Speaker 1: Welcome to the Big Blue and Sider Dick Gabriel with
Speaker 1: you Friday edition of our show. But because we were
Speaker 1: bumped on Wednesday, or basically had to adjust to the
Speaker 1: scheduling with the Coaches Show and then the state Wide
Speaker 1: Show on Wednesday night, we have moved our usual Wednesday
Speaker 1: lineup to Friday. That means we'll be visiting with Sean Woods,
Speaker 1: the Unforgettable Guard, and West End Bureau Chief Gary Moore.
Speaker 1: That all comes up in hour number two a little while,
Speaker 1: we're going to talk to Hunter Mitchell about Kentucky volleyball
Speaker 1: because tonight at seven, the Cats played Texas A and
Speaker 1: M and Kentucky with a chance if it wins out
Speaker 1: to win an outright again SEC championship, it would be
Speaker 1: the wildcats eighth straight. And yeah, I'll be working that
Speaker 1: one on SEC Plus. But also keep your radio on
Speaker 1: because this is pre recorded so you will hear the
Speaker 1: rest of our show. But Haunter, who covers volleyball for
Speaker 1: on three, will be a chatting with us about the Wildcats.
Speaker 1: Of course, Kentucky men's basketball takes on Bucknell tomorrow. The
Speaker 1: UK women won last night over Northern Kentucky. We'll get
Speaker 1: back to that in just a minute. But Mark Pope
Speaker 1: talked to the media yesterday about what he liked so
Speaker 1: far about his team. One thing he is concerned about, though,
Speaker 1: is rebounding and offensive rebounding in particular. They only got
Speaker 1: seven and then went over Right State. Right State actually
Speaker 1: got eleven. They out rebound a Kentucky did Right State
Speaker 1: forty one to thirty two, but not nearly enough offensive
Speaker 1: rebounds to satisfy the head coach.
Speaker 2: You know, if we could be a fourteen offensive rebound
Speaker 2: a game team, it'd be extraordinary, certainly above ten. We're
Speaker 2: just not living in that space at all right now,
Speaker 2: and so that's part of We didn't really make much
Speaker 2: progress last game either. But it's something we're really focused
Speaker 2: on and we will make progress. We're just trying to
Speaker 2: figure out how to get there. But it's very important
Speaker 2: how we play. It's really important how we play. It
Speaker 2: gives us staying power and gives us confidence in all
Speaker 2: the other things we do. Our presence on the offensive glass,
Speaker 2: in our can see on the defensive glass really important
Speaker 2: for us.
Speaker 1: I may have mentioned this before, but for many many years,
Speaker 1: John Wooden, the late Great, believe that the single most
Speaker 1: important stat in the box score was rebounding. Now late
Speaker 1: in his career he changed his mind on that and
Speaker 1: decided it was shooting percentages, but he still kept rebounds
Speaker 1: way up there. So, yeah, if you don't go get
Speaker 1: the ball, you're not going to win many games. And
Speaker 1: the way Kentucky shoots it, you got to think offensive
Speaker 1: rebounds are going to be vital. They are to every team,
Speaker 1: but maybe especially Kentucky. I asked Pope about game slippage,
Speaker 1: which means how much from practice floor to game floor
Speaker 1: did your team leave behind? And apparently there was a bunch.
Speaker 2: I thought we started the game with unbelievable focus and
Speaker 2: energy and exactly the right amount of force. It wasn't
Speaker 2: overly emotional. It was still really really intentional, but it
Speaker 2: was incredibly physical and intention that's probably my favorite.
Speaker 1: Word right now.
Speaker 2: Right and then you know, at various points in the
Speaker 2: game we had massive, massive slippers. We had slippers and communication,
Speaker 2: we had slippage and decision making. We have slippage in execution,
Speaker 2: we had we had uh, you know, slippage in our reads,
Speaker 2: We had slippers in our energy.
Speaker 3: Which is it?
Speaker 2: Which is you know, that's pretty normal and natural and
Speaker 2: it's going to be determining factor of our team of
Speaker 2: how successful we can be as we limit that. And
Speaker 2: that's not unique to us, that's universal.
Speaker 1: Okay. His favorite word is intentional, So I followed up,
Speaker 1: what does that mean?
Speaker 2: It's a it's a feel. It's a good question. I'm
Speaker 2: not going to give you a great answer. It's a
Speaker 2: feel where you're actually seeing the game, You're communicating the
Speaker 2: game with your teammates. You're doing it with unbelievable force,
Speaker 2: wearing that gain stood up by physicality, but you're actually
Speaker 2: getting to where you need to go when you needed
Speaker 2: to get there, how you need to go, get there,
Speaker 2: regardless of what's happening. And still, you know, with all
Speaker 2: of that kind of force the game, still still being
Speaker 2: able to read and and make decisions on the fly.
Speaker 1: I thought that was really interesting, But then again, it
Speaker 1: seems like every time he talks to us, there's something
Speaker 1: else interesting that comes up about the way Mark Pope
Speaker 1: sees the game of basketball and coaches the game of basketball.
Speaker 1: So the Wildcats will try it again tomorrow against Buck.
Speaker 1: Now it's a four o'clock start. Local coverage at one thirty,
Speaker 1: network coverage at two thirty. Tom and Jack have the
Speaker 1: call at four o'clock as the Wildcats take on the Bison,
Speaker 1: and Pope pointed out that this is a really veteran
Speaker 1: Leyden ball club, which he said was super cool. But
Speaker 1: I think what he meant by that was guys are
Speaker 1: stuck around. You know buck Now. Remember buck Now made
Speaker 1: a run in the NCAA tournament not that long ago.
Speaker 1: But teams that stick around, in other words, with good
Speaker 1: players who aren't poached by other teams, that says a lot,
Speaker 1: and that tells you they'll be ready to play. So
Speaker 1: we'll see if Kentucky can overwhelm and overpower buck Now
Speaker 1: tomorrow afternoon. The UK women did just that over Northern
Speaker 1: Kentucky last night, although that's a pretty good NKU team,
Speaker 1: and in fact, Kenny Brooks talked about the value of
Speaker 1: coming up with a win over an in state team,
Speaker 1: especially playing well as the Wildcats did.
Speaker 4: It was a really good test for us. They were undersized,
Speaker 4: so our post players are going to have to move
Speaker 4: their feet. We talked about that Garden three point shot
Speaker 4: was something that we focused on, probably a little bit
Speaker 4: too much, because we were running them off the three
Speaker 4: point line and sometimes we were getting beat off the line.
Speaker 1: Drive.
Speaker 4: So we know there's a lot we have to work on.
Speaker 4: We know there's a lot to be had, but you know,
Speaker 4: you still have to celebrate in these situations. And although
Speaker 4: our defense wasn't as good, you know, schematically the communication,
Speaker 4: we blocked a lot of shots. We use our strength.
Speaker 4: You know, their height in or length.
Speaker 1: They use that height to the tune of nineteen block shots.
Speaker 1: But that's because Northern just kept challenging the Wildcats trying
Speaker 1: to hit from the outside. But that didn't work for
Speaker 1: Northern Kentucky nortionally at three or four three pointers. That's
Speaker 1: how you're going to steal a game from a team
Speaker 1: like Kentucky. But they were so overmatched because of Kentucky
Speaker 1: size and of course in the middle. Clara Strack six
Speaker 1: foot five, what a player she is, and she joined
Speaker 1: Kenny Brooks at the news conference and they talked about
Speaker 1: the fact that it's so vital for her to play
Speaker 1: defense obviously without getting into foul trouble.
Speaker 5: You have to play smart obviously when you have follows,
Speaker 5: but you still have to be aggressive and still like
Speaker 5: be a presence out there. So I think just being
Speaker 5: smart and not jumping on doing things like that or
Speaker 5: like really trying to block shots I was trying to do.
Speaker 4: She's gonna have to learn, you know. With Elizabeth Hitley,
Speaker 4: we sometimes we would tell her, you know, if you
Speaker 4: get in a situation where it could be a foul
Speaker 4: and could put you in a foul trouble, I'd say,
Speaker 4: live to play another play, you know, almost like don't
Speaker 4: let it go, but make sure you don't foul.
Speaker 1: Track finished with fifteen points, thirteen boards, four blocks, eight assists,
Speaker 1: and most of those coming to Clara Silva who came
Speaker 1: off the bench and they played together because taony Key
Speaker 1: was in a little bit of foul trouble and a
Speaker 1: Silva had a huge game. Of course, she so much
Speaker 1: bigger than the kids from Northern She ended up with
Speaker 1: eighteen points, only four rebounds, but five block shots just phenomenal.
Speaker 1: And the passing from those two Clara's high low. That's
Speaker 1: going to be tough for a lot of SEC teams
Speaker 1: now as they start facing teams that are bigger, more physical,
Speaker 1: more athletic, won't be quite as easy. But it's a
Speaker 1: good foundation that Kenny Brooks has been building here in Lexington.
Speaker 1: Next up for the women is Wafford on Tuesday. You
Speaker 1: will hear that right here on six point thirty WLAP
Speaker 1: with Darren Heddrick. That's a six pm start at Historic
Speaker 1: Memorial Colisecene and his pregame show will start, of course
Speaker 1: at five point forty five. After that, it gets really interesting.
Speaker 1: They take on the Louisville Cardinals on Saturday in the Coliseum,
Speaker 1: sixteenth of November. Mark your calendar. That's a six o'clock start.
Speaker 1: After Purdue Fort Wayne, Kentucky goes to Nashville to go
Speaker 1: back to back against Arizona State and then Illinois. We'll
Speaker 1: talk volleyball next week. Back to the big new insider
Speaker 1: coming up at the bottom of the hour, Hunter Mitchell
Speaker 1: of on three dot com, we'll talk Kentucky volleyball because
Speaker 1: the Cats take on Texas A and M. Coming up
Speaker 1: at the top of the hour. We will have it
Speaker 1: Leah Edmond and I on SEC Plus. Now. The radio
Speaker 1: show will go on as well through the miracle of technology,
Speaker 1: So keep your radio in one air, your TV in
Speaker 1: the other. As the Wildcats play A and M. Kentucky
Speaker 1: now with six matches left, all of them winnable. Of course,
Speaker 1: they're always winnable if you're one of the best teams
Speaker 1: in the country. But Kentucky now getting some people healthy
Speaker 1: again and with its fade in its own hands, as
Speaker 1: they like to say. If the Cats went out they
Speaker 1: win the SEC title, it would be eight in a
Speaker 1: row for Kentucky and boy back in September, which was
Speaker 1: the last time I did a match for SEC. Plus
Speaker 1: of course I've been watching ever since. They're on the
Speaker 1: mother ship, and they've been on the road quite a
Speaker 1: bit as well. They just didn't look like they were
Speaker 1: gonna get there because there were just injuries and tough
Speaker 1: losses and things like that. Tough, wicked, tough non conference schedule,
Speaker 1: and they lost more than they won, which means if
Speaker 1: they went out, they'll host an nca eight tournament site.
Speaker 1: If they don't, they're gonna have to go on the road,
Speaker 1: which is rare for this team in the first round
Speaker 1: of the NCAA tournaments. But things are falling into place,
Speaker 1: chief among them, Texas has lost three straight. They swept
Speaker 1: the Long Orange, swept the Wildcats earlier in October, and
Speaker 1: that's when it just things just weren't happening for Kentucky.
Speaker 1: Since then, the Cats have turned things and Texas has not.
