Speaker 1: It's Dick Gabriel taking a little bit of time off,
Speaker 1: so we thought we would replace some of the best
Speaker 1: interviews from over the last several months. Please enjoy the
Speaker 1: best of the Big Blue Insider. Joining us now is
Speaker 1: a longtime friend who worked with me way back when,
Speaker 1: not that far she's still very young. Debbie Antonelli joins us.
Speaker 1: She is a well known color analyst for ESPN, CBS.
Speaker 1: If you got a game, she'll work it. How are
Speaker 1: you young lady?
Speaker 2: Hey Dick, it's so great to get reconnected with you.
Speaker 2: You know I love Big Blue Nation and I'm so
Speaker 2: pleased to be with you today.
Speaker 1: You are traveling covering the WNBA, Caitlin Clarky and an Fever.
Speaker 1: I want to talk about that, but first I would
Speaker 1: love to talk with you about your Nothing but Net
Speaker 1: fundraiser for Special Olympics. You had I guess back in May,
Speaker 1: but you really put yourself through it. Tell everybody what
Speaker 1: you did well.
Speaker 2: Thank you so much for asking. I'm so proud of
Speaker 2: team Antonelli around this effort to raise money and awareness
Speaker 2: for Special Fix. The fundraisers called twenty four hours Nothing
Speaker 2: but Net, I make one hundred free throws, make one
Speaker 2: hundred free throws on the top of every hour for
Speaker 2: twenty four hours, So at the end of twenty four hours,
Speaker 2: I've made twenty four hundred. We've been doing this for
Speaker 2: six years and in six years we have been able
Speaker 2: to raise over one million dollars for Special Olympics, and
Speaker 2: we have raised not just the money, but we've created
Speaker 2: a lot of awareness and been able to share a
Speaker 2: lot of stories about why sport is important not just
Speaker 2: for everyone, but important for people with intellectual disability as well.
Speaker 2: So I couldn't be more proud of the effort. And yes,
Speaker 2: the fitness part of it is incredibly taxing. Requriors a
Speaker 2: year round effort on my part, from training and from
Speaker 2: fitness and from nutrition to be able to be capable
Speaker 2: of pulling this off, but it definitely is worth it,
Speaker 2: and I couldn't be more proud of Team Mantinelli.
Speaker 3: And the effort around it.
Speaker 1: How do you train for this other than shoot free
Speaker 1: throws on stuff?
Speaker 2: You know, it's funny, Dick, Shooting free throws is not
Speaker 2: the part that I spend the most time on. I
Speaker 2: spend more time on the fitness aspect, the conditioning, So
Speaker 2: it's a lot of burpies and planks, and it's a
Speaker 2: lot of weight. It's what I call sprinting, even though
Speaker 2: at my age it probably doesn't look like sprinting. But
Speaker 2: it is all of that effort to try to get
Speaker 2: myself in the best condition so that I can do
Speaker 2: it at a high level. It's not just about completing
Speaker 2: the task, It's about doing it the best I can
Speaker 2: because the better that I can do it, the better
Speaker 2: the story is. And when we live stream it, nobody
Speaker 2: wants to tune in and see somebody shooting a bunch
Speaker 2: of bricks. So I want to do it at a
Speaker 2: high level so it helps us raise money and raise awareness.
Speaker 1: How long have you been doing this.
Speaker 2: I've been doing this for six years, and I will
Speaker 2: tell you that I'm going to keep doing what I
Speaker 2: say on the air, and that is shoot till my
Speaker 2: arm falls off. And my six year average is ninety
Speaker 2: four percent. So when I'm in the game and there's
Speaker 2: the team that's struggling and can't make free throws, or
Speaker 2: there's a particularly poor free throw shooter, I usually nudge
Speaker 2: my partner and say, do not give my percentage on
Speaker 2: the air. I don't want to embarrass the kids.
Speaker 1: That's big of you. And your inspiration is your middle son, Frankie.
Speaker 1: Tell us about Frankie.
Speaker 2: Yeah, thank you, Dick. I've got three boys, my son Joey,
Speaker 2: my son Frankie, and my son Patrick. And I'm gonna
Speaker 2: have to share with you about Patrick in a second,
Speaker 2: but Frankie is definitely my inspiration. He is a young
Speaker 2: man living with Down syndrome. He is a college graduate
Speaker 2: of the Clemson Life Program, which is a program learning
Speaker 2: is for everyone, and he is living independently with support
Speaker 2: at Clemson, holding down two jobs and doing remarkably well.
Speaker 2: Sport was so important for his development early on. He's
Speaker 2: a gold medal winning athlete in golf and basketball, and
Speaker 2: he in swimming, and because he was able to compete
Speaker 2: and train and organize and socialize, it gave him a
Speaker 2: lot of the skill he needed to be able to
Speaker 2: live independently and manage college life. Isn't that what sport
Speaker 2: is supposed to be. It is for my other two,
Speaker 2: It certainly was for him, And we're just trying to
Speaker 2: help other families like ours.
Speaker 1: And of course your fundraising efforts to raise money and
Speaker 1: awareness for special Olympics athletes, and as you know, I
Speaker 1: think I told you my daughter teaches special needs children
Speaker 1: at Great Crossing High School here over in Scott County,
Speaker 1: and our longtime friend Mark Berger has worked for Kentucky
Speaker 1: Special Olympics for years, so that has been in There
Speaker 1: have been sports connections people know about here in the
Speaker 1: state of Kentucky. There's huge crowds for Special Olympics. But
Speaker 1: you mentioned the connection between sports and special needs kids
Speaker 1: primarily but people in general. Why is that so important?
Speaker 2: Well, we can go down to the park with a
Speaker 2: ball and find a pick up game and get some
Speaker 2: friends together. Athletes with special needs can't do that. They
Speaker 2: need help organizing and training, and they need the support
Speaker 2: of coaches and the encouragement. And we have been able
Speaker 2: through programming because the money that I raised a million
Speaker 2: dollars goes directly to the athletes to help them train, compete, organize, socialize.
Speaker 2: It's not for anything else. And so when I am fundraising,
Speaker 2: because Special Olympics is such a grassroots effort. Unice Kennedy
Speaker 2: Schreiver is one of my role models. I think about
Speaker 2: what she did in her backyard in Chicago and how
Speaker 2: she started Special Olympics, and I'm in my driveway shooting
Speaker 2: free throws as an example that if you just try
Speaker 2: to help someone and come up with a really good
Speaker 2: theme and cause, you can really make a difference. And
Speaker 2: I'm just one person shooting free throws in my driveway,
Speaker 2: but I would love for the state of Kentucky to
Speaker 2: get involved. The state of Kentucky can do the same
Speaker 2: thing I'm doing or something similar. I'm going to have
Speaker 2: to get with your guy with the CEO of Kentucky
Speaker 2: Special Olypics to see if we can find a way
Speaker 2: to create an event around twenty four hours, nothing but
Speaker 2: that in your state because it will definitely impact those athletes.
Speaker 1: Talking to Debbie an Chinelli, college basketball analysts, works for ESPN, CBS, FOX,
Speaker 1: Westwood One, the Big Ten Network. If you have a ballgame,
Speaker 1: she'll analyze that we've been talking about through her efforts
Speaker 1: to raise funds for Special Olympics and people in need
Speaker 1: more than a million dollars right there in your own
Speaker 1: driveway before I get over to basketball. Do you draw
Speaker 1: a crowd? I gotta think you do when you're throws.
Speaker 2: You know what, Dick, We had such a crowd this year.
Speaker 2: I had to bring some bleachers in. We do live
Speaker 2: stream the last we livestream the whole twenty four hours.
Speaker 2: We've been doing this for six years. We've been live
Speaker 2: streaming the whole thing, and it's quite remarkable the storytelling
Speaker 2: that comes with the live stream. It takes me about
Speaker 2: fifteen minutes to make one hundred and then the next
Speaker 2: forty five minutes. I have lots of different programming on
Speaker 2: there between interviews with athletes and coaches and celebrities, players,
Speaker 2: I have some entertainers. It is a who's who on
Speaker 2: the live stream, and it's really remarkable who were able
Speaker 2: to get who we can ask to come on and
Speaker 2: I pretape about fifty interviews, and the best interviews that
Speaker 2: I pretape are the ones with the Special Olympic athletes
Speaker 2: all around the country that have benefited from Special Olympics
Speaker 2: and can share their story why and when you hear
Speaker 2: from these athletes why sport matters to them, how many
Speaker 2: friends they've made, how much it's helped their confidence, how
Speaker 2: much it's made them understand the value of healthy life choices.
Speaker 2: Then how can you not give me one penny for
Speaker 2: every free throw I make? It's just twenty four dollars,
Speaker 2: And that's how we've raised a million dollars.
Speaker 1: Fantastic. Well, let me shift you over to your basketball work,
Speaker 1: and I will say, memory serves you were the first
Speaker 1: analysts I work with on UK volleyball because you were
Speaker 1: the sports marketing director of the very first one at
Speaker 1: Kentucky just a few years ago.
Speaker 2: Right, yeah, you know what, Dick, You're absolutely all right.
Speaker 2: I mean you know, when I was at Kentucky, I
Speaker 2: was the first director of marketing in athletics. Them Newton
Speaker 2: hired me right before I hired Rick Patino, and people
Speaker 2: can remember back that far. And the local cable company
Speaker 2: came to us and said, can can we try to
Speaker 2: produce sport? We think we can do it, and we said, okay,
Speaker 2: let's put a package of basketball, volleyball, some baseball, and
Speaker 2: of course host Communications was able to help us out
Speaker 2: as well. I was twenty three years old at the time.
Speaker 2: I was able to do all those games, and I
Speaker 2: did get to work with you. And of course you
Speaker 2: were a great sports banker for so many years in
Speaker 2: the Lexington market and still covering the market as much
Speaker 2: as you have. You've been in it longer than I have.
Speaker 2: But this is I'm embarking on my thirty seventh college
Speaker 2: basketball season, and it all started in Memorial Coliseum.
Speaker 1: Sure did. When you took that job in sports marketing
Speaker 1: and gravitated, or let's say, added basketball and bob ball
Speaker 1: TV to your resume. Was that a goal of yours?
Speaker 1: Had you all always wanted to be in broadcasting?
Speaker 2: You know, Dick, if you remember the time for people
Speaker 2: that are listening in the late eighties, on the women's side,
Speaker 2: the only game on television was the CBS National Championship game.
Speaker 2: So as a player at NC State, I never played
Speaker 2: on TV, never came, gave it a thought, watched the
Speaker 2: one game every year. Unfortunately, my team at NC State
Speaker 2: never made it that far. We only made it to
Speaker 2: the sweet sixteen twice. We never got out of that bracket.
Speaker 2: But to watch the one game and then to have
Speaker 2: this local cable company come in and right then I
Speaker 2: was just removed from playing. I had been a coach
Speaker 2: at in grad school as a GA at Ohio University.
Speaker 2: It was I was running a parallel path in my
Speaker 2: career at that moment because I was trying to be
Speaker 2: an ad but I also was considering being a basketball coach.
Speaker 2: And then this television showed up and I thought, Wow,
Speaker 2: this is something that I never thought of. This is
Speaker 2: something that keeps me in the game as a market
Speaker 2: sports professional. I can sell the game and it allowed
Speaker 2: me to stay in it on both fronts, and I'm
Speaker 2: so grateful it worked.
Speaker 1: Out for me.
