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Speaker 1: Virginia three thirty Kick Our pregame coverage will start at
Speaker 1: two thirty. The Louisville football pregame show presented by Pillow
Speaker 1: Windows and Doors of Central Kentucky and Jefferson Animal Hospital
Speaker 1: will start a two thirty, taking you up till three
Speaker 1: thirty and then as soon as the game comes to
Speaker 1: an end, which probably going to be about six thirty seven.
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know much about Virginia as far
Speaker 1: as how fast they want to play, so you know,
Speaker 1: usually three three hours is like the minimum. I can't
Speaker 1: think of a football postgame show we've done where the
Speaker 1: game didn't last at least three hours. Sometimes it's closer
Speaker 1: to four. Really just depends. But again, as soon as
Speaker 1: it ends, whenever that may be, we will go live
Speaker 1: here reacting to it on the Louisville Football Postgame Show
Speaker 1: presented by Alex rwy Lawyers to Distracted Driver dot Com.
Speaker 1: And as I've said throughout the show today, I'm I'm nervous,
Speaker 1: but it's not necessarily a nerve. It's not like I'm
Speaker 1: expecting Louisville to lose. It's just as we get closer,
Speaker 1: I'm coming to grips with the fact that I can't
Speaker 1: really say that I'm going to be that shocked if
Speaker 1: they come out and do the same thing they've done
Speaker 1: all year, because it's kind of part of establishing an identity.
Speaker 1: It's not an identity that you want, but you got
Speaker 1: to look in the mirror. So a couple of people
Speaker 1: have kind of asked the same question on the text line.
Speaker 1: And by the way, if you guys want to join
Speaker 1: the show, you can. We have no guest scheduled in
Speaker 1: the five o'clock hours, so you can give us a
Speaker 1: call FABO two five seven one seventy nine hundred, or
Speaker 1: you can text in on the Ellen and Federal Credit
Speaker 1: Union text line at faveb ooh two six five.
Speaker 2: Three zero seven ninety.
Speaker 1: But the question, or you know, the statement was that
Speaker 1: I'm either keeping something you know, is there something I essentially,
Speaker 1: is there something that I know that has me worried
Speaker 1: about this game that nobody knows well. First of all, no,
Speaker 1: I don't have any inside information about anything, and it's
Speaker 1: not that I'm telling you lol was going to lose.
Speaker 1: But I'm also just being real that if they do,
Speaker 1: and it's because of you know, some avoidable mistakes, a
Speaker 1: defense that's just not just not good, you know, not
Speaker 1: not together, not organized, and not coached well right, does it?
Speaker 1: I mean the head coach himself has said after the
Speaker 1: game against SMU and in his press conference earlier this
Speaker 1: week that like, the defense needs to be better when
Speaker 1: it comes to strategy, game plan, scheme, you know, what
Speaker 1: that falls on coaching. So you know, I'm hopeful that
Speaker 1: they have a better plan in place and that they're
Speaker 1: simplifying things as they want and that the results are better.
Speaker 1: But if they're not, yes, the disappointment is going to
Speaker 1: be there. But as far as like shock and surprise,
Speaker 1: I mean, let's be real, You've played five games and
Speaker 1: you've kind of been the same team. You've shown the
Speaker 1: ability to really make some big plays on offense. Your
Speaker 1: offensive line is certainly not the strength of the team,
Speaker 1: but they're not the reason that you're sitting with a
Speaker 1: three and two record. I don't think. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: a collective thing. It's decisions from the coaching staff, the
Speaker 1: coaching staff, ron English, not having the defense with the
Speaker 1: right game plan or having them organized in any way. Like,
Speaker 1: it's not just one thing that has put Louisville here.
Speaker 1: But you know, it's been there every game, and it
Speaker 1: was there. You can go back and look if you'd want.
Speaker 1: I'm not sure why you'd ever want to go back
Speaker 1: and watch Louisville play Jacksonville State or Austin p again.
Speaker 1: I mean, maybe we end up getting there a few
Speaker 1: weeks from now, because if the season continues to to,
Speaker 1: you know, be disappointing me. We go back to those
Speaker 1: games just to remind ourselves that at one point we
Speaker 1: were beating teams really badly. But you didn't notice those
Speaker 1: mistakes that those that Louisville made in those games because
Speaker 1: they were blowouts. You were already up four touchdowns probably
Speaker 1: when some of those mistakes were made. So it's not
Speaker 1: that I'm telling you that Louisville's going to do the
Speaker 1: same things tomorrow as they've done all year and it's
Speaker 1: going to be a sad Saturday once again. I'm just
Speaker 1: on my end telling you that I think Virginia is
Speaker 1: in a good spot here and Louisville needs to come
Speaker 1: out ready to play from the jump. The worst case scenario,
Speaker 1: and it doesn't mean that like you're destined to loose
Speaker 1: if this happens. But if Virginia starts with the ball
Speaker 1: and they march down the field and they score, hopefully
Speaker 1: not as easily as SMU did in their first two
Speaker 1: opportunities last week. But if if Virginia starts with the ball,
Speaker 1: they punch one in early, that's where it really becomes
Speaker 1: a gut check time for this team in a major way.
Speaker 2: Like, that's where I think it.
