Speaker 1: On Sports Talk seven ninety. It's time for coffee and company,
Speaker 1: fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety. Holy crap,
Speaker 1: I don't know who the hell we think when we
Speaker 1: are getting off our show, idiot. The kids are playing
Speaker 1: or trail off.
Speaker 2: The countries are screwing it up.
Speaker 1: Gold play Inner Murals, Brother, gold play Inner Murals. They're
Speaker 1: supposed to be mature adults, but they're really not. Who's
Speaker 1: the kid here? Who's the kid here? Are you kidding me?
Speaker 3: Now?
Speaker 1: Here's Nick Coffee? All right? Are we ready to get
Speaker 1: it started? Here on a Thursday afternoon? Welcome in? Ready
Speaker 1: or not, We're gonna do it. It's coffee and Company,
Speaker 1: fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety, Nick Coffee.
Speaker 1: That is me the travel Chief, Austin Montgomery, alongside today
Speaker 1: and today's today, the second week into the NCAA tournament
Speaker 1: getting started in just about four hours roughly, and that
Speaker 1: that's exciting. And I'm going to complain about something, not
Speaker 1: about the Sweet sixteen. The sweet sixteen is great, but
Speaker 1: my four year old son, who plays t ball, he
Speaker 1: has practiced tonight at seven fifteen, and you know, I gotta.
Speaker 2: Be that oddly clustered time schedule there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, look, it's I got a lot I
Speaker 1: could say about it.
Speaker 2: But what is a first day of baseball?
Speaker 1: You know, technically it is, which I should have mentioned
Speaker 1: it with before we got to the two minute mark.
Speaker 1: One with three oh one forty five seconds, we will
Speaker 1: spend all day talking about Opening Day. It's around with
Speaker 1: major League Baseball. Let's go in all seriousness. I don't
Speaker 1: I know that, like I don't. I don't consume any
Speaker 1: baseball anything, like I don't keep up with Major League baseball.
Speaker 1: You could bring five of the most popular best players
Speaker 1: in Major League Baseball in the studio and tell me
Speaker 1: that you know that they're random strangers, and I wouldn't
Speaker 1: know what to believe because I just don't follow it.
Speaker 1: Now again, I don't like it, but clearly baseball's doing
Speaker 1: fine without me being a fan. At least it seems
Speaker 1: they are. But I don't know if I've ever had
Speaker 1: Opening Day for Major League Baseball appear, and like I
Speaker 1: haven't heard a single person bring it up. The only
Speaker 1: reason I know is because somebody in my group chat
Speaker 1: when my buddies was talking about how they live in
Speaker 1: Cincinnati and therefore, I mean Cincinnati, that's really what opening
Speaker 1: day is. They just party. I mean, I don't know
Speaker 1: if that's like that everywhere where baseball when baseball season starts,
Speaker 1: but sports towns, yes, they go crazy for it. So
Speaker 1: it's a party. And you know, but we got the
Speaker 1: Sweet Sixteen, like can't I mean, isn't that a bigger deal?
Speaker 2: It is still kind of overshadowing it, I'd think.
Speaker 3: Yeah, And you're also getting it introduced in the betting world,
Speaker 3: so you're gonna start seeing it a little bit everywhere
Speaker 3: with like promotions the next couple of days, like whenever
Speaker 3: you open up your app. The one shocked me if
Speaker 3: college basketball is kind of buried under.
Speaker 1: That well, and I wouldn't be. I mean, I would
Speaker 1: love to know. And it's it's it's there's you know,
Speaker 1: they're with the Sweet Sixteen. There's eight games over two days,
Speaker 1: so I mean, it's hard to really look at the
Speaker 1: numbers and get get an accurate, you know, comparison, because
Speaker 1: there's you know, how many baseball games gonna be played today,
Speaker 1: A ton of them. So like, I just to me,
Speaker 1: it seems like nine out of ten people. If you're
Speaker 1: into sports right now, you care way more about the
Speaker 1: Sweet sixteen than you do about Major League Baseball's opening day.
Speaker 1: But I could be like way wrong, like I have
Speaker 1: no clue because I'm so disconnected from the sport of
Speaker 1: baseball in every way, like anytime it comes up in
Speaker 1: any way. Just so you guys know, and I'm sure
Speaker 1: you're well aware, I am talking out of my ass
Speaker 1: like I know nothing about baseball. And look, I'll just
Speaker 1: just to be clear because my wife and I've been
Speaker 1: going back and forth because I'm like, does he really
Speaker 1: need to go to practice? And I've been complaining about
Speaker 1: how he's got I mean, look again, hear me out. Parents,
Speaker 1: I want you to to listen to this, and you
Speaker 1: tell me, you know, I'm not asking for phone calls
Speaker 1: on the whole thing, but like I can use the
Speaker 1: text line to get, you know, to get to gay
Speaker 1: if you guys think what I'm trying to do here
Speaker 1: is to use the audience to hopefully have them side
Speaker 1: with me to where I can tell my wife like, see,
Speaker 1: I'm right, you're wrong. My listeners they agree with me.
Speaker 1: But I feel like more often than not, when I
Speaker 1: do this, it ends up working out where they agree
Speaker 1: with her and not me. But anyways, he's four years old.
Speaker 1: They don't keep scoring T ball, at least they don't consistently,
Speaker 1: and it's not really like all they do is everybody
Speaker 1: gets a turn to hit and then they let the
Speaker 1: other team hit. And when you're in the outfield, I
Speaker 1: mean one or two kids at most are into it
Speaker 1: as far as like you know, being on defense out
Speaker 1: in the field. So I mean it's not really I mean,
Speaker 1: I guess it's productive. And he's you know, like when
Speaker 1: he and I play baseball in the backyard, like he
Speaker 1: doesn't use a t I just you know, underhand throw
Speaker 1: it to him and he can make contact. So if
Speaker 1: it was basketball, I would still say, like do we
Speaker 1: really need to do because he's four years old and
Speaker 1: I know, you know, starting them early and getting them
Speaker 1: into it like that, that'll go a long way. Like
Speaker 1: he's already played baseball, basketball, and football and he's four.
Speaker 1: I didn't play any organized sport until I was five,
Speaker 1: so you know, clearly it's gonna be good for him
Speaker 1: long term. But I just I think it's very excessive
Speaker 1: for a four year old bas T ball team to
Speaker 1: have two practices a week for an hour when again,
Speaker 1: like we don't really keep score, Like they're not really
Speaker 1: playing baseball, and it's fifty degrees outside, it's seven o'clo.
Speaker 1: And he starts to practice. It's seven fifteen, like seven
Speaker 1: fifteen to eight fifteen, and he's four. Like it just
Speaker 1: seems like overkill. But you know, who am I to
Speaker 1: be a jerk and act like, you know, we need
Speaker 1: to stop, you know, giving these kids opportunities to be
Speaker 1: on a team and have fun and all that kind
Speaker 1: of stuff. But like it just seems it seems a
Speaker 1: little much. But that's just me, and I'm you know,
Speaker 1: I'm selfish. I'm complaining because now instead of watching the
Speaker 1: Sweet sixteen get started tonight, I'm gonna miss the first
Speaker 1: half of the first two games and some more probably
Speaker 1: just because you know, I gotta go do dad stuff,
Speaker 1: which is talking about practice. Nick, Yeah, exactly. Love being
Speaker 1: a dad and it's the best thing. I can't even
Speaker 1: imagine life practice without being a dad. But like, we
Speaker 1: don't need two times a week to have T ball practice.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's just not to have seen.