Speaker 2: My timing could not have been better. And I have
Speaker 2: worked really relentlessly to continue to promote and push the
Speaker 2: game forward. And boy, are we having a time right
Speaker 2: now inside the women's game.
Speaker 1: We are, and I want to talk about that in
Speaker 1: just a minute, but I will say this before we break.
Speaker 1: Timing is so viotl in our business. As you know,
Speaker 1: I've had opportunities. You've had opportunities right place, right time,
Speaker 1: knowing the right people. But you've been able to persevere
Speaker 1: because you were up to the job. But it takes
Speaker 1: a lot of work, doesn't it be. You're one of
Speaker 1: those ones who make it look easy, But that's where
Speaker 1: the hard work comes in.
Speaker 2: Right Nobody knows how much prep goes on in the
Speaker 2: two hours that you're on the air. You can tell
Speaker 2: fans certainly, can tell, coaches, can tell people that follow
Speaker 2: the game, no whether you put the time in or not.
Speaker 2: And I've always been somebody that's been a grinder. I
Speaker 2: don't mind the hard work, I don't mind the detail.
Speaker 2: I think the product is the narrative, and so I
Speaker 2: am constantly pushing forward the women's product because I knew
Speaker 2: one day we would get here, and boy, we are
Speaker 2: in a spot right now that is really fun to
Speaker 2: be around.
Speaker 1: Dewie Antonelli, college basketball and pro basketball analyst. As my
Speaker 1: guests will come right back. We're listening to the best
Speaker 1: of the Big Blue Insider. Want to come here on
Speaker 1: six thirty WLAP. It's Dick Gabriel. Welcome back to the
Speaker 1: Best of the Big Blue Insider. We're talking with Debbie Antonelli.
Speaker 1: She is a former broadcast partner of mine from back
Speaker 1: when she was a sports marketing director at the University
Speaker 1: of Kentucky and now does a lot of work for ESPN, Fox, CBS,
Speaker 1: Westwood One here on TV and radio and w you
Speaker 1: talked about the WNBA. You are essentially following the Indiana
Speaker 1: fever all over the country. But what it's such a
Speaker 1: grand time. As you said, this controversy, debate whatever you
Speaker 1: want to say about Caitlin Clark. I find puzzling because,
Speaker 1: as I've said, and I didn't invent this image, but
Speaker 1: pro basket pro athletes are independent contractors, pushing their own
Speaker 1: brand as well as that of their team, their sport,
Speaker 1: their league. To do anything that might detegrate a player
Speaker 1: who is attracting these crowds, these ratings, that's not good business,
Speaker 1: is it? Because why not take advantage of what's happening now?
Speaker 2: Am I?
Speaker 1: Right? Oh?
Speaker 2: I think you're one d right. I think we are
Speaker 2: in incredibly special time. And I say that because I
Speaker 2: have even coined a name for it. I call it clarkonomics.
Speaker 2: And it is clarkonomics because you and I both understand
Speaker 2: the economics of it. Like you can see, it's tangible,
Speaker 2: the ratings, the attendant, the amount of investment inside the league,
Speaker 2: the economic forecast forward for the league with the new
Speaker 2: media rights and the player collective bargaining and the union
Speaker 2: and all the things that are coming about. Because it's
Speaker 2: a cliche, I don't always like to use cliches, but
Speaker 2: a rising tide lifts all votes. Caitlin has been the
Speaker 2: greatest disruptor in the history of our game. And I
Speaker 2: say that all as a positive. It's a one hundred
Speaker 2: percent positive because it's an economic influence and it's a
Speaker 2: confluence of many things coming together. Yes, the league has
Speaker 2: always been good. Yes the product has been good, but
Speaker 2: we have seen incremental growth five percentages. We don't have
Speaker 2: the raw data. Now the league puts the data out,
Speaker 2: they put the percentages out. You see the ratings. And
Speaker 2: for somebody like me who's been waiting for this, we've
Speaker 2: talked about ratings for a long time, but nobody was
Speaker 2: selling Now the amount of investment, the creative inventory that's
Speaker 2: been generated, the opportunity now to see our game through
Speaker 2: a different lens. Caitlin Clark has helped us all with that.
Speaker 2: Everybody is going to make more money because Caitlin has
Speaker 2: been the biggest disruptor in the history of our game.
Speaker 2: Now have we had great players all along? Yes, As
Speaker 2: a matter of fact, I've covered every one of them.
Speaker 2: I've played against Cheryl Miller and I've covered them all
Speaker 2: since then. Okay, I have seen the greatest talent in
Speaker 2: the history of our game on display in my career.
Speaker 2: Caitlin is another great that's coming up. But the confluence
Speaker 2: of name, image and likeness, the transfer portal, the success
Speaker 2: of the college game, those are all things to celebrate,
Speaker 2: and that's all I'm going to do.
Speaker 4: Dick Is.
Speaker 2: I'm going to celebrate those things because for somebody that's
Speaker 2: sat in that chair at two institutions in college Kentucky
Speaker 2: and Ohio State and pushed and begged and asked and
Speaker 2: kept getting told no, but kept pushing, how many people
Speaker 2: have come before me that have been waiting for this moment,
Speaker 2: people like me that are in the moment. Now it's
Speaker 2: our responsibility to carry it forward. But we also have
Speaker 2: to use it as an educational tool to help everybody
Speaker 2: understand that this is an economic business. That the WNBA
Speaker 2: is not college. It is a business. You say, independent
Speaker 2: contractors with their own brands. That's one hundred percent true.
Speaker 2: And to come together in a team setting and to
Speaker 2: be able to push a movement like these women have pushed.
Speaker 2: Caitlin is the driving force of it, but there are
Speaker 2: others that are there and it doesn't diminish anyone else's game,
Speaker 2: It doesn't diminish the light that shines on the league.
Speaker 2: It's all positive and I don't understand why people can't
Speaker 2: see it that way. Maybe no one in the media
Speaker 2: has shared it the way that I have just shared it.
Speaker 2: They're looking for clicks and social media. You know, I'm
Speaker 2: not doing that. I've never done that. I'm trying to
Speaker 2: pump the league up, and Caitlin Clark happens to be
Speaker 2: a driving force and I get to follow her around
Speaker 2: all summer. How lucky am I?
Speaker 1: Magic Johnson, you may have seen this tweet or quote
Speaker 1: or whatever, but and this is this exact same thing
Speaker 1: occurred to me. And I'm no genius, but it's obvious
Speaker 1: to me that Angel Rees Caitlin Clark was bird magic
Speaker 1: and Magic Johnson said the same thing. They have those
Speaker 1: two guys. He's not saying that Kaitlin Clark's saving the WNBA,
Speaker 1: but those two guys did save the NBA West Coast,
Speaker 1: you know, East coast, black white, different styles, whatever, But
Speaker 1: Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese or whoever else, it's great
Speaker 1: for business, and it's great. It's so entertaining.
Speaker 2: Let me remind you because you will remember this as
Speaker 2: two Kentucky people who covered Kentucky landscape of sports forever.
Speaker 2: Bill Curry, the football coach who was there when I
Speaker 2: was there. Okay, Bill had this speech and you can
Speaker 2: look it up on YouTube, and I hope your listeners
Speaker 2: will look at It's called the huddle and the huddle
Speaker 2: is about coming together inside a huddle. Race, religious, sex,
Speaker 2: of politics have nothing to do with getting the next
Speaker 2: verse down. You don't care who's beside you except for
Speaker 2: that's your brother who is sweating the same sweat and
Speaker 2: the same blood is red. And everything is like about
Speaker 2: the team and moving the ball. And when you listen
Speaker 2: to the huddle and you think about what Bill Curry
Speaker 2: was basically saying, that's where sport is supposed to be
Speaker 2: the one place in our society where none of that
Speaker 2: other stuff matters. And I don't like to frame it
Speaker 2: in any other context except for the product is the narrative.
Speaker 2: This is a business. We are trying to move the
Speaker 2: game forward, and we've found the greatest economic disruptor our
Speaker 2: game has ever seen. And aren't we lucky to be
Speaker 2: experiencing it all together? And everyone's going to benefit from it.
Speaker 2: It's just going to take time for those that don't
Speaker 2: see it to understand it. When their bank account starts
Speaker 2: to grow, then they'll understand it.
Speaker 1: And if they can't understand it getting on a charter
Speaker 1: flight that they didn't have in the past, well, what
Speaker 1: are you going to do before I let you go? Debbie?
Speaker 1: Congratulations and this happened a couple of years ago, but
Speaker 1: inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame, you're already
Speaker 1: in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame. I know
Speaker 1: you didn't see that coming. That was not necessarily a
Speaker 1: goal for you, but it just means you show up
Speaker 1: for work and you get the job done, and you
Speaker 1: got to take pride in that.
Speaker 2: I certainly do, Dick, And I'm so grateful, you know,
Speaker 2: when you went on boards and the Kirk Gowdy's coming
Speaker 2: up in October from Naysmith, and when you start reflecting
Speaker 2: back on someone like you who was there at the
Speaker 2: very beginning for me when I was just a kid
Speaker 2: right out of college trying to figure out what I
Speaker 2: wanted to do and not sure what direction, but I
Speaker 2: always loved the game. And to be able to spend
Speaker 2: the four years that I got to spend at Kentucky
Speaker 2: with CM Newton and Jean d Philippo and Chris Cameron
Speaker 2: and Kyle Motes and Kathy de Boor, I mean, I
Speaker 2: can go right down the list of Larry Ivy, just
Speaker 2: really great people around Kentucky, Rodney styles, I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: the coaches, just the opportunities that I had, and here
Speaker 2: I sit with a chance. When you win these awards,
Speaker 2: even though they look like individuals, they're always team awards
Speaker 2: to me because there's so many people that have been
Speaker 2: involved in helping me get to this point, and I
Speaker 2: am incredibly grateful. Now I do have to mention one thing,
Speaker 2: and that is that my youngest son, Patrick is a
Speaker 2: walk on at the University of Louisville. Oh, and I
Speaker 2: hope that. I hope that Big Blue Nation, knowing my
Speaker 2: ties to the university, when that curly headed dude shows
Speaker 2: up in rough Arena and sitting on the end of
Speaker 2: the bench as a walk on trying to help Pat
Speaker 2: Kelsey in the University of Louisville, that Rugh Arena and
Speaker 2: Big Blue Nation will be nice to that kid because
Speaker 2: he's living out his dream as an opportunity to experience
Speaker 2: college basketball at the D one level after playing four
Speaker 2: years of division too. It's a little bit of you know,
Speaker 2: you know, my Kentucky roots are strong, but obviously he's
Speaker 2: doing a little bit of following up in Rick shadow,
Speaker 2: if you will, the guy he's always admired for a
Speaker 2: long time, and Pat Kelsey certainly is a great man
Speaker 2: who will do a good job at Louisville, so he.
Speaker 1: Comes through the portal t U L. I don't know
Speaker 1: how that process works, but apparently they liked each other.
Speaker 1: Kelsey and your son.
Speaker 2: Well, it's you know, it's as a walk on. He'll
Speaker 2: have a specific role and that will be to help
Speaker 2: the scout team and to do other things to help
Speaker 2: the team get ready. But he wants to coach one day,
Speaker 2: and I can't imagine him having a better experience than
Speaker 2: experiencing the entire state of Kentucky and basketball, and that
Speaker 2: includes you know, Mark Pope and getting a chance to
Speaker 2: meet him. I did cover Mark in the NCAA Tournament
Speaker 2: for CBS this year at b YU and I had
Speaker 2: b YU and the upset over Kansas and Allen field
Speaker 2: House at the end of February. So Tucky got a
Speaker 2: great one and Mark Pope and he's going to do
Speaker 2: really well.
