Speaker 1: Welcome to the Big Blue and Sider Dick Gabriel with
Speaker 1: you on a Monday edition of our program. We're gonna
Speaker 1: be with you till seven thirty. That's when we will
Speaker 1: make way for the Nick Menze own Show with Darren Hedrick,
Speaker 1: the radio voice of the baseball Wildcats, and of course,
Speaker 1: lots to talk about with the UK head coach. Because
Speaker 1: Kentucky knocked off Tennessee convincingly on Sunday, the rubber game
Speaker 1: of a three game set and clinched the series victory
Speaker 1: over the Volunteers. Ranked second, ranked fourth, whatever poll you're
Speaker 1: looking at, d won Baseball I think has them second.
Speaker 1: That's a huge series win for the Wildcats, only Kentucky's
Speaker 1: second series win of the year. And what's weird about it,
Speaker 1: They've both been on the road against really good teams
Speaker 1: and Tennessee one of the best in the country. But
Speaker 1: the Wildcats, who had an early lead as usual on Friday,
Speaker 1: lost the opener, bounced back in one on Saturday thanks
Speaker 1: to an incredible pitching for performance by Nick McKay, and
Speaker 1: then Ben Cleaver followed up with another great performance. Cleaver
Speaker 1: went seven innings, gave up just a two run homer
Speaker 1: walked only one, struck out seven. Simon Gregorson closed things
Speaker 1: out with a pair of scoreless innings, and between the
Speaker 1: two of them Clever and McKay fourteen and two thirds innings,
Speaker 1: they gave up just three runs, one of them was
Speaker 1: unearned on seven hits. They walked only four and struck
Speaker 1: out nineteen. When you have a strikeout to walk ratio
Speaker 1: like that, you've got a big chance at winning, no
Speaker 1: matter who you're playing, no matter where you're playing. So
Speaker 1: the Wildcats come back home now for a non conference game,
Speaker 1: doesn't get any easier, though, Louisville's coming tomorrow night. But
Speaker 1: UK now twenty two and fifteen, eight and ten in
Speaker 1: the SEC. Those were two huge quadrant wins. When you
Speaker 1: look ahead to the nca tournament, Yeah, Kentucky's had a
Speaker 1: lead and they played eighteen SEC games. The Wildcats they've
Speaker 1: led in seventeen of them. They've only been able to
Speaker 1: hang on to eight for wins. But that tells you
Speaker 1: how close they are. And you saw what they could
Speaker 1: do if they executed for the most part over the weekend.
Speaker 1: Now they did not bunt well again, they could they
Speaker 1: could have. I don't know if they would have won
Speaker 1: Friday would have given themselves a better chance. But they
Speaker 1: could have blown Tennessee out really Saturday and Sunday if
Speaker 1: they had just executed with bunts. They keep bunting back
Speaker 1: to the pitcher. Now, there was a great bunt, more
Speaker 1: than one laid down yesterday, and we'll get back to
Speaker 1: that in a minute. But what really helped the Wildcats
Speaker 1: was running on the base. Pats at Tennessee just didn't
Speaker 1: even seem interested in trying to stop them. Kentucky yesterday
Speaker 1: was six or seven in steals, sixteen of eighteen over
Speaker 1: the weekend, and it was just phenomenal how many bases
Speaker 1: the Wildcats picked up. We'll talk to Darren Hedrick Moore
Speaker 1: about that a little bit later on in the show.
Speaker 1: But again, Kentucky Louisville tomorrow night, six point thirty start.
Speaker 1: Darren has the pregame at six point fifteen and you'll
Speaker 1: hear it right here. Doug Flinn and I will have
Speaker 1: it for you on SEC Plus so you can watch
Speaker 1: it on your mobile device and you can listen as
Speaker 1: well right here on WLAP. Some other UK news over
Speaker 1: the weekend, A little bit of recruiting news for you.
Speaker 1: You probably already have heard that Kentucky maybe now is
Speaker 1: done with the portal as it comes to running backs.
Speaker 1: Mark Stoops and his staff got another commitment, the third
Speaker 1: of its type in the spring transfer portal cycle on
Speaker 1: Easter Sunday, Seth McGowan of New Mexico State is transferring
Speaker 1: to Kentucky. Three star transfer rated as the number twenty
Speaker 1: five best running back in the portal six one two
Speaker 1: twenty as one year of eligibility. He's from Mesquite, Texas.
Speaker 1: That's a suburb of Dallas. McCowan originally signed with Oklahoma
Speaker 1: as a four star kid coming out of high school.
Speaker 1: Jay Bullwear who's now at UK, of course as the
Speaker 1: running backs coach, was his primary recruiter. According to Aaron
Speaker 1: Gershan of the Cats Baws, when the kids signed with Oklahoma,
Speaker 1: so as a freshman, ran for three seventy three touchdowns,
Speaker 1: averaged six and a half yards per carry, and caught
Speaker 1: thirteen passes out of the backfield. Then he ran into
Speaker 1: some personal problems, some off the field issues with legal
Speaker 1: things and did not play football for a couple of years.
Speaker 1: Worked through all of that, served a year of probation,
Speaker 1: and came back and played at Butler Community College. In Elder, Kansas,
Speaker 1: then bounced to New Mexico State last year and now
Speaker 1: he's a Wildcat. And by the way, he played behind
Speaker 1: Kentucky's offensive tackle, the huge Chiaz Pete, and ran for
Speaker 1: eight hundred and twenty three yards one hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: two carries, three touchdowns, twenty three catches, and three receiving touchdowns.
Speaker 1: Second team All Conference USA. So another running back for
Speaker 1: the Wildcats in the fold and that's an area where
Speaker 1: the Cats definitely needed some added depth. No news as
Speaker 1: we speak on basketball transfers. Oh yeah, one more a
Speaker 1: bit of football news. Kentucky's going after a kid named
Speaker 1: Keelan Marion. He's a wide receiver kick returner from Brigham
Speaker 1: Young entered the portal on Saturday and a lot of
Speaker 1: schools won in Arkansas, Arizona State, SMU, Oklahoma, Miami. He's
Speaker 1: from Lawrenceville, Georgia, and originally signed with Yukon broke his
Speaker 1: collarbone when he was up there, entered the portal, landed
Speaker 1: at BYU, put up good numbers, then jump back into
Speaker 1: the portal. Now Kentucky's already signed four wide receiver transfers
Speaker 1: here in the off season. Kendrick Law looked pretty good
Speaker 1: in the spring, Troy Stillado from Clemson, JJ Hester from Oklahoma,
Speaker 1: and of course they just got Harley Gilmour back from Nebraska.
Speaker 1: Still waiting to hear about True Edwards from Louisiana Tech,
Speaker 1: but everything I've heard about him is not good that
Speaker 1: they probably will not get him. So anyhow, nothing new
Speaker 1: on the basketball front as we speak. Once again, we
Speaker 1: pre record, so things may have happened before you guys
Speaker 1: hear this. After I get done putting the show together,
Speaker 1: I will tell you this. Tennessee just got a lot better.
Speaker 1: Tennessee signed a top five forward, Nate Ament. He is
Speaker 1: the highest rank recruit of the Internet rankings era for
Speaker 1: Tennessee and Rick Barnes. He throws the balls over UK, Arkansas, Duke,
Speaker 1: and Louisville, which should tell you something. Keep in mind,
Speaker 1: there was no Internet ranking system when Tennessee signed Alan
Speaker 1: Houston or Dale Ellis or Bernie or Ernie, so it
Speaker 1: makes you know, technically makes this guy the highest rated
Speaker 1: recruit they ever gotten. Now, all of those guys I
Speaker 1: just mentioned had great college careers and really good pro careers,
Speaker 1: So we'll see what this kid does. We'll see if
Speaker 1: he stays more than a year. He's six foot nine
Speaker 1: from Warrenton, Virginia and his highest ranked player to commit
Speaker 1: to Rick Barnes since Barnes got to Knoxville. So, like
Speaker 1: I said, they got better. And his quote is Rick
Speaker 1: Barnes wants me to come in and take what's mine,
Speaker 1: wants me to be the Nasmith Player of the Year
Speaker 1: and all that said, he's done it before with Kevin Durant.
