky
hot. I don't feel like it was actually as bad as I expected it
to be. Yesterday wasn't so bad, but today is beautiful, So let's
let's have a good show. I mean, you guys will have no impact
on that. It's on us and I can only speak for me, but
I know John's gonna give it his best effort today as we've got a short
week, and I'm certainly gonna give my best effort. Don't know if that
is going to produce a great show for us here, but we'll see what
happens. Right stick around, we'll find out if we ended up, you
know, keeping you long enough to where you can, you know, say
you enjoyed the show. So when I say short week, it's because we
are going to be out on Thursday and Friday, a couple of days off
to celebrate the Fourth of July, which never really a big Fourth of July.
I mean, I love that we live in a country and we have
freedom, and we're celebrating America's freedom, like that's great, But Fourth of
July has always been when it's really close to my birthday. But also,
I'm just gonna say it. I've talked about it over the years, nothing
has changed. But I guess as I get older, I am more you
know, willing and wanting to just say what I think and not worry about
it. When anybody else thinks I hate fireworks, hate them. Don't understand
how anybody could be really, I mean, I just I don't get it.
There's a lot of things I'm sure I'm interested in that you guys would
think are stupid, and you'd say the same thing, Why does he like
that? That's dumb? Who would be into that? So it's everybody has
their own preferences. But like a lot of the things that I like and
I enjoy just hobbies of mine. It doesn't impact you. Fireworks impact me.
It's not crazy, it's not like it ruins my life. At the
end of the day, I'm doing just fine. But like you know,
I don't enjoy hearing fireworks going off at all hours of the night. I
mean, it's not that bad whenever it's you know, from seven thirty eight
o'clock to I don't know, ten to eleven, Like, it's not a
huge deal, but it's just something I would prefer not to be going on,
right, like the whole month of June people lighting off fireworks. So
that's just to get it out of the way. That's one of the reasons
why I've just never really been a huge Fourth of July guy, because of
fireworks like the actual holiday itself. You remove the fireworks and you get all
you know, you get rid of all the pyromaniacs out there. Then you
know, hell yeah, freedom America Fourth of July. But just never been
my thing. But I bring that up to say, I guess to ask
a question. Are people over at fireworks? Is the economy so bad that
nobody's buying fireworks anymore? Trust me, this is an open invitation for you
to find out where I live and show up and start lighting off a bunch
of bottle rockets. But I have Last night was the first time I've heard
anybody in my neighborhood. And you cannot even be in my neighbor You could
be a mile away maybe, and if you've got the you know, the
high dollar stuff, like, I'll probably still hear you. I mean,
this is the second I think, or maybe this is the third. I
think this is the third summer we will have been at this home. I
think it is. I don't know, but either way, like, I'm
not complaining, but I'm just curious as to what you know. Maybe it's
just the people near me haven't gotten into it. Have you noticed as much?
Honestly, where I live. I think I might have mentioned this last
week. It's worse than usual for I really yeah. I don't know if
people are just finding crapping their garage and firing it off before fourth of July,
but it's kind of annoying where I live, like late at night or
just it's usually around i'd say nine o'clock, ten o'clock, that kind of
stuff. And what's unfortunate is that And this is really nobody's fault. But
like a lot of fireworks, if you want to get you know, no
pun intended to bang for your buck, it needs to be dark outside,
and I don't know, I feel like it gets dark at ten o'clock,
like's it's very I mean pitch black of course, you know, probably around
ten o'clock, but I feel like you could be. I mean, my
wife sometimes will go to bed a lot earlier than I will because the kids
are in bed and she's tired, and like she'll go to bed and it's
clearly still daylight outside to an extent, which it's just weird to me,
but you know, it's nine thirty nine forty five almost, So the question
I have for for fire again, like this isn't like a judgment thing,
Like, I'm not if you like fireworks, I'm not judging you as a
person saying that you're you have bad character and you are a nutcase or anything
like that. And I think if you listen to the show a little bit,
you probably are well aware that I've never shot away from calling out people
who might have some psychopathic tendencies, So like, it's not that, But
what is it about fireworks that that you like? Like, what is it
about a big loud boom or something that you know explodes in the air with
some colors? Like I just I think there's not a whole lot of versatility
with fireworks as far as like, oh, this one does this and this
one does that. Yeah, there's certainly different types. But once you've like
I don't know, like if you've done the same thing every year and it's
the same stuff, I mean, I don't know. In a weird way,
I'm curious as to what it is about fireworks that people just you know,
spend a lot of money. I mean, these tents that you see
all across the area, they don't pop up for nothing. They pop up
because people come and spend a lot of money, And it's a hustle.