Speaker 2: The Soto contract. Man. You gotta get him started early.
Speaker 1: I mean, if that works out for us, then as
Speaker 1: a family with him, you know, being something, being a
Speaker 1: star in baseball, then you know, I'll celebrate it. And
Speaker 1: who knows, like maybe he is great at baseball. I
Speaker 1: have no clue. But my wife is of the opinion
Speaker 1: that I'm just I'm just anti practice at seven fifteen
Speaker 1: twice a week because it's baseball. And I'm here to
Speaker 1: tell her it could be baseball, it could be basketball,
Speaker 1: it could be football, it could be whatever. I just
Speaker 1: think that's a little too much because.
Speaker 3: You know again, and yeah, just because the sun's out
Speaker 3: now at seven doesn't mean that makes me even more motivated.
Speaker 1: If we had perfect weather.
Speaker 2: But I'm not a dad.
Speaker 1: Would we need two times? I mean, I just it's
Speaker 1: it's a lot of moving, it's a lot a lot
Speaker 1: going on for T ball it is, Yes, I would
Speaker 1: agree now to be fair. If there weren't week sixteen
Speaker 1: games going on tonight, oh yeah, then I would. Then
Speaker 1: I would absolutely probably not even be thinking about it.
Speaker 3: Can I say as a former athlete all the way
Speaker 3: up until the junior year at my high school, I
Speaker 3: kind of wish that baseball was It's something I would
Speaker 3: have participated in.
Speaker 2: It seems like it would have been fun.
Speaker 3: I feel like I would have been decent at it,
Speaker 3: and I don't know, I was just lazy back in.
Speaker 1: The day baseball. I don't think baseball playing would be
Speaker 1: boring at all, Like I think, you.
Speaker 2: Know, no, it seems like it'd be fun.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean I don't think. I think the game itself,
Speaker 1: it could be you know, in fact, as somebody who
Speaker 1: you know knows nothing about baseball don't really care to
Speaker 1: follow it at all. Like I could be wrong here,
Speaker 1: but I believe being able to hit a baseball that
Speaker 1: is being thrown at you, you know, one hundred miles
Speaker 1: an hour. Like to me, maybe it's just because I
Speaker 1: have no baseball experience, never played at all. Like I
Speaker 1: feel like that's one of the hardest things for anybody
Speaker 1: to do any in any sport, at any level. Like
Speaker 1: it's like scientific, like being able to hit a baseball
Speaker 1: that is thrown by somebody that is in the major leagues.
Speaker 1: I just feel like if you can do that, like
Speaker 1: you can if you make contact, I feel like you
Speaker 1: can kind of get by by calling yourself a professional athlete.
Speaker 3: I mean, probably not getting a hit off a major
Speaker 3: league pitcher is probably one of the hardest things that
Speaker 3: you can do. Yeah, you're not experienced the timing and
Speaker 3: the speed of that.
Speaker 2: It's ridiculous.
Speaker 1: It's a conversation we've had a few times over the
Speaker 1: years on the show when it comes to the average Joe.
Speaker 1: And I don't mean like you know, but somebody who
Speaker 1: is in like decent shape, you know, not a great
Speaker 1: athlete in any any particular sport. But like, if there's
Speaker 1: one thing you could do, or maybe the best way
Speaker 1: to look at it, I guess would be the hardest thing,
Speaker 1: nearly impossible to do. I mean obviously, like tackling a
Speaker 1: running back in the NFL. If you're just some average
Speaker 1: Joe like that would be very difficult to do. The
Speaker 1: reality is none of us will ever be able to do.
Speaker 1: Like there may be things that you see somebody do,
Speaker 1: You're like, that's not that difficult. I could do it.
Speaker 1: Good chances you could never do it. I mean, didn't
Speaker 1: they get rid of that show called pros Versus Joe's
Speaker 1: because like, yes, I love that people were getting killed
Speaker 1: out there. I mean not literally, but I mean it's
Speaker 1: it's not I mean I would never had.
Speaker 2: Jerry Rice out there cooking like a mall salesman.
Speaker 1: And that is like there are there are people out
Speaker 1: there that I'm I'm trying to think. There's a few
Speaker 1: people that I know personally, and then there's like Billy Rutledge,
Speaker 1: good example, I love our man Billy. You know, he's
Speaker 1: you know, I don't know where he is as far
Speaker 1: as athleticism, but he's he's a really good golfer. You know,
Speaker 1: I would assume I would just give him the average
Speaker 1: or better as far as being an athlete. I could
Speaker 1: be way wrong, but like Billy, Billy, Billy was dead serious.
Speaker 1: Whenever he claimed like he could run, he could beat
Speaker 1: a former Kentucky receiver in a race. I don't remember
Speaker 1: which receiver it was, not even trip they ever actually
Speaker 1: did it. But like, but like that was a guy
Speaker 1: that I wouldn't have I would, you know, I guess
Speaker 1: Billy does have a lot of low key confidence. Definitely
Speaker 1: a big time believer in himself, which I think that's
Speaker 1: a that's that's a quality admirable. Yeah. But but you know, overall,
Speaker 1: no matter if you are an athlete at the you know,
Speaker 1: let's say you're still great shape and you consider yourself
Speaker 1: to be like a really good basketball player in your
Speaker 1: thirties because you play all the time you're competitive, you know,
Speaker 1: even if you could like still dunk doing that against
Speaker 1: like you know, college players fresh out of Division one
Speaker 1: or NBA players. I mean, I mean, it's just it's
Speaker 1: a different world. But anyways, baseball practice tonight to go
Speaker 1: along with the Sweet sixteen getting started out of sports
Speaker 1: and it's and it's a beautiful thing. And then I
Speaker 1: got tomorrow's show and then I'm out of here. That's right,
Speaker 1: I'm out of here.
Speaker 3: So that always feels like when you're going on vacation,
Speaker 3: like it always feels like everything's a cram in.
Speaker 2: Is that just me?
Speaker 3: Or do you feel in that too? Absolutely, it doesn't
Speaker 3: matter how much you prepare for it. You could have
Speaker 3: started Monday, but you know you're gonna spend these next
Speaker 3: couple of days just jamming as much and as you
Speaker 3: possibly can, just living.
Speaker 1: With that thought of you know, you're gonna forget something. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's gonna be something that you knew you needed to get.
Speaker 1: It's not even with me. My wife packs like everything
Speaker 1: other than you know, like I'll bring a backpack with
Speaker 1: you know, like my laptop and that kind of stuff. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but like my wife really packs for the whole family
Speaker 1: because she's she's great. So for me, it's more about
Speaker 1: I know there was something or some things that I
Speaker 1: needed to make sure I got done before I left town.