Speaker 1: So the Cats, if they win tonight. That's a huge
Speaker 1: step because this is an A and M team that
Speaker 1: beat Texas but then turned around and lost to Mississippi State.
Speaker 1: That's just life in the Southeastern Conference. As you know.
Speaker 1: For Kentucky. What's amazing is that part of this turnaround,
Speaker 1: and it's a big part, came on the road. I mean,
Speaker 1: the Wildcats lost to Texas at home, but then had
Speaker 1: a majority of their games away. They beat Tennessee in Knoxville,
Speaker 1: they beat Alabama in Tuscaloosa, they beat Ole Miss in Oxford,
Speaker 1: they beat South Carolina in Columbia, and then Georgia in Athens.
Speaker 1: So this win streak they're on, all of them came
Speaker 1: on the road, which means, of course you got home
Speaker 1: matches to close out most of the season with a
Speaker 1: in MLSU, Georgia, Mississippi State, Arkansas. Then at the end
Speaker 1: of the year you got to go to Missouri, which
Speaker 1: is gonna be tough. It's always tough, but it's right
Speaker 1: there in front of the Cats and it begins tonight.
Speaker 1: Question was, and I put this to Craig Skinner at
Speaker 1: his news conference yesterday, how do you explain the fact
Speaker 1: or what was there an overriding factor as to why
Speaker 1: this Kentucky team has played so well of late.
Speaker 6: On the road A good question. I mean, you know,
Speaker 6: getting closer to healthy helps. I think that our offense
Speaker 6: has become a little bit more balanced. We be able
Speaker 6: to score in several different positions. Some of our freshmen
Speaker 6: have got some experience, you know, they're playing, and you know,
Speaker 6: our upper class we were doing a really good job
Speaker 6: of not getting too high, not getting too low. So
Speaker 6: you know, it's hard to pinpoint one particular thing.
Speaker 1: I guess you know. Mark Stoops was talking about this
Speaker 1: earlier this season. Kentucky played really well at Ole Miss,
Speaker 1: played well against Georgia too, but probably its best game
Speaker 1: of the year came against Ole Miss because it was
Speaker 1: a win. But it was on the road, and any
Speaker 1: coach will tell you that when you're on the road,
Speaker 1: there are just on as many distractions. Number one, you
Speaker 1: don't have many, if any family members hanging around. You
Speaker 1: have a few every once in a while, but not
Speaker 1: like you do at home games, and not people bugging
Speaker 1: you for tickets and all that. I mean, and you're sequester. Basically,
Speaker 1: you're in a hotel and just about for football at least,
Speaker 1: all the meals are at the hotel. Other teams will
Speaker 1: get out to a restaurant or whatever, but everything is
Speaker 1: just centered in the hotel, so you're right on top
Speaker 1: of each other and all you've got is each other.
Speaker 1: And on the road you've got a roommate, so it's
Speaker 1: every man for each other. You know, it's always that
Speaker 1: way in sports, but it's kind of driven home on
Speaker 1: the road. And I'm sure that had a lot to do,
Speaker 1: was Kentucky. Kentucky's success in volleyball in road matches. Well,
Speaker 1: now you're at home. You should have a good crowd,
Speaker 1: and can you make that success that you found on
Speaker 1: the road translate back to your home court. Well, the
Speaker 1: last time you played, you got wiped out by the
Speaker 1: long So we're all going to find out about that
Speaker 1: together coming up in just a few minutes. And again
Speaker 1: it's on SEC Plus, but we urge you to keep
Speaker 1: that radio right where it is. You got two ears,
Speaker 1: use both of them. While we're talking. We kind of
Speaker 1: bumped into college football there for a minute. But one
Speaker 1: of the bigger stories in the Southeastern Conference in fact,
Speaker 1: I think it was the biggest story yesterday last night
Speaker 1: was the statement released by Scott Strickland and Scott's apal.
Speaker 1: He was the sports information director at Kentucky as such,
Speaker 1: an assistant ad under Mitch Barnhardt, and then left here
Speaker 1: for his alma mater, Mississippi State, where he became the
Speaker 1: athletics director, and then made a huge step up to Florida.
Speaker 1: He's now the AD at one of the richest schools
Speaker 1: and most powerful schools in the country. And he has
Speaker 1: been under fire because he fired Dan Mullen, which was
Speaker 1: a popular move at the time because of course Gator
Speaker 1: fans one of their coach punished. He was not doing
Speaker 1: well enough, and he made a popular hire. He hired
Speaker 1: Billy Napier, who was at the University of Louisiana and
Speaker 1: he used to be losinga Lafayette but now it's just
Speaker 1: the University Louisiana and was successful there and was a
Speaker 1: good recruiter, and everybody this is almost like a Billy
Speaker 1: Gillespie deal. Practically everybody who waged in said, yep, that's
Speaker 1: a great hire. Grand slam blah blah blah. It's not
Speaker 1: worked so far. They are really struggling under Napier, and
Speaker 1: again Fan's won him punished. They want a change already,
Speaker 1: despite the fact that it would cost the university gazillions,
Speaker 1: and that's a school that has gazillions. But I'll guarantee
Speaker 1: of the budget does not include let's put let's put
Speaker 1: aside twenty five millions in case we need to get
Speaker 1: rid of our coach. So Scott Strickland released a statement
Speaker 1: last night basically saying he's our man and we stand
Speaker 1: by him. He said, in these times have change across
Speaker 1: college athletics, we are dedicated to a disciplined, stable approach
Speaker 1: that is focused on long term, sustained success for Gator athletes,
Speaker 1: recruits and fans. So he's basically saying he's our man
Speaker 1: for now and pointing to stability, which is not a
Speaker 1: bad thing to do. But it's not just stability within
Speaker 1: the program, it's stability within your budget because and I
Speaker 1: mentioned this before, Mitch Barnard said this to me once.
Speaker 1: People have no idea For those of you out there
Speaker 1: who want stupes punished, people have no idea, nor really,
Speaker 1: in my words, do they care how expensive it is
Speaker 1: to fire a coach, because not only do you pay
Speaker 1: him off because they have buyouts, you have to pay
Speaker 1: off any assistant coaches who have more than a one
Speaker 1: year deal. Plus you got to turn around and hire
Speaker 1: the new guy and pay him as much or more
Speaker 1: as you were paying the old guy. If you want
Speaker 1: somebody that you really covet, it's incredibly expensive. But fans
Speaker 1: don't care because it doesn't affect them except that makes
Speaker 1: them feel good if they liked a new hire. But
Speaker 1: think about this, if every time you fired a coach
Speaker 1: and had to pay off a huge sum of money,
Speaker 1: what if you raise ticket prices, or what if you
Speaker 1: made one more game pay per view or something like that,
Speaker 1: in other words, forcing fans to pay the freight. How
Speaker 1: would fans feel about that. They'd be angry. They would
Speaker 1: probably in a lot of cases refuse to put two
Speaker 1: and two together. But that's where we are right now.
Speaker 1: The money is so nuts right now in college football,
Speaker 1: and you know Napier's trying to get it done. You've
Speaker 1: got three verbal commits in the current top rankings for
Speaker 1: the class of twenty twenty five, a total of eleven actually,
Speaker 1: and they're right now fifty first in the two four
Speaker 1: seven Sports Composite Team recruiting rankings. So they're trying to
Speaker 1: get it done. And now tough Break DJ Lagway goes
Speaker 1: down injured their backup quarterback, Mertz goes down, Lagway goes down,
Speaker 1: but fans don't care about that. They want to win.
Speaker 1: They want to win now. They're angry now. But Scott
Speaker 1: Strickland came out in favor in support of his head coach,
Speaker 1: and it reminded me of when rich Brooks was struggling
Speaker 1: here and in the middle of the Old five season,
Speaker 1: there was a news conference where we talked to Barnhart.
Speaker 1: Mitt said, we'll evaluate like we always do at the
Speaker 1: end of the year, but it wasn't strong enough for
Speaker 1: rich Brooks. Rich Brooks wanted to hear essentially what Strickland said,
Speaker 1: and that really fractured their relationship and Barnhart, to his credit,
Speaker 1: stuck with Brooks and it worked out. But it's rare.
Speaker 1: My point is it's rare for ads to make that
Speaker 1: kind of statement. And as to why, well, that varies
Speaker 1: from a to ad. I think some of them just
Speaker 1: don't want to be pinned down. You know, hey, you
Speaker 1: said it was your man, then you fired him six
Speaker 1: months later, that kind of thing. But that's where we
Speaker 1: are now in college athletics. I think people are demanding
Speaker 1: coaches be fire and media members the coaches be fired
Speaker 1: quicker now than they used to and it's tougher now
Speaker 1: than it used to be because of the money. But
Speaker 1: it's online if we want to read it. The entire
Speaker 1: statement made the rounds on social media. Scott Strickland, former
Speaker 1: UK assistant ad making headlines as the Florida Athletics director
Speaker 1: had a chance to say hi to Scott down in
Speaker 1: Gainesville a couple of weeks ago. We didn't talk at
Speaker 1: all about his football coach, but they got a much
Speaker 1: needed win over Kentucky that night. As you know. Up next,
Speaker 1: we'll talk volleyball with a Hunter Mitchell. A little bit
Speaker 1: later on a former Wildcat with a new team in
Speaker 1: the National Football League joining another ex Wildcat in a
Speaker 1: run for the playoffs. We're back in just a minute
Speaker 1: here on sixth Welcome back to the Big Blue and Sider.
Speaker 1: As I mentioned earlier. Coming up in just a few minutes,
Speaker 1: actually it's Kentucky Volleyball's Wildcats take on Texas A and M,
Speaker 1: and once again, turn your TV on to SEC Plus.
Speaker 1: You'll have Leah Edmund and yours truly calling the action.
Speaker 1: Leave your radio on, because to the miracle of digital technology,
Speaker 1: you can hear us and see us hear the rest
Speaker 1: of the Big Blue Insider and iur number two, but
Speaker 1: need to talk about what's going on with this volleyball program.
Speaker 1: But the guy who really passionate about volleyball and has
Speaker 1: covered this program for a long time, and it's Hunter
Speaker 1: Mitchell from on three dot com and Hunter. A few
Speaker 1: weeks ago, when Leah and I did our last streaming
Speaker 1: match or all the other matches, it seems like I've
Speaker 1: been on the mothership, as we say, to Kentucky. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but Kentucky was struggling back then, and I said, you know,
Speaker 1: next time we do a match, which will be in November,
Speaker 1: they may just be, you know, hoping to get in
Speaker 1: the tournament. So much has changed since then. Not only
Speaker 1: are the Wildcats viable nationally, they could win out and
Speaker 1: win another SEC title. How surprised are you by this
Speaker 1: because it's all about Texas stumbling.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I mean, it's it's wild how different the season
Speaker 7: looks today than it did three weeks. Like you said,
Speaker 7: you know, Kentucky all season long when they were playing
Speaker 7: in that non conference schedule, they were playing teams that
Speaker 7: were ranked in the top ten. I think they finished
Speaker 7: playing five teams that are currently ranked in that top ten,
Speaker 7: and to their credit, they really hadn't looked bad against
Speaker 7: any of them. I mean every game. The only game
Speaker 7: they've lost by a sleep this year was to Texas,
Speaker 7: who they later played in the conference. But all of
Speaker 7: those top ten matchups that they played in the non
Speaker 7: conference against the likes of the Nebraskas and the Louisville's
Speaker 7: and Penn States, those were all close matches that either
Speaker 7: went four or five sets. It looked like Kentucky could
Speaker 7: be something. They just weren't able to finish matches or
Speaker 7: put it all together. I think injuries were a big
Speaker 7: part about two. Obviously losing Aaron Land to that medical injury.
