Speaker 1: It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day. Now here's Nick coffee.
Speaker 2: All right, five o'clock hour here on a Monday afternoon.
Speaker 2: Happy Columbus Day to everybody. For those who celebrate. I'm
Speaker 2: not really sure what a typical celebration is for Columbus Day.
Speaker 2: But for those of you that do, in fact, you know,
Speaker 2: do exactly that, I hope you enjoy yourself. In fact,
Speaker 2: I'm curious what kind of party do you throw to
Speaker 2: celebrate this big holiday. It's a federal holiday. There aren't
Speaker 2: many of those out there. There's a lot of other
Speaker 2: days that aren't necessarily recognized as you know, a federal holiday.
Speaker 2: But I feel like they've got a little more, you know,
Speaker 2: they seem to matter more to people. But today I
Speaker 2: went to the zoo with my family because my wife
Speaker 2: works for a bank, she's she didn't work today, my
Speaker 2: kids out of school in daycare, and everybody, I'm sure
Speaker 2: it seemed like everybody had the same exact idea, let's
Speaker 2: go to the zoo, because it's maybe that's maybe that's
Speaker 2: how people celebrate Columbus, Stay John. They go to the
Speaker 2: Zoo's way to celebrate Columbus Day. It'd be random, but
Speaker 2: I did not expect it to be as crowded as
Speaker 2: it was. But chili, I mean, it kind of feels
Speaker 2: like evening now, like today's that day we're with the
Speaker 2: weather being what it was, Like I know it won't
Speaker 2: be because we're not there yet, but today felt like
Speaker 2: a day outside where when we when we leave here
Speaker 2: at six six fifteen, it it's probably gonna be dark,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean? Like, I know it's not,
Speaker 2: but like today we had our first brisk chill here
Speaker 2: and it has me excited because I like this time
Speaker 2: of year and I like nice chili fall weather, and
Speaker 2: that's that's what we got today. I love it too.
Speaker 3: And it's also campfire season.
Speaker 2: Hell yeah, oh it's I don't know what it's going
Speaker 2: to be like tonight. Maybe it'll be a little too
Speaker 2: chilly for people to do it, but like in a
Speaker 2: monday's a weird day. But hey, if you're gonna do
Speaker 2: a bonfire on a random Monday, do it on Columbus Day, right,
Speaker 2: that's your excuse. I'll have like a beer rankings like
Speaker 2: you do.
Speaker 3: But if I did, camp fire beer would be number one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's I mean, it's it's receiving votes for me,
Speaker 2: but it's not you know, it's not in my top five,
Speaker 2: but it's certainly it's certainly a good one. But what
Speaker 2: makes it even better is whether like this right, of course,
Speaker 2: good stuff, all right, A lot to react to from
Speaker 2: the weekend, and we've been doing exactly that for the
Speaker 2: last couple of hours. For those of you that are
Speaker 2: just now joining us. Louisville football avoided a three game
Speaker 2: losing streak, which was needed in a major way. They
Speaker 2: found a way to win on the road at Virginia
Speaker 2: in a game where you know, let's be real, if
Speaker 2: they didn't punch that touchdown in late with Jamari Johnson
Speaker 2: and they lose, it would have been bad. It would
Speaker 2: have been a three game losing streak. It would have
Speaker 2: been a much different postgame show than it was. But
Speaker 2: you know, can you say you would have been surprised,
Speaker 2: I mean, even up to that point before they took
Speaker 2: the lead and held on and closed out the victory again,
Speaker 2: and that matters. Like, being able to do that was
Speaker 2: great for them, especially for their confidence. They needed this
Speaker 2: when more than fans did, I mean, this team needed
Speaker 2: to remind themselves they can go win football games despite
Speaker 2: making mistakes, and they did that, so that's good. But
Speaker 2: you know, I think it was the same type of
Speaker 2: performance to where you found yourself in a spot knowing
Speaker 2: that you probably shouldn't be in set spot. Right I
Speaker 2: think we can look at Virginia and I know results
Speaker 2: are all that really matters as far as wins and losses,
Speaker 2: and right now these two teams have the same record,
Speaker 2: but like, I think Louisville has a lot better players
Speaker 2: than Virginia at certain positions. That's not to say they're terrible,
Speaker 2: but I still feel like it despite a win, it
Speaker 2: was still another game where you just should have been
Speaker 2: a little bit more disciplined. You should have been, you know,
Speaker 2: Dare I say more ready to play? Like people get
Speaker 2: triggered by that. Like I don't know if it's because
Speaker 2: it's they're sensitive to brom criticism or what it is,
Speaker 2: but I've gotten pushed back like twice this year when
Speaker 2: when I've mentioned that they didn't come ready to play.
Speaker 2: And I guess that can mean a variety of different things,
Speaker 2: but what I mean when I say that is they
Speaker 2: came out and they didn't play well. Hence the reason
Speaker 2: they weren't ready, and sometimes you can come ready and
Speaker 2: just get steamrolled because you're playing really good teams. That
Speaker 2: wasn't Virginia. I mean, lowl didn't score point in the
Speaker 2: first quarter, and on defense, their quarterback was carving us
Speaker 2: up on the ground with his legs like every other
Speaker 2: quarterback seemingly has done this year. So you know, I
Speaker 2: feel like they came out kind of looking like a
Speaker 2: mess at times, despite also showing that they have a
Speaker 2: lot of talent on offense at the skill position players.