I mean, I actually know somebody who got into that a few years ago.
He's got his own company, his own business, but he met somebody
who was, I guess, like a franchise e. And you know,
you buy a ton of them in bulk, right, and you get them
for a you know, cheaper price, and then you know, if you
buy a whole sale, then you then you sell, you can turn a
pretty good profit. I mean, this is a guy who you know,
like nearly a fourth of his annual income, like you know, take his
annual income from his career, you know, a fourth of that is what
he was what he was making in the summer from fireworks. So like,
clearly people buy them, people liked him. Maybe you know, maybe I'm
in the minority, but I just I don't know, like to go back
to Thunder over Louisville, like people who watch Thunder over Louisville on television,
Like you might as well boot up that nineteen ninety five first ever desktop computer
and just watch the you know, the first screen see the first screen saver
they ever made that was animated. Like, I just again, I what
am I I guess I'll ask this what am I missing? What am I
missing about the fireworks that that makes it so cool to will people just you
know, they want to do it at all hours of the night for an
entire week, like I bet tonight, And it's not because you know,
I jinxed it or you know I was just you know, it was karma
because it's the week of the holidays. So like tonight, I'm sure I'll
hear more than I have. And maybe I'll just walk up to somebody on
my street because I'm neighborly now right, I talked about that. I'm you
know, I'm waving everybody as they go down the street, you know,
being being neighborly. It's something I never thought I would do, but I'm
doing it. Maybe I'll ask one of my neighbors if they're outside lighting off
fireworks, like, hey, what do you get out of this? Man?
Like you just spent what I don't know how much, maybe a couple
hundred bucks. What did that do? What did that? What was the
return on set investment? And if it's for the kids, that's cool,
But that's a that's a week excuse for a lot of people. Because I
know a lot I know many people who do the big old firework thing and
they got nothing to do with kids. They don't even have kids some of
them. Have you ever let off a firework? I did, I was.
I've had some near o. I never have, not once. I
was afraid when I don't remember how old I was, maybe around eleven or
twelve years old. I remember somebody lit a Roman candle that I had in
my hand, and I was so freaked out from the firework comes in my
hand. I threw it and it started shooting into my parents' garage. Oh
no, it was not a pretty sight. Yeah, I'm not you know,
I'm not scared of them, right, It's not as if I'm worried
that people are going to light them off and I'm gonna get injured. Like
it's not like if I'm around people lighting them off, I have probably the
same level of cautious and cautious, you know, concerned as anybody else.
Right, you want to be mindful of what's going on. But like,
it's not like I'm freaking out and having a panic attack because people are lighting
off fireworks near me. But yeah, you have to be careful. The
only thing I can think, like when I was, when I was like
in sixth grade. This isn't even like, this isn't lighting a firework.
But my mind went back to sixth grade, nick here, because I realized
what like being flammable meant around that time. And I remember there was a
lighter, one of those tall, like those stick lighters, like the long
yeah, candlestick light. Yeah, not like a cigarette lighter, but yeah,
like a candlestick lighter. And I went and got one of my sister's
bottles of hairspray, and I just had the flame going and I sprayed the
Uh, I just sprayed the hairspray, and it looked like, you know,
it was a humongous flame, like you made a flamethrower. Yeah exactly.
And I just stood there with its spraying like looking at it. And
the first thing it thought popped up in my mind was like in home alone,
whenever Joe Pesci gets you know, there's there's some kind of a homemade
flamethrower kind of thing that Kevin McAllister uses to get the sticky bandits. And
that's what as soon as I saw that flame, I'm like, oh my
gosh, that that's that's what this is. I did it a few times.