Speaker 7: Were still winning from her on what's going on with that,
Speaker 7: But they just were really struggling with some injuries that
Speaker 7: happened in the preseason or even in the non conference
Speaker 7: season that really put them behind. But I think it's
Speaker 7: telling that the NC Double A or the at Pole
Speaker 7: I should say they never actually pulled Kentucky any lower
Speaker 7: than like fifteenth in the country. Even when Kentucky had
Speaker 7: a record that was below five hundred, they still very
Speaker 7: clearly saw this team has something. Their age is playing
Speaker 7: a conent of a schedule, and b they're just getting
Speaker 7: really unlucky with the injury bug. And I think once
Speaker 7: Asia Stagepin has come back into lineup, they seem to
Speaker 7: have settled into a rotation and they look more comfortable
Speaker 7: and now you're starting to see them developed some of
Speaker 7: that consistency. But they were just missing early they could
Speaker 7: They couldn't get a healthy lineup consistently. That was always
Speaker 7: on the floor, and you just were seeing, you know,
Speaker 7: misconnection with Emma and the other hitters, just weird transition
Speaker 7: routes that just seemed off time. They just really couldn't
Speaker 7: get it together. I think in large part because of
Speaker 7: those injuries going up against that tough competition. You mentioned
Speaker 7: Texas stumbling. I think that's something that also no one
Speaker 7: was expecting that We all kind of thought with Texas
Speaker 7: coming in with Maddie Skinner and Reagan Rutherford obviously to
Speaker 7: Kentucky legends that coming off of back to back national championships,
Speaker 7: that they would maybe run a table and maybe coast
Speaker 7: in the SEC. That has not been the case. And look,
Speaker 7: we've known the SEC has improved substantially in the last
Speaker 7: five years, but Texas is finding out very quickly that
Speaker 7: this is not the Big Twelve anymore. I mean they've
Speaker 7: lost three matches now to unranked opponents in five sets
Speaker 7: in the SEC alone, and a team that you know,
Speaker 7: they were two games ahead of Kentucky in first place comfortably.
Speaker 7: Now Kentucky's in the driver's seat if they went out.
Speaker 7: One of the teams they play is Missouri, who are
Speaker 7: currently tied with tide Wis for first. If they went out,
Speaker 7: they win that title outright, which again seems absolutely absurd
Speaker 7: given where this team was a month ago. But you
Speaker 7: really should never doubt Craig Skinner. So I guess we
Speaker 7: should probably just stop doubting Craig Skinner.
Speaker 1: Well, it always helps to get a little bit of
Speaker 1: luck and get some help from the other teams in
Speaker 1: the conference. But as you say, that's pronounced parody, and
Speaker 1: Craig talked about that yesterday at his news conference because
Speaker 1: I asked him about the portal, and of course there's
Speaker 1: nil money involved as well, but he also talked about
Speaker 1: Hunter and you know this about how much the sport
Speaker 1: has grown and quickly it has grown, especially in the
Speaker 1: state of Kentucky, but throughout the South nationally, yes, but
Speaker 1: especially in the South. The talent pool is so much
Speaker 1: bigger now than it was, as you say, five years ago,
Speaker 1: meaning more and more college teams are getting well with
Speaker 1: their recruiting, aren't they.
Speaker 7: Yeah, And you really can't again, you can't take a
Speaker 7: night off in any league, but especially in the Southeastern Conference.
Speaker 7: Now again, that's the same thing skin right right back
Speaker 7: when LEEA. Edmond and Ali Summer were playing in the league.
Speaker 7: There was that year where Kentucky started i think one
Speaker 7: and four in a non conference and then they got
Speaker 7: to the league and they went eight and o, right,
Speaker 7: and that was just kind of a quick coast to
Speaker 7: the to the title. That doesn't happen anymore. Every single
Speaker 7: game you're seeing, you know, teams that are ranked in
Speaker 7: the top ten or top fifteen, they're still having to
Speaker 7: go to four or sometimes five to beat these teams
Speaker 7: that are not ranked in Texas. Again, they lost these
Speaker 7: matches on their home floor like these are that this
Speaker 7: league is a lot deeper now, and I think you're
Speaker 7: just seeing so much parody because of NIL, because of
Speaker 7: that transfer portal. It's not just every recruit or every
Speaker 7: you know player is going to the Kentucky to the
Speaker 7: Texas is now you're seeing teams like Oklahoma and Texas,
Speaker 7: A and M and Auburn. These teams that weren't really anything,
Speaker 7: you know, five seven years ago, now they are, you know,
Speaker 7: the ones that are making ways in the instably termed
Speaker 7: I mean Auburn itself. Auburn has been great in the
Speaker 7: last several years and the instable terminent. It's pulled off
Speaker 7: upsets almost every year they've played in it. So you know,
Speaker 7: that's just one example. In Kentucky has a big match
Speaker 7: tonight against A and M. That's one of those teams
Speaker 7: that just beat Texas. That's going to be a hard game,
Speaker 7: and especially now that Kentucky is in the driver's seat
Speaker 7: of that title race, they need to come out sharp
Speaker 7: to make sure they don't lose that lead because Texas
Speaker 7: is still right behind you. You want to keep that
Speaker 7: lead as much as you can.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be tough with A and M because they
Speaker 1: the Aggie's coach in his second year, has a lot
Speaker 1: of international experience, but he preaches defense. I mean, they
Speaker 1: were the number ten team in the country in blocks
Speaker 1: last year with a record of sixteen and twelve last year,
Speaker 1: and in fact, at one point late October they led
Speaker 1: the nation in blocks, so it's gonna be tough. You're
Speaker 1: gonna have to go through them. You're not gonna go
Speaker 1: around them to get this win. Tonight we're talking to
Speaker 1: Hunter Mitchell of on three dot com. He'll be covering Kentucky,
Speaker 1: Texas A and M volleyball tonight. You mentioned Aaron Lamb
Speaker 1: out with a non athletic related injury, and she is
Speaker 1: a big swinger, very powerful. It's tough to replace somebody
Speaker 1: like her on the front line. Of course, Brooklyn del
Speaker 1: A's having another incredible season, but you mentioned Asia Thig
Speaker 1: Penn and Craig talked about her as well. She's remarkable
Speaker 1: given the fact, as you know, on her I don't
Speaker 1: even know she's six feet tall. But she's playing there
Speaker 1: on the front line and has made a huge difference,
Speaker 1: hasn't she.
Speaker 7: She has, And like you mentioned, Aaron had had one
Speaker 7: of those arms that was just heavy. You know, you
Speaker 7: think about the outsides that Kentucky has had here, you know,
Speaker 7: the Leah Edmunds, the Avery Skinners, those that just had
Speaker 7: like a pop on the ball when they swung. That
Speaker 7: was erin. She's had a heavy arm, so when they
Speaker 7: lost her you saw they struggled to score points just
Speaker 7: because they were missing a really big, a big weapon
Speaker 7: on that outside. Asia has come in off that injury
Speaker 7: and has filled that role and more. I mean, I've
Speaker 7: been really impressed with what she has done being thrown
Speaker 7: into a six rotation role as a freshman in the
Speaker 7: heat of the Southeastern Conference. Like she didn't get this,
Speaker 7: Like let's warm you up through preseason against teams that
Speaker 7: you know are in small power conference.
Speaker 8: No.
Speaker 7: She was thrown into the SEC and coming off of
Speaker 7: an injury, no less, and has been excellent. I've been
Speaker 7: really really impressed with her ability. She's just a high flyer.
Speaker 7: Like Leah mentioned it in the preseason talking to me,
Speaker 7: just you know, hey, Leah, how's practice look and she highlighted,
Speaker 7: like man, Asia looks really really good. She's got an
Speaker 7: explosive arm and she can jump out of them and
Speaker 7: you're seeing that now. I think she's really smart too.
Speaker 7: She knows when to rip at the ball and I
Speaker 7: think she also knows when to tool it. Now. She
Speaker 7: still has trouble at times, getting blocked a lot. In
Speaker 7: the most recent match, she had a few too many
Speaker 7: errors for my liking, but that's to be expected with
Speaker 7: a freshman. What I like about her is that she
Speaker 7: doesn't lose confidence. Whenever she swings and gets blocked, she
Speaker 7: goes up and swings harder and smarter the next time,
Speaker 7: which I think you really need as a young freshman.
Speaker 7: Outside that's going to do her well as she progresses
Speaker 7: throughout her career. You mentioned Brooklyn Delay. She is playing
Speaker 7: her way into SEC Player of the Year as a sophomore.
Speaker 7: What she is doing already this year again is if
Speaker 7: she wasn't great enough last year, what she's done this
Speaker 7: year is outstanding. And again when you're looking at a
Speaker 7: league that features the likes of Maddie Skinner, Reagan Rutherford,
Speaker 7: Kennedy Martin from Florida, like, these are big hitters, and
Speaker 7: she is, if not outperforming, competing with them just as well.
Speaker 7: What she's done from behind the service line has been
Speaker 7: really improved. I've just been so impressed with how good
Speaker 7: offensively she's been because she's averaging over five kills of
Speaker 7: set and se play and that is an astounding number,
Speaker 7: especially for a sophomore. So kill she just keeps getting better.
Speaker 1: Her kills percent or higher in the SEC than it
Speaker 1: is overall. I mean it's amazing, you know.
Speaker 7: Yeah, she last year she did this too. Last year
Speaker 7: when she got to sec play her play ratchet up
Speaker 7: even more so. This is what she seems to like
Speaker 7: to do. Leah always talks about every team needs to
Speaker 7: have a dog that just says, hey, give me the
Speaker 7: ball and get out of my way. Brooklyn is becoming that,
Speaker 7: and I think if that continues, Kentucky's going to be
Speaker 7: in good hands going forward.
Speaker 1: A few minutes left, Hunter Mitchell, he's going to be
Speaker 1: covering Kentucky volleyball tonight as a Wildcatt take on Texas.
Speaker 1: A and m talk to me about Molly Tuzzo. I
Speaker 1: don't know that she's been a surprise because I think
Speaker 1: people knew she could play, But I don't know how
Speaker 1: many people expected to see her at this level this season.
Speaker 7: Yeah, I don't think any of us expected to see
Speaker 7: her take that libero spot from a senior and Olmer
Speaker 7: Bevan and Evan's been a great libero in her time
Speaker 7: at Kentucky. She's been a very good passing liberta. I
Speaker 7: don't think she's gotten the recognition that some of Kentucky's
Speaker 7: other great liberos have gotten. Bevin just because She's not
Speaker 7: a flashy libero. Molly tells that was a flash of libero.
Speaker 7: She is just such an athlete and Craig will tell
Speaker 7: you she's one of, if not the greatest athlete they
Speaker 7: have in the gym. She can jump out of the
Speaker 7: gym and she she gets to balls that not many
Speaker 7: other liberos.
Speaker 9: Can get to.