Speaker 1: And he said, guys like Chaslanier and Dalton connect. So
Speaker 1: he said, tremendous success with individual players. That's what a
Speaker 1: men said. So it's a good get for Tennessee. Makes
Speaker 1: life a little tougher for everybody else in the Southeastern Conference.
Speaker 1: Before we hit the break at tip of the BBI
Speaker 1: captain Mitchell Daily, the former Wildcat. Remember he played three
Speaker 1: seasons for the Texas Longhorns transferred to Kentucky. It was
Speaker 1: a key element in the Wildcats run to Omaha. In fact,
Speaker 1: remember he had the home run that basically won the
Speaker 1: game for the Wildcats, not basically it over NC State.
Speaker 1: Ryan Nicholson tied the game in the bottom of the
Speaker 1: ninth and then Daily's home run his seventh of that season.
Speaker 1: Won the game for the Wildcats, gave Kentucky's first College
Speaker 1: World Series victory, and Daily, of course, drafted by the
Speaker 1: Los Angeles Angels. He's been promoted to Triple A. He
Speaker 1: was playing for Empire in the Class A League, the
Speaker 1: High eighth League, and it was kind of odd because
Speaker 1: he was only batting one to eighty one. So he
Speaker 1: might have been moved up just because they need an infielder.
Speaker 1: He's listed as a second basement, third baseman and shortstop.
Speaker 1: But whatever, he's in a good spot right now. That
Speaker 1: proves that he's on their map. He's on their radar,
Speaker 1: and they like him. And what's not the like? And
Speaker 1: I'll tell you this, Salt Lake City has got a
Speaker 1: great ballpark. He's got an incredible view of the mountains.
Speaker 1: Doug Flynn and I did a minor league game there
Speaker 1: ten years ago and it is spectacular, you know. And
Speaker 1: you're sitting there behind home plate and looking out. I
Speaker 1: think they're the Wahsatch Mountains. Pretty cool. So I hope
Speaker 1: he gets a chance to show himself and prove himself
Speaker 1: at the TRIPAA level. So good luck to Mitchell. Daily.
Speaker 1: Back in just a minute to talk baseball with Darren Headrick.
Speaker 1: A little bit later Ken Spencer talking Kentucky football in
Speaker 1: six thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider.
Speaker 1: Coming up in a few minutes, Darren Headrick, the boys
Speaker 1: of UK Baseball. We'll talk with us about the great
Speaker 1: weekend the Wildcats turned in down in Knoxville, and a
Speaker 1: little bit later on Ken Spencer of WHS, we'll talk
Speaker 1: with us about college football and the Wildcats. But I
Speaker 1: wanted to talk a little bit about some of the
Speaker 1: things that happened over the weekend, and one of them
Speaker 1: was a golf tournament won by a Kentucky and JT
Speaker 1: Justin Thomas, who took the RBC Heritage Championship at Harbor
Speaker 1: Town and he needed a playoff to beat Andrew Novak
Speaker 1: and it ended a three year drought for the Louisville
Speaker 1: Natyve went to sin X and interestingly, as he was
Speaker 1: walking up to the eighteenth green at Harbortown in the
Speaker 1: playoff with Novak, he said to his caddy, Joe Griner,
Speaker 1: he said, I've never made a putt basically of any
Speaker 1: length to win in the final hole. He's had some
Speaker 1: tap ins for victories, He's won fifteen events, but He's
Speaker 1: never had anything longer than fourteen feet four inches. That's
Speaker 1: how long his winning putt was in twenty nineteen at
Speaker 1: the BMW Championship. Now he won that by three shots,
Speaker 1: so he did drain the long putt to win the
Speaker 1: tournament to end the tournament, but that wasn't with the
Speaker 1: tournament on the line. The longest putt he had ever
Speaker 1: made came back in twenty fifteen, he hit a four
Speaker 1: footer to win his first PGA Championship. But yesterday Justin
Speaker 1: Thomas dropped in a putt of twenty one feet two inches.
Speaker 1: This is the way Jim Nance called it on CBS.
Speaker 2: Is it the winning putt?
Speaker 3: Here it comes, Yes, it is Justin Thomas.
Speaker 1: Back to the winner circle. The tears are going to
Speaker 1: be pouring.
Speaker 2: He's got his first win as a father.
Speaker 1: Of course, his wife was there with the new child
Speaker 1: and his dad and it was pretty dramatic. But what's
Speaker 1: interesting as well in the follow up coverage was a
Speaker 1: story about the fact that he went to Xander Shoffley
Speaker 1: last year. Thomas had lost his touch, his putting touch,
Speaker 1: you know, when he was at his best in twenty seventeen,
Speaker 1: twenty eighteen. Back then and he just wasn't putting very well.
Speaker 1: So he goes to Xander Shoffley, who is known as
Speaker 1: one of the best putters in the game. Thomas had
Speaker 1: been a top fifty putter early in his career, but
Speaker 1: he dropped the one seventh and strokes gained putting last season.
Speaker 1: So he goes to Shoffley, say's going to pick your brain.
Speaker 1: They went out to the range and for two or
Speaker 1: three hours they just plotted golf balls and talked fundamentals,
Speaker 1: and Thomas said he realized he just had to get
Speaker 1: back to what he was doing when he was most successful.
Speaker 1: He was overthinking, I guess and so many people in
Speaker 1: sports can do that. You know, they start overthinking what
Speaker 1: they what they've been doing, even though it's been successful,
Speaker 1: and start tinkering and you know, changing things and the
Speaker 1: next thing you know, it don't look anything like they
Speaker 1: did when they were at their most successful. So, yeah, congratulations,
Speaker 1: even though he went to San x congratulations to at Kentuckian.
Speaker 1: Justin Thomas for a big day at Harbor Town with
Speaker 1: the Bambino on site. Had been more than a thousand
Speaker 1: days since he won a turn tournament, and good for him.
Speaker 1: A bogie free sixty eight. Not a bad day. And
Speaker 1: how about this a check for three point six million dollars.
Speaker 1: That'll work. Lots of NBA coverage over the weekend, and
Speaker 1: I always check and see what might have happened on
Speaker 1: the postgame show the NBA on TNT with Ernie Johnson,
Speaker 1: Shaquille O'Neil, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and of course there's
Speaker 1: a little back and forth about championships because they were
Speaker 1: reading off the names of award winners for the NBA
Speaker 1: and they get to the Defensive Player of the Year award,
Speaker 1: which is named for Keem Elijah On. Not a bad choice,
Speaker 1: hell of a defensive player. And he played with Kenny
Speaker 1: Smith or Kenny Smith played with him, and Smith was
Speaker 1: on those Houston teams that won a couple of NBA titles.
Speaker 1: This is back when Jordan was off playing baseball. Shaquille
Speaker 1: O'Neil has the most on the anchor desk, he had four,
Speaker 1: Kenny Smith has two, Charles Barkley zero. That's in one
Speaker 1: of those Capital one commercials. They referenced that. And he's
Speaker 1: a good sport about it, but he's always needling Kenny
Speaker 1: about how literally did for those rocket teams that they
Speaker 1: were all about a chem Elijah Wan and of course
Speaker 1: Kenny comes right back at him. Here it is courtesy
Speaker 1: T n T. How about for the defensive player of
Speaker 1: the year. Oh so you don't read this, you know.
Speaker 3: This is and this is appropriate because it's the chem
Speaker 3: Elija won troph the guy.
Speaker 2: Who got you your two trophies, who got you.
Speaker 1: He just bought him.