Speaker 2: Tyler Shuck. I think he's really really good and I'm
Speaker 2: sad we only get him one year. Isaac Brown one
Speaker 2: of the best freshmen in the country, and he got
Speaker 2: the bulk of the carries and made the most of
Speaker 2: it on Saturday. Jacorey Brooks not worried at all about
Speaker 2: him being able to perform and make big plays. He's
Speaker 2: really talented. Colin Lacy, he hasn't proven it as much
Speaker 2: because of the injuries, but I still think he's a
Speaker 2: good weapon to have. Jamari Johnson, I wish he got
Speaker 2: more targets than he did because I think he's got
Speaker 2: a chance to be special. So you know, those things
Speaker 2: are worth mentioning, and it does, I think at times
Speaker 2: make me go one way or the other. Meaning sometimes
Speaker 2: I look at that and I'm like, Okay, well, hey,
Speaker 2: if they can just finally, if they can just somehow
Speaker 2: figure out a way to lean some things up, not
Speaker 2: have the silly penalties like the Chris Bell penalties, especially
Speaker 2: the one where he probably should have been thrown out
Speaker 2: of the game, a critical hole because you know, your
Speaker 2: offensive line just is not that good. In fact, at
Speaker 2: times they look bad. I mean, like, if you could,
Speaker 2: if you could fix those things, maybe don't run it
Speaker 2: up the middle again on fourth and one, like Brom
Speaker 2: told us he wasn't going to do it anymore, and
Speaker 2: that he tried it again and it didn't work. Like
Speaker 2: when I see that the you've you've got some pretty
Speaker 2: good skill position players and you know, guys that I
Speaker 2: feel confident in as far as their ability, and then
Speaker 2: I say, okay, they can just tighten this up. That
Speaker 2: gives me optimism that that that is viewed as a
Speaker 2: silver lining per se. But then there's also, you know,
Speaker 2: the other side of it, where it is me being
Speaker 2: more real with myself and saying, yeah, all these things
Speaker 2: are true as far as the all those players I
Speaker 2: just mentioned and and me feeling pretty good about what
Speaker 2: you have there. But at six games in, you're four
Speaker 2: and two and still making avoidable mistakes and playing at
Speaker 2: times sloppy football. That's who are Like, that's that's not
Speaker 2: a fluke, that's not like, hey, we came out, it
Speaker 2: was a it was a once in a lifetime bad
Speaker 2: day for us. No, like, that's just that's your identity.
Speaker 2: And yes, it's fixable, but it isn't as easy to
Speaker 2: fix as as I thought, because they would have probably
Speaker 2: already fixed it. So again, the opportunity against Miami's massive.
Speaker 2: Maybe by the time we get closer to kick off,
Speaker 2: I'll feel a little more optimistic about them actually going out,
Speaker 2: going out and winning. I'm not saying that I don't
Speaker 2: think they can, but I mean, I'm I'm I'm going
Speaker 2: to I'm gonna call it like it is if this
Speaker 2: team comes out and they, you know, not play mistake free,
Speaker 2: because that's not realistic and I'm not asking them to
Speaker 2: be perfect. But if you watch this team and you're
Speaker 2: real with yourself, you know they're making mistakes and the
Speaker 2: coaches are making decisions at times that like, like, what
Speaker 2: are you doing like, you can't do that and expect
Speaker 2: to be good teams. And I think Notre Dame is
Speaker 2: a good team. I think has some music. Good team.
Speaker 2: Miami's better than them as far as talent. I mean, yes,
Speaker 2: they could have easily had two losses at this point
Speaker 2: because they were lucky to get out of the Virginia
Speaker 2: Tech game with that victory. And yes, you know, the
Speaker 2: potential targeting call that wasn't called helped them. You know,
Speaker 2: a no call essentially helped them survive at Cal. But
Speaker 2: I also looked at what they did to come back
Speaker 2: against Cal, and I know Cal's not great, but like
Speaker 2: erasing a deficit like they did that quickly kind of
Speaker 2: proves that, you know, maybe they had an off quarter
Speaker 2: and off an off half, but like they still got
Speaker 2: some really good players. And Miami has had years where
Speaker 2: they look like, Okay, maybe the U's not back, because
Speaker 2: I think when people say the U being back, I
Speaker 2: think that means that they're relevant every year and they're
Speaker 2: looking like they're going to be consistently in the mix
Speaker 2: to win a championship. That's not realistic. But when they've
Speaker 2: had moments here and there where they look like, okay,
Speaker 2: this could be Miami's best teams since win, they've usually underwhelmed.
Speaker 2: They they won year under Mark Rick, where they won
Speaker 2: I think nine games and they won the and they
Speaker 2: played in the ACC Championship, but that was like a
Speaker 2: one time thing. But other than that, anytime you felt
Speaker 2: like either it was going to be their year and
Speaker 2: they came out and just proved us wrong right away,
Speaker 2: or you felt like they're four games in and they
Speaker 2: looked like they could really be good and then they
Speaker 2: crap the best. Like you know, that's happened a lot.
Speaker 2: If it doesn't happen this year, here's the reason why
Speaker 2: cam Ward he's that special. He's a Heisman candidate. He's
Speaker 2: one of the best quarterbacks in the country. And you
Speaker 2: can go back and do a deep dive on Miami
Speaker 2: if you want. One of the reasons why they've always
Speaker 2: had talent and you always look at their roster, you
Speaker 2: look at recruiting rankings and you think, like, man, they
Speaker 2: should be good. When's the last time they had a
Speaker 2: really good quarterback. When's the less time Miami had a
Speaker 2: quarterback that you felt like was a surefire NFL Player's
Speaker 2: been a long time, right, they have that guy now?
Speaker 2: In cam Ward, and that's the kind of player that
Speaker 2: can take you from being a talented team that underachieves,
Speaker 2: maybe substantially or maybe slightly. But if you've got an
Speaker 2: elite quarterback that can, you know, make special plays like
Speaker 2: he can, that's where Miami could potentially be a championship
Speaker 2: caliber team. I don't think they're going to win the
Speaker 2: whole thing, but like I've seen enough of them to
Speaker 2: know that if they do play well and beat anybody
Speaker 2: left on their schedule, I'm certainly not going to be surprised.
Speaker 2: So it's a tall task on Saturday, but it also
Speaker 2: presents a huge opportunity, you know, for Louisville, even if
Speaker 2: they don't come out looking like they have fixed a
Speaker 2: lot of these issues they have with just being undisciplined
Speaker 2: at times and committing some penalties that you feel like
Speaker 2: are easy to avoid. Let's say they minimize that by
Speaker 2: sixty percent and yet they're still in a close game
Speaker 2: and they find a way to win. That's huge. I mean, look,
Speaker 2: if you find a way to win regardless of how
Speaker 2: many mistakes you make, I mean, that's what you want
Speaker 2: is to get a win. So I'm not necessarily confident
Speaker 2: that that's what ends up happening. But they're only a
Speaker 2: four point dog right now, and I don't want to
Speaker 2: put pressure on him because I'm somebody that truly doesn't
Speaker 2: think what happened in previous seasons with different teams and
Speaker 2: sometimes different coaches and teams that are now in different conferences.