Speaker 7: She's a really great passer too, which I think she's
Speaker 7: been anchoring Kentucky's servicey this year and that's why they're
Speaker 7: having so much success now offensively. For her to take
Speaker 7: that libero spot as a sophomore was really really impressive,
Speaker 7: and to start the season, Craig kind of said they
Speaker 7: were going to let Bevin take the first three matches
Speaker 7: and then Molly take the second three and then make
Speaker 7: a decision from there. And I think she and Eleanor,
Speaker 7: to her credit as well, have both handled that with
Speaker 7: a lot of grace and taking their respective roles. Obviously,
Speaker 7: Eleanor taking a substantially smaller role as just a standard
Speaker 7: defensive specialist compared to where she was last year, but
Speaker 7: is coming in off the bench and doing really well
Speaker 7: from in service eve and that fourth rotation, and then
Speaker 7: also just digging a lot of great balls for Kentucky.
Speaker 7: So I also think it's it's important of how good
Speaker 7: Molly has been as at ceter secondary setter whenever Emma
Speaker 7: takes that first contact because the double contact is not
Speaker 7: called anymore, Mollie is a lot more comfortable studying with
Speaker 7: two hands and her and Brooklyn has a connection with
Speaker 7: her backset when Emma takes that first ball, but is lethal.
Speaker 7: Which again, to have that as an added weapon out
Speaker 7: of a sophomore levero to another sophomore outside hitter is
Speaker 7: a really really important thing. Kentucky's got some great young
Speaker 7: talent that's going to serve them well, I think for
Speaker 7: the next two three years, and we're seeing that in Molly,
Speaker 7: Brooklyn and in Asia.
Speaker 1: So Megan Wilson transferred in from Oklahoma, and she's another
Speaker 1: one who's kind of surprised me Hunter. I didn't know
Speaker 1: that we would see this kind of productivity from her,
Speaker 1: but one hundred and sixty four kills going into tonight's match,
Speaker 1: and she has been vital for this team.
Speaker 7: Yeah, and you know what's interesting about Meghan is Meghan's
Speaker 7: You can argue that Meghan's impact on the game is
Speaker 7: even bigger Decento that it is. Offensively, she's an excellent
Speaker 7: right side blocker, she really is. She knows how to
Speaker 7: time the block well, she lines up well, and she's
Speaker 7: been the goal at the net. Even if she's not
Speaker 7: actively getting blocks that go down for points, she's touching
Speaker 7: a lot of balls, which has been really important for
Speaker 7: Molly and eleanor in the back line. You know, she's still,
Speaker 7: I think, is trying to develop that connection with Emma.
Speaker 7: There are still times where I think sometimes she's expecting
Speaker 7: a different set than what she ends up getting. I
Speaker 7: still think that they're still trying to work out the
Speaker 7: timing and some of the setting choices. But but when
Speaker 7: she's on, she is another added weapon to an offense
Speaker 7: that's really beginning to take into gear. We saw this
Speaker 7: last year, right, I mean, Kentucky started so slow offensively,
Speaker 7: and truly last year was one of the worst offensive
Speaker 7: teams in the country and then became one of the
Speaker 7: best offensive teams by the end of the year. Statistically,
Speaker 7: that's happening again this year. I mean emmacgrom's assist numbers
Speaker 7: were really low start the season, and now there there
Speaker 7: she's at last I checked, she's up to twelfth nationally.
Speaker 7: Now in assists per set, which, again, like we know,
Speaker 7: Emma's great, but the offense was not doing well early
Speaker 7: in the year. It was you know that that would
Speaker 7: have been a surprise to see that. So I think
Speaker 7: Megan's been a big part of that. I think they're
Speaker 7: still trying to get a few more points from her
Speaker 7: behind the center behind Emma, But even when she isn't
Speaker 7: scoring offensively, she brings so much value on the defensive
Speaker 7: end that she really has become a really valuable part
Speaker 7: of what Kentucky's trying to do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just a couple of minutes left with Hunter, but
Speaker 1: as you said, you just can't kind of out of
Speaker 1: Craig Skinner team. This guy knows how to run riad
Speaker 1: a team, rit a roster, and then just keep things together.
Speaker 1: And this despite as you said, over the last couple
Speaker 1: of years, losing two of the best players he ever
Speaker 1: recruited who are now playing for Texas. Plus you had
Speaker 1: a kid to transferred to Georgia and became SEC Player
Speaker 1: of the Year. So they just keep grinding, don't they.
Speaker 7: They do, And I'm sure you saw the SEC network
Speaker 7: put up that stat last Friday about their record over
Speaker 7: the last seven seasons. Kentucky is now sixty eight and
Speaker 7: five in road games and road game over the last
Speaker 7: seven years. That's a crazy stat again, especially considering how
Speaker 7: much this league has improved. And you're playing on the
Speaker 7: road at Florida. I mean again, ten years ago, playing
Speaker 7: Florida was like, oh gosh, that's the big one. How
Speaker 7: are you going to beat Florida. Now that that's like regularity,
Speaker 7: like it's now to beat Florida the way you'd beat
Speaker 7: anybody else. Just their their road record in this in
Speaker 7: this conference is really an impressive feat and I think
Speaker 7: again goes to show how great of a coach Craig is.
Speaker 7: We always talk every year. It seems to be a
Speaker 7: common thing now. He always schedules so hard in the
Speaker 7: non conference early and it's like, oh, man, Kentucky looks
Speaker 7: like their show. They look they're bad. And then but
Speaker 7: you see when they get to this conference, like all
Speaker 7: of a sudden things click because they spent you know,
Speaker 7: their non conference playing all of these top teams, and
Speaker 7: they get in the league and it's like they're coasting
Speaker 7: and I don't again, coasting is the wrong word, because
Speaker 7: you don't coast in this league. But I simply mean like,
Speaker 7: you know, sixty eight and five over seven seasons on
Speaker 7: the road and SEC play is a really, I mean, honestly,
Speaker 7: an unbelievable stat. Again, I've been covering this program for
Speaker 7: ten years. I didn't even know that their road record
Speaker 7: was that.
Speaker 9: Good like that.
Speaker 7: I saw that and thought that has to be a
Speaker 7: typele Maybe it's sixty eight and fifteen, not five.
Speaker 9: But no, it's five.
Speaker 7: They've only lost five road matches in the last overs
Speaker 7: in the in the league. That's just it's a crazy
Speaker 7: absurd stat And when you talk to Lea or any
Speaker 7: other former athletes that played for Craig, they all say
Speaker 7: the same thing. That's just how Craig is. He just
Speaker 7: instills that mentality, that championship mentality in the team and
Speaker 7: that's why they have so much success on the road
Speaker 7: in a league like the SEC.
Speaker 1: This league used to be the Florida Invitational, but after
Speaker 1: Craig Skinner arrived, that's slowly transformed and now for seven
Speaker 1: straight seasons, if you're going to win the league had
Speaker 1: to go through lexingon and with a couple of exceptions,
Speaker 1: nobody did. They shared a couple of titles and now
Speaker 1: Craig is a hunter said, Kentucky's got its own destiny
Speaker 1: in its hands, but it starts tonight with Texas A
Speaker 1: and M.
Speaker 3: Hunter.
Speaker 1: Thanks to you at the ball game anytime. Thank you,
Speaker 1: Dick Hunter Mitchell from on three dot com. And we're
Speaker 1: back in just a minute on the Big Blue and
Speaker 1: Sider six thirty WLA. Welcome back to the Big Blue
Speaker 1: and Cider, thanks again to Hunter Mitchell and again coming
Speaker 1: up in just a few minutes, it's Kentucky Volleyballs. The
Speaker 1: Wildcats take on Texas A and M. Kentucky's fate right
Speaker 1: there in front of it. The Wildcats were I won't
Speaker 1: say they were left for dead, but it just didn't
Speaker 1: look very good when it came to, you know, protecting
Speaker 1: their run of SEC championships, either sharing or owning outright
Speaker 1: the title over the last seven seasons, because, as we
Speaker 1: mentioned earlier, the Cats struggled a bit, not just because
Speaker 1: of the non conference schedule but losing to Texas swept
Speaker 1: by the Longhorns back on October to thirteenth. But since
Speaker 1: then five straight wins and now three more regular season
Speaker 1: four more a half a dozen regular season matches left,
Speaker 1: and if the Cats went out, entirely possible they'll be
Speaker 1: the outright SEC champs, but it starts tonight with A
Speaker 1: and M a really good team, although the Aggies upset
Speaker 1: Texas and then fell flat against Mississippi State last time out,
Speaker 1: so you never know what's gonna happen, but we'll have
Speaker 1: it for you in SEC. Plus, keep your radio handy though,
Speaker 1: because coming up in just a few minutes Sean Woods,
Speaker 1: the unforgettable Guard, and our West End Bureau chief Gary Moore.
Speaker 1: We didn't have a show Wednesday night thanks to the
Speaker 1: coaches show lineups and the statewide BBI, so we moved
Speaker 1: our Wednesday guests to Friday. The NFL trade deadline came
Speaker 1: and went love Elvid Packers didn't do much, but the
Speaker 1: team they're trying to chase and just lost to. If
Speaker 1: I may dangle that preposition, the Detroit Lions. They made
Speaker 1: a move, and a good one. They hired signed a
Speaker 1: former Kentucky Wildcats, a Darius Smith. So he's an edge
Speaker 1: rusher and he replaces Hutchinson, their outstanding edge rusher who
Speaker 1: broke his leg a couple three weeks ago. Zadarius is
Speaker 1: not as good. He's a little bit older. He is
Speaker 1: accomplished as an NFL player had some great seasons in
Speaker 1: Green Bay, but he was with the Browns most recently,
Speaker 1: but now down the stretch run. He's a Detroit Lion,
Speaker 1: and he gives Detroit not just another outside rusher, but
Speaker 1: a second in Kentucky wildcat. That's right, Josh Pascal. Remember him?
Speaker 1: You bet you do.
Speaker 9: Uh.
Speaker 1: He is a key part of that Detroit Lions front line.
Speaker 1: And when the war got out that the Lions had
Speaker 1: traded for z Well, media went to Josh Pascal, and
Speaker 1: of course he gave it a thumbs up.
Speaker 10: Yeah, he's a great player. Kentucky do it too, So
Speaker 10: good to have another Kentucky guy on him. He actually
Speaker 10: played with my brother back in college, so I know
Speaker 10: him a little bit from the past. So I'm excited
Speaker 10: to have you What do you think he had to
Speaker 10: the to the just a uh, not only as a
Speaker 10: pass rusher, but just all around player. He's a great player,
Speaker 10: a veteran of course, I've been in the league for
Speaker 10: a while, has a lot of knowledge and he'll be
Speaker 10: able to help us out a lot.
Speaker 1: I'd almost forgotten, no disrespect, but yeah, Josh's brother, Trayvon Pascal,
Speaker 1: was a linebacker, signed and played first for Joker and
Speaker 1: then played the first what two or three years of
Speaker 1: the Marx Stoops Earrah, and that's when Johns came in.
Speaker 1: And you remember Josh's story. They found that little mark
Speaker 1: on his foot turned out to be a very serious
Speaker 1: form of cancer, and the surgeons and the oncologists helped
Speaker 1: him beat it to the point where he came back
Speaker 1: and enjoyed a really good career with Kentucky and now
Speaker 1: is playing in the NFL. I was fortunate enough to
Speaker 1: be asked by UK Sports Video to help produce a
Speaker 1: sort of a mini documentary on Josh. It was actually
Speaker 1: nominated for an Emmy Award. But what a great, great
Speaker 1: person and a really good football player. And now he's
Speaker 1: got a teammate who's going to help those Lions hold
Speaker 1: off my Packers in the NFC North. So you're not
Speaker 1: supposed to root for other teams in your division, but
Speaker 1: I'm going to root for them if my Packers don't
Speaker 1: get it done. So stay tuned for Hour number two
Speaker 1: coming up next Sean Woods, and then we'll talk with
Speaker 1: our West End Bureau chief, Gary Moore. That's all I
Speaker 1: had here on the Big Blue and Siders six thirty wlap.
