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.
Friday afternoon hour number two. Here Coffee and Company. That's us. We
are fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety and we now bring in a
friend of the show, mister Jeffrey Greer. Jeff, I was, I
was, I was thinking about it earlier. I don't really know how to
introduce you anymore because I still always think of hoops when I think of you.
But I know now that you're now an executive. You work for Soccer
Holdings, part of the Racing Louisville, the Louisville of City family, so
you know, you know, you're just Jeff Greer. I feel like everybody
should know Jeff Greer. I know that most of them do. But how
should I? How should I introduce you to this, this worldwide audience that
we bring you on to to talk to. Well, first of all,
thank you for having me, Nick. It's nice to chat with you,
and I will say I'm really excited for you to open the check that my
mom is sending you. But yeah, I mean you could just say you
could just say it's Jeff and we'll go from there. Okay, So here's
what I'm gonna do. Your answer has given me my answer, which is,
I'm just gonna each week we talk to you whenever that is, I'm
gonna think of like a of a different like professional wrestling intro to give you
to like, you know, he's he's the lady's pet, he's every man's
regret, something like that, you know what I mean, Like just those
kind of things I think could be, you know, could be, could
be a lot of fun. So it is Jeff Greer. He's with us,
and uh, we'll talk about a lot of different things with Jeff.
That's what we typically do. But I have to start with the momentum that
we have here with Racing Louisville, coming off a couple of victories. They've
got a big game coming up tomorrow. I mean, we're talking. I
mean, what do we call this team? I mean, in a in
y Gotham FC. They have to put the NJ in why they're New Jersey,
New York because Gotham's not a real place, right, I mean that's
they're fraudulent. Yeah, well they are. They are but very good at
soccer. Clearly, yes, they are very good. They're the reigning champions.
They've got I think something like seven members of the US national team and
their starting lineup a couple of Spaniards who just won the World Cup. So
yeah, they're I mean, they're very very good. Uh. That being
said, they play in New Jersey, so I think it's a little bit
fraudulent to claim New York and your mantle. It's like it'd be like when
the Nets played in New Jersey and and but they would call themselves like the
New Jersey New York Nets, Like how weird would that would that have been?
They were just the New Jersey That's not the same thing. Pick a
side, Yeah, pick a side. They try to kind of claim Philadelphia
too, so I just you know, it is what it is. But
it sounds like an identity crisis on their end. No comment. But no,
they are. They're very, very talented, and their coach is really
good and actually is a good friend of our coach Devanas and has been a
good supporter of her. So it's a big matchup tomorrow for US on ESPN.
It's the first time for Racing that they'll play on ESPN. That's awesome.
So yeah, I'm pretty excited about that twelve PM and hopefully it doesn't
get too hot out well. So in the last couple of a couple of
matches, you guys have had again momentum. As I mentioned, you had
the victory over Houston and Chicago. What has led to this? I mean,
obviously a lot of draws here throughout the season and a couple you know,
losses as well, and obviously some wins too. It's not as if
there haven't been wins along the way, But what do you feel like has
really been the biggest factor in these last couple of weeks. Yeah, So
it started out look the first through the first ten games, we played the
toughest schedule in the league. So this is a critical stretch now, really
starting with that Chicago game. In Chicago's a good team, they're in playoff
position, but we played the top five teams, including Gotham in New York
while in New Jersey back at the end of April, we played i think
it was eight of those ten games against the top five teams in the league.
So there were a lot of draws there that I think at the end
of the year, we're going to look back and be actually probably pretty happy
with the results to get points on the road against good teams. But in
the last couple of weeks, what I think has really clicked is this is
a team that, as people who have followed soccer here, no, look,
lu Citi has been good for ten years. I mean they have been
to every Eastern Conference final in the club's existence, and it's just a very
different league than the that Racing is in, and it's been hard to get
going. So you've got a roster of players, the foundational players of this
club, who have never really won at this level before, and I think
the big differences adding in some veterans who have been on some winning teams over
the years, and then believing in themselves and obviously our coach Bedianna's has a
big part in that and in equipping them with the right amount of information for
them to feel confident in those games. And I think it's really starting to
click for them here tactically. And look, we talk about this all the
time in hoops too, right where it's like you get a new coach,
how long did it take Louisville and the teams that Rick Patino had to learn
that matchup, that matchup zone. I mean, how it took them.