Speaker 1: You know, in that point, I feel like you're gonna
Speaker 1: either find out, okay, we are we in for a
Speaker 1: really rough year where this thing snowballs and it's tough
Speaker 1: to really snap out of, especially knowing that the best
Speaker 1: teams you play are on the back end of the schedule, Like,
Speaker 1: is is that where we're gonna go or is it
Speaker 1: going to be a bounce back when where you clean
Speaker 1: some things up, find a way to win, and then
Speaker 1: realize the next week against Miami that's where your opportunity
Speaker 1: is there to really shift it in a different direction
Speaker 1: going fast, because if you can and again it's never
Speaker 1: been about can they, It's about will they?
Speaker 2: And if you you know, And I.
Speaker 1: Still choose to believe despite clearly there being some issues
Speaker 1: upfront on the offensive line now with Monroe Mills out
Speaker 1: that is even more the case. And on defense they're
Speaker 1: missing Quincy Riley, there's no doubt about it, and and
Speaker 1: the scheme has been a big factor. But also you know,
Speaker 1: maybe they do have some issues there where they've they've
Speaker 1: got some vulnerability. But even with all that, let's be real,
Speaker 1: if you take away three or four mistakes that you
Speaker 1: made that could have been prevented, or a play call
Speaker 1: on fourth down that we now know was a wrong,
Speaker 1: the wrong decision. Even Jeff's acknowledged he would take one
Speaker 1: or two of those back. Like if those don't happen
Speaker 1: and those go a different direction, and it's all would it,
Speaker 1: could have, should have. But if that happens, you still win.
Speaker 1: And that doesn't mean anything when you lose, but it
Speaker 1: does give you some validation in knowing that you're not
Speaker 1: really that far off. Like it's not as if you
Speaker 1: got to go to practice starting this week and just
Speaker 1: completely become a different team and just you know, have
Speaker 1: everybody improve individually at a substantial rate. Like it's not
Speaker 1: that it's just tightening things up and being better and
Speaker 1: that's so vague and generic, but like it, you know,
Speaker 1: that's what it is. So tomorrow is, in a weird way,
Speaker 1: a huge, huge game for this team in this season,
Speaker 1: because it's one you're supposed to win and it's unfortunate,
Speaker 1: but that's where you are. Meaning when I say unfortunate,
Speaker 1: you don't really whole lot to gain. Now, maybe you
Speaker 1: don't care. I mean if these guys on the team
Speaker 1: don't care, I mean they shouldn't care right about perception,
Speaker 1: But a win here's what you're just supposed to do.
Speaker 2: But it also.
Speaker 1: Calms some things, avoids the three game losing streak with
Speaker 1: a huge opportunity coming next week to potentially really shift
Speaker 1: it again in the positive direction. A loss here, you'd
Speaker 1: be sitting at one and two in league play, three
Speaker 1: and three overall, Jeff would then be one and five
Speaker 1: or one and six in his last seven games against
Speaker 1: FBA or against Power four teams. And oh, by the way,
Speaker 1: with Miami next week, a trip to Clemson coming up
Speaker 1: before too long a trip to Kentucky to end the year,
Speaker 1: I mean, they gotta win tomorrow. If not, Like, it's
Speaker 1: just gonna be tough for me to with a straight
Speaker 1: face tell you that. Like I think the season's gonna
Speaker 1: be in any way a positive one. I mean, I
Speaker 1: guess anything is possible, right, Like a loss here, maybe
Speaker 1: you beat Miami the next week and then you get
Speaker 1: it rolling. But like it's just hard for me, Like
Speaker 1: that's just wishful That's all that is, is wishful thinking. If
Speaker 1: you played six games and this team tomorrow comes out
Speaker 1: and they once again show that they are prone to
Speaker 1: make those same kind of mistakes. Then you just have
Speaker 1: to accept that that's who they are and they may
Speaker 1: change at some point, but until they don't, don't.
Speaker 2: Expect it, you know.
Speaker 1: I mean that that's kind of where I'm at. So
Speaker 1: never thought we'd be here, but Game six, October twelfth,
Speaker 1: I kind of feel like this result tomorrow is really
Speaker 1: gonna kind of. I mean, it's when I say I
Speaker 1: hesitate to say it because I realize it sounds so dramatic,
Speaker 1: but that's the way I see it. You lose here,
Speaker 1: I just think it's snowballs. Not to say that you
Speaker 1: end up in a situation where you're two and ten
Speaker 1: like you were in Bobby's last year. But right now
Speaker 1: you can claim and I think it's way bigger than this,
Speaker 1: and I think we all know it's not just this,
Speaker 1: but you can claim that the two teams you lost
Speaker 1: to are actually just good teams. You know you could
Speaker 1: have won, but you know, it's not as if you
Speaker 1: have that head scratching, puzzling loss that you're thinking, how
Speaker 1: they hell we lose to those guys?
Speaker 2: Notre Dame.
Speaker 1: It's Notre Dame, and regardless of how good you actually
Speaker 1: think they are.
Speaker 2: And I made it pretty clear.
Speaker 1: One of the reasons why I was so disappointed after
Speaker 1: that game is because Louisville played so poorly and made
Speaker 1: so many dumb mistakes, did so many stupid things, and
Speaker 1: yet they still looked like they were a better team
Speaker 1: from a talent perspective, and yet they lost. Like that's
Speaker 1: just a big missed opportunity. Still frustrating, But SMU, maybe
Speaker 1: they're just really good. Like they completely changed who they
Speaker 1: are when they made that switch to Jennings at quarterback.