Speaker 4: Silence, silence, silence, Golden who helped you winning championship.
Speaker 1: Nobody thank you. It's always funny when they get into it.
Speaker 1: And again Barkley is uh, just a good sport about it.
Speaker 1: But I do remember Barkley criticized. I don't remember who
Speaker 1: the player was for moving from team to team trying
Speaker 1: to win a championship. Might have been Lebron, but Barkley
Speaker 1: did the same thing. Barkley left Philly. I don't remember
Speaker 1: the exact order, but he left for Houston. He left
Speaker 1: for Phoenix trying to chase a title. Pete Merovitch did
Speaker 1: the same thing when he signed with the Celtics and
Speaker 1: finally realized that it was a fool's errand but I
Speaker 1: do enjoy it when they get into Barkley over the
Speaker 1: weekend somebody posted from the SEC office on one of
Speaker 1: their Twitter accounts it was a happy birthday shout out.
Speaker 1: Yesterday was Steve Spurrier's birthday. And of course he's one
Speaker 1: of those guys UK fans love to hate. But I
Speaker 1: got news for you. Every team in the SEC as
Speaker 1: fans who loved hating Spurrier. And there was a segment
Speaker 1: on a piece about Spurrier that runs about three minutes
Speaker 1: long about how and why Pete disliked Spurrier. It included
Speaker 1: a segment from an interview he did many many years ago,
Speaker 1: back in the nineties. I guess was Roy Firestone, who
Speaker 1: had a great interview show on ESPN, and Firestone kind
Speaker 1: of challenged him a little bit about some of the
Speaker 1: antics Spurrier would pull at times. You say stuff and
Speaker 1: it speaks of vanity, and it speaks of a lack
Speaker 1: of humility, ego, paranoid, cocky, arrogant. Sometimes I dig at
Speaker 1: guys a little bit.
Speaker 2: FSU Freeshoes University.
Speaker 1: That's a low blow. What's wrong with that? What's wrong
Speaker 1: with that is that really nobody else was a brutally
Speaker 1: frank or honest, you know, with their opinions, with their
Speaker 1: equips but here's the thing. It's like they say, it's
Speaker 1: not bragging if you can back it up. And Spurriyer,
Speaker 1: I had great teams in the nineties, won a national
Speaker 1: championship in ninety six, probably should have won more than one,
Speaker 1: but didn't. But Kentucky fans, you know how, we used
Speaker 1: to run it up. He hated Bill Curry, and he
Speaker 1: would run it up and say things like, well, we
Speaker 1: knew Kentucky had a good punter, and he had a
Speaker 1: comment about some of the and that's not the only
Speaker 1: comment he made about Kentucky or other teams. I've been
Speaker 1: accused of saying things right after games that some people
Speaker 1: felt like was a knock to our opponents, and they
Speaker 1: were interpreted the wrong ways. How else are you going
Speaker 1: to interpret something like that? For instance, there are people
Speaker 1: in Knoxville who can't stand him, couldn't back then, still can't.
Speaker 1: And Pat Dooley, the longtime beat writer for the Gainesville Son,
Speaker 1: talked about that in the piece, and then it was
Speaker 1: followed up by a comment from former Tennessee wide receiver
Speaker 1: Peerless Price.
Speaker 3: I remember going to Knoxville in ninety six, went and
Speaker 3: talked to a bunch of Tennessee fans about Steve and
Speaker 3: it was just nasty. Spur didn't like it. I'd written
Speaker 3: that story. He goes, what'd you go find some guys
Speaker 3: under a bridge to write that story? And I'm like, no, coach,
Speaker 3: people don't like you?
Speaker 2: How good you like him? When he making comments like
Speaker 2: you can't spell stitchers without ut They saying, yeah, Tennessee's
Speaker 2: gonna win eleven games, but they're gonna lose to us
Speaker 2: and end up in the Sitters Ball and we're gonna
Speaker 2: be in a national championship. Stuff like that.
Speaker 1: You can't forget. That's peerless Price, a really good receiver
Speaker 1: at Tennessee on some really good teams, but they just
Speaker 1: couldn't get it done because back then Florida was better.
Speaker 1: And through that piece, they had a shot of Peyton
Speaker 1: Manning back when he was playing for Tennessee, just this
Speaker 1: horrible look in the space because they were about to
Speaker 1: lose to Florida. So if you want to try to
Speaker 1: find that piece, go to Twitter and type in sec
Speaker 1: and it'll come up for you. But it's it's kind
Speaker 1: of entertaining, but you can understand clearly why people just
Speaker 1: didn't like Spurrier. But man could he coach college football,
Speaker 1: not in the pros, but college football at a place
Speaker 1: like Florida where you got all kinds of recruiting advantages
Speaker 1: and he did a great job down there. Yeah, you
Speaker 1: can understand it all right. Coming up next, we'll talk
Speaker 1: Kentucky Baseball with Darren Hedrick on six point thirty WLAP
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the bag Bloon. Coming up at seven thirty,
Speaker 1: it's the Nick Benji Own Show, hosted by our own
Speaker 1: Darren Headrick. Our own because he of course is the
Speaker 1: radio voice of UK Baseball and he's on our celebrity
Speaker 1: highline back from his native state of Tennessee, his alma mater,
Speaker 1: ut but he is the voice of the Wildcats. And
Speaker 1: had you had a good time of the weekend, didn't you?
Speaker 1: I'm sure you saw family, friends and some Kentucky wins,
Speaker 1: didn't you.
Speaker 2: Oh, no question, Gabe. It was a terrific weekend to
Speaker 2: go back home and see some family and like you say,
Speaker 2: just kind of have a little mini vacation over the weekend,
Speaker 2: but also going to the ballpark every day and seeing
Speaker 2: Kentucky come away with a huge series win over a
Speaker 2: very talented Tennessee team, and man I just got finished
Speaker 2: talking with Coach Minzion and what a pitching performance they
Speaker 2: had this weekend.
Speaker 1: You're gonna hear the Nick Minji Oones show, as I said,
Speaker 1: coming up at seven thirty. But let's start with that pitching,
Speaker 1: because it was good on Friday, not quite good enough,
Speaker 1: unbelievably great on Saturday, and again great on Sunday. And
Speaker 1: the bullpen came through both times as well, didn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they did, And I mean you've got to start
Speaker 2: with Nick McKay on Saturday, seven and two thirds, twelve strikeout,
Speaker 2: one unearned run allowed. And then that followed over Ben
Speaker 2: Cleever on Sunday when seven innings, only gave up a
Speaker 2: couple of runs and just a phenomenal effort. And I
Speaker 2: really think it started for them with the fastball. And
Speaker 2: this is something that I talked to Coach Menzion and
Speaker 2: Coach Rozel about and from the press box it made
Speaker 2: it look like Tennessee really had a hard time seeing
Speaker 2: the breaking pitches from both of those guys. And then
Speaker 2: you mentioned the bullpen. It's been great to see Simon
Speaker 2: Gregorson in the month of April turn into the guy
Speaker 2: that we thought he would be when he transferred here
Speaker 2: from Indiana State. You know, Evan Byers made another appearance
Speaker 2: for the Wildcats over the weekend. Robert Hogan, I'll say this,
Speaker 2: this kind of got lost because it was in a
Speaker 2: defeat on Friday, but Hogan went two innings to finish
Speaker 2: that game, only allowing a run. And if he gets
Speaker 2: back to where he was when he was a huge
Speaker 2: piece of the bullpen last season, and then you factor
Speaker 2: in Simon Gregorson looking like he has in recent weeks,
Speaker 2: the dynamics of this bullpen completely changes and Kentucky all
Speaker 2: of a sudden becomes a far more dangerous team than
Speaker 2: a lot of people were giving them credit for.
Speaker 1: There's no question, excuse me, And because Hogan and Gregorson
Speaker 1: are such different types of pitcher, aren't they?