Speaker 11: Mana manager, welcome back to the Big Blue Insider and
Speaker 11: joining us.
Speaker 1: Now he does it every Wednesday, but of course we
Speaker 1: were bumped by programming. So on Friday we present our
Speaker 1: unforgettable guard Sean Woods. His jersey hangs in the rafters
Speaker 1: of rup former Wildcat coach at the d one coach himself.
Speaker 1: And let me ask the former player, Seawan Woods about
Speaker 1: and I'll ask the coach as well, about these made
Speaker 1: for TV matchups where you have high profile teams going
Speaker 1: at each other teams and might not see each other
Speaker 1: Sean until the NCA tournament. But but now TV being
Speaker 1: what it is, you see more and more of these
Speaker 1: North Carolina, Kansas, Kentucky duke coming up as a player. Uh.
Speaker 1: Taking us back aways, you guys played in at least
Speaker 1: one of these big events, right, Yeah.
Speaker 4: We did.
Speaker 9: We played in the preseason n I T where we played,
Speaker 9: you know, two games at our play and then the
Speaker 9: winner that goes to New York to play in the
Speaker 9: n I T in Massive Square Garden and unfortunate for us,
Speaker 9: unfortunate for us, we got upset by Pitt that year
Speaker 9: and wasn't able to go.
Speaker 1: And I recall that they knocked in a bunch of threes,
Speaker 1: beating Rick Patino at his own game, and that was
Speaker 1: not the scouting report on them, was it?
Speaker 9: I can't remember, but I can remember he was so
Speaker 9: hot because he was you know, he made all these
Speaker 9: predictions and he's saying he's gonna take Pelfrey Farmer and
Speaker 9: fell House and drop him off from Massterquorks. I mean
Speaker 9: drop him off in New York City and make them
Speaker 9: walk back or find their way back or whatever. But
Speaker 9: it never came about, and he was so devastated because
Speaker 9: he wanted to take his team back to New York.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, did you guys be honest? Now? Do
Speaker 1: you do you remember? Do you guys do you think
Speaker 1: he looked ahead?
Speaker 9: I thought we were so much better than them, just
Speaker 9: looking at him on tape. But man, that they come
Speaker 9: out like gangbusters and Jamal didn't play well. Jamal got
Speaker 9: a file's trouble and we couldn't buy a basket and
Speaker 9: they hit everything.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you did play in the Big Four. That wasn't
Speaker 1: quite the high profile event that we see now, but
Speaker 1: I thought it was very cool back then. And you
Speaker 1: guys played Notre Dame that was a high profile.
Speaker 8: I think it was your second We played Notre Dame
Speaker 8: one year and we play Indiana one.
Speaker 1: Year's exactly right, exactly right. I gotta think you you,
Speaker 1: being an Indianapolis kid, you must have really enjoyed that.
Speaker 9: It was great for me for all my family and
Speaker 9: friends to be right there watching us play against you know,
Speaker 9: especially those two in state teams that recruited me. It
Speaker 9: was great. And you know, I think I remember saying
Speaker 9: on television that, you know, my mom and dad would
Speaker 9: go to work and then that their son came home
Speaker 9: and beat Indiana that one year, which was cool. It
Speaker 9: was fun for me, you know, playing against those teams
Speaker 9: that you normally don't get to see until the NC
Speaker 9: DOUBA Tournament was big for us because I never we
Speaker 9: never got a chance to go out west and play
Speaker 9: the USCS, the Arizona and things like that, and never
Speaker 9: took a trip like that. But the fact that you know,
Speaker 9: we were playing Indiana, which was still a rival, playing
Speaker 9: Notre Dame, which was still you know, a tough game
Speaker 9: that we would play every year. It's unfortunate that they
Speaker 9: don't play Indiana anymore. They don't play Notre Dame, you know,
Speaker 9: and the Carolinas. You know that those were you know,
Speaker 9: I think it's big. You know that all the powerhouse.
Speaker 9: It was getting up the opportunity to play against one
Speaker 9: another instead of just playing cupcake teams every year, which
Speaker 9: you know, I was one of those cupcake teams, and
Speaker 9: I got in the coaching rank and I and I
Speaker 9: needed the money, so you know, it helped my budget out.
Speaker 9: But you know, UK fans and UK ticket holders, so
Speaker 9: they want to see Kentucky play against the best. And
Speaker 9: I think I'll be glad when they get back to that,
Speaker 9: because that's what college basketball is all about.
Speaker 1: I remember you guys played Georgia Tech down in Atlanta,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't as high a profile. It was a
Speaker 1: cupping Copenheimer. That's exactly right. Wasn't that the game where
Speaker 1: Rick got tossed?
Speaker 9: Yes, Coach got tossed and played very much because I
Speaker 9: got food poison. I remember that too. I got food
Speaker 9: poison the night before.
Speaker 1: You only played six minutes.
Speaker 9: I only played, yeah, because I was I got food poison.
Speaker 9: Then coach got kicked out and he told Coach sind
Speaker 9: not to not to not play me the rest of
Speaker 9: the game.
Speaker 1: Really, could you have played? I mean I'm sure you
Speaker 1: wanted to, or did you.
Speaker 9: I could have played, Yeah, I could have. You know,
Speaker 9: the minutes I played once I got to you know,
Speaker 9: got the feathers off. You know, I was back and groove.
Speaker 9: But you know, coach totally not to play.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, and you lose it by a point. But
Speaker 1: I remember they were they were really good. They were
Speaker 1: ranked thirteenth in the country, Georgia. You guys were eighth
Speaker 1: in the country, and uh, yeah, you I think you
Speaker 1: came back, you like made a big deficit disappear or
Speaker 1: something like that, right.
Speaker 9: We did. And I thought Derrick Dale Brown at that
Speaker 9: particular time, played out of his mind and he really
Speaker 9: carried us down the stretch, and unfortunately we ran out
Speaker 9: of time, and unfortunately I didn't get to play at all.
Speaker 9: In that game.
Speaker 1: For the most part, Dale had twenty one points four steals.
Speaker 1: I honestly believe that he was one of the most
Speaker 1: underappreciated players you guys ever had, and you were gone
Speaker 1: by them. But in ninety three when they went to
Speaker 1: the final four, Jamal fouls out and I thought they
Speaker 1: still had a shot against Michigan, and then Dale got
Speaker 1: hurt and that was the end of that, but I
Speaker 1: know you had a lot of respect for him.
Speaker 9: Oh yeah, he's my backcourt made and we were considered
Speaker 9: the best defensive tandement of the country.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 9: You know, two big dogs in the back court six
Speaker 9: ' two, you know, one eighty plus, so we you know,
Speaker 9: he was fun to play with. He could shoot the basketball,
Speaker 9: excellent on ball defender, and a winner. You know, he's
Speaker 9: a junior college transfer and he came in and you know,
Speaker 9: really after the first month of practice, once the game
Speaker 9: started to my senior year, he came out like gang
Speaker 9: busteres the first few games.
Speaker 1: And in fact, Batino was ejected for complaining got the
Speaker 1: two technicals because Matt Geiger allegedly elbow Dale in the head.
Speaker 1: And I don't know if there was no foul called
Speaker 1: or whatever, but that's what led to Batino being ejected.
Speaker 1: Do you remember that.
Speaker 8: I don't remember what for, but I remember coach getting
Speaker 8: adamant and they kicked him out. I remember that. And
Speaker 8: he did get the chance to come in the huddle,
Speaker 8: and I was mad because he told coach Sindy not
Speaker 8: to play me. So I was like, oh man, so
Speaker 8: it was a it was a we did get a
Speaker 8: free suit out of it, Harberclassic as a couple with
Speaker 8: a suit company, and uh, you know we did get
Speaker 8: a nice you know, some nice threads.
Speaker 9: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And we're not talking about basketball shoes either, You're talking
Speaker 1: about like dress shoes.
Speaker 9: Right, Yeah, we got nice that we got. Everyone got
Speaker 9: a suit out of it, you know suit tie.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 9: That that was that was part of the deal that.
Speaker 1: Every was that the place where all the NBA guys
Speaker 1: would go because they could get tailored suits, you know
Speaker 1: for bigger guys and that kind of stuff.
Speaker 9: I guess I guess it was. It was based out
Speaker 9: of Atlanta, so.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, Well it was a game that supposedly sent
Speaker 1: Herb Syndeck on his way as a head coach, or
Speaker 1: at least marked him early as a head coach. Well,
Speaker 1: you talked about Dale Brown, he's like you. So he
Speaker 1: went into coaching as well in some places that were
Speaker 1: really challenging, didn't.
Speaker 9: He They did. He ware chance coach at Pipel College.
Speaker 9: Then he got a chance to you know, go to
Speaker 9: Atlanta and coach at Clark Atlanta. Then he had a
Speaker 9: few high school jobs too, went back to the Moss
Speaker 9: Point coach there, came back to Kentucky coach at a
Speaker 9: couple of places, so yeah, he's been a raft a
Speaker 9: little bit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we were talking about the sort of pre conference
Speaker 1: games that were a little bit of a higher profile
Speaker 1: and for Kentucky oftentimes at least once a year, you
Speaker 1: guys used to play over in Louisville. Did you guys
Speaker 1: like those games because it was a bit of a
Speaker 1: change to your routine, but it was a different vibe
Speaker 1: and a different kind of crowd that showed up at
Speaker 1: those games, at least back in the day when you
Speaker 1: were playing.
Speaker 9: We didn't think it was fair because you know, we
Speaker 9: played North Carolina there, Yeah, time, so we played Indiana.
Speaker 9: The fact that we would have to go to their
Speaker 9: place and play in the ding Dome in a simill,
Speaker 9: but then they wouldn't play us in RUP. You know,
Speaker 9: I didn't think that was fair, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Yeah? What was it that they wouldn't play you? Or
Speaker 1: that just happened to be the game you can't put
Speaker 1: in Louisville.
Speaker 9: No, I was told that they wouldn't plays something. They
Speaker 9: wouldn't play us in rough. Wow, we never played Carolina
Speaker 9: in RUP. We always played there, So we never played
Speaker 9: Carolina in rup and then after the nineteen eighty Night,
Speaker 9: after the Fall of eighty eight, Indiana stopped playing Kentucky
Speaker 9: by Knight wouldn't come playing Rough either.
Speaker 1: Yep, he thought the officials were too influenced in Rugh.
Speaker 1: But you know, I can tell you why exactly. I
Speaker 1: can tell you why North Carolina agreed to play you guys.
Speaker 1: After after the NSA thing happened in the late eighties,
Speaker 1: Sam Newton was trying to help rebuild the image and
Speaker 1: he went to Dean Smith and called in a favor
Speaker 1: and said, look, would you please play us because that
Speaker 1: would help. I know you're going to have a better
Speaker 1: of us, you know, for the first few years, maybe
Speaker 1: every year, but uh, and I'm paraphrasing, you know that
Speaker 1: would help bring back credibility to our program. And Dean
Speaker 1: Smith said yes. But evidently I didn't know this until
Speaker 1: you just told me that. One of the one of
Speaker 1: the caveats was we ain't playing you in Lexington. And
Speaker 1: one of the great games I think was one of
Speaker 1: those games. And god, what year was it, nineteen, I
Speaker 1: don't know, eighty nine, you're right, and it was one
Speaker 1: twenty one to one ten. I mean, Derek Miller at
Speaker 1: twenty six. He hit three eight three pointers and Darren
Speaker 1: Feld out said, I think that was a career high
Speaker 1: for him. He at twenty seven, and that was a
Speaker 1: wild game. You remember that one.