Speaker 1: Well I got about a minute left, But what was
Speaker 1: your reaction, as someone who's worked within an athletics department
Speaker 1: of the Mitch Barnhart hire of a guy like Mark
Speaker 1: who had not yet won an NCAA tournament game but
Speaker 1: has a pretty strong background.
Speaker 2: I think because Mitch has had so much success in
Speaker 2: hiring lots of different components of that athletic department, that
Speaker 2: this is still a relationship building business, which is number one,
Speaker 2: and nobody wants to win more than Mitch Barnhardt. But
Speaker 2: what you're going to see through Mark is a style
Speaker 2: play that's going to be exciting and up tempo, just
Speaker 2: like everybody talks about. You're going to see a definite
Speaker 2: identity and culture in which he's going to bring from
Speaker 2: his Byau days. And remember, he is a Kentucky guy,
Speaker 2: so he does understand the landscape, and he does understand
Speaker 2: the fan base, and you have to understand the fan
Speaker 2: base to know what you're getting into. But I think
Speaker 2: it's a brilliant hire by Mitch. I'm pulling for Mark
Speaker 2: Pope every chance to get, but I don't know what
Speaker 2: I'm gonna wear when I go to the Louisville Kentucky game. Now,
Speaker 2: I don't know what I'm gonna wear.
Speaker 1: I thank you so much. Supposed to be stronger, right,
Speaker 1: find that old John Y Brown sports coach that was
Speaker 1: half red, half blue, and you can rock that. Debbie Antonelli,
Speaker 1: former Kentucky sports marketing director but now one of the
Speaker 1: top color analysts on TV and radio, and you'll see
Speaker 1: her coverage of the WNBA specifically, but in general Indiana
Speaker 1: Fever games because they're all over the tube. Thank you
Speaker 1: so much, Debbie. Great talking to you. Let's do it
Speaker 1: again soon.
Speaker 2: Hey, listen, Dick your friend for a long time. I'm
Speaker 2: so grateful that you included me on your program. Thanks
Speaker 2: for having me on.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the best of the Big Blue Insider.
Speaker 1: More to come here on six thirty w LAP. It's
Speaker 1: Dick Gabriel. Welcome back to the Best of the Big
Speaker 1: Blue Insider. Joining us now is a guy who has
Speaker 1: covered Kentucky sports for a while now for the Courier
Speaker 1: Journal on the beat. Ryan Black has been on our
Speaker 1: shore with us several times. Ryan, thanks for joining us.
Speaker 1: So before we talk baseball, a little more roster news.
Speaker 1: But Ugana and yenso kind of I think surprised people
Speaker 1: when he ended up in Manhattan and not the one
Speaker 1: in New York, the one in Kansas at Kansas State?
Speaker 1: Was that Was that a surprise to you?
Speaker 4: Oh and Dick k thanks again for having me on.
Speaker 4: But been a while you had to answer that question
Speaker 4: about on enso yeah, for sure, it just seemed like
Speaker 4: for a long time, even if you date back to
Speaker 4: prior to last season, you know, when he put his
Speaker 4: name in the portal and then came back to Kentucky,
Speaker 4: there was just a lot of you know, kind of
Speaker 4: smoke surrounding him that he was going to maybe transfer
Speaker 4: to a school in a big, big, big metro area,
Speaker 4: like you're saying, whether it's somewhere up there in New
Speaker 4: York maybe DC. I know at one point he'd been
Speaker 4: connected with Georgetown as well. So for him to end
Speaker 4: up in Manhattan, Kansas, somewhere that I lived and worked
Speaker 4: at the local paper the four and a half years
Speaker 4: little bit a little bit surprising to me. But uh,
Speaker 4: you know, that's that's a place that loves basketball and
Speaker 4: loves sports, and I'll be interest to see kind of
Speaker 4: what what he can do there next season.
Speaker 1: It's just town of how many do you remember?
Speaker 4: Oh, well, Dick, that's a good question. I'm trying to
Speaker 4: remember off top of my head because so many people
Speaker 4: who live there are transient right in terms of like
Speaker 4: they're either k State student. And then right down the
Speaker 4: road you've got fort Riley, which is the biggest employer
Speaker 4: in Sata, Kansas, the big Army base there.
Speaker 2: So I'm gonna guess here, Dick.
Speaker 4: I'm gonna say I think last I saw in the
Speaker 4: Last Ins it was around fifty.
Speaker 2: It's five thousand, wow, and.
Speaker 1: I got a big chunk of that's to college. I
Speaker 1: don't know much about their program now, You're right, they've
Speaker 1: had some good teams. I'm guessing they could really use
Speaker 1: a guy like him though.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, no for certain and they're you know, Dick,
Speaker 4: when they when they beat Kentucky, you know a little
Speaker 4: more than now a season removed, yea. You know, they
Speaker 4: made it to the Elite Eight and lost to Florida
Speaker 4: Atlantic and Elite eight. You know that they've got this
Speaker 4: mark now, which I know is just maddening to their
Speaker 4: fan base. They've lost I believe it's either eight or
Speaker 4: nine straight Elite eight games.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 3: You know.
Speaker 4: And they had made four final fours up to nineteen
Speaker 4: sixty four and actually were really on par, if not
Speaker 4: slightly ahead of Tansas. Actually at that time back in
Speaker 4: the sixties when when TeX's winner who went on to
Speaker 4: you know, develop a triangle with the Bulls and everyone
Speaker 4: knows what he is, they were, you know, one of
Speaker 4: the absolute elite programs in the country and they just
Speaker 4: you know, they've not been able to get back to
Speaker 4: the final four, but you know, I know their fans
Speaker 4: are starved for that, and we'll see if Jerome tank
Speaker 4: it can get them there at some point.
Speaker 1: Yeah, nineteen and fifteen last year, so yep, they could
Speaker 1: use some help. All right. Well, you've you've been covering
Speaker 1: a lot of baseball of late. And I was talking
Speaker 1: internet on the show about a lot of folks who
Speaker 1: enjoy covering baseball to wait until basketball is over. But
Speaker 1: you've You've picked up at a good time, haven't you.
Speaker 2: Well, you know this is so funny.
Speaker 4: I was saying about this the other day when I
Speaker 4: was sitting there in the post the post game press
Speaker 4: conference after Kentucky's won the regional for the second straight year.
Speaker 4: I never, in a million years, knowing where things were
Speaker 4: when I first got here in October twenty twenty two,
Speaker 4: would have believed that if someone had told me Ryan,
Speaker 4: you're going to cover two Super region and in baseball
Speaker 4: before you ever cover Kentucky basketball and a Sweet.
Speaker 1: Sixteen ash that's right. Wow.
Speaker 4: Never would have had them that. So it's funny how
Speaker 4: things work.
Speaker 1: None of us would have fathomed that. But yeah, a
Speaker 1: lot has happened. But of course we'll get back to
Speaker 1: basketball in a minute. But man with with a baseball
Speaker 1: program and big crowds and all the interest, I mean,
Speaker 1: that's part of the fun, isn't it That people are
Speaker 1: excited about being excited, aren't they?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 4: Well, and Dickon also one who you know, fortunate. I've
Speaker 4: covered all these different schools and all these different events.
Speaker 4: But to me, there's just something to be said for,
Speaker 4: you know, getting to cover something that's never been done before.
Speaker 4: And so later this week, you know, when Kentucky gets
Speaker 4: to host their first super Regional in history. You know,
Speaker 4: I can't I can't wait to be there for that,
Speaker 4: just see kind of what's the excitement, the electricity and
Speaker 4: just what that's going to be like just for the
Speaker 4: sand basically get to experience something like that because you know,
Speaker 4: friends going there last year, you know, to see them
Speaker 4: play LSU. You mean now that there was not a
Speaker 4: buzz there with just the history of what LSU is,
Speaker 4: But that's just like that's an expectation down there and back.
Speaker 4: I mean, they expect to be there, whereas like it's
Speaker 4: just fun to be here for something where it's just
Speaker 4: going to be completely brand new for everybody involved, you know.
Speaker 1: But I can't blame the fan base for being a
Speaker 1: little bit miffed about the fact that, you know, you've
Speaker 1: got the weird format with Kentucky hosting, and yet the
Speaker 1: visitor on the scoreboard for a couple of games. I
Speaker 1: could see maybe one game, but and now you've got
Speaker 1: a nine o'clock start on Sunday that seems really random.
Speaker 4: Well, I mean, the only thing I could think of
Speaker 4: two deck, right, was that maybe they're also trying to
Speaker 4: throw a bone to the West Coast people exactly, you know,
Speaker 4: Oregon State coming from the West coast, and so they
Speaker 4: don't want to make them, uh, you know.
Speaker 3: Have to get up.
Speaker 4: Let's let's say, for instance, like if it was a
Speaker 4: three o'clock first pitch. I mean, that means that it's
Speaker 4: still a new first pitch for them out there. And
Speaker 4: that's one of the only things I can think of
Speaker 4: is the fact that since Kentucky has matched up with
Speaker 4: the West Coast scene, that that ESPN and the TV
Speaker 4: broadcast people wanted to at least somewhat accommodate, you know,
Speaker 4: that that portion of the viewing audience But to your
Speaker 4: point about like you said that Kentucky being the visiting
Speaker 4: team twice during that regional Uh. He's talking to another
Speaker 4: person who covers the team, you know, Dylan Ballard. Uh
Speaker 4: the other day about this two, Dick. It's to me
Speaker 4: it would make sense if Kentucky was a visiting team,
Speaker 4: for instance, if they were hosting this that quote unquote
Speaker 4: a neutral site, like if it was in Louisville or
Speaker 4: Cincinnati or somewhere that's nearby. But the fact that Kentucky,
Speaker 4: you know, literally is hosting at their own park, that's
Speaker 4: the that's weird to me that they still make them be.
Speaker 3: The visitor at times.
Speaker 4: Like to me, if you if you again, if you've
Speaker 4: got a national seed, not only their national seas, there's
Speaker 4: number two. They should never be the away in any
Speaker 4: of the regional game. That is my opinion. You know,
Speaker 4: I know they're not gonna change the rules. That's my
Speaker 4: opinion Dick, that if you're a national seed, you should
Speaker 4: never be the away.
Speaker 1: But they did survive it. And once you began covering
Speaker 1: this team, and I know you've done some research and
Speaker 1: reading and all, but what have you enjoyed about watching
Speaker 1: this team?
Speaker 4: Just this season or just including last.
Speaker 1: Year too, well this year for the most part, okay.
Speaker 4: Just well, I mean, Dick and like that, I got
Speaker 4: to always, you know, seed to you on this because
Speaker 4: you've seen this team and been around this pergram so
Speaker 4: much longer. But man, this this team, especially defensively, it
Speaker 4: just feels like like that any second any of these
Speaker 4: guys up there on the field can just about make
Speaker 4: like a web gym type play. And the two of
Speaker 4: the best plays I think I've ever especially the Grant
Speaker 4: Smith's play the other day was one of the best
Speaker 4: plays I've ever seen at any level of baseball. That
Speaker 4: that that catch he made in the outfield.