Speaker 2: Like trends are brought up all the time in sports,
Speaker 2: and I just am somebody that has never really thought
Speaker 2: that they matter. But if you are somebody that does
Speaker 2: value those in a major way, Jeff thrives in these moments.
Speaker 2: Unfortunately for Jeff, right after these kind of moments, he
Speaker 2: usually lays an egg and loses to a bad team.
Speaker 2: That's just and he knows it too. I mean, the
Speaker 2: reason he brought it up last year, we all knew it,
Speaker 2: but he's the one who said it before I asked
Speaker 2: a question at his press conference after they beat Notre Dame.
Speaker 2: He knew that, like that Pittsburgh loss was one that
Speaker 2: you know, has happened before, and he was trying to
Speaker 2: avoid it and unfortunately he couldn't. So I I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm I'm excited to see what Louisville can do in
Speaker 2: this big opportunity that they have. It's just I'm not
Speaker 2: there yet as far as feeling like, yeah, they're going
Speaker 2: to come out and just you know, play a great
Speaker 2: game of football, because they haven't done that yet. I mean,
Speaker 2: and again I'm not asking for perfection. I just want
Speaker 2: him to be a little bit more polished, a little
Speaker 2: bit more in sync. And the communication defensively was better
Speaker 2: that Ron English was no longer upstairs, he was down
Speaker 2: on the sideline. But I still at times, you know,
Speaker 2: they've got guys making good plays. They you know, they
Speaker 2: only gave up. Was it twenty points to Virginia? I thought,
Speaker 2: I thought, is it Corey Thornton that I know he's
Speaker 2: a transfer from UCF. And I found myself now, yeah,
Speaker 2: it's Corey Thornton who transferred to Louisville from uc HAVE.
Speaker 2: He played a great game. It was nice to see
Speaker 2: Quincy Riley out there again. And he's one of those
Speaker 2: guys that even if he's not making a huge play,
Speaker 2: he's somebody that the opposing offense is going to be
Speaker 2: well aware of and it's going to change how they
Speaker 2: play and what they do because they know how good
Speaker 2: he is. Ashton was active, so the defense I think
Speaker 2: took steps forward, but I still feel as if there's
Speaker 2: plays and maybe this is where I am nitpicking. Maybe
Speaker 2: this is me maybe expecting perfection. I don't think that
Speaker 2: I am. But sometimes I see the other team make
Speaker 2: a play and I don't think like, well, what are
Speaker 2: you gonna do? That guy's just good. It's usually like, well, hey,
Speaker 2: why were you Why did you take that angle? Why
Speaker 2: were you out of position? Oh you got a third down? Stop, No,
Speaker 2: you committed a silly penalty. Now they get a reset,
Speaker 2: they get a fresh set of downs. Like those things.
Speaker 2: I still want to see those tightened up. And there's
Speaker 2: no better time to get those things fixed than now,
Speaker 2: because again, a win here would be monumental. A win
Speaker 2: here didn't guarantee anything, but it should definitely make this
Speaker 2: team collectively have some belief in themselves that they may
Speaker 2: not have right now. I mean, the human element is real.
Speaker 2: These guys know that. Like, they just needed to get
Speaker 2: out of there with a win against Virginia because they'd
Speaker 2: gone two straight games where you know, they shot themselves
Speaker 2: in the foot and that resulted in losses. So we'll
Speaker 2: see what happens. But maybe as we get closer, I'll
Speaker 2: get more confident. But right now, I'm just not there yet.
Speaker 2: We haven't talked a whole lot about it, but it
Speaker 2: was certainly needed on Saturday, meaning Louisville fans myself included,
Speaker 2: I needed it, and that was to see Kentucky lose Tovandy.
Speaker 2: And yes, Bandy's not what they once were, but like
Speaker 2: they're still Vandy and they didn't even play great. Like
Speaker 2: I did listen to a little bit OFKSR this morning
Speaker 2: and I heard Matt mention that when Bama lost to Vandy,
Speaker 2: Bandy was going blow for blow with them, like trading
Speaker 2: shots and matching them, and just like never Bama could
Speaker 2: never swing that game in their direction. And that's a
Speaker 2: big credit to Vandy. That wasn't what happened on Saturday.
Speaker 2: Like Kentucky just you know, they looked like a sloppy
Speaker 2: football team that was undisciplined with penalties and made crucial mistakes.
Speaker 2: Their defense is really really good, but you know, there's
Speaker 2: a really bad performance for Mark Stoops and his team
Speaker 2: and like they're right. I mean again, maybe it's just recency,
Speaker 2: maybe because it's Vandy, but I feel like they're right
Speaker 2: back to where they were post South Carolina as far
Speaker 2: as like just wondering what are we doing here with
Speaker 2: Mark Stoops? You're not going to fire and me you
Speaker 2: can't afford it. It's too much money. And I'm not
Speaker 2: even sure they're fans. Won and fired. But for Stoops
Speaker 2: to come off of a bye and once again have
Speaker 2: his team not ready to play and it results in
Speaker 2: a loss to Vandy at home, I mean, that's like
Speaker 2: worst case scenario for him, and that's exactly what played out.
Speaker 2: We had some people earlier on the text line sort
Speaker 2: of you know, asking because there's some level of desperation
Speaker 2: between a few people. It's really just, you know, I
Speaker 2: don't say it's two different people in the text line
Speaker 2: that when they do text in ninety nine percent of
Speaker 2: the time they're going to ask about the uku L game?
Speaker 2: What do I think is going to happen? And I
Speaker 2: wish I could tell you that, Oh yeah, this gives
Speaker 2: me way more confidence in Louis's ability to beat Kentucky
Speaker 2: because Vandy did it at Commonwealth. I mean, yeah, it's
Speaker 2: another sign that they are in fact a team that
Speaker 2: if they don't play well, they can lose to teams
Speaker 2: even Vandy. But like I'd be a liar if I
Speaker 2: told you that I think Kentucky lost to Vandy because
Speaker 2: they don't have any good players. I wish I could
Speaker 2: tell you I think Kentucky stinks and that they got
Speaker 2: a bunch of bombs on their roster, but I don't.