Speaker 1: And I mean more often than not, actually don't. I mean,
Speaker 1: that's that's what sucks, is that you end up like
Speaker 1: worrying and have an anxiety. And it's really just because
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, I get what's called pre travel anxiety. Sure,
Speaker 1: I've talked about it on the show of the Years,
Speaker 1: and it's you know, it's not like a real, like
Speaker 1: you know, serious thing. But anytime I'm about to go
Speaker 1: on like a trip, if it's like a weekend trip,
Speaker 1: it's a different thing. But if I'm going to be traveling,
Speaker 1: especially if it's far away or if it's for you know,
Speaker 1: more than just a few days, I get this build
Speaker 1: up of like anxiousness and then like right before it's
Speaker 1: about time to go, I'm like, yeah, I'm not going.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna do it, which you know, when you
Speaker 1: when you purchase airline tickets and that kind of stuff,
Speaker 1: like you can't just change your mind. That I've never
Speaker 1: I've never had it to where I just don't go.
Speaker 1: But I don't know what it is. I wish I could,
Speaker 1: because I get excited about traveling, and I'm excited about
Speaker 1: being on vacation next week, spring break with the family
Speaker 1: and friends and all that. It'll be great, but you know,
Speaker 1: like the lead up to it is kind of the
Speaker 1: worst part. And of course also get it, like getting
Speaker 1: back from vacation and like unpacking your bag. Oh my god, oh.
Speaker 2: Yeah, things left over.
Speaker 1: That's a bad place to be when you realize, Hey,
Speaker 1: you were thinking about man, I got another month of work.
Speaker 1: I got it, three weeks of work. I got two weeks,
Speaker 1: and then I'm out of here. And then you get
Speaker 1: back and you unpack and your and then you got
Speaker 1: to you know, you get that Sunday scary setting in, got.
Speaker 3: More stuff thrown on your desk as possible when yeah,
Speaker 3: and see I thought it was only me.
Speaker 1: No, it's uh, I mean, I think a lot of
Speaker 1: us out there deal with that kind of stuff. So anyways,
Speaker 1: I'll stop complaining about, you know, things that aren't really
Speaker 1: something I should complain about. But my overall point is
Speaker 1: this last thing I'm gonna say. If this was like
Speaker 1: because I'm I think he could play up from what
Speaker 1: he's playing now, Like I think he could like he
Speaker 1: this will be his third time playing t ball because
Speaker 1: I think he's in a two year age range for
Speaker 1: t ball, but he played one year. He did both
Speaker 1: fall ball before we can play football. He did baseball
Speaker 1: in the spring in the fall. So you know, it's
Speaker 1: just this he's this is now the third time he's
Speaker 1: done it. And I mean again, like they don't keep
Speaker 1: score and and you know he usually just kind of
Speaker 1: stands out there in the outfield when he's not when
Speaker 1: his team's not on offense, they do they call it that,
Speaker 1: by the way, offense and defense, Like that is that
Speaker 1: the correct terminology in baseball? Like I'm not kidding you,
Speaker 1: I'm not doing this for effect, because all of it
Speaker 1: do is make me look and sound more stupid. I'm
Speaker 1: not even sure what the correct terminology is. But whenever
Speaker 1: his team's out in the outfield, you know, he's probably
Speaker 1: one of a few kids that are at least not
Speaker 1: you know, laying on the ground eating grass. It's just
Speaker 1: you know, that's that's that's what it is. So anyways,
Speaker 1: I'll quit complaining.
Speaker 2: Again.
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Speaker 1: the LLNN Federal Credit Union text line. So we'll spend
Speaker 1: a lot of time today, of course, getting set for
Speaker 1: these games. Tonight, and just for those that haven't been
Speaker 1: paying close attention, we've got some really good ones this evening.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm interested in all four of these games,
Speaker 1: not only just because you know, I'm going to bet
Speaker 1: on it and hope that I win money and I'm
Speaker 1: a college basketball nerd, but I just think we've got
Speaker 1: some really good matchups. Tonight again, Duke in Arizona at
Speaker 1: nine thirty nine, that's a nine and a half points bread.
Speaker 1: Obviously Duke is favored. I mean game, I'm looking forward
Speaker 1: to the most y that like Duke may end up
Speaker 1: covering and they may win by you know, twenty, who knows.
Speaker 1: I doubt that happens, but you know, Duke is really
Speaker 1: really elite when it comes to talent, and they're playing
Speaker 1: really well right now. But like, I think that could
Speaker 1: end up being a pretty good game, and I believe
Speaker 1: the others like Arkansas Texas Tech that's the late night
Speaker 1: game that should be a great game. I mean, I'm
Speaker 1: starting to get closer to just thinking, like you know what,
Speaker 1: Col's got better players right like, his guys are playing
Speaker 1: really well. They've got more confidence now than they've had
Speaker 1: in any point in the year, which good time to
Speaker 1: have it right, win or go home. So I just
Speaker 1: I can't take Texas Tech. I'm sorry, I can't take
Speaker 1: Arkansas money line. But like I'm not, I'm not going
Speaker 1: to be looking at anybody funny if they choose to
Speaker 1: do it, because again, Arkansas is in the position to
Speaker 1: where they shouldn't be here. They lucky they got in
Speaker 1: the tournament, to be honest, but they turned it on
Speaker 1: at the right time and they're rolling right now. And
Speaker 1: then of course b YU Alabama. No, I'm still excited
Speaker 1: for that one, but I'm starting to believe that it's
Speaker 1: just going to come down to Alabama having dudes that
Speaker 1: BYU doesn't, and Alabama has dudes that a lot of
Speaker 1: teams doing. Alabama's one of the best teams in the country.
Speaker 1: The only thing that would make me less confident in Alabama, well,
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm confident in them in this game tonight,
Speaker 1: although I do I think it could be competitive. As
Speaker 1: we talked about throughout the week, BYU is just one
Speaker 1: of the hottest teams in the country right now. They
Speaker 1: really turned it on in the last six weeks or so,
Speaker 1: and they've got a high powered offense. Man they can
Speaker 1: score it so it should be entertaining when it comes
Speaker 1: to that. But I just feel like when BYU ends up,
Speaker 1: you know, dipping their toe in the water to try
Speaker 1: to play the same type of game Bama wants to.
Speaker 1: I just feel like there aren't many teams that would
Speaker 1: be able to beat Bama at their game. What do
Speaker 1: you mean, Hey, what are you doing? Huh? Oh sorry sorry,
Speaker 1: sorry you scared me. He scared me.
Speaker 2: Uh.
Speaker 1: Anyways, So BYU they just they just don't They just
Speaker 1: don't have the same Again, it's not just it's not
Speaker 1: to say BYU is some you know, they're to me,
Speaker 1: they're not like this, h They're not Cinderella. It's just Alabama.
Speaker 1: They're They're good enough to win this whole thing. They
Speaker 1: just haven't been consistent. I think what's happened with Alabama
Speaker 1: and this is something that could keep them from advancing tonight.
