Speaker 1: It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day. Now here's Nick Coffee.
Speaker 2: So we've got four games this evening and of course
Speaker 2: four more tomorrow, and then we'll get Saturday and Sunday
Speaker 2: to determine which teams are going to be dancing on
Speaker 2: to the final four. I'm not kidding you when I
Speaker 2: say it. The years where Louisville was dead, that wasn't fun,
Speaker 2: but it did. It did make it to where I
Speaker 2: forced myself to get used to enjoying everything that comes
Speaker 2: with the tournament without you know, needing a team in
Speaker 2: the mix still dancing to enjoy it. And I'm sure
Speaker 2: there's a lot of people who are are down in
Speaker 2: the dumps about their team losing, Louisville fans maybe, and
Speaker 2: it's just not as interesting to you. And I get
Speaker 2: it because for the most part, when it comes to
Speaker 2: everything about the instablea tournament like before, it's going to
Speaker 2: be bad to say, Austin, but I think you get it.
Speaker 2: Before gambling, like before, I was somebody that did enjoy
Speaker 2: betting on college basketball. I mean, when I thought of
Speaker 2: the tournament, ninety nine point nine of the nine percent
Speaker 2: of the things that came to mind were about my team,
Speaker 2: like moments in the tournament, of the good that comes
Speaker 2: with it, the stress and all that. How sad it
Speaker 2: is when you lose that kind of stuff. But for
Speaker 2: the last few years, I mean, even without rooting interest
Speaker 2: because Louisville again wasn't involved, they didn't make the tournament
Speaker 2: for six years, I still feel the same way as
Speaker 2: I did ten years ago, which is that the instablea tournament,
Speaker 2: March madness, it's the best thing in sports. And I
Speaker 2: know that it'll never get the attention that like the
Speaker 2: NFL does, but it does make me happy to know that,
Speaker 2: even if you're not necessarily a big college basketball super
Speaker 2: fan like a lot of us are around here, you
Speaker 2: know that the dance is a magical thing and we
Speaker 2: only have two more weekends of it, so I'm going
Speaker 2: to enjoy it. It's coffee and company. Feel about Thorton's
Speaker 2: here on Sports Talk seven ninety. Appreciate you hanging out
Speaker 2: with us on a is it Thursday? Yes, Thursday, It's
Speaker 2: a Thursday afternoon, And also appreciate all of you who
Speaker 2: keep Thornton's in mind and make them a part of you.
Speaker 2: Of your weekly routine. I don't know if it's a
Speaker 2: day to day thing, but you know, for me, I
Speaker 2: don't go every day. They probably would kick me. I
Speaker 2: mean they're close to now, probably saying like, all right, look,
Speaker 2: we get it, we know your partner and you love Thornton's,
Speaker 2: but like, you know, go away. They never do that though,
Speaker 2: because they're great partners. But anyways, I go probably two
Speaker 2: three times a week, and it's usually, you know, when
Speaker 2: I need to either just stop in and get something
Speaker 2: really quick or whenever I need to put gas in
Speaker 2: my car. And every time I fill up my car,
Speaker 2: I save at least three cents per gallon. Sometimes I
Speaker 2: save up to twenty five cents per gallon because of
Speaker 2: that membership that I have as a Refreshing Awards member.
Speaker 2: I mean, you can kind of tell, like I'm getting
Speaker 2: pretty good at it, or I can just tell the
Speaker 2: way somebody's strutting, the way somebody's carrying themselves body language BD. There,
Speaker 2: I say, I can just tell that that's a Refreshming
Speaker 2: Awards member right there. I can just tell is that
Speaker 2: are a freshman War's membership and your wile are you
Speaker 2: just happy to see me? You shop at Thornton You
Speaker 2: come here off them? I'm ridiculous, aren't. I will say,
Speaker 2: at least twice in the last you know, year or so,
Speaker 2: I have seen people in Thornton's who have said, so,
Speaker 2: you really do come here a lot. I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 2: it's real, it's real, baby. This was a game the
Speaker 2: last time. The last time I was probably it was
Speaker 2: a little bit after Christmas. I guess I was in
Speaker 2: there in a it was cold, cold morning because god
Speaker 2: knows we had a cold January, and I was getting
Speaker 2: probably getting my little kids, uh there was snow on
Speaker 2: the ground for sure, but I was getting I was
Speaker 2: getting my kids there their fist freeze, their slushies, uh,
Speaker 2: to start their day because that's such a healthy breakfast
Speaker 2: that I give them utrients. And there was somebody in
Speaker 2: there that that just funny seeing you here. And then
Speaker 2: I realized, like they understood that, you know, I'm the
Speaker 2: Thornton's guy. At least you know, they did joke. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and uh, then you know they he saw that I
Speaker 2: was actually also getting the slushies like I talk about.
Speaker 2: And you know, I don't know if you thought it
Speaker 2: was all a bit like it wasn't real, But no,
Speaker 2: I was gonna say, what you see is what you get,
Speaker 2: but this is radio, therefore you don't see it. But
Speaker 2: what you see out out in the wild with me,
Speaker 2: it is really not a whole lot different than what
Speaker 2: you hear about on these airwaves. All right, if you
Speaker 2: guys want to join us, YU can five ooh two
Speaker 2: five seventy nine hundred is the number to give us
Speaker 2: a call. You can also you can also text in
Speaker 2: on the Ellen and Federal Credit Union text line five
Speaker 2: oh two four to three eight ninety seventy three. Thanks
Speaker 2: to this this person on the text line earlier. This
Speaker 2: was Derek who pointed this out, and he's right. You know,
Speaker 2: I was talking earlier, but I was complaining about having
Speaker 2: to miss the first Well, I mean, I'm gonna miss it.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna have it on my phone, I'm gonna keep
Speaker 2: up with it. But my son has t ball practice
Speaker 2: at seven fifteen tonight, so that'll be during the first
Speaker 2: half of the first two games. And it's really not
Speaker 2: a big deal. But you know, like if they decided
Speaker 2: let's not have practice tonight, I wouldn't fight him on it.
Speaker 2: But anyways, I was just talking about how when it
Speaker 2: comes to baseball like I don't. It just doesn't do
Speaker 2: much for me. And I've at this point in my
Speaker 2: life if I was ever going to get into baseball,
Speaker 2: I probably would have already done it. And my wife,
Speaker 2: you know, she's she's telling me that I'm only bitching
Speaker 2: about him having practice because it's baseball, and I told her, look,
Speaker 2: it would be overkill if he played any sport. I
Speaker 2: think at this age to have an hour practice twice
Speaker 2: a week for a league that they don't even keep scoring, Like,
Speaker 2: I'm just gonna say it out loud, they're not really
Speaker 2: playing baseball, like they're not. So anyways, I'll move on.
