Speaker 1: It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day. Now here's nick coffee.
Speaker 2: All right, let's get it start at five o'clock here
Speaker 2: on a Thursday afternoon. Nasty outside, really gross, gloomy, but
Speaker 2: it does look like the warmer weather, along with the rain,
Speaker 2: is helping this snow go away. And I like wintertime,
Speaker 2: and I love the snow we had earlier this month,
Speaker 2: but I have had enough. I'm kind of ready for
Speaker 2: the warmer weather to return. Speaking of returning, we have
Speaker 2: somebody making their big return today to us here at
Speaker 2: Coffee and Company, mister John Alden back in the saddle
Speaker 2: on not a whole lot of sleep, gotta be running
Speaker 2: on fumes at this point. He's been up since about
Speaker 2: three am because he now produces Kentucky and his morning
Speaker 2: news with Tony Cruz on News Ready waight forty whas
Speaker 2: they stole him from us. But he's doing well, and
Speaker 2: today we get the chance to uh to reunite. And
Speaker 2: I hope it has been as enjoyable for you as
Speaker 2: it has me and my friend.
Speaker 3: It has been. I told you earlier it's felt like
Speaker 3: riding a bike. It's been kind of this might.
Speaker 4: Sound kind of feel like you never left, right, Yeah, but.
Speaker 3: There's also like the nostalgia that comes from oh, just
Speaker 3: down the hallway. Yeah, and it's only been a few months,
Speaker 3: but there's still you know, it feels like it's been
Speaker 3: longer than that.
Speaker 2: We are much more childish here, much less professional. I
Speaker 2: mean that's just you know, it's it's kind it's kind
Speaker 2: of just if you can, if you're okay with that,
Speaker 2: then I think you'll you'll be able to fit right
Speaker 2: back in here now. I also didn't mention it just yet,
Speaker 2: but a lot of love on the text line, people
Speaker 2: happy to uh to have you back, and also mentioning
Speaker 2: that they listen to you in the mornings whenever you're
Speaker 2: on with Tony and saying you're doing well, which you
Speaker 2: know that you knew that already. I mean, you're doing
Speaker 2: a good job, and I'm I feel like a proud
Speaker 2: uncle to see you, to see you doing your thing.
Speaker 2: And next week we'll be reuniting again because I'll be
Speaker 2: filling in for Tony for a few days Wednesday, Thursday
Speaker 2: and Friday, which'll be a early an early rise, but
Speaker 2: looking forward to it, no doubt. Yeah, And in fact.
Speaker 2: Shout out to the louisvill Men's clinic. That was something
Speaker 2: that didn't happen for a while. And I'm sure for
Speaker 2: a lot of fellows out there now it is so
Speaker 2: you know, you know, see look at John fitting right
Speaker 2: in right, Megan perverted jokes. I love it. It is
Speaker 2: just like riding a bike like you like you never left.
Speaker 4: All right. So for those just now joining us.
Speaker 2: Big day for the ACC as ESPN has decided to
Speaker 2: pick up the back half of that grant of rights deal.
Speaker 2: It's a contract and a real issue over many years
Speaker 2: now just because of it being locked down for so
Speaker 2: long till twenty thirty six, and there's no opportunity to
Speaker 2: go revisit and get more money as far as grant right.
Speaker 2: So you know, it's led to lawsuits from league members
Speaker 2: Clemson in Florida state. So I never felt like the
Speaker 2: agency was going to dissolve. But what happened today is
Speaker 2: they decided to pick up the back half of it.
Speaker 2: Meeting until twenty thirty six. ESPN is your partner, and
Speaker 2: it may, you know, may not be the best situation
Speaker 2: comparatively speaking. Right the SEC and the Big ten, they're
Speaker 2: doing better financially. I mean, there's no doubt about that.
Speaker 2: They probably always will to be honest with you.
Speaker 4: But I just think.
Speaker 2: If they did not pick it up, and they just decided, yeah,
Speaker 2: we've got Disney of course, who owns ESPN. If they
Speaker 2: just decided we've got enough on our plate when it
Speaker 2: comes to sports properties in ESPN and ESPN Plus and
Speaker 2: the SEC network, that in our relationship with other leagues
Speaker 2: and whatnot, we're good, and they just didn't want to
Speaker 2: deal with us because I never felt look of it happened.
Speaker 2: But if it did, I wouldn't be shocked if league
Speaker 2: members suing each other to try to get out, or
Speaker 2: league members i'm sorry, suing the league to try to
Speaker 2: get out. I mean that could make it to okay.
Speaker 2: If you're going to be invested in this league and
Speaker 2: you know your most valuable members are trying to sue
Speaker 2: the league and get out, I mean, it wouldn't have
Speaker 2: been a crazy thing that they just decided, yeah, this
Speaker 2: is a mess.
Speaker 4: We're good.
Speaker 2: We don't really need you. You need us more than
Speaker 2: we need you. So the decision to run through you
Speaker 2: run the contract through its full extent to twenty thirty six,
Speaker 2: It means the league's not dissolving and nobody's going anywhere,
Speaker 2: and those that have complained and wanted more money, they're
Speaker 2: gonna have a chance to get more money because the
Speaker 2: league is adopting something that I think is really the
Speaker 2: first innovative thing that I've seen the ACC do in
Speaker 2: a long time. Right, I feel like over the years
Speaker 2: we've been talking about something cool that the other leagues
Speaker 2: are doing, even the Big Twelve, which I still think
Speaker 2: at times you feel is inferior to you in football
Speaker 2: and whatnot. I mean, their commissioners seem to really know that,
Speaker 2: and he would do a lot of things that other
Speaker 2: leagues wouldn't do to bring in revenue and kind of
Speaker 2: give him the cool factor in the ACC, I mean
Speaker 2: their reflection of their leader, Jim Phillips, who to me
Speaker 2: seems like the biggest dweve out there. I don't know
Speaker 2: him personally, but certainly never been impressed and I think
Speaker 2: he's you know, I'm sure he's a good man, but
Speaker 2: like I don't think he's done a good job overall.