I don't know why I thought it was cool. I guess that's kind
of similar to what people do with fireworks. And then I did it too
long and I noticed when I looked to my left that a wall in our
home like was starting to get really like. It was like I was,
I mean, it wasn't on fire, but like the flame was melting the
wall, and I realized, oh, I shouldn't do that. That's dangerous,
And you know, that was that was it. I scratched my itch
of being a pyromaniac or somebody who's into explosives pretty early, and I got
it out of the way. So yeah, happy Fourth of July week,
everybody, not to rain on your parade. But again, more than anything
again, let that that's That's the best way to do it without seeming like
I'm being judgmental and I'm making fun of people. You tell me what am
I missing when it comes to fireworks? What makes them cool? If you
got any answers, let us know, all right. It is Coffee and
Company. That's us. We are feeled by Thornton's. My name is Nick
Coffee. The company man John Alten is alongside and with a being July first,
this is a new year for college sports. Essentially, we got a
ways to go before we actually get any Actually, what's the first season of
college sports? I believe it's men's and women's soccer, but I could be
wrong that I know it starts a little bit before college football. Yeah,
when does volleyball start around that same time? They're all pretty cool? Yes,
So July first is typically when when you really turn over the calendar year
as far as an athletic season, you know, I've seen in fact,
I was looking earlier on social media because I and we're going to get to
this in just a second, but today is the first day officially. I
mean, nothing's going on, doesn't feel any different, there's no results,
but today officially is the first day that SMU and Cal and Stanford in the
ACC and Oklahoma and Texas are officially in the SEC. And it's because these
expansion I mean, we'll get into the Big Ten and the Pac twelve because
believe it or not, like that league is dead, but it's all so
kind of not dead, which is a little complicated. But anyways, you'll
see a lot of these social media pages on Twitter and Instagram that are the
official athletic account for these schools, right, not just basketball and football,
but the one that is, you know, for the entire athletic department.
You'll see them putting out their annual like you know, year and review kind
of stuff like video highlights and that kind of stuff. So yeah, the
SEC and SEC officially added Oklahoma and Texas today at Stanford CALSMU or the ACC
the Big Ten of course, and this I feel like everybody's up to speed
as far as the realignment that's gone on. But I don't know, maybe
you haven't because a lot of these moves were announced long ago and you know,
maybe you forgot about it. But it is weird looking at this updated
graphic that shows Power five football because I think technically you could say that the
Power five is it does still exist. And we'll get to that in a
minute. Because Oklahoma, not Oklahoma, but Oregon State in Washington State,
they're still in the PAC twelve. They have a scheduling arrangement with the Mountain
West, but like there's a lawsuit going on and I don't know where their
game is going to be played on TV because there's obviously no PAC twelve network
anymore. But they're not independent. They're in the PAC twelve. But clearly,
I don't think anybody is going to think of these two. And eventually
the PAC twel will probably be dead, I would assume. And if they
merged, like if the PAC twelve in the Mountain West fully merged and they
called it the PAC twelve, it would still not be a part of the
Power five, and it would not be a part of like they would be
a G five conference. When it comes to the college football playoff, that's
already been done and decided. Anyways, Again, the SEC just two new
editions and that is Texas Oklahoma the Big Ten. August first is when their
move actually takes place. I don't know why it's a month later, but
and just it's weird to look at the Big Ten Conference. You know,
you see the Indianas, the Illinois, oh Io State, Iowa, penn
State. That looks like, you know, some traditional Big Ten powers,
right, that's a that's a that's a big part of the Big Ten brand.
And then you see Washington USC UCLA in Oregon, and that that's just
weird to me. You will get used to it, you know, when
I see conference matchups and it features teams that are new to a league,
that you're so used to. Eventually it's not something I you know, eventually
you just you know, you get used to it. But until we see
it in action, it just it's just, you know, it's it's weird,
it's it's unusual, and it's not. It's not just because of geography,
right Like, clearly the Big Ten had a footprint that was pretty specific
aus to one region of the country, and you know now like that that
geographically it hasn't mattered in a long time, but just the brand, right
like when I think Oregon, I think PAC twelve. When I think USC,
I think PAC twelve, I don't think Big Ten. And with the
AC, I mean, I'm happy Louisville got an invite to the league at
the time they did, because at that point, you know, it's really
just about survival. And I've shared my thoughts on the ACC before and I'm
gonna get to that coming up a little bit later on because U of L
on their Twitter account asked fans to share their favorite ACC memory since today marks
the ten year anniversary of Louisville being in the league, and I you know,
I've got I've got a thought on that, And there have been some
great moments, obviously, but my whole thing is this what has Louisville Athletics
accomplished big picture that you really feel is is something that for the rest of
your life as a Louisville fan, you'll remember it and it'll be a moment
that stands out, maybe not the best moment ever, but just something that
was like, Wow, that was a great season. They made a great
run, this happened. That happened. I can't think of anything that Louisville
has done that they were able to do because they were in the ACC that
you know that stands out to me is like, wow, that was a
big deal. We wouldn't have been able to have that if there wasn't for
the ACC. I know I sound ungrateful because again, they snatched Louisville up
at a time whenever you needed to be snatched up. But to see the
SEC clearly getting better with brand names, I mean Texas and Oklahoma, especially
Texas, you know they're they're they're they're wrong, but they're walking in the
SEC and they think they run that league now, and they're gonna be pretty
vocal about it, right because they're Texas. They think they can do anything.