Speaker 2: Yeah, they are. With Hogan, you start off he obviously
Speaker 2: everything flows off a fastball for any pitcher, but with Hogan,
Speaker 2: that slider in particular can look like two different pitches.
Speaker 2: It can be firm, or he can throw it more
Speaker 2: like a slurve, if you will, a softer breaking pitch,
Speaker 2: and so the rate on his breaking ball is a
Speaker 2: huge weapon for Hogan, and when he's on the attack,
Speaker 2: he gets a lot of swings and misses, and then
Speaker 2: Gregorson just hads an arsenal. He can throw three or
Speaker 2: four to five different pitches up there and mixing match.
Speaker 2: But again, everything starts with that fastball for Simon, and
Speaker 2: he has been on the attack and getting strikes early,
Speaker 2: and that's a huge key for Simon.
Speaker 1: Well, let's back up to when they got there Friday night,
Speaker 1: and of course, once again the Wildcats take the lead.
Speaker 1: Devin burks with a two run shot, and he is
Speaker 1: swinging a bat better this year than he was last year.
Speaker 1: But going in we talked about as you and me
Speaker 1: and the coach and Doug Keith Madison and Doug last
Speaker 1: week about going into Tennessee, which is a launching pad,
Speaker 1: and yeah, Tennessee, you got some long bombs. Kentucky got
Speaker 1: a couple, but it wasn't a homer fest. I was
Speaker 1: afraid it might be. Again a tribute to the Kentucky.
Speaker 2: Pitchers, right, I think so. I completely agree with you
Speaker 2: on that. The fact that they held Tennessee to four
Speaker 2: home runs for the weekend and only one after Friday
Speaker 2: just speaks to the level of competitiveness and execution that
Speaker 2: this staff worked with and they had Tennessee frustrated and
Speaker 2: flummaxed all weekend. And you know what, credit to coach Rozelle.
Speaker 2: If you think back, Dick to the last time Kentucky
Speaker 2: was at Lindsay Nelson Stadium in twenty twenty three, Darren
Speaker 2: Williams was on the mound for a ten nothing shutout.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So Kentucky's won three of the last four against Tennessee
Speaker 2: in Knoxville and have held the Balls to a total
Speaker 2: of three runs in those three wins.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you mentioned that on the air, and I had
Speaker 1: forgotten about that. That was an incredible day down there.
Speaker 1: And by the way, Lindsey Nelson, I don't know how
Speaker 1: much you've ever got to hear tape of him or
Speaker 1: recordings or whatever, or I think you're too young to
Speaker 1: remember when he was on the air, but you clearly
Speaker 1: you're a you're a connoisseur of great sports casters. And
Speaker 1: how cool is it to be in a press box
Speaker 1: named after him? People? Maybe you know he was a
Speaker 1: national figure, but went to the University of Tennessee and
Speaker 1: loved that place, didn't he.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know what, it's really special for me just
Speaker 2: because he was the father of the Vall Network at
Speaker 2: the University of Tennessee along outside general neland it was
Speaker 2: Lindsay Nelson who created the network for Tennessee football and
Speaker 2: later basketball and baseball and the other sports. But the
Speaker 2: fact that I get to sit in that press box
Speaker 2: knowing that Lindsay Nelson was the first to sit in
Speaker 2: that chair among a great line of announcers there at
Speaker 2: the University of Tennessee, it's really neat, and you know,
Speaker 2: it ties in on the baseball side of it, with
Speaker 2: his name being on the baseball press box, you know,
Speaker 2: the first voice of the New York Mets and a
Speaker 2: long time Major League announcer, and so you sort of
Speaker 2: get motivated to try to be at your best knowing that, Okay,
Speaker 2: I'm sitting in the press box named after one of
Speaker 2: the greatest baseball announcers ever. I better be on my
Speaker 2: game this weekend, just in case his ghost is still
Speaker 2: hopping this ballpark.
Speaker 1: And of course you've got the statue out front, Casey
Speaker 1: at the bat statue, so it's and of course they've
Speaker 1: renovated it and they're going to put more money into it.
Speaker 1: But they had great crowds there and they went home disappointed.
Speaker 1: Two out of three days, didn't they?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was. It was interesting to look down there
Speaker 2: in the eighth and ninth innings on Sunday and see
Speaker 2: that ballpark, how fast it emptied out, And you know what,
Speaker 2: there was a pretty good smattering of blue way down
Speaker 2: the left field line, towards the corner, and they were
Speaker 2: pretty much the only ones left there when the final
Speaker 2: out was recorded.
Speaker 1: Were the fire trucks over there beyond the wall. When
Speaker 1: I filled in for Neil Price several years ago at
Speaker 1: ut and maybe it's been built up so that they
Speaker 1: can't well, but there were these fire trucks that had
Speaker 1: pulled up the road behind or some parking lot, and
Speaker 1: the firefighters were sitting up on top of the trucks
Speaker 1: watching the games. Can they still do that?
Speaker 2: No, they weren't there anymore. And they filled in the
Speaker 2: ballpark to the point where it's kind of hard to
Speaker 2: sit and watch. You know. They've added the terrace seating
Speaker 2: beyond left field and everything is under construction. The street
Speaker 2: that used to run between the ballpark and the football
Speaker 2: complex is now a giant pit where they're about to
Speaker 2: add even more suite level. They're calling it the Tower,
Speaker 2: and it's going to be some sweeps that go in.
Speaker 2: That ballpark is going to rival duty Noble when it's done.
Speaker 1: Wow, isn't it interesting, Darren? The growth of facilities in
Speaker 1: the SEC and all it takes is a little bit
Speaker 1: of success. Now KPP was on the boards, gosh in
Speaker 1: the mid twenty thirteen fourteen. Gary Henderson worked tirelessly on
Speaker 1: the blueprints and then they break ground once Nick got here.
Speaker 1: But for the longest time, you know, a sea ballpark
Speaker 1: was kind of forgotten about, wasn't it.
Speaker 2: It really was just one of those things down there
Speaker 2: where every time it was on the on the ticket,
Speaker 2: every time it got next in line and the queue
Speaker 2: for renovations, football needed something and so it was a
Speaker 2: new practice facility or upgrades to Kneeland Stadium or whatever.
Speaker 2: So it felt like every time the baseball stadium got
Speaker 2: to where it was next in line for renovations, oh nope,
Speaker 2: coach Former or coach Jones or now coach Hypel, somebody
Speaker 2: needed something and it got put on the back burner.
Speaker 2: It went back to the end of the line. But
Speaker 2: now they're finally doing some upgrades to it, and you know,
Speaker 2: the miracle of all miracles, when they're finished there will
Speaker 2: be elevators. Oh, it goes to the press level and
Speaker 2: the suitet level.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that one that one time I went. I had
Speaker 1: my foot. I think I had a bone spur. It
Speaker 1: was in a boot and I had to walk those
Speaker 1: five or six flights of steps with my quick boxes,
Speaker 1: just like you do. So anyhow, all right, we'll talk
Speaker 1: more baseball with Darren Headrick on the other side of
Speaker 1: the break here on six thirty WLAP Welcome back. We're
Speaker 1: talking with Darren Headrick, the voice of UK baseball. You'll
Speaker 1: hear him coming up at the bottom of our next
Speaker 1: hour with Nick MinJe On on the Nick Minjeone Show,
Speaker 1: of course, talking about the weekend with the Wildcats down
Speaker 1: in Knoxville taking two out of three from the Balls
Speaker 1: and you and again coach Madison who works games with
Speaker 1: you when he can, and Doug Flynn, my partner. We've
Speaker 1: talked all year long about how this team. I don't
Speaker 1: know if it was missing something, but it just it
Speaker 1: seemed like it was right on the verge, you know,
Speaker 1: and again many many new faces. We all know that
Speaker 1: any brutal schedule, do you think this weekend, Darren, is
Speaker 1: what's going to put them over the hump. We'll find
Speaker 1: out tomorrow night, But are you getting any signs that
Speaker 1: it's finally starting to click.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I definitely can see that. And you know, the
Speaker 2: thing is like this weekend, you lose Ethan Hindle with
Speaker 2: the injury, and you insert Ryan Schwartz. Well, here's a
Speaker 2: freshman who steps up, and all of a sudden he
Speaker 2: has four hits to lead the team in the weekend series.