Speaker 2: So his decision, his leadership clearly had some factor in
Speaker 2: these schools being able to bring in more money than
Speaker 2: they typically do. Because they're now going to get what
Speaker 2: they are, right, you get a bigger piece of the
Speaker 2: pie if you brought you know, if you brought it,
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, Like if you were somebody
Speaker 2: that provided it, you can take a bigger cut than others,
Speaker 2: because that's I mean, that's how it works in a
Speaker 2: lot of aspects of life. So I think, not now,
Speaker 2: but you may see in the future other leagues when
Speaker 2: they're up for a renegotiation or extending their contract. Now
Speaker 2: that you have a twenty million dollar annual bill that
Speaker 2: you have to pay because you've got to share your revenue. Now,
Speaker 2: I mean, that's an expense that wasn't there, And twenty
Speaker 2: million is not something that I think is a small
Speaker 2: expense to any school. So you may have been eaten
Speaker 2: just fine and not not going hungry at Ohio State
Speaker 2: or at Georgia, but you know, twenty million dollars twenty
Speaker 2: million dollars. So maybe now you're thinking, Okay, if they
Speaker 2: can do it, we can do it. We want a
Speaker 2: bigger cut, and it'll probably work out because Vandy will know, Hey,
Speaker 2: our best existence is being at you know, at the
Speaker 2: doormat you know. And by the way, I shouldn't say
Speaker 2: that Vandy's actually on quite a run, knocking off Kentucky
Speaker 2: the other day, and they beat Alabama and football, but
Speaker 2: you know what I mean, and it's like Boston College
Speaker 2: and you know, Pittsburgh, maybe Abbot pitt I don't think
Speaker 2: it's a good example the low level programs in the ACC,
Speaker 2: at least lower level compared to everybody else. The wake
Speaker 2: forests out there, they'll know that, Yeah, it wouldn't be
Speaker 2: idea if we no longer get an equal share. But
Speaker 2: we also know that our best interest is to still
Speaker 2: be in this league regardless, because if we get if
Speaker 2: we got to move around elsewhere, it'll never be better
Speaker 2: for us than being in this league. So it'll all
Speaker 2: work out, and it's not I mean, who can claim
Speaker 2: that it's not a fair thing for you to be
Speaker 2: out there actually bringing in what you earn. I mean,
Speaker 2: that's how it should be, to be honest with you.
Speaker 4: Now. One point that was made earlier by David Hale,
Speaker 4: who covers.
Speaker 2: The ACC for ESPN, and of course he's joined us
Speaker 2: on this show from time to time. He mentioned that
Speaker 2: when it comes to the revenue distribution model that they're
Speaker 2: trying to put together, they're going to reward the biggest
Speaker 2: brands in regards to like who has the biggest TV
Speaker 2: draw But it could get really, it could get really
Speaker 2: I mean, how you determine that seems really really difficult, right,
Speaker 2: I don't really know if there's a perfect way to
Speaker 2: be able to know. I mean, again, I think you know,
Speaker 2: but you're not just going to say, well, I know
Speaker 2: that this team is more interesting and they bring in
Speaker 2: more viewership than that team. I mean, you're gonna know,
Speaker 2: but you're gonna want to see real raw numbers to
Speaker 2: actually determine who has the brand value. So one thing, David,
Speaker 2: He'll pointed out, as he said, one thing I want
Speaker 2: to make clear. Brand value for REV distribution purposes isn't
Speaker 2: likely to be a straight measure of TV ratings. A
Speaker 2: lot of complicating factors that make that a messy metric.
Speaker 2: Totally agree to imagine if you end up being like
Speaker 2: if you're if You're Louisville this year they put you
Speaker 2: on Peacock when you play Notre Dame, that that's clearly
Speaker 2: going to put you at a major disadvantage by something
Speaker 2: you had no control over. So measuring your brand value
Speaker 2: off TV ratings is probably way more complicated than we realize,
Speaker 2: but it also is something that complicated or not, it's
Speaker 2: it's worth figuring out because that is quite literally the value, right,
Speaker 2: That's how this works. TV Networks, ESPN, Fox. They purchased
Speaker 2: the rights to broadcast your games and monetize them, and
Speaker 2: more people that watch makes it more value, and that's
Speaker 2: everybody's fill in their pockets in high level sports. And
Speaker 2: we just sit back and watch and enjoy it.
Speaker 1: All.
Speaker 2: Right, One thing I want to get to coming up
Speaker 2: here in just a few minutes. We will get to
Speaker 2: the phone lines in just a second. But as you
Speaker 2: could expect, the Pat Kelsey LoveFest has has really started
Speaker 2: to grow in a major way in college basketball, not
Speaker 2: just with LOUISLL fans, but I mean, he's clearly showing that,
Speaker 2: you know, he's a good coach and he's winning at
Speaker 2: a high level given what expectations were, and he's doing
Speaker 2: it without two key guys that were supposed to be
Speaker 2: a big part of this team. So we've known it
Speaker 2: for a while. We've been enjoying this ride. The revival
Speaker 2: is happening right before our eyes, and I can't get
Speaker 2: enough of it. But now you're starting to really see
Speaker 2: those that cover the sport work on stories and really
Speaker 2: kind of put a different story out there in regards
Speaker 2: to kind of this whole thing coming together, and it's
Speaker 2: seeming like a like a perfect arrangement here, right pack
Speaker 2: Kelsey was the perfect guy for us at the perfect time,
Speaker 2: and so far it's been it's been awesome. But in
Speaker 2: a recent article we'll get to some of these quotes
Speaker 2: coming up in the next segment, but just anonymous coaches
Speaker 2: who did talk to Jeff Borzelo ESPN and to hear
Speaker 2: them talk about what it's like playing for Louisville and
Speaker 2: what they think of the job he's doing. I mean, again,
Speaker 2: these are the kind of things they like. Right now
Speaker 2: I can't get enough of. I mean I used to
Speaker 2: just think, well, yeah, they're going to be talking up
Speaker 2: our program.
Speaker 5: We're Louisville.
Speaker 2: Obviously, when we were talked about in recent years, it
Speaker 2: was shameful. Now it's it's not and it's it's more
Speaker 2: so enjoyable than I would.
Speaker 4: Have ever expected.
Speaker 2: All right, five O two, five seven, one seventy nine
Speaker 2: hundred is the number. If you guys would like to
Speaker 2: jump in and give us a call. Let's go back
Speaker 2: to the phone lines and welcome in, Robert. You'ren Sports
Speaker 2: Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 4: What's happening, Hey, nig it's.