Speaker 2: I think they've got some good players. Defensively, they're loaded
Speaker 2: a receiver, They've got two studs that you know, make
Speaker 2: big plays at times but also make bone headed plays
Speaker 2: at times. I don't know how good vandergriff is, but
Speaker 2: he's not terrible. You know. Their offensive line has been
Speaker 2: you know, solid for him. Despite looking terrible against South Carolina.
Speaker 2: Since that game, they've actually played well. So you know,
Speaker 2: I don't know what it means for the Louisville Kentucky matchup.
Speaker 2: I'm not even really thinking about it just yet, but
Speaker 2: Kentucky could have two more losses than they have right now,
Speaker 2: and at that point, you know you are who you are.
Speaker 2: But I still know that when Louisville goes to Lexington
Speaker 2: at the end of the year to play them, they're
Speaker 2: going to be going up against a team that like
Speaker 2: has really good players. That it's gonna be there's gonna
Speaker 2: be there's going to be some matchups that Louisville is
Speaker 2: at a disadvantage at especially upfront, and that's been hard
Speaker 2: to overcome for many, many years, and maybe this is
Speaker 2: the year they can't overcome it. But we got a
Speaker 2: long way before we get there. And when I say
Speaker 2: it needed to happen, and it was great to see
Speaker 2: them lose to Vandy, it's because it was not fun
Speaker 2: to see Rick Patino in Lexington on Friday night, and
Speaker 2: we should have known. I mean, I kind of find
Speaker 2: myself going back to last Wednesday when I just got
Speaker 2: to Charlotte talking about Rick, because he confirmed at that
Speaker 2: point he was going to be in for the football game.
Speaker 2: And then I'm thinking, Okay, well, yeah, there's no scenario
Speaker 2: that he wouldn't be at Big Blue Madness. And then
Speaker 2: I thought, but yeah, he'll probably just be like, you know,
Speaker 2: in the background. And then I'm like, wait a second.
Speaker 2: You're talking about Rick Patino, a guy who has never
Speaker 2: missed when it comes to taking advantage of an opportunity
Speaker 2: to make something all about him, and that's exactly what
Speaker 2: he did. So I think because I started to realize
Speaker 2: it before it happened, you know, and I've always known,
Speaker 2: and I'll reset my thoughts because I did talk about
Speaker 2: this at the very beginning of the show. But I
Speaker 2: know we've got a new audience here now. But I've
Speaker 2: always known Rick like Kentucky better than Louisville. I've always
Speaker 2: known that he cherished his time there more so than
Speaker 2: he did when he was here, even before he got
Speaker 2: fired here, Like he loved his time at Kentucky because
Speaker 2: it was a magical ride that he had there. He
Speaker 2: was on top of the world, and he left for
Speaker 2: the Celtics job, and clearly he I mean, he wishes
Speaker 2: he didn't. He wishes he probably was still coaching at Kentucky.
Speaker 2: So because I'm old enough to have experienced Patino at
Speaker 2: both places, despite being really young when he was at Kentucky.
Speaker 2: But I remember it like I knew he was the
Speaker 2: coach of the rival, and I knew it was kind
Speaker 2: of weird when he came here to Louisville, but I
Speaker 2: knew he was a great coach, and clearly it worked
Speaker 2: out for Louisville. I mean, so I it was the visual,
Speaker 2: like the I remember. I mean, this is gonna sound dramatic,
Speaker 2: but I'm just being honest with you. Is I'm scrolling
Speaker 2: through Twitter on Friday night and I saw the first
Speaker 2: video is from the guy from WHS eleven. I can't
Speaker 2: think of his name, but he was the first person
Speaker 2: I saw that posted a video of Patino there. And
Speaker 2: I'm sure there were already pictures elsehere, but like, I'm
Speaker 2: not consuming people covering big Blue madness. I mean, that's
Speaker 2: I mean, there's no way in hell I would do that,
Speaker 2: as most louisvill fans wouldn't. But it was Mason Herodesky.
Speaker 2: I'm sure I'm not saying that correctly, and I apologize Mason,
Speaker 2: but he's with WHS eleven. I'll get with Kent when
Speaker 2: he comes on this week and get the proper pronunciation
Speaker 2: because you know, he works hard and I see his
Speaker 2: content and I just don't know how to pronounce his last name.
Speaker 2: It's h O r O d y s k I Horadesky.
Speaker 2: I'm just guessing here. But anyways, he's the one who
Speaker 2: posted the video that showed Rick in his Kentucky blue
Speaker 2: quarter zip. And the visual of that did kind of
Speaker 2: like take me back a little bit, because you know,
Speaker 2: first thing I thought of was like, wow, I'm not
Speaker 2: sure I ever thought about seeing that, you know, because
Speaker 2: to be fair, I have no problem with him going
Speaker 2: by and you know, knowing Rick like we know Rick
Speaker 2: and knowing how he is, That's what makes this different.
Speaker 2: If this was a coach that we just like, it's
Speaker 2: just hard for me to believe this was all of
Speaker 2: about him honoring his former player, which I think there's
Speaker 2: some of it that is that, but it's also Rick
Speaker 2: wanting to make it all about Rick. He's always done
Speaker 2: that since he's been at both places. That's just his nature.
Speaker 2: So like, I don't give him the benefit of the
Speaker 2: doubt that this is just some wholesome experience where he's
Speaker 2: going back with his former player. I think he does
Speaker 2: love Mark Pope, and I think it is a special
Speaker 2: thing to him, but I'm also not willing to acknowledge
Speaker 2: it that like that that's really what it was all about.
Speaker 2: Like most coaches would not have done that. Most coaches
Speaker 2: would have let Mark Pope have his moment, and Rick didn't.
Speaker 2: And that's just Rick being Rick. It's not like he's
Speaker 2: anti Pope. It's just that's how he is. He's always
Speaker 2: been that way. So you know, seeing it was kind
Speaker 2: of like, oh wow, like here it is, like now
Speaker 2: it's real. I can I've seen the visual. But then
Speaker 2: I realized, you know what, like that's that's that's Rick,
Speaker 2: you know, like I've always known that he loved his
Speaker 2: time at Kentucky, and now that Cal has gone, he
Speaker 2: can you know, he can do this. I'm surprised in
Speaker 2: a way that like Kentucky was as open to it.