Speaker 1: With Preston Stone, they were slow, he wasn't that effective.
Speaker 1: And now, I mean Red actually is in his bag.
Speaker 2: As the kids say.
Speaker 1: He's got a running quarterback that can make some plays,
Speaker 1: and he's also pretty good with his arm as well.
Speaker 1: And they'd been carving up teams and they came into
Speaker 1: Cardinal Stadium last week and did the same thing. So
Speaker 1: I don't like saying SMU may just be better than Louisville,
Speaker 1: but they were last week and that's all that matters.
Speaker 1: And moving forward, if they're really good, that makes Louisville
Speaker 1: look good. And I suppose, you know, if they end
Speaker 1: up going on and winning a bunch of games this year,
Speaker 1: I mean, technically you want SMU to lose because they
Speaker 1: already have the tiebreaker over you, But I'm not sure
Speaker 1: who's going to beat him.
Speaker 2: You know.
Speaker 1: Going into their first season in the ACC, SMU had
Speaker 1: to have thought that their first two, their first two
Speaker 1: games in league play, are going to be the toughest
Speaker 1: games they play, right, that's Florida State and then Louisville,
Speaker 1: and they beat both of them, so they could easily
Speaker 1: lose if they don't come ready to play. But if
Speaker 1: you go back and look at their schedule, that's why
Speaker 1: they were always mentioned when it comes to being a
Speaker 1: potential ACC title game team, not just because people thought
Speaker 1: they were going to be great, because everybody looked at
Speaker 1: their schedule and realized it worked out well for them,
Speaker 1: just like it did Louisville last year. So again I'm
Speaker 1: I'm I'm ready for this thing to start tomorrow, but
Speaker 1: I'm also kind of like not ready because I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't.
Speaker 1: I just think if they come out and do it
Speaker 1: again and just look like a like a sloppy team,
Speaker 1: that would be really disappointing, but it would also just
Speaker 1: kind of give me the you know, I'm not going
Speaker 1: to say that, I'm just going to write off every
Speaker 1: game the rest of the way as if the season's over.
Speaker 1: But I will probably turn into the guy that just says, look,
Speaker 1: it's not about ability, it's about what you can do.
Speaker 1: But they haven't shown that they're able to do what
Speaker 1: we need. What they need to do, which is play
Speaker 1: clean football, come ready to play, and you know, not
Speaker 1: hurt themselves. And I don't want to make it out
Speaker 1: to sound as if, well, they're so good, they just
Speaker 1: make mistakes, that's why they're I mean, they're no. I
Speaker 1: mean it's not There's gonna be games against teams that
Speaker 1: we know Loulve was better at that the other team
Speaker 1: will probably have an advantage at a certain position. That's
Speaker 1: just how it works. But Virginia is a team that
Speaker 1: I feel comfortable in saying you shouldn't lose to them, Like,
Speaker 1: even though you're struggling, you shouldn't lose. So you know,
Speaker 1: going right now you can claim SMU and Notre Dame,
Speaker 1: even though how they got there is frustrating to fans.
Speaker 1: Those aren't looked at right now as really bad losses,
Speaker 1: especially with SMU now in the top twenty five. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's not a good loss, but like it's not like, damn,
Speaker 1: how'd you lose to them? Virginia would be that team,
Speaker 1: even though they would move to five and one with
Speaker 1: a win. Let's be real, like, they haven't beaten anybody
Speaker 1: with a pulse, and they've got a lost to Maryland,
Speaker 1: which doesn't really look like a good loss. So we'll
Speaker 1: see what happens tomorrow at three thirty, and hopefully it's
Speaker 1: a good result. All right, So Kentucky's got big blue
Speaker 1: madness tonight. Did they sell it out? I think they did?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 1: Now is it at Rup? What is that memorial?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 1: I think Memorial is where they're doing their their their
Speaker 1: blue white game.
Speaker 3: Yes.
Speaker 1: But I'm just gonna say this now because you know,
Speaker 1: I got to say it at some point, because you know,
Speaker 1: my job is to share thoughts, uh and opinions, even
Speaker 1: if they may not be popular to some of the
Speaker 1: people that listen, and some of you may not care
Speaker 1: because you know, hype doesn't actually do much for you
Speaker 1: if you don't deliver, and we have we don't have
Speaker 1: a clue how either of these coaches are going to deliver, right, They.
Speaker 2: Got to win.
Speaker 1: We love Mark, we love Pat Kelsey here with Louisville
Speaker 1: and Kentucky fans love Mark Pope.
Speaker 2: We know that.
Speaker 1: But if these guys don't win, then like that love
Speaker 1: will fade, not on a personal level, but like you know,
Speaker 1: you gotta win here, so you know, we'll see. But
Speaker 1: I think, I think, I think rep Areena tonight. I
Speaker 1: think Big Blue Madness as a whole Austin is gonna
Speaker 1: be insane. Like I think they are gonna be. This
Speaker 1: fan base for them is so energized because of everything
Speaker 1: that they were so sick of with Cal is the
Speaker 1: exact opposite of what Mark Pope is. Like he's he's
Speaker 1: he's so refreshing in every way. And they got a
Speaker 1: new team, and again, who knows how good they're gonna be.
Speaker 1: But I think you'll see, like rupp Arena for Big
Speaker 1: Blue Madness in a way that you haven't in a
Speaker 1: long time. And it's gonna you know, it's gonna be.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's gonna be annoying for Louisville fans to hear,
Speaker 1: but I'm just willing to.