Speaker 1: That and you know, it's funny because that was such
Speaker 1: a tremendous play, and prior to that, the play he
Speaker 1: made to trigger that double play was the play of
Speaker 1: the game. So yeah, you can't look away when these
Speaker 1: guys are playing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and you know, I think I believe it was
Speaker 4: I think it was Krey Pouser who said this that
Speaker 4: I think it was him, But it was basically him
Speaker 4: just saying that, hey, you know, it makes my job
Speaker 4: so much easier as a picture when I kind of hey,
Speaker 4: even if the ball gets them play. I've got such
Speaker 4: great defenders behind me that you know, I can just
Speaker 4: basically go up there and pitch for I need to
Speaker 4: pitch it. I know they're going to back me up
Speaker 4: if I need that help.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and Nick Minjeone the other night used the term
Speaker 1: pitch to contact, and my partner Doug Flynn says that
Speaker 1: a lot, especially if he's getting a little frustrated when
Speaker 1: pitchers try to be a little too fine, you know,
Speaker 1: tackle in the strike zone, and he'll say, just pitch
Speaker 1: to contact, you know. Of course Doug was a defensive
Speaker 1: specialist as a second baseman in the major leagues, but yeah,
Speaker 1: when you got guys like that and the outfield's not
Speaker 1: too shabby.
Speaker 4: As well either, well, you know, in a way, it's
Speaker 4: like I almost feel like, you know, Dick, It's that
Speaker 4: sense of like in football right where you can be
Speaker 4: aggressive up front if you're so confident in your defensive back, Hey,
Speaker 4: you know, we can do what we need to do
Speaker 4: because we just know, hey, the ball gets up in
Speaker 4: the air, we've got such great defensive backs, they're going
Speaker 4: to take care of any messes that we maybe don't
Speaker 4: take care of.
Speaker 2: Getting the quarterback first, exactly.
Speaker 1: You know, and it also kind of underscores everything that's
Speaker 1: going on how powerful the Southeastern Conference has become in baseball,
Speaker 1: because one hundred years ago, when I was a kid,
Speaker 1: it was West Coast and Florida, and now it's the
Speaker 1: SEC and everybody else, isn't it.
Speaker 4: I mean, it's it's just I mean, Dick, it's it's unbelievable.
Speaker 4: Just how I mean the top three seeds. I mean,
Speaker 4: then you just kind of go four of the top
Speaker 4: eight of EIG or five of the top eight, and
Speaker 4: just just like you go up and down. And then
Speaker 4: of course, Dick looks, I mean next next year, then
Speaker 4: you're going to be welcoming Texas and Oklahoma, who both
Speaker 4: have been have both I mean, obviously, Textas have been
Speaker 4: more caufable series than any program. Oklahoma's been there quite
Speaker 4: a few times. Uh. And then heck when you also
Speaker 4: welcome Oklahoma softball wise, I mean it's just I mean,
Speaker 4: the conference is already so good in so many sports,
Speaker 4: but welcoming those two, Uh, it's really it's really going
Speaker 4: to be something, and I think it's nothing else too, Dick.
Speaker 4: I want to make sure that we say this, I mean,
Speaker 4: that makes what Kentucky baseball is doing now even more impressive.
Speaker 4: I mean they're not doing that at the time when
Speaker 4: the league is down and they're maybe beating up on
Speaker 4: you know. I mean they are in the toughest conference
Speaker 4: in America and earned the number two overall national seeds.
Speaker 2: Unbelievable.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the Best of the Big bluinds Cider
Speaker 1: or to come here six thirty w LAP. It's Dick Gabriel.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Best of the Big Blue Insider
Speaker 1: talking with Ryan Black. He is the UK beat writer
Speaker 1: for the Courier Journal. He'll be covering the Super Regional
Speaker 1: this week. As he covered the regional tournament last week
Speaker 1: before the break, we were talking about how powerful the
Speaker 1: SEC has become. Will you be going to SEC media
Speaker 1: days in Dallas?
Speaker 3: Well, I actually would not be, Dick.
Speaker 2: I'm going to be.
Speaker 4: I guess we've covered this this year's of it for
Speaker 4: by hel Okay.
Speaker 1: Well, you know, and a lot of people are saying
Speaker 1: that because at least from this area, because that's a
Speaker 1: commitment man, getting you know, getting a flight, getting down
Speaker 1: to Dallas. And of course they're doing that because Texas
Speaker 1: and know you have joined the conference but uh, I
Speaker 1: was just looking at the one of the polls yesterday
Speaker 1: about tough of schedules in America nine out of ten
Speaker 1: or from the SEC, you know, and Texas is one
Speaker 1: of Kentucky fourth. I mean, this is gonna be an
Speaker 1: incredible football season in the league, isn't it.
Speaker 4: Yeah, And that's I mean, that's why I kind of
Speaker 4: you mentioned earlier. You know, Dick is getting to do
Speaker 4: stuff around what has ever happened be for so I
Speaker 4: mean that's something I'm so excited to see this upcoming,
Speaker 4: you know, sports season with Texas and Oklahoma joining the
Speaker 4: league and just kind of seeing what those two fan bases,
Speaker 4: what those two athletics apartments too, obviously care a so
Speaker 4: much about sports, what they bring to the table. You know,
Speaker 4: obviously Kentucky will be going out there and playing in November.
Speaker 4: I mean, it'll be just such an exciting time. And
Speaker 4: I'm don't be wrong, Dick, I understand, especially on the
Speaker 4: football side, adding those two again blue blood programs, it's
Speaker 4: gonna make things tougher for everybody. I mean, especially Kentucky
Speaker 4: is it continue to try to rise in the league,
Speaker 4: but hey, you know, they kind of know there's gonna
Speaker 4: be no easy games out there, so you just get
Speaker 4: out there and play well.
Speaker 1: Basketball is going to be tough for women's basketball. You
Speaker 1: look at them all obviously baseball Texas is won the
Speaker 1: last two women's volleyball championships, Oklahoma YA softball, So yeah,
Speaker 1: this is this is gonna make it tougher, and it's
Speaker 1: going to be tougher on them, you know. Now they
Speaker 1: got to take on the likes of Georgia Alabama. Darnard
Speaker 1: pointed out that you know, teams are going to rack
Speaker 1: up more losses now, and you got wonder Ryan or
Speaker 1: a d is going to handle that? How well? Are
Speaker 1: AD's going to handle that? Right?
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 4: I know, certainly Dick specifically, you know, for for for
Speaker 4: my outlet, you know, the Courier Journal, Louisville certainly a
Speaker 4: compsit topic of conversation on that front is what is
Speaker 4: the future of of Kentucky versus Louisville.
Speaker 3: It's like this Kentucky.
Speaker 4: Obviously Louisville wants to keep it just just for I'm
Speaker 4: sure the tickets, but for Kentucky, I mean, when you're
Speaker 4: not going to be adding at some point, Dick's gonna
Speaker 4: happen at some point there's going to be another SEC
Speaker 4: game at it. I know they're taking their time to
Speaker 4: at it.
Speaker 2: There's gonna be a.
Speaker 4: Ninth game, you know, put on this schedule at some
Speaker 4: point that's an SEC game, is Kentucky DoD They just
Speaker 4: feel like, you know, it's just not worth adding another
Speaker 4: power conference foe when we're already adding another power conference
Speaker 4: foe in our own conference.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 4: So, I think it would be really, really really unfortunate
Speaker 4: for the state if it goes away, Dick. But I
Speaker 4: mean I wouldn't be surprised if it does.
Speaker 3: And I don't know if you.
Speaker 4: Maybe have any feeling on that at all, but that's
Speaker 4: certainly like to a certain eighte. The top of the
Speaker 4: conversation in Louisville was the future of the football season.
Speaker 1: No, I completely agree with you, And I could not
Speaker 1: blame Stoops and barn Root and company if they said, look,
Speaker 1: you know this is we've already got all these heavyweights
Speaker 1: coming at us, and I guess Ryan, the money makes
Speaker 1: sense to add another conference game. There's got to be
Speaker 1: some reason that the member institutions in the SEC would
Speaker 1: agree to this, you know, a bigger paycheck, because everybody's
Speaker 1: looking for a bigger revenue stream that's got to be it,
Speaker 1: of course, and it seems like they're already tapping out.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Well, I would say, I just know.
Speaker 4: Everything I've read, Dick is that it definitely has to
Speaker 4: do with the fact that ESPN, et cetera, of the
Speaker 4: TV partners for the SEC have basically said, Hey, this
Speaker 4: is how much more money another and an additional league
Speaker 4: game brings to the TV contract as opposed to if
Speaker 4: you if you again go and schedule someone from the
Speaker 4: MAC or from the Sunbelt or through Hey don't and
Speaker 4: I don't roll take me. Some of the teams are
Speaker 4: very like they're not gidee games all the time, especially
Speaker 4: the Sun Belt. But you know, I just I do
Speaker 4: get to you know, Dick, just like TV TV money
Speaker 4: is what makes everything go round at this point in
Speaker 4: college sports, especially on the football side.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, you're you're up to one hundred and
Speaker 1: fifty million dollars budget at the University of Kentucky. Talking
Speaker 1: to Ryan black at a Courier Journal beat writer covers
Speaker 1: the Wildcats, who's also had to keep an eye on
Speaker 1: the expanding roster, putting it you can put together by
Speaker 1: Mark Pope, He's got one more. Scollarie just hired a
Speaker 1: couple more assistants this week. But I know you weren't
Speaker 1: expecting to write stories like that here in the off season.
Speaker 1: But this has been an unprecedented off season at the
Speaker 1: University of Kentucky, hasn't it.
Speaker 4: Huh Man, You know, Dick is so funny because I've
Speaker 4: told so many people when they've asked of Ryan. You know,
Speaker 4: you've been you know now as a professional journalist out
Speaker 4: of college for almost twelve years, and then obviously covering
Speaker 4: stuff in college before that. But just how much things
Speaker 4: have changed, like even from five years ago, is that
Speaker 4: you know, it used to be, hey, if you're going
Speaker 4: to transfer, you're going to sit out a year, and
Speaker 4: some some people like, well, hey that's that's that that
Speaker 4: Jews isn't worth the squeeze. You know, I'm gonna just
Speaker 4: sit out and just deal with learning the new school,
Speaker 4: learning the new verbiad whatever. Uh And and you know,
Speaker 4: basically an incoming coach, you know, knew they were going
Speaker 4: to be inheriting whatever roster for the most part was
Speaker 4: left by the previous coach. And now it's just like
Speaker 4: as we've seen not to hear at Kentucky, but every
Speaker 4: other place in the country, when the coach leaves, they
Speaker 4: can just immediately overhaul an entire roster in one off season. Again, Kentucky,
Speaker 4: not a single player from last year will be back,
Speaker 4: which I know Alex to Kentucky dealt with that maybe
Speaker 4: more than other school was all the one and done
Speaker 4: type players they recruit over the years. But the fact
Speaker 4: that again all the recruiting class outside of Travis Perry,
Speaker 4: all that gone too. So, uh, you know, don't mirro
Speaker 4: On Dick. I do understand that. I think you know,
Speaker 4: you would have loved to have been able to bring back
Speaker 4: some some players just for the second familiarity. I know
Speaker 4: the fan base would have loved to have reached Shepherd
Speaker 4: for one more year, but you know you can't. You
Speaker 4: can't turn down being a lottery pick, and who knows
Speaker 4: how high up going. But it's just the fact that, Dick,
Speaker 4: I mean, there are already people saying that potentially, and
Speaker 4: I agree with heym Kentucky could potentially challenge for the
Speaker 4: SEC championship here just in the first season under Mark Pope,
Speaker 4: And that just speaks so incredibly well to the job
Speaker 4: hitting him and hits that I've already done to getting hired.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, but the guy in Arkansas is putting
Speaker 1: together a pretty good team as well, Alabama gainst Mark
Speaker 1: sears back. So yeah, like everything, it's it's going to
Speaker 1: be brutally tough, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 4: No, And I I mean I would agree with you.