They would usually start zooming after the new year, right like then they'd really
click in and you'd be like, Okay, now they seem to have gotten
it, and then they've drilled it so much that they're starting to look confident.
And that's what we're seeing with this team, is that it's really clicked
in the last couple of weeks with what they're trying to do and they're starting
to grind out some results. Yeah, I get the sense that the you
know, the way things have played out since really day one with Racing Louisville
until now. As far as just the Olds, it's it's it's pretty expected
given you know how new it is. But we'll get back to racing in
a second. But you you brought up Blue City. I mean, do
people I think everybody says it, meaning that you know they're aware, but
do people really understand how crazy it is that since that club launched, they've
just been since I mean, they've been good since day one, and that
doesn't happen very often and really any level of sports, when you when you
get to a team that's kind of just you know, an expansion team created
from scratch essentially. No, it's very rare. We're so spoiled when it
comes to that. Yeah, you're just kind of used to going there on
Friday or Saturday and City wins, especially at home. I would say,
like, and anybody who's been with the club for the duration or for a
long time would tell you the same thing, as you know, the USL
Championship, the league that they're in, it's the second tier on the men's
side, would tell you the league has gotten a lot better and a lot
more difficult in these last couple of years. And to that end, I
mean that makes it even more impressive. I mean, it's just like every
year they're right there at the end of the year, and it makes for
fun games because you expect them to win every time. So my hope for
Racing obviously a very different setup, but is to get to the point where
even if it's you know, a team that is fighting for playoff contention,
that at least at home, you come to those games expecting Racing to win,
and if they don't win, they play their butts off to try to
get at least a point out of it. Jeff Greer is our guest here
joining the Sun Sports Talk seven ninety talking about Racing Louisville's big match tomorrow taking
on Gotham FC. And I've been in Louisville my whole life, and I
know what really can get this city going as far as excitement and things you
can do to really just add some juice and honoring the greatest Muhammad Ali is
certainly a move that works every time. It's worked in basketball, it's worked
in football, and you guys are doing that tomorrow with it being Ali Day.
What are some of the plans as far as how you guys are going
to honor the champ as you hope to have a big crowd out there tomorrow
at noon. Yeah, So that was something when I first started back in
twenty twenty two of trying to come up with some ways to connect more with
the different pillars in our community. We've done a lot of stuff obviously with
the team name around Turchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby as you would expect,
but the Ali Center I've known, I'm sure you're also mutually friends with any
more who is now the PR person over at at the Ali Center. I've
known her for a while, and there's a couple other folks over there who
I've gotten to know, and it was just important to me to try to
figure out a way to connect with them. And what it ended up being
was in June they have the annual Ali Festival where they do all this wonderful
stuff. It actually just ended, I think a couple of days ago now,
and so each year for the last three now this being the third year,
what we've done is it's just been kind of a combination of a bunch
of stuff. We take our players over to the Ali Center o our staff
to learn a little bit about about Muhammad, but also the work of the
center and just kind of appreciate what he means to the city and what the
Center means to the city. Lani Ali has spoken to our team now twice.
You spoke to our team yesterday. That's awesome, great, Yeah,
I told a great rumble in the Jungle story that that was awesome. The
little rope Adope, the genesis of the rope adope strategy and using your platform
to speak up and all that. And then at the game, you know,
we've got all sorts of video stuff and we'll have different content. But
the biggest thing that's that's great for us is, you know, we go
help them at the greatest give back, which is usually like stuff and backpacks
or like packing snacks for kids, or you know, little things like that
that that add up to a big project. And you know, other big
organizations around town help out, like U of L. And then we return
the favor by having one hundred plus employees and employee families and friends out to
the game. So they're gonna come out, have a great time. They'll
take up a whole section. The Ali family will be there, Lonnie and
their whole group. So it should be a great time. It's gonna be
a big opportunity for us to take advantage of that little Louisville mojo, like
you said, and put on for the city. And when it comes to
you know, the mojo, the vibe. You guys are having a pregame
happy How we're talking two dollars beers, Jeff, we're talking three dollars mimosas
starting at ten thirty. That's dangerous. That's dangerous. See in your language,
it's I mean three dollars mimosas. That's dangerous for Gotham, because if
I get a few of those in me, it's gonna be I'm gonna be
impacting the atmosphere there because that's that's a heck of a deal. Three dollar
momses come on now and two dollars beers too. I mean, that's that's
that alone is an incentive to get out there and check out a great matchup.