Speaker 2: But the person on the text line, Derek, said, aren't
Speaker 2: you the guy who umpired a celebrity game and called
Speaker 2: it second plate?
Speaker 1: I did.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I got asked to be a guest umpire for the
Speaker 2: Chris Mack softball game that they had years ago. And
Speaker 2: I think I did a good job as an umpire
Speaker 2: because I really didn't have to do anything. But when
Speaker 2: when you know, talking through kind of like where I
Speaker 2: would be on the field at times, instead of calling
Speaker 2: it second base, I called it second plate, and that
Speaker 2: was like that was an unintentional way for me to
Speaker 2: really really let you guys know just how little I
Speaker 2: know about the sport of baseball. So thank you for
Speaker 2: reminding me of that, Derek, I do love that. A
Speaker 2: lot of the listeners, the things that really stick in
Speaker 2: their memory the longest, more often than not, are just
Speaker 2: things that stand out for them realizing, Wow, this guy
Speaker 2: really is a piece of work. He really is a dumbass. Guilty.
Speaker 2: All right? This text, this is from somebody who's never
Speaker 2: texted him before, so they didn't leave their name. And
Speaker 2: that's okay, says Nick, as a Kentucky fan. You telling
Speaker 2: me how confident you are in my Cats has me
Speaker 2: actually worried. I really do think we're the better team.
Speaker 2: But it's gonna be tough to beat them three times.
Speaker 3: All right?
Speaker 2: Thank you for saying it's going to be tough to
Speaker 2: beat them three times and not saying, well, you know
Speaker 2: what they say, it's tough to beat a team. I mean,
Speaker 2: still no evidence. Have yet to see anybody give me
Speaker 2: any evidence that says beating a team three times is
Speaker 2: hard to do just because it's the third time. Beating
Speaker 2: a good team three times is hard to do once,
Speaker 2: or beating I'm beating good team once is hard to do.
Speaker 2: Doing it twice is hard to do. Doing it a
Speaker 2: third time hard to do. So like, it's not because
Speaker 2: it's the third time, and these teams that get beat
Speaker 2: twice they have these magical powers in the third meeting
Speaker 2: against a team that's beat them. It's just because it's
Speaker 2: it's you know, it's like, let me give you another
Speaker 2: overused thing that people say in sports that really is dumb.
Speaker 2: Win is a win. You all heard me talk about
Speaker 2: this before. Anytime you hear a fan, coach, play, or
Speaker 2: whatever say, well, you know, a win is a win.
Speaker 2: I feel like in every instance, if not every instance
Speaker 2: got to be like ninety nine point nine percent of
Speaker 2: the time, they're saying that because that's all they can say.
Speaker 2: That wouldn't be you know, acknowledging that they were lucky
Speaker 2: to win and they didn't play well, right like they survived,
Speaker 2: which sometimes it's all about surviving. But a win is
Speaker 2: a win, Like, who's questioning you? Who said it's not?
Speaker 2: Who told you that a win?
Speaker 4: Was it a win?
Speaker 2: Like it's such a useless waste of words that it's
Speaker 2: really just deflection from acknowledging that you were lucky to
Speaker 2: win and you don't like saying that because that, you know,
Speaker 2: maybe that's not as fun to say. But anyways, we'll
Speaker 2: move on. But back to when it comes to the
Speaker 2: Kentucky game. I just think that when you look at
Speaker 2: what Tennessee and Kentucky have done this year, like take
Speaker 2: out the head to head matchups, which again I mean
Speaker 2: those count, Like Kentucky beat them in Knoxville and beat
Speaker 2: them at Up, so you know, those do count. I'm
Speaker 2: not saying like we should ignore those, but I'm just saying,
Speaker 2: hypothetically speaking, if these teams had not played each other
Speaker 2: this year and their schedules, their results, their resumes were
Speaker 2: the exact same outside of those two games. I mean,
Speaker 2: I guess you could still say that Tennessee would be
Speaker 2: the favorite, but I mean, you know, their wins, I'm
Speaker 2: not sure how. I mean, again, they were able to
Speaker 2: they beat Auburn, which was a big win for him.
Speaker 2: In the SEC tournament, they did beat they did beat Alabama,
Speaker 2: and that's a good win. So I guess technically Tennessee
Speaker 2: has better wins. But you know, Kentucky, the only team
Speaker 2: in the SEC that they didn't beat that they got
Speaker 2: swept by is Alabama and Alabama's really good. But when
Speaker 2: you look at the Superior League, that is the SCC,
Speaker 2: the top tier of that league, which, by the way,
Speaker 2: some of the best teams in the country. Kentucky has
Speaker 2: wins against Tennessee twice. They have wins they beat Florida once,
Speaker 2: So you know, I think it's a pretty even matchup
Speaker 2: when it comes to personnel, and I just think they're better.
Speaker 2: Like it's not that I'm here to say that Kentucky
Speaker 2: will win because they got lucky with this opponent in
Speaker 2: the sweet sixteen, because Tennessee's not any good. Trust me,
Speaker 2: That's not what I'm saying. But I just think this
Speaker 2: is a match up that there's not a whole lot
Speaker 2: that Tennessee can do. That would that would that would
Speaker 2: make me feel like, Okay, how how are we going
Speaker 2: to account for that? They're gonna they're you know, there's
Speaker 2: no personnel for Tennessee that I think you really have
Speaker 2: to be like worried about that. You you just can't contain.
Speaker 2: I Mean, the best player, in my opinion is is
Speaker 2: not z I mean, Ziegler is their most consistent guy,
Speaker 2: and he's good defensively, but like I don't think he's
Speaker 2: had like a sensational season. The biggest threat is Linear
Speaker 2: and he can get hot, and he's done that many times.
Speaker 2: Uh in the tournament. I mean he's done. I'm sorry,
Speaker 2: he's done that many times this year. I mean he
Speaker 2: had was it twenty against UCLA? He's he had twenty
Speaker 2: against Auburn when they beat him in the SEC tournament.
Speaker 2: So I mean, he's he's They're they're talented. But maybe
Speaker 2: the reason why I just have a hard time seeing
Speaker 2: Tennessee winning is because of what stood out in a
Speaker 2: major way both times they played, and it was the
Speaker 2: fact that Tennessee didn't just like try to play Kentucky
Speaker 2: at their at their game. It's like they they tried
Speaker 2: to be an exaggerated version of what Kentucky wants to be.
Speaker 2: And I'll never understand that. So three point shooting, obviously,
Speaker 2: Tennessee's not a bad three point shooting team. Kentucky actually
Speaker 2: think they're one of those teams where I'm sure their
Speaker 2: percentage is not bad. Like, let me pull it up here,
Speaker 2: Kentucky is a team, is a three point shooting team.
Speaker 2: They shoot at thirty seven point four percent. That's good.
Speaker 2: That's good. That's a good three point shooting team Tennessee.