Speaker 2: And I just think, Yeah, there's been moments where they
Speaker 2: had all of these close losses. They were right there
Speaker 2: against Old Miss Louisville and Texas, but they couldn't quite
Speaker 2: get over the hump to win those games or win
Speaker 2: those series. And you're like, man, it just feels like
Speaker 2: they need one more piece, if they just had one
Speaker 2: more something, whether it was an ability to make a
Speaker 2: pitch or get that hit. But against Tennessee this weekend,
Speaker 2: it all came together. And the thing for me, during
Speaker 2: that tough stretch, as frustrating as it was, the pitching
Speaker 2: kept them in those ballgames. Well, this weekend we saw
Speaker 2: the pitching take a little bit more of a step
Speaker 2: forward to where they're not just keeping them in games
Speaker 2: now they're dominating, their imposing their will and now we're
Speaker 2: seeing confidence coming back to this offense. And the fun
Speaker 2: thing for me, Dick is, as much as I hate
Speaker 2: the injury to Ethan Hindle, because that young man was
Speaker 2: just getting going, finding a rhythm, he was getting on base,
Speaker 2: to see the youth movement in this lineup. Now Schwartz
Speaker 2: a freshman, Tyler Bell a freshman, Hudson Brown a red
Speaker 2: shirt freshman. Those guys were the leading producers this weekend offensively,
Speaker 2: and then you throw in Patrick Herrera, who's been steady.
Speaker 2: Dylan Coons's back continues to come around like it has
Speaker 2: this week, He's going to make that lineup deeper. And
Speaker 2: you know, with Carson Hanson hitting well against Tennessee this weekend,
Speaker 2: maybe this lineup was starting to click and things are
Speaker 2: coming together. I also think Gabe looking at the back
Speaker 2: half of the schedule now that Tennessee's behind them, those
Speaker 2: last four weeks as tough as they are in this league,
Speaker 2: and I don't want to disrespect the opponents, but it's
Speaker 2: not top five teams one after another, that's right. These
Speaker 2: are winnable series if Kentucky can execute and play at
Speaker 2: the level that we saw them play at.
Speaker 1: Tennessee one hundred percent. I mean, the top half of
Speaker 1: the scheduled brutal. But yeah, and now just in time,
Speaker 1: Vandy's kind of coming to life. So you can't discount
Speaker 1: anybody in the SEC. But all these young guys, now
Speaker 1: they've seen SEC breaking balls. They're still freshmen. They're still incorporating, uh,
Speaker 1: stuff they learn into their games, and they're still seeing
Speaker 1: things for the first time. But uh, there's a lot
Speaker 1: to be said. They've played a lot of baseball, and
Speaker 1: there's a lot to be said for what they've learned.
Speaker 1: We're talking with Darren Hedderick, the radio voice of the
Speaker 1: Baseball Wildcatch. You'll hear them with Nick Manjione coming up
Speaker 1: at seven thirty on this Ferry radio station. The Cat's
Speaker 1: taking two out of three from Tennessee. Louisville comes in,
Speaker 1: and you know, it's amazing to me, Darren that, and
Speaker 1: I know it has been a source of frustration to you,
Speaker 1: to the team, to the coaches, how well Kentucky's played
Speaker 1: in the SEC games, even a series they've lost. And
Speaker 1: yet the midweek games sometimes they look like a different team,
Speaker 1: don't they. Maybe not against Louisville when they got brilliant
Speaker 1: pitching up until the very end. But just those midweek
Speaker 1: games have been weird.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they have. And we've seen teams in the past
Speaker 2: that for whatever reason have struggled with the midweek games.
Speaker 2: Xavier was a really good team that came in here. Obviously,
Speaker 2: Louisville is a friend's top ten team. They may even
Speaker 2: be ranked in the top ten this week. But for
Speaker 2: you faced some really tough teams. But you're right, they
Speaker 2: had a close game there with Miami of Ohio, blew
Speaker 2: the three run lead and then ended up walking that
Speaker 2: one off on a bunt, scoring Kyles Garget from third.
Speaker 2: But yeah, these midweek games, and I think that's just
Speaker 2: maybe it could simply just be a young team that
Speaker 2: you know, they're coming off the high of the of
Speaker 2: a hard competition in these SEC games and they haven't
Speaker 2: quite locked in like they should. Who knows, But yeah,
Speaker 2: these midweek games can sometimes be traps. But that's the
Speaker 2: way it goes for anybody. You know. Last year, Tennessee's
Speaker 2: a national champion and they lost to Lipscomb and Tennessee
Speaker 2: Tech on the midweek, So you know, it happens to
Speaker 2: the better teams. I think for me, it underscores how
Speaker 2: difficult these SEC series are and how much that it
Speaker 2: takes out of these guys mentally and physically. I mean,
Speaker 2: just from a broadcaster standpoint, I'm just sitting in a
Speaker 2: booth watching and talking about baseball, and by the end
Speaker 2: of an SEC series, I'm drained just from the emotional
Speaker 2: roller coaster that these guys are on in these series.
Speaker 2: So it takes a lot out of these guys to
Speaker 2: compete at that level. And you know, it's sometimes it
Speaker 2: may just be as simple as it's tough to rebound
Speaker 2: a day later and and play somebody who doesn't have
Speaker 2: that SEC logo beside him. But you still got to
Speaker 2: do it, and you still got to find a way
Speaker 2: to win well.
Speaker 1: And just as it did last year, it got chippy
Speaker 1: with Tennessee, which I guess is the way it ought
Speaker 1: to me UK Tennessee. But that's emotional as well, isn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that made it even more fun is the way
Speaker 2: that one got salty down there in Knoxville this past weekend.
Speaker 2: And that's just that's what makes the rivalry fund though.
Speaker 2: And I'm sure Kentucky and Louisville tomorrow night at Kentucky
Speaker 2: Proud Park, I'm sure it'll be a lot of energy
Speaker 2: in the in the ballpark for that one as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, the coaches, they're good with each other.
Speaker 1: But it's amazing to me the players who might transfer
Speaker 1: in or sign as freshmen, and it's almost instantaneous, isn't
Speaker 1: it uku of l because they hear it from their classmates,
Speaker 1: they hear it from their friends, don't they.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's exactly right. And I think another great example
Speaker 2: is in women's basketball. You had a brand new coaching staff,
Speaker 2: but hey, they played Louisville yearly because they were in
Speaker 2: the same conference as the Cardinals. And I don't want
Speaker 2: to say it wasn't a big deal to play Louisville
Speaker 2: because Louisville and women's basketball is a tremendous program. But
Speaker 2: for them, it was just, Okay, this is a really
Speaker 2: tough conference game. But that's all it was. And now
Speaker 2: they're at Kentucky and it's like, okay, well this game
Speaker 2: means a little bit more now. And I remember Georgia
Speaker 2: Amore after they beat Louisville at historic Memorial Coliseum. She's like, Okay,
Speaker 2: I get it now, I see what this means, and
Speaker 2: we're really excited that we could win this one. For them,
Speaker 2: And so, yeah, you're right. These guys that are new
Speaker 2: faces on the baseball team found that out in the
Speaker 2: Derby City. And I'm sure they're anxious to get round
Speaker 2: too at Kentucky.
Speaker 1: Brown Park, especially the way that one got away just
Speaker 1: a minute or two left with Darren Hedrick. But yeah,
Speaker 1: had to feel great for Georgia Amore. How surprised were
Speaker 1: you that she went maybe through four picks earlier than
Speaker 1: we all thought she would.