Now, I'm a little curious about the behind the scenes stuff when it
comes to you guys having this on ESPN two. How often, I guess,
how much of a heads up do you do you get when it comes
to knowing that it's going to be in that slot as far as television,
And I'm sure behind the scenes with you guys, you know, I know
you try your best every single opportunity to to show what you guys are doing,
whether it be if it's on national TV or not. But it's a
big opportunity. There's a lot more exposure here than which you're typically used to.
Yeah, so it's this has been a big year for the league in
general, and especially for us here in Louisville. We're obviously the smallest market
of the league. So you've got teams in LA and San Francisco and New
York and DC and Chicago, et cetera, cetera. So when they signed
this new deal, it was estimated to be about two hundred and forty two
hundred and fifty million dollars over the next couple of years. But it included
ESPN and included CBS, it included Prime Video, and they treat the Amazon
game was crazy. We had one back in May. They basically treated it
like it was Thursday night football, so they had like miked up sessions and
it's also like one hundred something staff here. And of course ESPN two is
a big one as well, so they actually moved ESPN it was ESPN two
one o'clock. They moved us up to ESPN regular for twelve o'clock for this
game. And that's I mean, ESPN two is great. ESPN sure,
obviously it's going to be an even bigger audience. So yeah, it's a
big chance for me to kind of, you know, help them out with
photos and different storylines, and that's a very fun part of my job.
Fin Yeah, that's your that's your lane for sure. And you know,
with sports being such a dominant thing right now, when it comes to live
television. Most I mean, people still watch content on their television, but
it's usually through a stream on one of these streaming services or maybe they know.
I guess people still use DVR, but I don't know if people like
so. Because of that, there's so many TVs, they just end up
on one of the ESPN family of stations. So like the exposure that you
guys are going to get across the country with this, like it's it's human
right. It may not be every single person is tuning in for the entire
game, but yeah, I mean I've kind of nerded out here lately,
just realizing and it makes total sense because I'm someone that's like this. But
the vast majority of people who are watching something live on television it is sports
related. So I think that's why the NBA is dropping in viewership. However,
their new METEA Rites deal is insanely lucrative because they have something that most,
not many, you know, entertainment entities can claim that everybody's watching their
stuff live in sports. You know. I guess maybe you can turn your
phone off and catch up later if you need to, But now that's a
big deal to see you guys getting on the deuce ESPN two. All right,
before we let you go, Jeff, I got to ask you this
when it comes to your coverage of Louisvile basketball. Obviously, you work for
the CJ for many years, work for the athletic very familiar with Louisville hoops
in the last really decade or so. Does it make you feel old like
it does me to see Peyton on the staff and Russ come back and give
a speech like he's been, you know, gone for thirty years. It
was great to see that. You know, as a fan myself, that's
awesome to see. But man, how these guys getting older makes makes me
feel like we're old? We're old dudes now? Yeah, I mean it
doesn't help when I walk into the office and I'm around all these twenty two
year old Yeah. Like I made a reference. I made a reference to
the R and B group one twelve today. I made the peaches and cream
got it? I mean, calm on, nobody got it. I did
it because you know that I'm a thing peaches and cream exactly. Thank you,
Thank you forgetting that. I knew you would, But no, you
know when it really hit me was when they were retired Russ's number. That
really was just like, Wow, things are progressing very rapidly here for me.
Uh you know, And but it's cool because you know, you could
kind of always and I know you would probably say the same thing as like
you can kind of pinpoint, like if you told me ten years ago,
hey, you know, Russ Smith would be would be you know, involved
in kind of eclectic business and and Peyton Steevie would probably end up being in
coaching, and Luke Hancock is on TV and doing the media thing, and
uh, you know, Kristin Cunningham is in coaching. Like if you told
me that ten years ago, I'd be like, yeah, that sounds about
right. Like it usually matches the personality of these guys you as you get
to know them and get to be around them. And there's still a couple
other guys who haven't quite ended their careers yet, whether that's in the US
or abroad where you kind of have an idea of where they may be headed
down the line. But yeah, it's certainly starting to add to my uh
to my gray hairs here every time I see those guys being treated like legends
instead of just like, oh, they played here two years ago. Yeah,
you're right, because the what you laid about laid out about us,
Payton even and even Kristen is true. I would have believed you. But
I'm thinking, where the hell did time go? Like how has how did
it? How did this happen? How did this happen so quickly, so
real quick? I know, I know, I said I let you go.