Speaker 9: Yes I do, Yes, I did. And you know we
Speaker 9: enjoyed playing in Freedom all because I did like playing there,
Speaker 9: you know, on that floor court. You know, it's just
Speaker 9: so fortunate that those teams would never come into rough
Speaker 9: and play that. We didn't play Notre Dame. We played
Speaker 9: in the in the in the in the in the shoot,
Speaker 9: in the Hoojiah Dome. They didn't they want to come
Speaker 9: back to up. You know. It's like all the big
Speaker 9: time coaches at that particular time, Jigger Felt, Bob Knight,
Speaker 9: Dean Smith refused to come play us and rup Yeah,
Speaker 9: and then you can go my time anyway.
Speaker 1: Yeah. And then the following year nineteen December and ninety,
Speaker 1: you guys go to North Carolina. They're ranked tenth, your
Speaker 1: twenty fifth, and they beat you by three And there
Speaker 1: were some pretty questionable calls there, but nobody expected you
Speaker 1: guys to hang with North Carolina in that game, and
Speaker 1: you damn near beat them.
Speaker 9: But well after it was after we beat Kansas pretty
Speaker 9: good here for the payback game. Yeah, yeah, right after that.
Speaker 9: So we were feeling pretty good about ourselves and you know,
Speaker 9: going in there, we were confident and you know, gave
Speaker 9: them all they wanted and we were winning the game
Speaker 9: for the most part, yes, most of the game, and
Speaker 9: you know, a couple of questionable calls, you know, gave
Speaker 9: them an opportunity to get a run and they got
Speaker 9: away from us a little bit and time ran out
Speaker 9: on us at the end.
Speaker 1: Well, it was after that game that Beatino canceled the
Speaker 1: rest of that a six year contract and then Rick said,
Speaker 1: we're not We're not playing them anymore. Uh So that
Speaker 1: put an end to you guys having to play them
Speaker 1: in Louisville. But you know, for for a while there,
Speaker 1: I do think it helped you guys rebuild, didn't it.
Speaker 9: Well it was another game, you know, playing against a
Speaker 9: power five school, a blue blood on national television. You know,
Speaker 9: That's why I came to Kentucky, you know what I mean.
Speaker 9: I was against those guys. You know, I wanted to
Speaker 9: play on national television against the best, you know, and
Speaker 9: I was familiar with those guys as we come up
Speaker 9: through the high school ranks, you know, nationally. And Rick
Speaker 9: Fox is the Indiana guy from Warsaw. And you know,
Speaker 9: I knew King Rice and you know what I mean,
Speaker 9: they were loaded, Kevin Madden, you know, I mean, they
Speaker 9: were a peat chill cut I mean, and they were good,
Speaker 9: you know, King Rise. So it was, it was, it was.
Speaker 9: It was a very good chance for us, and all
Speaker 9: they did was build up our confidence and I don't
Speaker 9: think we lost too many more games after that.
Speaker 1: Sean Woods, the Unforgettable Guard. My guess we'll come back
Speaker 1: and talk more basketball with Sean on the other side
Speaker 1: of the break here on six thirty. Welcome back. We're
Speaker 1: talking with Sean Woods, the unforgettable guard. We talked to
Speaker 1: him each and every week, and we've been talking about
Speaker 1: Marquee matchups and going back to when you were playing.
Speaker 1: Of course, the Louisville games coming up, are going to
Speaker 1: find out more about U of L tomorrow when the
Speaker 1: Cardinals take on a good Tennessee team. But the last
Speaker 1: year you were at Kentucky, you guys hammered Louisville, which
Speaker 1: was a good team under Denny crim had Dwayne Morton,
Speaker 1: Everick Sullivan, those guys. But they came in mash had
Speaker 1: twenty five. Pelfrey had twenty six. I think he had
Speaker 1: a throwdown in that game.
Speaker 9: He did, he did.
Speaker 1: But you know, you guys love to say that those
Speaker 1: games in Louisville game meant more to the fans than
Speaker 1: the players. Was that true?
Speaker 9: We knew the rivalry, you know what I'm saying, and
Speaker 9: I had to take the guys on my team, so
Speaker 9: they really look forward to it. They understood the rivalry.
Speaker 9: You know, Kentucky Louisville game. You don't have to even
Speaker 9: be from Kentucky as a Kentucky basketball player to understand
Speaker 9: the mystique and the ribbalry of that situation. I didn't
Speaker 9: know that it started back in nineteen eighty three, I think,
Speaker 9: or yeah, you know, the Dream Game or whatever, right,
Speaker 9: And you know, you would think that Kentucky louisverll played
Speaker 9: more times than that before then, and they did, unfortunately.
Speaker 9: But you know, it's just like it's just like North
Speaker 9: Carolina Duke. It's like you know, uh, any other major rivalry,
Speaker 9: and it's one of the best. And I'm glad that
Speaker 9: they're going to continue to do that. I think it's
Speaker 9: going to be very interesting this year because two new
Speaker 9: coaches to rebuild rosters, to rebuild rosters, and they're trying
Speaker 9: to make their mark, and what better way to win
Speaker 9: in state credibility than that game right there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you were in a little foul trouble that last
Speaker 1: time you played against him, so you only played twenty minutes.
Speaker 1: You still had five assists. But with Mash and Pelfrey
Speaker 1: going off, I guess assists were I won't say easy
Speaker 1: to come by, but there were a lot of them.
Speaker 9: All, no doubt about it. The year before I had
Speaker 9: one of my better games, you know, I had twenty
Speaker 9: points in one half. And when we beat them at
Speaker 9: level of the year before that, and then coming back in,
Speaker 9: you know, they thought that they were better enough. And
Speaker 9: I'll tell you what John Pelford put on the show,
Speaker 9: uh course, for he had a ten minute spell right
Speaker 9: there where he looked like he was a you know,
Speaker 9: an All American. So you know, he was always fired
Speaker 9: up to play against Louisville. You can imagine they recruited him.
Speaker 9: He took a visit there, and so on and so forth,
Speaker 9: and then you know, we knew how good Mash was,
Speaker 9: and I just think that they didn't have no answer
Speaker 9: for Mash, and they underestimated Pale, and Pale let them
Speaker 9: know it to.
Speaker 1: The year before. You're right, you had twenty points, you
Speaker 1: had four assists, you were perfect from the line, six
Speaker 1: for six and Kentucky won that with ninety three to
Speaker 1: eighty five over in Louisville. Man, those were some fun
Speaker 1: games because back then, you know, Denny Crumbs still had
Speaker 1: it going back then, didn't he.
Speaker 9: He did, you know, and he always you know, he
Speaker 9: had good players. You know, we lost a little bill
Speaker 9: one time in my tenure, and that was my first year.
Speaker 9: We came I came back to play my sophomore yearah,
Speaker 9: and they got us. They were really really good though.
Speaker 8: I mean they were loaded.
Speaker 9: With Felton Spencer and all those guys, Tony kim Brow
Speaker 9: and Jerome Harbor and le bradfa Smith. You know, those
Speaker 9: guys were good and we got him the next year though.
Speaker 1: They only beat you by seven that you know talking about.
Speaker 1: But le Bradford, he had twenty two, ended up being
Speaker 1: Michael Jordan's punching bag in the pros about that unfairly, Uh,
Speaker 1: Before I let you go there, we've talked a lot,
Speaker 1: and we had before about pel and Richie and Darren
Speaker 1: and John and I remember people saying, some people saying, well,
Speaker 1: those guys, you know, they weren't all that good, but
Speaker 1: they ended up at Kentucky and blah blah blah, Like
Speaker 1: they're wrong about that. Those guys, they might not have
Speaker 1: been super athletes, although I think they were better athletes,
Speaker 1: of course than people thought. But they were really good
Speaker 1: basketball players deep down, weren't they.
Speaker 9: They were the most underrated basketball players in America, and
Speaker 9: they showed it, you know, all the way up to
Speaker 9: March twenty eighth, nineteen ninety two. You know, Darren Fellhouse
Speaker 9: is one of the most underrated players to ever play
Speaker 9: at weverse Kentucky. People don't understand how good he was
Speaker 9: and his After we got Jamal, Darren started coming off
Speaker 9: the bench and it didn't matter. Yeah, Darren average more
Speaker 9: against Shaquille lit Neil to anyone in the SEC. Really, yes,
Speaker 9: Darren average at least over over twenty three twenty four
Speaker 9: points the game against Shock.
Speaker 1: Everybody didn't know that. Well, you know what, I'm looking
Speaker 1: at the box score from that one loss, and Darren
Speaker 1: had only and I'm quoting air quotes, nine points in
Speaker 1: thirty seven minutes. Johnny had sixteen rebounds and twelve were
Speaker 1: on the offensive glass. That's incredible. Yeah, yes, I guarantee
Speaker 1: you that's why you guys were in the game.
Speaker 9: Man. I'm just telling you those three guys right there,
Speaker 9: I don't care what nobody. I'll take them right now
Speaker 9: and I'll go against anybody in America, any team that's
Speaker 9: ever played, and I still and will hold our own.
Speaker 9: I'm just telling you those those guys could play. Yeah,
Speaker 9: and people forget how good Jeff Bratto was before he
Speaker 9: got hurt.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 9: People forget about Reggie Hanson. Man. You throw Reggie Hanson
Speaker 9: in the in the in the equation and sprinkled Derek
Speaker 9: Miller and let that. Let us grow with those two guys,
Speaker 9: we win the national championship.
Speaker 1: Red no has that Reggie six six sixty seven And
Speaker 1: there's still video out there him blocking a shot by
Speaker 1: Shaquille O'Neal. I mean right, yeah, yeah. And you know
Speaker 1: what Eddie said and told me before I let you
Speaker 1: go when he signed Jeff Brasso, we were having a
Speaker 1: conversation and he said he was kind of saying, you're
Speaker 1: gonna like this guy goes, He's gonna remind you a
Speaker 1: Rex Chapman the way he jumps. I'm like what he said.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, he said. I'm not saying he's gonna be
Speaker 1: as good as Rex, but that's what kind of player
Speaker 1: he is. Then he blew his knee and still a
Speaker 1: good ball player and a good dude.
Speaker 9: But yeah, well before he got hurt, I think he
Speaker 9: played three four games our senior year he was I
Speaker 9: think he was leading us in scoring or our second
Speaker 9: league score before he got hurt.
Speaker 1: Is that right?
Speaker 9: Yeah, Brad, Brad play the pass and lane. He can.
Speaker 9: He was a great athlete jumping off one foot and
Speaker 9: he can shoot. He I mean, you know he really
Speaker 9: shoots the basketball too, so you know, bad and he's
Speaker 9: a competitor, you know what I'm saying. He would do
Speaker 9: anything the coach says, you know, Rock Oliver total rough
Speaker 9: through that brick wall, or time rat try to run
Speaker 9: through that brickwall for that.