Speaker 2: Tell you that, Like I get it, like they're excited
Speaker 2: for a new era just like we are.
Speaker 1: And you know they they have a humongous fan base
Speaker 1: that loves their basketball program, and while a lot of
Speaker 1: them have probably in recent years decided not really to
Speaker 1: be you know, they don't want to go to I
Speaker 1: mean they love to bring up like the crowd stuff
Speaker 1: when it comes to U OFL meaning Kentucky fans, but
Speaker 1: like blick Blue Maddness and even some of their basketball
Speaker 1: home games against the Bums, like they got just as
Speaker 1: many empty seats as a lot of teams. So you know,
Speaker 1: big Blue Maddness had kind of lost its luster under
Speaker 1: col and maybe the event as a whole has, But
Speaker 1: this is like the just like Louisville Live last week
Speaker 1: for Louisville fans, for Kentucky, this is like their first legitimate,
Speaker 1: like Mark Pope leading the program event, and I think
Speaker 1: they're going to show out and it's gonna be it's
Speaker 1: gonna be crazy to see and that court that lights
Speaker 1: up is crazy. I'm watching it again here. I'm looking
Speaker 1: at this week that Mark Pope sent out earlier today. Dude,
Speaker 1: like I'm jealous. That looks cool as hell. Yeah, Like,
Speaker 1: why can't we get that? I don't even know what
Speaker 1: that kind of that thing cost?
Speaker 3: When when do you think it started fizzling out? The
Speaker 3: Big Blue Madness for cal because I remember when he
Speaker 3: first got there, it was it was the red carpet
Speaker 3: you have. That's when Drake showed his allegiancies there and
Speaker 3: that's when it like that was a huge thing and
Speaker 3: that always had the infamous people camping out for it too.
Speaker 3: Even though they're like free, right, like the tickets are.
Speaker 2: Free, I don't know, I have no clue. I'm pretty
Speaker 2: sure that they're free.
Speaker 3: They line up to get them and they're just distributed
Speaker 3: out how much that they can fit in there. And
Speaker 3: I just know that it just gets resold on like
Speaker 3: this secondary market and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: That yeah, I mean I'm not sure if they're free,
Speaker 1: but I would imagine if you're a Kentucky fan. I
Speaker 1: mean just the incentive of being there, like it's not
Speaker 1: you know, like I don't even know what they do
Speaker 1: at Big Blue Madness. Did they do a three point
Speaker 1: shoot undone contest too? Like I think they do.
Speaker 3: You know, they have like they have all the stars,
Speaker 3: especially then with the whole col all the stars that
Speaker 3: were Kentucky fans for a few years.
Speaker 1: I mean, they do the big show and they have
Speaker 1: like the big entrances and players dance and whatnot, and
Speaker 1: you know, just like I mean, not every program, but
Speaker 1: a lot of programs have an event like this. But
Speaker 1: I would imagine before this current situation where they've got
Speaker 1: they're probably gonna have a full house and there's excitement.
Speaker 1: But I think, like you can be like I don't know,
Speaker 1: I've in the last few years really just I guess
Speaker 1: really post COVID, Like I don't second guess anybody who
Speaker 1: just decides they don't want to go to a AIM
Speaker 1: or an event, because I just think we're we're in
Speaker 1: an era now where like you can you can get
Speaker 1: the same Like there's just not it's not just about
Speaker 1: an incentive of saying you were there where you can
Speaker 1: frame your ticket stub like they did in the eighties
Speaker 1: if you were at a big game that was an
Speaker 1: ald timer, But like, what are you getting out of
Speaker 1: that in game experience that makes it worth going when
Speaker 1: you could just watch it at home and really take
Speaker 1: in everything other than you know, saying you were there.
Speaker 1: So I think, to answer your question, I think it
Speaker 1: kind of lost its luster, not because anybody did anything wrong,
Speaker 1: it's just that people realized, Okay, like I don't really
Speaker 1: need to be there for this now with Pope being
Speaker 1: in his first year and there being you know, a
Speaker 1: new era and a brand new team for them, Like
Speaker 1: I think it just sets up for this to be
Speaker 1: crazy like where they're going to have a big crowd
Speaker 1: and I'm sure they got a bunch of recruits coming in,
Speaker 1: so you know.
Speaker 2: It is.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm not excited about the Mark Pope era,
Speaker 1: although I do think he's he's gonna I mean, I
Speaker 1: don't know. I don't think you have the ceiling with
Speaker 1: Pope as you did with cal But also you know,
Speaker 1: you probably won't lose in the first round to Oakland
Speaker 1: and Saint Peter's. But what I'm most anxious to see
Speaker 1: is that the love they have for Pope, which I
Speaker 1: believe is genuine their fans because again he's one of them.