I got one more thing I want to share with you because I you
mentioned working with a lot of folks that are younger than you, and it's
the same thing around here. Like my producer John who's on vacation this week.
You know he you know, he's a grown up. He's got he's
got a mortgage and a wife. Like he's a grown up, but he's
twenty four. I'm I'm I'm thirty five, but to be thirty six,
So like I don't feel like I'm talking to a kid. But there are
things in reference that, like you know that I saw something on TikTok and
I did it with him the other day on the show. Like I'll mention
like five words to a song. You know, you mentioned the peaches and
cream thing, and I'll instantly think, like, how do you how the
hell do you not know that song, and then I'll think like, well,
yeah, he probably was two years old. It makes total sense,
and that there's nothing that makes me feel more old than that. Like I
I did the make what did master P make him say? That's what I
asked him and he had no clue, and obviously it's to make him say,
oh, so he had no clue what I was talking about. He
played the song on the rejoin and he was like, yeah, I've never
heard this. This is awful, And I'm like, I'm an old guy
now, like this is old stuff. So yeah, if you find a
support group for us, let me know. I'll I'll try to, you
know, make it out because I know there's nothing more pop culture references,
like that's not a that's not a thing I want to feel old about,
you know what I mean? Yeah, no, I agree. I think
we should definitely start a support group and we can do like the starting lineups
of the NL East in the late nineties and like, you know, just
try to run through some songs and maybe make a couple like fresh prints and
like Seinfeld references and just see what people can catch on to. But yeah,
it's it's tough, man, it's tough out here. And even my
wife, she's four years younger than me, and I say some stuff and
she's like, yeah, I don't that was that was before my time.
I'm like, you're not that far much like that farther down the ladder than
me that you can make me feel old. And she's like, wow,
well, I'm mid thirties or late thirties, so good luck, buddy.
It's just terrible. Yeah, and there's a and that's crazy because you're right
mid thirties, late thirties. It might as well be two different planets.
I mean, it's it's happening. It's happening. But hey, we're hey,
we're we're in this together, my man, you and me. All
right, thank you. I appreciate it. Jeff, you are the man.
I appreciate you making time for us as always, and we'll be cheering,
cheering for a big victory tomorrow. All right, sounds good, my
man. You have a great weekend you too. Again. That is Jeff
Career, always appreciated making time for us and always enjoy the conversation. Good
stuff there. All right, quick break, we'll come back here on the
other side, and I believe we're going to bring in another special guest.
How about a great Friday here, Father's Day Friday. Yeah, good,
good vibes rolling along. We're gonna bring in doctor Eric McElroy. So good
stuff. Keep it locked right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. That's right
about halfway through here on a Friday edition of Coffee and Company, fueled by
Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety. Getting you set for the weekend. Father's
Day weekend. I'm really looking forward to that, not only as a dad
myself, but to hang out with my dad, step dad and you know,
enjoy the holiday. And uh, no better way to get the Friday
vibes enhanced than bringing in our own Eric McRoy program physical therapy. Eric.
How we doing, brother, I'm doing fantastic. Uh, great week great
weather. You know, Father's Days around the corner. So you got any
big Father's Day plans? You know, just with my kids. My wife
unfortunately or fortunately either way, is teaching a course. Uh so I'll be
you know tonight with the kids. Uh. We got a busy day tomorrow.
We'll go out to the Racing Louisville soccer game. Nice and you know,
my son has something in the morning. And then yeah, some golf.
I mean, it'll be fun. It's gonna be a good weekend.