Speaker 4: I think that if if you put it to me
Speaker 4: right now, I would pick Alabama to win the SEC.
Speaker 4: But i'd say that you know, uh, Kentucky and Arkansas
Speaker 4: as well as Tennessee, Uh, you know them getting linear.
Speaker 4: I think they're going to be They're going to be
Speaker 4: in the mix to Auburn usually again, Bruce Burrow, what
Speaker 4: he's done there is incredible. So it's like you said that,
Speaker 4: we just just go down whatever sports you want to
Speaker 4: name the SEC. It's like it's going to be probably
Speaker 4: a pretty tough sledding for every team out there.
Speaker 1: Brian Black will cover it for the Courier Journal.
Speaker 4: Hey, thanks, Dick, appreciate it.
Speaker 1: You're listening to the best of the Big Blue Insider.
Speaker 1: Our number two is next here on six thirty wlap.
Speaker 1: Hey it's Stick Gabriel. Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider.
Speaker 1: Our number two taking a little time off, So please
Speaker 1: enjoy the best of the Big Blue Insider joining us
Speaker 1: now in our celebrity Hodeline. He's my longtime friend and
Speaker 1: colleague Jefficoll from the UK Sports Network and WTVQ. He
Speaker 1: was there earlier today when Marxs Tubes and the coordinator spoke.
Speaker 1: Did anything jump off the podium at you, Jeff. I
Speaker 1: know I talked earlier about how Stoops made some comments
Speaker 1: that were kind of referencing what he has said about
Speaker 1: the burdens of really all college administrators and coaches. Now,
Speaker 1: other than that, really optimistic. He sounds like to me,
Speaker 1: how did you hear it?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think all three of them were, let's put
Speaker 3: it this way, cautiously optimistic. I really think that for
Speaker 3: this team, they've got to get through the the workouts
Speaker 3: here in the next month unscathed, me mean, no injuries.
Speaker 3: If they can get if they can get to the
Speaker 3: end of August with little or no injuries, that would
Speaker 3: really help, especially in the defensive front. You know, you're
Speaker 3: you're you're probably going to be one guy down with Hayes,
Speaker 3: but uh, you know, but you're thankfully that's a decently
Speaker 3: deep position and a couple of the guys that did
Speaker 3: not practice in spring will be ready, uh, you know
Speaker 3: here in the next couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: So well, I like to talk with you, obviously, because
Speaker 1: you've been through this, not just as a college football
Speaker 1: player but at Kentucky. And yet there have been so
Speaker 1: many changes in the way things are done and things
Speaker 1: are allowed to be done in the college game. But
Speaker 1: right now there is much more opportunity for a coach
Speaker 1: to work with a player here in the off season,
Speaker 1: here in the summertime. Then it was I don't know
Speaker 1: what the rules were back when you were playing.
Speaker 3: There were none.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well that's true, but after a point it was
Speaker 1: like coaches, as stud's point out, could only watch or
Speaker 1: they could work out without a ball or whatever. Now
Speaker 1: those rules have changed so much. But how much do
Speaker 1: you think, Jeff, that helps a program like Kentucky that's
Speaker 1: trying to challenge the big boys every year?
Speaker 3: Well, cheese, and I'm glad you brought this up, because
Speaker 3: you know, back in the seventies and eighties, what they
Speaker 3: did is we actually had three days. We had a
Speaker 3: morning practice, an afternoon practice, and then we came back
Speaker 3: after dinner for night practices. Was all special teams, so
Speaker 3: we did offense, defensive, morning, offense defense afternoon, and then
Speaker 3: special teams at night, and so we had two or
Speaker 3: three days where guys stayed on campus and stuff. But
Speaker 3: before that, before the practice started, so like right now
Speaker 3: because it starts tomorrow, we would be working at Clayburne Farms.
Speaker 3: Who worked at the FC bottily plant. We worked at UPS,
Speaker 3: So you could do that in the off season to
Speaker 3: get yourself some money. Now obviously all they got to
Speaker 3: do is sign on the dial line to get them
Speaker 3: sell some money. But I like what you said at
Speaker 3: the start. They have loosened up the rules where you
Speaker 3: can't have two of the days anymore. You can't have
Speaker 3: three days like we did. But it's almost a year
Speaker 3: round gig. We got basically the summer off and we
Speaker 3: worked out on our own. Randy Jenkins, Bill Randol, lul
Speaker 3: Am mccrimm and all the different quarterbacks we had and stuff.
Speaker 3: Would get with the receivers and we'd go out there
Speaker 3: and toss the ball around. But now it's basically eleven
Speaker 3: and a half month out of the year job. And
Speaker 3: it's one of the reasons I asked, well, you know,
Speaker 3: cause I get to go to practice and they don't
Speaker 3: run a whole lot run gassers and sprints and stuff
Speaker 3: like we did. And I'm like, what's up with this?
Speaker 3: Why don't you do that? And I was told by
Speaker 3: mostly the weight guys and the Mark Hills and then that, well,
Speaker 3: these guys now not you know, when you played, it
Speaker 3: was basically a ten month job. Okay, now it's year
Speaker 3: round and these guys stay in shape year round, much
Speaker 3: different than what it was, so you don't have to
Speaker 3: get back in shape. You know, they do tests and
Speaker 3: things like that. But we had to run sixteen forties,
Speaker 3: we had to bench press squad all that kind of stuff,
Speaker 3: Whereas now these guys are basically working year round, so
Speaker 3: you don't really have to do those types of things
Speaker 3: when you come back.
Speaker 1: And some of them do have jobs, to be sure,
Speaker 1: but to your point, a lot of them don't need it,
Speaker 1: so that gives them more time to spend in a
Speaker 1: weight room or just throwing with each other.
Speaker 3: Right, Yeah, and Dick, look you've been over to that facility.
Speaker 3: A lot of people listening probably haven't. Everything's there. They've
Speaker 3: got a hair I didn't share, you know, barber shop. Basically,
Speaker 3: they've got a game room. Guys can go in there.
Speaker 3: Hang out, play pool, white huge TVs, play Xbox, all
Speaker 3: that kind of stuff. There's the pools in there, there's
Speaker 3: the indoor facility. Yeah, there's food, nutritional food, not just
Speaker 3: going there and you know, scarf stuff down, but nutritional stuff.
Speaker 3: All the weights, the bikes you want. It's totally different.
Speaker 3: It's just it's it's such an arms race now and
Speaker 3: it's totally different. So a lot of these guys have
Speaker 3: all the benefits.
Speaker 1: What else they have is it's so much easier now
Speaker 1: to study video, which you all they still call film. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but we'll say, back in your day, when you wanted
Speaker 1: to study actual film, you had to go in and
Speaker 1: grab a projector. And I don't know if you did
Speaker 1: it much, but it was it. It was I don't
Speaker 1: want to say it was an ordeal. But now heck,
Speaker 1: they've all got iPads that they can study video in
Speaker 1: their room, right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And this really started in the late nineties into
Speaker 3: the two thousands. We had, as you said, Doug Martin, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, Billy Ramsell, Randy Jenkins, they bring the projector
Speaker 3: back to their room and the Rick Masseys and jokers
Speaker 3: in us.
Speaker 2: Of the world.
Speaker 3: Yeah, we would go up there and because they were
Speaker 3: going to watch. We'd go in there and watch with them.
Speaker 3: But yeah, it was totally different. You know, our film
Speaker 3: study was an actual you know, before practice it was.
Speaker 3: It was an actual yet to be there, you know
Speaker 3: two thirty and then two thirty, three thirty you hit
Speaker 3: the waits maybe, or or you watch film with the coaches,
Speaker 3: your coaches. Yeah, now they just give them a disc
Speaker 3: and go here you go, everything's here, or download it
Speaker 3: now on the iPad as you said, and it's all
Speaker 3: specific to your position. Back then, you just watched the
Speaker 3: high high eleven.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 3: Now it's specifically the defensive backs. You can watch the receivers,
Speaker 3: the line. So yeah, it's it's so much easier now.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Talking to Jeffikoro the UK Sports Network, he was
Speaker 1: there earlier today when Mark Stoops and the coordinators spoke
Speaker 1: to the fan. The annual kickoff luncheon. Another great crowd
Speaker 1: on hand. It seems like it's getting bigger every year.
Speaker 1: What about what bush ham Dan mentioned earlier today? Did
Speaker 1: anything he said jump out at you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, I know a lot of people want this
Speaker 3: almost Tim Couch offense where Kentucky's gonna throw it fifty
Speaker 3: five times a game, you know. But the thing that
Speaker 3: I really liked is when he said, you know, seven
Speaker 3: years in a row, you've had a thousand yard rusher. Yep,
Speaker 3: and I'd like to see us run the ball thirty
Speaker 3: times a game. I thought that was a great number
Speaker 3: that he threw out there. And the thing that he's well,
Speaker 3: I think you've got to have ballot. I think it's
Speaker 3: pretty much been proven. I mean, you look at those
Speaker 3: those years with Tim Kouch and Jared Lorenza. You had
Speaker 3: great offenses and you scored points, but the other team
Speaker 3: scored a lot more points a lot of the time. Right,
Speaker 3: you have to be balanced. You have to be able
Speaker 3: to control the line of scrimmage because if you control
Speaker 3: the line of scrimmage, then you can run it or
Speaker 3: pass it, and you can also control the clock. And
Speaker 3: that's what Canuck he likes to do. Because there's so
Speaker 3: many high powered offenses you don't want to you don't
Speaker 3: want to get into when you play Georgia or in
Speaker 3: Alabama or a Texas. You don't want to get into
Speaker 3: a pinball machine game with them because you know they're
Speaker 3: going to be able to score forty and you hold
Speaker 3: them down. This year's team looks like it can. But
Speaker 3: I really like what Hampden said.
Speaker 1: Well, and Stoops referred directly to number of plays and
Speaker 1: talked about, you know, offenses in the past that yeah,
Speaker 1: they work, but they didn't run enough plays and the
Speaker 1: clock was going down three two one. You know, people
Speaker 1: always talk about why didn't so and so get the ball?
Speaker 1: Why didn't you throw to your tight ends, Why didn't
Speaker 1: this running back get it? Well, if you're only running
Speaker 1: fifty five plays, yeah, and it could happen. Rich Brooks
Speaker 1: educated or tried to educate people, you recall back when
Speaker 1: he was here. But to your point, thirty running plays
Speaker 1: now add thirty to thirty five passing plays, and you've
Speaker 1: controlled the football, haven't you. But if you're only gonna
Speaker 1: run thirty running plays in twenty pass plays, well, the
Speaker 1: other guys are getting the ball way too much, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: If you're not gonna be at Tennessee Space or you
Speaker 3: know some of the other schools that run the hurry
Speaker 3: up where you're gonna get eighty to ninety offensive snaps
Speaker 3: of the game, that's just not going to happen. But
Speaker 3: to get in the sixties, I think that's a good
Speaker 3: number because if you run thirty and you throw thirty.
Speaker 3: That's a really balanced offense. Now, there's gonna be games
Speaker 3: when you play some teams that maybe they're stouter up front,
Speaker 3: so you want to get the ball on the edges
Speaker 3: a little more, and you might throw it thirty five
Speaker 3: or forty times and only run it twenty five times.
