Speaker 1: Yes, it is hump Day. Welcome to the Big Moon.
Speaker 1: Sider Dick Gabriel with you on a Wednesday edition of
Speaker 1: our program. We are one day closer to Kentucky football,
Speaker 1: in fact, thirty one days away. And that's according to
Speaker 1: Corey Price on ex Twitter. If you will, he is
Speaker 1: doing something that I used to do on WKYT's website,
Speaker 1: and that's every day leading up he would post a
Speaker 1: photo from a UK game or practice with the player
Speaker 1: and their jersey number corresponding. Only fitting that he used
Speaker 1: Maxwell Harriston's number thirty one today because Maxwell, a junior,
Speaker 1: has been named to the Jim Thorpe Award preseason watch list,
Speaker 1: given by the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and the
Speaker 1: Jim Thorpe Association forty two of the nation's top defensive backs.
Speaker 1: So keep an eye on that for Maxwell, and if
Speaker 1: he jumps up and improves over the season he had
Speaker 1: last year, he'll be in the running. Because this is
Speaker 1: a guy who was burned in a game a couple
Speaker 1: of years ago, didn't get a chance to play much
Speaker 1: at all, but last year pressed into service five interceptions
Speaker 1: four in the SEC, including two in the Vandy game
Speaker 1: that went for six two pick sixes against Vanderbilt. His
Speaker 1: five picks tied for fifth most in a single season
Speaker 1: in program history. The most Sinse Sam Maxwell picked off
Speaker 1: six in twenty oh nine. Sam was a linebacker, but
Speaker 1: Maxwell at corner had one hundred and thirty one interception
Speaker 1: return yards. That's the most since my man Greg Long
Speaker 1: had one hundred and seventy six back in nineteen eighty one.
Speaker 1: So Maxwell Harrison he had a solid season, not just
Speaker 1: that Vandy game, but had a solid season. But those
Speaker 1: two pick sixes allowed him to lead the SEC with
Speaker 1: a total of those five in eight SEC games and
Speaker 1: passed eleven passes defended in twenty twenty three. So he
Speaker 1: is on the Thorpe Award preseason watch list. In Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: two of his teammates are on the Outland Trophy watch list.
Speaker 1: Eli Cox and Dion Walker names you know well. Eli
Speaker 1: is a veteran, a super senior from Nicholasville. He is
Speaker 1: six four to three eleven and he helped the course
Speaker 1: block for Ray Davis last year. Another thousand yard rusher
Speaker 1: for the Wildcats. Preseason second team All Conference pick by
Speaker 1: SEC coaches, and of course Dion Walker is a superstar
Speaker 1: in the making. Six six three forty eight d lineman
Speaker 1: from detroited junior, probably playing in his last season as
Speaker 1: a Kentucky Wildcat, but led Kentucky and tackles for loss
Speaker 1: with twelve and a half, quarterback sacks seven and a half,
Speaker 1: quarterback hurries with eight, and of course the hurries are
Speaker 1: what can lead to interceptions. He had those two pass breakups.
Speaker 1: Remember the one he had against Florida. He drilled a
Speaker 1: receiver Bob Pops in the air, it was picked off
Speaker 1: and returned to the fifteen yard line led to a
Speaker 1: uk A touchdown. So Dion Walker is on the list
Speaker 1: as well as Eli Cox. The Atland Trophy going to
Speaker 1: the best lineman offense or defense in the country. So
Speaker 1: we'll keep an eye on that for you, but also
Speaker 1: keep an eye on Kentucky football. The pace of the game,
Speaker 1: the tempo. We've talked really over the last few days
Speaker 1: when we talk about Kentucky's offense about the changes under
Speaker 1: Bush Hamden and the pace of play, something that Mark
Speaker 1: Stoops talked about at the kickoff luncheon on Monday. Hamden
Speaker 1: talked a lot about that, but one of the things
Speaker 1: Stoops mentioned was the fact that they were really looking
Speaker 1: and making a change. Before Liam Cone even left, he
Speaker 1: wanted more pace in the offense, and after the spring
Speaker 1: he said they were getting it, and he's excited about
Speaker 1: what he thinks they're going to be seeing this season.
Speaker 2: You know, the bottom line is winning games, right Tom,
Speaker 2: I mean, and everybody can relate to that. I mean,
Speaker 2: we have to win games by any means necessary. And heck,
Speaker 2: you could go back, you know, to the job and
Speaker 2: he's on my staff and does a wonderful job with
Speaker 2: Eddie Grant, And we were just talking, Tom, you and
Speaker 2: I were just talking about the year that well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the nineteen when you had to change in put
Speaker 1: a wide receiver in a quarterback.