They they have resources to do anything and pay for anything, but it's
oftentimes not produce the kind of results that you'd expect. But anyways, those
are big additions to the SEC that was already a great league, Big ten,
same thing, right, Like all four of those teams, I think
you could make the case clearly makes that league better when it comes to brand
recognition and value. The ACC added Stanford, SMU, and CAL. That's
adding just to add. There's no significant boost. I mean, yeah,
you can make some more money just because you are now in different markets and
whatnot, but that this looks like you were just snatching up teams to snatch
up teams. Now I've always said the most I want to say it's an
unknown, but like it's the least talked about component of the ACC's recent expansion
and their future, and that is that I think Texas. I'm not Texas.
I think SMU, Stanford, and CAL were added not because they were
trying to get some West Coast presence and some Texas and some presence in the
Dallas market with SMU, it's because if in fact, you lose I mean,
let's say you lose notre to and let's see you lose Florida State and
Clemson, like a lot of people expected in North Carolina leaves for the Big
ten. If you end up below fifteen teams in your league, you I
mean the ACC probably mean the ACC at that point, they're always going to
try to add teams to get to stay at fifteen. And this is because
the ESPN agreement with the ACC network right the grain of rights that everybody's complaining
about for years, and it's deserving to be complained about, because it's nonsense
that that is locked in for twenty years. But anyways, what I'm getting
at is, if you fall below fifteen, ESPN has the right to reassess
and give you less money, and they would. Right, there's terrible rev
share right now in this league compared to the Big ten in the SCC,
And I know it's in third place, but man, can people in the
AEC stop bragging about being in third place? Like it could be worse?
But I also feel like it's pretty telling that you know you're, hey,
we're third most money, third most money. Again, that's better than being
fourth or fifth, but like it's also desperate. It looks desperate I think
because you know you currently are third and you may stay third, but you're
probably not. You're going to move to foward with the Big twelve. And
while you're locked into twenty thirty six, the SEC and the Big ten are
just going to keep making more and more money. So so if you lose
those two teams Clemson in Florida State, ESPN would have a right to reassess
and say, actually, you're not even worth the money that we're paying you
now that you complain about, because that would be a huge hit to the
league. So I think they're always going to try to stay at fifteen,
to stay locked into twenty thirty six. Like, even if you lose those
two teams, I bet they add Memphis, I bet they add I don't
know Yukon if you can, would leave the Big East because of football,
because they're going to try to stay at fifteen because without fifteen, I think
that would be the real death nail for the league and you'd start to see,
you know, you start to see others try to find a spot elsewhere.
Now the Big twelve, I guess, let's see the Big twelve.
They have fit two straight years with some significant expansions, so BYU Central Florida,
Houston, and who else joined? Yeah, Cincinnati joined last year.
Now I guess maybe it's August first as well. You're adding Arizona, Arizona
State, Colorado, and Utah, So I mean, again, those are
better additions to I mean again, there's no way to sugarcoat it. The
Big Twelve did not you know, did not get back what it lost in
Oklahoma and Texas, right, But I mean those are some pretty solid additions
to where you can see yourself being a pretty pretty good league. What's appealing
to me about the Big Twelve, and I guess this could also be used
as the weakness of the league is that it's wide open, you know what
I mean, Like, you got some pretty solid programs in there, but
also you know, there's nobody that you feel like you would have to fear
every year. So yeah, the PAC twelve again, Oregon State, Washington
State, like it technically still exists, so they're scheduling. Yeah, Oregon
State and Washington State have officially made a scheduling deal with the Mountain West for
at least this upcoming season. And this is from hero sports dot Com.
There's still a possibility of there being a Mountain West Pac twelve merger or those
two schools joining them Mount West eventually. But what's happening right now is this
lawsuit. And it sounds like from what I'm reading here, these two schools,
the loan two members left in the PAC twelve have actually had some success
in this in this case, I don't know what they're fighting for, if
they're wanting. I mean, I don't really know what they're I mean,
again, those schools are gone. They paid the exit fee leave. I
don't really know what Washington state and I guess maybe they want money from those
schools because they they bailed and you know, didn't honor their agreement to be
locked into the grant of rights. But then again, that's why you pay
the exit fee, which the lead, which these schools paid. So yeah,
I'd tell you what the the weirdest of all these moves that have been
made. What do you think is going to be the just the weirdest visually,
Like when you turn on your TV and you see these two, it's
got to be the West coast in the Big ten, right, Yeah?