We just uh we well, we're gonna go to Churchill Downs, which has
kind of become like our thing each and every year, which will which will
be a lot of fun. But uh, my wife last night she gave
me an early gift and that was she she interviewed our kids, both of
them. I have an eight year old daughter and a and a four year
old son, and she basically asked them questions about me, and you know,
what's what, what's what's dad's favorite color? What does dad like to
do? What do you what do you think makes him really happy? And
they were so eager to answer the questions. It's the best gift I'll probably
ever get as a father, which is cool because they were so you know,
it was it was it was a nice surprise. So you know,
little things like that make Father's Day a lot of fun. But I wanted
to tell you if you're going to the game tomorrow. We just talked with
Jeff Greer of Soccer Holdings about this big this big match tomorrow with Gotham.
Just keep in mind, don't don't be don't shy away from spoiling yourself for
Father's Day weekend, They've got Happy Hour going on. Okay, two dollars
beers at ten thirty and then three dollars mimosas, So you know, don't
don't be afraid to have maybe an extra one just to you really take care
of yourself for Father's Day, you know what I mean? Oh, for
sure, absolutely, I'll definitely partake in that, you know, do a
little early so I'm able to drive when we leave here, we go exactly
exactly. So one of the things I wanted to chat with you about is
the big news in the UFC where Connor McGregor was expected to make his big
return. He was supposed to fight in the next couple weeks and now it
has been it's been postponed or I guess canceled, not postponed. He was
gonna fight. It's gonna face Michael Chandler in Vegas, and this was going
to be his first fight since July of twenty twenty one when he broke his
leg. And there's not been a whole lot out there. Not that we're
entitled to know everything as far as injuries and health and whatnot, but a
lot of those who cover the UFC Mixed Martial Arts say that this is not
career threatening and it's really not even super severe. It's just the timing is
not ideal and that maybe if this fight was going to take place, you
know, in a month after what the initial scheduled date was, then maybe
he'd be able to go. But knowing what Connor McGregor went through against Dustin
Fourier, which was of course just a devastating injury, and he hasn't fought
since then. I mean, I'm not going to ask you to guess what's
going on here, but what do you think like that process was like for
him to I mean, it's been a long time and we're talking roughly three
years since that happened, but he hasn't fought since then. I just there's
a lot of curiosity out there from fans thinking what could it be. He
seems to be okay. There's social media stuff that makes it look as if
he's not, you know, visually injured, which hey, you can walk
around and live every day life. Doesn't mean you can get into the octagon
and be a part of a big fight. But just curious your thoughts here
because the timing has some worry that maybe he is really, you know,
not being able to get healthy. Yeah, I think that, you know,
that is a long time I think for the nature of his injury given
and you know, there's a lot of variables in play, and they're getting
scheduled fights and how they're scheduled, and you know, he's not going to
take just any fight and that and he doesn't have to, which you know
that plays into it. Another UFC fighter may have already picked up a fight,
you know what I mean. He's in a little different vote with his
popularity and his success in the way UFC works, or MMA and itself.
You know, it's hard to say I'm in you know, me talking to
me for years, it's I don't love to speculate that athletes would be you
know, not hiding anything or trying to avoid something, you know, or
but I do think that given the circumstances of his return, could there be
First of all, it's a devast that's a hard injury to come back from.
And the nature of the sport, right so of course you know they
take leg kicks, which for you and I would fracture our leg, and
they train their legs to be able to do that when you have new bone
and other things involved, you know, the ability to do that, to
plant, to kick, to move around the ring like they need to to
avoid ankle locks. You know, those things are all part of you know,
this guy's gonna come in and try to win a fight. He's very
aware of what Connor McGregor's went through. And then he's not gonna you know,
nobody wants to. They're not gonna cheap, but they're gonna win and
when they come in, they're gonna exploit weaknesses. And so for Connor McGregor,
he's gonna go into this fight. It's very important that he comes in
and wins this fight. It's his first fight in a while. He needs
to be in the best shape he could pass to a ben and so they're
all those things are gonna come into play. So, you know, is
it something that you and I could watch him moving around and think, oh,
well, you know, he looks fine, well looking fine and like
you said, and going you know, five rounds in a UFC fight,
which is extremely exhausting the way they you know, you know, for in
the length of time, those are some of the longest three four minutes or
whatever it is. I can't remember off the top of my head. Uh,
you know, that's incredibly difficult. So you know, and and then
it's not like you have a game the next week that you can make up
for it, you know what I mean. I think that gets lost too.