Speaker 6: Been in minutes as I called, and a lot of
Speaker 6: great stuff went on. And I can't imagine the last
Speaker 6: two years have done nothing but lament, how horrible everything,
Speaker 6: And uh, I'm just thankful. But I'll tell you what
Speaker 6: it's been here recently that I've gotten back that that
Speaker 6: you they'll like love. I mean you you understand because
Speaker 6: you're like me, You're oh yeah, we know, yeah, And
Speaker 6: it's like, I mean, hell, and probably until here in
Speaker 6: the past, I don't know, a week or two, I
Speaker 6: know all the players' names. Now you know, it's just
Speaker 6: then the bad part is all going to change next year.
Speaker 6: I mean you know what, No, man, I cannot be happier.
Speaker 2: I mean, I bet, I bet, Robert, I bet there's
Speaker 2: something in the last couple of weeks that it wasn't
Speaker 2: something premeditated you didn't think about it, but you had
Speaker 2: a reaction, or just something that kind of hit you, like, damn,
Speaker 2: I'm kind of you. I'm kind of feeling back to
Speaker 2: the way it used to feel as being a little
Speaker 2: basketball fan. And that I know exactly what you mean,
Speaker 2: and it's it's it's been awesome.
Speaker 6: Well looking forward, I mean, I'll give you a good
Speaker 6: that's perfect because, like I said, the winning street here
Speaker 6: when it got to about seven, and I was like,
Speaker 6: I really was looking forward to the next game. All
Speaker 6: right now, you know, I know who they are, and
Speaker 6: I just want to see can they keep going? Can
Speaker 6: they keep going? And yeah, man, it's Louisville and you
Speaker 6: said it just a minute going, we're you goes to Louisville.
Speaker 6: We're a top five historically top five program in the country.
Speaker 6: And to be beaten down like this, my god, over
Speaker 6: DEI basically it's just uh well it's not the over reason,
Speaker 6: but man, it's just it's said, it's great and I
Speaker 6: ain't gonna keep you, but I'm just more unhappy and
Speaker 6: I just letting you know, man, I feel like I
Speaker 6: did years ago.
Speaker 4: Was Yo Belle saying, yep, thank you for the call, Robert.
Speaker 4: I appreciate it. Yeah, I didn't like the end of
Speaker 4: that one.
Speaker 2: But what he said about feeling, you know, feels like
Speaker 2: Louisville again, I mean that that's there's a lot of
Speaker 2: layers to that, and there's a lot of different things
Speaker 2: that kind of give you that indication that we are
Speaker 2: making our way back to not being you know, maybe
Speaker 2: a program that's going to be winning a championship up
Speaker 2: anytime soon. I mean, maybe it happens, I don't know,
Speaker 2: but just to you know, feeling a certain level of
Speaker 2: like pride like these guys. And this is so corny,
Speaker 2: I know, but these guys you feel like they are
Speaker 2: very much appreciative to be here and like they're enjoying
Speaker 2: this as much as we are. But not just because
Speaker 2: you know, they're players and they like having success. They're
Speaker 2: appreciating what a special place this can be and that
Speaker 2: that's a part of it too. I mean, I just
Speaker 2: like watching these guys play, even if it's not Rain
Speaker 2: Smith making ten threes in a game, because they play
Speaker 2: with a lot of effort, a lot of energy, and
Speaker 2: you know, a lot of pride, and you know, you
Speaker 2: can be a good team and maybe not have that component.
Speaker 2: But like, I think there's little things that we would
Speaker 2: have not looked at for a long time just because
Speaker 2: it was an expectation. It was just what we did
Speaker 2: as Louisville fans. We knew we were going to always
Speaker 2: be a program that was you know, even in a
Speaker 2: down year, we're probably still looking at maybe the tournament.
Speaker 4: Well then it went to a oh that you didn't
Speaker 4: know possible.
Speaker 2: So I gets there's a lot of layers to kind
Speaker 2: of this whole process really, from from day one when
Speaker 2: Pat Kelsey got hired, just hearing somebody talk about the
Speaker 2: program in a way. I mean, he's a great talker
Speaker 2: as it is, but he said, you know, he's really
Speaker 2: he's hit. He's playing the right songs for us, right,
Speaker 2: he's hitting the notes because you know he's saying things
Speaker 2: that you know, you're damn right. Well, I'm glad to
Speaker 2: hear somebody else agrees that this is a special place
Speaker 2: to be and anybody should be insanely grateful to have
Speaker 2: the opportunity to coach at a place like this and
Speaker 2: not make excuses and be a victim. But you know,
Speaker 2: just realize, hey, this is this is one of the
Speaker 2: best gigs that I could ever get. I'm gonna I'm
Speaker 2: gonna succeed here. I'm gonna die trying. So I think
Speaker 2: we knew even from day one that Pat Kelsey was
Speaker 2: gonna give it as all, and you know he wouldn't
Speaker 2: fail because of lack of trying, and then he put
Speaker 2: together a pretty good roster and then you know, you
Speaker 2: saw the team in action and you knew right away, hey,
Speaker 2: this team's clearly gonna play hard and they're a big
Speaker 2: upgrade from what we had before. But early on, even
Speaker 2: after the Bahamas, in the early part of the season,
Speaker 2: I mean I was, it's all super excited about the
Speaker 2: future with Pat Kelce, but you know, like this team
Speaker 2: just recently, in the last month, I'm telling you, Dan January,
Speaker 2: something just just switched with him. I mean, even when
Speaker 2: they beat Indiana in West Virginia and the Bahamas and
Speaker 2: then had that close lost to Oklahoma, that was great.
Speaker 2: And obviously they had some losses that were really bad
Speaker 2: early on this year. I never even in those moments,
Speaker 2: I never felt like we didn't have a coach that
Speaker 2: was going to potentially be really successful here. But man,
Speaker 2: that just seems like a different world compared to what
Speaker 2: January has been. Like a ten game winning streak that
Speaker 2: you know is longer than just January, but still to
Speaker 2: see them out there just playing so hard and clearly
Speaker 2: having a give a damn that is very obvious. And
Speaker 2: you can give a damn and play hard and maybe
Speaker 2: not look as obvious, but like you mean to tell me,
Speaker 2: Chucky Hebern isn't loving every minute of this after three
Speaker 2: years at Wisconsin.