Speaker 2: Yeah, just the creativity that Eddie Grant had and we
Speaker 2: did the things necessary to play defense. Ran the ball, quarterback,
Speaker 2: run the ball, and just by any means necessary. As
Speaker 2: we progressed, as we start recruiting impact players, you know,
Speaker 2: guys like that that that need touches. You know, one
Speaker 2: of the conversations Bush and I talk about now is
Speaker 2: number one. Yeah, the urgent to get plays off faster.
Speaker 2: I mean, there's no secret. Heck, before Liam, you know,
Speaker 2: we made a change or anything like that. We were
Speaker 2: talking about that because I didn't like it last year.
Speaker 2: I didn't like the fact that we're always getting down
Speaker 2: to one, two, three, four seconds left on the place
Speaker 2: and play clock to get plays off. We have playmakers
Speaker 2: that we have to get ball.
Speaker 1: I mentioned this to Tom Leach when he was on
Speaker 1: the show with me yesterday or Monday. It all runs together, anyhow.
Speaker 1: I remember when Rich Brooks responded to criticism and complaints
Speaker 1: about the offense and about how they don't do enough
Speaker 1: of this or that they don't get the ball to
Speaker 1: this guy or that guy. Why don't you throw to
Speaker 1: the tight ends more, Why don't you throw down the
Speaker 1: field more? Why don't you do more on offense? And
Speaker 1: at the time, they were struggling to get off more
Speaker 1: than fifty to fifty five plays, and Brooks kept reminding people, Look,
Speaker 1: if you don't have a lot of plays, you're not
Speaker 1: going to get a chance to involve a lot of
Speaker 1: play makers. And obviously that's what Stoops was talking about
Speaker 1: when he mentioned this in front of the crowd at
Speaker 1: the kickoff luncheon on Monday. So if they can improve
Speaker 1: the pace of play, not grind the clock down. And
Speaker 1: I'm not sure why that was happening if Devin Leary
Speaker 1: was having trouble with the offense, if the offense was
Speaker 1: too complicated, too much verbiage in the huddle, you know,
Speaker 1: if it took forever to call the play. Jeff Picorro
Speaker 1: has talked a lot about that, how long it call
Speaker 1: takes to call a play again, all the verbage. They
Speaker 1: tried to cut that down. That's one thing they really
Speaker 1: tried to cut down with rich Gangarello, And apparently one
Speaker 1: of the reasons he's not here anymore was he didn't
Speaker 1: want to cooperate with that notion. If they call it
Speaker 1: dumbing down but simplifying for college players, play calls that
Speaker 1: maybe you can get in the NFL, but you're not
Speaker 1: going to fully get right away in the college game.
Speaker 1: So if that happens for the Wildcats this year, then yeah,
Speaker 1: you'll see the ball go more the tight ends. You'll
Speaker 1: see the ball swung out the running backs. And I
Speaker 1: think you're going to see that regardless in Hampden's offense.
Speaker 1: But you're going to see more of the up tempo play,
Speaker 1: not no huddle, but short huddle, quick huddle, maybe some
Speaker 1: no huddle, and maybe we'll be talking about pace of
Speaker 1: play football season the way apparently we're going to talk
Speaker 1: about throughout basketball season as well. Speaking of you're gonna
Speaker 1: hear from more of the Wildcats tonight, both the men
Speaker 1: and the women. That comes up in our number two
Speaker 1: as we get a chance to talk to all these
Speaker 1: new faces on campus, so you'll get to know even
Speaker 1: more of the players on both ends of the building.
Speaker 1: Coming up in our number two at the bottom of
Speaker 1: the hour, Sean Woods is going to join us. He
Speaker 1: is on his way to Philadelphia. He is driving. They
Speaker 1: got him driving along with another assistant coach, John Hood,
Speaker 1: to the TBT tournament up there. But there is a
Speaker 1: new lead on that story, the one that happened the
Speaker 1: other night as La Familia beat the Louisville team the
Speaker 1: Ville and of course, after that game was over, in
Speaker 1: Nate Sestina throwing the l's down in mid court, Shinanu
Speaker 1: Onuaku spit on him and that caused a ruckus after
Speaker 1: the game, not a brawl, but you know, a near
Speaker 1: fight in the end zone. It took him a while
Speaker 1: to separate those teams, and Sean Woods was right in
Speaker 1: the middle of it, trying to pull people apart. But
Speaker 1: Onawako has apologized. He issued an apologize an apology on
Speaker 1: Tuesday afternoon. We didn't have it when we went on
Speaker 1: the air last night, but he did post to his
Speaker 1: ex account he said, I want to apologize for my
Speaker 1: actions following last night's game. He said, I let my
Speaker 1: emotions in pride for my university overcome me in the moment.