Speaker 2: Let's see where they are just from Yeah, they're thirty four,
Speaker 2: so I'd say that that's that's probably like those numbers again,
Speaker 2: they are what they are. I'm not trying to say
Speaker 2: that they're they're skewed, But to me, Kentucky's a team
Speaker 2: that is more dangerous than their percentage actually tells you,
Speaker 2: because there's not going to be many guys that play
Speaker 2: meaningful minutes for Kentucky that you can leave open and
Speaker 2: if they make it, you're shocked. Like teams are gonna
Speaker 2: dare Garrison to shoot it. Same thing as as the
Speaker 2: big fellow Amari Williams. The hell even Garrison's made some
Speaker 2: threes this year, I feel like, so whenever you go
Speaker 2: back and look at the box score when Kentucky, let's
Speaker 2: go to the game that was in Lexington, when Kentucky,
Speaker 2: this is the second meeting between these two, Kentucky shot
Speaker 2: twenty four threes, made twelve of them. If you're making
Speaker 2: twelve threes on a fifty percent clip, I don't care
Speaker 2: who you are, you're gonna be tough to beat. And
Speaker 2: Tennessee lost that game by double digits, lost it by
Speaker 2: eleven Tennessee. In that game, they shot three of eighteen
Speaker 2: sixteen percent, So again, that's way off their average. But
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't think they should be shooting eighteen
Speaker 2: threes because I just don't think that's how they're built. Now,
Speaker 2: lan Air went oh for seven. That's rare. Kentucky should
Speaker 2: probably consider them selves fortunate that he went over seven,
Speaker 2: because I would imagine he's probably not had a worse
Speaker 2: shooting night than that at any point this season. But
Speaker 2: let's go back to the other game when they played,
Speaker 2: and this is the one that really was just like
Speaker 2: it's malpracticed by Rick Barnes. He's a good coach. I
Speaker 2: don't think many would doubt that. But if you've got
Speaker 2: your team who is not built like Kentucky's team is,
Speaker 2: and I don't mean like that, you know they're not
Speaker 2: as good Tennessee's deservingly the favorite. Tennessee has a better
Speaker 2: seat for a reason. But you're just to me. I
Speaker 2: don't think it's arrogance. Maybe it is, I don't know,
Speaker 2: but why you would go into a game and maybe
Speaker 2: this wasn't the plan. It wouldn't shock me if it,
Speaker 2: you know, if it wasn't the plan, because I can't
Speaker 2: imagine it would be the plan. But when they played
Speaker 2: in Knoxville, Kentucky, by the way, same number, twelve of
Speaker 2: twenty four from three fifty percent. Again, that's that's another
Speaker 2: night where if you're making twelve threes and you did
Speaker 2: it at fifty percent, that's a good recipe to be successful.
Speaker 2: Tennessee in that game they made eleven threes, but you
Speaker 2: know how many they shot forty five? Did you hear me?
Speaker 2: Forty five three pointers were attempted. So any team that
Speaker 2: is shooting nearly double the amount of threes that Kentucky
Speaker 2: is shooting, you're just asking to get beat. And somehow
Speaker 2: they nearly won. Kentucky won that one by five. So
Speaker 2: that is the that sticks out in a major way
Speaker 2: when you look at the last two times these teams played.
Speaker 2: And if you're wondering, because I'm not, because I think
Speaker 2: Kentucky fans and I'm sure they know that number and
Speaker 2: they know that they shot really well from three and
Speaker 2: Tennessee didn't in both those games. But that's why I
Speaker 2: think if you're Kentucky, you're thinking like, well, even though
Speaker 2: the three point line was a factor and we were
Speaker 2: good in that regard, and they weren't. I'm not even
Speaker 2: really sure, like we played that well and yet we
Speaker 2: still won, because maybe you did play well, but you
Speaker 2: also did it really shorthanded. When they beat Tennessee, I'm
Speaker 2: pretty sure when they beat him in Knoxville, they didn't
Speaker 2: have you know, Jackson Robinson did play in that game,
Speaker 2: but Lamont Butler didn't. And when they played in Lexington,
Speaker 2: I'm sorry. When they played in Knoxville, yeah, Robinson played
Speaker 2: in Lamont, Butler didn't. When they played in uh In,
Speaker 2: where's it A just had it pulled up here? When
Speaker 2: they played in Lexington at Rup Kentucky didn't have Robinson.
Speaker 2: Butler played but only twenty two minutes. And I don't
Speaker 2: I don't think. I think he might have got hurt
Speaker 2: again and didn't come back in so they shot it well.
Speaker 2: But like if I'm facing Kentucky and I'm scouting as
Speaker 2: far as trying to figure out what I want to do,
Speaker 2: because I would I would assume. And I've never been
Speaker 2: a coach before, but you obviously you know you worry
Speaker 2: about your team as far as what you're gonna do,
Speaker 2: how you're gonna execute, but you also have to understand, Okay,
Speaker 2: let's make sure we're not playing this game that is,
Speaker 2: you know, in a style that favors what they want
Speaker 2: to do, where we may be at a disadvantage, especially
Speaker 2: when you're playing a good team that you know, like, hey,
Speaker 2: we're pretty even, but if we play the game at
Speaker 2: their pace and do what they want to do, they're
Speaker 2: better at that than us. So you know, like, maybe
Speaker 2: I'm just so blinded by the fact I watched Tennessee
Speaker 2: lose both of these games, and I don't feel like
Speaker 2: Kentucky did anything crazy. I just have a hard time
Speaker 2: seeing Tennessee winning. I'm not going to bet on Kentucky
Speaker 2: money line because gross, I wouldn't do that. But if
Speaker 2: you lose to Kentucky at any point and you say
Speaker 2: to yourself, well, you know, they shot fifty percent from three,
Speaker 2: that's a you problem, Like you don't just chalk that up?
Speaker 2: Is what are you going to do? Because Kentucky is
Speaker 2: a team that every night they're clearly not shooting it
Speaker 2: at fifty percent from three, because that's almost impossible. They're
Speaker 2: shooting at thirty seven percent. But if you ever end
Speaker 2: up in a game at the end where they did
Speaker 2: shoot fifty percent and a lot of those looks that
Speaker 2: they got were clean looks in rhythm and they make them.
Speaker 2: You can't chalk it up as bad luck. That's what
Speaker 2: they do. That is I mean again to go back
Speaker 2: to Creighton, like when Creighton buried Louisville and put up
Speaker 2: a huge lead nineteen to two run, I think it
Speaker 2: was they were doing it not because they were pulling
Speaker 2: shots out of the rear end, maybe a couple here
Speaker 2: and there, but like Louisville was taking quick shots, turning
Speaker 2: it over themselves carelessly. And that led to some Creighton guys,
Speaker 2: Ashworth and the other wing that they had that lit
Speaker 2: us up when they're when they're catching it and ready
Speaker 2: to rip in rhythm and they got you know, maybe
Speaker 2: they're not wide open, but they've got you know, they
Speaker 2: got they got enough daylight to get a clean look
Speaker 2: and they make it. Don't be surprised, Like, don't chalk
Speaker 2: it up as what are you going to do? They're shooting.