Speaker 1: They really brought back like the same team that went
Speaker 1: to a Final four last year, and you think that
Speaker 1: they would be hungry and you know, driven to know
Speaker 1: that we gotta like this is it like, if we're
Speaker 1: gonna win it? Because this is the truth. If Bama's
Speaker 1: gonna win a national championship in basketball, this is the
Speaker 1: year to do it. I mean, it's gonna be tough
Speaker 1: to do because you got some other really good teams
Speaker 1: that you got to get through. But like Bama, I
Speaker 1: don't think they're gonna be slowing down in a major
Speaker 1: way because Natoates is a really good coach and they're
Speaker 1: gonna do really well in the portal. But even though
Speaker 1: it was in the different world, because we are in
Speaker 1: a different world now than we were back then. But
Speaker 1: in twenty twenty twelve, Louisville went to the final four,
Speaker 1: right and they weren't supposed to be there. They had
Speaker 1: some crazy run and ended up losing to Kentucky in
Speaker 1: the final four. And then next year you brought back
Speaker 1: like that whole team outside of Kyle Kurrick and Chris Smith.
Speaker 1: So you kind of felt like, hey, like if we
Speaker 1: were gonna win a national championship, this would be the
Speaker 1: year to do it. And fortunately they were able to
Speaker 1: actually go do that. Bama I feel like should be
Speaker 1: in that position, but at times they just seem to,
Speaker 1: I don't know, play the level of their competition. They
Speaker 1: don't really have any losses against like bad teams. But anyways,
Speaker 1: Bama's a team that I don't doubt they're talent in
Speaker 1: any way, certainly don't doubt their coach. I've just seen
Speaker 1: them at times look as if they're kind of going
Speaker 1: through the motions. And you do that at this point,
Speaker 1: I mean, it'll it'll bite you because b why use
Speaker 1: a quality team. But I'm starting to lean more Alabama
Speaker 1: minus four and a half and then the Maryland Florida game.
Speaker 1: I mean, in the last twenty four hours, We've talked
Speaker 1: about it here and there throughout the week, the Kevin
Speaker 1: Willard situation. I believe as somebody who does try to,
Speaker 1: you know, keep my ear to the ground, and you know,
Speaker 1: I mean I'm following along as everybody's covering college basketball
Speaker 1: at a higher level right now than they ever have,
Speaker 1: meaning there's more tension on it. I think in the
Speaker 1: last twenty four hours, specifically, the Kevin Willard stuff has
Speaker 1: turned into the biggest storyline in the tournament right now,
Speaker 1: because it is it's not crazy for a coach to
Speaker 1: be coaching a team knowing that another job is open
Speaker 1: and they want him and he's just trying to, you know,
Speaker 1: coach his team Like that's not uncommon. That happens pretty
Speaker 1: often to be honest with you. But Kevin Willard, he's
Speaker 1: just operating and handling this entire thing in a different
Speaker 1: way than I think we've ever seen a coach in
Speaker 1: this spot, and I find it to be honestly entertaining.
Speaker 1: And I can't really like Kevin Willard is catching a
Speaker 1: lot of people off guard. People are kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: taken aback by this whole situation. But I think if
Speaker 1: you really consider what he said, what we know, there's
Speaker 1: a lot of stuff we probably don't know, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: let's be real, there's a lot we don't know. I'm
Speaker 1: sure as far as the behind the behind the scenes
Speaker 1: stuff who he's talking to about a contract negotiation and
Speaker 1: all that kind of stuff. But what I'm getting at
Speaker 1: is I think he's just not giving you in any way,
Speaker 1: like he's just being real. He's not doing coach speak.
Speaker 1: He's not giving you canned answers that coaches give when
Speaker 1: they just feel like, hey, this is what I'm supposed
Speaker 1: to say. And I can not only can I appreciate that,
Speaker 1: I wish we had more of that. I really do.
Speaker 1: So I can't imagine that this has been good for
Speaker 1: Maryland's prep with this being such a big distraction. But
Speaker 1: there's also the other side of the coin when it
Speaker 1: comes to that, which is if everything's out in the
Speaker 1: open and everybody you know, knows what's going on, there's
Speaker 1: full transparency that can honestly be a positive in the situation.
Speaker 1: Like if Kevin Willer was out here lying and acting
Speaker 1: like he doesn't know what people are talking about Philanova,
Speaker 1: never heard of her, Like he's he's he's at least,
Speaker 1: you know, I mean, he's kind of bee a smartass
Speaker 1: about it, and I think in every way he's answered
Speaker 1: questions and handle it, you could tell like, yeah, he
Speaker 1: wants to stay at Maryland, but like they gotta do
Speaker 1: what they gotta do to make him, you know, to
Speaker 1: make it right with him, and it sounds like they
Speaker 1: still haven't done that yet, and he's not making a
Speaker 1: decision on Villanova until his season's over at Maryland because
Speaker 1: you know, he wants to focus on continuing to win
Speaker 1: in the tournament, which is all that, to be honest
Speaker 1: with you, is one thousand percent reasonable. It's just not
Speaker 1: the way coaches usually go about it. So anyways, We've
Speaker 1: got a lot, a lot of good games this evening,
Speaker 1: and I am looking forward to a lot of other
Speaker 1: things we'll get into throughout the day. I mean, I
Speaker 1: feel like we got to at least talk a little
Speaker 1: bit about the Stephen A. Smith, Lebron James stuff, because
Speaker 1: you know, again as I talked about yesterday, as much
Speaker 1: as it is professional wrestling a soap opera, I mean,
Speaker 1: it is the most talked about thing in sports right now.
Speaker 1: Now you have other athletes getting in on it. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's a circus. It is certainly that. Also when
Speaker 1: it comes to Kentucky's matchup with Tennessee, Kentucky's gonna beat him,
Speaker 1: aren't they? Austin, It's happening, isn't it. I feel like
Speaker 1: it's gonna happen. I don't want it to happen, God
Speaker 1: knows I want it to happen, but it just feels
Speaker 1: like it's going to happen. Yeah, I think So, there's
Speaker 1: some numbers that really really make should make you confident
Speaker 1: in Kentucky to win this game if you want to
Speaker 1: go in that direction. And then also ze KaiA Ziggler
Speaker 1: is at his name Ziegler. Ze Kai Ziegler is a
Speaker 1: double Z.
Speaker 2: I think it is.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Okay, I don't know why. I don't know why
Speaker 1: I'm second guessing this guy who's played college basketball for
Speaker 1: twenty years, but he did something I think it's pretty
Speaker 1: stupid that, you know, I don't know if it'll have
Speaker 1: an impact in the game, but like I wouldn't want
Speaker 1: to poke the bear when you already zero to two
Speaker 1: against Kentucky this year. And Tom Misso said something that
Speaker 1: I thought was funny, which rarely do we get tom
Speaker 1: Izzo making us laugh. But speaking of making us laugh,
Speaker 1: how about Jeremy Pruett, former Tennessee coach. Everybody's suing the
Speaker 1: NCAA and winning right now, right like you, you can
Speaker 1: take him to court over anything. They're gonna lose. Well,
Speaker 1: former UT coach Prewitt, he's deciding to do that and
Speaker 1: try to get rich because he's suing the NCAA for
Speaker 1: one hundred million dollars claiming they conspired, you know, to
Speaker 1: make him the sacrificial lamb, whatever the hell that means.