Speaker 1: He had twenty three against West Virginia in the preseason.
Speaker 1: N I t uh, yeah, you're right, you could get
Speaker 1: it done. Uh Well, the time is flown by. It
Speaker 1: always does when we talk about the good old day. Sean,
Speaker 1: thank you so much. We'll talk to you next week,
Speaker 1: all right, Buddy, Western Bureau Chief Gary Moore. Next here
Speaker 1: we mentioned earlier this is the Wednesday guest lineup because
Speaker 1: we were preempted on Wednesday this week by the Coaches Show.
Speaker 1: So our Western Burea Chief Gary Moore joining us. How
Speaker 1: he is at the other end of I sixty four
Speaker 1: used to be to the other ends of the country
Speaker 1: out in LA, but he joined us each and every week,
Speaker 1: Sup man, Hey.
Speaker 3: You know, we got two guys in a six pack.
Speaker 3: I was just thinking that, you know, from Louisville to LA,
Speaker 3: it's not that big a deal because the Cards are
Speaker 3: going to do that. They're gonna go to Louisville Palo
Speaker 3: Alto in a couple of weeks. So basically, I was
Speaker 3: just kind of ahead of the time, you know, in
Speaker 3: top of those game conference it was a conference call
Speaker 3: game exactly. Two guys in a six pack, you and
Speaker 3: me and six things to talk about our first swig
Speaker 3: here and we've been talking about this as well. Instead
Speaker 3: of another kickoff Saturday, it's a kickback time for UK
Speaker 3: and number twenty two Louisville both have bye weeks going on.
Speaker 3: But Dick, we got ourselves some hoops and high noon
Speaker 3: tomorrow over here in the Ville Downtown, number twelve, that
Speaker 3: school from that ugly Orangeville plays the Cards and at
Speaker 3: four tomorrow over there, Rop number twenty three Cats host Bucknell,
Speaker 3: which should be I think it'd be nice little warm
Speaker 3: up before facing number seven Duke Tuesday night down in Catlanta.
Speaker 3: Also tomorrow night, my hill Toppers take on Grand Canyon University.
Speaker 3: Remember them guys from last March twelve Seed beating Saint
Speaker 3: Mary's and given Bama game. Not quite the same bunch,
Speaker 3: but that's who the Top is going to be playing
Speaker 3: tomorrow out there. And even before those three, how about
Speaker 3: number nine North Carolina at number one Rock Chalk Jayhawks
Speaker 3: KU tonight Kansas A nine a half point favorite ESBN
Speaker 3: two in fact about right now, and my hometown Murray
Speaker 3: State Racers also playing this hour, the pitt Panthers. I
Speaker 3: think UK should go to and Oh, but what do
Speaker 3: you think the Cards can do tomorrow?
Speaker 1: The Cards can show us the beginnings of who they are. Uh,
Speaker 1: this is a good Tennessee team they're gonna face, and
Speaker 1: they got to be obviously, Louisville's gotta be ready. So
Speaker 1: if they've made the strides that we think they have,
Speaker 1: they'll give Tennessee a good game, but also see who
Speaker 1: Tennessee is because a lot of people like them in
Speaker 1: the SEC. This is a good early season matchup.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm probably sing the video of coach Kelsey running
Speaker 3: around campus, Yeah, urging the kids go on the game.
Speaker 3: You're gonna be they We're gonna need you come on down.
Speaker 1: It's a great video, shades of James Franklin's days at Vanderbilt, right,
Speaker 1: exact same thing.
Speaker 3: It's a cool move. Yep, number our second swig here
Speaker 3: on the six pack. Speaking of Murray State, they will
Speaker 3: be of course, the UK's next football win a week
Speaker 3: from tomorrow. Let's not mince words here. UK is gonna
Speaker 3: win this game. The Racers are beyond awful. First fourth
Speaker 3: worst total defense in the FCS. Racers are number one
Speaker 3: twenty out of one hundred and twenty three teams, given
Speaker 3: up four hundred ninety one yards a game, the third
Speaker 3: worst scoring defense, giving up forty three points a game.
Speaker 3: In fact, the Racers last weekend went oh for the
Speaker 3: Dakotas of the Missouri Valley Conference, losing to all four
Speaker 3: of the North and South Dakota teams by a combined
Speaker 3: score of two hundred and forty two to forty seven
Speaker 3: oh Man. Basically, the Cats are gonna have a scrimmage
Speaker 3: with pads against essentially a Division three team coming up,
Speaker 3: hopefully will help them out before the next weekend hits.
Speaker 3: Speaking of being a heavy favorite against the lousy teams,
Speaker 3: I mentioned the number twenty two Cards come off their
Speaker 3: bye week next Saturday, out West, out west in an
Speaker 3: Atlantic Coast Conference game two and seven Stanford Cardinal. Yeah two,
Speaker 3: three hundred and forty six miles from here in Louisville.
Speaker 3: And after that UFL's got one more home game against
Speaker 3: number eighteen pitt and over to you on the thirtieth
Speaker 3: of November for the Governor's Cup game. Injuries, of course,
Speaker 3: have played plagued UK all season, so I'm asking you
Speaker 3: how is the healing going, and how do you think
Speaker 3: they're going to do two weeks at number five Texas Well, I.
Speaker 1: Would have thought that they wouldn't have much of a
Speaker 1: shot until they went down to Tennessee and played well
Speaker 1: in a challenging situation with so many players injured. But Kentucky,
Speaker 1: for whatever reason, has played fairly well on the road
Speaker 1: and if you can get some people healed up, especially
Speaker 1: some of those guys on the D line. Then yeah,
Speaker 1: you know they got a puncher's chance. Texas is finding
Speaker 1: out about SEC football, and you knew it would. But
Speaker 1: it's going to take a couple of breaks here and there,
Speaker 1: which they got against Tennessee with missed field goals and
Speaker 1: a drop touchdown pass. They just weren't able to take
Speaker 1: full advantage of it, and they they might be able
Speaker 1: to take advantage of it at Texas. You mentioned Murray State,
Speaker 1: and gosh, I remember back in the late seventies early
Speaker 1: eighties when Murray State was was a tough OVC opponent,
Speaker 1: but the likes of Eku back when Mike Gottfried was
Speaker 1: coaching there before he left for UC in Kansas and Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: It's it's just amazing and sad, but it's a how
Speaker 1: do you recruit to your hometown Gary? You know how
Speaker 1: tiny that sound is.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so wonder they got a guy like Godfrey or
Speaker 3: another guy named Frank Biember who oh, yeah, Gottfried.
Speaker 1: They were even better under Beamer.
Speaker 3: Yeah he kind of did. Okay, Yeah, that's a good question.
Speaker 3: They're finding out. It's not easy to recruit there a
Speaker 3: third swig in the six back. So no football in
Speaker 3: the eight five nine or five oh two, but up
Speaker 3: I sixty five in the eight one two Bloomington, Indiana
Speaker 3: the number eight and nine and O Hoosiers host unranked
Speaker 3: in five and four of Michigan. Indiana's a fourteen point
Speaker 3: favorite on that. That's tomorrow afternoon, three thirty on CBS. Now,
Speaker 3: besides that one, there's three I want to see, especially
Speaker 3: number three Georgia, number sixteen Old miss Dogs three point
Speaker 3: favorites right now. Of course, the Rebels lose, there's no
Speaker 3: way they'll get into the field of twelve. That's a
Speaker 3: three thirty on ABC. Same deal with number twenty Colorado
Speaker 3: at Texas Tech on Fox at four. I don't think
Speaker 3: that they've got a much of a shot anyway. Twelve
Speaker 3: Colorado and number let's see tomorrow night seven thirty baton
Speaker 3: Rouge Number eleven Alabama, number fifteen LSU huge, huge game
Speaker 3: in the SEC. Both are six and two, and obviously
Speaker 3: the loser will also lose a shot at the playoffs.
Speaker 3: My Hilltoppers are playing at two and six New Mexico State.
Speaker 3: The shot and the top should end up being seven
Speaker 3: to two at the end of that one. Then again,
Speaker 3: he got the Holy War number nine BYU at Utah,
Speaker 3: South Carolina Vandy. Those could be fun. But the first
Speaker 3: four of those that I mentioned give me IU, Georgia,
Speaker 3: Texas Tech, and LSU. What do you like?
Speaker 1: I like Georgia over ol Miss. I do because or
Speaker 1: just strength, of course is its defense. But it's like
Speaker 1: one in one a offensively put the ball in the
Speaker 1: hands of Carson Beck and he can take control. And
Speaker 1: that's how Kentucky beat Ole Miss by taking control offensively
Speaker 1: and keeping the oll Miss offense off the field, and
Speaker 1: I think Georgia can do that. I'm not crazy about
Speaker 1: Bama this year. Why would we be. You know, they've
Speaker 1: proven to be proven to be mere mortals. And I've
Speaker 1: said it before. I've gone to Death Valley many times
Speaker 1: to cover Kentucky games a handful of times. I've never
Speaker 1: seen that place at its full effectiveness because it's never
Speaker 1: been a huge game like Bama at LSU. That crowd
Speaker 1: is going to be in full throat starting from noon on,
Speaker 1: and I think it's going to be one you can't miss.
Speaker 1: I do like your toppers out there in the desert
Speaker 1: against New Mexico State, and I'll tell you one of
Speaker 1: the most entertaining games could be that Brigham Young Utah
Speaker 1: game right about that, and I was way yeah. I
Speaker 1: will also say and Andy beats South Carolina.
Speaker 3: That's gonna be fun too now in Music City. So
Speaker 3: let's go to the pros. It starts early Saturday or
Speaker 3: Sunday morning, nine thirty two and seven Giants and the
Speaker 3: two and seven Panthers in Munich, German people got to
Speaker 3: be thinking, what do we do to America to deserve
Speaker 3: these two stiffs except maybe drawm into two World wars?
Speaker 3: But other than that, why would we have these two?
Speaker 1: After that?
Speaker 3: My top five on Sunday. I got the Bills beating
Speaker 3: the Colts up at up I sixty five in Indianapolis.
Speaker 3: I got the Niners beating the Bucks. I got the
Speaker 3: Steelers beating Washington they're in DC or Maryland wherever it is.
Speaker 3: And I got the Eagles beating at winning at Dallas,
Speaker 3: and the Lions all the road teams winning here at
Speaker 3: Lions at Texas as well. But let's go back to
Speaker 3: last night. Last night in Balmer, yet another prime time
Speaker 3: game ends with a clear personal foul on a quarterback
Speaker 3: not called, and even defensive holding in the same play.
Speaker 3: I'm really starting to lose a lot of faith in
Speaker 3: the NFL, and it's really starting to color a lot
Speaker 3: of these games. For me, We've seen so many of
Speaker 3: these these things happen the NFL. I think Dick has
Speaker 3: got to do something about this. Can they do a
Speaker 3: booth call on some of these things at some point,
Speaker 3: like in the fourth quarter, like they like they've done
Speaker 3: for personal fouls and stuff, you know, targeting or whatever
Speaker 3: the nature may be in something like that, It just
Speaker 3: seems to be really egregious. Now, you know, you can
Speaker 3: also say, well, the Bengals had a two touchdown lead
Speaker 3: at one point and they blew that, and the defense
Speaker 3: does have some holes. But on something like that a
Speaker 3: play is where, you know, you got to have a
Speaker 3: guy saying, look, there's two fouls both on the defense,
Speaker 3: and then call it otherwise. Don't call holding during the game,
Speaker 3: don't call off side, don't call anything.