Speaker 4: I mean, Rain Smith.
Speaker 2: Is having his best college season on the biggest stage
Speaker 2: he's ever played on and helping revive I have a
Speaker 2: fan base who is one of the most passionate band
Speaker 2: bases in the country. So like, there's and this is
Speaker 2: the element that I believe is a bigger factor than
Speaker 2: maybe others think about, and that is their age and maturity.
Speaker 2: These guys are grown men, Like they're not eighteen nineteen,
Speaker 2: twenty twenty one. I mean, Javon Hadley's been in college
Speaker 2: six years, Chucky's twenty two years old, Rain Smith twenty three.
Speaker 4: I believe.
Speaker 2: I mean, you've got guys who've played a lot. I mean,
Speaker 2: the only young Bucks you have, or James Scott and
Speaker 2: Cannai Rus everybody else who plays has been in college
Speaker 2: a long time. So I think the maturity from these guys,
Speaker 2: the professionalism, I mean, it's really a perfect fit for us.
Speaker 2: And you know, I hope Pat Kelsey continues to try
Speaker 2: to build teams that have guys like this that doesn't
Speaker 2: need to be like an age requirement. You don't have
Speaker 2: to be a grandpa within the sport benefiting from an
Speaker 2: extra year for whatever reason. But just you know, a
Speaker 2: good this group. Their talent, their their character, their work
Speaker 2: ethic like that, that that means a lot. But I
Speaker 2: happen to think that their maturity as people has has
Speaker 2: made all three of those areas something that you know,
Speaker 2: you don't have to worry about, right Like these guys know, Hey,
Speaker 2: I've got a chance to potentially make a lot more
Speaker 2: money in Louisville, maybe not just this year, but for
Speaker 2: the rest of my life if I give it my
Speaker 2: all on the team has success, because that's where I'm at.
Speaker 2: You know, a nineteen year old kid who wants to
Speaker 2: playing time and he's got his AAU coach in his
Speaker 2: ear about money.
Speaker 4: Like that that that could still work, I guess.
Speaker 2: But like you know, that kind of stuff's going to
Speaker 2: be really easy to pass on in college basketball because
Speaker 2: you can win with I mean, look at Rutgers. I
Speaker 2: don't want to get too far sidetracked here, but John,
Speaker 2: you're a big ten guy. I mean, Rutgers has two
Speaker 2: guys that are probably gonna be top five draft.
Speaker 3: Picks, and definitely A's Bailey.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, yeah, It's tough to know exactly where
Speaker 2: these guys will end up when it's all said and done.
Speaker 2: But I'm looking right now at a mock draft at
Speaker 2: CBS Sports and Ace Bailey's number two and Dylan Harper's
Speaker 2: number three Cooper Flag's number one. So they got two
Speaker 2: insanely talented freshmen in the same season and they're awful,
Speaker 2: Like they're one of the worst teams in the Big
Speaker 2: Ten by far, and these guys are gone after a
Speaker 2: Ye're like, what.
Speaker 4: Did you get out of that?
Speaker 5: That was?
Speaker 2: I mean, but my point is you would always make
Speaker 2: it work if you can with those guys. But those
Speaker 2: are gonna be case studies that are gonna be people
Speaker 2: learning from what you did.
Speaker 4: Like, yeah, it'd be cool.
Speaker 2: And if we put this much money in front of them,
Speaker 2: they'll come here and that'll give us some attention, some
Speaker 2: hype because maybe got a big recruit, But like, is
Speaker 2: it worth utilizing probably every penny we have in nil
Speaker 2: for this because you know they're gonna be playing against
Speaker 2: grown men, and they may have good stat lines and
Speaker 2: they may maintain their draft stock like they are, but like,
Speaker 2: are we gonna be good are we gonna win games?
Speaker 2: And the best the best case scenario is when you
Speaker 2: have a mixture right like you were able to you know,
Speaker 2: may put it this way, if Louisville in a different world,
Speaker 2: they were bringing back a handful of these guys, which
Speaker 2: they are gonna be able to bring back some of them.
Speaker 2: Now they also could leave. You never know, but I'm
Speaker 2: just saying they may bring back a handful of these
Speaker 2: guys and then they'll hit the portal elsewhere. And let's
Speaker 2: just say maybe the only recruit they bring in is
Speaker 2: happens to be mckail brown junior, who you know is
Speaker 2: a top five player. I mean, that could work. That
Speaker 2: can work in a major way. And I think, you know,
Speaker 2: I doubt this will be strategic because they're gonna want
Speaker 2: to recruit young talent. But when it comes to when
Speaker 2: it comes to, you know, just how you build your roster,
Speaker 2: I think, can I Russ? I mean, his numbers don't
Speaker 2: show it, and you know he's had games where he's
Speaker 2: not super impactful. But man, you can't tell me a
Speaker 2: young freshman, a top forty freshman coming out of high
Speaker 2: school playing with a bunch of grown men that are
Speaker 2: mature that are great teammates that work hard, that are humble,
Speaker 2: I mean, that can't do anything but help his growth.
Speaker 2: And I don't know, maybe you start to see PAD
Speaker 2: or other programs kind of know, hey, we're gonna be
Speaker 2: most old, but we're gonna take some chances on some
Speaker 2: young guy. Or you're only taking a chance, but you're
Speaker 2: gonna bring in a young guy, probably give a lot
Speaker 2: of nil money for him, and maybe he's only there
Speaker 2: a year or two, but you know he'll help you
Speaker 2: along the way before he goes to the NBA. I mean,
Speaker 2: it could I ask help this team. I mean, I
Speaker 2: mean it's one of those things you hear coaches say
Speaker 2: a lot, but man, when Pat says it, I mean
Speaker 2: it's every everybody who plays knows their role in what
Speaker 2: they're expected to do, and they and they're consistent about it. Now,
Speaker 2: sometimes you're gonna misshot, sometimes you're gonna have an off
Speaker 2: night when it comes to just things not falling for you.