Speaker 2: Like it's one thing to have Pope wanting him around,
Speaker 2: but like Pope and I could be wrong here, but
Speaker 2: I think that the Cal relationship at UK, like it
Speaker 2: wasn't good when it ended at all. I mean, he
Speaker 2: still tried to kind of finagle his way to stay
Speaker 2: there and they told him no. So maybe I'm maybe
Speaker 2: I'm jaded here and maybe this is me just seeing
Speaker 2: this the way I want to see it. But I
Speaker 2: think to see the official UK basketball Twitter account, to
Speaker 2: see all the staffers that work for Kentucky like they're
Speaker 2: sid people, and the official UK the university account all
Speaker 2: just going above and beyond sharing all the love for Rick.
Speaker 2: I swear I think that was a shot at Cal,
Speaker 2: Like I think they all wanted call to see it
Speaker 2: because Cal thought he was bigger than the program at Kentucky.
Speaker 2: Cal thought it was Cal basketball, not Kentucky basketball, which
Speaker 2: is really why it started to kind of, you know, sour.
Speaker 2: So you know, it wasn't that big of a shocker
Speaker 2: to see it in the grand same with things. But
Speaker 2: you know, I'm sure there's many people that thought they'd
Speaker 2: never see it, because you know, I'm not. I'm there
Speaker 2: are people that are, you know, six seven years younger
Speaker 2: than me that would that have no memory of Rick
Speaker 2: being in Kentucky. And those people, you know, can be
Speaker 2: thirty years old with kids, and like, I mean, these
Speaker 2: aren't These aren't young young people. Like they didn't make
Speaker 2: me feel old, but I did realize when I saw
Speaker 2: so many Louisville fans that were a little emotional about it,
Speaker 2: I think it reminded me that, yeah, if you've never
Speaker 2: if you didn't know this thing for what it was.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm sure even though they were young and
Speaker 2: they didn't experience it, they know he used to coach
Speaker 2: at Kentucky. But like I think, if your only memories
Speaker 2: of Louisville basketball because of your age, are with Rick
Speaker 2: here and throughout his entire time here, man, the rivalry
Speaker 2: was pretty heated, right him and cal or personal rivals
Speaker 2: you throw in the fan bases that hate each other
Speaker 2: like it's it was intense as it's ever going to be.
Speaker 2: So if that's all you know, and then you saw that,
Speaker 2: like I bet it did break your heart because you've
Speaker 2: you've never really had to like acknowledge that. Yeah, uh,
Speaker 2: like he's always probably loved Kentucky more. You may you
Speaker 2: may have liked. I mean, it just wouldn't It never
Speaker 2: come up, will probably never come up in your mind.
Speaker 2: But because I am old enough to have known Rick
Speaker 2: before he was here and knowing he was at Kentucky
Speaker 2: and they were on top of the world, like it
Speaker 2: still wasn't I'm still not happy or thrilled, but like
Speaker 2: he's now going to be wearing all blue and may
Speaker 2: never come back here wearing red, Like that's not you know,
Speaker 2: that's unfortunate. But like I get it. Don't mean I
Speaker 2: think it's great or that I've you know, you know,
Speaker 2: it's just, you know, I found myself realizing why to
Speaker 2: some people it was such a tough thing to see,
Speaker 2: And in a weird way, I also get why him
Speaker 2: going on KSR with Matt on Saturday. Like I've talked
Speaker 2: to many people who who who I you know, know
Speaker 2: well that are friends of mine or people that you know,
Speaker 2: work in in in this industry, if you can call
Speaker 2: it an industry, that like that's the one thing that
Speaker 2: stood out to them more than anything. It's not that
Speaker 2: he was there, not that he said what he said
Speaker 2: about Louisville or anything, but that he went on KSR.
Speaker 2: And I kind of get that too, Like that's what's
Speaker 2: surprised me more than anything. And it's just because like
Speaker 2: Rick's been pretty insulated throughout his life, like you know,
Speaker 2: but I have a hard time thinking he's not aware
Speaker 2: of like how KSR blew up to be what it
Speaker 2: is today. I mean, nobody don't. I don't think there's
Speaker 2: really a comparison as far as what they do. I mean,
Speaker 2: it's an empire as far as you know, the website
Speaker 2: that's been purchased and now owned by on three Sports,
Speaker 2: the radio show that is all across this state, super successful.
Speaker 2: So you know, like I don't want to act like
Speaker 2: they've never done anything else other than this, but they
Speaker 2: would tell you. And Matt may have even talked about
Speaker 2: it today on the show. I'm not sure. One of
Speaker 2: the biggest things that led to their explosive growth, Like
Speaker 2: their biggest boom in growth was when they were covering
Speaker 2: Rick Petina when making fun of him relentlessly. Matt covered
Speaker 2: the trial with Karen Cipher. I mean, obviously he brought
Speaker 2: Katina Pale on the radio, and we know how that
Speaker 2: worked out. For somebody to not tell Rick that, or
Speaker 2: if they did and he didn't care, that's what blows
Speaker 2: me away. If I'm Matt, it's a win for him.
Speaker 4: Man.
Speaker 2: That is a big dub for Matt and the KSR
Speaker 2: crew because you know, here they are like, you know,
Speaker 2: ragging on this guy for years and you know, benefiting
Speaker 2: from it, and yet he still is willing to go
Speaker 2: on their show whenever Rick won't go on anybody's show.
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm not really sure he's wanted to be
Speaker 2: on a lot of shows this day and age. But
Speaker 2: that did surprise me that he that he wanted to
Speaker 2: do that. But hey, maybe that was like him. Maybe
Speaker 2: that was him showing Kentucky fans that he is quite
Speaker 2: sincere when he says, no, I do love you guys,
Speaker 2: and It'll always be Kentucky Blue, especially now that I'm
Speaker 2: not at Louisville. I mean, that's what he said. So
Speaker 2: maybe that was like, yeah, I know what these guys did.