The timing has to be right for him, and if he's not feeling
at the level he needs to be at and it's putting himself at risk for
whatever, then he is going to pull from the fight. Yeah, I
mean, it's so different than you know, the typical sports that that we
discussed. But you know, when you're talking about a combat sport, like
for example, if if I'm if I'm playing basketball and I know the guy
guarding me is coming off of, you know, a knee injury, I'm
not going to be afraid to really kind of utilize the pick and roll and
make him work. Well, if you're in a UFC fight and they know
you're you're coming off of an injury, even if it's been a long time,
strategy would tell them to attack, to attack right like and take advantage.
It's just it's so different. A third time, they're there to win,
and you know, and you know, the opponents are aware of that.
It's not like they're doing anything they don't know they're gonna do. But
you know, he's gonna put that thought into it. And as an athlete,
he's got a you know, a very short period of time in the
big scheme of things. Not that he needs to you know, make more
money necessarily, but but you know, I mean he's still a competitor,
sure, I mean, you know, and so I think that he's got
good luck fighting in the UFC and the octagon. If you're not in there
to compete, right right, right, you're not gonna coast. He wants
to win. He's not just there for the fame and the you know,
I mean, he takes advantage of that, but he's not. He wants
to win. And the older he gets, the harder that's going to be.
He's no, he's not an idiot. Uh. He knows his time
is limited. Uh. They all know that. And so when they're only
getting so many fights, they're going to make sure that the ones they do
get that they're able to go ahead and and uh and perform at their highest
level. And by the way, this isn't uncommon. I mean, yeah,
the UFC. You know, it was an awesome event. I don't
know if you went out there and went I've been around the sport for a
long time. Brother owns an MMA gym in Orlando, Florida, and you
know, you know, one of the matches or one of the fights that
night, there was a guy coming off very limited. You know, he
was kind of a replacement fighter. And you know, for those guys to
step in and do that, it's pretty impressive too, uh you know.
Or I may even say, you may have been another fight, uh not
this one, but one before that my brother and I were talking about.
But for them to come in on short notice and to replace somebody who had
to again pulled out because of an injury, I mean, that's a huge
task, tall tax, you know. And I think Connor McGregor is one
of his previous fights, somebody did that. So you know, I think
that you know, this isn't necessarily uncommon that a fighter has to be pull
out. Uh And you know, and it's hard on them, right because
it's a payday they're not going to get and they don't know when the next
one's coming. So yeah, it's I don't want to speculate I think that
he's going to be any time an athlete kind of get back to what you're
asking is coming off of an injury, and they're going to be over critical
of how they're doing going into that fight, and sometimes maybe to the he
still may have gone in and done well, but they don't have a lot
of time. I mean, he has a lot of time what we think
is a lot of time. But they they are going to be the closer
they get to that fight, they're going to utilize their team help them make
a decision and really have to decide, you know, hey, am I
really ready? Am I where I need to be to go in and compete
at the level I expect myself to do it. And if the answer to
them is no, then you know, whether we think they're ready or not,
that's ultimately it's going to come down to their decisions. So one of
the things I've really enjoyed over the years in our conversations about athletes, rather
it be rehabbing injuries or training and you know, making sure they're taking care
of their bodies, is that every sport, regardless of how different they are,
you know they have their own way of training and you know their own
style, And I'm just curious when it comes to mixed martial arts UFC fighters,
you know, when they're spending you know, countless hours training making sure
that they're in the best position possible before they step in there and get after
it. Like how often what they're doing in training like leading, like just
say a week or two prior to an actual fight, are is the training
they're going through? Like how how similar is that to what they're actually gonna
get in the ring, right, Like I know, you know, usually
sparring, right, it's not as if you're actually you know, practicing with
somebody who's also at the same level of level as you. But I'm just
curious, like with with Connor, it's been so long since he's actually been
in this position, you know, just you know, trying to curious if
maybe it's just maybe he wasn't quite ready because when you're training again, you
want to make sure you're ready. But like you know, like any sport,
it's one thing to get ready. You can do repetition, you can
try to recreate a very you know, real atmosphere that's similar to what you're
gonna do when it's actually go time and the lights are on. But I
imagine you have c just like anything else. Man, you don't really know
until you're out there right well, and then you have the factors of the
true win and all the nerves and everything that comes that he's not getting in
training. I mean you can't replicate that. Yeah, and you know fear.