Speaker 2: They're shooting out there out their rear end. It's it's no,
Speaker 2: that's that's what they do. And if they like when
Speaker 2: somebody is able to, I guess hold you accountable for
Speaker 2: not stopping something that that you know is what they do. Like,
Speaker 2: that's a you problem. I'm surprised we haven't seen much
Speaker 2: movement in any of these lines. I guess there's not
Speaker 2: a whole lot that changes right from the uh round
Speaker 2: of thirty two to the sweet sixteen. Right, these teams
Speaker 2: are who they are. I guess maybe with Arkansas, I
Speaker 2: thought we'd see a little bit of movement because theero
Speaker 2: is able to play and it sounds like he's going
Speaker 2: to go, But I think he's on like a minutes restriction.
Speaker 2: Which if he's on a minute restriction, what does that
Speaker 2: tell you he's not at a one hundred percent. And
Speaker 2: if he's not at a hundred percent and you've clearly
Speaker 2: been able to play well without him, Like I wouldn't
Speaker 2: put somebody out there who may be a liability because
Speaker 2: he's clearly playing not at a one hundred percent. So
Speaker 2: wouldn't shock me if, like the whole do theerro thing
Speaker 2: is just out there because they want to keep Texas
Speaker 2: Tech on their toes or something. I don't know. All right,
Speaker 2: quick break, we'll come back here on the other side.
Speaker 2: Keep it rolling along. As though we continue to get set,
Speaker 2: we're just now, you know, under a few hours away
Speaker 2: from the Sweet sixteen. We've got some cool nil deals
Speaker 2: that have come through for some of these teams that
Speaker 2: are still playing in the tournament. I'd say Derek Queen,
Speaker 2: the freshman big man for Maryland who wit the game
Speaker 2: winner against Colorado State. I mean, he's been sensational all year,
Speaker 2: but obviously his game winner, what he said afterwards got
Speaker 2: him a lot of attention, and it also earned him
Speaker 2: an endorsement. So we'll talk about that and a lot
Speaker 2: more right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 1: Now back to Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven to nine day.
Speaker 2: With schools now having to share revenue with student athletes
Speaker 2: starting next year, right a twenty million dollar a little
Speaker 2: bit more than twenty million dollars they're going to have
Speaker 2: to pay out to student athletes. I thought that would
Speaker 2: make it to where coaches would would have a little
Speaker 2: bit longer life at their job even if they weren't
Speaker 2: having success because the big buyouts. But it's been really
Speaker 2: the opposite. I think what's happened is that because you
Speaker 2: can so quickly change things with the portal and with
Speaker 2: with with money, it's led to schools realizing, yeah, we've
Speaker 2: seen enough. There's maybe a scenario where this ends up
Speaker 2: over time working out. But I you know, if you
Speaker 2: don't really believe it and you've not seen a whole
Speaker 2: lot of evidence that you know, things are gonna be good.
Speaker 2: I mean it sounds at little bit harsh and it's
Speaker 2: really cutthroat to just you know, cut ties, but like
Speaker 2: if you know, you know, right, like that's why even
Speaker 2: if Kenny Payne would have won a lot more games
Speaker 2: than he did, do we really ever think like that
Speaker 2: was gonna be Like, in fact, I say this sincerely,
Speaker 2: and I've said it here and there over the last
Speaker 2: couple of years. Really, I mean, I guess really since
Speaker 2: he was officially let go is when it really you know,
Speaker 2: I was able to say it because he was let go,
Speaker 2: but he was very consistent from the beginning. That made
Speaker 2: it to where in two years it's quite clear like
Speaker 2: yet we're not doing this anymore. This was a big mistake,
Speaker 2: maybe one of the worst hires ever. So anyways, these
Speaker 2: schools now realize, you know, we don't have we don't
Speaker 2: have to wait. We can go get somebody else and
Speaker 2: they can start from scratch, and who knows, maybe they
Speaker 2: end up having a lot of success right out of
Speaker 2: the gate, just like Mark Pope did at Kentucky this year,
Speaker 2: and obviously Pat Kelsey did did the same thing. So
Speaker 2: also the likelihood of you salvaging it when it's tough
Speaker 2: becomes much more difficult, right, So, like maybe they do
Speaker 2: believe in a coach, but they just know he's got
Speaker 2: no momentum and they're coming off a really bad season,
Speaker 2: and in IL money is not great because of all
Speaker 2: those things, right, just because the success wasn't there. Well, now,
Speaker 2: if that's the case, players just leave, right So starting
Speaker 2: fresh really makes a lot of sense because again, when
Speaker 2: when you've got a bad year, that likely ends up
Speaker 2: in less money or being harder to get money to
Speaker 2: come in for an IL well, and players they don't
Speaker 2: want to be a part of a bad team, so
Speaker 2: they'll they're going to look to leave. But I feel
Speaker 2: like the carousel was pretty active. There has been pretty active.
Speaker 2: I mean, I guess if you're still coaching right now,
Speaker 2: like in the tournament, hard for me to think you're
Speaker 2: going to be fired. So jobs that have opened up
Speaker 2: because somebody got fired, Like, I don't think anybody's going
Speaker 2: to get fired that hadn't got fired yet. But one
Speaker 2: job that has now opened because of all the movement
Speaker 2: that has taken place in these coaching moves is New Mexico.
Speaker 2: And here are a couple of names apparently in the
Speaker 2: mix for the New Mexico job, Tom Crean Bob Huggins.
Speaker 2: If you had to pick one of those two guys,
Speaker 2: I want to believe if Tom Crean didn't have such
Speaker 2: an abysmal stretch at Georgia when he had, you know,
Speaker 2: a really talented team including Anthony freaking Edwards, I would
Speaker 2: be all in on Crean to coach at a plays
Speaker 2: like that, because I don't think Tom Crean was ever
Speaker 2: at any point viewed as like a bad coach. He
Speaker 2: was a good coach. I mean, he did succeed at Indiana,
Speaker 2: He just he had his best teams fall short in
Speaker 2: the tournament and then it kind of run its course.
Speaker 2: But even after, you know, he got to the sweet
Speaker 2: sixteen as a one seed in back to back years,
Speaker 2: actually didn't get a one seed that second year, but
Speaker 2: he went to back to back sweet sixteen's, which, hey,
Speaker 2: that didn't sound like something really worth bragging about, but
Speaker 2: that was a big deal for Indiana. And then they
Speaker 2: have a down year after that, and then he goes
Speaker 2: back to the sweet sixteen. I believe it was in
Speaker 2: twenty sixteen whenever they knocked off that Kentucky team that
Speaker 2: had Jamal Murray. And then the next year they were bad.