Speaker 1: You're right, the Bengals did blow a lead, but that
Speaker 1: should not come into play in a discussion like this.
Speaker 1: I always go back to a conversation I had earlier
Speaker 1: this summer with a friend of mine. In fact, I
Speaker 1: worked for Jim DApp when I was in college as
Speaker 1: an official or intermurals, and Jim ran that program. Meanwhile
Speaker 1: he was refereeing high school football than OVC. Then SEC
Speaker 1: worked his way to the NFL. Eleven years in the league,
Speaker 1: worked at Super Bowl, retired twelve years as supervised the
Speaker 1: supervisor of officials they have more than one. Now he's
Speaker 1: fully retired, and so he spends a lot of time
Speaker 1: doing radio shows and talking to TV people about his
Speaker 1: take on NFL officiating. And he's not shy. He doesn't
Speaker 1: throw guys under the bus, but he's not shy. And
Speaker 1: one of the things Gary would stuck out with me
Speaker 1: is he said, with replay, he believes referees have become
Speaker 1: too tentative when it comes to making calls because many
Speaker 1: times oftentimes they can sort things out with replay. But
Speaker 1: exactly to your point, they couldn't fix this with replay.
Speaker 1: So back in the day when officials might have been
Speaker 1: more I don't know, aggressive, not as I don't used
Speaker 1: the affraid, but not as hesitant to make a call,
Speaker 1: they would have Not only was there a holding call
Speaker 1: on their intent of receiver, there was one on the
Speaker 1: other on another receiver, it was nearly tackled and then yeah,
Speaker 1: the smack in the face that Burro took. There were
Speaker 1: three opportunities, and yeah, I was rooting for the Bengals,
Speaker 1: but three opportunities to get that right, and they blew
Speaker 1: every one of them. And you know, certain areas, certain
Speaker 1: fowls belonged to certain officials depending on what their position
Speaker 1: in the field. But if you see something, Jim said,
Speaker 1: you can call it. Nobody called it. I don't know
Speaker 1: what the answer is. If you start, I think you
Speaker 1: open a big can of worms. If you start making calls,
Speaker 1: throwing flags from the booth, it shouldn't come to that.
Speaker 1: I don't think they got to fix this somehow.
Speaker 3: Let me ask you this that if those same things
Speaker 3: happened in Cincinnati, do you think they would have called it?
Speaker 1: Maybe? Maybe so the vibe might have been different, who knows,
Speaker 1: But yeah, this was This was ridiculous. And by the way,
Speaker 1: the games that you listed the one I want to
Speaker 1: see the most because I agree with all the road
Speaker 1: teams winning. Frankly, I think Niners Bucks will be a
Speaker 1: hell of a game, but Pittsburgh get Washington into me
Speaker 1: is the most intriguing. Who are these commanders? That's what
Speaker 1: I want to see.
Speaker 3: As Russell Wilson going to come through again. That's right,
Speaker 3: our fifth swig of the six packs. So the young
Speaker 3: man from Henry Clay High School who threw strike three
Speaker 3: to win the World Series for the Dodgers last week,
Speaker 3: Walker Bueller back there in Lexington's hometown and he's in
Speaker 3: fact heading to the Jelly Roll concert right now, rupp Arena,
Speaker 3: I believe he could be listening to us. Walker back
Speaker 3: home for their fifth annual celebrity charity golf outing at
Speaker 3: Keen Trace Golf Club. That's Sunday at Monday. If you
Speaker 3: can't go, you can still make a donation, by the way,
Speaker 3: any amount to Bullerfamilyfoundation dot org. They serve local first
Speaker 3: responding heroes. It's a great, great organization. And you and
Speaker 3: I have talked about before Walker being a free agent,
Speaker 3: and the big question is will or should the Dodgers
Speaker 3: re sign him after not extending an offer after the
Speaker 3: World Series, and Walker said he's happy to be a Dodger,
Speaker 3: loved to stay in La as long as they'll have him.
Speaker 3: I answer to my own question is emphatically yes, re
Speaker 3: sign him now. He came back from his second Tommy
Speaker 3: John surgery had some mixed results in the regular season
Speaker 3: and one bad outing in the NLDS, but when it
Speaker 3: mattered against the Mets and the Yankees, he figured it out.
Speaker 3: He figured out how to pitch again, not just throw,
Speaker 3: but pitch again. And going forward, I think he's going
Speaker 3: to be durable enough and smart enough to be a
Speaker 3: pop quality starter for LA.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I agree. I think you hit the key. He
Speaker 1: hitched well, you know, he set him up. They had
Speaker 1: a great plan he executed. I don't know about the
Speaker 1: physical stability of his arm, but they got people out there,
Speaker 1: I'm sure know every square inch of that arm, and
Speaker 1: if he can do it, yeah, they need to hang
Speaker 1: on to him.
Speaker 3: Sixth and final swig Dick. With you and I both
Speaker 3: being dog lovers and caretakers, I'd be remiss if I
Speaker 3: didn't mention the passing of Ben Herb Street yesterday at
Speaker 3: age ten, the faith companion and best friend of Kirk
Speaker 3: as the media credential issued for the September game his
Speaker 3: dad call between Oklahoma and Tennessee. It listed Ben as
Speaker 3: the goodest boy on the credential, and boy was he.
Speaker 3: I posted that one, by the way, and the other
Speaker 3: one from the Georgia Obama game where he was identified
Speaker 3: as a line barker y, You and I and probably
Speaker 3: everybody listing knows about the heartbreak of losing a furry family. Remember,
Speaker 3: and I don't know if you've ever had to do
Speaker 3: a show for a few hours after saying goodbye that
Speaker 3: day to a pupper kitty, but I can tell you
Speaker 3: I have, and it's as gut wrenching a show as
Speaker 3: they've ever had to do. So hats off to Kirk
Speaker 3: last night for doing a hell of a job with
Speaker 3: al while his heart was certainly broken.
Speaker 1: A big group hug.
Speaker 3: From all of us who've been following Ben's travels, and
Speaker 3: I know Kirk would be among some comforting colleagues and
Speaker 3: fans tomorrow down there in Baton Rouge.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, And it was a great story. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, following the dog with a camera and showing
Speaker 1: him on social media and of course the greatest breed
Speaker 1: in my opinion, Golden Retriever. I've had four my current
Speaker 1: as a retriever. You've met Star a Retriever, hear in
Speaker 1: the his mix, and uh, they're just they're just great
Speaker 1: dogs for that kind of thing, being around other people
Speaker 1: and uh just but yeah, that was such a great
Speaker 1: you know when you first heard about it, he who
Speaker 1: is this prima donna bringing his dog? But but dogs
Speaker 1: like Ben, they they surpassed that kind of thing. They
Speaker 1: overcome it because they are They are the goodest boys.
Speaker 3: He's always smiling, you know, he's always happy meeting and
Speaker 3: that's a gobo and all that stuff. I know they're
Speaker 3: the best ones.
Speaker 1: Yep. We'll talk more with our West NBA chief Gary
Speaker 1: Moore in just a minute here on six thirty Welcome back.
Speaker 1: We're talking with our west en BUA chief Gary Moore.
Speaker 1: He is presented with us two guys and six packs
Speaker 1: and now for a couple of hot reads that we
Speaker 1: will throw at. Gary. You kind of sew this one coming,
Speaker 1: at least I thought I did. Iowa fans, of course
Speaker 1: forevermore will look for the next air quotes Caitlin Clark
Speaker 1: and now early returns on Lucy Olsen, people saying, oh
Speaker 1: he could she could be our next Iowa beat Northern
Speaker 1: Illinois and it's opener as expected, ninety one to seventy three.
Speaker 1: Olsen had a good game, as you might think, nine
Speaker 1: of seventeen nineteen points, four boards, seven assists and a steal.
Speaker 1: She transfers in and immediately has some people thinking about CC.
Speaker 1: We know that's not fair. It made maybe another generation
Speaker 1: before we see that. You gotta wonder, Gary, how's this
Speaker 1: kid gonna handle it? One game one, it's the first game.
Speaker 3: They're like, oh, this is the greatest thing. Nineteen point
Speaker 3: settle down, Beavis.
Speaker 1: Okay, just give her a chance.
Speaker 3: Yeah, call me when she has a double double or
Speaker 3: a triple you know, triple double or something like that.
Speaker 3: Good opening. You know, it's nice, there's potential there, but
Speaker 3: holy cal talking about jumping, jumping really ahead and time
Speaker 3: on this sort of thing. Just sort of like, let
Speaker 3: it settle folks.
Speaker 1: Last year she averaged at the Nova twenty three points,
Speaker 1: nearly five boards, nearly four assists. She's a really good player,
Speaker 1: and honestly, I have no idea who she's playing around
Speaker 1: at Iowa. But like you said, give her a chance
Speaker 1: to settle in there. And they're also, I think, doing
Speaker 1: a disservice to Caitlin Clark to immediately believe that somebody's
Speaker 1: going to step in to be the next one.
Speaker 9: All Right.
Speaker 1: I don't know how shaken to the core you were
Speaker 1: about this particular bit of news, but Raygun says she
Speaker 1: is not going to compete anymore in the world of
Speaker 1: break dancing. She is an Australian breakdancer who put up
Speaker 1: lost her three rounds of dancing in the Olympics by
Speaker 1: a combined score of fifty Ford to nothing, and there
Speaker 1: were such backlash. She's out and gary. I kind of
Speaker 1: dismissed this until I read that there was a petition
Speaker 1: that circulated about her qualification procedure to earn her spot
Speaker 1: in Paris that garnered fifty thousand signatures was removed from
Speaker 1: social media after the Australian Olympic Committee requested it. This
Speaker 1: is a bigger deal, I think than you or I
Speaker 1: ever thought it might be.
Speaker 3: Sure was for me. All I know is like I
Speaker 3: didn't know anything about I was gonna watch. First of all,
Speaker 3: you open yourself up to have that category in the Olympics,
Speaker 3: to begin with breakdancing. Really, while all these other athletes
Speaker 3: are working years upon years to perfect their their track
Speaker 3: and field and swimming and all these other things, and
Speaker 3: then you throw this kind of fun recreational thing into
Speaker 3: the mix, and then to hop around like a kangaroo.
Speaker 3: It was embarrassing to humanity.
Speaker 1: Yeah, not to mention kangaroos, right exactly, it's a great play. Well,
Speaker 1: that run, mercifully is over, and so is our run. Today.
Speaker 1: You can find Gary on Twitter or xat at nine
Speaker 1: to five to five Gary, and you're at Big Blue
Speaker 1: Insider one. Go practice your breakdancing, have a good weekend,
Speaker 1: and that'll do it for now. My thanks to Gary Moore,
Speaker 1: to Sean Woods, to honor Mitchell, and reminder of basketball
Speaker 1: coming up tomorrow, four o'clock local coverage, one point thirty
Speaker 1: Network coverage at two thirty tom and Jack with the
Speaker 1: call as the cast take on the Bison. That's it.
Speaker 1: Good night from the garage in Lexington.
Speaker 7: A very good, very quick basketball team.
Speaker 1: A guy that just went by is Michael Thompson. So
Speaker 1: you know the answer to that, don't you. He always
Speaker 1: seems to get involved, I'm telling you, too many coconuts
Speaker 1: and hit him right on top of the skull down
Speaker 1: there in the Bahamas.
Speaker 11: He's in trouble, says er.