That? Or like when Louisville plays cal or Stanford, any of those leftover
ACC teams you could call them. Yeah, I mean it's just there.
There's been a lot of expansion in my life as a college basketball fan,
but it all it comes in waves, right, Like you had a huge
wave that happened, you know about twelve years ago when the Big Ten added
Rutgers and in Maryland and Nebraska. Yeah, and the SEC added A and
M and Missouri and Missouri. Yeah. I mean that, And then of
course that wave continued to where you ended up with, you know, the
ACC expanding, Louislle was able to join obviously, the Big twelve added West
Virginia, and then it was pretty stagnant for a while, right and then
now, I mean last year, this year, and and it's it's gonna
be a lot different, no doubt. I mean, he we technically have.
I mean, one of these leagues is essentially dead. I mean they're
still fighting for survice. I mean, what are they wanting out of this?
I guess just money and they're gonna need it, right because with the
league falling apart, they don't have the same revenue coming in as they used
to from the Pac twelve deal. But anyways, let's get to a quick
time out. We'll talk a little more about the ACC on the other side,
because again I'm not saying like we should try to leave the ACC right
away, although if you had an exit and you could get out, I
would if the landing spot was, you know, the Big twelve or something.
But I just, again, I have no problem in saying it.
I know it sounds ungrateful, That's not where I'm coming from. But I
feel like ten years in the ACC, who knows what it would have looked
like if you never got invited and you were in the American League for a
long time, that wouldn't be ideal. But I also just feel underwhelmed,
Like I felt like we were entering a different world essentially when Louisville joined the
ACC, and it just hasn't really felt like that for some reason. All
right, don't go anywhere. It's Coffee and Company. We are field by
Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Welcome back Coffee and Company.
That's us fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety. Make sure you sign
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also give us a call phone lines or open five oh two five seven one
seventy nine hundred. It's a good question. It's a fair question, it
says Nick. Is there any chance that you feel underwhelmed by the ACC because
Louisville hasn't been able to be as competitive in this league as they were previous
leagues. It's a fair question, and you may be onto something. I
mean, in football, as much as as much as I've been pretty brutal
as far as honesty about the league, I mean it to me, the
ACC has not been a very good football league for a while. You know,
every now and then you'll have a really good team like Florida State last
year, Clemson had a great, great run going, and randomly there'll be
a team that you know puts together a good season, but just collectively,
right like I think the ACC when it comes to football. When I thought
of Louisville going to the ACC whenever, you know, that day happened right
and it came together quickly, which was which was awesome, and it's it's
it's crazy to think about it now you've been in this league ten years.
But during realignment, there was no belief that they would ever be in the
ACC. Not because of an INFI but because they just didn't feel like they
could academically qualify to be in the league. Like Tom Jurich was trying like
hell and probably working harder than any any athletic director to you know, to
find a landing spot in the Big twelve obviously was the potential landing spot,
and they chose West Virginia and that was I mean, I remember, of
course that was so long ago when that happened, but I remember the inability
to downplay this significance of losing that bid. And I don't think that you
know they were they weren't. You know, was in a press conference where
Tom Jerch cried, but you know what I mean, Like it was quite
clear that you could see it in everybody's reaction with the athletic department and then
Tom who was pretty much. You know, what you see is what you
get. Kind of guy. As far as how he addressed things like that
was brutal, and you worried about you know, man, are we going
to be you know, we're gonna be stuck in the American And it all
worked out. But the ACC thing, Man, I could be wrong here.
So long ago. I kind of feel like when Maryland randomly up and
left up and left the the ACC for the Big Ten, which what opened
up in the Big Ten for Maryland to join? That's what I don't That's
what I don't know. I don't think there were ever any openings because for
a while eleven teams bigs never lost anybody. Right now, they added Nebraska,
who was the twelfth, and then Maryland and Rutgers collectively they came together.
Okay, that makes sense. Yeah, so you know, whenever whenever
Maryland was was out, Uh yeah, Rutgers was leaving the Big East,
right, Yes, But I don't remember if Rutgers spent a year in the
American like Louisville did. Either way, it's not it's and in fact I
think they did. So. Yeah, the opening in the ACC was there,
and everybody who was covering college sports at the time, on the internet,
on television, it just assumed it was going to be Connecticut because Yukon.