Speaker 2: I think the year after that they were bad. So
Speaker 2: they moved on and hired Archie Miller and that was,
Speaker 2: you know, a mistake. But Crane then went to Georgia
Speaker 2: and it was it'll go down as one of the
Speaker 2: worst stretches any SEC basketball coaches had. I mean, that
Speaker 2: was terrible. So maybe he does land on his feet somewhere,
Speaker 2: but I would still go Crean over Bob Pupkins. I
Speaker 2: just don't. I mean, to me, it seems like too
Speaker 2: big of a risk to hire, to hire Bob Huggins,
Speaker 2: But that's just me, all right. So with Kevin Willard,
Speaker 2: I found myself being more fascinated by this story than
Speaker 2: I would have ever expected because the way he's answering
Speaker 2: questions or you know, deflecting, not answering questions, Like he
Speaker 2: did a radio interview and was pretty open about how
Speaker 2: he doesn't just want to hear, Hey, we're going to
Speaker 2: do this, and do this for the basketball program. He
Speaker 2: wants it in its contract that his program will get
Speaker 2: the resources needed to succeed. And obviously the ad who
Speaker 2: he was talking with initially is now left to go
Speaker 2: to SMU. And I would say, in most instances, coaches
Speaker 2: would just coach and not talk about it, and if
Speaker 2: they were asked about it, they would just say, look,
Speaker 2: I'm focused on the Sweet sixteen. And he's done that,
Speaker 2: like he was asked. He was asked about the whole
Speaker 2: situation at the press conference a couple of days ago,
Speaker 2: and he listened, and I thought he was about to give,
Speaker 2: you know, a real answer, but instead he just started
Speaker 2: talking about how good Florida was and how it's going
Speaker 2: to be to guard Walter Clayton junior. So he's been
Speaker 2: back and forth as far as just, you know, does
Speaker 2: he want to talk about it or like he talks
Speaker 2: about it when he wants to, and whenever it's a
Speaker 2: press conference to talk about the game, he doesn't really
Speaker 2: want to go there, which is fine, Like he can
Speaker 2: do whatever he wants. And I think what's made this
Speaker 2: such an interesting thing to follow, and I know I'm
Speaker 2: not alone. I mean, I think it's been one of
Speaker 2: the bigger storylines in the tournament the last couple of days,
Speaker 2: because it's just unusual for a coach to be at
Speaker 2: a place like Maryland in the Big ten, in the
Speaker 2: sweet sixteen, and there's worry that, like he hasn't signed
Speaker 2: his contract yet, why won't he resign? Why doesn't he
Speaker 2: want to be here? And Villanova is not as good
Speaker 2: of a job. There's no I mean, there's just no,
Speaker 2: there's no chance. It's not even close to as good
Speaker 2: of a job as Maryland because of and I know
Speaker 2: at some point we're gonna have to stop looking at
Speaker 2: a good job based off of how many championships they've won,
Speaker 2: because although that shouldn't be ignored completely, that doesn't help you.
Speaker 4: Now.
Speaker 2: In the previous world, if a program has won a
Speaker 2: bunch of national champsmpionships and had a lot of success,
Speaker 2: that would really be like that, that would have that
Speaker 2: that's how the rich got richer in the previous world. Well,
Speaker 2: now it's all about money Maryland not Maryland. But Villanova's
Speaker 2: got two titles in the last ten years, which is
Speaker 2: two more than the vast majority of college basketball. Right,
Speaker 2: but that means nothing. You can't go recruit players right
Speaker 2: now and tell them, well, you should come here because
Speaker 2: we're a championship program. One because like, even if Jay
Speaker 2: Wright was still there and he didn't have money, he'd
Speaker 2: have a tough time getting really good players. Because now
Speaker 2: money is a huge component in the decision as far
Speaker 2: as where you're going to play out of high school
Speaker 2: or where you're gonna transfer to. And is anybody given
Speaker 2: any thought to the fact that you know, maybe, just
Speaker 2: maybe Jay Wright got out and retired as this new
Speaker 2: world was was forming because he realized he maximized everything
Speaker 2: you could possibly do at a place like Villanova, and
Speaker 2: that he knew that now that money was needed as
Speaker 2: far as raising it to pay your players with nil
Speaker 2: like he just knew that he had no there was
Speaker 2: no scenario they'd be able to compete with the top programs.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think he probably was, you know, realized
Speaker 2: he had nothing left to prove. He was pretty content.
Speaker 2: But John Rosstein had a really good breakdown yesterday on
Speaker 2: one of his social media pages that really described the
Speaker 2: Nova job in the Nova history to where they're good
Speaker 2: times under Jay Wright and Rossie mah was it what
Speaker 2: is his name?
Speaker 1: Now?
Speaker 2: I just had it on the tip of my tongue.
Speaker 2: The Villanova coach who won a title before Jay Wright,
Speaker 2: Raleigh Massamino. I think that's his name. Yeah, I mean
Speaker 2: he he was somebody that also just was able to
Speaker 2: I don't want to act like you're you're working with
Speaker 2: like a low major that has like no resources anything
Speaker 2: like that, but like Nova for a program that does
Speaker 2: have now three titles. Other programs that have two or
Speaker 2: more have way better resources than Villanova, and that stuff
Speaker 2: matters now more than it ever has. So if they
Speaker 2: don't get Jay right, which I just I'm sorry, if
Speaker 2: they don't get Kevin Willer, which I don't think they're
Speaker 2: gonna get, I just have a hard time thinking he
Speaker 2: would walk away. Look, if there was a different job open,
Speaker 2: like a different job in the Big ten and the SEC,
Speaker 2: then I think he would go. But I just think
Speaker 2: going to Villanova. Clearly you can find a lot worse
Speaker 2: jobs than that. But the things he's complaining about not
Speaker 2: getting at Maryland, he's gonna have a much tougher time
Speaker 2: getting those things at Villanova. All right, quick break, we'll
Speaker 2: come back on the other side. We'll have our weekly
Speaker 2: chat with the one and only mister Jeff Milby, and
Speaker 2: we'll keep this thing rolling along on a Thursday. It's
Speaker 2: coffee and company. Feel about Thorntons right here on Sports
Speaker 2: Talk seven.
Speaker 1: Ninety Now back to coffee and Company fueled by Thornton's
Speaker 1: on Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 2: That's right, coffee and Company rolling along, wrapping up the
Speaker 2: four o'clock out. We're here on a Thursday afternoon, and
Speaker 2: it is now time for our weekly chat with the
Speaker 2: one and only mister Jeff Melby. Jeff, how are you
Speaker 2: doing today? Brother?
Speaker 3: Thanks for good next, things are good?