Speaker 2: But I mean even Frank who comes in like he's
Speaker 2: in there to give you energy, be you know, disruptive
Speaker 2: around the rim when he can rebound and and he
Speaker 2: he embraces that. It's not many minutes it's certainly not
Speaker 2: a highly sought after role for a team, but you
Speaker 2: know he knows what he's what he's needed, what his
Speaker 2: team needs of him, and he does it with pride.
Speaker 2: I mean, same thing with with Canaim. He's coming off
Speaker 2: the bench and you know he brings a lot of
Speaker 2: energy and you know he's a little different athletically than
Speaker 2: most to these guys. So I mean, and by the way,
Speaker 2: that's one of the many things that I would chalk
Speaker 2: up to being a big factor in why this team
Speaker 2: has been just such a such such I mean again,
Speaker 2: when I say so improved, I don't know, like they
Speaker 2: were thinking before, but I mean they look like they
Speaker 2: do and they seem to be a team that isn't
Speaker 2: just taking advantage of it down acc which they are,
Speaker 2: but they're also a team that might give some other
Speaker 2: teams some problems in the tournament. It's because they have
Speaker 2: they have identified roles in a major way, and they
Speaker 2: know who they are as players. How many times do
Speaker 2: you see somebody doing something that you know is outside
Speaker 2: their game. I mean, I know some people might say
Speaker 2: Edwards taking shots, but look, he's a volume scorer. That's
Speaker 2: what he's always done, and you're better off if he's
Speaker 2: aggressive at scoring, because yeah, he might start off slow,
Speaker 2: he might have a few games where it's not falling
Speaker 2: for him. But here he is against wake Forest Legion
Speaker 2: scoring after shooting pretty poorly at the beginning. He was
Speaker 2: taking good shots. He was clearly aggressive offensively, and he
Speaker 2: maintained that aggressiveness and shots started to fall. He end
Speaker 2: and o with eighteen points. So like that's the role
Speaker 2: they need him to be. He wasn't that guy whenever
Speaker 2: they didn't have injuries, and he was kind of trying
Speaker 2: to find himself and sure enough, Like that's another thing.
Speaker 2: Kelsey has done a good job at retooling a little
Speaker 2: bit once they lost Koryn for the year. And you know,
Speaker 2: in case In Pryor, I mean, I think everybody out there,
Speaker 2: Jamon Hadley, I mean, he's he knows what he's supposed
Speaker 2: to do. And that's the best part about this is
Speaker 2: that kind of the calling cards for some of these guys.
Speaker 2: Pat Kelsey always mentioned shooting, right about how they know
Speaker 2: that these guys that's part of their game, and he
Speaker 2: talks about what's on the back of the bubblegum card
Speaker 2: or whatever and being able to shoot and he's right
Speaker 2: as far as their resumes, but that really hasn't played
Speaker 2: out this year. They've clearly had games where the three
Speaker 2: point line was a weapon for him. I mean, there's
Speaker 2: no doubt, but the numbers don't show that they're a
Speaker 2: great shooting team. I think some of these guys are
Speaker 2: shooting it differently than they did before. Now they're shooting
Speaker 2: it much better since January. I mean they're right around
Speaker 2: forty percent or a little bit under that, which is
Speaker 2: pretty good. So anyways, I think, you know, when it
Speaker 2: comes to what I view as these guys, like what
Speaker 2: makes them impactful and kind of what would be their
Speaker 2: calling card, it's things that you don't have to you know,
Speaker 2: it's not based off luck. It's not based off shots falling.
Speaker 2: Like Javon Hadley's gonna take take advantage of mismatches right
Speaker 2: and rebound his ass off CHUCKI Hepburn is going to
Speaker 2: just be an absolute pest to the opposing team's point
Speaker 2: guard and make his life a living hell all night.
Speaker 2: And like when you do those things that aren't, you know,
Speaker 2: based off the luck or odds of it happening. When
Speaker 2: you do all that and you do it well, that's
Speaker 2: when everything just kind of falls into place. That's what's
Speaker 2: happening for this team. All right, quick break, we'll come
Speaker 2: back on the other side. We'll bring in David who's
Speaker 2: on hold. He's up next. We'll go right to the
Speaker 2: phone calls. Let you guys be a part of this
Speaker 2: show as we roll along here. It's coffee and company.
Speaker 2: Feel about Thorton's on Sports Talk seven to ninety. It's right,
Speaker 2: coffee and company. We got about thirty minutes left here
Speaker 2: on a Thursday afternoon. We are fueled by Thornton's. Make
Speaker 2: sure you sign up to become a member of the
Speaker 2: Refreshing Awards program at Thornton's. If you haven't yet, you'll
Speaker 2: be happy you did. All right, let's go to the
Speaker 2: phone lines. Five two five seven is the number if
Speaker 2: you want to give us a call, and we'll go
Speaker 2: to David, who's been holding.
Speaker 4: What's happened to David? How you doing?
Speaker 5: I'm fantastic, Nick, Harry you this afternoon doing great?
Speaker 4: My friend?
Speaker 5: Well, I had a couple of things. I'll tell you man,
Speaker 5: I could talk for thirty minutes. I know this is
Speaker 5: your show. I could. I've got to die tribe a
Speaker 5: mile long, but I'll be very quick. I had three
Speaker 5: quick points. The first thing, of course, it pertains to
Speaker 5: the University of Louisville basketball team. And I know that
Speaker 5: there's people around here starting to feel a buzz about
Speaker 5: this team, and there, yes, and we should because this
Speaker 5: is what been. It's just this is something I don't
Speaker 5: I'm sixty one. I didn't think i'd ever see this again.
Speaker 5: And it's just, you know, really excited about where the
Speaker 5: program's going. And Pat Kelsey and Pat we trust. And
Speaker 5: it's nice that national people are paying attention to us,
Speaker 5: because it seems as though for the last ten or
Speaker 5: fifteen years we're being paid attention on a national level
Speaker 5: in a derogatory way. Secondly, the Kentucky fans that are
Speaker 5: calling in that are trying to offer compliments about Louisville basketball,
Speaker 5: and it's better if Kentucky and Louisville, or you know,
Speaker 5: if we're both good. It's just all better for basketball.