Speaker 2: You know, it's interesting you asked me that because as
Speaker 2: I was watching that draft unfold and the Mystics had
Speaker 2: all those first round picks, and I kind of thought
Speaker 2: the Valkyries might take Georgia, and I think that would
Speaker 2: have been the fifth pick. Yeah, but anyway, the Valkyries
Speaker 2: kind of shock everybody and take an international player. And
Speaker 2: I looked at somebody I was watching the draft with
Speaker 2: and I said, wait a minute. The Mystics have taken
Speaker 2: a forward, and now they've taken a shooting guard and
Speaker 2: they've got a third pick. I said, what do you
Speaker 2: need with a forward and a shooting guard. You need
Speaker 2: a point guard. I said, I bet they take Georgia.
Speaker 2: And about that time, the WNBA commissioner announced her name,
Speaker 2: and I was really excited for and I'll be calling
Speaker 2: baseball when it happens. But man, I wish I could
Speaker 2: be in Washington, DC to see the Mystics and Georgia
Speaker 2: Amore take on the Atlanta Dream and Ryan Howard in
Speaker 2: that season opener.
Speaker 1: A lot of people are going to make that road.
Speaker 1: That's gonna be fun. He is Darren Hedrick. He is
Speaker 1: the radio voice of the Baseball Wildcats and UK women's basketball.
Speaker 1: You'll hear him coming up at the bottom of our
Speaker 1: next hour with Nick menje On on the nickmnjeone Show
Speaker 1: and calling the action as the Wildcats take on the
Speaker 1: Cardinals tomorrow night at KPP pregame six fifteen, first pitch
Speaker 1: six probably six thirty two. If you can't be there,
Speaker 1: tune it in. Thank you brother. We'll see at the
Speaker 1: ballpark of.
Speaker 2: Course, anytime a man appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Darren, of course, is a native of Maryville, Tennessee, which
Speaker 1: is due south of Knoxville and due west of Pigeon
Speaker 1: Fords and Gatlinburg. Kind of a triangle there if you
Speaker 1: use those three points. And again went to ut but
Speaker 1: knows where his bread is literally buttered. That's where the
Speaker 1: paycheck comes from from doing Kentucky games. But yeah, it's
Speaker 1: fun going to Tennessee now that they care about baseball,
Speaker 1: even more fun than the Wildcats pull out the wins.
Speaker 1: Our number two well a half hour coming up with
Speaker 1: Kid Spencer next in six thirty WLFP.
Speaker 4: Then any type such tact stating.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Big Boone sider joining us now
Speaker 1: is a longtime buddy and a friend of the show.
Speaker 1: He was a dope TVQ for many years and now
Speaker 1: as the sports director whas over in Louisville. Kent Spencer
Speaker 1: and uh, it's derby time, so you've got your hands
Speaker 1: full of Kent, But I do want to talk with
Speaker 1: you about college football. Always point out that Kent and
Speaker 1: mister Pecoro are the only guys on the beat who
Speaker 1: really know what it's like to get hitting them out
Speaker 1: in the college football game. Let me ask you about
Speaker 1: about Kentucky, and I'm gonna get you to give me
Speaker 1: a little scating report on what went on at U
Speaker 1: of L as well. But with so many new faces
Speaker 1: Kent in camp in spring, it's got to mean that
Speaker 1: these summer weeks coming up and really every day until
Speaker 1: what they call August camp begins. Is they're vital, aren't
Speaker 1: they these guys getting to know each other and becoming
Speaker 1: a team.
Speaker 5: Yeah, and let me say this too, Dick, Like, over
Speaker 5: time things have changed so much where you know, you
Speaker 5: really couldn't you know, coaches really couldn't get with their
Speaker 5: kids over the summer, right, you know, that was the
Speaker 5: that was the role. So you know you had, you know,
Speaker 5: after spring practice and until people showed up for camp.
Speaker 5: I mean that's months and months and months that coaches
Speaker 5: really can't spend time and work with their kids. Well
Speaker 5: that's that's changed, and now coaches get a lot you know,
Speaker 5: you can have a lot more of that now. You know,
Speaker 5: it's not a twenty four to seven thing, but at
Speaker 5: least it is. You know, you can you can be
Speaker 5: better prepared for the time that Paul Camp rolls around.
Speaker 5: And especially in this day and age of the of
Speaker 5: the transfer portal, you know, and and and we've even
Speaker 5: seen it in the last week right since since spring
Speaker 5: practice as has has ended, you've got kids still coming in,
Speaker 5: you've got kids still going out, and so these next
Speaker 5: few months are because I mean, by the time Paul
Speaker 5: Camp happened, you get a month essentially you get ready
Speaker 5: for your season, and so you know, that's just.
Speaker 2: Not enough time.
Speaker 5: That's why these these months important for the times that
Speaker 5: the kids can be with the coaches, but also the
Speaker 5: times that the kids can be with themselves, getting an
Speaker 5: extra workouts, whether that's you know, self organized seven on seven,
Speaker 5: whatever it takes. This is this is that key moment.
Speaker 1: Tell everybody, as a guy who's done that, what those
Speaker 1: off the field moments are like and how vital they are.
Speaker 1: You know, the locker room stuff. I mean, you know
Speaker 1: you don't you don't bond with with your teammate, Well,
Speaker 1: you kind of do on the field, but it's off
Speaker 1: the field stuff maybe just as are more important, isn't it.
Speaker 5: You know, it's so funny that you mentioned that because
Speaker 5: last night my wife and I were out for dinner
Speaker 5: and we were celebrating our eighteen year wedding anniversary. Yeah
Speaker 5: it's actually it's actually today, but we had to do
Speaker 5: it last night because A my work schedule and B
Speaker 5: my son has a baseball game, and so you know,
Speaker 5: are our son has a baseball game.
Speaker 2: So we had to settle it.
Speaker 5: And she asked me the question. She goes, you know,
Speaker 5: you know it was one of those questions, like do
Speaker 5: you even remember, you know, life before you know, we
Speaker 5: were married and together. And I actually looked at her
Speaker 5: and I said, yeah, I do. But it's not like
Speaker 5: you would think. I said, you know, I still remember
Speaker 5: like it was yesterday, certain moments with my team.
Speaker 2: Sure, and I.
Speaker 5: Remember, you know, like I still like to this day.
Speaker 5: I remember the place that we would go out the
Speaker 5: quarterbacks and the wide receivers on Friday night, the night
Speaker 5: before a home game, Like I remember those kind of
Speaker 5: moments and the things that we did them. So those
Speaker 5: are the things that stick with you forever. You know,
Speaker 5: so many people you remember moments on the field, But
Speaker 5: the things that you miss and the things that you
Speaker 5: share more than anything are is the is the locker
Speaker 5: room moment. The things that you remember is it's the
Speaker 5: team dinners, It's it's the it's you know, going out
Speaker 5: and doing things or you know, messing around in the
Speaker 5: locker room.
Speaker 2: You know, the little things.
Speaker 5: Like that, Like that's what you that's what you miss,
Speaker 5: and that's when you when you see a former teammate.
Speaker 5: Those are the things that are the reason why you
Speaker 5: give each other the biggest bear hugs in the world.
Speaker 5: So that's why like this stuff coming up and just
Speaker 5: the extra stuff that they mean the world that that
Speaker 5: that those are the reasons while you'll go into you know,
Speaker 5: and it's a it's a it's a bad term, but
Speaker 5: you'll go into the fox hole with that dude every
Speaker 5: single time.