Speaker 3: But to get close to that number I think is
Speaker 3: huge for them running the ball because look, you've got
Speaker 3: a great offensive line, and I think, great, we throw
Speaker 3: that around too much. Let me tell you this. You've
Speaker 3: got an experienced offensive line and you've added a couple
Speaker 3: of key figures to give them depth. I don't know
Speaker 3: if they're great yet because I haven't seen them play together,
Speaker 3: but you've got some great depth there. You've got great
Speaker 3: depth of defensive line as well. So guys, so Dion
Speaker 3: Walker doesn't have to be out there sixty five seventy plays.
Speaker 3: If Dion Walker could go ninety to one hundred percent,
Speaker 3: and again, you're not going to go one hundred percent
Speaker 3: every play, You're only going to play twenty plays. But
Speaker 3: if he can be in the ninety percent tyle eighty
Speaker 3: five to ninety percent for forty five or fifty plays,
Speaker 3: then you're going to be really, really well off on
Speaker 3: the defensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1: One other thing to remember when we're totaling up plays,
Speaker 1: and this happened last year. When your defense scores or
Speaker 1: when your special team score, that gets your defense right
Speaker 1: back out on the field, obviously, and your offense doesn't
Speaker 1: get a chance to run more plays. So you're scoring points,
Speaker 1: but you're keeping your defense out there. But that's a
Speaker 1: good problem to have. We're going to talk more football
Speaker 1: with Jeffcorrol on the other side of the break. You're
Speaker 1: listening to the best of the Big Blue Insider. More
Speaker 1: to come here on six thirty WLAP. Hey, it's Dick
Speaker 1: Gabriel and you're listening to the best of the Big
Speaker 1: Blue Inside talking with Jeff Picoro the UK Sports Network.
Speaker 1: He is the color analyst for a couple of decades
Speaker 1: now calling Kentucky football. And Jeff, you and I have worked,
Speaker 1: as well as Tom Leach and our crew, our producer
Speaker 1: engineers eight straight Bowl games. We have every reason to
Speaker 1: think will work another one this year. The biggest question,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure in your role is color analysts as
Speaker 1: well as sports director Channel thirty six, how many games
Speaker 1: are they going to win. Yeah, yeah, I keep telling people.
Speaker 1: You and I talked about this down in Dallas. Chef
Speaker 1: was there for SEC media days. I firmly believe the
Speaker 1: calendar works against Kentucky as much this year as any
Speaker 1: I've seen, and that is to say, so many tough
Speaker 1: games up front where they used to be able to
Speaker 1: kind of work into it. You know, on the other hand,
Speaker 1: if you can handle these challenges early, you're in great shape,
Speaker 1: right yeah.
Speaker 3: You know with the one game that I point to
Speaker 3: says if Kentucky wins this game, they have a chance
Speaker 3: to win eight, nine, ten games, and that is Game two,
Speaker 3: thank you. That is a team that South Carolina that
Speaker 3: Kentucky is very similar to, but they've been able to
Speaker 3: have the upper hand until the last two years. Now
Speaker 3: South Carolina with Eli Drinkolitz, has really upped there recruiting.
Speaker 3: But I still think that that's that's a game. And
Speaker 3: I always said in Mississippi State when they were always
Speaker 3: our other side as the West team, will be played
Speaker 3: that Kentucky played. But I really think that game. Look,
Speaker 3: you're gonna know what you got going into Old miss
Speaker 3: If you're three and one, then you got a great
Speaker 3: shot at Old miss. If you're two and two, okay,
Speaker 3: you've probably lost the game. You shouldn't. If you're one
Speaker 3: in three, you know, now you better start battling down
Speaker 3: the hatches because you know, look, George is gonna be
Speaker 3: a tough game. It's here. You've got a boxer's chance, right,
Speaker 3: That's what you have to have the one. And let
Speaker 3: me go back to one thing that you said what
Speaker 3: excited here? What I take out of that? They've got
Speaker 3: some quarterbacks that can run. Now, they've got two, probably
Speaker 3: their top two, and I don't know, bo is probably
Speaker 3: one A or one B or two whatever you want
Speaker 3: to call him. But look, you've got two quarterbacks that
Speaker 3: are over six three and over two hundred and twenty
Speaker 3: five pounds and they can scamper around a little bit.
Speaker 3: One has got what fifteen college games under his belt,
Speaker 3: and one's got about fifteen backs under his belt. So
Speaker 3: it's going to be really interesting to see how that
Speaker 3: works out and how Bush tries to integrate the quarterbacks
Speaker 3: into the system or into the games. I should say, I'm.
Speaker 1: With you on South Carolina, and I just don't firmly
Speaker 1: believe yet in the game Cocks. I mean, you look
Speaker 1: at last year's schedule. They handle the teams they should
Speaker 1: have handled well, but Tennessee spanked them, a Florida team
Speaker 1: that was not very good, frankly beat South Carolina. Florida team,
Speaker 1: Kentucky beat an m spanked them. Missouri, the team you
Speaker 1: just talked about, beat him handily. They crushed Vanderbilt, but
Speaker 1: Kentucky just laid an egg that night in November, yeah,
Speaker 1: and lost. And then the following week South Carolina, full
Speaker 1: of itself, loses the Clemson you know, So yeah, I
Speaker 1: think that's that's that. And as you said, Missouri is
Speaker 1: just getting better. I believe much more Missouri than I
Speaker 1: do in South Carolina, you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah. Oh yeah, Look, and I said it wrong because
Speaker 3: I was talking about South st and said, Eli drinko,
Speaker 3: wi is what you've done. Those are the two games
Speaker 3: that I always looked at. Oh yeah, but look, if
Speaker 3: you beat South Carolina and then even if you lose
Speaker 3: to Georgia, you're probably gonna be three and one right
Speaker 3: going into that contest. That's what I was trying to say.
Speaker 3: If you're two and two, so that means you've probably
Speaker 3: lost to South Carolina and Georgia and beaten the two
Speaker 3: teams through supposed to be. Then that makes that Old
Speaker 3: Miss game almost and you know, if you don't win
Speaker 3: this basically you're looking at you know, then you start going, Okay,
Speaker 3: we may have a chance at the Liberty Bowl, you know,
Speaker 3: And I know that's early, but like you said, the
Speaker 3: way the schedule is, you've got to get out of
Speaker 3: the gate. You've got one game to learn this Hampden
Speaker 3: offense and really get it perfected. So you get to
Speaker 3: South Carolina.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, and then after Old Miss you got Vandy.
Speaker 1: But two years ago, Kentucky goes to Old Miss and
Speaker 1: basically in a position to win the game, loses a
Speaker 1: last minute touchdown on a penalty. And yet Jeff we
Speaker 1: we talked about it during the pregame show. That was
Speaker 1: one of the greatest pregame atmospheres and not even talking
Speaker 1: about the Grove, but that got everybody ready. That stadium
Speaker 1: was literally rocking. And yet Kentucky fought back after a
Speaker 1: mediocre first half in an injury to Will Levison, came
Speaker 1: back and damn near won the game. So yeah, it's
Speaker 1: a challenge, but you know, like you said, that would
Speaker 1: be a pivotal game as well.
Speaker 3: And it's probably gonna be a national Philabelia.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: I mean if there're three and one, or you know,
Speaker 3: if they're four and oh or three and one, that
Speaker 3: game is going to be at noon on ADC. That's right,
Speaker 3: So that is going to be an awesome game.
Speaker 1: Could be so much is going to depend on who
Speaker 1: plays quarterback. And I've been told that the battle for
Speaker 1: the starting job is probably closer than we think. But
Speaker 1: earlier today I felt like bush Hampden was indicating that
Speaker 1: it was Brock's job to lose. Do you have that feeling?
Speaker 3: Yeah? I do. I do. I think that here's the situation. Two,
Speaker 3: You've got really three guys in that room. Because bo
Speaker 3: Ally leaving and going to Charleton State and being able
Speaker 3: to start twelve games, yeah, and throw the way he did.
Speaker 3: You're not running the scout team. You're running a college
Speaker 3: team against really good teams. Charleston plays a tough schedule
Speaker 3: and he did really well. He looked different. He's a bigger,
Speaker 3: stronger kid. He still has the gun on his shoulder
Speaker 3: if someone gets hurt. Before I was hoping Boe could
Speaker 3: get the job done, but by going out there and
Speaker 3: playing in twelve games, it changed his career. Projection. He
Speaker 3: could have gone to a probably one hundred different schools
Speaker 3: and started this year, but he wanted to come back
Speaker 3: to Kentucky because he knows this is where I want
Speaker 3: to make home. And I think he's he's look, nobody's
Speaker 3: happy being the backup, but in his mind, he'd rather
Speaker 3: be a backup here and get some playing time to
Speaker 3: go somewhere else. And you got to hand it to
Speaker 3: a kid like that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I agree, and I did wonder about that,
Speaker 1: but yeah, he wanted to come back and compete with
Speaker 1: the job here, and he's much better equipped right now.
Speaker 1: I think you'll agree to compete. I think you you
Speaker 1: just said that basically than he was before he was here.
Speaker 1: If we wrap this up with Jeff Pikoro the UK
Speaker 1: Sports Network. You mentioned the defensive line and Dion Walker.
Speaker 1: I thought he did a great job down in Dallas.
Speaker 1: He was you know, with us the media scrum. He
Speaker 1: was fun, he was kind of funny. I thought he
Speaker 1: was kind of more business like in the breakout rooms,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean. But I think he was
Speaker 1: trying to be more professional for lack of a better term,
Speaker 1: you know what. You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Look, he's bigger, stronger, faster than he's ever been. Yeah,
Speaker 3: I'm not worried about him. He's he's going to play.
Speaker 3: I think there's one key to the defense, and especially
Speaker 3: if Hayes doesn't play because of the injury, then I
Speaker 3: think a lot of it has to do with t
Speaker 3: Shawn Silver. If this kid can can bill the promise
Speaker 3: that he has and the ability that he has inside
Speaker 3: of him, can coach get that out of him? If
Speaker 3: he's able to go in there and play forty plays
Speaker 3: a game like he shown flashes of and practice and stuff,
Speaker 3: and again, it hits people at different times. We always
Speaker 3: talk about Andre Woodson. The first two years he was here,
Speaker 3: he was a deer in headlights, right, he was lost,
Speaker 3: and then all of a sudden his junior year, are like,
Speaker 3: who is this guy? And that's kind of what I
Speaker 3: helped because he's the biggest guy on the team almost.
Speaker 3: I mean, Silver is huge and he's going to have
Speaker 3: to play a lot of snaps right over the center.
Speaker 3: And like I said, if he can show the five
Speaker 3: star ability that he had in high school, then this
Speaker 3: is going to be one heck of a defense.
Speaker 1: Is Jeff Pecorrel. You can see him on WTVQ. You
Speaker 1: can also hear him on the UK radio network d
Speaker 1: It's coming up fast as the Wildcasts begin to open
Speaker 1: their football season. And follow Jeff on Twitter or ex
Speaker 1: at Jeff Pecorol.
Speaker 3: Thank you sir, all right, buddy, have a great one
Speaker 3: sitting to.
