Speaker 1: It's time for coffee and company. Fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 2: Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think
Speaker 2: when we.
Speaker 3: Are get off our show, idiot, the kids are playing
Speaker 3: or turn off.
Speaker 1: The countries are screwing it up.
Speaker 4: Gold Play Inner Murals, Brother, gold Play Inner Murals.
Speaker 1: They're supposed to be mature adults, but they're really not.
Speaker 1: Who's the kid here? Who's the kid here?
Speaker 3: Are you kidding me?
Speaker 1: Now? Here's Nick Coffee.
Speaker 2: Today's one of those days where I can say that
Speaker 2: we've got, you know, a ton to get into. Where
Speaker 2: do we start? And sometimes I say that and it's
Speaker 2: a little bit of a reach to try to keep
Speaker 2: you here with us for three consecutive hours because there's
Speaker 2: just so many interesting things that we need to discuss.
Speaker 2: We need to discuss, and you know we're all dying
Speaker 2: to talk about it today. I really mean it when
Speaker 2: I say it, because it's a heck of a Monday
Speaker 2: here Columbus Day. Shout out to those who celebrate, and
Speaker 2: we got a lot to discuss. I mean, Louisville football
Speaker 2: bounces back in a game where you just needed to win,
Speaker 2: and they did exactly that. And I really don't feel
Speaker 2: much different about them as I did last week or
Speaker 2: the week before, because it's not like I've watched this
Speaker 2: team from a personnel standpoint and felt like, well, you know,
Speaker 2: they're just not any good. I mean, technically, when you
Speaker 2: lose two straight games, even though it's against good teams,
Speaker 2: like you're evaluated on winning and losing, and they were losing.
Speaker 2: They were making losing plays that really impacted the ultimate result,
Speaker 2: which again is winning or losing a game. So they
Speaker 2: still made I think a lot of crucial mistakes against Virginia,
Speaker 2: I mean not as much late in the game, and
Speaker 2: certainly they made the plays necessary to hold on and win.
Speaker 2: But they also played Virginia, who is better that I
Speaker 2: think anybody really thought they were going to be this year.
Speaker 2: But still they're not SMU, They're not a Notre dame
Speaker 2: at their place. So the ultimate goal here was to
Speaker 2: just avoid a three game losing streak as you're set
Speaker 2: to host Miami in what is easily the biggest game
Speaker 2: for you on your home schedule this year. I mean,
Speaker 2: not a whole lot of competition as far as home
Speaker 2: games this year for Louisville, but this one is the
Speaker 2: biggest one, and I wish that things were a little
Speaker 2: different for Louisville, but hey, having this take place coming
Speaker 2: off of a win is certainly better than coming off
Speaker 2: of a loss, and the opportunities there. I think a
Speaker 2: win here, I mean, it's not going to erase the
Speaker 2: two losses you had earlier this year, but it could
Speaker 2: put you back in a spot where you can look at,
Speaker 2: I guess bigger picture potential goals and at least know that, hey,
Speaker 2: we've proven with a win that we can go take
Speaker 2: advantage of a huge opportunity weeks later when we play Clemson,
Speaker 2: who knew it, but the team that really killed you
Speaker 2: last year because that was your lone loss in acc
Speaker 2: play and they stunk. Well, now they're undefeated and ranked
Speaker 2: and I'm not sure how good they are, but either way,
Speaker 2: there's opportunity there. So it's a big I mean, it's
Speaker 2: a big It's a huge game, and I've never felt
Speaker 2: like louisvill wouldn't be able to win this kind of
Speaker 2: a game because the opponent they're playing is just too good. Now,
Speaker 2: with that said, maybe that ends up playing out to
Speaker 2: be what happens. Maybe Louisville comes out and does play
Speaker 2: their best game of the season, and they don't make
Speaker 2: crucial mistakes, they don't hurt themselves, they're not sloppy. But
Speaker 2: yet you just lost to Miami because Miami's better. Like
Speaker 2: that may happen, and that would be that would be,
Speaker 2: you know, better than getting blown out right, But it'll
Speaker 2: also make me even more angry to know that, like,
Speaker 2: you should have been able to burn one here. This
Speaker 2: should have been the game that you burned, meaning damn,
Speaker 2: you played really good against the team that a lot
Speaker 2: of people think is really good, and you came up ashore.
Speaker 2: But it's not a loss that necessarily is going to
Speaker 2: kill you. Well now, to kill you, I mean, if
Speaker 2: you're somebody that is still holding out hope that you
Speaker 2: could potentially find yourself in Charlotte, still you got a
Speaker 2: lot of work to do. It's insanely improbable at this point.
Speaker 2: But I don't know, I'm gonna get probably I'm gonna
Speaker 2: get it out of my system today and I probably shouldn't.
Speaker 2: Just you know, continue to emphasize all the things that
Speaker 2: this team has done for the last you know, really
Speaker 2: all season that just you know, are surprising and disappointing
Speaker 2: as far as just you know, not making smart plays,
Speaker 2: not being disciplined at times. And you know they won
Speaker 2: Saturday and that was great, better than losing. And yes,
Speaker 2: it's a big week with this big opportunity. But still,
Speaker 2: I just i'd be a liar to tell you right
Speaker 2: now that I think they're gonna come out and be
Speaker 2: a team that we haven't seen all year, which is
Speaker 2: one that avoids critical mistakes and doesn't commit silly penalties.
Speaker 2: So I'll get it out of my system today and
Speaker 2: by tomorrow i'll probably be you know, I'm not gonna
Speaker 2: lie to you and say, hey, over in twenty four
Speaker 2: hours time, I'm now fully convinced louis is gonna win.
Speaker 2: I mean, I hope that they do, but I just,
Speaker 2: you know, I can't lie to myself, So why would
Speaker 2: I lie to you and tell you that, Like, I
Speaker 2: have great confidence that they're going to be able to
Speaker 2: pull off what would be an upset. Now it's not
Speaker 2: a huge upset. They're only at this I think right
Speaker 2: now I can do a quick I know it opened
Speaker 2: up at four or four and a half, as you
Speaker 2: could expect Louisville underdogs against Miami, but I think now
Speaker 2: it's down to three we double check here on first
Speaker 2: one that comes up for me is DraftKings. So according
Speaker 2: to the DraftKings right now, Louisville Miami, it is Louisville
Speaker 2: plus four. So I mean that tells you that odds
Speaker 2: makers think that this game is, you know, should be competitive,
Speaker 2: and I hope that it is because it would be
Speaker 2: a huge I mean, this is really the game that
Speaker 2: could send you in a different direction at a high
Speaker 2: rate of speed. Beating Virginia, it avoided you from going
Speaker 2: I think, in the wrong direction at a high rate
Speaker 2: of speed because I think everybody you know, collectively and
Speaker 2: I don't mean fans and whatnot, people like me. I mean,
Speaker 2: I think this team, if they somehow messed around and
Speaker 2: made another crucial mistake, laid, they don't get that Jamal
Speaker 2: ray Johnson touchdown and they lose. I think, you know,
Speaker 2: they're humans, they know that they had At that point,
Speaker 2: They're halfway through the year, and really at that point
Speaker 2: everything's kind of shot. I mean, yeah, you can still think, well,
Speaker 2: you know, we have six games left and we can
Speaker 2: beat all these teams. Yeah, but like nobody's gonna believe
Speaker 2: it if you don't at least start to show that
Speaker 2: you're even close to getting there as far as a
Speaker 2: team that plays winning football and takes advantage of opportunities
Speaker 2: like the one that's coming up this week. So again,
Speaker 2: it really is huge. It's just it's huge because you
Speaker 2: didn't lose. It's not because it meant a whole lot.