Speaker 4: If this is coffee and company, does that make me
Speaker 4: the company you are?
Speaker 2: But make yourself at home. Don't consider yourself a guest here,
Speaker 2: consider yourself. I mean, you're now a regular with us,
Speaker 2: so therefore you're you know, you're you're part of the crew.
Speaker 4: So but yes, well, I already took my shoes off
Speaker 4: and they're up on the coffee table.
Speaker 3: Love it. I'm feeling mighty comfortable, my friend. Love it.
Speaker 2: Good stuff. So I know, last time we talked, the
Speaker 2: club was getting set for the second second match of
Speaker 2: the season. Obviously that one didn't didn't appear to go
Speaker 2: too well. That was a two to zero loss to BAYFC.
Speaker 2: Talk us through sort of, I guess how that one
Speaker 2: played out.
Speaker 4: Yeah, difficult night, certainly difficult night for Racing Louisville. First
Speaker 4: West Coast road trip of the year, first road trip
Speaker 4: of the year period to go out to BAYFC, which
Speaker 4: is in the Bay area San Jose, California. They had
Speaker 4: fourteen thousand I think fourteen seven hundred.
Speaker 3: Was the number. It was a lowed environment.
Speaker 4: Players talked about it afterwards. They just weren't quite ready
Speaker 4: for it, if we're being honest, if they were being honest,
Speaker 4: And they gave up two goals in the first half,
Speaker 4: one on a free kick that Katie Lund, the goalkeeper
Speaker 4: for Racing Louisville, was able to get her hands to it,
Speaker 4: but you couldn't keep it out.
Speaker 3: And then the second.
Speaker 4: Goal, honestly might be the goal of the year, might
Speaker 4: be one of the goals of the year. Per Bay
Speaker 4: Their player Lima took it about sixty yards at her feet,
Speaker 4: running all the way down the field and blasted it
Speaker 4: from about twenty yards out into the top corner. I mean,
Speaker 4: just really a sensational goal for her and Racing Louisville.
Speaker 4: Despite having a better second half in that game than
Speaker 4: they did in the first half, they certainly improved as
Speaker 4: the game went on, but they couldn't dig themselves out
Speaker 4: of that deficit and it was a difficult doubting. But
Speaker 4: that's this league, man, I mean, fourteen teams in the league.
Speaker 4: There's a lot of parody.
Speaker 3: You got to have it every.
Speaker 4: Night if you're going to compete in this league, and
Speaker 4: it just wasn't racing Louisville nights. Now they'll turn the page.
Speaker 4: They've got a real opportunity this weekend at Chicago. Then
Speaker 4: next week is an international break, so the players who
Speaker 4: represent their various national teams will head off to play
Speaker 4: with their national teams. The rest of the players will
Speaker 4: have a little bit of a break next weekend, and
Speaker 4: then the big Thunder game coming up on April twelfth
Speaker 4: is the next opportunity after this weekend at Chicago. So
Speaker 4: a very important game this weekend to make sure they
Speaker 4: get the mojo back in the right direction heading into
Speaker 4: that important Thunder over Louisville game.
Speaker 2: I know in previous seasons there's been a lot of
Speaker 2: representation on the roster with players that do represent their country.
Speaker 2: What does that look like this year with the roster
Speaker 2: as far as players that are going to be away
Speaker 2: for that break.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we still got plenty of international players on this team,
Speaker 4: still lots of top quality talent from around the world.
Speaker 4: Those rosters are being announced right now. So there are
Speaker 4: a few players that we expect that will be called
Speaker 4: up to the national teams that it hasn't been announced
Speaker 4: yet so far. Jeanine Sonis, who is from Canada, won
Speaker 4: a gold medal with Canada back in the twenty twenty Olympics,
Speaker 4: won a bronze medal with Canada earlier in her career
Speaker 4: as well. She's been called up to the Canadian national
Speaker 4: team for this international window. And then Elli pickI Yamsa,
Speaker 4: who plays for Finland, has also been called up. But
Speaker 4: we expect three or four other players to also be
Speaker 4: called up for their national teams. Angela Baron is a
Speaker 4: center back, doesn't play much for Racing, but she's a
Speaker 4: member of the Colombian national team, a player that I
Speaker 4: would expect gets called up. And then Ari Borgius, who
Speaker 4: is the starter for Racing Louisville Is she plays for
Speaker 4: Brazil as well, so she's expected to be called up.
Speaker 4: That's not official, but I.
Speaker 3: Would be surprised if she weren't called up this window.
Speaker 4: So that's a look at it. And then obviously we
Speaker 4: talk about the US national teamers on this team, Mscars
Speaker 4: most recently being capped. That's what they say when you
Speaker 4: get called up to the national team, being passed by
Speaker 4: the national team. Taylor Flint also has played for the
Speaker 4: national team in the last three years. Savannah de Mello
Speaker 4: as well as we know. So we'll see if one
Speaker 4: of those three gets or actually, as we know now,
Speaker 4: the national team put out the roster and neither of
Speaker 4: those three got called up this window, but it'll be
Speaker 4: an opportunity for them going forward to continue to be
Speaker 4: involved with that national team. All young players that have
Speaker 4: bright features there so certainly lots of international talent on
Speaker 4: the roster.
Speaker 2: Jeff Bilby's our guest joting us here from Racing Louisville FC.
Speaker 2: So one of the things we talked about last week
Speaker 2: was the fact that you know that the chip on
Speaker 2: the shoulder can certainly be something that this club here
Speaker 2: in Louisville can embrace and fans can embrace it as well.
Speaker 2: And I kind of feel like that's something our city
Speaker 2: has has grown accustomed to doing. But one of the
Speaker 2: things I wanted to ask you is that you know
Speaker 2: when it comes to maybe players not deciding to play
Speaker 2: here and wanting to go elsewhere, Like it's not just
Speaker 2: about where you where you reside. It's it's a lot
Speaker 2: of times about you know, your livelihood, money, you know,
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff. So I guess my question is
Speaker 2: with the roster this year. I know there's there's some
Speaker 2: that have been here longer than just this season. There's
Speaker 2: some players that that that are new. What have you
Speaker 2: gathered as far as how they view Louisville Because I
Speaker 2: feel like the last couple of years, whenever we would
Speaker 2: we would we would talk racing Louisville, I would hear
Speaker 2: about how those that weren't from Louisville that had really
Speaker 2: no clue what they were getting into when they signed
Speaker 2: to join the club, they find themselves really loving this city,
Speaker 2: this you know, the culture here and even though it
Speaker 2: is sort of a you know, it's it's it's an
Speaker 2: upstart club, expansion club compared to some other clubs within
Speaker 2: the league. I just I think one of the things
Speaker 2: that could really and has I believed, helped the growth
Speaker 2: as far as fans getting out and really just enjoying
Speaker 2: this club. The soccer and of course getting to know
Speaker 2: the team. Is that if you are an outsider and
Speaker 2: you're here and this is your new home, and you
Speaker 2: like us, and you seem to really enjoy Louisville, like
Speaker 2: that can go a long way. I'm just curious. Is
Speaker 2: that still a thing to where those that came here knowing, Hey,
Speaker 2: all I know is this is my new job and
Speaker 2: I'm going to play soccer, But then it seems like
Speaker 2: they end up really loving this city too.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they absolutely do.