Speaker 1: I was talking earlier in the show about Kentucky's run
Speaker 1: to Omaha with baseball and and those guys that made
Speaker 1: that happen, they'll have they'll share that bond. But many
Speaker 1: of them were together for just the one year. But
Speaker 1: something doing something extraordinary will help these guys, like I said,
Speaker 1: be bonded forever. But I wonder Kent about these guys
Speaker 1: that have, you know, a resume that includes four or
Speaker 1: five six teams. You know, they'll never and it sounds
Speaker 1: kind of modern, but they'll never realize what that feels like.
Speaker 1: Will they to build those kind of relationships?
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, and part of it is I honestly, Dick,
Speaker 5: I don't know. And look, it can be done. You know,
Speaker 5: we see it, and we see it with what we
Speaker 5: watched and from my point of view, which we what
Speaker 5: we watched with Kentucky basketball and Louisville basketball this year,
Speaker 5: right and you know, in the last what fifteen years
Speaker 5: with what are done is with Kentucky basketball. You know,
Speaker 5: you see that where people say, you know, there can't
Speaker 5: be a connection, but then you're like, well, actually there can.
Speaker 5: There can be, but everybody has to be completely bought
Speaker 5: in for that year. And with this thing becoming so transactional,
Speaker 5: you still got to maintain it may be harder than
Speaker 5: ever to be able to build those relationships and get
Speaker 5: that done in but that's also about making sure that
Speaker 5: you're bringing in and recruiting the right people, you know,
Speaker 5: because some of these guys that are that are four
Speaker 5: and five year people and it's just transactional. You're not
Speaker 5: trying to bring in mercenaries here, you know what I mean? Like, yeah,
Speaker 5: you know, you're trying to bring in the right people
Speaker 5: that you can still create a culture. Yes, money is
Speaker 5: going to be at the forefront of everything, but after
Speaker 5: the business is done, can you be bought in to
Speaker 5: what the team content is?
Speaker 1: Yeah, Pope and Kelsey clearly did a great job of that.
Speaker 1: Tougher for a football coach when he's got to bring
Speaker 1: in so many more, uh, you know, new players or
Speaker 1: or you know, like you say, guys, you don't want
Speaker 1: them to be mercenaries, but they're they're almost nomads. Talking
Speaker 1: to Ken Spencer from w h AS about Kentucky football,
Speaker 1: Louisville football, and U Kentucky, once again, it looks like
Speaker 1: cannot be surprised if a transfer wasn't the starting quarterback.
Speaker 1: And as you know, this this goes back, this revolving
Speaker 1: door really goes back to the day they shigned Drew
Speaker 1: Barker he was the future and when he went down
Speaker 1: prematurely with the injuries, now here come the Juco transfer
Speaker 1: is the d one transfer that that revolving door, and
Speaker 1: I just wonder are they going to be able to
Speaker 1: break this cycle anytime soon? You know what I mean?
Speaker 5: Well, I mean look, I mean, you know I would
Speaker 5: say with that, and you're right, but I would say,
Speaker 5: you know, Cutter Bowley, you know, last year was just
Speaker 5: his true freshman year, right, And so you know, we
Speaker 5: like to everybody likes to rush quarterback into the starting role.
Speaker 5: And so I'm I'm a huge proponent, especially if you're
Speaker 5: a quarterback that's playing in the SEC. Don't rush it. Yeah,
Speaker 5: doesn't have to be rushed. I mean, look at Art
Speaker 5: Manning at Texas. You know, he doesn't have the job
Speaker 5: right now. He's competing for the job right now. He
Speaker 5: was the number one player in the country when he
Speaker 5: came out of high school and he still hasn't been
Speaker 5: the starting quarterback at the University of Texas. You don't
Speaker 5: have to rush it. It's just when they're ready, they're ready.
Speaker 5: And you know if if Cutter Bowlie needs another year
Speaker 5: before he's ready, he showed flashes last year, and then
Speaker 5: in the Lobo game he showed not ready. And and
Speaker 5: by the way, it just wasn't that just wasn't a
Speaker 5: Cutter Bullie problem. That was an entire football team. That
Speaker 5: was an entire offensive problem, specifically in that game. But
Speaker 5: if calls out of the guy, then he's going to
Speaker 5: be the guy this year. But and it's okay for
Speaker 5: Bowllie to be behind that and to learn behind that,
Speaker 5: and then you know, then the next year, if they
Speaker 5: feel confident and development, then you just give him the
Speaker 5: keys and you go all in. I don't think it's
Speaker 5: a I think that helps fix the problem in my opinion,
Speaker 5: But sometimes you have to find the right young guy
Speaker 5: who wants to stick within the program, you know, and
Speaker 5: then still be able to have a couple of years
Speaker 5: of being the starter of being the guy. But it
Speaker 5: takes patience. That's no longer you know, I'm gonna go
Speaker 5: in Football is harder, but let's go back to basketball.
Speaker 5: A Kitaan Lewis de commits from Kentucky because there wasn't
Speaker 5: enough minutes for him for a true freshman. And by
Speaker 5: the way, it's not that wasn't just a Kentucky problem.
Speaker 5: That is that Yukon just had a freshman do the
Speaker 5: same thing. Like these things are starting to pop because
Speaker 5: coaches are bringing the veteran guys and and freshmen are
Speaker 5: they They do not want to wait, They do not
Speaker 5: want to say, hey, look, I could really growing to
Speaker 5: this role, but this isn't going to be available for
Speaker 5: me here. I'm not going to get the minutes that
Speaker 5: I want to get as a true freshman, so I'm
Speaker 5: going to go. So I'm going to go somewhere else.
Speaker 5: Patience is no longer a thing in college athletic, especially
Speaker 5: with young guys. And when you do find one that
Speaker 5: wants to go about it the right way, and my opinion,
Speaker 5: chances are they've got a chance to be really successful well.
Speaker 1: And one of them, perhaps is Colin Chandler, who I
Speaker 1: think has a really bright future and shook off the
Speaker 1: rust and had a really nice back half of the
Speaker 1: year for Kentucky. And he said he's coming back, And
Speaker 1: you tweeted a gift when he announced he was coming back,
Speaker 1: didn't you.
Speaker 5: I don't even remember the one that I tweeted.
Speaker 1: You think you? I think you shared it or you
Speaker 1: retweeted what he tweeted, and that was John Wick saying yeah,
Speaker 1: I think I'm thinking I'm back.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, that No, that one was.
Speaker 2: That's perfect.
Speaker 5: And I honestly like when it when it comes to
Speaker 5: jailor coming back and it because you know that that's
Speaker 5: just that decision. Like I think that kid's going to
Speaker 5: be a monster.
Speaker 1: Max agree.
Speaker 5: And the reason why I think he's going to be
Speaker 5: a monster is because you almost had to whatever you
Speaker 5: got from him offensively the first year, but you know,
Speaker 5: after two years, you know, being gone on his on
Speaker 5: his mission trip and coming back like at this level
Speaker 5: and especially the conference that he played in this year,
Speaker 5: you you you saw defensive growth much quicker than you
Speaker 5: saw offensive growth because when you take two years off
Speaker 5: of basketball and then you are thrown into shark infested waters.
Speaker 5: I mean you're like a deer learning how to walk
Speaker 5: for the first time, you know what I mean, Or
Speaker 5: like a horse that was just for Yeah, and it
Speaker 5: takes some time for you to get those legs, backs
Speaker 5: and legs, and.
Speaker 1: It takes it.
Speaker 5: It takes so much time for you to truly get
Speaker 5: that coordination back. But guess what, you saw it at
Speaker 5: the end of the right and you saw it, and
Speaker 5: you saw it in flashes, and now we have a
Speaker 5: whole summer to work with that. I think that kid's
Speaker 5: going to have a massive breakout season.
Speaker 1: I'm with you. I'm with you, Ken Spencer. My guess
Speaker 1: we'll come back and talk more with Ken on the
Speaker 1: other side of the break here on six thirty WLAP
Speaker 1: Welcome back with chatting with Ken Spencer. Sports director whas
Speaker 1: over in Louisville. Who's been out at Churchill Downs? Have
Speaker 1: you picked the Derby HORSEHD? Or are you somebody who
Speaker 1: likes to see them all work or at least gallup
Speaker 1: before you pick a horse?