Speaker 1: I mean, I will say this. Pat Fordy had a
Speaker 1: phenomenal column at s I just about Mark Pope and
Speaker 1: how he is. I mean, who knows if he can
Speaker 1: win enough games to keep Kentucky where they want to
Speaker 1: be as far as the standard. But he checks boxes
Speaker 1: that you really can't get anybody else to check, no
Speaker 1: matter how good they are as a coach, and that
Speaker 1: stuff's great unless you can't win. So my question is,
Speaker 1: and only time will tell as far as the answer here,
Speaker 1: is that if they just end up being a good team,
Speaker 1: but their ceiling is like fourth or maybe fifth in
Speaker 1: the SEC because Nat Oates is taken over the league
Speaker 1: and Bruce Pearl still got it rolling at Auburn, Rick
Speaker 1: Barnes is doing great. Who knows, maybe cal really gets
Speaker 1: it rolling at Arkansas and he is, you know, reborn essentially,
Speaker 1: and he starts making championship runs. Again, like, if that's
Speaker 1: the hierarchy of your league and you're good, but you're
Speaker 1: not there with those four, are you cool with that
Speaker 1: because you're not terrible and he's your guy? Are you
Speaker 1: gonna say, look now we need to be elite. It'll
Speaker 1: be an interesting dynamic to see how that all plays out.
Speaker 1: And again, only time will tell, and it's gonna be
Speaker 1: a lot of time before we have any answers to
Speaker 1: those kind of questions. All right, let's do this, let's
Speaker 1: take a quick break. We'll come back on the other side.
Speaker 1: I do want to talk some basketball recruiting because Pat
Speaker 1: Kelsey yesterday when I had him on the show, he
Speaker 1: did mention that they're in a really good spot with
Speaker 1: the guys that they really want. He can't talk recruiting,
Speaker 1: but you know, they don't have to be so dependent
Speaker 1: upon freshmen because you can use the portal. But again,
Speaker 1: there's still some really talented guys from the freshman ranks
Speaker 1: that they want to bring in, and they're in a
Speaker 1: pretty good spot with one of them. But I didn't
Speaker 1: even realize at the time when talking with him yesterday.
Speaker 1: There's another guy that you know, he might have been
Speaker 1: actually insinuating about without saying his name. So we'll get
Speaker 1: to that in a lot more. Also, we got some
Speaker 1: games to discuss this weekend, other than, of course, you know,
Speaker 1: the local teams, because I'm gonna bet my ass off
Speaker 1: on Saturday when it comes to college football and just
Speaker 1: hope that I win, because that's all it is, just
Speaker 1: luck for me, and I need some luck to go
Speaker 1: to go my way. All Right, it's coffee and company.
Speaker 1: Feelbout Thorton's right here on Sports Talk seven.
Speaker 4: Ninety Now back to coffee and Company fueled by Thornton's
Speaker 4: on Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 1: All right, we will get to the phone lines in
Speaker 1: just one second, but if you want a text in
Speaker 1: you can do It five two six five three zero
Speaker 1: seven ninety is the L and N Federal Credit Union
Speaker 1: text line. This text says, Nick, I know we're all
Speaker 1: optimistic and very positive when it comes to Pat Kelsey's
Speaker 1: first season, and I totally agree with all the fans
Speaker 1: that think this team is going to be really good.
Speaker 1: But what could you see potentially being a weakness. Well,
Speaker 1: first of all, it's really tough to really I mean,
Speaker 1: the things that I believe will be a strength. I
Speaker 1: think we are making educated assumptions when it comes to that,
Speaker 1: but you really never know. Like I'm trying my best
Speaker 1: to to not give such a weak opinion that has
Speaker 1: very little weight to it. But when I tell you
Speaker 1: guys that I think this team has a chance to
Speaker 1: be pretty good win a lot of games. I really
Speaker 1: love the personnel, their experience, they've got shooting, they've got
Speaker 1: great I mean, he kind of shot away from saying it,
Speaker 1: but I think when he looks at his bench and
Speaker 1: he's in game and he's looking at what each guy
Speaker 1: does and what they got in the bag, if you
Speaker 1: know what I'm saying, he knows he's got a great
Speaker 1: shooting team. Now they may have nights where they're relying
Speaker 1: on it and everybody's missing like that happens, but we're
Speaker 1: all just guessing. Again, it's educated guesses. But this is
Speaker 1: the first time we're going to see Pat Kelsey coach,
Speaker 1: you know, at this level. Now it's not as if
Speaker 1: he's going to go out there and play every night
Speaker 1: against the best teams in the country.
Speaker 2: But you know, it's all new.
Speaker 1: So as far as strengths and weaknesses, like we'll find out,
Speaker 1: like anybody given an answer when it comes to that,
Speaker 1: it's guessing. But again, I think you could make some
Speaker 1: educated guests as far as the players you brought in
Speaker 1: that have played many years of college basketball, Like some
Speaker 1: of these guys like no offense, And I don't mean
Speaker 1: this as a negative thing at all, but like some
Speaker 1: of these dudes are as good as they're going to get.
Speaker 1: But that's okay, Like they know. The most underrated trait
Speaker 1: in an athlete, in my opinion, is knowing who you
Speaker 1: are as a player, not trying to become something that
Speaker 1: you're not, and knowing what you do well and knowing
Speaker 1: what you need not to do out there. Like Javon
Speaker 1: Hadley's a perfect example of that. And maybe he does
Speaker 1: get better. But like he's a big physical presence who
Speaker 1: is athletic enough. He knows he's going to have guards
Speaker 1: that he can can overmatch and use his size. He
Speaker 1: can do a little bit of everything. And he's not
Speaker 1: going to try to, you know, just take over the
Speaker 1: game and run the show as a point guard. He's
Speaker 1: not going to try to put up eighteen threes in it.