Speaker 2: I know they made all the jokes about fifteen seconds
Speaker 2: of intercourse on a table at a restaurant, and they
Speaker 2: brought aatina pal on to talk about to the ceiling
Speaker 2: and all that. But I will to put it behind
Speaker 2: me because I want you guys to know how much
Speaker 2: I love Kentucky and I want you to love me.
Speaker 2: Like maybe that's where his mind was. But then again,
Speaker 2: like I don't like it's Rick Like I have a
Speaker 2: hard time thinking he would he would ever approach it
Speaker 2: that way. All right, quick break, we'll come back, keep
Speaker 2: it rolling along. It's Coffee and Company. Feel about Thorn's
Speaker 2: right here on sports Stalk seven ninetyf you want to
Speaker 2: join us five way two five seven one seventy nine hundred.
Speaker 2: We'll get to your calls on the other side. It's right,
Speaker 2: Coffee and Company. About thirty minutes, well a lot about
Speaker 2: twenty five minutes left here before we get out of here.
Speaker 2: We'll get back to the phone lines in just one second.
Speaker 2: But Dennis rites in and says that he he just
Speaker 2: assumed I was overdoing Louisville's strong schedule in Pat Kelsey's
Speaker 2: first year. First of all, what do you mean, Dennis,
Speaker 2: Like I've just like I was just making it up.
Speaker 2: But he then goes on to say that after looking
Speaker 2: at how many teams Louisville plays in the non conference
Speaker 2: that are ranked, that it's a loaded schedule. I mean,
Speaker 2: I think Pat Kelsey was was he felt a little
Speaker 2: a little more justified in saying it. Last week at
Speaker 2: the ACC tip off one, he was doing other interviews.
Speaker 2: I know, he went on with Goodman and those guys
Speaker 2: with the field of sixty eight, and he actually did
Speaker 2: an interview with the Carolina station a little bit after that.
Speaker 2: I had him on, and you know, that is one
Speaker 2: of the observations is and it's an easy observation to
Speaker 2: make when you look at Pat Kelsey in his first
Speaker 2: year with a brand new team that he's got. I mean,
Speaker 2: the schedule's loaded. I mean, I guess it could end
Speaker 2: up not being as challenging as it looks, depending upon
Speaker 2: how it plays out in the Bahamas. That's a big
Speaker 2: factor in it. But even if you if you even
Speaker 2: if you eliminate the battle, the battle for Atlantis, I mean,
Speaker 2: they still have Tennessee With the second game of the year,
Speaker 2: they play Ole miss, who is a top twenty team
Speaker 2: and or a top twenty five team. I'm not sure
Speaker 2: where they are, but I know they're ranked. And then
Speaker 2: you also have you know, you have these aren't conference
Speaker 2: games or these are non conference games, but like you
Speaker 2: played Duke in December, who you know probably is going
Speaker 2: to have the best player in the country. So it's
Speaker 2: it's a challenging schedule, no doubt. And you know, I
Speaker 2: would say it's gonna be tough for them to beat
Speaker 2: some of those really good teams, but you never know,
Speaker 2: and who knows. I mean, even if you get one
Speaker 2: out of let's say you end up playing three top
Speaker 2: fifteen teams, just with the Battle for Atlantis and with
Speaker 2: Tennessee and whatnot, and you win one of those and
Speaker 2: you're competitive in the other two, like you'll still have
Speaker 2: to say you you know, you went one and two.
Speaker 2: But I'm just gonna be honest with you, and I
Speaker 2: think it may make some people uncomfortable, those who are willing,
Speaker 2: those who were able to just eliminate the Kenny Payne
Speaker 2: era from their brain. I mean, I'm trying to do
Speaker 2: that as well. But like I'm gonna probably find myself
Speaker 2: being a little more happy than I've ever been about
Speaker 2: things that used to just be the norm things that
Speaker 2: used to take for granted. So here I am realizing
Speaker 2: how it sounds. Well, if you win one out of three,
Speaker 2: usually Louisville basketball, and you know, in most instances of
Speaker 2: my life, you would say, you know, we can win
Speaker 2: all three. Unrealistic to do that when you're playing teams
Speaker 2: that are that good. But like, been a while since
Speaker 2: we've been good. Let's be real. So I'm curious to
Speaker 2: see if I get labeled a you know, a fanboy
Speaker 2: for Pat Kelsey or you know, I quickly become somebody
Speaker 2: who people who assume is out to get a coach
Speaker 2: or something, which is ridiculous. And I know that's we
Speaker 2: don't need to go down there. But I knew right away,
Speaker 2: and I think a lot of other people did. They
Speaker 2: just don't want to admit it, and I get it.
Speaker 2: But like it was pretty clear from the beginning with
Speaker 2: the Kenny paaneair that that that was gonna be bad. Now,
Speaker 2: nobody thought it'd be as bad as it was. But
Speaker 2: regardless of what happens, we got to call it like
Speaker 2: it is. So that's what we'll do, all right. If
Speaker 2: I go too, if I've seven one seventy nine hundred
Speaker 2: is the number if you want to give us a call.
Speaker 2: Let's go to the phone lines, and now we will
Speaker 2: welcome in. Will Will, how are you this afternoon?
Speaker 4: Hey man, Hey Will from the veil? Remember I said this, Okay, Okay, Patino,
Speaker 4: he checks a lot of boxes. He pisses us off
Speaker 4: as Louisville fans, he pisses your boy off in Arkansas.
Speaker 4: He gets back into good graces. And I'm predicted, this
Speaker 4: is my prediction. Okay, Well, all the hype trained Pope
Speaker 4: has down there, they're gonna bounce him. And about two
Speaker 4: years and guess who's gonna be the coach? Because chronologically
Speaker 4: this man keeps himself in shape. He's gonna be I know, seventies,
Speaker 4: but he's he's in pretty good shape based the best
Speaker 4: I know. He's still gonna coach. He's gonna come back
Speaker 4: and redeem. I'm saying he's gonna do all that winning.
Speaker 4: But Patino is gonna be the next coach because Pope.
Speaker 4: They're gonna bounce Pope once he starts losing. All this
Speaker 4: love fest that's over and all this nostalgia. You can't
Speaker 4: go back, man, you can't go back. But they will
Speaker 4: go back to Patino. That's my prediction. In three years,
Speaker 4: Pope's gonna do a pain a Kenny Payne and they're
Speaker 4: gonna bounce him so quick out of there and they're
Speaker 4: gonna be crying. Look at him now, dude, they're dying.