Speaker 2: So good for him.
Speaker 1: We're loaded the rest of the way. Stick with us.
Speaker 1: It's Coffee and Company. Feel about Thorton's on Sports Talk
Speaker 1: seven ninety Now back to Coffee and Company. Fueled by
Speaker 1: Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day. That's right, Coffee
Speaker 1: and company fuel about Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven
Speaker 1: ninety five two five seventy nine hundred is the number
Speaker 1: if you want to give us a call. You can
Speaker 1: also text in on the Ellen and Federal Credit Union
Speaker 1: text Lin five O two four three eight ninety seventy three.
Speaker 1: I asked yesterday for folks if they had any good
Speaker 1: tips for me as far as passing time in the uh,
Speaker 1: in the car and a long car ride with kids,
Speaker 1: and UH, there were a handful of people that did
Speaker 1: recommend some things, so thank you for that. Uh. And
Speaker 1: then somebody sent in a good a good tip when
Speaker 1: it comes to helping pass the time in a long
Speaker 1: car ride with a special needs child with with autism,
Speaker 1: which which my daughter has. And it's something that you know,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna I'm gonna try. I hadn't thought about it
Speaker 1: at all, So thank you. That's not only appreciative, that's
Speaker 1: somebody you know understanding. You know, I guess the car
Speaker 1: rides that we go on for trips, it really wouldn't
Speaker 1: be as as much of a of a of a
Speaker 1: challenge at times if it wasn't for you know, my
Speaker 1: daughter's special needs, her condition, so you know, it's it's life,
Speaker 1: it's you know, it's part of it. But yesterday when
Speaker 1: I was talking about you know, long car rides with
Speaker 1: kids like it probably just made it sound like, you know,
Speaker 1: my kids are just terribly terrible in the car and they,
Speaker 1: you know, have no patience. I mean a lot of
Speaker 1: people will and you know most people who do you know, hey,
Speaker 1: just just leave at night, or you know, give them
Speaker 1: a tablet and they'll sleep, and and and all those
Speaker 1: things are great, but you know, my situation is a
Speaker 1: little bit different. And I try not to, you know,
Speaker 1: mention that every segment of the show. But it was
Speaker 1: somebody listening who I think could just tell, you know,
Speaker 1: they were able. They've listened long enough to understand that.
Speaker 1: That was really where I was coming from. It wasn't
Speaker 1: just the fact that we had a long car ride.
Speaker 1: It was because it's just a little bit of a
Speaker 1: different type of challenge for the Coffee family. But hey,
Speaker 1: it's uh, it's all good. Well, Uh, I'm not sure
Speaker 1: I'm gonna if I'm gonna win the battle about stopping
Speaker 1: halfway or not. I'm starting to think I won't. But whatever,
Speaker 1: I don't win many battles when it comes to you know,
Speaker 1: me and the wife, and that's that's probably the way
Speaker 1: it should be. I kind of feel like at times
Speaker 1: I'm her third kid. She kind of takes care of
Speaker 1: all of us. In fact, she does, so thank you
Speaker 1: for that, honey. Appreciate that. All right. So I want
Speaker 1: to give some advice to folks out there who are
Speaker 1: so uh, just over everything about Steven A. Smith and
Speaker 1: the Lebron James back and forth, because my advice would be,
Speaker 1: don't not only don't take it too serious, don't take
Speaker 1: it serious at all, right, like Lebron, I mean, he's
Speaker 1: I still think the most unusual thing of this entire
Speaker 1: situation is that Lebron decided to go to an hour
Speaker 1: with Pat McAfee. That's not even like like that. If
Speaker 1: you'd have told me two weeks ago that that was
Speaker 1: gonna happen, I'm like, what seems.
Speaker 2: Like someone that Lebron wouldn't even like.
Speaker 1: It's insanely random, and it's insanely forced. And it was
Speaker 1: because he clearly wants to, you know, casually, or at
Speaker 1: least he wants to appear like it's a casual thing. No,
Speaker 1: he went on Pat McAfee to talk reckless about Steve A. Smith,
Speaker 1: Like that's what he did. You know, Steven A. Smith
Speaker 1: is a loud mouth who is on every platform ESPN
Speaker 1: has right right in front of your face. You can't
Speaker 1: avoid him no matter what I mean. Steve Eney Smith
Speaker 1: used to just be a basketball guy, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean, Like it usedter just be the NBA. Now
Speaker 1: he's given opinions on everything, and you know, some people
Speaker 1: love him, some people hate him. I am someone that
Speaker 1: just I don't take him serious at all. And I
Speaker 1: don't say that as like a sign of disrespect, like
Speaker 1: I think he's a terrible person or that he's a
Speaker 1: big idiot. I just years now have have been well
Speaker 1: aware of what this is. He is a character playing
Speaker 1: a role, and now you've got him playing this role
Speaker 1: at a at an insanely exaggerated level, and you've got
Speaker 1: the biggest star in professional sports playing along like this
Speaker 1: is a soap opera. This is professional wrestling. So for
Speaker 1: people to get worked up about it, I mean, why
Speaker 1: even give it any of your energy? Like, just don't
Speaker 1: like whatever they're saying. Like yesterday, Stephen A said something
Speaker 1: that I feel like, you know, it really gave me
Speaker 1: the reminder that I should remind people what all this
Speaker 1: is because he said that if Lebron would have like
Speaker 1: touched him whenever that he confronted him at court side
Speaker 1: at the Lakers game a couple of weeks ago, that
Speaker 1: steven A would have punched him, and like that that's
Speaker 1: that's the thing that of all the things that stephen
Speaker 1: A Smith says that are just ridiculous, Like wait he
Speaker 1: said that, Yeah, you didn't hear this. No, yeah, he
Speaker 1: said he would have punched him. So like that's a
Speaker 1: crazy thing to say. But again, that's what that's what is,
Speaker 1: That's that's the role here, Like that's what this is.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think steven A Smith would ever
Speaker 1: punch anybody. I mean that would never happen. But you know,
Speaker 1: saying that is a sensational I mean it's sensationalizing the
Speaker 1: whole story itself, and of all the things that that
Speaker 1: we've had in the last twenty four to forty eight
Speaker 1: hours with this entire steven A Lebron thing, steven A
Speaker 1: claiming he would punch Lebron, I feel like it is
Speaker 1: the one that really got this thing being talked about
Speaker 1: at the level it's being talked about right now, because
Speaker 1: that's that's a crazy thing to say, right So, so
Speaker 1: like imagine, like who's the Who's A again, I don't
Speaker 1: I don't even know who I would compare stephen A
Speaker 1: Smith too, because again, like a very opinionated, very you know, energetic,
Speaker 1: very loud, very tell you what he thinks, hold nothing back.
Speaker 1: That is like stephen A is Shannon Sharp, but you
Speaker 1: know what else, Shannon Sharp is a performer profession a
Speaker 1: former professional athlete who was elite at what he does.