Speaker 2: It's not because it you know, I still think they
Speaker 2: played relatively the same way they've played in previous weeks.
Speaker 2: Slightly better, communication was better on defense. They moved run
Speaker 2: English down to the sideline, and that clearly helped a
Speaker 2: little bit. But you are at a point now where
Speaker 2: I think, what do we have four or five straight
Speaker 2: weeks or the opponent has known quite literally, here's what
Speaker 2: we know. They're not good at. They're not good at
Speaker 2: stopping quarterbacks. They can run, and sure enough, with everybody
Speaker 2: being aware of that, teams can. Teams have still been
Speaker 2: able to expose Louisville in that way. So like, yeah,
Speaker 2: I guess there's a potential fix they could implement, But
Speaker 2: don't you feel like they would have already done that
Speaker 2: if that was going to happen. I mean, Calandria, he
Speaker 2: was the leading rusher on the ground. He had let's see,
Speaker 2: eighty four yards I mean that's I mean, that's not great.
Speaker 2: So again they win twenty four to twenty and we'll
Speaker 2: probably not talk much more about Virginia after, you know,
Speaker 2: the first hour and a half or so, because I mean,
Speaker 2: you move on now. You get a big opportunity. But
Speaker 2: the biggest takeaway for me from a positive perspective is
Speaker 2: that you avoided a three game losing streak, and I
Speaker 2: guess that's something.
Speaker 1: All right.
Speaker 2: It's coffee and Company. We are feel about Thornton's here
Speaker 2: on Sports Talk seven ninety. Appreciate you hanging out with us,
Speaker 2: Nick Coffee. That's me the company man, Mister John Alden
Speaker 2: is alongside as we take you up until six o'clock.
Speaker 2: So today is a federal holiday. I had to look
Speaker 2: it up because usually on federal holidays we get the
Speaker 2: option to take the day or work it and then
Speaker 2: get a bonus vacation day. We call those comp days
Speaker 2: around here. John and myself big fans of comp days. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but we didn't get one today, which I would have
Speaker 2: gladly taken one because I was clearly going to come
Speaker 2: to work. But I just looked it up on the
Speaker 2: This is a Commerce dot gov. It is the it
Speaker 2: is it mentions all the holidays that are federal government
Speaker 2: holidays where they recognize them, and there's eleven of them.
Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure this is the only one we don't get.
Speaker 2: We don't get a comp day. New Year's of course,
Speaker 2: is a holiday. Martin Luther King Day, President's Day, Memorial Day,
Speaker 2: Juneteenth Independence Day, that's fourth of July, Labor Day, Columbus Day,
Speaker 2: which is today, Veterans Day will be next month.
Speaker 3: Actually, I don't think I don't think we get Veterans
Speaker 3: Day either. You sure, I'm almost possible.
Speaker 2: Then maybe it's those two because all the other ones
Speaker 2: I know we've gotten.
Speaker 1: Right, Yes, it does.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like there's not one in November that
Speaker 2: we get the option because I feel like by the
Speaker 2: time we hit all But really, it seems like September
Speaker 2: is usually the day, Like September is when we know, hey,
Speaker 2: there's no more holidays we're gonna.
Speaker 1: Get until we get to think giving. That's kind of it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So, uh, you know, there was no school today,
Speaker 2: at least there wasn't in Bullet County where my daughter
Speaker 2: goes to school. My wife, she works for a bank
Speaker 2: credit union, so she didn't work today. So actually ended
Speaker 2: up having a you know, and this is just probably
Speaker 2: not something I should have been on my radio show
Speaker 2: to make myself and my wife even looks stupid, which
Speaker 2: you know, probably shouldn't do that, But here I am
Speaker 2: getting ready to do it. We were at my mom's
Speaker 2: house yesterday, just hanging out and enjoying some time with
Speaker 2: the family and my mom, who you know, she's not
Speaker 2: had anybody in the school system since I graduated, and
Speaker 2: that was in two thousand and six. But she was
Speaker 2: aware that the holiday meant that we didn't have school,
Speaker 2: and we were like, well, I guess we would have
Speaker 2: woke up today. My wife would have probably gone to work.
Speaker 2: I probably would have gotten the kids ready, taken tried
Speaker 2: to take I mean, I would have showed up at school,
Speaker 2: only for you know it to realize it was closed.
Speaker 2: So it was kind of like a last minute surprise
Speaker 2: that the kids and my wife had a day off.
Speaker 2: So we ended up going to the zoo earlier today.
Speaker 2: And you know, it was it was clearly what everybody
Speaker 2: else had in mind, because it was very crowded for
Speaker 2: ten o'clock when they opened on a Monday. But it
Speaker 2: was fun. But it was cold outside and it made
Speaker 2: me very happy today. There are many people I am
Speaker 2: sure that walked outside and it made them sad because
Speaker 2: like they realized, oh, like yeah, the warm weather, Like
Speaker 2: it may get warmer later, the sun may come out,
Speaker 2: but like today, I think in this region Kentucky and
Speaker 2: you were hit with a brisk, cool temperature that made
Speaker 2: it quite clear that your summer days are over.
Speaker 3: Like, yeah, we haven't felt this since probably late March
Speaker 3: early April.
Speaker 2: We absolutely because it wasn't just like you know, kind
Speaker 2: I mean it was legitimately calling the hogh. Today's like
Speaker 2: sixty or fifty nine. Yeah, So in a weird way,
Speaker 2: it kind of feels like we're starting the fall right now,
Speaker 2: which hasn't.
Speaker 3: Been halfway through the football season, at least college football
Speaker 3: season that is ye back half usually filled with colder
Speaker 3: weather or not too far from basketball now.
Speaker 1: Kim Pom came out last.
Speaker 2: Night, that's right, kim Pom came out the preseason. Ap
Speaker 2: Pole came out earlier this afternoon. So basketball season is
Speaker 2: I mean, it's it's not here if you're somebody that
Speaker 2: thinks it starts like as soon as you get a
Speaker 2: real game. But like all the things that lead up
Speaker 2: to it. I mean, you got a week from today,
Speaker 2: Louisll is playing an exhibition game, so I mean we're here, folks.