Speaker 4: They hated like you said, Uh, Matt Jones hated this man.
Speaker 4: Oh he's grabbling back, grobbling.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I appreciate the call. I mean, I don't
Speaker 2: predict that that happens. I don't see that happening. But
Speaker 2: I'm also willing to say when it comes to Rick, like, really,
Speaker 2: should anything surprise us? Let's just like, look at the
Speaker 2: Rick Bettino Bingo card throughout his entire existence in our
Speaker 2: world as a basketball coach. I mean I think, really,
Speaker 2: can you say anything is unexpecting? Like he's nothing should
Speaker 2: really shock us with Rick. I don't know how what
Speaker 2: I worry about with Rick is I think Rick is
Speaker 2: one of the I mean, Rick's one of the best
Speaker 2: coaches of all time in college basketball, and I don't
Speaker 2: really think that's a debate. He's great when it comes
Speaker 2: to coaching basketball. He's a legend and everybody knows that.
Speaker 2: I think if he Kentucky fans when they hated him,
Speaker 2: the would acknowledge that they hated him. But you know,
Speaker 2: I think those who despise him couldn't with a straight
Speaker 2: face tell you that he's not an elite coach. But
Speaker 2: I do think Rick, it's really going to be interesting
Speaker 2: to see what he does this year at Saint John's
Speaker 2: because you know, Rick still commands a presence. He still
Speaker 2: has a presence about him to where he commands so
Speaker 2: much respect that despite these guys now getting paid to play,
Speaker 2: they're still going to fall in line and probably deal
Speaker 2: with his way of coaching because they realize they're being
Speaker 2: coached by a legend. But you know, how long does
Speaker 2: that last? Right? Like, Rick hasn't really been in the
Speaker 2: limelight as a coach that's doing something special in college
Speaker 2: basketball at the highest level since when like twenty seventeen
Speaker 2: he had a really good team that was a two
Speaker 2: seed and they lost in the second round. But like,
Speaker 2: people know who he is, But how long does that
Speaker 2: does that work? And I'm not going to say that
Speaker 2: he can't coach, like kids aren't going to give him
Speaker 2: the effort level and the dedication and the buy in
Speaker 2: because you know, they now get paid and they they
Speaker 2: you know. I mean, I'm I don't think he's going
Speaker 2: to fail at Saint John's, but I'm also not going
Speaker 2: to be surprised, like the way he goes about things,
Speaker 2: just to being so demanding, like the game has changed
Speaker 2: a little bit, Not to say you can't be demanding
Speaker 2: with your players, but you also have to be a
Speaker 2: player's coach in a way that like I don't know
Speaker 2: if Rick ever could be. Rick was a player's coach
Speaker 2: because his players respected the hell out of him and
Speaker 2: they would play their ass off for him, but they
Speaker 2: did it out of fear, and I don't really think
Speaker 2: you can you can not to say they were fearful
Speaker 2: of him hurting them. But like you know, like Rick operate,
Speaker 2: I mean, Bobby Patrino the same way. Like there are
Speaker 2: all the coaches who are like that, and in some
Speaker 2: of them, like Tom Izzo, he is somebody that I
Speaker 2: think is a great example. Since the game has changed
Speaker 2: and the portals here and kids get money, he's not
Speaker 2: getting the same results. And it really doesn't mean that
Speaker 2: there's something wrong with these coaches. It's just you have
Speaker 2: to adapt and adjusted. It's a new world. And I
Speaker 2: don't know if Rick, you know, if Rick's going to
Speaker 2: be able to cause if that was to ever happen,
Speaker 2: And I feel silly even talking about it this much.
Speaker 2: No offense will, but I just that's a far fetched thing.
Speaker 2: But again I don't know. I guess crazier things have happened.
Speaker 2: But like Rick would have to be really good at
Speaker 2: Saint John's and Pope would have to be really bad
Speaker 2: at Kentucky for any scenario like that to line up.
Speaker 2: And I just don't know what the chances are of
Speaker 2: both those things happening, meaning Pope being that bad and
Speaker 2: Rick being that good at Saint John's. I kind of
Speaker 2: feel like this year with his roster, because he's put
Speaker 2: together a really good roster. I mean, God never gets
Speaker 2: talked about for reasons I don't really know, but there
Speaker 2: are some people that think Kadari Richmond, who transferred from
Speaker 2: a Seaton Hall to Saint John's. I mean, I know
Speaker 2: you've seen this John. Some people have him as the
Speaker 2: number one player in the portal, and like nobody talks
Speaker 2: about him. So like Rick landed three top thirty guys
Speaker 2: in the portal and he's a hell of a coach.
Speaker 2: So maybe Saint John's is really good this year. But
Speaker 2: like if they're not, I think it would be not
Speaker 2: a sign that he's washed up and should retire. But like,
Speaker 2: you know, I just have if you ask me, you know,
Speaker 2: gun to my head in the next seven years, which,
Speaker 2: by the way, he'd be really old if he coaches
Speaker 2: seven more years, gun to my head? Does Rick Betino
Speaker 2: go to another final for it? Is he not? I
Speaker 2: would say that he doesn't. And it's not because he's
Speaker 2: I think he's a bad coach. It's just I just
Speaker 2: don't know how effective he's going to be this day
Speaker 2: and age. He'll still win, and to be fair, he's
Speaker 2: really good at, you know, preparing for the tournament game.
Speaker 2: So like maybe if he gets there, that's all that matters.
Speaker 2: Because it's a new world, it's a new season, it's
Speaker 2: a fresh star. He's gonna have his guys prepared because
Speaker 2: that's what he does. So like, maybe he can get
Speaker 2: there as a four or five seed and find a run.
Speaker 2: He's done it here before, He's done it to Kentucky.
Speaker 2: But you know, I just not to act like he
Speaker 2: would never be a good coach again. I just I
Speaker 2: think his best days are clearly way behind him.