I mean, the Yukon is right there next to where ESPN's headquartered,
and obviously there was already a relationship between the ACC and ESPN and Yukon.
Of course, in basketball, they were fresh off a national championship. In
fact, they won two of them in a matter of what Kimba won.
The Kimba win one, yes, yeah, so Kimba and then Shabaz Napier
and those guys. Yeah, So it just looked as if it was gonna
be Yukon. And honestly, let's be real, like, from a geographic
standpoint, I mean, I just felt like that made more sense, even
though we knew we knew that didn't matter. But they looked at Louisville's body
of work as an athletic department. Football was thriving. And that's why I
always feel as if Charlie Strong hadn't put Louisville football in that spot at that
time where they were competitive at a Heisman Trophy candidate knocked off I mean,
heck, they knocked off a I mean, I don't know if Louisville got
the invite before or after the Sugar Bowl. I feel like it was after,
but either way, I mean, Louisville had good momentum. We already
know what Louisville was in basketball, and then the other sports were really good
as well, right like women's basketball and baseball. I mean, look Tom
Jurich at the time he was here. You know, Louisville was pretty good
or really good in not all sports, but most of them. And that
is something the ACC valued, which you know, was refreshing because before that
all we'd heard about, well, how big is your TV market? That's
all anybody talked about the first go round. So you know, when Louisville
to go back to what I was getting to whenever I think of Louisville in
two thousand and thirteen, a year before they joined the league, and wow,
big, we're heading to the big league. Now. With college football,
I just assumed that you'd have Clemson and Florida State in Miami just always
being good, like there's no scenario those those three teams are ever not consistently
top twenty teams, and then you throw in a Pittsburgh who's pretty good every
now and then and then a Virginia Tech who has a lot of history and
tradition. I mean, who else am I missing from from the league that
you know that I you know, Pitt obviously joined around the same time.
But I feel like I'm blanking on. I mean, Carolina is never good
in c State. They've got tradition, they've got some history. I mean,
they're not elite by any means, but they certainly have have held their
own So just collectively, it's never worked out. Like I can't think of
the last time we watched college football in the ACC and felt like, wow,
man, this league is is deep. You've got six seven teams you
know, are pretty damn good. Three of them look like they might be
able to, you know, make the playoff like it is. That hadn't
happened. And maybe that was just mean, you know, realizing how ridiculous
that is because maybe that's not doable. But I just expected there to be
a big bump in you know, status, because you're in the ACC and
no longer in the American of the Big East, and that just really never
never really played out. But to go back to your question, you know,
do I think that maybe I feel underwhelmed because Louisville has been underwhelming in
the league. There's there's some truth to that, I would assume. I
mean, I feel like now I'm like laying on that couch at a therapist
office, like thinking about it, like, you know what, maybe you're
right, because you know, being able to play big games against Clemson in
Florida State like that is something you could not do beforehand, right, Like
you would need to play those games in a bowl game or you know,
a non conference game or non conference scheduled matchup. But that just isn't realistic
because when Louisville was good, why would any of those teams schedule them in
non conference when they're in the Big East. So you've never beat Clemson,
and you beat Florida State here and there, but never you know, consistently.
So maybe that's part of it. And in basketball, I don't know.
I wasn't. I wasn't not to sound like a snob like I know
Louisville's coming off of two disastrous seasons when it comes to hoops, but I
wasn't looking at Louisville joining the ACC as if like they're going to have to
really, you know, get their crap together, because at the time.
I mean Louisville was fresh off national championship. I mean when Louisville was,
you know, in the midst of leaving the Big East for the American for
one year and then I mean like they were in a great spot. But
yeah, you haven't. You haven't won the league, the ACC, and
you haven't I mean if you won more than an a game in the ACC
tournament since you've been in the league, So yeah, maybe you're onto something
there. In fact, the I believe the highest finish you ever had in
the ACC might have been in twenty nineteen, twenty twenty, which, of
course is this season that you know, didn't have a didn't have closure,
we didn't have a NCAA tournament, so it's an easily forgotten season. Yeah,
Louisville went in conference play. They went fifteen and five, which was
their best record, best win percentage since joining the league, and I think
the tie breaker had them at the number. Yeah, so sixteen and four
was Florida State, which is random, but I totally I would have never
guessed that. But I remember Florida State accepting the ACC Championship Tournament trophy despite
their not being a tournament because they won the regular season, but they were
sixteen and four. Duke Louisville and Virginia were all fifteen and five, and
I think the tie breaker played out to where Louisville actually ended up being in
third place. Maybe so. And look, part of my thoughts on the
ACC have a lot are based off of the current situation. Right, Like,
everybody's stuck together, and that's a good thing because it keeps you,
keeps you united. But I don't think anybody wants to stay in this league
if they can get in to the SEC or the ACC and maybe even the
Big Twelve. And Louisville's not gonna be one of the first invited from one
of those leagues that they choose to expand. And there's some kind of a
exit strategy, meaning to get out of the ACC without having to pay a
gazillion dollars for the grant of rights and all that. But you know,
if those if Clemson, Florida, State, Carolina, you know, Virginia,
if they get invites and they're out. I mean, I think if
you're Josh Hurd, you'd be wise to read the room and say, you
know, let's see if the Big Twelve would be interested because again, without
those three schools, four schools, I mean, you're you're better than what
the Mountain West is, right if they add Oregon State and Washington State.