Speaker 1: The best of the Big Blue Insider. More to come
Speaker 1: here on six thirty WLAP. It's Dick Gabriel. Welcome back
Speaker 1: to the best of the Big Blue Insider. Joining us
Speaker 1: now is a man who is familiar to these airways,
Speaker 1: familiar to this show here in lection in his first
Speaker 1: job was producing the Big blueon Sider, among other things
Speaker 1: at the radio station. And now Billy Rud Did you
Speaker 1: hear him every morning with Shannon the Dude just after
Speaker 1: the Tom Leach The Leach Report at nine am. Billy,
Speaker 1: welcome back to the show.
Speaker 3: Yeah, great to be on, Dick. I missed those days. Yeah,
Speaker 3: we'll never forget them for sure.
Speaker 1: And of course Billy comes up with Aaron gersha on
Speaker 1: Monday nights after coaching shows. But the reason I reached
Speaker 1: out and Billy and I communicate all the time, but
Speaker 1: I stumbled across an entertaining entry on YouTube where what
Speaker 1: Is it Bogies with Billy? Is that the right name?
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 1: Okay, how in the world did this come up?
Speaker 3: Well, Dick, I'm sure you have the same problem as
Speaker 3: I do with a lack of content in the summer,
Speaker 3: and with comes the summer as good weather, so I'm
Speaker 3: able to out go play a little golf, and I
Speaker 3: decided to film a couple of my swings and that
Speaker 3: turned into me filming a couple holes, and I posted
Speaker 3: online the other day Bogie's with Billy, and I felt
Speaker 3: like it was a relatable title because I ended up
Speaker 3: doubling the first two holes that I posted online, So
Speaker 3: you know, I don't know. It just gives me a
Speaker 3: chance to go to different golf courses and give an
Speaker 3: excuse to my significant other that I have to go
Speaker 3: play golf maybe once or twice a week. But I'm
Speaker 3: glad you enjoyed it and looking forward to doing a
Speaker 3: couple more here in the future.
Speaker 1: Now you also have the technology of illustrating the arc
Speaker 1: of your shot. I assume that's an app you can
Speaker 1: buy or how did that work?
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was a shot tracer app. I just filmed
Speaker 3: it with my phone, and the one that works does
Speaker 3: cost like six scholars or something like that. So I
Speaker 3: ended up buying that, and I had a free editing
Speaker 3: software on iPhone called cap cut, and it just took
Speaker 3: maybe about an hour hour and a half to cut
Speaker 3: all the stuff together. And luckily I didn't completely embarrass
Speaker 3: myself with doubling the last hole as well, I did
Speaker 3: get a par. But you know what, it's a little
Speaker 3: bit different when the camera's on you, Dick, You know
Speaker 3: what I mean, It's a little bit added pressure when
Speaker 3: you see everybody who's going to be watching. But you
Speaker 3: know what, hopefully my golf game can improve with this,
Speaker 3: and maybe that'll lead to a sponsorship one day, because
Speaker 3: how great would it be if you could play golf
Speaker 3: and actually get paid to do it.
Speaker 1: That's my next question was going to be about sponsorship.
Speaker 1: But do you have to improve your game to the
Speaker 1: point where it's Birdie's with Billy? Do you think to
Speaker 1: attract a sponsor or do you think someone will, in
Speaker 1: the spirit with which it's intended, have fun with it.
Speaker 3: I honestly think that it'd be more relatable with Bogy's
Speaker 3: with Billy. You know, when I see somebody trying to
Speaker 3: break you know, seventy and a golf video. I kind
Speaker 3: of roll my eyes and think I'll never be that guy.
Speaker 3: But when I see somebody, you know, double in the
Speaker 3: first two holes and having to take three drops in
Speaker 3: a matter of three holes, it's kind of like, hey,
Speaker 3: that's me. Credit to this guy for actually filming that
Speaker 3: and putting it out there. So, you know, I don't
Speaker 3: know if I'll ever get that good. So that may
Speaker 3: be one of the problems. But you know, Bogeys with
Speaker 3: Billy hopefully here to say if I can, if I
Speaker 3: can keep up with it. And here's the thing. It
Speaker 3: takes a little bit longer to film your shot, and
Speaker 3: if there's somebody behind you, which there was the last
Speaker 3: time I filmed, you know, you just have to apologize
Speaker 3: and say, yeah, I'm so sorry because I have become
Speaker 3: that person that is slowing up play a little bit.
Speaker 1: But see, eventually, if this thing really catches on, they'll
Speaker 1: either recognize you, Hey, that's the Bogeys with Billy guy,
Speaker 1: or you can tell them, you know, ever heard of
Speaker 1: Bogeys with Billy? So I think there's a bright future there.
Speaker 1: But yeah, you're you're talking about people watching. I mean,
Speaker 1: when I see those tournaments and somebody's on a tee,
Speaker 1: usually the first tee with patrons lined all the way
Speaker 1: down the first part of the fairway. I couldn't even
Speaker 1: begin to draw a club head back, much less put
Speaker 1: for big money. So yeah, just a few people watching.
Speaker 1: What unnerved me. We're talking with Billy Rutledge. You hear
Speaker 1: him every morning billying the dude at nine am on
Speaker 1: this station and with us Monday night on the Big
Speaker 1: Blue Side. I want us to state wide show. But
Speaker 1: we've been talking about bogies with Billy on YouTube. I
Speaker 1: urge you to check that out. Otherwise, mister Rutledge, what
Speaker 1: did you think of where? And again our argument will
Speaker 1: go on forever more. But the two top subs for
Speaker 1: Kentucky going into top ten.
Speaker 3: Well, you know, really happy for these guys. I mean,
Speaker 3: Read with somebody that didn't even know if he was
Speaker 3: going to get playing time it was going to be
Speaker 3: is Richie going to play? Is Read going to play?
Speaker 3: Is how we started the season last year, and the
Speaker 3: kid became the first college basketball player to get drafted
Speaker 3: after those French guys went. So I'm really proud for him.
Speaker 3: It was great to see Jeff in state. He's there
Speaker 3: in the spotlight. I mean, he deserves it, and I
Speaker 3: think he has a bright future with the Rockets or
Speaker 3: whatever team he goes to. But the real fun of
Speaker 3: the night was Rob Dellingham going to the Spurs, which
Speaker 3: I thought was a perfect landing spot with Gwin Binyama
Speaker 3: and how well they've developed talent there, but then immediately
Speaker 3: getting traded to the Timberwolves, a contender he can team
Speaker 3: up with Karl, Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards. I mean,
Speaker 3: they've just beat the Nuggets and we're in the Western
Speaker 3: Conference Finals. So I definitely think it's a different expectation
Speaker 3: for Rob early in his career. If he were with
Speaker 3: the Spurs, I think maybe people would give him a
Speaker 3: pass for a year or two as he develops his game,
Speaker 3: specifically defensively. But now going to Minnesota, I feel like
Speaker 3: he is going to be an impact player immediately and
Speaker 3: I think expectations will be high for him. So I
Speaker 3: absolutely love seeing those two guys go in the top
Speaker 3: ten of the draft, along with two Yukon players that
Speaker 3: went in the top ten, as they've become one of
Speaker 3: the biggest blue bloods now But I saw that when
Speaker 3: Antonio Reeves got drafted in the second round just the
Speaker 3: other night that it was the fiftieth player drafted under
Speaker 3: John Caliparia. And I feel like this draft is kind
Speaker 3: of the end of an era, the closing of the
Speaker 3: book of cal with Kentucky a bit to a degree,
Speaker 3: I think there was no doubt he should have been
Speaker 3: there for his guys to support them. But now it's
Speaker 3: a full steam ahead with Mark Pope and this new roster,
Speaker 3: and honestly, I couldn't be more excited. I think we've
Speaker 3: all bought into the Mark Pope pipe now.
Speaker 1: No, I agree fully. And one other note, I'm Dillingham.
Speaker 1: I didn't realize God time flies. Michael Conley, the point
Speaker 1: guard for the Wolves, he's thirty six and he's got
Speaker 1: obviously contract issues when you're playing that long. So now
Speaker 1: they can groom Dillingham first as perhaps the sixth man,
Speaker 1: which would be perfect. He was the sixth man of
Speaker 1: the year at Kentucky in the SEC and then eventually
Speaker 1: take over feeding the post to a guy named Karl
Speaker 1: Anthony Town so that would be awesome. But yeah, to
Speaker 1: your point about Mark Pope, he had the news conference
Speaker 1: there today. I'm sure you heard a lot of that
Speaker 1: and the reason was there wasn't anything particularly going on,
Speaker 1: but they have been crushed with media requests. I don't
Speaker 1: know if he's been on your show yet. I finally
Speaker 1: got him on mine, but and he has said he
Speaker 1: will come to the garage at some point. But I
Speaker 1: think it's fascinating, Billy, just the things he has sent.
Speaker 1: I mean, quoting one of his English professors at the
Speaker 1: news conference. You know, the guy actually answers questions, unlike
Speaker 1: his predecessor, who answers but not necessarily the question you asked.
Speaker 1: You know what I mean. And you've produced this is
Speaker 1: Radio Coaches show. You know exactly what I'm talking about.
Speaker 3: Oh, I know very well about Tom Leech asking one
Speaker 3: question in each segment and Cal being able to take it.
Speaker 1: It is.
Speaker 3: I've heard people call it a breath of fresh air
Speaker 3: with Mark Pope, and it is. I mean, it was
Speaker 3: just time and sometimes you linking it to a relationship.
Speaker 3: Sometimes you just get tired with what you have, and
Speaker 3: Mark Pope has been everything and more so far even
Speaker 3: bribe the media with cookies, Dick. I don't know if
Speaker 3: you if you got any of those cookies the other day,
Speaker 3: but that's all. That's all off to a good start.
Speaker 3: You know, he's you know, he's saying the right things,
Speaker 3: and you know it's exciting to hear about the guys
Speaker 3: picking up the lingo and the team bonding and chemistry
Speaker 3: that's starting to take shape. You know, I actually heard
Speaker 3: a recorded interview with Cody Feger, the assistant coach with
Speaker 3: Tom Leach this morning, and they were likening their their
Speaker 3: three point attack offense to how Mummy's air raid attack
Speaker 3: back at Kentucky back in the day, and how it's
Speaker 3: not not a ton of like different plays, it's kind
Speaker 3: of the same concepts, and then you are forcing teams
Speaker 3: to make mistakes and you're able to beat them by
Speaker 3: knowing your system in and out. I thought that was
Speaker 3: very interesting way to put it, because that was the
Speaker 3: two BYU team last year that shot more threes in
Speaker 3: Alabama averaged two more game than the team that we've
Speaker 3: come to know as revolutionizing basketball with threes and layups
Speaker 3: approach and no mid range. So, you know, I think
Speaker 3: we've been screaming for this type of change for a
Speaker 3: while in Big Blue Nation. Instead of a massing talent
Speaker 3: and having log jams in certain positions, now you're picking
Speaker 3: players that fit your system and how they can compliment
Speaker 3: the team. And Mark Pope has put together a roster
Speaker 3: of guys that are going to compete for playing time,
Speaker 3: not just you know, people waiting for their chance at
Speaker 3: another school or when somebody moves on.
Speaker 2: I mean that.
Speaker 3: I think that's a testament to recruiting in the transfer
Speaker 3: portal age, that you can get so many guys to
Speaker 3: buy in to try to fight for minute.
Speaker 1: You know. To me, the biggest question is and I
Speaker 1: asked him this and he was asked this again the
Speaker 1: other day gave a similar answer, and this goes back
Speaker 1: really to the documentary that we did on the ninety
Speaker 1: six team. They told us, they told Cameron Mills and
Speaker 1: me that the player said. Our question was, how is
Speaker 1: Rick Patino going to do this? They had so many
Speaker 1: players on that roster, nine of them ended up in
Speaker 1: the NBA, so much talent. How's he going to do this?