Speaker 2: Tomorrow is the loisll of Basketball media Day, so basketball
Speaker 2: season will be here soon, and that's exciting, right. I mean,
Speaker 2: I'm choosing to go into the current, you know, the
Speaker 2: upcoming season, the debut season for Pat Kelsey, and yes,
Speaker 2: there's gonna be expectation. I'm not just gonna say, hey,
Speaker 2: if they're better than they were under Kenny Payne, then hey,
Speaker 2: we're doing okay. But like I also am going to
Speaker 2: probably find myself enjoying things that I used to take
Speaker 2: for granted. And that's like, you know, beating your exhibition opponents.
Speaker 2: Louisville didn't have a winning record against exhibition opponents in
Speaker 2: the Kenny Payne era. Clearly that's not gonna happen with
Speaker 2: Pat Key, at least I hope it doesn't. But I
Speaker 2: am I'm kind of usually I can, I can, I
Speaker 2: can get a feel for myself as far as how
Speaker 2: I would react to this happening or that happening, but
Speaker 2: there's certain things that you really don't know until it happens.
Speaker 2: And I kind of feel like with louisvill basketball this year.
Speaker 2: That's going to be me because it's just unusual to
Speaker 2: be in this situation where you're coming off of two,
Speaker 2: really three consecutive seasons of just misery, and yet now
Speaker 2: you have a team that one is going to be
Speaker 2: a lot more fun to watch. They're clearly going to
Speaker 2: be a lot better, but you know how much better
Speaker 2: that remains to be seen. And I'm okay with just
Speaker 2: like kind of like one thing you hear me say
Speaker 2: all the time, especially in football season, because you only
Speaker 2: get twelve games. So when I play two of them,
Speaker 2: you know, I say, I like, I'm out there playing.
Speaker 2: But when Louisville, my team that I love and care about,
Speaker 2: when they play two of them against teams that nobody's
Speaker 2: heard of, to me, that's a waste and I feel
Speaker 2: like I've been robbed, like I didn't even get a
Speaker 2: chance to learn if we play, like, did we do
Speaker 2: anything of note today?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: We won buy a lot of points, but that's what
Speaker 2: you're supposed to do whenever you're playing those kind of teams,
Speaker 2: so you won't really Like, I'm not sure how much
Speaker 2: I'm gonna learn about Louisvill when they play some of
Speaker 2: these games against whoever. But I kind of feel like
Speaker 2: I'm just gonna, you know, probably find myself more excited
Speaker 2: about it than I probably should be. And it's because
Speaker 2: of the recent trauma that we've gone through as fans
Speaker 2: with you know, the previous you know regime and even
Speaker 2: the end of you know, the mac era and whatnot.
Speaker 2: But they're also gonna be huge op Like Louisville is
Speaker 2: gonna play Tennessee in Pat Kelsey's second career game as
Speaker 2: the coach here, they're preseason number twelve in the country,
Speaker 2: so like it's not gonna be all cupcakes, it's there's
Speaker 2: gonna be. Really, there's not a stretch of play for
Speaker 2: Louisville this year in basketball where you go like two
Speaker 2: and a half three weeks where you play nobody, Like
Speaker 2: I mean, sprinkled in, there's gonna be again. Tennessee's your
Speaker 2: second game. Before long, you're gonna be in the Bahamas
Speaker 2: in the Battle for Atlantis, which is gonna be a
Speaker 2: you know, a very very competitive and challenging experience for them.
Speaker 2: Then they come back, they get Ole Miss, another team
Speaker 2: that's in the preseason top twenty five. When they get
Speaker 2: to December, they play Duke in Kentucky in that month
Speaker 2: with you know, I guess some other mid major kind
Speaker 2: of programs. So hoop seasons here in the ap pole
Speaker 2: coming out again. It's the preseason poll. You quickly forget
Speaker 2: about it once you get a few weeks in and
Speaker 2: you see you know, teams moving around. But I will
Speaker 2: say it's always one of the reminders for me that
Speaker 2: it's here, and that's exciting. So one thing we haven't
Speaker 2: brought up here in the first fifteen minutes of the
Speaker 2: show is what happened in Lexington this weekend. Patino did
Speaker 2: what I thought he was going to do once we
Speaker 2: were talking through it last week John about how he
Speaker 2: had confirmed his plans to go to Lexington for the
Speaker 2: Kentucky game. I mean, it made too much sense for him.
Speaker 2: Like I started, I think it was live on the air,
Speaker 2: like five o'clock hour. We were talking about it on
Speaker 2: like Wednesday, and I'm thinking to myself, Yeah, there's no scenario.
Speaker 2: He's in Lexington and he's not with Mark Polpe at
Speaker 2: Blue Blue Madness, and he was, and he was wearing
Speaker 2: his Kentucky blue. He got a big ovation from the crowd.
Speaker 2: He cried, he took a jab at Louisville. He went
Speaker 2: on the radio with Matt Jones. Which of all things
Speaker 2: that took place this weekend, I'm not kidding you, that's
Speaker 2: the one thing that I still cannot believe happened. Can't
Speaker 2: believe it at all. Find myself thinking about it every
Speaker 2: now and then, and I'm thinking, no way that happened,
Speaker 2: and it did. Hey, it's Rick's choice, like you know,
Speaker 2: he wants to do that. I'm you know, I'm friends
Speaker 2: with Matt. I don't mean that made Matt look great.
Speaker 2: I mean Matt with KSR and obviously others that have
Speaker 2: worked and helped KSR become what it is today is
Speaker 2: super successful media entity, a rare media entity that I
Speaker 2: really can't even think of a comparison, just because Kentucky fans.
Speaker 2: There's a billion of them, it seems, across the world,
Speaker 2: and Matt is big blue Jesus to them. So one
Speaker 2: of the things that really helped them kind of explode
Speaker 2: and gave him, I think a few of their biggest booms.
Speaker 2: Meaning the KSR world was making fun of Rupertino. Now,
Speaker 2: Rick gave him plenty of content and material. I mean,
Speaker 2: you kidd me. Karen Seifer that whole thing, the Katina
Speaker 2: pal stuff. I mean, like, you know, it wasn't as
Speaker 2: if they had to go work for it, Like it
Speaker 2: was things. It was things that happened, and they took
Speaker 2: advantage of it and made a lot of you know,
Speaker 2: hilarious content in the eyes of their fans. But like
Speaker 2: they built a huge part of what they have now
Speaker 2: on making fun of Rick Patino in like a personal way.
Speaker 2: And yet he goes back to Lexington and you know,
Speaker 2: he doesn't care, he doesn't know, and then he went
Speaker 2: on and I haven't heard any of it and I
Speaker 2: probably won't listen to it, but like that was a
Speaker 2: huge win. It was a dub for the KSR crew.
Speaker 2: And what Rick got out of it, I don't really know.
Speaker 2: But either way, we all knew it was going to
Speaker 2: happen someday, and again he warned us. I mean, we
Speaker 2: knew last week he was going to be going to
Speaker 2: the football game. But then to see him, you know,
Speaker 2: out there crying, like the visual really did kind of
Speaker 2: take me back a little bit. Not because I'm like
Speaker 2: heartbroken and I went and cried myself to sleep on
Speaker 2: Friday when I saw it wasn't anything like that because
Speaker 2: I've always known that Rick loved Kentucky more than he
Speaker 2: loved Louisville. I always knew everybody know, and Rick Patino
Speaker 2: didn't even really hide it from us when he was here.
Speaker 2: That the worst mistake he made, and I'm sure he
Speaker 2: didn't word it that way, but like, yeah, if he
Speaker 2: could go back, he would have never left Kentucky. And
Speaker 2: I don't think anybody, even if you're a Louisville fan,
Speaker 2: would would say that that's the wrong thing. I mean,
Speaker 2: imagine what he could have built and what could have
Speaker 2: happened for him had he never left. So like we
Speaker 2: knew that, but then to see it play out, clearly
Speaker 2: a lot of fans bothered by it. And here I
Speaker 2: want to defend the younger fan base. And when I
Speaker 2: say younger, I don't mean like little kids. But this
Speaker 2: whole thing with Rick has reminded me that I'm not
Speaker 2: that young anymore. Like there are people who are probably
Speaker 2: you know, I'm thirty six. You could be thirty one,
Speaker 2: thirty two years old, and your only memory and you're
Speaker 2: only not your only knowledge of Louisville basketball until it ended,
Speaker 2: was Rick Betino, meaning like until he left that it's
Speaker 2: all you knew it. So like you knew he coached Kentucky,
Speaker 2: but you didn't. You didn't experience that, you didn't watch it,
Speaker 2: you didn't you didn't understand. I was a young kid
Speaker 2: when Rick was there, but I knew how good they were.
Speaker 2: I knew he was a rock star. Like, but I'm
Speaker 2: probably different than a lot of people because I've been
Speaker 2: obsessed with this since since I can remember. Like it's
Speaker 2: something I mean, I didn't I wasn't old enough to
Speaker 2: watch Griff and those guys in the eighties, but it
Speaker 2: was like my religion as a kid, Like I knew
Speaker 2: all about that era, and you know it because I'm
Speaker 2: you know, I'm I'm a lunatic. I don't want to
Speaker 2: act like I'm better than anybody, but like, this is
Speaker 2: something I've been obsessed with my whole life, Louisville basketball.
Speaker 2: So even because I had that experience as a kid
Speaker 2: to kind of know that, hey, yeah, he's our guy
Speaker 2: now and he's more grateful for him because he was
Speaker 2: a hell of a coacher for a long time. He
Speaker 2: brought a lot of scandal and clearly Louisville still dealing
Speaker 2: with that as far as just the stain and the
Speaker 2: embarrassment of what went on when he was leading the program. However,
Speaker 2: I also knew that like Kentucky had him first, and
Speaker 2: he was very successful there and he loved his time there.
Speaker 2: So for me, like I can, I can. I can
Speaker 2: understand it, even though it's like it's not something I love.
Speaker 2: I get it. If you're somebody that didn't experience it
Speaker 2: because you're a little bit younger, or you're a lot younger,
Speaker 2: I bet it broke your heart to see ri Patina
Speaker 2: wearing UK blue, I mean it like I get it,
Speaker 2: Like I tried my best this weekend to figure out
Speaker 2: how I was going to discuss this, because I don't
Speaker 2: want to act as if like who gives a damn
Speaker 2: what Rick does? Because at this point you should have
Speaker 2: that mindset, but it's not easy to do. Let's put
Speaker 2: it this way. If you are somebody that is the
Speaker 2: younger generation, you know, even younger than me, or maybe
Speaker 2: you know, I say even younger, mean like I'm super young.
Speaker 2: But the only really great moments that you know of
Speaker 2: Louisville basketball are with him, and now he's you know,
Speaker 2: making it quite clear that his allegiance lies with blue
Speaker 2: and not red, and it really isn't that big of
Speaker 2: a shocker if you knew the true history of everything.
Speaker 2: And I think also again, I think experiencing it made
Speaker 2: a difference for me. Like I remember whenever I was
Speaker 2: in the car with my dad going to basketball practice,
Speaker 2: whatever year it was that Rick got the job, like
Speaker 2: two thousand, two thousand and one, whatever it was, and
Speaker 2: I remember listening to has I mean, I wasn't listening
Speaker 2: to it who my dad was. And I remember, you know,
Speaker 2: him telling me about it a couple days beforehand, like
Speaker 2: they might be hiring Ripertino. And then I guess that
Speaker 2: day when we were in the car going to practice,
Speaker 2: I think it might have been the day where like
Speaker 2: there was live coverage of it happening, like he's here,
Speaker 2: He's gonna be the coach. And I remember asking my
Speaker 2: dad like this is good, Like how do we feel
Speaker 2: about this because I knew this guy used to coach Kentucky,
Speaker 2: like this this is odd? Like what do we think Dad?
Speaker 2: And he just, you know, with no hesitation, told me
Speaker 2: this was awesome because he's a hell of a coach.
Speaker 2: And sure enough he came in and the timing of
Speaker 2: him getting the job and what he did in his
Speaker 2: time here, until the scandal started happening was needed in
Speaker 2: a major way. Like Denny built this thing. Denny's why
Speaker 2: Louis of Basketball is what it is. But even though
Speaker 2: he's clearly bitter about how it ended here and he's
Speaker 2: always gonna choose blue over red, I can't be a
Speaker 2: phony and tell you that I don't appreciate his tenure here.
Speaker 2: It wouldn't be Louisvillat. I mean maybe if they hired
Speaker 2: somebody else then things would have been even better. I
Speaker 2: don't know, but I do know that he gave them irrelevant.
Speaker 2: He gave the program some relevance at a time where
Speaker 2: it was desperately needed. So, you know, I just wanted
Speaker 2: to say that because I think there are like, if
Speaker 2: you're somebody that's older, you're still unhappy about it, and
Speaker 2: you probably are thinking to yourself, well you Rick and
Speaker 2: go to hell, because here we are still dealing with
Speaker 2: things that happen on your watch and these people who
Speaker 2: we defended you two relentlessly because we I mean, Louisville
Speaker 2: fans heard it NonStop about the Katina pal To, the
Speaker 2: ceiling lines and Karen Seife for fifteen seconds, and like
Speaker 2: no college basketball fans should be in a position where
Speaker 2: they're defending their coach to the rival fan base talking
Speaker 2: about how long he lasted on an Italian at an
Speaker 2: Italian restaurant on the table. But we were there because
Speaker 2: of you, so to know that, like you're always defending
Speaker 2: him during his time, because they were relentless, and Rick
Speaker 2: him himself did a lot of things that gave them
Speaker 2: the ammunition to where we just never heard the end
Speaker 2: of the Katina pal jokes, right, and yet to see
Speaker 2: that he just went you know, it's not like he
Speaker 2: was like Rick. Rick doesn't relate to fans. Like. That's
Speaker 2: one thing that I tried to articulate as best I can.
Speaker 2: Rick's not thinking about fans when he's doing anything, because
Speaker 2: Rick is one one of the most unrelatable people you'll
Speaker 2: ever meet. But like Joe and Shively, is not somebody
Speaker 2: Rick Patino's thinking about when he's out hanging out at
Speaker 2: Bigmou Madness. And that's not to defend him, it's just
Speaker 2: the truth. So you know, that's why whenever he was
Speaker 2: asked on Saturday at the Kentucky football game about you know,
Speaker 2: the night before, he made it clear that he loves
Speaker 2: his players and he loves the fans here. He just
Speaker 2: wishes he got like an apology or whatever. So like
Speaker 2: I can't necessarily match the anger or frustration or just sadness,
Speaker 2: because like it's hard for me to be sad or
Speaker 2: disappointed about something that I quite literally always knew, Like
Speaker 2: I always knew that he would would face them over us.
Speaker 2: When when when it came to this time, whenever Cal's
Speaker 2: not in Lexington anymore, and you know, he's not at
Speaker 2: Loville anymore, and he's bitter about how it ended, like
Speaker 2: it was all it was always the case. He even
Speaker 2: told us that at times when he was here, but
Speaker 2: we didn't, you know, we never you know, it's not
Speaker 2: something you think about in the moment, like hmmm, let
Speaker 2: me let me, let me be upset about something that
Speaker 2: may happen in twenty years. Like it's just not something
Speaker 2: you think about. So I understand why fans, certain fans
Speaker 2: feel the way they feel. It's just I, you know,
Speaker 2: I'm not at all surprised that Rick did that. And
Speaker 2: there's a part of me that says, well, you know what,
Speaker 2: Rick and I have said this on the show, John,
Speaker 2: you can back me up for those who don't listen, regularly,
Speaker 2: like from day one. I said, Yeah, I kind of
Speaker 2: get it. That's a special thing for a player that
Speaker 2: won a national championship for you at Kentucky when you
Speaker 2: were kind of making your name as a coach. He's
Speaker 2: now coaching that program, Like I can, I think that
Speaker 2: would be a special thing for him.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it was. It was probably weird for
Speaker 3: you at first, but once the connection was made.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like it made sense.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it did make sense.
Speaker 2: But then again, like I'm giving too much credit when
Speaker 2: I say that, because Rick Patino has always been really
Speaker 2: great it making something about him always we know this guy.
Speaker 2: I don't mean like we know him personally, but I
Speaker 2: don't even know who really does because I don't. He's
Speaker 2: not really to me. He's not really a human. He's
Speaker 2: a robot and he's unrelatable and he's Rick Patino. So
Speaker 2: not to sound cynical, but like, I think he wanted
Speaker 2: to make that moment about him. He wanted to make
Speaker 2: the big Blue Madness, as Mark Pope did it for
Speaker 2: the first time as the Kentucky coach. He made it
Speaker 2: about Rick, did he not? He did? Like he absolutely did,
Speaker 2: and real quick, and I'll let you go into saying,
Speaker 2: but I just want to throw this in there because
Speaker 2: this is really important, and I will stand corrected if
Speaker 2: I am If this is not true. Rick was going
Speaker 2: to go to the football game and then it worked
Speaker 2: out with Big Blue Madness, like he did this, he
Speaker 2: put this in motion. I don't think it was like
Speaker 2: Mark Pope and his first ever Bigmu Madness is going
Speaker 2: to make sure Patino's out there to be honored. It
Speaker 2: worked out, and I'm sure everybody had a good time
Speaker 2: with it. But like I'm sure he is happy for Pope.
Speaker 2: I believe that, genuinely, I do. But I also know
Speaker 2: Rick is gonna take advantage of an like it wasn't
Speaker 2: just him wanting to be all guys, I just want
Speaker 2: to be around you don't bring the attention to me,
Speaker 2: Like Rick wanted to make that a Rick event, and
Speaker 2: he did it and it worked perfectly. It actually, more
Speaker 2: than anything, confirmed what I've already known. The guy's a
Speaker 2: master at all this. He can he can say whatever,
Speaker 2: he can do whatever, and we're all gonna like we're
Speaker 2: the fact that we're still talking about Rick Patino in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty four as much as we are is really
Speaker 2: it speaks to him he moves the needle. You know,
Speaker 2: you play it. It's Rick Patino, for better or for worse,
Speaker 2: regardless if it's winning a big game or banging a
Speaker 2: chick at a restaurant, He's gonna move the needle and
Speaker 2: people are gonna.
Speaker 1: Talk about it.
Speaker 2: And he knew that, and here he is coming back
Speaker 2: this past weekend and it worked out. Kentucky lost to Andy.
Speaker 2: March Stoop's lost to Andy. That's not being talked about
Speaker 2: as much. Rick Patino coming back at least. I don't
Speaker 2: think it is sorry to cut you off.
Speaker 1: No, you had to get that out.
Speaker 3: You have way more better things to say on it
Speaker 3: than I do. But he could definitely get away with
Speaker 3: this with with Mark Pope, just because it seems like
Speaker 3: that stands in Mark's Pope. Mark Pope's nature to just
Speaker 3: not that he's a pushover, but he's kind of like,
Speaker 3: you know, hey, Rick, this is about you, don't make
Speaker 3: it about me. He could get There's not many other
Speaker 3: Kentucky basketball coaches that would let Rick have that moment.
Speaker 2: I'm glad you said that, and I mean this as
Speaker 2: a sincere comment or maybe compliment. If you think it's
Speaker 2: that in fact, you may just said it better than
Speaker 2: I was about to say it. Pope's not a me guy.
Speaker 2: Pope is not somebody that I think is cal Or
Speaker 2: Patino as far as like it's got to be about them,
Speaker 2: and I don't You're right, I don't even if there
Speaker 2: could be, there could have been other other players who
Speaker 2: played for Rick that somehow ended up in the same
Speaker 2: spot where they're coaching now, and they probably wouldn't have
Speaker 2: been cool with that. They would have like, all right, Rick,
Speaker 2: we'll we'll, we'll make this happen at some point, but
Speaker 2: not now, you know what I mean. And I think
Speaker 2: Pope's fine with it not being about him, and that's
Speaker 2: I mean, that is a compliment. Now in a way,
Speaker 2: you kind of gotta make it a being like it's
Speaker 2: a larger than life position, so like you got to
Speaker 2: be comfortable. And I'm not saying he's uncomfortable, but like,
Speaker 2: I don't think he felt any way about like, well,
Speaker 2: you know what, I wanted it to be about me
Speaker 2: and not about Rick. I don't think he cares. And
Speaker 2: that's again, that's I think that speaks to his humility.
Speaker 2: But our quick break, we're way too late for our
Speaker 2: first break. I apologize if you guys want to join
Speaker 2: the show, you can certainly a lot to react to.
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Speaker 2: zero seven ninety. So we finished up the first segment
Speaker 2: just kind of talking about Patino's return to Lexington, and
Speaker 2: I'll just say it, Louisville fans needed Kentucky to lose
Speaker 2: to Vandy in a major way. I mean, to see
Speaker 2: them meeting the Kentucky fans just sad and you know,
Speaker 2: really beside themselves in regards to, you know, their football program.
Speaker 2: It was nice to see because you know, it wasn't
Speaker 2: great to see what happened on Friday, although I don't
Speaker 2: really know like what I mean, it was kind of weird.
Speaker 2: You know. I'm and when I say, you know, it's
Speaker 2: not like I'm going door to door polling people and
Speaker 2: you know, doing a real deep dive study as far
Speaker 2: as how fans feel about Rick going back to Lexington,
Speaker 2: meeting both Louisville and Kentucky fans. So like I'm basing
Speaker 2: it off of what you see on faceboo book and
Speaker 2: on Twitter and that kind of stuff, and just people
Speaker 2: that you talk to. And you know, I've got friends
Speaker 2: that are that are fans of Kentucky and they were
Speaker 2: just stunned to like see that that happened. But you know,
Speaker 2: people around my age, I'm they loved Rick Pattino when
Speaker 2: he was there, because you know, if you were, if
Speaker 2: you're my age, Rick, he had a run there in
Speaker 2: the mid to late nineties. That I mean, I think
Speaker 2: you saw some of the best college teams ever. And
Speaker 2: if you're somebody around my age, you're probably just old
Speaker 2: enough to remember that, and it was special. And then
Speaker 2: of course he became the enemy, the villain because he
Speaker 2: coached Louisville. So I'm sure there are many fans on
Speaker 2: the Kentucky said they don't really know how to feel
Speaker 2: about it, And then there were some that are really
Speaker 2: happy about it because they loved that era in the nineties.
Speaker 2: And then there's some that are probably in fact, I
Speaker 2: could think of a couple people I know that are
Speaker 2: still like, we should have never let that guy back in.
Speaker 2: He went to Louisville, he flipped us off whenever he
Speaker 2: was at the last time he coached it against us
Speaker 2: in this arena. So I think you got a mixed
Speaker 2: bag as far as how people feel. But I also
Speaker 2: think that there are some people on the Kentucky side
Speaker 2: some fans that just love believing that it makes Louisville
Speaker 2: fans sad, Like their satisfaction is that they don't really
Speaker 2: have any like they don't have any emotion about Rick
Speaker 2: and maybe they know, like, man, I should go scrub
Speaker 2: my Twitter account because I've just been making jokes about
Speaker 2: Karen Cipher and Katina Pale for years. Like hard for
Speaker 2: me to embrace this guy now whenever I've just been
Speaker 2: making fun of him. But you know what, here's where
Speaker 2: I'll find the satisfaction is that, Hey, if it's something
Speaker 2: that makes my rival sad, then I'm going to embrace
Speaker 2: it and rub it in their face. And that sounds,
Speaker 2: you know, pretty sick and twisted, but that's what this
Speaker 2: rivalry is. It's pretty sick and twisted, especially on the internet.
Speaker 2: You kidding me, like it's a toxic wasteland. So you know,
Speaker 2: I try my best to explain as far as like
Speaker 2: I wouldn't like I didn't love it, like seeing it,
Speaker 2: but it also didn't bring me any like sadness or
Speaker 2: anger because I'm not surprised by it, and you know,
Speaker 2: I always knew like and somebody meant this on the
Speaker 2: text line I think they're right when it comes to
Speaker 2: experiencing Rick as the Kentucky coach. Regardless, if you are
Speaker 2: on the blue side of the red side, I think
Speaker 2: you have an ability to view it and see it
Speaker 2: differently than those who did not remember it and weren't
Speaker 2: weren't old enough. But as far as him ever coming
Speaker 2: back here, that's that's that's one of the texts that
Speaker 2: came in on the Ellen and Federal Credit Union text line,
Speaker 2: is there ever going to be a day where he'll
Speaker 2: be honored here? There should be, I think, but not
Speaker 2: anytime soon, like, not for a long long time, because
Speaker 2: it's just it's still it's still too soon, honestly, And
Speaker 2: he may not you know, he may not ever want
Speaker 2: to come back like he I mean, I could see
Speaker 2: Rick making it a big deal. If he did get invited,
Speaker 2: he'd he'd have a very public I wouldn't sho be
Speaker 2: shocked to be at a public Uh, you know, he
Speaker 2: turned it down publicly and made it a big deal
Speaker 2: because that's what Rick does. So And by the way,
Speaker 2: the text was not saying that we should we should
Speaker 2: have him come back. In fact, it was the opposite,
Speaker 2: people saying that we should ever honor this guy, which, hey,
Speaker 2: if you feel that way, I you know, given the
Speaker 2: recency of what you know just happened and whatnot, then
Speaker 2: I'm sure. I mean, I get why you feel that way.
Speaker 2: I really do. Are this tex, says Nick. Now that
Speaker 2: you've seen Kentucky lose to South Carolina and Vandy, are
Speaker 2: you still as worried as I am about playing them
Speaker 2: at the end of the year. I mean it's a
Speaker 2: weird game. Like I'm not looking at this game like
Speaker 2: any normal matchup, meaning, I'm not like looking at personnel
Speaker 2: and thinking, oh, what are we going to do when
Speaker 2: Kentucky imposes their will on the defensive line, or how
Speaker 2: are we going to stop Barry and Brown? Like all
Speaker 2: those things are true. They've got really talented receivers, Barrian
Speaker 2: Brown being one of them, and of course defensively upfront
Speaker 2: they're really really good. But one, I'm not thinking about
Speaker 2: that a whole lot, because Lowell's gonna have to show
Speaker 2: me something this weekend for me to have any real
Speaker 2: belief that they're going to finish the season strong. Now,
Speaker 2: losing to Miami doesn't mean that you're terrible. I mean
Speaker 2: Miami's a top ten team, undefeated probably shouldn't be undefeated,
Speaker 2: but they are. But like, if they look good and
Speaker 2: it's a step in the right direction when it comes
Speaker 2: to cleaning things up and just playing better football and
Speaker 2: not hurting themselves, then yeah, that'll be encouraging. But I'm
Speaker 2: to the point now where I got to see you
Speaker 2: before I believe it. And with that, as I wait
Speaker 2: to see something, I'm not thinking about the Kentucky matchup
Speaker 2: at all. So it answered your question. You know, last
Speaker 2: year has nothing to do with this year at all.
Speaker 2: And I'm usually somebody that like mocks those who bring
Speaker 2: up trends from previous years because I'm thinking, like, what
Speaker 2: would that have to do with this at all? Different teams,
Speaker 2: sometimes different coaches at times, but last year was the ultimate, Like,
Speaker 2: if we were gonna beat them, we should have done
Speaker 2: it then, and we didn't. So now I'm just like, yeah,
Speaker 2: who knows if it ever happens again. I hate to
Speaker 2: be so defeated because you know it's your rival and
Speaker 2: you want to be able to You want to be
Speaker 2: able to have confidence and at least if you do lose,
Speaker 2: you can have some fun beforehand, getting yourself excited like
Speaker 2: you're gonna pull off victory, but like, I just can't
Speaker 2: do that right now. Maybe by the time we get
Speaker 2: closer to it, it's different. But that's that's kind of
Speaker 2: where I'm at, And be fair, it's not just about
Speaker 2: like thinking, hey, if we were gonna do it, we
Speaker 2: would have already done it.
Speaker 1: It wasn't meant to be.
Speaker 2: I still think Kentucky has good players, like they like
Speaker 2: their fan base. When it comes to their frustration with
Speaker 2: mark stubs, I mean, I get it, Like I don't
Speaker 2: think they're elite, but they shouldn't. They shouldn't have two
Speaker 2: of the losses they have. I mean, they got blown
Speaker 2: out by South Carolina, and maybe that loss doesn't look
Speaker 2: as bad now because South Carolina, I mean, I guess
Speaker 2: they're still not very good. They were right there and
Speaker 2: had a chance to beat Bama, couldn't hold on. They
Speaker 2: lost to LSU in a close game, so I mean,
Speaker 2: maybe you know, you chalk that up as hey, it's
Speaker 2: just an SEC game and it happens. But like they
Speaker 2: shouldn't have lost to Vandy. I mean, I know Vandy's
Speaker 2: playing better football and they're clearly in a better spot
Speaker 2: now than they've been in a long time with their
Speaker 2: with their co coach and just I mean, they're coming
Speaker 2: off with two straight SEC wins. He I mean, when's
Speaker 2: the last time Vandy won consecutive SEC games? I bet
Speaker 2: it's been a long time. Not kidding, like, I bet
Speaker 2: I wouldn't. I have no clue, but I'm just thinking
Speaker 2: out loud here, I wouldn't be shocked to learn that
Speaker 2: Vandy won consecutive league games for the first time in
Speaker 2: a decade. I mean, it's bandy and they're not that Vandy,
Speaker 2: but still, like Kentucky is better and has better players,
Speaker 2: and yet they underwhelm like and with and beating Ole Miss.
Speaker 2: That law or that win doesn't look as good now
Speaker 2: as it did because Ole Miss. You know, they they
Speaker 2: crap the bed and lost to LSU, which doesn't mean
Speaker 2: that win doesn't matter, but you know, like it doesn't
Speaker 2: look as good as it did when it happened, but
Speaker 2: it's still valuable and it still showed that, like this
Speaker 2: Kentucky team can beat good teams. And then they turn
Speaker 2: around off of a bye and lose to lose to Andy.
Speaker 2: Like I wish I could tell you they stink, They're embarrassing.
Speaker 2: They're gonna get blown out the rest of the season,
Speaker 2: and when we come into Commonwealth Stadium, we're gonna bend
Speaker 2: them over to Like I wish I could say that
Speaker 2: and believe it, but I don't. Like, even if they
Speaker 2: end up losing the majority of the games the rest
Speaker 2: of the way, because they still have to play Texas,
Speaker 2: they still have to play I guess, really, Texas is
Speaker 2: the only real Missouri's Is Missouri on their schedule or
Speaker 2: did I dream that?
Speaker 1: I don't know?
Speaker 2: For such, I think Kentuck. I mean I know Kentucky
Speaker 2: or sorry, I know Texas is still on their schedule.
Speaker 2: And they've got Auburn, who isn't very good of Tennessee.
Speaker 2: Tennessee's the other team that is still highly ranked that
Speaker 2: they feel like, you know, they're gonna have a tough
Speaker 2: So like, let's say they get blown out by Tennessee
Speaker 2: and they get blown out by Texas and they split,
Speaker 2: and let's say they end up losing to Florida in
Speaker 2: the swamp, but then they beat Auburn at home the
Speaker 2: next week, Like at that point they'll have Murray State,
Speaker 2: so like they'll be limping in not feeling great about
Speaker 2: their season. But I will still sit here and tell
Speaker 2: you that, like from a talent perspective as far as
Speaker 2: their personnel, like, they're gonna be tough for a lot
Speaker 2: of teams if they play well meaning Kentucky like defensively
Speaker 2: they are loaded, they're humongous, and they're productive, like their
Speaker 2: defense is not a huge problem for them. But offensively,
Speaker 2: they're disciplined, they're sloppy, and they're kind of like Louisville
Speaker 2: in a way as far as just they're not playing
Speaker 2: clean football. They're not like, they're making mistakes that literally
Speaker 2: will cost you games in crucial times. And as a
Speaker 2: Louisville fan who's got a team that has done that
Speaker 2: some this year and just done things, you know, made
Speaker 2: mistakes and put themselves in a position they shouldn't be in.
Speaker 2: Rather that be coaches making bad decisions, or the coach
Speaker 2: is not having them ready, lack of communication, or just
Speaker 2: guys making bad plays like that, that's a really frustrating
Speaker 2: place to be because again, the silver lining is that
Speaker 2: you don't feel like talent is why you have these
Speaker 2: losses and why you've played the way you've played. But
Speaker 2: you get so far in the year that no longer
Speaker 2: is a silver lining because you've played enough football and
Speaker 2: you've maintained the identity that you've established, and that's what's
Speaker 2: got me with Louisville is I just think to expect
Speaker 2: them to come out and clean things up and be
Speaker 2: sharp and make winning plays and beat Miami. It's not
Speaker 2: an insane thing to see happening. It's just you're just
Speaker 2: I think it's kind of I think it's kind of
Speaker 2: blind faith blind because they played six games and they
Speaker 2: haven't done that yet. Why would you think they'll do
Speaker 2: it now? Maybe it's the magical moment that Brom has
Speaker 2: every now and then when he's got a big opportunity
Speaker 2: to beat a team that's highly ranked. He's shown that
Speaker 2: he did it last year. I mean, the last time
Speaker 2: Louisville was a home underdog was when Brom took it
Speaker 2: to Notre Dame, who was a top ten team, and
Speaker 2: that was a monster moment. So I mean he's shown
Speaker 2: the ability to do that at both schools Perdue and
Speaker 2: Louisville even But like this year, you played six games
Speaker 2: and you have an identity, and I think despite the
Speaker 2: win on Saturday, I didn't really see you shed some
Speaker 2: layers that I think form up the identity that has
Speaker 2: me concerned about this team not being close to as
Speaker 2: good as they should be. But hey, they've got opportunities,
Speaker 2: right you got Clemson, you got Miami, you got Kentucky,
Speaker 2: and then pitt I mean, I don't look at Pitt
Speaker 2: as like this big, big opportunity, but right now they're
Speaker 2: unbeaten in their rank, so it is an opportunity. All right,
Speaker 2: quick break will come back on the other side, keep
Speaker 2: it rolling along. It's coffee and company. Fiel about Thornton's
Speaker 2: right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. That's right, five
Speaker 2: two five seven one seventy nine. One hundred is the number.
Speaker 2: If you want to give us a call, you can
Speaker 2: text in on the llen N Federal Credit Union text line.
Speaker 2: If five O two six five three zero seven ninety
Speaker 2: this test. This text says, Nick, I typically agree with
Speaker 2: you when it comes to being real and at times
Speaker 2: seemingly pessimistic, but I am surprised you're not more excited
Speaker 2: as Louisville. Finally, avoid Finally, you might be doing talk
Speaker 2: to text here because I'm I'm going down and it
Speaker 2: starts to make less sense. But I think what you're
Speaker 2: saying is that you thought I'd be more pleased with Saturday,
Speaker 2: and I'm happy that they won. Trust me, I am,
Speaker 2: and you know that's a start. And even whenever they
Speaker 2: were losing to teams like Notre Dame in SMU, I mean,
Speaker 2: it's not as if I haven't been able to find,
Speaker 2: you know, bright spots. But I think when you're losing
Speaker 2: and yet you're highlighting things that are good, doesn't that
Speaker 2: you know, maybe you know everybody's different. I'm sure you
Speaker 2: guys are, you know, not as twisted up there in
Speaker 2: the head as I am. But when I know that
Speaker 2: we have a quarterback that is only here one year
Speaker 2: and I think he's really good. I think he's special.
Speaker 2: And we've got a freshman in Isaac Brown who is
Speaker 2: one of the best freshmen in the country, one of
Speaker 2: the best running backs in the ACC, and he's a
Speaker 2: true freshman. I mean Jacory Brooks, that guy's been great.
Speaker 2: Jamari Johnson, I mean game winning touchdown, and I hope
Speaker 2: they target him more. He's special, you know, stan Kwan
Speaker 2: Clark on defense, I think the guy's are really good.
Speaker 2: Ashton Jelatti finally got loose and made some big plays.
Speaker 2: So I guess where I may be different than you,
Speaker 2: is that to feel you know that good about this
Speaker 2: team when it comes to some of the players they
Speaker 2: have and some of the ability this team should have,
Speaker 2: and yet to see them still making silly mistakes and
Speaker 2: not being a you know, a super you know, polished
Speaker 2: team like you know that, that frustrates me. So I'm
Speaker 2: happy that they won, and I'd rather than be four
Speaker 2: and two than three and three heading into this big game.
Speaker 2: It's just I'm not going to at least now. Maybe
Speaker 2: maybe I find some mojo and things are different in
Speaker 2: a couple of days, but I just think right now,
Speaker 2: for me, I just I'm not gonna lie to myself
Speaker 2: for a lot of you and say that I know
Speaker 2: that for sure they're going to come out and automatically
Speaker 2: just start eliminating some of the silly mistakes that they've made.
Speaker 2: And look, some of it's been bad officiating here and
Speaker 2: there and that, but that happens. And I think the
Speaker 2: reason we found ourselves talking so much about officiating is
Speaker 2: not because there haven't been bad calls, but it's because
Speaker 2: there's been some big calls and crucial moments that didn't
Speaker 2: go our way. And you feel as if that was
Speaker 2: a big factor and why you lost and you're not
Speaker 2: wrong necessarily, but I think Louisville, if you just go
Speaker 2: back and watch, I think, you know, if you're honest
Speaker 2: with yourself, Louisvill's made some big mistakes and just played
Speaker 2: poorly at times in certain areas that if they didn't
Speaker 2: do that, then we wouldn't have to worry about a
Speaker 2: crucial call here there that you know, kind of seems
Speaker 2: like it dictated if you if you want or lost.
Speaker 2: So I'm hopeful that they'll that they'll, you know, they'll
Speaker 2: come out ready to play. And you know, there's no
Speaker 2: better time to to kind of really tighten some things
Speaker 2: up and play clean football and not make crucial mistakes
Speaker 2: and crucial moments because you can, you can eliminate it
Speaker 2: all and still loose because you're playing a team that
Speaker 2: is as good as Miami. I mean, cam Ward is
Speaker 2: the real deal, and uh, it will be a big
Speaker 2: challenge on Saturday, no doubt. Or before we get to
Speaker 2: the top of the hour, let's go to the phone lines.
Speaker 2: FABO two five, seven, nine hundred is the number if
Speaker 2: you want to give us a call, and we will
Speaker 2: go to to Michael who's joining us here on Sports
Speaker 2: Talk seven ninety's up.
Speaker 4: Michael, and Hey, Nick, I'm good about yourself.
Speaker 2: Not too bad.
Speaker 4: Hey, I'm you know, I'm happy we won this weekend.
Speaker 4: I'm happy that, you know, we faced adversity, we came
Speaker 4: back and got took back the lead and won the game.
Speaker 4: You know, shows the offense has some fight defense. You
Speaker 4: don't even need to touch on it because we've said
Speaker 4: it a memory of times. There's issues, But the one
Speaker 4: thing I'm really kind of irritating is with is kind
Speaker 4: of the same base itself. Okay, guy, we you know
Speaker 4: out watched part of Big Blue Madness also because I
Speaker 4: wanted to see Rick Patino as that drama was. You know,
Speaker 4: it's said that you know, went to Louisvilive. It was
Speaker 4: a fun time, but it's nothing compared to Big Blue Madness.
Speaker 2: And if you know, we want to be on that
Speaker 2: and and it never and it never I'm here to
Speaker 2: tell you it never will be, never will be.
Speaker 4: And that needs to change though, man, Like why though
Speaker 4: you mean.
Speaker 2: You mean like more people, like more people there is
Speaker 2: that what you think needs to be different?
Speaker 4: Well, well, both like we need to invest the funding
Speaker 4: to make that more of just a big event, not
Speaker 4: just oh here's something on a Friday night, you know,
Speaker 4: throw it together. You know, I love seeing the glass
Speaker 4: floor that they had. That's really freaking cool.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you know, I'll admit it, that is cool
Speaker 2: as hell. I think they're the only college program that
Speaker 2: has one. So maybe others will get it at some point,
Speaker 2: but you know, I don't. Kentucky's Big Blue Madness is
Speaker 2: probably a bigger deal than any program as far as
Speaker 2: what they do, and you know, I think it's always
Speaker 2: been that way Louisville's been. There's been moments in my
Speaker 2: lifetime where louis of basketball was in a better spot
Speaker 2: than Kentucky, and Kentucky still had a better event to
Speaker 2: start their season because that's just kind of what they do.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I appreciate the call. We're up against it
Speaker 2: here at the top of the hour, and I don't
Speaker 2: really want to spend a whole lot of time on
Speaker 2: Louisville Live comparing to Big Blue Madness, because I'm just
Speaker 2: not somebody that if you want to eventually have Louisville's
Speaker 2: basketball program being the ultimate event, that, like everybody in
Speaker 2: the country knows, they'll never be as good as what
Speaker 2: they do. Like, I just don't think that's realistic, and
Speaker 2: I don't really think it's needed. And I think they
Speaker 2: did a lot with Louisville Live as far as resources
Speaker 2: and making it look really, really awesome. Now that it
Speaker 2: looks as good as Kentucky's, that's up to each individual
Speaker 2: person who experienced both. But I think they, you know,
Speaker 2: I just you know, I don't know what to tell you.
Speaker 2: Kentucky's big Blue madness whenever they hire a new coach
Speaker 2: and Rick Patino comes back and it's not a paid event,
Speaker 2: like you just get a ticket for free, I believe,
Speaker 2: like I'm not surprised. It was a raucous atmosphere and
Speaker 2: probably always will be. All right, quick break, we'll come
Speaker 2: back on the other side. Two more hours to go
Speaker 2: right here on sports Stock seven ninety