But I think at that point, I don't know, part of me says
you'd be a distant fourth as far as best conference. But then again,
you know, maybe the Big twelve can stay. Maybe maybe you're right there
neck and neck with the Big twelve and there's but then again, like that's
the divide, right like, and that's probably mean that's really already what it
is now, right Like, I'm thinking about this as if like it's impending
to be a disaster where you're just clearly JV. But let's be real when
it comes to league affiliation, money, reach all that, which to fans,
like some of you don't care, and I get it, and it
doesn't really pertain to I mean, I want what's best for u of L
as a UFL fan, but you know, I mean it's out of our
control, right. I hope they can, you know, find theirself in
a good conference if the ACC implodes, and you know, what are we
gonna do? Stop cheering for them? I don't think it's gonna matter when
it comes to that. But like right now, it's so clearly two different
worlds. You have the SEC and the Big ten, who are the dominant
big money, big program, big value, and then you've got everybody else,
which is the ACC in the Big twelve. And maybe they flip flop
as far as who makes the most money on this grant of rights deal.
Then there's a new one in place and they get more money. But again,
what sucks for the ACC is they do not have the ability to go
back to the you know, to the table and reset and get more money
for another twelve years, twelve years, twenty thirty six. It's crazy.
All right, quick break, we'll come back on the other side and wrap
up the three o'clock hour. Get back to the text line. We're gonna
be all over the place today, which I hope is okay with you guys,
because that's what's happening right here. Coffee and Company feel by Thornton's on
Sports Talk seven ninety. All right, let's go to the text line five
O two sixty five three zero seven nineties the number if you want to contribute
to the show that way. I mean, I'm not sure how much of
a contribution, it's going to be but fire away questions, compliance, complements,
insults, whatever you have, feel free to send it our way again.
Five O two six five three zero seven ninety. It's the L and
N Federal Credit Union text line. So I asked earlier what am I missing?
Why do people love fireworks so much? What is the appeal? What's
the entertainment value that you get out of it? And we had a good
text here that comes in from somebody who looks like they've texted for the first
time. If it just says Nick, I have a theory. I know
growing up, I'm a little bit older than you. But there used to
be signs all over the place in Tennessee and in Indiana right at the border,
and they would promote how you had to be in this state or that
state to buy it, and you couldn't get it in Kentucky. I feel
like there used to be a level of a feeling like a bad ass,
and then there's more. Yeah, so I'm not gonna read the entire thing,
but maybe that is something. I don't know if you know that,
John, if that's still a thing. But they're used a lot of the
marketing and the advertising would be that, you know, these fireworks are so
bad ass that like your state doesn't let you buy them, so you got
to buy them here. Yeah, and plus it's kind of the one night
a year where you can kind of be as loud as you want and no
one's gonna call the police. Yeah, I mean to an extent, obviously,
what's the fun in that? Like, that's what I don't That's what
I don't mean. Yeah, I mean, there's just the rebellious attitude of
some people. Yeah, I mean, I remember the the I don't there's
a setup in the cause usually it's like shopping center parking lots is where these
people are set up with the tents, right, and there's one where my
kid goes the daycare and there, I mean, it's nearly the whole parking
lot, it seems. But they don't have like any signs about any specific
like you know, there's not like a there's nothing that you see from the
side of the road that's like I got to pull in here and get them.