But look, they I don't care how tough these guys are, which
they are extremely but you press your leg like that, you're thinking about it.
I mean, there's that's just human biology. Yeah, it's the human
element of sports. It's impossible not to have it in your mind and plain
in his mind. And think about Connor McGregor. Again, you have to
think about all baria. Well, he's got a lot more media obligations and
all those kind of things than a lot of these fighters don't happen. And
you know that takes time. And he's gonna say him because he getting paid,
or he's gonna do him excuse me because he gets paid for him and
you know, and let's face it, I mean in the world of UFC,
now he makes a cracked ton of money. But you know, it's
not that they need those kind of things. And so they're training, he's
doing a lot. A lot of things are very similar to others. Weren't
conditioning, strength training. They're doing a lot of those things, performance enhancing,
enhancement stuff, injury prevention. Those things are all happening now. They're
from a sports standpoint. You know, you're working different disciplines. You know,
that's what's kind of unique from HIMMA. You have the wrestling component,
the ground component, the striking component. It's all intertwined. Now. When
we started watching mm a years ago, you had somebody who was really heavy
in one discipline and they would try to fight to their to their strengths.
Right, that's totally different. And so you know there there's all of that
that that's happening like every other sport. And so as he's getting closer to
the fight, he's obviously trying to peak, so he's going to start taking
care of his body. He's in a back off how heavy's training. He's
still sparring, he's still doing those things, but he's not going at it
like he would have a month or two before that. But that's where a
lot of the nerves and the preparation of mental preparation and things of like.
All right, it's not body weight where I need to be. You know,
maybe he's overweight. I don't know, you know what I mean,
And that's huge, right, they have to be able to cut weight and
make weight of the fight doesn't matter. So that's where a lot of that
stuff comes in for UFC fighters. They're starting to get their body to the
point where you know, he may walk around at you know, a certain
weight, but he fights twenty pounds lighter. You know, can I get
my body to that point? You know, you think a guy who's done
it just many times that would be easy, but it's not always the case.
And so I think that there's a lot of those kind of things start
to happen where you know, those decisions start to play in as he gets
closer to the fight that are going to impact his ability to say yes or
no or I can prepare. You know, when they set these schedules,
they're assuming he's going to be ready, right, but there's nothing to say
he's going to be. You just never know, you never know, anything
can happen. Now, you mentioned you were at the event that took place
this past weekend. I wasn't able to make it, but I you know,
I did see the phenomenal turnout. The I mean, there's clearly an
appetite for UFC around here because I don't know if I've seen the Young Center
with a sporting event that had that much momentum and that many people talking about
it in your interest in and and no knowledge of the sport. I mean,
I feel like the UFC would would have to want to come back here,
maybe bring a pay per view here. I know we're not Vegas and
they go to some of the most extravagant places in the world, but I
thought it was really awesome to see that we at least showed our part that
hey, you bring it here, We're going to come and support it.
Absolutely. I meant this month, outside of one little hiccup, have not
shown the world how well Louisville, Kentucky does with events like that. Amen.
Brother, We're a sports city. We're a sports city in any sport
you know, bring it in, We're going to support it. And uh,
I think that that's I was super impressed by the crowd. I was
super impressed by the energy and for them, not just for the you know,
the the last three fights that you're you know, you're more well known
fighters, but for undercart I mean, everything was. It was incredible and
I can't I can't imagine how they don't come back. I can't imagine how
we don't get a pay per view fight. Could you imagine? Yeah,
I mean we made him money. We made them tons of money. I
mean, bring in some of these big time fights. I guarantee it'll sell
out, and you know, and and then the build up to it would
even be you know, people would be involved to you know, the build
up to the fight too. So I think, yeah, I was extremely
impressed. I was really proud of the city and how how they came out
to support it. You know, my brother, who you know, was
Louisville. You know, he's been in Florida for twenty eight years. Still
home to him to some level, so he was super impressed that in that
world for a long time. So you know, it's really cool to see.