Speaker 1: Like he knows who he is. So, as I'm rambling
Speaker 1: here to try to give you an answer, I would
Speaker 1: say a potential weakness. Two things established roles. It's great
Speaker 1: have in so many guys that in any moment could
Speaker 1: be your leading score because you know they've got the ability.
Speaker 1: You're really balanced. You will go to maybe three different
Speaker 1: guys at certain positions and not have much of a
Speaker 1: drop off. And that is that's that's a strength. That's
Speaker 1: a good thing. However, do you have you know, if
Speaker 1: you get into if it's not consistent where any night
Speaker 1: anybody could be your leading scorer and have a big game. Again,
Speaker 1: there's waste to view that as a strength. But also
Speaker 1: it could lead to kind of nobody really knowing for
Speaker 1: sure night in the night out what their role is.
Speaker 1: I'm somebody that believes in depth and you know a
Speaker 1: lot of options and you know, different lineups. But I
Speaker 1: also think there's value in knowing, hey, here's what this
Speaker 1: guy does when he shows up to work every day.
Speaker 1: He's our guy that's going to be you know, our
Speaker 1: Dwayne Sutton that's out there just to be physical, you know,
Speaker 1: play defense and you know, provide a presence that maybe
Speaker 1: most guys don't. Don't you know, maybe somebody who's going
Speaker 1: to like CHUCKI Hepburn, Like, I think his role is established.
Speaker 1: He's your leader, he's your point guard. He is going
Speaker 1: to set the tone for you defensively, and he's gonna
Speaker 1: run the show. He's gonna make plays. And then you know,
Speaker 1: I think the other guys they understand what their role is.
Speaker 1: But I just worry that, like if you've got two
Speaker 1: guys that have the same role and they don't really
Speaker 1: ever establish like, how can you really establish a rhythm
Speaker 1: and get a core lineup if it's different every night?
Speaker 1: And maybe it's not like we keep talking about depth
Speaker 1: and all the options that Pat Kelsey has, but maybe
Speaker 1: we get to mid November and yeah, we know that
Speaker 1: there's a guy on the bench that is capable of
Speaker 1: helping you, but he's not in the lineup because he's
Speaker 1: got guys ahead of him that maybe the gap isn't huge,
Speaker 1: but they're ahead right now. And Pat's gonna stick with
Speaker 1: who he thinks gives him the best chance to win.
Speaker 1: So I don't want to say that like having a
Speaker 1: lot of options in depth is an issue, but I
Speaker 1: do think sometimes when you have a lot of the guy,
Speaker 1: a lot of guys that are exactly the same, he
Speaker 1: does keep you from really having some consistency when it
Speaker 1: comes to production. And I think that kind of ties
Speaker 1: into another potential, you know. And again the question was
Speaker 1: what could potentially be a weakness or an issue. So
Speaker 1: I'm not saying these things are going to be an issue.
Speaker 1: But if I had to answer, and I had to guess,
Speaker 1: do you have a really real do you have an
Speaker 1: all acc caliber guy? Right? You got some good players,
Speaker 1: some guys that can hold their own, but do you
Speaker 1: have a guy that you would say okay, more often
Speaker 1: than not the guy at that position on the other team,
Speaker 1: we're gonna have the advantage because this guy is that good,
Speaker 1: This guy is a certain level of special and they
Speaker 1: may have that guy.
Speaker 2: I just don't know. Who would be.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's Chucky, who's now a veteran case in pryor
Speaker 1: there's a chance he really I mean, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of people that think he he's such a late bloomer
Speaker 1: that like he's going to have his best year of
Speaker 1: college basketball here at Louisville and be an All ACC
Speaker 1: caliber performer. I mean, there were a few ballots that
Speaker 1: I know that were being submitted for All ACC preseason
Speaker 1: that that case in prior first team.
Speaker 2: So maybe he's that guy. Maybe it's I don't know
Speaker 2: me could be.
Speaker 1: Maybe it's maybe it's Koran Johnson, who has been a
Speaker 1: reserve guy at Washington, but you know, with a lot
Speaker 1: of minutes and with this the style of play that
Speaker 1: Pat Kelsey wants to play, maybe he he he establishes
Speaker 1: himself as like a sixteen seventeen a night guy.
Speaker 2: You just don't know. So I'm guessing. We're all guessing.
Speaker 2: But that's what I came up with. So I hope
Speaker 2: that answers your question.
Speaker 1: And again, I don't want to act like we all
Speaker 1: need to be expecting those things to be a weakness.
Speaker 1: I'm just you know, I'm guessing. All right, let's go
Speaker 1: to the phone lines fivebou two F I'm seven to one.
Speaker 1: Seventy nine hundred is the number. If you want to
Speaker 1: jump in and give us a call. Let's go to Ray. Ray,
Speaker 1: you're on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 2: What's up.
Speaker 5: You know you were talking about earlier about being at
Speaker 5: the event versus not being at the event. Yeah, nowta
Speaker 5: you know, there's there's a couple of takes that I
Speaker 5: have on it. One being at the event event, excuse me.
Speaker 5: With my grandkids, I really enjoy the atmosphere. They enjoy
Speaker 5: the atmosphere, the songs, the music, the players down on
Speaker 5: the sideline, seeing who goes to the medical stan, et cetera,
Speaker 5: et cetera. Not being at the event, it's a lot
Speaker 5: easier to get through the refrigerator and get a drink,
Speaker 5: get a bag of chips, because at the games themselves
Speaker 5: getting into concessions, so you know, you kind of got
Speaker 5: to break down a boat.