Speaker 4: That is still very much true with this group of
Speaker 4: players this year. We do have a lot of returning players.
Speaker 4: I think it was about seventy five or eighty percent
Speaker 4: of the roster last year coming back, but the players
Speaker 4: that signed in the offseason, the rookies they brought in,
Speaker 4: and then when they're recruiting other players from whether it
Speaker 4: be American players or international players, selling the city of
Speaker 4: Louisville is a big part of their pitch. Bevianz and
Speaker 4: the coaching staff when they're on these calls with players
Speaker 4: trying to say like, hey, we have an opportunity for
Speaker 4: you here in Louisville. Obviously they talk about soccer, right,
Speaker 4: they talk about the tactics and the X's and o's
Speaker 4: and here's our playing style, and here's how we see
Speaker 4: you fitting in with us, and all that on the
Speaker 4: field stuff. But I would say like fifty percent of
Speaker 4: the calls that they have at the time, they spend
Speaker 4: on these calls and saying like, hey, this, this is
Speaker 4: what the city of Louisville is, because it's just in
Speaker 4: the world of soccer. It's a little bit of an
Speaker 4: unknown even for American players in the soccer world. And repeatedly,
Speaker 4: you're exactly on it, Nick. Repeatedly, these players come to
Speaker 4: Louisville not really knowing what to expect. You know, they
Speaker 4: maybe have seen the Kentucky Derby. They you know, we
Speaker 4: end up telling them about Bourbon a little bit and
Speaker 4: they're like, oh, okay, that's that's cool. Then they come
Speaker 4: here and and many of them love it. Most of
Speaker 4: them love it. I mean, like Savannah de Mello is
Speaker 4: the best example, right, She's from California, played at USC
Speaker 4: was drafted here, and she said recently, we did a
Speaker 4: Q and A with the season ticket members a couple
Speaker 4: of weeks ago, and she said, I really had no
Speaker 4: idea what Louisville was, and when I came here, it
Speaker 4: quickly became home and she owns a home here now.
Speaker 3: She definitely has roots here. Other players have roots here
Speaker 3: as well, and they all.
Speaker 4: Will tell you that they love it here once they
Speaker 4: get here. They don't they just don't know, I mean
Speaker 4: to expect, right, And again, this is what I was
Speaker 4: telling you last week. I mean, in the world of
Speaker 4: professional soccer on this level, Louisville's kind of the outside
Speaker 4: of the group, right, I mean, players know what to
Speaker 4: expect them to go to Chicago, Well, they know what
Speaker 4: to expect them they go to La they know to
Speaker 4: expect when they go to San Diego. But Louisville's a
Speaker 4: little bit off the beaten path, so to speak. But
Speaker 4: but you're absolutely right. The players for racing Louisville when
Speaker 4: they come here, so often you will hear them say like, wow,
Speaker 4: I didn't know what to expect, but I love it here.
Speaker 4: And I'll tell you, I think that they are very
Speaker 4: very proud to represent this city on this national stage,
Speaker 4: taken on those big markets like I just mentioned. And
Speaker 4: certainly it's a talented roster as well, really hoping to
Speaker 4: get some get some results, go in the right direction
Speaker 4: so that they can get to you know, get some
Speaker 4: points in the standings and maybe move into that playoff
Speaker 4: position come seasons in.
Speaker 2: So, I see this weekend's game on the road at
Speaker 2: Chicago will be on the CBS Sports Network. How does
Speaker 2: that work as far I know, there's different ways you
Speaker 2: can view. Then there's a paramount plus deal as well
Speaker 2: that the that the league has, But how does it mean?
Speaker 2: How does it work out? As far as you know?
Speaker 2: CVA Sports Network. I feel like that's a pretty good
Speaker 2: network to have to have your game on. Did they
Speaker 2: I mean how often will will the club play in
Speaker 2: game like that where it can be on a network
Speaker 2: like that.
Speaker 3: Well, it's like any other big sport, right and make
Speaker 3: any other.
Speaker 4: You know NFL and I guess the NFL is a
Speaker 4: little different. But you know the NBA, you only see
Speaker 4: certain teams on national TV like radio.
Speaker 2: You play the Hits, right a lot of right, you
Speaker 2: get a lot of.
Speaker 3: The Lakers, you get a lot of the Knicks, you
Speaker 3: get a lot of the Celtics.
Speaker 4: You don't see a whole lot of the Portland Trailblazers, right,
Speaker 4: And it's unfortunate for Racing Louis that we're we're kind
Speaker 4: of the Portland Trailblazers of the NWSL a little bit
Speaker 4: not only a small market, but also unfortunately the last
Speaker 4: couple years the team that hasn't made the playoffs, so
Speaker 4: we haven't been picked up for too many national TV games,
Speaker 4: like like we have this weekend on CBS Sports Network.
Speaker 3: The league has deals with Amazon.
Speaker 4: There's a big Friday night prime time game on Amazon Prime.
Speaker 4: They have deals with CBS and ESPN as well. But yeah,
Speaker 4: this will be one of the few opportunities where Racing
Speaker 4: Louisville will be on national TV this year at THEBS
Speaker 4: Sports Network, because yes, it's absolutely an opportunity. I'll tell
Speaker 4: you what nigga's are really the team they're playing Chicago.
Speaker 4: This is a game that Racing Louisville probably should win,
Speaker 4: I think has to win because of who Chicago is.
Speaker 4: They got trounced a couple of weeks ago six nothing
Speaker 4: by Orlando. They lost last week after having an early
Speaker 4: lead at home.
Speaker 3: They copped up a lead at home.
Speaker 4: And this is a team that Racing Louisville has beaten
Speaker 4: a lot in recent years. They swept them last year.
Speaker 4: Six all time wins against Chicago over the series history
Speaker 4: for Racing Louisville. That's the most of any team that
Speaker 4: they've faced in the league's as the team that Racing's
Speaker 4: had their number. And it's an opportunity after that tough
Speaker 4: loss last week at Bay to go on national TV,
Speaker 4: go on CBS Courts Network, and maybe make a statement
Speaker 4: to the soccer watching public out there across the country
Speaker 4: that this Racing team is for real and that this
Speaker 4: Racing team has to be taken seriously as a playoff
Speaker 4: contender in the NWSOL, because I, like I told you
Speaker 4: last week, the national media is not taking Racing Louisville seriously,
Speaker 4: as it contend strongly, they're mocking us. I'm telling you, Nick,
Speaker 4: there's so much slander for not only Racing Louisville, but
Speaker 4: the city of Louisville in this league. And it's an
Speaker 4: opportunity on Sunday to go out there and show some
Speaker 4: of those folks that they're wrong and show them that
Speaker 4: not only is this team legit, but this city is
Speaker 4: legitible be if this game's on the road, really though,
Speaker 4: that April twelfth game will be the opportunity to show
Speaker 4: the world that this city is a legit soccer city.