I mean, it's just like one of the other fireworks spots. But
I feel like there used to be signs that these came from Tennessee or these
came from such and such. It was probably all just a lie to make
you feel like you were buying something that like they only have when in reality,
I'm sure everybody else has it. And are there really like regular like
are there regulations on that? Like are there fireworks that are legal in this
state and not that state? I'm sure there are, but you know,
do people really know specifically? You know, this is legal in fifty states,
this one's only legal in half the Like, I don't know. Just
it's if that's why you buy them, because you feel like you're badass because
you're crossing state lines to get something not allowed where you live, then you
know, knock yourself out. This person says, Nick, I'm not I'm
gonna assume you're being serious. But then again, sometimes like maybe I'm just
getting trolled here, but this person says, uh, fireworks are their favorite
part of the summer, and they they let me see here the yeah,
they said that they I didn't want to mess it up. They said that
the sky is their canvas when they light off fireworks, Like you must be
getting the real high level stuff, right, sky graffiti, Like if the
sky is your canvas, I feel like you've got some high dollar stuff that
really does you know. I mean, they look they look cool enough,
but like, you know, once I've seen it, I'm like, you
know, if I'm at a fireworks show and you know, it's all the
same loud stuff that goes in the air and explodes, and you've got this
color that color, like that's that's kind of cool. But then I'm probably
just sitting or sitting on my phone looking at something else because like I'm bored
with that, Like it doesn't you know, what else is it going to
do to entertain me? I don't you know, I don't get it.
And then we had a few people that kind of said this is that they
do understand the appeal of how they look, but they don't understand the ones
that just are loud, and that I'm with you, because you know,
there's a level of like blowing up stuff that's just cool kind of but I
don't know, I just can't imagine spending my own money to do that,
because once you've done that, that's over. And what do you have the
memory of an explosion that is not a visual, it's just a sound.
Like some don't get it. I love Piro at concerts but outside of the
concert environment, I could care less about any loud noises like that. We
had somebody mention that drone shows are the way to go. Do you know
what a drone show is? I know, I don't know that it's seen
one. I know Thunder over Louisville incorporates a small drone show into what they
do now, and I think a couple of amusement parks to the kind of
thing too. I think Holiday World does something either way. It's a it's
a newer way in a quieter way. I should say, Yeah, so
doing that kind of stuff a quick. I've heard of a drone show.
I just couldn't tell you exactly what it was, but yeah, I'm looking
up one that shows me pictures from last year. It's a fourth of July
drone show with you know, patriotic I mean, it doesn't really look like
fireworks, but you know kind of. So maybe that's maybe that'll be the
new thing, but I doubt it. Man. People love blowing up stuff
and as long as they're still selling it, people will buy it. And
you know, make loud noises. I can tell you where you need to
turn when it comes to uh low t it's not any fireworks stand in fact,
I can't prove this, but I have a feeling you your fireworks probably
won't be as explosive and as impressive if the T is low when you light
them. If the T levels are up, fireworks are gonna be louder,
They're gonna be more explosive. You're gonna You're gonna actually be a bigger badass.
I can't prove it, but you know, I believe it. Louis
Men's Clinic can help you with that, folks. Louile Men's Clinic dot com.
Give them a call FABO two four four four four thousand. A lot
of different services they provide to help you be a happier and healthier man.
Again, I mentioned low T that's where they've helped me. They also can
help you if you have rectiletisfunction, and they've got a variety of ways to
treat that. And I imagine there's people listening that know theyvd, but you
don't want to address it. And I get it. I wouldn't either,
because that's probably something that's pretty difficult to deal with. But the quicker you
deal with it, the quicker you get back to, you know, fact,
to business, if you know what I'm saying. But the Little Men's
Clinic can also help you if you want to lose weight. They've got weight
loss therapy. They've got the semi glue tide shot, which is something you
do each week and it helps you helps you lose weight. Right, it's
not a huge lifestyle change. In fact, the shot changes your lifestyle for
you because you just you're not hungry to snack. You know, you know
your portions are a lot smaller. So weight loss, low t joint pain
or rectiletis function, hair restoration. They can help you, fellas So again
Louis of Men's Clinic. Dot com is the website and the number is five
oo two four four four four thousand. All right, A lot more to
come in these next couple of hours, including some really encouraging numbers already from
TBT ticket sales, so we'll talk about that. Also, the Kyle Filipowski
situation continues to be a talking point. I don't feel like there's a whole
lot of new information out there since we talked about it Friday, but it's
kind of become the story of the draft because it's just unusual. But I've
got some thoughts for the family. Who's blaming Duke and like claiming that you
know they're at fault here or letting this happens. That's nonsense, And who
else knows what? Who knows what else we're going to get into in the
next couple of hours, So stick with us right here. Coffee and Company.
Filbeth Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety