Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 2: Oh, guess what day it is. Guess what day it is?
Speaker 3: Huh anybody, It's hump Day.
Speaker 2: Welcome to the Big Blue and sidet ar Dick Gabriel
Speaker 2: with you on a Wednesday. Yes, it is hump Day
Speaker 2: and that means that on a Wednesday, we talk with
Speaker 2: our unforgettable guard Sean Woods. Also Westend Bureau chief Gary Moore.
Speaker 2: That's coming up in our number two. We usually talk
Speaker 2: with Aaron Gershan of the Cat's pause midweek. He is
Speaker 2: traveling on vacation. He'll be back with us on Thursday,
Speaker 2: so a little bit later on we'll talk with the
Speaker 2: head coach, or the Hall of Fame head coach, Keith Madison,
Speaker 2: who of course coached the Wildcats for so many years
Speaker 2: and now remains active in college baseball and as such,
Speaker 2: was that the College World Series for a while. He's
Speaker 2: just back. He does have a tale to tell about
Speaker 2: coming home, air travel, cancel flights and all that stuff.
Speaker 2: But more than anything, I want to hear him talk
Speaker 2: about his interaction action with the Murray State Racers, who
Speaker 2: of course have been eliminated, but they were a great
Speaker 2: story in Omaha. Now the great story is the fact
Speaker 2: that you've got Coastal Carolina still alive, and they don't
Speaker 2: like to be referred to as Cinderella because they've been
Speaker 2: there multiple times and they won the championship a few
Speaker 2: years ago. They're in the final four, and in fact,
Speaker 2: they are playing the Louisville Cardinals this afternoon in an
Speaker 2: elimination game that would maybe over by the time we
Speaker 2: take the air. My apologies, we do pre record. As
Speaker 2: you know, Louisville has to beat Coastal twice. So if
Speaker 2: the Cardinals do manage to beat the Chanta Clears this afternoon,
Speaker 2: they'll play again tomorrow. Coming up this evening Arkansas LSU.
Speaker 2: That's another elimination game because LSU beat Arkansas earlier in
Speaker 2: the tournament. The Razorbacks have to beat LSU a couple
Speaker 2: of times. They'll play again tomorrow if necessary. The finals
Speaker 2: are Saturday, Sunday, Monday, depending on what happens in a
Speaker 2: three game series. But Coastal Carolina again is a team
Speaker 2: that's chock full of confidence on a long heater right now,
Speaker 2: I think it's twenty five straight games. Arkansas is in
Speaker 2: great shape, first of all, beating UCLA last night seven
Speaker 2: to three. It was seven to nothing to the last inning,
Speaker 2: UCLA put up three, but Arkansas cruised for the most part.
Speaker 2: But Arkansas pitching has been cruising since the kid threw
Speaker 2: the no hitter and saved the bullpen. Save the entire bullpen.
Speaker 2: That's such a key in tournaments like this, and again
Speaker 2: Arkansas cannot lose again. Arkansas has already lost once in
Speaker 2: w LIMB. Same with Louisville, which beat Oregon State another
Speaker 2: crazy game. Oregon State was down six to three, put
Speaker 2: up three in the top of the ninth, and then
Speaker 2: Louisville loaded the bases with nobody out, got a sackfly
Speaker 2: from Eddie King, the hottest player in the tournament, and
Speaker 2: walked it off against Oregon State. But that inning began
Speaker 2: and I'm texting my buddies in the text Shane with
Speaker 2: a walk. You just can't walk the leadoff hitter, especially
Speaker 2: in a situation like that. But it was not a
Speaker 2: clean game, both teams making errors. But Louisville wins it.
Speaker 2: Louisville survives and like I said, could be eliminated by now,
Speaker 2: but if it beats Coastal this afternoon, it will play
Speaker 2: again tomorrow night. We'll talk a lot of college baseball
Speaker 2: coming up with Keith Madison. But I also want to
Speaker 2: talk to Sean Woods about Colin Chandler, who spoke to
Speaker 2: the media this week. And he, of course is a
Speaker 2: guy who is going to make a jump from year
Speaker 2: one to year two that I think is going to
Speaker 2: be really terrific. But where does he fit in to
Speaker 2: Mark Pope's ball club. So we'll talk about that with
Speaker 2: Sean coming up a little bit later on. Speaking of
Speaker 2: Mark Pope's team, Trent Noah talked to the media this week.
Speaker 2: They're bringing the players to us now here in the
Speaker 2: off season, which is great. And Noah talked to assembled
Speaker 2: reporters about what it's like now that pre season pre
Speaker 2: pre preseason practices have begun.
Speaker 4: Now it is ramping up on early impression. I mean,
Speaker 4: I feel like it'll be just like last year. I
Speaker 4: think the BBN will fall in love with helping new guys,
Speaker 4: especially coach Pobru again excellent human beings once again, so
Speaker 4: that always makes it even better and more enjoyable to
Speaker 4: play with.
Speaker 2: That's such a great comment. Now the BBN will fall
Speaker 2: in love with these new players, And of course it's
Speaker 2: a guy who grew up at Kentucky fan grew up
Speaker 2: in Harlan knows the BBN inside and out in Trentoa,
Speaker 2: who I really believe will be kind of the Swiss
Speaker 2: Army Knife for this team. He can play in the backcourt,
Speaker 2: he's strong enough to play in the front court, he
Speaker 2: can shoot it, and of course instantly a fan favorite.
Speaker 2: But I think he's a guy who will really really
Speaker 2: produce in a number of ways for Mark Pope. I
Speaker 2: don't know if he'll ever be a starter at Kentucky.
Speaker 2: He might be, He'll get bigger, he'll get stronger, but
Speaker 2: I think this coming year, as I said, he'll be
Speaker 2: a great uti player for Mark Pope. He was just
Speaker 2: as popular as Travis Perry, his buddy, his roommate, the
Speaker 2: guy he faced off against in the Sweet sixteen championship
Speaker 2: game a couple of years ago. Travis Perry chose to leave,
Speaker 2: even though he had said or indicated he was staying.
Speaker 2: Trent Noah immediately said I'm coming back, and he talked
Speaker 2: about the fact that it never occurred to him to
Speaker 2: leave UK.
Speaker 4: No no this is this is the greatest place on earth.
Speaker 4: And I love coach Coach Poe's vision for me, and
Speaker 4: he sees kind of the same path that I see.
Speaker 4: So that's what we're looking to do this year and
Speaker 4: on the way win number nine.
Speaker 2: The greatest place on Earth, says Trent Noah and the
Speaker 2: vision mark Pope has for no He's talked about him
Speaker 2: more than once. It's been in general generalities basically, but
Speaker 2: you know, he just talked about how much he loves
Speaker 2: Trent Noah and is excited about his future. And as
Speaker 2: I said, Pope is basically said. He didn't use the
Speaker 2: same term, but he's basically said he looks at at
Speaker 2: Noah as the all around player. He can guard a
Speaker 2: little bit as well. He's got to get better at everything,
Speaker 2: so does everybody. But I think that he is a
Speaker 2: guy who will keep paying dividends to the Wildcats. And
Speaker 2: I do believe again, when he was in high school
Speaker 2: the great advantage he had. He's a bigger guy, taller
Speaker 2: than most of the kids he's playing against, but with
Speaker 2: so much stronger physically stronger. He could bring the ball
Speaker 2: up the floor and work his way to the rim
Speaker 2: as well as anybody I saw in the Sweet sixteen
Speaker 2: that year. And that's saying a lot. So yeah, I'm
Speaker 2: excited to see what Trent Noah can do. The UK
Speaker 2: women have released the schedule for upcoming SEC games. For
Speaker 2: the upcoming year, Kentucky's home and away opponent is Vanderbilt.
Speaker 2: That's a plus, it's not Tennessee. Home games include South
Speaker 2: Carolina which will be huge, Florida, Georgia, Ole, miss Missou,
Speaker 2: A and M and Oklahoma. But on the road now,
Speaker 2: you got to go to Texas, Gotta go to Tennessee.
Speaker 2: The other ones are the A teams Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn,
Speaker 2: along with the LSU and Mississippi State. Kentucky last year
Speaker 2: under Kenny Brooks, who's going to be on the show
Speaker 2: with Us tomorrow. The UK head coach Wildcats win eleven
Speaker 2: and five in the SEC, and Kenny Brooks's first year
Speaker 2: in the league. Of course, he had Georgia Amore who
Speaker 2: was gone, but he's had Clara Strack, who's coming back.
Speaker 2: UK had the best scoring margin in SEC regular season action,
Speaker 2: winning by an average of eight and a half points.
Speaker 2: That was the best since twenty twelve thirteen, and the
Speaker 2: best scoring defense in the SEC regular season, giving up
Speaker 2: only sixty five point eight points per game. Wildcats won
Speaker 2: eight SEC games by at least fourteen points, second most
Speaker 2: in a single season in program history about that. You
Speaker 2: got to go back to twenty oh nine to ten
Speaker 2: for a team that had eight such wins. So this
Speaker 2: team could score, this team could defend, had its best
Speaker 2: field goal percent of defense and SEC regular season action
Speaker 2: since at least two to three. But new faces. I
Speaker 2: talked about the kids who were gone, specifically Georgia Amore.
Speaker 2: But when you talk about defense with Clara Strack in
Speaker 2: the middle defensive Player of the Year for the SEC,
Speaker 2: I mean you're well ahead of the game right there.
Speaker 2: So we'll talk more about that with Kenny Brooks tomorrow
Speaker 2: on the Big Blue Insider up NEX. Speaking of women's basketball,
Speaker 2: what's going on in the WNBA is quickly getting out
Speaker 2: of hand and it's just gotten ugly. Yes, and involves
Speaker 2: Kaitlin Clark. No, she's not innocent in all of this,
Speaker 2: but they got to figure this out or else they're
Speaker 2: going to kill the Golden Goose. Look, it's a popular
Speaker 2: game right now, it's it's in't popular, but even more
Speaker 2: so because of Caitlin Clark, and she's bringing attention to
Speaker 2: all these other great players they have in the league.
Speaker 2: But as I said before, the players who are attacking
Speaker 2: Caitlyn Clark literally are cutting off their respective noses or
Speaker 2: collective noses. Despite their face, she is the rising tide
Speaker 2: that's raising all the boats. Everybody's looking at a better life,
Speaker 2: better money, better salaries, and they got to figure out
Speaker 2: how to peacefully coexist and still be competitive. We'll talk
Speaker 2: about that on the other side of the break. We'll
Speaker 2: talk about it with Shawn Woods as well. Here on
Speaker 2: the Big Blue Sider six thirty WLAP Welcome back to
Speaker 2: the Big Blue Insider. Coming up in hour number two,
Speaker 2: Keith Madison, the Hall of Fame UK coach, just back
Speaker 2: from Omaha where he had a chance to interact with
Speaker 2: the Murray State Racers. We'll hear about that also. West
Speaker 2: End Bureau Chief Gary Moore coming up as well. In
Speaker 2: just a few minutes. We will talk with Shawn Woods,
Speaker 2: the Unforgettable Guard, about a number of things. I'm I'm
Speaker 2: gonna ask him as well about the WNBA, and he
Speaker 2: is a fan and of course Sean, being an Indiana native,
Speaker 2: he is a Kentuckian at heart. But we have talked
Speaker 2: before about the the Caitlin Clark situation and the fact
Speaker 2: that things have gotten pretty messy within the WNBA, and
Speaker 2: it really, really took hold. Last night, there were some
Speaker 2: ugly moments when the Indiana Fever were playing the Connecticut
Speaker 2: Sun and in the third quarter, Clark was fouled. She
Speaker 2: took a finger to the eye, got poked in the
Speaker 2: eye by J. C. Sheldon. I mean it was pretty flagrant.
Speaker 2: And then Clark threw an elbow at Sheldon, you know,
Speaker 2: trying to I guess, protect herself or just not take
Speaker 2: it laying down. Well, that escalated and Tina Charles came in,
Speaker 2: tried to mediate the situation, but a player named Marina
Speaker 2: Maybray came flying in and kind of cross body blocked
Speaker 2: Caitlin Clark knocked her to the floor, so they finally,
Speaker 2: you know, a separated everybody. Sheldon got a flagrant one. Maybray, Clark,
Speaker 2: and Charles all were given technical fouls, but Maybury was
Speaker 2: not ejected from the game, and later on the crew
Speaker 2: chief told the Indianapolis Star that the actions did not
Speaker 2: warrant her being ousted, said that it did not rise
Speaker 2: to the level of an ejection, did not meet the
Speaker 2: criteria for a flagrant foul penalty two. But that's not
Speaker 2: where it ended. Forty six seconds left to go in
Speaker 2: the game, there was a breakaway. And by the way,
Speaker 2: at this point, Indiana was up sixteen points with sixteen
Speaker 2: seconds left, and there was a breakaway by Sheldon. She's
Speaker 2: driving in for a layup. Sophie Cunningham of Indiana comes
Speaker 2: running in from behind, throws her arms around her upper body,
Speaker 2: her shoulders, and yanks her hair and pulls her to
Speaker 2: the ground. So now another scuffle, three ejections happening. It
Speaker 2: got ugly. Here's what it sounded like on Indiana Fever TV.
Speaker 2: And the analyst is Debbie Antonelli, who's been on our
Speaker 2: show before. I worked with her early early in her career.
Speaker 2: She's a former UK sports marketing director, now a member
Speaker 2: of the Hall of Fame as a broadcaster, as a
Speaker 2: player at nc State, and obviously a big fan of
Speaker 2: Caitlin Clark, but more than anything, a fan of the WNBA.
Speaker 2: And she hates what she sees. And here's we got another.
Speaker 5: Great us here as Jessey Sheldon goes right after Sophie
Speaker 5: cunning games.
Speaker 2: There was a hard found, no question.
Speaker 5: He claimed to be all on the officials tonight. It
Speaker 5: is totally their responsibility. That's a heart foul, that's a flavor.
Speaker 6: Found and if they had.
Speaker 5: Taken care of the business earlier, we would be in
Speaker 5: this situation right now. Well, you can't object her because
Speaker 5: he didn't detect Favery.
Speaker 2: Twelve players were rejected, as I said, but it never
Speaker 2: should have gone to that. And once again, there's always
Speaker 2: been physical play, there's always been you know, smack talking
Speaker 2: in the WNBA, but it has been heightened because of
Speaker 2: the awareness of Caitlyn Clark. But also we've talked in
Speaker 2: the past the jealousy of some players, the resentment. But
Speaker 2: again this goes back to before Clark played her first
Speaker 2: game in the WNBA. Diana Tarassi, who was a great,
Speaker 2: great player and a great smack talker, she warned Caitlin
Speaker 2: Clark quote reality is coming when she basically said doing
Speaker 2: it against college players is one thing, but doing it
Speaker 2: in the pro league is another. And she's right. And
Speaker 2: let's get this straight. Caitlyn Clark is a trash talker.
Speaker 2: She was a trash talker in college, a good one
Speaker 2: and a great player, one of the all time great
Speaker 2: and she brought that to the pro game. So there's
Speaker 2: going to be back and forth like this. Look, Larry Bird,
Speaker 2: she has compared a lot to Larry Bird being that
Speaker 2: she is playing in the state of Indiana. She's white.
Speaker 2: She's a great outside shooter and a trash talker. And
Speaker 2: Larry Bird wasn't the only trash talker in the NBA.
Speaker 2: He was one of the best. Now, what's kind of
Speaker 2: fun on the internet is to hear NBA venterans tell
Speaker 2: stories of Larry Bird and his trash talking was such
Speaker 2: that he would tell a guy, I'm going to take
Speaker 2: the ball, dribble twice, and go up and shoot, and
Speaker 2: there was nothing they could do about it. It's a
Speaker 2: great story out there about a key game where the
Speaker 2: Celtics called the time out, tried to call to play
Speaker 2: for somebody else, and Larry Bird stopped and said, just
Speaker 2: give me the ball and get out of the way.
Speaker 2: And when he came out of the huddle, I think
Speaker 2: Barkley told his story. He told them what he was
Speaker 2: going to do and went out and did it and
Speaker 2: won the game. So Clark is not innocent of all this.
Speaker 2: But what happened in this game, poking her in the
Speaker 2: eye and then a blind side hit from out of nowhere,
Speaker 2: It's all there on the internet if you want to
Speaker 2: go look for it. Is ridiculous and I bring this
Speaker 2: up simply because that I've said before. These players are
Speaker 2: independent contractors and they're stupid for doing this. I don't
Speaker 2: know if this offends them, but to think of Caitlin
Speaker 2: Clark as the golden Goose is not out of line
Speaker 2: because ever since she joined the league. And you can
Speaker 2: resent her, you can be jealous. What you should do
Speaker 2: is take advantage as a professional contractor take advantage of
Speaker 2: the situation. Make more money, get better deals. You've already
Speaker 2: got charter flights now thanks to her. Don't just resent
Speaker 2: the fact that now the league's getting more attention. Look,
Speaker 2: the league, the NBA wasn't getting enough attention before Bird
Speaker 2: and Magic took cold and they had great players, but
Speaker 2: you know, the championship round was on delayed television. Believe
Speaker 2: it or not, the NBA Finals run delayed TV. Magic
Speaker 2: and Bird changed all that was their resentment. Probably did
Speaker 2: people attack them physically, not just because of that. I
Speaker 2: mean they did it because that was part of the game.
Speaker 2: That is part of the women's game. But you got
Speaker 2: to stop of this nonsense. It is ridiculous. Before we
Speaker 2: go to the break, a note from two four to
Speaker 2: seven Sports In the cast pause, the Wildcats get a
Speaker 2: commitment from a linebacker from Pennsylvania, Max Mooring. Sixth commitment
Speaker 2: of the month of June, seventh overall, and a tip
Speaker 2: of the Big bullon Sider Cap two of the Florida Panthers.
Speaker 2: They have won the NBA Championship, Sam Reinhardt four goals
Speaker 2: leading the Panthers past the Oilers in Game six. This
Speaker 2: makes back to back titles for the Florida Panthers. Yes,
Speaker 2: that's right, a team from Florida winning once again the
Speaker 2: NHL title over a bunch of guys from Canada. Thus
Speaker 2: concludes our award winning coverage of the NHL here on
Speaker 2: the BD I thank you, thank you very much. Shawn
Speaker 2: Wood's next on six point thirty WLAP Welcome back to
Speaker 2: the Big Blue Insider, joining us as he does each
Speaker 2: and every Wednesday, schedule permitting, is the unforgettable guard Shawn Woods,
Speaker 2: his jersey hangs in the raptors of Ruppy. Is also
Speaker 2: the head coach at Scott County High School. And we
Speaker 2: got a lot to talk about coach, even though we're
Speaker 2: in the middle of June. But of course the NBA
Speaker 2: Playoffs are still going on. But basketball is three sixty
Speaker 2: five here in the state of Kentucky and Indiana your
Speaker 2: home state, and let's start with that. You're Indiana Pacers,
Speaker 2: and I love seeing ABA teams doing well, but I
Speaker 2: just cannot root for the Pacers. I hated him so
Speaker 2: much when I was a kid. But I'll be okay
Speaker 2: with it if they win. However, Tyrese Hallibert is hobbled, Sean,
Speaker 2: I don't think they can win unless he's one hundred percent.
Speaker 2: I don't know if he can get back to one
Speaker 2: hundred percent, you know what I mean.
Speaker 6: Yeah, it's gonna be tough day. I mean, he's the
Speaker 6: straw that stirs their coffee, and right now, you know
Speaker 6: he's not healthy, and I don't think the Patiers have
Speaker 6: a chance, Like you said, if he's not one hundred percent,
Speaker 6: I mean they struggle with him just beating sixty percent. Yeah,
Speaker 6: he has to be on it for them to have
Speaker 6: a chance against Okay, see, if he's not, we may
Speaker 6: be looking at a new world champion in the NBA
Speaker 6: coming out of Oklahoma and two more guys from the
Speaker 6: universe of Kentucky that's gonna get rings.
Speaker 2: That's right, speaking of speaking of him not one hundred
Speaker 2: percent you're you're struggling a bit today, I know, but
Speaker 2: I appreciate you playing hurt.
Speaker 6: My boy, my voice, my voice is kind of down
Speaker 6: a little bit. I'm trying to get it back in
Speaker 6: shape from coaching. So it's all right, But no.
Speaker 2: You're right, shake Yelgas, Alexander Case and Wallace and you
Speaker 2: know what's great as SGA gets the headlines. But I
Speaker 2: just read a big article on the Athletic about the
Speaker 2: defenders for OKC and each guy has individual skills, individual trade.
Speaker 2: Two of them were free agents. Now, Wallace was a
Speaker 2: first round draft pick, but when he was here at
Speaker 2: Kentucky he started to blossom. He got through some injuries
Speaker 2: and started to bloss him a little bit late. May
Speaker 2: have been misused, as it turns out, by Caliperry, but
Speaker 2: that's easy to say in hindsight. But I don't know
Speaker 2: Seawan that anybody who looked at him at Kentucky. We
Speaker 2: knew he could play defense. There were times he's at
Speaker 2: their guard in the other team's point guard. I didn't
Speaker 2: know that he could be this effective of a defender
Speaker 2: in the NBA. But that's just something they've got to learn,
Speaker 2: don't they. At the next level.
Speaker 6: This defense is a mentality, and you got to be
Speaker 6: an ultimate competitor. And in the NBA, everybody can't be
Speaker 6: the man. So how do you get a check? How
Speaker 6: do you get how do you prosper in the NBA
Speaker 6: if you're not the guy? The easiest and the most
Speaker 6: proficient way to stay on the NBA roster is to
Speaker 6: be a lockdown defender. And he's found his way to
Speaker 6: be that, and he's become elite. And those guys are
Speaker 6: hard to come by. And there's if you show me
Speaker 6: the teams there are big time teams. I'll show your
Speaker 6: team that has big time defenders. And that's one of
Speaker 6: the main reasons why Oklahoma City and the Indiana Pacers
Speaker 6: are in the finals, because they're two of the best
Speaker 6: defensive teams in the league.
Speaker 2: That's right, which flies directly in the face of college
Speaker 2: basketball fans. You'd like to see, Well, they don't play
Speaker 2: defense in the NBA. You know, it's a different style
Speaker 2: and a different brand of basketball. The rules are different.
Speaker 2: They get away with more physicality in the NBA. But
Speaker 2: I always say, and I didn't make this up. If
Speaker 2: you want to see NBA basketball no defense, it's the
Speaker 2: All Star game, and yeah, I'm sure if you watch
Speaker 2: bad teams play, you watch bad defense. But I told
Speaker 2: a friend of mine the othernet, I said, you know,
Speaker 2: good teams play good defense. It's easy to say, difficult
Speaker 2: to do, but yeah, you know, Okay and Okac came
Speaker 2: in rightfully so with the rep of being a great
Speaker 2: defensive team. I thought Indiana was underrated defensively, didn't you.
Speaker 6: I never thought Indiana's underrated because I watched them. They
Speaker 6: were underrated as far as offensive efficiency because they're not
Speaker 6: fun to watch from an offensive standpoint. Yeah, but they
Speaker 6: win because they're solid as a route on offense. But
Speaker 6: they're very, very tenacious and super solid on defense.
Speaker 2: I think that one of the reasons people might say
Speaker 2: that as well is when the Warriors were having their
Speaker 2: run and they were so much fun to watch with
Speaker 2: the extra pass and the three point shooting, and that's
Speaker 2: what stood out they I felt like their defense was underappreciated.
Speaker 2: Started with Raymond Green, and say what you will about him,
Speaker 2: but he was a real key for them. So keep
Speaker 2: that in mind when you're watching the regular season, not
Speaker 2: just the playoffs. When it comes to defense in the NBA,
Speaker 2: these guys are just so good. They can get to
Speaker 2: the rim. But it's just you got to pick your
Speaker 2: spots when you're playing defense, and these two teams in
Speaker 2: the finals are doing just that. While we're talking pro
Speaker 2: ball in Indiana, we got to talk about Kaylyn Clark
Speaker 2: and you and I have talked about her before about
Speaker 2: how some of the NBWNBA players are going out to
Speaker 2: sing all wrong that she is is raising everybody's level
Speaker 2: in terms of the money they're making and charter flights
Speaker 2: and all that stuff, and yet they keep beating the
Speaker 2: crap out of her. And the most recent dust up
Speaker 2: involved multiple players and it started with Kaylyn Clark getting
Speaker 2: poked in the eye, you know. And earlier on the show, Sean,
Speaker 2: I played a clip from the one of the broadcasts,
Speaker 2: just the most recent one, with former UK Sports Marketing
Speaker 2: director Debbie Antonelli doing the color laying it on the officials,
Speaker 2: and I agree with her. I think the officials have
Speaker 2: got to get together into WNB and say, you know,
Speaker 2: this starts with us, with the referees. They got to
Speaker 2: do something to clean this up.
Speaker 6: You know what I'm saying, I'm gonna be devil as
Speaker 6: an advocate. Okay, Caitlin Klark ain't no Angel No, I agree. Okay,
Speaker 6: she talks more crap. Okay, she gives it too, She
Speaker 6: gives it all right. Angel Rees got the blood of
Speaker 6: that altercation. But Kitlyn Clark knocked the crap out of
Speaker 6: Angel Reese and different. Anytime you get hit like that,
Speaker 6: another player is going to retaliate. Okay, Angel Rees, it
Speaker 6: became the bandit in that situation when Kitlyn Clark is
Speaker 6: the one who clocked her first. Okay, then they talk
Speaker 6: about Angel Rees got up and was gonna cheap shot
Speaker 6: her of somebody. Uh, give her a puncher in a
Speaker 6: face if if she wants somebody wouldnt to grab her.
Speaker 6: That's that's that's blowning. Okay. The other day the other night,
Speaker 6: when that little girl was defending Caitlyn Clark, she was
Speaker 6: frustrating and straight and frustrating Kaitlyn Clark in that possession
Speaker 6: and she was turning her bumping her. That was great defense.
Speaker 6: Caitlyn Clark got frustrated in that situation and Kitlyn Clark
Speaker 6: threw an elbow in her face. That little girl retaliated.
Speaker 6: But as a team, when that little girl got a
Speaker 6: fast break and Kaitlyn Clark's teammate rightfully, so clarked her foul.
Speaker 6: Then that started an altercation. That is just basketball. That's
Speaker 6: at every level, your teammate's supposed to take up for you.
Speaker 6: I remember, I remember h Call Malone when Isaiah Thomas
Speaker 6: got pissed off and rightfully so that John Stockin made
Speaker 6: the Olympic team before him. There was no way John
Speaker 6: Stockton was supposed to be on the liper team before
Speaker 6: Isaiah Thomas. But it was because of personal issues, things
Speaker 6: like that with.
Speaker 7: Maddie Johnson and Michael Jordan's. Okay, So, Isaiah Thomas the
Speaker 7: first time he played against John Stockton, he torched John Stockton,
Speaker 7: I mean embarrassing. So what did Karmlone do? Isaiah Thomas
Speaker 7: came in.
Speaker 6: There, Carmlone gave him a cheap shot, elbowed him in
Speaker 6: the head, gave him I don't know how many stitches. Okay,
Speaker 6: that was taking up for his teammate. Okay. Now, is
Speaker 6: Clayton Clark become the darling of this WNBA, No doubt
Speaker 6: about it. Is she probably is she the faith and
Speaker 6: making a lot of things happen for women basketball, no
Speaker 6: doubt about it. Does she the first? No? Okay, but
Speaker 6: does she talk a lot of crap, Yes she does.
Speaker 6: Tarrossie was the same way, maybe more. Tarossie was nasty
Speaker 6: and she'd give it and tell you about it. Caitlyn
Speaker 6: Clark is I watched Kaitlyn Clark and I love Caitlin Clark.
Speaker 6: Don't get me wrong, I love her. But Caitlyn Clark
Speaker 6: is getting away with things. And then when everybody, anybody
Speaker 6: retaliates against her, they're the ones who are wrong. Clayland
Speaker 6: Park Clark, excuse my language. I would say she's got
Speaker 6: some s h I t tour, but she's got some
Speaker 6: crap tour now, trust me. I like it. But ain't
Speaker 6: nobody going and nobody nobody's gonna bow down tour. No, Okay.
Speaker 6: When Larry Bird first came in the league, doctor J
Speaker 6: and all of them went at him, but Larry Bird
Speaker 6: would talk crap too under nobody saw. But what doctor
Speaker 6: J goes at him or whoever else. Doctor J's the
Speaker 6: mad guy. See. Kayln Clark has the Larry Bird syndrome.
Speaker 6: She can she can uh kiss you on your sheet
Speaker 6: and pee down your leg at the same time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but nobody was poking Larry Bird in the eye.
Speaker 2: Nobody was nobodyd to strong.
Speaker 6: Yeah, but what they could do was they can get
Speaker 6: under his skin. But he was. He was getting under
Speaker 6: their kay Clark is getting under these these women's skin.
Speaker 6: And is there jealousy?
Speaker 2: They're humans, yeah, but they scrumps man, they got it.
Speaker 2: They got to stop the tackling, you know.
Speaker 6: Well they got to stop the tackling. They do they don't.
Speaker 6: Don't get me wrong, but it's musty TV. Okay, there's
Speaker 6: something to talk to me. And you are talking about.
Speaker 2: Exactly right. Sean Woods is the unforgettable guard. He's on
Speaker 2: every week with us. We'll take a break, Sean can
Speaker 2: rest his voice for a moment and talk more basketball
Speaker 2: here on six thirty WLAP. Welcome back. We're talking with
Speaker 2: the unforgettable guard, Sean Woods. He joins us each and
Speaker 2: every week, and let's talk point guards. That is your
Speaker 2: area of expertise, well, all of basketball obviously, but that
Speaker 2: was your position. Colin Chandler talked to the media this
Speaker 2: week Sean, and he was a guy who really blossom
Speaker 2: him down the stretch. And you talked about this last season,
Speaker 2: shaking off some of the rust from imagine putting the
Speaker 2: ball down for two years basically and coming back and
Speaker 2: then not only playing D one ball, but playing for Kentucky.
Speaker 2: And he said, I'm not sure when you know the
Speaker 2: rust came completely off, but you know he took minutes
Speaker 2: from Travis Perry, and I think he showed that he
Speaker 2: can help this team this coming year. He may not
Speaker 2: be in the starting lineup, but how important do you
Speaker 2: think he will be?
Speaker 6: I think he'll be a good piece, He's for sure.
Speaker 6: You know. I don't think he's a point guard, but
Speaker 6: I think he'll be a good piece. No, he's not
Speaker 6: point guard. He's not a playmaker. You know he's a
Speaker 6: basketball player, but he's not He's not a point guard.
Speaker 6: He's not a guy that you you put the ball
Speaker 6: in his hands and say, go run my team. He's
Speaker 6: not that that. He's not that that type of player.
Speaker 6: What he is is he's a very complimentary player that
Speaker 6: is more athletic than you think. I think he'll shoot
Speaker 6: the ball better than he did last year because he's
Speaker 6: been out, so he was out so long. I think
Speaker 6: he'll be I like him because he competes. I think
Speaker 6: he plays hard. I think he'll do whatever the coach
Speaker 6: asks him to do. I think he's he's gonna if
Speaker 6: Mark Pope runs more and gets out and transition more.
Speaker 6: I think you'll see more of him. I think he's
Speaker 6: much better in transition, going up and down than he
Speaker 6: is in the half court because he's not a break
Speaker 6: you down type of guy. I don't know if he's
Speaker 6: a not down shooter yet, but I think he's he's
Speaker 6: got length from the guard spot. I think he's competitive.
Speaker 6: I don't know how elite he'll be on the defensive end,
Speaker 6: but because he plays so hard, he'll be good enough.
Speaker 6: But you know, I think he's a four year player
Speaker 6: that with great personality, and sooner or later he's going
Speaker 6: to become a leader on this basketball team and maybe
Speaker 6: one of the faces just because of who he is.
Speaker 6: But we got to continue to get better players, for sure,
Speaker 6: But he'll always be in the mix because he's solid
Speaker 6: enough and tough enough, and I think those type of
Speaker 6: people you win championships with when you bring other people in.
Speaker 6: Because he'll be able to sell Mark Pope to the
Speaker 6: new guys that's come in, especially transferst.
Speaker 2: Clearly, Jalenlow will be, you know, the man with the
Speaker 2: ball as long as he stays healthy, and the point
Speaker 2: guard he transferred in from Pittsburgh. I was thinking Chandler
Speaker 2: in terms of being a backup to Jalen Low. I
Speaker 2: see what you say about him being a playmaker, but
Speaker 2: you know he is still evolving, is Chandler as a
Speaker 2: college player. But just like last year, they got to
Speaker 2: make sure the point guard stays healthy and stays out
Speaker 2: of foul trouble, right right.
Speaker 6: I mean, as you saw last year, he wasn't the
Speaker 6: guy they put at the point. They put Williams at
Speaker 6: the point. You know, he's not a point guard, so
Speaker 6: let's not say he's a point guard. He's not not
Speaker 6: even close to being a point guard. He's a good
Speaker 6: guard that could come off the bench and give us
Speaker 6: some energy if he's hitting shots. I think he could
Speaker 6: be really good because with his athleticism, he's kind of
Speaker 6: got an electric game. And I see him more so
Speaker 6: as playing passing lanes, you know, doing those type of deals,
Speaker 6: bringing energy. That's the type of kid I see him.
Speaker 2: Got you, I got you. Let me ask you a
Speaker 2: little bit about summer basketball. About AAU ball when I
Speaker 2: was in high school one hundred years ago. I don't
Speaker 2: know what it was like when you were, but back
Speaker 2: in the seventies, there was a rule prohibiting AAU teams
Speaker 2: from having I think any more than three kids from
Speaker 2: the same high school. If you can believe that or not.
Speaker 2: Is that right? Okay?
Speaker 6: Yes, you can only have two. Actually you can only
Speaker 6: have two.
Speaker 2: Okay. So somewhere that changed, which was a great obviously
Speaker 2: a great advantage for you know, entire high school teams
Speaker 2: to compete at the AAU level. That's one thing. But
Speaker 2: the other is the AAU teams that are essentially constructed
Speaker 2: like all star teams and Caliperi used to joke about it.
Speaker 2: You know, I'd have to tell my kids, this is
Speaker 2: an AAU ball. You got to play defense or you know,
Speaker 2: you got to want to win. You're not going to
Speaker 2: play another game in a couple of hours. That kind
Speaker 2: of thing. As a guy who is recruited at the
Speaker 2: D one level, coached at the D one level, and
Speaker 2: now you're coaching high school kids who are involved with
Speaker 2: AAU ball, where do you come down on that? On
Speaker 2: the value of it, it's never going to go away,
Speaker 2: of course, too much money involved. But you know, we
Speaker 2: talk all the time about kids who are AAU YouTube
Speaker 2: All Stars, but then there's something missing when they get
Speaker 2: to college you know, where are you on all this.
Speaker 6: Dick AAU. Okay, In these tournaments in the summer May
Speaker 6: and July are super convenient for college coaches because you
Speaker 6: can bring them all in together and you can watch
Speaker 6: and you only have to be a one, maybe two
Speaker 6: or three spots maybe four in July instead of going
Speaker 6: to every high school in the country trying to find
Speaker 6: a player. So it's made college recruiting more convenient. Okay.
Speaker 6: Now because of that, all right, there is money involved,
Speaker 6: because these AAU tournaments are charging college coaches for five
Speaker 6: hundred dollars just to get the packet of the information
Speaker 6: and the rosters, and half the time the rosters aren't right,
Speaker 6: or the numbers are right, so on and so forth.
Speaker 6: So it is a racket and it's not organized, okay,
Speaker 6: But it's a way to a symbol a bunch of
Speaker 6: talent for days on end where everybody could be in
Speaker 6: one place and watch. Okay, So that's one thing. Two,
Speaker 6: there's no coaching involved. It's just showcasing talent, rolling the
Speaker 6: balls out there. These AAU teams meet up on weekends.
Speaker 6: They don't practice during the week, they meet up on weekends.
Speaker 6: You may have a kid, two three kids coming from
Speaker 6: this date to come join this team only on weekends
Speaker 6: to play. Okay, So there's no practices, there's no fundamental
Speaker 6: deals going on. Nobody's playing great defense. And that's what
Speaker 6: I call prep schools glorified AAU. So they're not getting
Speaker 6: any coaching. They're just showing their individual talents. So kids, okay,
Speaker 6: they're not being coached and not getting constructive criticism, they're
Speaker 6: not being called out. So and they got college coaches,
Speaker 6: you know, recruiting them. So then when they come to
Speaker 6: high school, all right, and the coach tries to coach
Speaker 6: them or don't coach them, it's it gets boring because
Speaker 6: now you're going over the little things instead of just
Speaker 6: hooping and playing. They their their their attentions, pay is minute.
Speaker 7: Wow.
Speaker 6: Okay. So now you go to college okay, and it's
Speaker 6: more high stakes, and it's more coaching okay, and you're
Speaker 6: playing against better players, and the older and better players
Speaker 6: have been in those systems. They know what it's like,
Speaker 6: and so that young kid gets exploited no matter how
Speaker 6: talented they are. So then they get frustrated because they
Speaker 6: run into a road block and they're being told that
Speaker 6: they're not as good and the coach tells them, I
Speaker 6: don't care what you did in high school, this is
Speaker 6: college now. Just don't want to hear that, So they
Speaker 6: get deflated, and what they do they go on to
Speaker 6: transfer portal because they want to be glorified. They want
Speaker 6: to be told how good they are, instead of it's
Speaker 6: being told the truth and get better. They thinking that
Speaker 6: just going to a workout guy who's taking their money,
Speaker 6: making them go against cones and working on their ball
Speaker 6: handling and shooting. Okay, those are guys that they want
Speaker 6: to go to because those are guys that are telling
Speaker 6: them what they want to hear. They don't want to
Speaker 6: go to a guy that's going to tell them the
Speaker 6: truth and this is how you play the game of
Speaker 6: basketball as a team because that coach is is depending
Speaker 6: on wins and losses, so he's got to make sure
Speaker 6: that that kid knows everything that he needs to know
Speaker 6: about what they do on that particular team for that
Speaker 6: coach and that school to be successful. Kids don't want
Speaker 6: to hear that anymore. That's the reason why they jump
Speaker 6: from here to there to there because kids don't like
Speaker 6: the truth.
Speaker 2: Kind of vicious circle, isn't it?
Speaker 6: Vicious is not even the words. And now you're throwing
Speaker 6: money on top of it. Now you see what I'm saying,
Speaker 6: and you can move. College basketball is like AAU. You
Speaker 6: don't like this team if they're not giving you these
Speaker 6: amount of shoes or this and that, you're going to
Speaker 6: go to the next one. Same with transfer portal. If
Speaker 6: I'm at this place, they're only giving me thirty thousand,
Speaker 6: and another school can give me one hundred and fifty
Speaker 6: two hundred thousand a million. What do you think they're
Speaker 6: gonna do? But it starts at the AAU deal because
Speaker 6: they're allowed to. There's not too many rules, okay, And
Speaker 6: so they looking at school just like they look at AAU.
Speaker 6: And it's even in the high school rates. So when
Speaker 6: does it stop? I don't know. It's a mentality. And
Speaker 6: these parents are atrocious.
Speaker 7: Everybody I know.
Speaker 2: We get to the P word, go ahead.
Speaker 6: Oh yeah, And everybody thinks their kids are pro and
Speaker 6: the parents don't want to hear the constructive criticism and
Speaker 6: the truth no more than the kid does. That's right,
Speaker 6: So that makes it even worse.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I have clearly a scratched an itch for you,
Speaker 2: and that leaves us off at a spot where we're
Speaker 2: out of time, but we will certainly pick this up
Speaker 2: next week. But it is fascinating when we talk with
Speaker 2: Sean Woods, unforgettable guard, head coach at Scott County High School. Coach,
Speaker 2: hope your voice recovers in time for your kids to
Speaker 2: hear you in full throat.
Speaker 6: Hey working on it right now and getting it back
Speaker 6: into shape out to two years, Dick.
Speaker 2: Sounds good to see you.
Speaker 8: Take care Up next that we're number two with our
Speaker 8: West End Bureau Chief Gary Moore and the coach Keith Madison,
Speaker 8: Hall of Famer Fumber Wildcat mentor who's just back from
Speaker 8: the College World Series.
Speaker 2: He got stories to tell. He was hanging out with
Speaker 2: those Murray State racers. We'll talk about that and more
Speaker 2: on the other side of the news break here on
Speaker 2: six thirty l eight feet. Welcome back to the Big
Speaker 2: Blue and Sider joining us now one of our favorite
Speaker 2: guests as part of the chain Gang. We had him
Speaker 2: in the garage not too long ago. But since then,
Speaker 2: Keith Madison, the Hall of Fame coach, has been to
Speaker 2: Omaha and back, which is an annual tradition. One it's
Speaker 2: a true labor love. But man, coach, you were keeping
Speaker 2: us up to speed. We in the textchain gang about
Speaker 2: your travel just in nightmare, tell everybody what happened to you,
Speaker 2: because everyone's had something similar, but it's always unique.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 3: After two two board meetings and four great baseball games,
Speaker 3: I was scheduled fly back Sunday afternoon. The flight was
Speaker 3: delayed first for six hours, and then after about seven
Speaker 3: hours they decided to cancel the flight. The airline did
Speaker 3: not have a hotel room available for us, So basically
Speaker 3: I'm homeless. I'm homeless in Omaha for a while there.
Speaker 2: And all the rooms are full because of baseball exactly.
Speaker 3: Not only do they have a College World Series, but
Speaker 3: as you may remember, Dick, they have dozens and dozens
Speaker 3: of teams, youth league teams that come in from a
Speaker 3: major youth tournament. And so it's just it's just a
Speaker 3: baseball crazy week in Omah, which is fun and beautiful,
Speaker 3: but we're looking for a hotel room. At the last minute,
Speaker 3: not so much. I was able to actually get back
Speaker 3: to the Marriott and five hundred and ninety nine bucks.
Speaker 3: Probably you'd probably get that room in January in Omaha
Speaker 3: for about one hundred and eighty nine bucks, no question,
Speaker 3: No question. But anyway, I've spent many hours and my
Speaker 3: connections were tight. I'm having knee surgery Friday, so you know,
Speaker 3: hustling through the airports was no fun at all. Oh,
Speaker 3: just trying to get all this but everybody had. You know,
Speaker 3: if you travel very much, you're going to experience that.
Speaker 3: But it's just a nightmare when you when you have
Speaker 3: to go through it.
Speaker 2: Oh man, Well, I'm glad you're back safe and sound.
Speaker 2: You did see some really great baseball out there, and
Speaker 2: you were dealing with it and interacting with the Murray
Speaker 2: State team. Excuse me? And uh, you know you've seen
Speaker 2: them play in lexing In they pulled off a win here,
Speaker 2: pull off a lot of wins. What was it like
Speaker 2: being around that energy?
Speaker 3: It was tremendous. Uh. And and I tell you these guys,
Speaker 3: uh just really really believed. And Dick, you've been around
Speaker 3: sports so much in many different sports, especially football and baseball,
Speaker 3: and you can see when a team believes, and Murray
Speaker 3: State really did believe. Uh. And then and then to
Speaker 3: watch Coastal Carolina, I mean, they've got some really special
Speaker 3: things going on with their team right now. They're such
Speaker 3: a role and are playing so very well in a
Speaker 3: year that most of us, including myself, thought, hey, you know,
Speaker 3: the era of mid majors making it to Almaha is
Speaker 3: probably over because of the transfer portal and in il
Speaker 3: and all that. And now we you know, suddenly we
Speaker 3: have a team like Murray State that's never been there before,
Speaker 3: and then a team like Coastal who wanted a few
Speaker 3: years ago. But you know, everybody kind of thought teams
Speaker 3: like Coastal would maybe get squeezed out because their players
Speaker 3: would be transferring to the bigger schools. But man, Coast
Speaker 3: of Carolina is right there with LSU and Arkansas right
Speaker 3: now in Louisville. I mean those, you know, all those
Speaker 3: teams are very good, but Coastal Carolina has that special
Speaker 3: something that going on right now. And these kids just
Speaker 3: don't believe they're going to lose.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's more than just you know, passion. I
Speaker 2: believe these guys can play. I mean they're really good.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, they're they're very good.
Speaker 2: And and and you know, you and Darren on the
Speaker 2: radio dugging me on TV, we talked. You know, it's
Speaker 2: it's it's baseball one on one. It's it's pitching in
Speaker 2: defense as well as offense. And and we have seen that,
Speaker 2: We've seen the breakdowns. You know, U of L almost
Speaker 2: let one get away, and they did let one get
Speaker 2: away because of defense. Oregon State, you know, which made
Speaker 2: a terrible mistake late in the game. Uh in the
Speaker 2: super regional last year here made some late any mistakes
Speaker 2: and let games get away. So you got to have
Speaker 2: it all and Coastal does.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 3: And and it's uh, I mean what you just talked about,
Speaker 3: Dick is magnified, you know in Omaha. And uh, when
Speaker 3: I mean hit every error, every mental error, is it
Speaker 3: seems like it haunts you. Yeah, because the other teams
Speaker 3: are so good they're going to take advantage of that.
Speaker 3: But yeah, it's it's been a it's been a really
Speaker 3: good series. It's been a except for those errors that
Speaker 3: you talked about, it's been well played. And the pitching
Speaker 3: is it just seems like the kitching just keeps getting better.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 3: The kid that threw for Arkansas against Murray. But I
Speaker 3: mean when you're when you're hit ninety seven in the
Speaker 3: ninth inning, oh man, that's pretty strong. I mean, that's
Speaker 3: that's major league caliber right there.
Speaker 2: And what's amazing is the most challenging ball, and this
Speaker 2: is a really good Murray State offense average eight plus
Speaker 2: runs a game exactly. But there was like a hard
Speaker 2: hit ball of the first basement who barely had to
Speaker 2: move to make a play, you know, hit the one
Speaker 2: kid actually hit who I did not care for that
Speaker 2: call where Murray State kid lay in the game was
Speaker 2: hit and they called him out, you know, even though
Speaker 2: the ball hit him while he was in the batters
Speaker 2: by anyway, But no, that that that kid for Arkansas
Speaker 2: was tremendous. But again getting back to Murray State, we
Speaker 2: were talking just about, you know, how this might affect
Speaker 2: that program, and I wondered too, coach, you know, going
Speaker 2: back to when you had your best teams at Kentucky.
Speaker 2: This was back before they had as many teams in
Speaker 2: the NCAATE tournament. You know, you guys were scrambling for
Speaker 2: facilities and funding at Kentucky when a few other schools
Speaker 2: were really pouring it into baseball. Could you relate much
Speaker 2: to the hill Murray State was.
Speaker 3: Trying to climb, No doubt I really could. And also
Speaker 3: Dan Skirka as a young coach, and you know he's
Speaker 3: been there for six years. I think he's only forty
Speaker 3: years old now, right, You know I started at Kentucky
Speaker 3: at twenty six years old, and so I know that
Speaker 3: that clime. And he's just had tremendous points for a
Speaker 3: young coach, and his teams have a tremendous or his
Speaker 3: team has had a tremendous approach at the plate.
Speaker 6: Uh.
Speaker 3: They really had a plan when they when they would
Speaker 3: go up to the place. And even though a lot
Speaker 3: of people say, well, you know they finally caught up
Speaker 3: with the merch, they got no hit, but think about
Speaker 3: what they did in the super regionals. They pounded the
Speaker 3: ball against Duke and UH. And then when they get
Speaker 3: to Omaha and the first and their first loss, Dick,
Speaker 3: I think I counted nine hard at the ball that
Speaker 3: just didn't ball. They really were swinging it well in
Speaker 3: that first game. But they You know, baseball is a
Speaker 3: cruel sport. Sometimes you can do something perfectly, square the
Speaker 3: ball up and hit it perfect and it goes right
Speaker 3: into someone's club.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Yeah, if you shooted basketball perfectly, it's going to go
Speaker 3: through the basket.
Speaker 2: Or you make you make a great pitch that dives
Speaker 2: away from the hitter and it fools him, but he
Speaker 2: sticks his bat out and it drops in over the
Speaker 2: first base.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that's right. It's it could be a tough game,
Speaker 3: but at the same time it's a beautiful game. And
Speaker 3: I thought Burry State played extremely well. They only everybody
Speaker 3: talks about the no hitter. Arkansas only scored three runs
Speaker 3: against Murray State. And Murray State, I mean Arkansas has
Speaker 3: a really really good off there.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah. Keith Madison is a Hall of Fame coach
Speaker 2: and coach the wildcast for many many years. You hear
Speaker 2: him now now every now and then with Darren Hedrick
Speaker 2: on the UK Radio Network. We'll come back and talk
Speaker 2: more baseball with a coach on the other side of
Speaker 2: the break. Here on six thirty WLAP. Welcome back. We're
Speaker 2: talking with Keith Madison, hall of Fame coach from the
Speaker 2: University of Kentucky and you hear him on the UK
Speaker 2: Radio Network with Darren Hedrick. He is just back from Omaha,
Speaker 2: where you are part of. What is the organization you're
Speaker 2: at You said you're out there for meetings the Baseball
Speaker 2: Coaches Association.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's the American Baseball Coach Association. It's a great organization.
Speaker 3: I'll put a shameless plug in. We have over fifteen
Speaker 3: thousand members.
Speaker 5: Wow, and.
Speaker 3: Mostly high school and college coaches. Now travel baseball coaches
Speaker 3: are getting involved. So it's a great organization to be
Speaker 3: a part of. And we wisely have our we have
Speaker 3: two board meetings a year. We wisely have one board
Speaker 3: meeting every year in Omaha during a college World Series.
Speaker 3: And so I get to go out every year and
Speaker 3: watch some great baseball and also try to do some
Speaker 3: good things with the American Baseball Coaches Association, or as
Speaker 3: baseball coaches called the ABCA.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, and now you've got so much happening in
Speaker 2: college sports, and you and and Darren and Doug and
Speaker 2: I have talked about the portal and I on all that,
Speaker 2: and now you've got the house settlement figuring in. You've
Speaker 2: got I don't know if you ever thought you'd see today,
Speaker 2: but no longer do you see the eleven point seven scholies.
Speaker 2: They have the opportunity to fully fund baseball scholarships. But
Speaker 2: that means no more walk ons. There's so much going on.
Speaker 2: What did you guys at the college level, what are
Speaker 2: they talking about these days?
Speaker 3: Yeah, they were talking a lot about the you know,
Speaker 3: the roster clemouth and uh and and the way that
Speaker 3: and the way that baseball programs are going to be
Speaker 3: funded so much better than they have been in the past,
Speaker 3: and and uh and then you know, quite frankly, we
Speaker 3: talked about the negative side of it is, you know,
Speaker 3: you're already seeing other sports being.
Speaker 2: Great, all right, that's right.
Speaker 3: Uh, and that's very sad, and you hope that doesn't
Speaker 3: happen very much. But I think it's inevitable because there's
Speaker 3: only so much money to go around and and so uh,
Speaker 3: depending on which sports are you know, have have good traditions, uh,
Speaker 3: you know, they're probably going to be safe. But some
Speaker 3: some maybe some of the newer sports in certain schools
Speaker 3: or leagues that you know, perhaps haven't been as successful
Speaker 3: as some of the other teams or programs. You know,
Speaker 3: there's a chance that they may do away with them.
Speaker 3: And I just think that's tragic. But at the same time,
Speaker 3: it's also very difficult to raise money for enough money, uh,
Speaker 3: for each individual sports program.
Speaker 6: This day and age.
Speaker 2: I'm also wondering about junior college baseball, you know, because
Speaker 2: there's a as you know, there's a distinct ripple effect,
Speaker 2: and junior college athletes are more prevalent, I think in
Speaker 2: baseball than any other sport except maybe football, maybe more
Speaker 2: than football. Uh And now that's what kind of an
Speaker 2: effect is all this going to have on the jucos
Speaker 2: and on your your your former player Jan Weisberg coach
Speaker 2: for a long time at a D three level. Now
Speaker 2: he's at EKU, but had a really successful program at
Speaker 2: Birmingham Southern, which of course no longer exists. But what
Speaker 2: kind of ripple effects that can I have?
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's definitely going to have a ripple effect. And
Speaker 3: junior college baseball there's been a very positive thing for
Speaker 3: college baseball in general because it's been junior college baseball.
Speaker 3: If you you know, in the past, if you get
Speaker 3: in a bind and and you know, like for instance,
Speaker 3: if your catcher signed pro you didn't expect him to,
Speaker 3: Yeah you can go. You can go into the JUCO
Speaker 3: ranks and find a good play And a lot of
Speaker 3: players coming out of high school that are maybe not
Speaker 3: as strong or as mature, you know, they choose to
Speaker 3: go to junior college baseball so that they could get
Speaker 3: playing experience and become more mature and get stronger and
Speaker 3: then be ready for Division one baseball. So you hope
Speaker 3: that it doesn't have a negular effect on those Jucos
Speaker 3: because there are a lot of really good junior college
Speaker 3: programs out there, and the baseball players that go to
Speaker 3: junior college, it's not all about not having the grade. Yeah,
Speaker 3: some of them are, but most of the time it's
Speaker 3: about wanting to have a Division one opportunity and going
Speaker 3: to junior college and getting experience and improving as a
Speaker 3: player and then moving.
Speaker 2: On to Division one.
Speaker 3: A lot of those kids in juco baseball are good students.
Speaker 3: They just want a chance to play baseball at the
Speaker 3: highest level, and sometimes at junior college are out is
Speaker 3: the route to go a couple of.
Speaker 2: Minutes lef with Keith Madison so many kids coming through
Speaker 2: the portal now, there are still opportunities for the Jucos,
Speaker 2: maybe at the schools that these kids left behind, you
Speaker 2: know what I'm saying. On the D one level.
Speaker 3: One thing I've noticed about about both athletes and also
Speaker 3: their sports is they tend to adapt and survive. Is
Speaker 3: the rules changes happen, and a lot of times those
Speaker 3: changes are very uncomfortable for people. But the good programs
Speaker 3: and the good players they find a way to adjust
Speaker 3: and adapt and survive. And I'm hoping that's what will happen.
Speaker 3: I think, you know, the way that the programs like
Speaker 3: SEC programs, ACC programs, and I guess it's the power
Speaker 3: forward down. The way they're going to be funded is
Speaker 3: going to be incredible. It's going to be it's going
Speaker 3: to be like a real really good level of minor
Speaker 3: league baseball.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it will.
Speaker 3: And yeah, and the talent level is is it's just
Speaker 3: going to keep And I think what's happening with Major
Speaker 3: League baseball really quick? Here? It is, you know, fewer,
Speaker 3: fewer players drafted. There are fewer rounds. You know, there
Speaker 3: used to be I don't know, fifty rounds and now
Speaker 3: there's so there's there's the talent pool out there. It's
Speaker 3: so much better for division on baseball than it was
Speaker 3: in my era. Uh So there's more good players to
Speaker 3: be had and more good players to recruit. And that's why,
Speaker 3: you know, I see Nick nan Jones two three, four
Speaker 3: times a week during the school year. I haven't seen
Speaker 3: him since. Uh, I haven't seen him since you got
Speaker 3: back from the regional tournament because you know, because man,
Speaker 3: those guys are working, they are after it. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 3: getting those you know, going into the transfer portal. And
Speaker 3: also recruiting, you know, the young guys in high school.
Speaker 3: So I talked to many coaches Division one coaches while
Speaker 3: I was in Omaha, and every one of them said
Speaker 3: the same thing. I am working harder in the summer
Speaker 3: now than I've ever worked in my life.
Speaker 2: Coach, I appreciate the time. Glad you made it back.
Speaker 3: Yes, sir Dick, thanks for having me on, Buddy I Jordan.
Speaker 2: Western Bureau Chief Gary Moore is next in six thirty
Speaker 2: WLAP Welcome back to the big blueing cider. As promised,
Speaker 2: it is Wednesday. That means we look to the other
Speaker 2: end of the interstate, to the western end, to our
Speaker 2: West end. Bureau Chief Gary Moore, longtime West Coast Bureau
Speaker 2: chief when he covered all kinds of sports for us
Speaker 2: when he was with Kalas Radio in LA. But now
Speaker 2: he is in LA the Louisville area, joined us each
Speaker 2: and every week with a lot on his mind.
Speaker 1: Two guys in a six pack, you and me, buddy,
Speaker 1: And by the way, congratulations to your alma mater, Trinity.
Speaker 1: Yeah about that state baseball champs had no hitter in there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And a couple of former sham Rocks two or
Speaker 2: three on the UFL roster and yeah, ESPN with some
Speaker 2: Trinity shoutouts. I love it thanks to Chris Burke, who
Speaker 2: I've got to give him as props. He's a sane
Speaker 2: x guy, but he did bring up the fact that
Speaker 2: this guy, that guy, this guy, there were Trinity shamrocks
Speaker 2: and they tipped their caps to the new stage.
Speaker 1: Champs Cousin Skeeter Davis Duggins. Skeeter Duggins was a footballer
Speaker 1: back in the early eighties. For your rocks, Well, get
Speaker 1: into our two guys in a six pack. We have
Speaker 1: six swigs here, the first wig. Speaking of no hitters, Dick,
Speaker 1: it could have been worse.
Speaker 2: It really could have.
Speaker 1: My hometown Racers could have been no hit twice if
Speaker 1: you think about it. Yeah, as we last talk, well,
Speaker 1: so much for wearing lucky horseshoes on their caps. Murray
Speaker 1: ran into, of course, Arkansas's fireballer and first round no
Speaker 1: doubter in the MLB draft. Gage Wood had even better
Speaker 1: stuff than Paul Sken's in this College World Series, throwing
Speaker 1: only the third no hitter they're in the CWS and
Speaker 1: after a remarkable dream season, the greatest obviously in Murray
Speaker 1: State baseball history, complete with the Manager of the Year
Speaker 1: in college baseball. The question is, now what someone once said,
Speaker 1: the toughest thing about being a success is to keep
Speaker 1: being a success, especially nowadays in college sports with the
Speaker 1: portal in NIL and all that stuff, and for a
Speaker 1: small D one school with limited financial resource, it's even tougher.
Speaker 1: So I ask you, what do you do if you're
Speaker 1: the ad at Murray State, Nico Yanko? Do you move
Speaker 1: more basketball money over to some baseball definitely, fix up
Speaker 1: the facilities. Do you find some alumni with deep pockets?
Speaker 1: Do you win the Kentucky lottery? Murray needs to capitalize
Speaker 1: on this. This is really huge.
Speaker 2: What would you do?
Speaker 1: Well?
Speaker 2: I think you mentioned it. You know, you can move
Speaker 2: money around. You've got to find some benefactors. Now with NIL,
Speaker 2: I'm sure they have some, but you've got to find more.
Speaker 2: You know better than anybody probably listening to this show
Speaker 2: the challenges there because you grew up in murray Land
Speaker 2: Grand Institution, so it's, you know, not the biggest city
Speaker 2: in the state of Kentucky. They have renovated somewhat basketball
Speaker 2: and football, but you know, the stills in the video
Speaker 2: that were released once the Racers made not just the tournament,
Speaker 2: but the supers underscoring how modest their facilities are. That's
Speaker 2: got to help, you know, But you have got to
Speaker 2: strike while this iron is red hot, because it won't
Speaker 2: get any hotter. And here's the thing to follow up.
Speaker 2: We've talked again about how vital it is to be
Speaker 2: able to host not just a regional, but a super
Speaker 2: trying to look ahead to Murray State someday. Hosting not
Speaker 2: impossible in a regional. But you've got to schedule a
Speaker 2: little bit better when you can because of your respective conference.
Speaker 2: Maybe play some more challenging opponents. Help your RPI. Do
Speaker 2: what Nick ben Jee Omee did as best you can.
Speaker 2: Strength the schedule and all that, but just try to
Speaker 2: raise your own profile and then be really smart when
Speaker 2: it comes to the portal. But the other thing you
Speaker 2: got to do, try to hang on to your head. Coach.
Speaker 2: I gotta think folks are coming out of skirk coming
Speaker 2: after Skirka. Yeah, you know they are.
Speaker 1: Well, sky's a limit because nobody thought they'd get this far. No, no,
Speaker 1: now your sky's limit for your Here.
Speaker 2: Was the other thing, Gary, they were so good. This
Speaker 2: was not a fluke, No, not at all. They're good
Speaker 2: hit even more impressive by Woods no hitter. This was
Speaker 2: a great offense by Murray Stade sure was andy. They
Speaker 2: weren't even touching the baseball, and he was so close
Speaker 2: to a perfect game. It was scary our.
Speaker 1: Second swig dealing with that. There's no shame in being
Speaker 1: no hit when a picture is flat out on and
Speaker 1: most of any player will tell you that Colorado Rockies
Speaker 1: found that out dick. Eleven years ago to night at
Speaker 1: Dodger Stadium, I was there June eighteenth, twenty fourteen, Clayton
Speaker 1: Kershaw threw his first I believe only no hitter so far,
Speaker 1: one hundred and seven pitches, fifteen strikeouts. Ato Dodger win
Speaker 1: and Kershawn went on to win the Cy Young that winter.
Speaker 1: In fact, that year, I went down from the press
Speaker 1: box and I sat behind home plate for about the
Speaker 1: last two or three innings just to watch his stuff,
Speaker 1: which was just electric. You knew something, You knew he
Speaker 1: was probably gonna get it. After about the seventh inning.
Speaker 1: I was also a Dodger Stadium dick fourteen months later
Speaker 1: when the Cubs Jake Arietta no hit the Dodgers two
Speaker 1: to nothing August thirtieth, twenty fifteen and route to his
Speaker 1: cy young year. And you know what even happened to
Speaker 1: the defending world champion Dodgers in La by again the Cubs,
Speaker 1: who used four different pitchers to no hit the Dodgers
Speaker 1: June twenty four, twenty twenty one. And that was a
Speaker 1: Dodgers lineup that had Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger, Max
Speaker 1: Munsey and some guy playing first base he may have
Speaker 1: heard of. Albert Puhols was also in that lineup. So,
Speaker 1: like I said, there's no shame in getting no hit.
Speaker 1: Happens to the best. And here's the thing, to paraphrase
Speaker 1: Tom Petty, at least Murray went down swinging, not much
Speaker 1: touching with the best, but they went down swinging.
Speaker 2: And like I said, it was scary how close Wood
Speaker 2: came to pitching a perfect game. Didn't hit the guy, Yeah,
Speaker 2: he hit another guy. That was another thing we probably
Speaker 2: hang on. Let me cut that out. Something else we
Speaker 2: probably should talk about more was that he also hit
Speaker 2: a Murray batter what was it in the ninth inning,
Speaker 2: But he was called out because they said that he
Speaker 2: intentionally got himself hit, and uh, it was bogus. I mean,
Speaker 2: he was standing in the batter's box when the ball
Speaker 2: hit him anyway. Yeah, this no hitter was clearly won
Speaker 2: for the ages, and to do it against a Murray
Speaker 2: State team that was so adept at adjusting to pitchers
Speaker 2: and doing what it had to do. Yeah, it was
Speaker 2: something that people are going to talk about for a
Speaker 2: long time.
Speaker 1: Stings for a while, but it doesn't erase a great
Speaker 1: dream season. Yeah, our third swig. One last College World Series. Thought,
Speaker 1: before we get into some very good news from the
Speaker 1: major leagues, can we get a better trophy for these
Speaker 1: collegiate winners? These flat things look like a slab of
Speaker 1: wood paneling. I mean, Beer League Softball, Dick's got better
Speaker 1: trophies than what they're given these winners for this just
Speaker 1: my thought. Okay, Now for the good news. Major League
Speaker 1: Baseball finally has come to their census, will again allow
Speaker 1: all Stars to wear their regular home or away jerseys
Speaker 1: uniforms instead of those regrettable Nike monstrosities that end up
Speaker 1: being nothing more than really eye pollution and the same
Speaker 1: cap too, by the way, put some stars on them
Speaker 1: this year, which is okay, fine, but of course home
Speaker 1: run derby and workouts Nike couldn't leave well enough alone.
Speaker 1: So we've got lowercase NL jerseys for the Natty League
Speaker 1: and lowercase AL for the American League. Lower case in
Speaker 1: the tradition of the Braves throwback a since that's where
Speaker 1: the game is this year. But hey, if your name's Al,
Speaker 1: you got your own personalized jersey from MLB this year.
Speaker 1: But it's a win for fans like you and me
Speaker 1: who think All Stars should always rep their team and
Speaker 1: not their corporate costumer.
Speaker 6: Yeah.
Speaker 2: That's one of the things that I love about the
Speaker 2: Baseball All Star Game, or is the introductions. You know,
Speaker 2: when every player is introduced, they all come running out
Speaker 2: in their respective jerseys, you know, And it was even
Speaker 2: better in my opinion. I know, I'm an old guy,
Speaker 2: you know, shaking my fist at a cloud, but pre
Speaker 2: interleague play, because there was that great mystery when you
Speaker 2: got the series, but it also existed in the All
Speaker 2: Star Game, you know, and here's an NL player facing
Speaker 2: an ALE pitcher that maybe they'll see each other in
Speaker 2: the World Series, but probably not. So that's what made
Speaker 2: it so exciting. But it all starts with the player intros,
Speaker 2: when they all came running out in their respective uniforms,
Speaker 2: and our beloved Cardinals, of course have the best uniforms,
Speaker 2: but that's all part of the fun. I think it's
Speaker 2: always great too.
Speaker 1: But if your team is crumming and you only got
Speaker 1: one guy there, at least when he comes out, he goes,
Speaker 1: there's a guy with our jersey right there.
Speaker 2: Yeah. And by the way, while we're at that, I
Speaker 2: kind of like that rule. I think every team ought
Speaker 2: to be represented. And yes, I know that means a
Speaker 2: guy who might compare to somebody else be having a
Speaker 2: mediocre year, but he's the best that team can offer.
Speaker 1: I still think they ought to be represented. I agree
Speaker 1: one hundred percent. Fourth swig op ed peace in New
Speaker 1: York Times this week caught my eye, Dick with this
Speaker 1: header four thousand, seven hundred and eighty five dollars that's
Speaker 1: how much it costs to be a sports fan now,
Speaker 1: written by a guy named June Lead, a Korean American who,
Speaker 1: besides covering sports for ESPN, Bleacher Report and The Washington Post,
Speaker 1: is a longtime Boston sports fan who subscribes to nearly
Speaker 1: every service that there is for live sports for NFL, NBA, MLB,
Speaker 1: had more. He wrote that in two thousand and four,
Speaker 1: a hardcore Boston fan would spend around one thousand, thirteen
Speaker 1: hundred or thirteen hundred twenty one dollars to follow his
Speaker 1: or her favorite team. That includes tickets, TV access, maybe
Speaker 1: some merch. Today four thousand, seven hundred and eighty five dollars,
Speaker 1: a two hundred sixty two percent jump. This fall, I
Speaker 1: found out via Google AI that if you want to
Speaker 1: watch every single NFL game on all platforms, you're talking
Speaker 1: anywhere from six hundred and fifty seven dollars to fifteen
Speaker 1: hundred dollars. That's just for the NFL on a screen
Speaker 1: near you. There's so many platforms for the NFL, and
Speaker 1: now MLB's gotten into it with Roku and Apple TV
Speaker 1: and MLBtv local cable, which I'm still not gonna get.
Speaker 1: We've talked about that, I'm not gonna get Peacock, forget that,
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna get Roku. I'm asking you, this is
Speaker 1: the NFL and MLB pushing it with too many, too
Speaker 1: many portals for their sports.
Speaker 2: Well by pushing it, if you mean they're gonna lose fans,
Speaker 2: lose viewers, well yeah, because not everybody can afford that.
Speaker 2: A and others like you, on principle just are gonna,
Speaker 2: you know, stick their foot in the dirt and say no.
Speaker 2: But again, this is the kind of thing that drives
Speaker 2: me nuts about sports when we can say didn't we
Speaker 2: see this coming? And you and I talked about this
Speaker 2: three and four years ago. You mentioned p and when
Speaker 2: Notre Dame said our first game of the year against
Speaker 2: I think it was coincidentally Toledo, which is what Kentucky
Speaker 2: opens with. You're only going to be able to see
Speaker 2: it on Peacock, not on NBC. And there were howls
Speaker 2: and screams, and my response was welcome to the future. Right,
Speaker 2: And then when you John Skipper, they were chilling words.
Speaker 2: But the former chief at ESPN said, someday the world
Speaker 2: the Super Bowl will be on pay per view. They
Speaker 2: don't have any choice because the revenue streams are drying
Speaker 2: up and now they're out of hand, there's no question.
Speaker 2: But the other thing too is Gary there's a lot
Speaker 2: of freebies out there. You can follow your team if
Speaker 2: you want to be fully immersed. Yeah, you got to
Speaker 2: spend the money, but how about red zone. You know
Speaker 2: you can watch every game. There is all the good stuff,
Speaker 2: and there's a lot of free stuff on the interweb.
Speaker 2: But If you really want to dive in, you got.
Speaker 1: To pony up Fifth Swig and the six Pack games
Speaker 1: NBA Finals about twenty five hours from now. The Okies
Speaker 1: can win it all on the road, or the Pacers
Speaker 1: can force a Game seven back in Okac Sunday night
Speaker 1: in primetime. I'll tell if Halliburton is one hundred percent,
Speaker 1: there ain't going to be a number seven on Sunday.
Speaker 1: It's obviously not the TV ratings juggernaut. The NBA was
Speaker 1: hoping for two cities that smug East and West Coast
Speaker 1: people call flyover towns, but hey, there's been some really
Speaker 1: good intense basketball being played here. In Game five peaked
Speaker 1: at thirteen point two million viewers. That's way above the
Speaker 1: nine million or so average for the first four games,
Speaker 1: still a far cry from the record twenty nine million
Speaker 1: viewers in nineteen ninety eight. Michael Jordan Bulls in Utah
Speaker 1: or you go back to even before that, the bird
Speaker 1: Magic viewers back in eighty seven. I think they peaked
Speaker 1: at like twenty four million overall. The for those games.
Speaker 1: Warriors and Calves with Steph and Lebron brought in as
Speaker 1: many as thirty one million back in twenty sixteen. But
Speaker 1: I ask you, will we ever see those kinds of numbers,
Speaker 1: with those kinds of generational stars again anytime soon?
Speaker 2: I think you could, You could match the Warriors numbers,
Speaker 2: because that, I think is a more accurate depiction of
Speaker 2: where we are now with television. Those Magic Bird series
Speaker 2: which were so great, they didn't compete with five hundred channels,
Speaker 2: they didn't compete with so much they had. The Internet
Speaker 2: was a live back then, but not the way it
Speaker 2: is now. You know, you look at entertainment show, look
Speaker 2: at I Love Lucy. You know sixty million people would
Speaker 2: tune in things like that. When I hear old time
Speaker 2: TV people talk about the numbers they used to get
Speaker 2: when there were only three four networks without due respect
Speaker 2: to PBS, no, that'll never be there again. It doesn't
Speaker 2: mean there isn't as much interest. There are just more
Speaker 2: choices now and so everybody has to adjust accordingly. But
Speaker 2: back to your original point, if snobs NBA snobs are
Speaker 2: not watching, they're missing out on a really good series
Speaker 2: with some really nominal performances, and not just by Halliburton
Speaker 2: n SGA. I mean, this has been a fun series.
Speaker 1: Agreed, and finally a sixth wig in the six pack.
Speaker 1: This month we had two great local sports reporters announcing
Speaker 1: within days of each other that they're retiring. Right over
Speaker 1: there in Lexington, guy, you've had on your show many
Speaker 1: many times. Columnist John Clay announced his last day at
Speaker 1: the Herald Leaders June thirtieth, forty five years after his
Speaker 1: first byline in the Lexington Leader summer of nineteen eighty.
Speaker 1: Thirteen years as the UK football beat writer, and then
Speaker 1: twenty five more as a columnist, John's covered twenty one
Speaker 1: final fours, forty four consecutive Kentucky Derby's, among countless other events,
Speaker 1: and then over here two days later, as you told me,
Speaker 1: John's friend and fellow Hall of Famer Rick Bosich announced
Speaker 1: his retirement effective July the first. Rick's been at WDRBTV,
Speaker 1: of course since twenty twelve, but way before that I
Speaker 1: began reading him at your former employer, Louisville Times, and
Speaker 1: then he went under the CJ for thirty one years.
Speaker 1: Rix Palett WDRB Eric Crawford says Rick has covered thirty
Speaker 1: one final fours, fifteen Super Bowls, eleven World Series, three
Speaker 1: Summer Olympics and the NBA Finals. What can you say?
Speaker 1: To these two five star journalists after all of these
Speaker 1: decades quitters, Seriously the kidding. I would say, thank you
Speaker 1: for your hard work, gentlemen, getting the truth and also
Speaker 1: sacrificing a lot of valuable time away from family for
Speaker 1: appreciative readers like Dick Gabriel and Gary Moore.
Speaker 2: That's right, So much to unpack here. We had a
Speaker 2: great lunch this week. Ralph Hacker put it together. Essentially
Speaker 2: was to get us together with Tom Devine, our long
Speaker 2: time UK network engineer. But we had you know, Jim
Speaker 2: Host was there, Oscar Combs, Tom Leech, Wow, you know,
Speaker 2: Kyle Macy was on a UK network for many years,
Speaker 2: you know, and of course Ralph Hacker. Uh But I
Speaker 2: said next to John Claty invited John, and John told
Speaker 2: us that after Kentucky was beaten in the Sweet sixteen
Speaker 2: by Tennessee in the NCAA Tournament, he said he texted
Speaker 2: his wife and said, I'm done. That's it, you know,
Speaker 2: because he knew that if he carried this to his
Speaker 2: you know, by the end of the fiscal year, he'll
Speaker 2: be done. But if he started in the UK football season,
Speaker 2: he would want to finish it and that would carry
Speaker 2: to the you know, all that kind of stuff. But
Speaker 2: he had been thinking about it for a while, so
Speaker 2: had Rick and John was like a situation like there,
Speaker 2: but for the grace of God go I. You know,
Speaker 2: John wrote for the Kentucky Colonel, as I did, got
Speaker 2: out of school, took the job at the local newspaper.
Speaker 2: I might have done the same thing if I hadn't
Speaker 2: gotten into broadcasting at a station where you and I
Speaker 2: first worked together. And then, you know, John did what
Speaker 2: you want to do. You cover the you do a
Speaker 2: little bit of everything, You cover the beat, and you
Speaker 2: end up with a column that was going to be
Speaker 2: my career path somewhere, if not accident, maybe the Courier Journal,
Speaker 2: because yeah, I was an intern at the Louisville Times.
Speaker 2: I remember when Rick started with a CJ. Rick, I
Speaker 2: didn't talk. I ran out of time. I didn't have
Speaker 2: a chance to talk to him about this. But Rick
Speaker 2: left the Courier Journal for a couple of days, took
Speaker 2: a job I think it was in Minneapolis, a huge newspaper,
Speaker 2: and then he just turned around and came home. He
Speaker 2: had second thoughts, like like coaches have done, and yeah,
Speaker 2: and he turned around and he said, I'm sorry but
Speaker 2: I can't take this job and came back to Louisville,
Speaker 2: you know. Uh, and that was our game. And I
Speaker 2: tipped my cap to wd RB over there, which has
Speaker 2: a great website when it comes to sports sports programming
Speaker 2: that is independent of the TV channel. They spent money
Speaker 2: on Rick, they spent money on Eric. They've made it
Speaker 2: work because they hired the right guys. He'll be missed,
Speaker 2: there's no question about that.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Absolutely, they're the best in this There's some good
Speaker 1: sports guys. Yeah, you've had him on your show.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Rick and Eric know this town in this state like
Speaker 1: nobody else.
Speaker 2: And the biggest reason I think DRB is the best
Speaker 2: is because management it was smart enough to give them
Speaker 2: airtime and space where other stations don't have the courage
Speaker 2: it takes to do that. But that's a great business
Speaker 2: model DRB is. They're making money, you know, and sports
Speaker 2: is so huge here.
Speaker 1: It's huge yware exactly, but especially here.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, Louisville is one of the great sports markets
Speaker 2: in all of America. We're talking with Gary Maris, our
Speaker 2: Western bureau chief. We'll come back with some hot reads
Speaker 2: and just a minute here on six thirty WLAP. Welcome back.
Speaker 2: We're talking with Gary Mariy is our West End bureau chief.
Speaker 2: We talk with him each and every Wednesday. He presents
Speaker 2: two guys in a six pack. We counter with a
Speaker 2: couple of hot reads. For Gary, Kevin Durant wants a
Speaker 2: new team again. Uh, he's picking and choosing again. Got
Speaker 2: to be the right team. Got to be a team
Speaker 2: that will give him the ball all the time. But
Speaker 2: also Gary, he wants to win another which he's done
Speaker 2: in the past. But now he's saying Spurs or Wolves.
Speaker 2: Maybe Phoenix is trying to accommodate. This to me gets
Speaker 2: a little tiresome, you know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: You know, he goes back to the Seattle SuperSonics days.
Speaker 2: That is amazing.
Speaker 1: Isn't that crazy to think about that? That's how long
Speaker 1: he's thirty he's gonna be with thirty seven? I think
Speaker 1: this fall and if he'd had stayed with Golden State, maybe,
Speaker 1: but no, you got to go to Brooklyn, you got
Speaker 1: to get with the guys, and how did that work out? Well,
Speaker 1: then okay, I'm gonna go to Phoenix. Well how did
Speaker 1: that work out? So now it's onto this other guy.
Speaker 1: Maybe if he'd even stayed at Oklahoma City. You know,
Speaker 1: they got to the finals against the Heat. They did,
Speaker 1: and they had a three to one lead against the
Speaker 1: Warriors and blew it.
Speaker 2: And then what does he do?
Speaker 1: He goes to join the Warriors later that summer. I
Speaker 1: like him a lot, can't. I can't complain about him
Speaker 1: too much because great player. He's won of gold medals.
Speaker 1: You know, he's been a savior in the Olympics time
Speaker 1: and time again. So good lucke him. I hope he
Speaker 1: gets it. But it is tiring.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and here's the other thing that puts me off
Speaker 2: of just a little bit. He could have stayed with
Speaker 2: the Warriors. He could have won, yeah, another title or
Speaker 2: two and chose to leave. Yep, that's what puzzles me
Speaker 2: the most. Speaking of titles, not sure which team is
Speaker 2: going to win the championship when it comes to the
Speaker 2: Jello Shots in Omaha, probably LSU, but I'm talking about
Speaker 2: Rocos Pizza and Cantina. I got a chance to visit
Speaker 2: that spot when I was in Omaha last year. They
Speaker 2: host every year the Jello Shot Challenge. Fans from each
Speaker 2: respective team are urged to come in by a jello shot.
Speaker 2: What do you drink it? Or not, or do you
Speaker 2: drink it or slurp it? Anyway? Each shot five bucks
Speaker 2: proceeds go to food banks in the hometowns of each
Speaker 2: respective College World Series team and in Omaha. And in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty three, LSU's baseball team won the championship. They
Speaker 2: bought Gary a record shattering sixty eight thousand, eight hundred
Speaker 2: and eighty eight jell O shots. That's a lot of
Speaker 2: money for food banks. You got to put this up
Speaker 2: there with one of the great promotional moves in all
Speaker 2: of sports.
Speaker 1: How many did you have last year when you were there?
Speaker 2: Probably just one?
Speaker 1: Oh, come on now, you're you're you're with the guys here,
Speaker 1: come on now. And Skeens was doing it right, didn't
Speaker 1: I see him in his deans Livy and.
Speaker 2: Todd Graves and LSU biomingo U. So yeah, that that
Speaker 2: that you talk about a built in advantage for LSU faithful.
Speaker 1: I saw this, they were saying in at least in
Speaker 1: the Career Journal at ten o'clock Central time, Sunday, U
Speaker 1: of l was in second to last place. But you
Speaker 1: see who was in second place? Murray State. Yeah about that,
Speaker 1: I've got hit, But by god, we can slurp.
Speaker 2: No, it's a it's a great uh promotional deal. And
Speaker 2: I want to point out as well Rocko's canteena is
Speaker 2: right next to the ballpark, so it's not as those
Speaker 2: fans are staggering out of the bar, getting in their
Speaker 2: cars and driving to the game. They've got a chance
Speaker 2: to walk around, go sit in the sun for three
Speaker 2: or four hours and sober up. But again, it's one
Speaker 2: of the great promotional moves in all of sports. He
Speaker 2: is Gary Moore. He is our west End bureau chief
Speaker 2: and we talk to him each and every week. You
Speaker 2: can also follow him, which you should on Twitter or
Speaker 2: x at at nine five to five Gary and I
Speaker 2: follow you at a big Go Insider one. That's right
Speaker 2: that good week and how to do it for now
Speaker 2: Thanks to Gary Moore, Thanks to Shaan Woods and Keith
Speaker 2: Madison that said good night in the garage and Lexington.
Speaker 3: I had no respect to day I was born, really
Speaker 3: no respect.
Speaker 6: The doctor picked me up and smacked me. I found
Speaker 6: out the night she got a few.
Speaker 2: In two.
Speaker 3: Take that saying anything, can anything, do anything, back out
Speaker 3: stake that anything but facts.
Speaker 2: From type
Speaker 3: Dotting The