Speaker 5: I don't put any stock at all. They the holier
Speaker 5: than now we think we you know, last time I checked,
Speaker 5: James Nasmith invented basketball. Kentucky basketball. You know, Yeah, they've
Speaker 5: won a bunch of titles. Three of them. That happened
Speaker 5: in the forties and fifties. They never left the state
Speaker 5: of Kentucky to do it. So anytime any Kentucky fan
Speaker 5: wants to offer compliments, it's always byhandied undermining and you
Speaker 5: know they they can pound sand. The last thing that
Speaker 5: I'll tell you is, oh, one other thing I want
Speaker 5: to mention. It's sort of like I love with a
Speaker 5: friend of mine, my dad, A friend of mine, a
Speaker 5: friend of my father's at Mitchell's Fish Market one day
Speaker 5: and he looked over at me and goes, you know,
Speaker 5: I love your father. He's the smartest uneducated man I know.
Speaker 5: And I was like, thank you. I think, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 5: And lastly, uh, there's a there's a person that has
Speaker 5: a radio show in town that won a national title
Speaker 5: in nineteen eighty played for the Cards that has said
Speaker 5: repeatedly this team is non athletic. He said, he continues
Speaker 5: to play that we haven't played anybody card. The ACC
Speaker 5: is weak. The SEC is the gold standard in basketball.
Speaker 5: You know, last time I checked, you play who you play,
Speaker 5: and it's not like we're just squeaking by these teams.
Speaker 5: The only thing I know, the last thing I'll see
Speaker 5: on the subject, I love your show. I love what
Speaker 5: you guys do. The four SEC teams that that beat
Speaker 5: us earlier in the season, they don't want any part
Speaker 5: of us.
Speaker 2: Now, yeah, I would agree with that. I mean, I
Speaker 2: don't know what would happen, but this is not the
Speaker 2: same team, that's for.
Speaker 5: Sure anyway, And I do owe you an apology, and
Speaker 5: I'm just gonna say I'm sorry about something that I
Speaker 5: said that I that you know. I'll say something to
Speaker 5: you off air at another time. But you can do
Speaker 5: a fantastic job representing the University of the city.
Speaker 4: And thank you.
Speaker 5: No go cards, keep up the good work, and as
Speaker 5: far as Kentucky fans go, well they know where they
Speaker 5: can shove it.
Speaker 4: Thank you, David.
Speaker 2: I appreciate, appreciate all the kind words, and appreciate you
Speaker 2: being a loyal listener. I don't know what you said,
Speaker 2: but I hope it wasn't crazy. I mean, I mean
Speaker 2: really wondering what Wait a second, you're apologizing for something
Speaker 2: that that I don't even know that you said. It
Speaker 2: makes me think that you feel really bad about something
Speaker 2: that I would never know about unless you told me,
Speaker 2: which again gets me back to thinking, man, it must
Speaker 2: have been bad, but Anyways, a lot to unpack there
Speaker 2: with David, and I'll start with the the Kentucky fans
Speaker 2: when they mention it's better, that is true because it
Speaker 2: just is like things are better. But if I had
Speaker 2: a choice, I would always prefer Louisville to be really
Speaker 2: good in them to be really bad. But I can
Speaker 2: also acknowledge that, yeah, there's more. I mean, it's just
Speaker 2: the rivalry is better. It's just a I mean program,
Speaker 2: I mean, healthy competition is good. And when Louisville is
Speaker 2: on the good side and Kentucky's on the good side
Speaker 2: and they're competing both at a high level, it just,
Speaker 2: I mean, it's good for the economy because there's more
Speaker 2: interest in the programs.
Speaker 4: And I mean it is. I don't think there's any debate.
Speaker 2: But again, just because of how the rivalry works, I
Speaker 2: clearly would like to see them, to see them lose
Speaker 2: every game. And I think if you say that and
Speaker 2: you just mention it, I mean you're just telling the truth.
Speaker 2: Maybe that's like as far as you can go, right,
Speaker 2: Like you won't say that you likewisen't watching us win
Speaker 2: because you don't, but you know you also won't mention
Speaker 2: that Louisville's playing good. Just find a way to kind
Speaker 2: of say without fully saying it. But again, some have
Speaker 2: actually called in and said exactly that that louis was
Speaker 2: playing well. And we had a Kentucky fan calling yesterday
Speaker 2: who mentioned something about, you know a lot of teams
Speaker 2: not wanting to.
Speaker 4: Play Louisville, and I think all that's true.
Speaker 2: There's no way to know that for certain, but yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean the the what's really, I guess been the
Speaker 2: biggest takeaway for me, and I don't I was going
Speaker 2: to say the biggest surprise, but it's really not that surprising.
Speaker 2: But what has really stood out to me throughout this
Speaker 2: whole new year for both teams right new coaches, new culture.
Speaker 2: I mean, clearly both fans love their coach right now,
Speaker 2: feel really good about the future, and will acknowledge that
Speaker 2: the others coach is pretty hard to dislike, and even
Speaker 2: if you want them to be terrible. I don't think
Speaker 2: either side thinks that the arrivals coaches is bad. So
Speaker 2: that's just kind of an unusual thing. But what has
Speaker 2: you know, what has really stood out to me is
Speaker 2: just that the going out of your way to like
Speaker 2: nobody's saying that Louisville has played a great conference schedule,
Speaker 2: or in is a great or is in a great
Speaker 2: conference this year, but like this, this, I mean, it's
Speaker 2: like a it's like something they can't control, like they
Speaker 2: are enable to They're unable to control the these I
Speaker 2: guess more than anything. And it's not just you know,
Speaker 2: it's it's people on text line, it's callers every now
Speaker 2: and then and certainly all over social media that rather
Speaker 2: than just not have a reaction because somebody objectively that
Speaker 2: covers college basketball said that Louisville's playing well and Pat
Speaker 2: Kelsey's doing a good job, it's like they've got bots
Speaker 2: set up to automatically respond with talking about how bad
Speaker 2: the ACC is like okay, cool, like you know it
Speaker 2: That to me screams that you are having a really
Speaker 2: tough time just acknowledging that Louisville might in fact be
Speaker 2: be getting back to a good program and being one
Speaker 2: of the programs that is viewed as one of the
Speaker 2: better ones in college basketball, not only historically, but you know,
Speaker 2: maybe they get there and they're consistently in the top ten,
Speaker 2: top fifteen and they're flirting with final fours. I mean
Speaker 2: that that's where you want to be, and you can
Speaker 2: be if you're Louisville. And I'm not saying that they're
Speaker 2: there now, but certainly it looks like things are heading
Speaker 2: in the right direction. So we've got a mixed bag
Speaker 2: of I think reaction from from the rival when it
Speaker 2: comes to how this season's gone, and I think some
Speaker 2: of it has been. And again, not everybody's the same, right,
Speaker 2: Like everybody's different as human beings. There are some fans
Speaker 2: that like a huge part of their fun with college
Speaker 2: sports is hating their rival. There's some that I just
Speaker 2: think they're wired differently to where, yeah, they hope the
Speaker 2: rival loses, they want to beat them more than they
Speaker 2: want to beat most teams, but they just don't get
Speaker 2: has caught up in it. So you know, everybody's different, right,
Speaker 2: and everybody can feel.