Speaker 1: So like it's a different like when he's talking, when
Speaker 1: he's talking shop, not even just in me, in basketball too,
Speaker 1: Like he didn't play basketball, he's a football guy. But
Speaker 1: like there's a level of conversation, a level of dialogue
Speaker 1: and a level of respect that he's gonna get from
Speaker 1: professional athletes that Steven A will never get and stephen A,
Speaker 1: I think knows that. But like he's gonna mean he's
Speaker 1: paid the big bucks to do exactly what he is doing.
Speaker 1: Because this whole story is getting ESPN exactly what they want.
Speaker 3: It's what they do when they bring on somebody huge
Speaker 3: and sign them a big contract. You got to get
Speaker 3: that push, you know, get a push.
Speaker 1: I mean, so again, if you just take it for
Speaker 1: what it is, I believe you would live a happier
Speaker 1: life and not let it bother you. Now again, if
Speaker 1: you're just tired of turning on ESPN at any point
Speaker 1: and seeing Steven A. Smith and hearing him yell doing
Speaker 1: the screaming a stuff, like, I get it, but like
Speaker 1: that's not That's again, you don't have to like you
Speaker 1: can you can avoid it, I guess, although if you do,
Speaker 1: just keep your channel on ESPN. It's basically the Steven
Speaker 1: a Spid Network. It's not so. I just again I
Speaker 1: encourage people to to to not only don't used to say, well, look,
Speaker 1: don't take it so serious. Don't take it serious at all,
Speaker 1: because it's not Steve Andy Smith saying he would punch
Speaker 1: Lebron James. That's that's the ultimate proof that like this
Speaker 1: is all a joke. And I don't mean like that
Speaker 1: they're deep down joking, but they're also not really that
Speaker 1: serious because like you know, this is just I don't
Speaker 1: want to say it's staged because I don't believe that
Speaker 1: it is. But if it was, I wouldn't be shocked.
Speaker 1: But everybody out there, Like, did you hear Stephen's He's ridiculous?
Speaker 1: He said he would punch Lebron. Lebron James would kill him.
Speaker 1: Everybody knows that, but like he would never do that.
Speaker 1: We know it, Like, it's just it's it's absolutely professional
Speaker 1: wrestling slash soap opera, which I guess don't people say
Speaker 1: it's kind of the same thing, yea, like wrestling as
Speaker 1: a soap opera.
Speaker 3: So he said, this isn't like leading to a match,
Speaker 3: because like, where is this going. It's not going to
Speaker 3: be a stupid celebrity boxing match, Like I'm pretty sure
Speaker 3: it's going to be recorded whenever they meet up again,
Speaker 3: or it's at some sort of award ceremony or whether
Speaker 3: it's on like a court or something that's forcing them
Speaker 3: to both be in the same room together. It's going
Speaker 3: to be awkward and it's going to be filmed. But
Speaker 3: it's like, no one's gonna swing at anybody.
Speaker 2: I will. I would at least hope, and I wouldn't.
Speaker 3: You know, Lebron's hopefully professional enough to know that you
Speaker 3: know this, this guy's just a journalist.
Speaker 1: And that's well he's not though that that's that's that's
Speaker 1: the thing to him. I would think that those guys
Speaker 1: at that's but I'm not.
Speaker 2: At the end of the day, that's what it is
Speaker 2: to them.
Speaker 1: And I didn't mean to I didn't mean to say
Speaker 1: that you were wrong, because you're not wrong. You are correct.
Speaker 1: Stephen A. Smith is a well, I mean well accomplished
Speaker 1: journalism who used to write. I mean he used to
Speaker 1: be a columnist too. Was great, That's how I got
Speaker 1: a start. And then you know, he just became the
Speaker 1: loudmouth guy that commentates and entertains. Like I don't think
Speaker 1: any of his analysis I've ever at any point, but like,
Speaker 1: you know what, that's a really good point.
Speaker 2: Man.
Speaker 1: You really got me thinking here, stephen A. He he's
Speaker 1: just so again just take it for what it is,
Speaker 1: and I think you won't. You know, it might make
Speaker 1: you sad because you'll realize, like this is where we
Speaker 1: are when it comes to like sports media and what
Speaker 1: gets the most attention. But I mean, Lebron he really,
Speaker 1: I mean he claimed that stephen A was doing the
Speaker 1: Taylor Swift type tour right now, out there doing this
Speaker 1: and that, which I don't really feel like. I mean, again,
Speaker 1: I'm not paying super close attention to it. But like
Speaker 1: steven A has been directly in our face for years now,
Speaker 1: I feel like it everywhere you turn, you know, I
Speaker 1: don't feel like this is you. But of course him
Speaker 1: being confronted by Lebron, that became a big story. Stephen
Speaker 1: A talked about it, and I guess Lebron wanted to
Speaker 1: talk about it. But what Lebron has to know, as
Speaker 1: much as he lacks self awareness, lives in his own
Speaker 1: world the most unrelatable human maybe in sports, just because
Speaker 1: he's been Lebron James, I mean since birth obviously, but
Speaker 1: you know, like he he has no normal life experience
Speaker 1: in any way, especially as you know, certainly as an adult,
Speaker 1: and that you know, part of that's not really his fault,
Speaker 1: it's just the way it is. But there's also others
Speaker 1: that you know that have a little bit I think
Speaker 1: of more awareness. But Lebron doing all this and talking
Speaker 1: about stephen A like he's he's helping stephen A more
Speaker 1: than he probably knows, and he's helping ESPN he I mean,
Speaker 1: so Lebron can't be that you know, disconnected from reality
Speaker 1: to not understand that if he really has a like
Speaker 1: if he's really anti stephen A, he should just ignore
Speaker 1: it and never talk, you know what I mean. Like now,
Speaker 1: maybe because he didn't like something he said about his son,
Speaker 1: that makes it to where it's harder for Lebron to
Speaker 1: just say, you know, I'm gonna ignore this guy and
Speaker 1: act like I don't know he exists. And I could
Speaker 1: understand that because you know, he is a dad and
Speaker 1: family stuff is a little bit of a different level.
Speaker 1: But you also chose to bring you know, you forced
Speaker 1: your son into this spot. Nobody else would have done
Speaker 1: and had had had you not, you know, pulled some
Speaker 1: strings and leveraged what you can do as the face
Speaker 1: of basketball. Right Like so if I've never heard anybody
Speaker 1: in a prominent role with a network that has you know,
Speaker 1: I've never heard anybody on the TNT crew as far
Speaker 1: as like inside the NBA, and I've never heard anybody
Speaker 1: on ESPN, like anybody who has a relationship with the
Speaker 1: I've never heard anybody say anything offensive over the line
Speaker 1: even close to that about Bronnie James. In fact, they've
Speaker 1: they've they've danced around it like they've they've resisted from
Speaker 1: acknowledging that this is you know, that this is just
Speaker 1: Lebron using the fact that he's Lebron James and he
Speaker 1: wants to play in the NBA with his son. So
Speaker 1: I feel like they've they've had the you know, they've
Speaker 1: they've tiptoed around it instead of just calling it what
Speaker 1: it is directly. Like what I'm getting at is, imagine
Speaker 1: if somebody actually did say something, you know, very strong
Speaker 1: about Again, you could find idiots on the internet saying
Speaker 1: whatever I'm talking about. The people that Lebron James would
Speaker 1: know who they are, know that they have a voice,
Speaker 1: know that they're heard by a lot of people when
Speaker 1: it comes to basketball. I've yet to hear anybody say
Speaker 1: anything that can be viewed as okay, you cross the line.