Speaker 5: Yeah, I like to see them all on the track.
Speaker 5: I like to kind of see their mentality, you know,
Speaker 5: you know, how they're handling everything. You know this week,
Speaker 5: you know, especially early on in the week, you know,
Speaker 5: Churchill downs in the boarding. It doesn't feel like Derby
Speaker 5: time yet, you know what I mean, like, oh yeah,
Speaker 5: it doesn't have that, it doesn't have that buzz, right,
Speaker 5: that'll that'll start taking place later this week, but of
Speaker 5: course all next week. And so I want to see,
Speaker 5: you know, kind of how all of these horses are
Speaker 5: are starting to kind of handle the bit. I like
Speaker 5: to see them over the over the dirt before I
Speaker 5: before I picked one. So I've got at this point,
Speaker 5: there's so many. I think it's kind of a wide
Speaker 5: open field to be honest with you, uh, you know,
Speaker 5: heading into this thing, you know, I don't think there's
Speaker 5: a for for me. There's not somebody that that truly
Speaker 5: stands out above the pack. Yeah, so I'm I'm gonna
Speaker 5: be patient this year.
Speaker 1: Got a boy. When you got into this line of work,
Speaker 1: obviously you love covering football, you played it, you grew
Speaker 1: up in Kentucky, so you're gonna love covering basketball and all.
Speaker 1: Were you a racing fan? Because to me, I love
Speaker 1: horse ran and grew up in Louisville. I've I've been
Speaker 1: to you know, a zillion derbies, but to me, the
Speaker 1: toughest sport to cover is horse racing because it has
Speaker 1: a language of its own. Uh, it can be intimidating.
Speaker 1: You know, of people you try to talk to, you
Speaker 1: aren't used to being interviewed that kind of thing. And
Speaker 1: some of the real hardcore beat writers, you know, they'll
Speaker 1: give you a dirty look or whatever, for whatever that's worth.
Speaker 1: But what was it like for you when you started
Speaker 1: covering horse racing?
Speaker 5: So my first it's so funny because Kenny Wright, this
Speaker 5: was back when I was working in Lexa, didn't going
Speaker 5: out and doing things for the for the first time.
Speaker 5: And then I went and did a Derby story one
Speaker 5: time and Kenny Rice hooked it up and it was
Speaker 5: with Todd Fletcher nice and this was this was early on,
Speaker 5: and so Kenny was Kenny was great for me because
Speaker 5: you know, at when when I was at thirty six,
Speaker 5: he was he was the old sports director at thirty six,
Speaker 5: and so he was he was just so welcoming and
Speaker 5: really kind of helped me out of that regard. But
Speaker 5: it is it's a it's a whole new world when
Speaker 5: you go to the backside for the first time. You know, now,
Speaker 5: I think it is it is a highlight of the year,
Speaker 5: and this is the reason why because it is completely
Speaker 5: different than anything that we do during the course of
Speaker 5: a year. And I enjoy talking to the trainers, you know,
Speaker 5: from case in point, like last year, Brad Cox has
Speaker 5: a son and my son was in the same baseball league.
Speaker 5: Now different age groups. So last year, like at the
Speaker 5: baseball field, like Brad and sat down with me and
Speaker 5: my son and we just shot the bull for thirty
Speaker 5: minutes just about stuff. And that's one of the most
Speaker 5: We're now on the first trainers in the world right now,
Speaker 5: and so it's just so different that I love it
Speaker 5: and I've been able to kind of figure it out.
Speaker 5: And obviously I've been doing this, you know, a hot minute,
Speaker 5: and I love the different stories in the human interest
Speaker 5: stories that you can find on the backside. I find
Speaker 5: get different, but I almost find it very refreshing, you know,
Speaker 5: after you get off the rigors of a college basketball season.
Speaker 1: I agree. Just it's just a completely different feel. You're
Speaker 1: out in the you know, for whatever it's worth, you're
Speaker 1: out in the fresh air. You get it for it.
Speaker 1: Getting up early is not fun if you're not used
Speaker 1: to it, but I mean it gets you going on
Speaker 1: your day. But I think the most important thing too, is, uh,
Speaker 1: do a little homework, do a little research, you know,
Speaker 1: And I know you do because when you go to
Speaker 1: talk to a brad Cox, you know, if you go
Speaker 1: in there with what color is a gelding kind of questions,
Speaker 1: you're going to lose somebody. And that's an over exaggeration,
Speaker 1: but that question has been asked, not by one of us.
Speaker 1: But you got to be ready, don't You got to
Speaker 1: do your homework.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean you've got to know, you've got to
Speaker 5: know about the horses that you're talking about, you've got
Speaker 5: to know the you've got to know the language. And
Speaker 5: some of that takes time, you know, to to kind
Speaker 5: of get a really good feel of out that. But
Speaker 5: but generally speaking, you know, most of the people that
Speaker 5: you that you talk to and and I've seen you know,
Speaker 5: maybe you know some some younger, some inexperienced folks come
Speaker 5: back there. But you know what, even the people that
Speaker 5: make mistakes a lot of it, A lot of the trainers,
Speaker 5: especially nowadays, they're a little bit more understanding, and you know,
Speaker 5: they kind of help you along, they kind of help
Speaker 5: them along the way.
Speaker 1: That's right. They cut them some slack. Yeah, I think
Speaker 1: trainers more and more, especially the younger guys like Brad Cox,
Speaker 1: but really Wayne Lucas kind of led to charge on this.
Speaker 1: They realize it's marketing. You know, horses can't talk, obviously,
Speaker 1: so it's up to the trainers and some of them
Speaker 1: would rather just keep their head down and go about
Speaker 1: their business. But most of these guys realize in this
Speaker 1: world today, you know, the the better they can present
Speaker 1: themselves and their horses, it makes them look better than
Speaker 1: their clients, doesn't it.
Speaker 5: Well, and think about it, like the competition that you
Speaker 5: have for for people and eyes, for people to have
Speaker 5: a certain and different things. You got it. You have
Speaker 5: to be accommodating today or there's no interest in the sport.
Speaker 5: And so you know, obviously there's there's always going to
Speaker 5: be a certain amount of betting interest, but and that's
Speaker 5: a and that's a big part of it. But you know,
Speaker 5: you need to be you need to reach out to
Speaker 5: the other side of things. And I think more and
Speaker 5: more traders are starting to pick up on that.
Speaker 1: Oh I couldn't agree more. He is Ken Spencer. He
Speaker 1: is the sports director at w H A s tell
Speaker 1: everybody how to read you on Twitter or.
Speaker 2: X at w H a S eleven Kent, just that simple.
Speaker 1: Hey, brother, be looking for you at the racetrack. Thanks
Speaker 1: for your time.
Speaker 5: Hey, can't wait to see your face, Bubba.
Speaker 1: All right. I'll never forget how Kent filled some of
Speaker 1: his sportscast time during the pandemic when there weren't any
Speaker 1: organized sports to cover, shooting video of his children playing
Speaker 1: sports in the backyard and covering the event quote unquote,
Speaker 1: as though it were you, a real sporting event that
Speaker 1: was absolutely brilliant. All right. Coming up next, it's the
Speaker 1: Nick benji Owne Show with our man Darren Hedrick. You
Speaker 1: heard Darren's side of things from Knoxville. Now you'll have
Speaker 1: a chance to hear Nick Benjione talk about Kentucky's series
Speaker 1: victory over the then second ranked Tennessee Balls, maybe putting
Speaker 1: the Wildcats back on the track they need. That's all
Speaker 1: ahead here on six thirty wlapping.
Speaker 4: Then think anything, then sat change tact that.
Speaker 1: I think
Speaker 4: Backstory plot telescopic