Speaker 1: The lines are really bad. Sometimes the price is kind
Speaker 1: of crazy. So yeah, and Ray, I think, really, what
Speaker 1: not only colleges should do, but NFL teams, NBA teams,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure they do it as well. But you've
Speaker 1: got to find a way to really make the atmosphere,
Speaker 1: an experience to where you know when you go, hey,
Speaker 1: this is why I'm choosing to take this route instead
Speaker 1: of watching at home where it's more convenient and cheaper.
Speaker 1: It's because that atmosphere is second to none. And I
Speaker 1: think they try, but I just think we're at an
Speaker 1: age now where people realize, you know, I can do
Speaker 1: it once twice a year, and that's good enough for me.
Speaker 1: I'll still be a fan and enjoy it and get
Speaker 1: just as much satisfaction watching my team when I'm at home.
Speaker 5: Absolutely. You know, I've taken my grand kids to the
Speaker 5: last four home games and it's been really fun. But
Speaker 5: you know, we go down it has to get a
Speaker 5: beverage and to get a hot dog for the kids.
Speaker 5: And you know, this past game with SMU, we didn't
Speaker 5: get back and Global had already scored the touchdown. We
Speaker 5: didn't get back till six minutes into the third quarter
Speaker 5: and we literally went and got in line. It just
Speaker 5: takes forever with this cassulist society that.
Speaker 1: We have, and to right appreciate the call right and look,
Speaker 1: those are the things that they've got to. You know
Speaker 1: that I'm not blaming anybody at U of l or
Speaker 1: whoever's in charge of you know, the game day stuff
Speaker 1: with with the stadium. But like, those are things that
Speaker 1: may seem like unavoidable because hey, it's just it's busy,
Speaker 1: it's crowded, but if you want people to still continue
Speaker 1: to make that decision to go, Like, those are things
Speaker 1: that matter in a major way. And again it's really
Speaker 1: nobody's fault. But I just think this day and age,
Speaker 1: that the price when it comes to everything that goes
Speaker 1: into it. And I always I always feel like I'm
Speaker 1: I always feel like I'm being like, I'm I'm doing
Speaker 1: a service to you. Oh when I say this, and
Speaker 1: I think, I don't think it comes off that I'm
Speaker 1: telling people not to go, because I would never do that.
Speaker 2: Do what you want.
Speaker 1: But I'm also comfortable enough to say like, hey, if
Speaker 1: you don't want to go, like, I get it. It's
Speaker 1: your money, it's your life, you know you. I get
Speaker 1: why people don't go. I get why people would rather
Speaker 1: watch it on TV. Because here's the thing when most
Speaker 1: people make a decis like sometimes people on platforms like this, they're.
Speaker 2: Like, you need to be there, it's a duty to
Speaker 2: you as a fan. What are you doing? How are
Speaker 2: we going to take the next step as a program
Speaker 2: if you're not.
Speaker 1: There, Like I just I don't have I laugh at
Speaker 1: people who do that, to be honest.
Speaker 2: With you, because it's like people who people.
Speaker 1: Who decide to go to a game fans other than
Speaker 1: if it's in every week thing for you, because you're
Speaker 1: a season ticket holder, you've never missed a game, then
Speaker 1: that's different, and shout out to you. Because those people
Speaker 1: matter in a major way and every program needs fans.
Speaker 2: They will do that.
Speaker 1: But the majority, how many of you are, how many
Speaker 1: you go to games? You know, maybe once twice, maybe
Speaker 1: three times a year. You probably make the decision based
Speaker 1: off of you, your life, your convenience, your budget, getting
Speaker 1: a chance to take grandkids as Ray mentioned, or going
Speaker 1: with your own children or going with a friend. You
Speaker 1: never sit around and think like, you know what, I
Speaker 1: could get tickets, could probably budget it where I could
Speaker 1: afford it.
Speaker 2: And you know what, the team needs me.
Speaker 1: I gotta be like nobody's factoring in when they decide
Speaker 1: to go to a game that it's their fan duty
Speaker 1: to be there and they shouldn't because they don't.
Speaker 2: Owe Like I don't know that.
Speaker 1: This is where I'm kind of hitting a wall here
Speaker 1: Austin as somebody who loves sports as much as anybody.
Speaker 2: It's a it's you know, I'm not.
Speaker 1: A I don't play sports for a living, certainly, not
Speaker 1: that I wouldn't make much money doing that, but you know,
Speaker 1: it's people being really interested in into sports benefits me
Speaker 1: in what I do, right, So I know that, But
Speaker 1: I'm just so sick of hearing certain people rather be
Speaker 1: fans or you know, athletic directors, collective CEOs. And I'm
Speaker 1: not talking to anybody around here, you know, I just
Speaker 1: know that happens elsewhere. We played some sound from the
Speaker 1: Arkansas ad a few weeks ago.
Speaker 2: Like acting as.
Speaker 1: If any fan owes you anything is disgusting to me.
Speaker 1: It's not like you know, maybe I'm maybe that's a
Speaker 1: strong word to use there, but like acting as if
Speaker 1: you have a duty and a responsibility and obligation to
Speaker 1: give money to the university is a joke. Again, every
Speaker 1: program needs those fans and they're going to do it.