Speaker 1: But with Lebron, the line's different because again, we're not
Speaker 1: talking about a teammate that he met this year who
Speaker 1: they drafted from college. They're talking about his son, who
Speaker 1: also shares the same name as him. So the line
Speaker 1: is different, and that's a tough thing to to, you know,
Speaker 1: to balance. But you know what, all of this is
Speaker 1: your doing, Lebron, So like both sides, Like, you know,
Speaker 1: I think both of these guys, for the most part,
Speaker 1: I feel like are kind of unpopular, you know what,
Speaker 1: I mean, like, Lebron has certainly a humongous amount of fans,
Speaker 1: and I'm a fan of Lebron as a basketball player,
Speaker 1: you know, when it comes to everything else that comes
Speaker 1: with it, you know, you know, that's why I have
Speaker 1: the saying, come on, Lebron, I want to be able
Speaker 1: to say, you know, you're not a clown at times
Speaker 1: when it comes to just your lack of self awareness
Speaker 1: and just you know, having no optics that kind of
Speaker 1: stuff and not being able to read the room. But
Speaker 1: he's made it for years now hard to defend, so
Speaker 1: I've heard people go back and forth on it. I
Speaker 1: actually think Lebron is still the one who created this
Speaker 1: entire thing by approaching stephen A. Smith at a game
Speaker 1: when he wasn't even working. He was just you know,
Speaker 1: showing up court side. And I could actually like when
Speaker 1: Steven A has somebody video him showing up to the
Speaker 1: arena for an NBA game, like he's a player walking
Speaker 1: to the locker room. I'm not hitting you. I think
Speaker 1: that's funny, Like I like that, Like to me, that's like,
Speaker 1: that's that's comedy because I actually think deep down, stephen
Speaker 1: A knows what he's doing. He knows that, like, he's
Speaker 1: not an NBA player and people are gonna act like
Speaker 1: he's you know, so he's got people playing into his
Speaker 1: hand whenever people are losing their mind and reacting to
Speaker 1: him saying he would he would he would have punched
Speaker 1: Lebron James had he put hands on him or you know,
Speaker 1: I don't even know. I don't know exactly, and I'm
Speaker 1: certainly not going to play the sound on the show.
Speaker 1: But he was asked something along the lines of when
Speaker 1: Lebron confronted him, had he you know, gotten closer, maybe
Speaker 1: touched him, steven A said he would have hit him.
Speaker 1: We all know that's not true, but again, like consider it.
Speaker 1: Just when you think of Lebron and steven A moving forward,
Speaker 1: just imagine it as not being professional sports media commentators
Speaker 1: that are, you know, debating about serious things and being
Speaker 1: mature and professional. Consider it. Just view it with the
Speaker 1: lens of the w WE and Vince McMahon in like
Speaker 1: the Attitude era, because that's really what this is. And
Speaker 1: the quicker you realize that's all this is. It'll stop
Speaker 1: bothering you. It'll just be one ear out the other.
Speaker 1: Like you remember, people used to get so upset about
Speaker 1: LeVar Ball about this, about this clown who just says
Speaker 1: nonsensical things. And because he's such a character, he's all
Speaker 1: over FS one, he's on ESPN, you know, he's he's everywhere.
Speaker 1: They need to just shut this clown up. Sure, well again,
Speaker 1: like labar Ball didn't believe anything he said, like he
Speaker 1: was just playing a role, being a character. And if
Speaker 1: you see that for what it is, like, you know,
Speaker 1: it won't bother you as much. But this has turned
Speaker 1: into something I would have never imagined, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: And if you are somebody thinking like I don't even
Speaker 1: know what the hell that's talking about, well, then good
Speaker 1: for you because you're you're you know, you're you're paying
Speaker 1: attention to things that you know you want to pay
Speaker 1: attention to. You're not being distracted by And again it's
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't even think like to me, it's
Speaker 1: not like I mean, am I wrong here, Austin. You
Speaker 1: do a pretty good job of keeping your you know,
Speaker 1: I mean, you're all over Twitter, like I am right,
Speaker 1: Like this is the most talked about thing in sports
Speaker 1: right now?
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's up there. I mean, it definitely is.
Speaker 1: And it's it's if we just all viewed it as
Speaker 1: funny like that would be one thing, but people are
Speaker 1: bothered by it, and I just think take that element
Speaker 1: out of it, don't take anything in any way from
Speaker 1: steven A Smith serious at all, and I think, you know,
Speaker 1: you'll be a happier person for that.
Speaker 3: This sort of lead into a fight or something that'd
Speaker 3: be awesome, like him versus Lebron or him versus I mean,
Speaker 3: I don't know, maybe this leads up to some sort
Speaker 3: of huge ESPN like debate between them both and they
Speaker 3: just hash it out.
Speaker 1: And what Lebron has right, what Lebron has to know
Speaker 1: is that he has given stephen A a level of
Speaker 1: I don't want to say credibility, validity. Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 1: I mean as as somebody who cause again, I don't
Speaker 1: I've yet to see anybody provide anything stephen A Smith
Speaker 1: said that everybody else isn't saying. In fact, what steven
Speaker 1: A has said about Lebron's son being in the NBA
Speaker 1: just because of Lebron. Everybody like, that's common that's common knowledge.
Speaker 1: That's not like a hot take, that's not offensive, that's
Speaker 1: just the facts that I don't any anybody trying to
Speaker 1: live in a world of delusion that that's not the
Speaker 1: why he's in the NBA, like you need, you need
Speaker 1: to get yourself checked out, like as you're not with
Speaker 1: us on planet Earth. So him going to these going
Speaker 1: to this length to to you know, I guess, try
Speaker 1: to dunk on stephen A. All he's done is made
Speaker 1: stephen A even more relevant to people who follow sports.
Speaker 1: And also Lebron's gonna be asked about stephen A for
Speaker 1: months now. Like you think, I mean, Lebron last night
Speaker 1: hit a game winner, he gets my pacers to beat
Speaker 1: him at the Buzzer had a tip in you think
Speaker 1: there's more people right now that know that than there
Speaker 1: is people who know that he's in a public feud
Speaker 1: with screaming a Smith like that, that tells you where
Speaker 1: we are. All right, quick break, we'll come back on
Speaker 1: the other side. Wrap at three o'clock hour. It's cough.