And uh, you know, I hopefully that they'll look at that and
you know, Dan and White will be like, yeah, we got to
come back there soon or put them on the regular rotation for sure, no
doubt. Good stuff. Eric. I appreciate you making time for us on
a Friday. Enjoy your weekend, my man. And have a good Father's
Day. Okay, buddy, you do the same, have fun. On's
some money to track. I'll try. I'll do my best. Thanks brother,
all right. So yeah, that's Eric mamcelroy, pro re physic with
therapy. Always a good conversation with doctor McElroy. Quick break. Will come
back on the other side, wrap at the four o'clock hour and keep this
thing rolling along. Getting your step for the weekend a Father's Day weekend for
those who missed the news earlier. Coleman Hawkins and and we talked about for
I mean, I think a lot of people know who he is, and
he's been mentioned here and there for a while, but there was about a
four to five day window where Louisville fans, you know, felt like they
were in pretty good shape to land him. Of course that didn't happen,
and I still get pushback on this, and it's fine, but Louisville decided
not to continue to pursue him as somebody to add to their team, and
maybe down the line that looks like a big mistake because maybe they could have
landed him. But in the end, he ended up quickly scheduling a visit
to Kansas State. In fact, he visited Kansas State and Jerome Tang right
after it was I mean, in fact, I think he replaced his louisvill
visit with a visit to Kansas State, was going to visit LSU this weekend,
canceled that visit, and then earlier today decided to commit to Kansas State
and Sham's Cherania. NBA Insider reporting that Colemenhawkins is believed to be now the
highest paid player in college basketball through NIL says it's believed to be the most
lucrative college INNIL deal at two million dollars, negotiated from a collective by Nate
Conley of some agency and Aaron Turner of Veris Basketball. So if you're wondering,
I mean, and again, I can't prove anything in regards to how
much money is actually in play here. I just have a hard time thinking
that even if you had a big amount of money for NIL, which,
by the way, I think the average let me look it up here,
I think the average NIL. And again it's just a guess. But there
are people who really, you know, almost like scientifically study INNIL and if
you look at let's see here, Yeah, so great. Whenever Osabor decided
to go to Washington and he was believed to get two million. That led
to a lot of reaction from people who claimed that they absolutely overpaid, meaning
that just because Osibor got two million from Washington did not mean that, you
know, did not mean that he was you know, that that was the
going rate for him. They just overpaid, which whatever, either way,
if they got the money, then they got the money. But that led
to Jason Belzer, who is a CEO of Student Athlete NIL, which is
a company that really helps collectives launch and really, I guess, you know,
helps them enter that space of being a collective. In the NIL world,
the average, yes, is the average in IL budget for a Power
five college basketball program is expected to be one and a half million next season.
Let's just say it's two million and the average. You know, there's
gonna be some that have four or five, but yeah, there's gonna be
some that barely have a million just because of resources. Right. I just
don't think anybody would be, no matter who you are in college, who
would be worth two million. If the average is one point five and let's
say the max is like, I don't know, five, it doesn't make
any sense. And I think when you see woj who broke the news about
Osibor, and you see Shams breaking the news about Coleman Hawkins, it's because
agents are feeding them that info because they want to get more of these type
of clients who can actually get a big amount of money from these schools in
NIL, even if it's not two million. I also am well, I
mean, regardless of the number Osibor and Hawkins, I have no problem acknowledging
that those two are probably the two dudes that did in fact get the most
money that you know, compared to everybody else. But is it that amount,
don't know. But either way, these agents, their percentage, meaning
the cut that they get is way bigger than what they get when they when
they are representing NFL NBA players. So NIL is a hustle for those guys,
right, These college kids are wide eyed, they want an agent,
they want feel important, and they're given up fifteen to twenty percent to agents.
Where that's just I mean that it's a hustle for these agents when it
comes to entering the NIL space. So it's all agent driven, just like
the draft stuff is, right, So I actually feel less inclined to believe
the real number when it's put out there by shams and wojes, despite them
being as connected as anybody. That is because agents are feeding them info and
wanted to be out there that way. If you're a college athlete and you
feel like you've got real nil value, you're gonna want to go link up
with one of these agents because they helped great Osiborg get two million. They
help Coleman Hawkins get north of two million, so I'm sure they're getting paid.
I just have always had a hard time believing it it's the actual number
that people put out there. But maybe I'm just a jealous hater, because
you know, that's life changing