Speaker 1: But I just I don't know, I'm so turned off
Speaker 1: by you know, just acting as if fans are in
Speaker 1: any way like responsible for an atmosphere. And again they
Speaker 1: look fans do matter in a major way, and you
Speaker 1: need them. I just think, like hearing people bring up
Speaker 1: the crowd last week at SMU in a loss, like
Speaker 1: it's just I.
Speaker 2: Just I don't know. I can't I got put it
Speaker 2: to best describe it.
Speaker 1: I can't relate, like because again, I've never been able
Speaker 1: to relate to somebody who does pay their harder money
Speaker 1: to get a ticket and go to a game and
Speaker 1: they look around and they see an empty seat and
Speaker 1: it's it's it's ruined their experience. Like then why go Yeah,
Speaker 1: you can't control that, Like there's that's like that's just silly.
Speaker 3: So it goes back to what Ray says and stuff
Speaker 3: that you said before too. I mean, TVs are just
Speaker 3: better now, right, you have convenie home. It's a cheaper
Speaker 3: to go buy a twelve pack and invite friends over
Speaker 3: and still have that atmus here. But there is going
Speaker 3: back to when we started the show just talking about
Speaker 3: I don't know if it's just superstition or what you
Speaker 3: just said, like team needs me. I need to be there,
Speaker 3: like I need to. I feel like it's a part
Speaker 3: of the fan that can feels like they're contributing to
Speaker 3: helping the team win. And when they look around and
Speaker 3: they see nothing, they just probably selfishly like I did
Speaker 3: my part? Where were you guys at? And that's not
Speaker 3: against anyone else. It's just easier to just sit at home.
Speaker 3: And when you have the convenience of and it's not
Speaker 3: just Louisville, but every state waiting in line, going to
Speaker 3: the bathroom and leaving at halftime and not getting back
Speaker 3: till six minutes left, like that's tough anywhere.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I just I don't know, I think.
Speaker 1: They've just got to find it, first of all, one
Speaker 1: of the b and I you know, it's not like
Speaker 1: it's not like I'm saying that. At the time, it
Speaker 1: was viewed as such a terrible decision, but you know, things,
Speaker 1: things change.
Speaker 2: Like life evolves.
Speaker 1: We don't need stadiums as big as they are for
Speaker 1: the majority of games that are played now. There are
Speaker 1: some exceptions of you know, places like Nebraska and you know,
Speaker 1: but even the biggest programs will occasionally have a game
Speaker 1: where their stadium is eighty percent full for the majority
Speaker 1: of the game, just because you know, it's that they're
Speaker 1: team's up six touchdowns or whatever it may be. But
Speaker 1: I don't know, I'm trying not to turn it into
Speaker 1: something that Loouivells fan base is big enough, and I
Speaker 1: think the majority of the fan base are there. Ihearts,
Speaker 1: so you know, I love our fan base. I just
Speaker 1: think like for those to see what's happening at Nebraska
Speaker 1: or even in Kentucky, to be honest with you, like,
Speaker 1: there's a lot like this. This is a fact that
Speaker 1: I think when you say it, people take it as
Speaker 1: an insult, and it's not at all. It's just the
Speaker 1: truth and it's not a negative thing in any way.
Speaker 1: Do you all realize there's way more fans within other
Speaker 1: fan bases than ours? Like that doesn't that's not that, that's.
Speaker 2: Not a negative. I mean it's not like we have
Speaker 2: ten fans. We have a lot of fans.
Speaker 1: But like this notion that like we can open up
Speaker 1: the stadium on Saturday when they play Austin p and
Speaker 1: expect ninety percent of that stadium to be full it's
Speaker 1: sixty five plus, Like that's just not realistic. It's just
Speaker 1: not And I know that and don't put much time
Speaker 1: into it, but you know, it becomes a big talking point.
Speaker 2: When is the Louisville gonna hell?
Speaker 1: Are we ever gonna take the next step if this
Speaker 1: place isn't sold out, like just.
Speaker 2: Stop, all right, we got to get to a break.
Speaker 1: I'm way too late. Stick around. We'll come back and
Speaker 1: wrap it up on the other sid right here on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven ninety all right, So very little time
Speaker 1: left here before we wrap it up and say goodbye,
Speaker 1: So I will remind you that tomorrow we've got you
Speaker 1: covered for game day. The Louisville Football pregame Show hosted
Speaker 1: by myself will start at two thirty, presented by Pellow
Speaker 1: Windows and Doors of Central Kentucky and Jefferson Animal Hospital.
Speaker 1: Postgame show will start as soon as it ends, and
Speaker 1: I mean as soon as it ends, since.
Speaker 2: The clockheads zero.
Speaker 1: We go live here reacting to whatever happens on the
Speaker 1: louisvill Football postgame Show presented by Alex rwy Lawyer's suit
Speaker 1: Distracted Driver dot Com. I'm going to hope and be
Speaker 1: hopeful that Louisville avoids a three game losing streak tomorrow
Speaker 1: and they give themselves at least, you know, a little
Speaker 1: bit if any momentum, but not coming off a loss
Speaker 1: against Miami. And that's where the big opportunity is to
Speaker 1: not erase those losses. Earlier, but at least show that
Speaker 1: you can be a different team when it comes to
Speaker 1: making critical mistakes that cost you a game. So we'll
Speaker 1: talk to you tomorrow. Have a good weekend, everybody,