Speaker 4: When we packed the place with twelve or thirteen thousand
Speaker 4: fans when Racing takes on the Washington spirit on Thunder
Speaker 4: over Louisville Day on April twelfth, that'll be a real
Speaker 4: opportunity to turn some heads across the country. So if
Speaker 4: you want to be a part of that, go to
Speaker 4: racingloufc dot com slash Thunder to get your tickets. Hoping
Speaker 4: for another record crowd this year after we had eleven thousand,
Speaker 4: three hundred last year and a five to one win
Speaker 4: in that game last year. Hoping for a similar environment
Speaker 4: and a similar result this season against Washington here in
Speaker 4: a couple of weeks time. But yeah, Sunday at Chicago
Speaker 4: National TV, a chance for this team to make a statement.
Speaker 2: For short, I had no clue these conversations we'd have
Speaker 2: each week would get me so fired up and ready
Speaker 2: to I'm ready to run through a brick wall because
Speaker 2: I can't. I don't like the city of Louisville and
Speaker 2: Racing Louisville getting the slander. It's unacceptable. But and you
Speaker 2: actually answered my last question. I was going to say,
Speaker 2: when it comes to the Thunder game April twelfth, we
Speaker 2: now have because Thunder is such a big deal. It's
Speaker 2: an amazing thing we have here in the city. We
Speaker 2: now have you know, people competing as far as trying
Speaker 2: to get people out to their event. Well, the place
Speaker 2: to be is Lynn Family Stadium on April twelfth. Nowhere else,
Speaker 2: but I'll give you the floor here. Tell us why
Speaker 2: there's no better place to watch uh Thunder over Louisville
Speaker 2: than at Lynn Family Stadium, Because again, there's other options,
Speaker 2: but there's no options better than than at the most
Speaker 2: beautiful stadium you'll find.
Speaker 3: That's that's certainly true.
Speaker 4: There are there are other options, but there are no
Speaker 4: better options than Lynn Family Stadium for Thunder over Louisville.
Speaker 4: They look you get the best view of the of
Speaker 4: the air show from Lynn Family Stadium. You get a
Speaker 4: perfect view of the whole vista with the skyline off
Speaker 4: to the left if you're sitting on that on that
Speaker 4: far side of options.
Speaker 2: Even if there's no fireworks, it's it's a beautiful view
Speaker 2: of just what this city is.
Speaker 4: Right, any old game you can come and get a
Speaker 4: beautiful view of the city, but so come from Thunder
Speaker 4: over Louisville. You get that that vista of the downtown skyline.
Speaker 4: You get to see the air Show last year, it
Speaker 4: was so it was like it was perfect timing. There
Speaker 4: was a fighter jet that flew right over the stadium
Speaker 4: right a Savannah de Mello scort a penalty kick in
Speaker 4: that fire.
Speaker 2: That's like something out of a movie.
Speaker 3: It was literally so you get that that perfect view.
Speaker 4: Hopefully we get that kind of synergy from the air
Speaker 4: air show folks as well this year, and then afterward
Speaker 4: we're gonna have lots of fun and activities in the
Speaker 4: fan zone building up to the fireworks show as the
Speaker 4: night goes on.
Speaker 1: Music.
Speaker 4: There was a Silent Disco last year, some other events
Speaker 4: like that, and then you get a great view from
Speaker 4: the fan zone or if you want to find one
Speaker 4: of those spots in.
Speaker 3: That upper deck.
Speaker 4: I was telling you about that view, Nick, I mean,
Speaker 4: imagine you're sitting there, you got your blanket, you got
Speaker 4: your feet kicked up, a drink in your hand, some
Speaker 4: food to monch on, you got the skyline.
Speaker 3: Of the city of Louisville, which we all love is.
Speaker 4: So iconic, and then off to the right the thunder
Speaker 4: over Louisville fireworks show. I mean, it was just an
Speaker 4: absolutely perfect view combining everything. You're not just looking at
Speaker 4: the fireworks. You're not just seeing downtown from across the river.
Speaker 4: Maybe you're on this side of the river and you
Speaker 4: get to see downtown, see the fireworks. It's a perfect view.
Speaker 4: We've gotten great reviews the last two years. Right last
Speaker 4: year we had the game. The year before that, we
Speaker 4: just opened up the stadium folks to come and see it,
Speaker 4: and everybody that we've talked to has loved it. So
Speaker 4: it'll be a great opportunity. And guess what, Nick, you
Speaker 4: get to see some exciting soccer, two hours of exciting,
Speaker 4: heart pumping soccer with Racing louisvill hopefully pulling off a
Speaker 4: win over Washington in a couple of weeks. So racingluifc
Speaker 4: dot com, slash Thunder is the place to go to
Speaker 4: get your seats. Tickets starting at very affordable prices, and
Speaker 4: it's going to be a great environment. Well over twelve
Speaker 4: or thirteen thousand. It'll be a memorable that I'm telling you.
Speaker 4: If you bring your family, bring your friends, you will
Speaker 4: all be talking about this next year. Come Thunder time.
Speaker 4: You'll say, oh, yeah, remember last year went to the
Speaker 4: soccer game.
Speaker 3: That was amazing, Let's do it again.
Speaker 4: That's the kind of experience we're going to put on
Speaker 4: for you on April twelve.
Speaker 2: I ask and he absolutely delivers. Very well done, Jeff Melvey,
Speaker 2: Well done, Appreciate the time, my friend, and we'll talk soon.
Speaker 3: Brother.
Speaker 2: He ay, good weekend.
Speaker 4: I know you can't see me, but I'm taking a
Speaker 4: bow right now.
Speaker 2: That was well done, man, no joke. I mean I
Speaker 2: put you on the spot and the delivery was sensational.
Speaker 2: So keep it up, brother, We'll talk soon.
Speaker 3: Yep.
Speaker 2: Right, take care. That's Jeff Melby from Racing Louisville FC
Speaker 2: and again RACINGLEUFC dot com is the website. And I
Speaker 2: just saw a beautiful picture of the fireworks of you
Speaker 2: from the stadium from last year, and it doesn't get
Speaker 2: much better than that. All Right, we got a run,
Speaker 2: quick break. We'll come back five o'clock hour right here
Speaker 2: on Sports Talk seven ninety