Speaker 1: And that's been my question. It's a little bit of
Speaker 1: a different situation, of course, but how's Mark Pope first
Speaker 1: of all going to put this team together? Secondly decide
Speaker 1: who's star two gets what minutes that kind of thing,
Speaker 1: And he said the aff will help decide that the
Speaker 1: players will decide that, because to me, that's the biggest
Speaker 1: mystery going into this. You know, tell me a starting five.
Speaker 1: I think you asked five people, you get five different answers.
Speaker 3: You know, yes, and you know, you know, despite all
Speaker 3: the guys fighting for this playing time, he does have
Speaker 3: some guys with experience. You know, I think of Wilmont Butler,
Speaker 3: who hit that shot to send San Diego State to
Speaker 3: the championship game, a buzzer beater, that he has more
Speaker 3: Final Four experience than anybody that's come through Kentucky in
Speaker 3: the last decades. I was like, it's amazing that we're
Speaker 3: even saying that when Cal went to four final fours
Speaker 3: and five years at one point. Yeah, you know, I
Speaker 3: think there's some exciting additions like Amari Williams, who was
Speaker 3: his defensive Player of the Year in his conference. Andrew
Speaker 3: Carr is a guy that I think has a ton
Speaker 3: of the potential to be a shooting big and just
Speaker 3: his style of offense I think creates a lot of optimism.
Speaker 3: So you know, I had camera Mills on me when
Speaker 3: I was hosting Luis Support the other day, and he,
Speaker 3: you know, he was he was so positive about that
Speaker 3: and rightly so, I mean, he was part of that era.
Speaker 3: But at the same time, I think there is actually,
Speaker 3: you know, this optimism that wasn't there if we had
Speaker 3: to go through another summer with count would you agree
Speaker 3: with that?
Speaker 1: Yes, I would, And it doesn't surprise me. With Cameron,
Speaker 1: they were not only teammates, they were roommates at one point.
Speaker 1: So when this was all coming down and I was
Speaker 1: communicating with Cameron, he was so excited. So yeah, he
Speaker 1: thinks the world of Marp Pope. A couple of minutes
Speaker 1: left with Billy rut that did you hear him every morning
Speaker 1: Billy and a dude at nine am? Following the Leech report?
Speaker 1: And we talked earlier about Bogie's with Billy, but now
Speaker 1: he shifted, of course, over to Kentucky basketball and football
Speaker 1: meetings are coming up. I've not had a chance. I've
Speaker 1: asked a lot of people, but I've not had a
Speaker 1: chance to ask you, what do you think it's going
Speaker 1: to be like for Mark Stoops when he goes down
Speaker 1: to the heart of Texas and the Texas media jump
Speaker 1: on him and say, Hey, what about this A and
Speaker 1: M story? You know what I mean? And I'm not
Speaker 1: talking baseball?
Speaker 3: Oh oh, yes, it took me a second to remember
Speaker 3: that there was a courting that happened in the offseason
Speaker 3: where it looked like Stoops might have been the new
Speaker 3: Texas A and M coach. You know, a little awkward,
Speaker 3: but also I think expected in this day and age.
Speaker 3: But at the same time, you know, Kentucky will be
Speaker 3: traveling down to Texas this year in a really cool environment.
Speaker 3: You know, I think big Blue Nation fans that have
Speaker 3: a really cool opportunity as they welcome Texas and Oklahoma.
Speaker 2: To the league.
Speaker 3: But yeah, I mean Mark Stewke's now the longest tenured
Speaker 3: head coach in the SEC after Nick Saban retires. I
Speaker 3: think the media days should be a little interesting. In
Speaker 3: the past, we've seen stups get a little feisty with
Speaker 3: a Eli Drinkowitz or a Shane Beemer. But let's be honesty.
Speaker 3: This is a really tough schedule this year. I mean
Speaker 3: South Carolina early is a game that I think you
Speaker 3: have forgot to take advantage of. It's going to be
Speaker 3: harder and harder to get to those nine ten win
Speaker 3: seasons now that you're adding Texas and Oklahoma in. And
Speaker 3: then you throw into the fact that the Louisville game
Speaker 3: might be canceled in years to come if they would
Speaker 3: go to nine conference games. You know, as we go
Speaker 3: to twelve the twelve playoff teams. Now we have a
Speaker 3: college football playoff, you know, you could say there's more
Speaker 3: opportunity for the Cats to make it, and maybe they
Speaker 3: would have made it one of those ten win years
Speaker 3: in the past if it was twelve teams. But I
Speaker 3: think it's going to be a lot harder for Mark
Speaker 3: Stoops to get to that mark. And probably one of
Speaker 3: the biggest question marks is the defensive wide. I know
Speaker 3: we've got Dean Walker, but the depth there is not
Speaker 3: where I think it needs to be. And if you're
Speaker 3: going to survive a whole season in the SEC, you know,
Speaker 3: the hog ballis are a big part of that. And
Speaker 3: as the big Blue wall goes, Kentucky goes. But that
Speaker 3: defensive line has got to hold up. And Dean Walker,
Speaker 3: while he is a first round talent, and you know,
Speaker 3: he can't do it all by himself, so there are
Speaker 3: some question marks. I did see a photo of Brock
Speaker 3: Vandergriff with a cell phone cliff On earlier this summer,
Speaker 3: and that kind of reassured me that he's the man
Speaker 3: for the job, as simple as that may be. But
Speaker 3: you know, I'm always excited for another Kentucky football season.
Speaker 3: And Mark Stoops surrounds himself with such great talent and
Speaker 3: a great coaching staff that can recruit, and I think
Speaker 3: that's a big part of why he's been so successful
Speaker 3: for all these years.
Speaker 1: Is Billy. Let's follow him on Twitter or x at
Speaker 1: Billy r Sports, and of course find him on YouTube.
Speaker 1: Now Bogie's with Billy if you want to either check
Speaker 1: on Billy's game, make yourself feel good about your game,
Speaker 1: or learn a few things. Is there any how to
Speaker 1: stuff Billy or is it just you illustrating your problems.
Speaker 3: No, I think it's just a chance for you to
Speaker 3: laugh at my golf game, and I usually have a
Speaker 3: guest with it. You know, Bryson d. Chambeau quickly here.
Speaker 3: You know, he changed his entire image and I think
Speaker 3: a big part of that his move to YouTube and
Speaker 3: talking to the fans, and so, you know, maybe this
Speaker 3: is part of my rehabilitation with maybe some people.
Speaker 1: Up And it's ironic because you have never been a
Speaker 1: Bryson de Shambeau fan, But that's the time, I know,
Speaker 1: another night. I know. Thank you brother, see you soon.
Speaker 3: Enjoyed, Dick, thank you for.
Speaker 1: Listening to the best of the Big Blue Insider. More
Speaker 1: to come here on six thirty w LAP It's Dick Gabriel.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Best of the Big Blue Insider.
Speaker 1: Angel Hernandez is retiring. One of the if not the
Speaker 1: worst umpire in Major League Baseball is hanging it up
Speaker 1: right now. He has caught so much criticism, and rightfully so.
Speaker 1: And let me say, I am an advocate for sports officials.
Speaker 1: I've done it. I did it when I was young,
Speaker 1: when I was a teenager, I did it for ten years,
Speaker 1: from everything from peewee to adultly my brother for almost
Speaker 1: fifty years has been a sports official, primarily an umpire,
Speaker 1: and so I'm very sympathetic. But this guy's terrible. And
Speaker 1: that's the problem is he didn't seem to care, because
Speaker 1: if he did, he would have worked to improve. And
Speaker 1: if you and I can see video showing just how
Speaker 1: bad his calls have been, so can he. He should
Speaker 1: have been sitting down and maybe calling on a supervisor
Speaker 1: and saying, how can I get better? Why am I
Speaker 1: missing these pitches that are anywhere from three to eight
Speaker 1: inches off the plate, or there's video on X this
Speaker 1: morning of a fastball that came right down the middle
Speaker 1: about thigh high on a hitter and that became ball four.
Speaker 1: So he's screwing over both the hitters and the pitchers,
Speaker 1: but more often the hitters. It was staggering how bad
Speaker 1: his calls were. Now. They tried to move against him
Speaker 1: to Major League Baseball at some point, but they knew
Speaker 1: they really couldn't because he sued in twenty seventeen for
Speaker 1: racial discrimination. He's a Cuban American and they claimed he
Speaker 1: had been He claimed he had been passed over for
Speaker 1: World Series assignments and a crew chief position because of
Speaker 1: his race. And it's easy to prove. I can't say
Speaker 1: for certain because I'm not in the room, but I
Speaker 1: got to think it's easy to prove. And he lost
Speaker 1: that case by it was dismissed, and an appeals court
Speaker 1: upheld the dismissal. You can show him video, here's why
Speaker 1: you're terrible. But the union is so strong, The umpire's
Speaker 1: union is so strong that it's almost impossible to fire
Speaker 1: somebody for incompetence. And their claim has always been no
Speaker 1: matter how bad a World Series umpire is well, if
Speaker 1: he's a major league umpire, he's one of the best
Speaker 1: in the world. Well, in theory, yes, but sometimes guys
Speaker 1: either get worse or they shouldn't have been there to
Speaker 1: begin with. I don't know which was the case for
Speaker 1: Angel Hernandez. But if it weren't for the fact that
Speaker 1: he was a threat to the livelihood of so many players,
Speaker 1: it would be funny how bad he is. But it
Speaker 1: wasn't funny. And now he immediately has retired, hadn't worked
Speaker 1: the game behind the plates since May nine, thankfully, and says,
Speaker 1: of course he's going to spend more time with his family. Well, good,
Speaker 1: I hope you do. Wow, how did the wildcatch rate
Speaker 1: right now? Do you care? Well, a lot of people do.
Speaker 1: That's why he's way too soon. Top twenty five's are out,
Speaker 1: and of course, with DJ Wagner over the weekend committing
Speaker 1: to Arkansas, that helps the Razorbacks. We took a look
Speaker 1: at the CBS Sports Top twenty five. Gary Parrish, well
Speaker 1: respected writer talking about Arkansas, Caliperry Wagner and the Top
Speaker 1: twenty five. Arkansas made the biggest move after adding Wagner.
Speaker 1: Arkansas jumped seven spots to sixteenth, Marquette fell out of
Speaker 1: the top spot, which now belongs to Kansas. That's because
Speaker 1: they get three to their top six scorers back, including
Speaker 1: Hunter Dickinson. Houston gets eight of its top ten scorers
Speaker 1: back their second, North Carolina five of their top eight
Speaker 1: scorers back third. Now, where's Kentucky, Well, not in there obviously,
Speaker 1: But what do you know about Kentucky really in terms
Speaker 1: of how they're gonna play this year? Nothing? You know,
Speaker 1: they're gonna have good players. How's Mark Pope gonna use them?
Speaker 1: We don't know. But they are not going to appear
Speaker 1: until I would think they play a game. They won't
Speaker 1: be in the top twenty five anywhere. I wouldn't think
Speaker 1: till they play a game. Unless somebody decides to take
Speaker 1: a flyer on them. It's too soon, but that's the
Speaker 1: way the top twenty five looks to Gary Parrish. That'll
Speaker 1: do it for now. Thanks for joining us for this
Speaker 1: special edition the best of the Big Blue Insider. That's it.
Speaker 1: Good night from the garage in Lexington.