Speaker 4: The way they want to feel.
Speaker 2: And certainly Kentucky fans, we'll get through this litle on
Speaker 2: the other side, because I want to play the Rick
Speaker 2: Patino sound where he's telling Kentucky fans they shouldn't boo
Speaker 2: John Caliperry. But I don't even know if it'd be
Speaker 2: a if it'd be a stretch to say it's infighting
Speaker 2: between their fans within their fan base. But I think
Speaker 2: those that are more so making it a talking point,
Speaker 2: and it's worthy of a talking point, like this is
Speaker 2: a big deal in college basketball. I get why Game
Speaker 2: Day didn't choose this one, you know I do, but
Speaker 2: it's a big deal for those who love college hoops,
Speaker 2: and certainly these two programs love college hoops. So I
Speaker 2: think those that are that are really Again I don't
Speaker 2: want to act like they're going overboard or saying something crazy,
Speaker 2: but those that are saying they're not gonna boo, and
Speaker 2: they really are gonna look at a fan different if
Speaker 2: they did boo. That is that. That's what I've heard
Speaker 2: more than anything, and that I just don't quite understand.
Speaker 2: But again, people can do whatever they want, but certainly
Speaker 2: there's gonna be people booing, and if you feel like
Speaker 2: they're awful for it, I you know, I think I
Speaker 2: think they're they're I think it's understandable why they would boo.
Speaker 2: Really quick, before we get to our last, uh, our
Speaker 2: last break here. This this is from let's see here,
Speaker 2: let me pull it up for from ESPN Jeff Borzella.
Speaker 4: What he actually did was put together a.
Speaker 2: Rundown of four teams that are that are looking like
Speaker 2: surprise tournament contenders, meaning not only a surprise that they're
Speaker 2: in the tournament run right now, but maybe they are
Speaker 2: going to be contenders to make a run. Louisville was
Speaker 2: one of those teams, along with Vanderbilt, Missouri, and Wisconsin.
Speaker 2: And just looking at these quotes from these coaches out there,
Speaker 2: it doesn't say who they are, but atis read them
Speaker 2: for you. It says they're the real deal. Nobody wants
Speaker 2: to go through injury, but sometimes it can set your lineup.
Speaker 2: You're not playing too many guys. They've been down prior
Speaker 2: and Waterman and I still feel like they've been in
Speaker 2: a really good rhythm.
Speaker 4: There's absolutely some truth to that.
Speaker 2: You were kind of forced to have to reinvent yourself
Speaker 2: with all you had, and it helped these guys get
Speaker 2: comfortable out there because they were they're going to be
Speaker 2: playing thirty plus minutes regardless, and eventually they kind of,
Speaker 2: you know, round it into form.
Speaker 4: And again it's.
Speaker 2: About those established roles. This text says, Chucky Hepburn is
Speaker 2: a menace on the ball. He makes them go. He
Speaker 2: can score thirty points and he can be the best
Speaker 2: player on both ends.
Speaker 4: Of the floor. He's very disruptive.
Speaker 2: Defensively, he can dominate both ends. He's very efficient, he
Speaker 2: gets to his spots, he's physical. This is another one
Speaker 2: talking up one of the Louisville players about Rain Smith offensively.
Speaker 2: The threat of rain Smith is a lot. Just him
Speaker 2: being on the floor opens up a lot for them.
Speaker 2: Their backcourts really good and as a team, they're very selfless.
Speaker 2: Guys know what their strength is and when Smith is on,
Speaker 2: they're really really tough. Last one, they guarded the hell
Speaker 2: out of us. He's got those guys bought in. Those
Speaker 2: guys are all playing hard, they're all playing for one another.
Speaker 2: I'm sure every one of us has has thought those
Speaker 2: exact same things, and I mean it's pretty obvious. And
Speaker 2: I think that's the last quote there as far as
Speaker 2: they're playing the hell out of I mean, he's got
Speaker 2: these guys guarding the hell out of us. They're all
Speaker 2: bought in, they're playing hard, they're playing for one another.
Speaker 2: Like That's something that I believe we as a fan
Speaker 2: base Louisville meaning would notice that more than the casuals,
Speaker 2: and we would appreciate it more because of what happened
Speaker 2: recently and that's just again, there's no doubt in my
Speaker 2: mind this team. It's been as fun as any season
Speaker 2: I can remember. And I mean that, and I and
Speaker 2: I don't care. I mean, I do care about the tournament.
Speaker 2: But if Bakers can you continue to play this well,
Speaker 2: maybe they get upset earlier something that'll be a real
Speaker 2: bummer or punch to the gut. But I cannot see
Speaker 2: there being a scenario where we look back and say, man,
Speaker 2: that first year it was funner than we would have
Speaker 2: ever expected. All right, quick break, We'll come back and
Speaker 2: wrap this thing up.
Speaker 4: Am I right?
Speaker 2: We have one more second? Right, Okay, still you left.
Speaker 2: But man, I'm still bad at clock management. It's probably worse, man,
Speaker 2: probably worse than it was during our days together. But
Speaker 2: we'll take a time out, come back and finish strong.
Speaker 2: Here on Sports Talk seven to ninety. So Kentucky at
Speaker 2: Arkansas this Saturday, as cal makes his return to rops.