Speaker 3: I don't mean to humor this any further. But if
Speaker 3: let's just say Mark Pope misses the tournament and Saint
Speaker 3: John's makes like, I don't know, Elite eight or better
Speaker 3: run this year, I'm not predicting that, just you know,
Speaker 3: theorizing how quickly will the UK fans be, you know,
Speaker 3: calling for him to come back if he makes that
Speaker 3: deep of a run and Mark Pope doesn't.
Speaker 2: Oh, I mean it'll I mean, I mean we can't.
Speaker 2: I mean that is more realistic than him, like, you know,
Speaker 2: becoming the coach here. Yeah, because I don't think anybody
Speaker 2: would realistically think that they would even consider doing anything
Speaker 2: with Mark Pope after one year. But if you know,
Speaker 2: but the thin Kentucky fans are are different because Kentucky's
Speaker 2: a different program when it comes to basketball, and it
Speaker 2: it's it really isn't worth a whole lot for a
Speaker 2: variety of reasons, but it still should be mentioned more
Speaker 2: than it is when it comes to the Calip Perry
Speaker 2: Kentucky fallout. Even to the end, he kept you relevant,
Speaker 2: even to the end. He kept you filled with a
Speaker 2: roster full of guys that you knew were going to
Speaker 2: play in the NBA. Therefore, even if you had a
Speaker 2: bad stretch of play, even if you felt like you
Speaker 2: were way underwhelming than what you should be. He always
Speaker 2: had a talented roster that at any moment, if they
Speaker 2: mess around and beat anybody, you're not really that surprised, right.
Speaker 2: They rarely hit their potential. But the ceiling was really
Speaker 2: high with Cal's teams because of how loaded they were
Speaker 2: with NBA talent. That's not going to be Mark Pope,
Speaker 2: so Cal. Yeah, you can bring up the loss to
Speaker 2: Oakland and the loss to Saint Peter's and whatnot, and no,
Speaker 2: that matters a lot. Right, what you do in the
Speaker 2: tournament is really and it's crazy, It really is insane
Speaker 2: and kind of stupid, to be honest with you, I
Speaker 2: wouldn't have it any other way because college basketball. I
Speaker 2: don't want it to change. I love it. I love
Speaker 2: the sport. But like we really only evaluate dudes for
Speaker 2: what they do in the tournaments. Like that, that's like,
Speaker 2: that's where you really got to. That's where you really
Speaker 2: have a chance to kind of show who you are.
Speaker 2: But the other stuff along the way it matters. It
Speaker 2: doesn't have a value, and in fact, it's worth like it.
Speaker 2: It means next to nothing if you continue to have
Speaker 2: really good teams with really good players and they get
Speaker 2: good seats, but then they bounce early. Like that's the
Speaker 2: worst case scenario for a coach. Cal did it twice,
Speaker 2: but you always knew you had a coach that could
Speaker 2: get it done at any moment because he's proven it
Speaker 2: to you before multiple Final four runs early on in
Speaker 2: its tenure, and a championship, and I look, it didn't
Speaker 2: seem as if he was going to get there, and
Speaker 2: I think the departure needed to happen, and it was
Speaker 2: a mutual thing, beneficial for both. But I think Kentucky
Speaker 2: fans may at times this year if they do hit
Speaker 2: a skid or they just you know, end up being
Speaker 2: you know, a bubble team or something like that. And
Speaker 2: I'm not saying they will be. I have no clue,
Speaker 2: but like, if they are, I think it'll be pretty
Speaker 2: telling to see how they react, because it won't mean
Speaker 2: that Pope's destined to be terrible or be underwhelming, but
Speaker 2: you don't have what you had for so long there,
Speaker 2: which is a coach that even during bad times, you
Speaker 2: knew was never gonna lack talent and you knew that
Speaker 2: he could in fact win at a really really high
Speaker 2: level because you watched him do it for many years
Speaker 2: at your program. Mark Polp's never known anywhere, so you know,
Speaker 2: he may he may be phenomenal. But that's gonna be
Speaker 2: fascinating for me to observe from, you know, from the
Speaker 2: outside as a Louisville fan. Is like, if this guy's solid,
Speaker 2: but like it doesn't look like they got a chance
Speaker 2: to like really do some damage deep in the tournament
Speaker 2: or they're just you know, consistently like the fifth best
Speaker 2: team in the SEC. Like that's where I'm curious to
Speaker 2: see how they react because they expect to be better
Speaker 2: than that, because again, they're Kentucky. And I don't say
Speaker 2: that to mackam. I mean, I'm just being real, all right,
Speaker 2: quick break, We'll come back on the other side, wrap
Speaker 2: this thing up. I felt like a real outsider and
Speaker 2: Charlotte last week at the ACC tip off whenever one
Speaker 2: of the big talking points from just about everybody was
Speaker 2: about how the ACC is a basketball league is disrespected
Speaker 2: and they deserve more respect and it needs to be said,
Speaker 2: and I just felt like, you know, or they could
Speaker 2: be better and not really leave it up for opinion
Speaker 2: and let like results speak for itself, but you know
Speaker 2: that was a big talking point and not to say,
Speaker 2: you know, hey, I told you so, because hey, preseason
Speaker 2: rankings really don't mean anything, especially once you get you know,
Speaker 2: it's a reference point, but you know they're wrong a lot.
Speaker 2: But to seek the AP poll as far as conference, like,
Speaker 2: I mean, the ACC has two ranked teams, Carolina and Duke.
Speaker 2: SEC has nine, the Big Twelve has six, the Big
Speaker 2: Ten has four, Big East test three, So I mean
Speaker 2: that doesn't prove that, you know, the league's going to
Speaker 2: be the fifth best conference, But like that's not a
Speaker 2: surprise because again, like the best team in the ACC
Speaker 2: not ranked as far as others receiving votes as Wake Forest,
Speaker 2: and then after that you get all the way down
Speaker 2: to like Miami. I mean, it's I think it's deserving
Speaker 2: to only have those two rank To be honest with you,
Speaker 2: I hope it changes. But like I think instead of
Speaker 2: being in denial, we should like acknowledge it as a
Speaker 2: league and get the basketball back on track. Meier said,
Speaker 2: than done. But I mean I'm not at all surprised
Speaker 2: that there's that many teams ranked ahead of the ACC.
Speaker 2: All right, we're out of time. Everybody, enjoy your night