Speaker 3: Now back to coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 3: Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 1: As we wrap up the first hour today, some football
Speaker 1: news to get to recruiting news. I should say, I
Speaker 1: know basketball of course is obviously getting a lot of
Speaker 1: attention as we got the Sweet sixteen getting started today,
Speaker 1: but Jeff Bron picked up a four star recruit earlier today,
Speaker 1: Peyton Cook, who's listed as an athlete as far as position,
Speaker 1: I guess that means he's got some options. But he
Speaker 1: is a top one fifty player in the twenty twenty
Speaker 1: six class pick Louisville over Michigan, Tennessee, Miami, Wisconsin, Kentucky,
Speaker 1: among others. So high school recruiting, you know, clearly just
Speaker 1: doesn't get the same attention as far as like coverage
Speaker 1: as it used to. I mean, it does get coverage,
Speaker 1: it's just not follow like fans who used to just eat, sleep,
Speaker 1: and breathe recruiting. They still follow it, but man, the
Speaker 1: portal is more important on a year by year basis,
Speaker 1: and it's more juicy. It's free agency, right, It's guys
Speaker 1: that you've seen play that are available for your coach
Speaker 1: to go get, not high school kids. So you really
Speaker 1: just never know. But high school recruiting is always going
Speaker 1: to be really important, and Louisville earned that last year.
Speaker 1: I mean they had two of the best freshman running
Speaker 1: backs in the country on the same team. And those
Speaker 1: two guys coming back, Duke Watson and Nasac Brown. I
Speaker 1: mean that's one of the reasons why Louisville has some
Speaker 1: momentum and I think is going to get a lot
Speaker 1: of attention heading in the next season. So it does,
Speaker 1: you know, and I'm not bothered that it's not something
Speaker 1: that I feel like we need to spend a ton
Speaker 1: of time talking about because I just, you know, I
Speaker 1: know that the people who love it love it and
Speaker 1: they realize how important it is. But you know, to
Speaker 1: do a radio show and reach an audience that's much
Speaker 1: wider than those that just you know, get deep into
Speaker 1: the weeds and recruiting, that's kind of what I'm supposed
Speaker 1: to do. So you know, all that, With all that said,
Speaker 1: this is a good enough recruit, big enough name that
Speaker 1: it's worth mentioning. And can't help but think that maybe
Speaker 1: I don't know, maybe I'm maybe I'm just looking at
Speaker 1: a picture and putting two and two together when it
Speaker 1: doesn't doesn't add up. But to see Dion Branch posted
Speaker 1: in the picture with this young man as he made
Speaker 1: it official and posted the graphic with him committing to Louisville,
Speaker 1: you know, Dean Branch is somebody that when he was
Speaker 1: playing for the Patriots and he was winning the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl MVP. A lot of these players, no joke, weren't
Speaker 1: a live I mean, crazy to say, but what year
Speaker 1: was that when Dion won it?
Speaker 2: So at two thousand in the two was in two
Speaker 2: thousand and three?
Speaker 1: Four he won the Super Bowl MVP in two thousand
Speaker 1: and two, So yeah, I mean that was twenty three
Speaker 1: years ago, that ye Eagles game. So so these players
Speaker 1: on his team weren't alive to see it. But you
Speaker 1: see the video. I mean again, I would assume even
Speaker 1: if they didn't remember him playing like they would at
Speaker 1: least know who he is. But even if they don't,
Speaker 1: I mean the video that U of L Football put
Speaker 1: out there after he was announced to be a real
Speaker 1: you know, he's actually added to the staff as the
Speaker 1: wide receivers coach. When he was previously just I think
Speaker 1: the director of player relations or something like that, he
Speaker 1: had a different title. But now, when Lonnie Galloway left
Speaker 1: to go to North Carolina to coach for Belichick, they
Speaker 1: moved up Dion, which I think makes total sense. And
Speaker 1: the video that they shared when announcing him being hired,
Speaker 1: I mean it's got Tom Brady, you know, saying congratulations
Speaker 1: to him, talking about him as a player. I mean
Speaker 1: many other greats, not even NFL guys that like played
Speaker 1: with them to the Patriots, but like NFL guys who
Speaker 1: you know, I guess he's with who he's you know,
Speaker 1: considers to be you know, close with. Like it was
Speaker 1: a great what I'm saying is was a great pr
Speaker 1: thing for like the players who didn't know who dehum
Speaker 1: Branch was or is and how good he was and
Speaker 1: the you know, the kind of love he gets from
Speaker 1: you know, professional football, like that was a really good
Speaker 1: eye opener for those who didn't realize just because it's
Speaker 1: it's you know, it's wild. Like John Shier, the Duke
Speaker 1: basketball coach, was was talking about something the other day
Speaker 1: and I just, you know, it's another one of those
Speaker 1: reminders that you're getting older and a lot of time
Speaker 1: has passed. But you know, there are players playing for
Speaker 1: him right now that are veterans that don't remember him
Speaker 1: at Duke because they were so young. And there was
Speaker 1: some kind of a question that came up in the
Speaker 1: press conference where he had to say, YEA, occasionally I'll
Speaker 1: have to I'll have to let him know, you know
Speaker 1: who I was, because he was really good and he
Speaker 1: came up in Chicago I think he went to like
Speaker 1: a private school, and I don't know his background, but
Speaker 1: he was one of those guys that in the inner
Speaker 1: city of Chicago. I'm pretty sure they just referred to
Speaker 1: him as white John because, like, don't let the looks
Speaker 1: fool you. He had the he still has the clean cut,
Speaker 1: pretty boy look, but he could he could go, and
Speaker 1: he had a lot of respect in the basketball world
Speaker 1: coming up and still does now obviously, But it was
Speaker 1: just him kind of making the joke about yeah, every
Speaker 1: now and then, I do have to kind of remind
Speaker 1: them in a certain way without being over the top,
Speaker 1: that you know, there's a reason you should trust what
Speaker 1: I'm saying. And I'm thinking, well, of course they know.
Speaker 1: They remember John Shire at Duke. I mean, first of all,
Speaker 1: he's one of the all time Dukies, not necessarily as
Speaker 1: far as his career, but like, man, when you think
Speaker 1: about going in a laboratory and creating a prototypical Dukie
Speaker 1: white guy, I mean, is it not John Shire? I
Speaker 1: mean it is, and he's the coach. And as I
Speaker 1: said yesterday, I mean I'm gonna be anti Duke forever.
Speaker 1: Why not? Although I don't hate Duke the way a
Speaker 1: lot of people do. But clearly, you know, they're one
Speaker 1: of those teams. If you're not a Duke fan, you
Speaker 1: probably find yourself not liking them. And I guess that's
Speaker 1: where I'm at. But I do think, even if I
Speaker 1: don't want it to happen, I think John Shire is
Speaker 1: gonna be really good at this. I think he is.
Speaker 1: He's kind of c into his own whenever. What he
Speaker 1: you know, what he brings to the table is more
Speaker 1: valuable than it's ever been, right, like relatability young, but
Speaker 1: also you know, having the ability to say, look, I
Speaker 1: played in the NBA not that long ago, like you know,
Speaker 1: so he can get all he can get after his
Speaker 1: guys in a way to where they're gonna really you know,
Speaker 1: they're gonna they're gonna respect it. Not that other coaches
Speaker 1: you know can't do that. But I just think Shire
Speaker 1: is going to be super successful moving forward. As Austin
Speaker 1: said yesterday, like the cast was already built for him.
Speaker 1: He just gotta you know, he just gotta lead, and
Speaker 1: so far he's done a good job at that. All right,
Speaker 1: let's get to a h a break. We got two
Speaker 1: hours left, so stick around. It's coffee and company and
Speaker 1: we are fueled bout Thornton's right here on Sports Talk
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