Speaker 2: Certainly a little bit, a little bit underwhelming as far
Speaker 2: as just it being a game where you feel like
Speaker 2: there was gonna be a whole lot of tension. I
Speaker 2: don't think there's gonna be well, I'm sure there will
Speaker 2: be tension, but I mean Cal is not expected to
Speaker 2: win this game at all. Kentucky is, and Kentucky could
Speaker 2: play poorly and still win because Arkansas is just really
Speaker 2: an shown that they're very good now they've got talented players.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's not as if they're bad in a
Speaker 2: way that they got a bunch of bombs. But Cal
Speaker 2: hasn't really seemed to be a good ex's and o's
Speaker 2: coach when it comes to two strategic things in a while.
Speaker 2: And yeah, he's got some fine players, but I mean
Speaker 2: their team is not great at all compared to what
Speaker 2: he had at Kentucky. So I kind of feel like
Speaker 2: that has made it a little bit less of a
Speaker 2: of a of a thing when it comes to the
Speaker 2: national discussion. But certainly it's a big deal within college
Speaker 2: sports and a big deal around here. And I think
Speaker 2: there'll be plenty of fans that boo. I think there'll
Speaker 2: be plenty of fans that maybe are fine with others booing,
Speaker 2: but there's just not gonna boo because that's not their personality.
Speaker 2: And then there's some that will cheer and maybe tell
Speaker 2: people to hush if they're booing, and you know, you
Speaker 2: can do whatever you want. I would never tell you
Speaker 2: how to to act. Certainly not as a Kentucky fan,
Speaker 2: because I'm not one, but uh, Rick Patino, he wants
Speaker 2: you to to give cal pair a standing ovation, and
Speaker 2: he put a video out and this is just perfect
Speaker 2: Rick Patino making it about him injecting himself into something that.
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, he has been back to Kentucky after
Speaker 2: being a coach there, but I mean, like, this isn't
Speaker 2: about him, right, I mean in any way. But here's
Speaker 2: what he had to say.
Speaker 7: Hello, Big Blue Nation. I didn't steer you wrong with
Speaker 7: Mark Pope when I sent out that last video, and
Speaker 7: I certainly won't steer you wrong with this video. Toughest
Speaker 7: day of my coaching career at Louisville was when I
Speaker 7: had to walk into Rupperna. Tried not to show it,
Speaker 7: but when I went home the reception, it taught me
Speaker 7: up apart because I loved that place so much. And
Speaker 7: it's interesting because I speaking and Cooley just recently about
Speaker 7: Providence and he said he almost was brought to tears
Speaker 7: because of the bad feelings he got going back there.
Speaker 7: But this is different. And as you all know, I'm
Speaker 7: not best friends with John cal Parry. I respect them certainly,
Speaker 7: but it was a mutual thing. The fans wanted to change.
Speaker 7: John read the tea leaves. He needed a change, and
Speaker 7: he really didn't want to leave. But what did he
Speaker 7: do for you? He brought the best talent in the
Speaker 7: history of the game of any university in America to Lexington.
Speaker 7: He also won a national championship. He also was his
Speaker 7: style of play was extremely entertaining. So he's coming back
Speaker 7: on Saturday, and I want all of you to show
Speaker 7: the great class that you have, twenty three thousand plus
Speaker 7: people giving him a huge standing ovation, show him what
Speaker 7: respect and admiration's all about. I know you have the
Speaker 7: class I've always believed in. You do it once again.
Speaker 2: So this was kind of I mean, I'll admit I
Speaker 2: hadn't heard that in its entirety before I just played
Speaker 2: it there. I'm not really sure he said anything that
Speaker 2: is wrong, but I mean he's not. I mean, first
Speaker 2: of all, he clearly is now very very direct that
Speaker 2: because he coached at Kentucky for a long time and
Speaker 2: he was a app I mean, he is as successful
Speaker 2: there as really anybody, and he was just I mean,
Speaker 2: he was the biggest rock star I think college basketball
Speaker 2: had ever when he was at Kentucky. So maybe with
Speaker 2: that he does feel like he can tell you, as fans,
Speaker 2: like what he thinks you should do. Right, He's not
Speaker 2: just some rando. I mean, he was the enemy for
Speaker 2: a while when he was at Louisville, but I think
Speaker 2: he does feel a level of like that's home to him, right,
Speaker 2: That's that's you know, it's still weird to think about,
Speaker 2: just giving the fact that he was our coach for
Speaker 2: a long time in Louisville, not that long ago. But
Speaker 2: you know, here's what coaches wouldn't want to hear.
Speaker 4: But it's true.
Speaker 2: You're not one of the fans, like it's a job
Speaker 2: for you's And again I do think you grow to
Speaker 2: love it. It's a special place, like I think you can.
Speaker 2: It can be something that you're human about, right. It
Speaker 2: doesn't mean it's got to be such a transactional type
Speaker 2: of thing. But at the end of the day, it's
Speaker 2: your job. It's a part of your life. If you're
Speaker 2: a fan, it's your life, not meaning it's the most
Speaker 2: important thing in your life. But those that are big
Speaker 2: time fans, it's something that they're gonna that's gonna stick
Speaker 2: with them until the day they die, So not to
Speaker 2: say that that makes them like better than anybody, but
Speaker 2: like it's just a brief part of what you do
Speaker 2: and we appreciate you. However, Like this is like you're
Speaker 2: gonna come and go. I'm gonna be a fan regardless,
Speaker 2: so I'll I'll act the way I want to act.
Speaker 2: So I you know, I don't think you said anything wrong.
Speaker 2: I do like that he did acknowledge that he's certainly
Speaker 2: not best friends with Caliperry, but he respects him because
Speaker 2: I think there's some truth to that. So you know,
Speaker 2: fads are gonna do what they want to do, and
Speaker 2: that's that's what should happen and what will always happen.
Speaker 2: I just to me, if I was a Kentucky fan
Speaker 2: the way he went out, I don't think he was
Speaker 2: as sincerely at any point. He did good things and
Speaker 2: that's something you should appreciate. But you know, he he
Speaker 2: thought he was bigger than Kentucky basketball, which I thought
Speaker 2: that was pretty obvious for many years and you could
Speaker 2: live with it and you're fine with it when you're winning.
Speaker 2: But at the end, I just thought he became insufferable
Speaker 2: for you guys. But anyways, we're out of time. Have
Speaker 2: a good evening, John, thanks for coming back brother
Speaker 6: M HM.