Speaker 1: I love my U of L and I love this town.
Speaker 1: L's up. So I guess that's the end of it.
Speaker 1: But he did after the game. Immediately after the game
Speaker 1: tweets that he had told Cistina to stop and not
Speaker 1: disrespect their court. Tyler Eulis responded with a tweet they said,
Speaker 1: how many did you call him throughout the game? You
Speaker 1: knew what he was doing. Pick the guy who causes
Speaker 1: no problems. It's just basketball. Tough guys don't spit on
Speaker 1: people and then play victim. So Onawaku has apologized and
Speaker 1: for all intent and purposes, that's the end of it,
Speaker 1: at least as far as that incident is concerned. But
Speaker 1: La Familia will play in Philadelphia against the team primarily
Speaker 1: of Ohio State of Lums and we'll hear from Seawan
Speaker 1: Woods coming up. At the bottom of the hour Also
Speaker 1: an hour number two, Gary Moore, our West End bureau chief.
Speaker 1: So the Olympics have been going on all day, as
Speaker 1: you know, we pre record, so I'm not totally up
Speaker 1: to the minute, but a lot of great and weird
Speaker 1: things have been happening in Paris. We'll talk about that
Speaker 1: on the other side of the break here on a
Speaker 1: Big Blue Sider six point thirty WLAP. Welcome back to
Speaker 1: the Big Blue Insider. Coming up in just a few minutes,
Speaker 1: Sean Woods, the assistant coach for the TBT team, to
Speaker 1: Tyler Eulis. He and John Hood are driving up to Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: By the time you hear this, they're probably going to
Speaker 1: be there at least pretty close. Also an hour number two,
Speaker 1: the basketball Wildcats men and women, and our West End
Speaker 1: bureau chief, Gary Moore, back with us. I've been off
Speaker 1: for a couple of weeks on the West Coast doing
Speaker 1: some business, and then I was on vacation, so it's
Speaker 1: been a little while since we checked in with Gary,
Speaker 1: but we'll be doing that in just a minute. Just
Speaker 1: some incredible stories, some weird stories, funny ones going on
Speaker 1: with the Olympics. I think the biggest story today was
Speaker 1: earlier today and a lot's happened since since we recorded this,
Speaker 1: since you listened, and they started earlier today in Paris time.
Speaker 1: They're six hours ahead of us. But the triathlon got underway.
Speaker 1: How about that in the Sane River. It was postponed
Speaker 1: today because it was polluted, well polluted to the point
Speaker 1: where they were afraid to get it started. But when
Speaker 1: they tested it this morning early today in USA time,
Speaker 1: apparently the water was clean enough to where they would compete.
Speaker 1: Now they had and they have had a lot of
Speaker 1: rain there, so clearly that helped. And that's I don't
Speaker 1: use that word ironically, but French officials have called it
Speaker 1: an historic day for the Olympic triathlon competitions held in
Speaker 1: that river that had just twenty four hours prior been
Speaker 1: deemed unsafe, he said. One of the former French rugby
Speaker 1: international now Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of sport
Speaker 1: for the Olympic Games, Pierre Rabadon, said this is an
Speaker 1: historic day for Paris and the Olympics and for ecology
Speaker 1: and the environment, and he talked about skepticism they had
Speaker 1: been facing for the last ten years when they bid
Speaker 1: on the Games, saying we can have the triathlon in
Speaker 1: the Seine, and people back then said, no, you cannot
Speaker 1: because it's a garbage dump. It's terrible, and they said
Speaker 1: we'll clean it up, and they spent basically one and
Speaker 1: a half billion dollars American to clean up the river
Speaker 1: and still didn't get it done well enough to avoid
Speaker 1: a delay. But they finally got into the water today
Speaker 1: it was deemed safe enough, they had the race and
Speaker 1: Alex Yee of Great Britain came charging from behind to
Speaker 1: win the gold medal. So in the triathlon now the
Speaker 1: last leg is the bicycle, so it's not like he
Speaker 1: was charging through the water to win it, but he
Speaker 1: did have to deal with the water, and evidently it
Speaker 1: was close enough. So Alex Ye beats Hayden Wild of
Speaker 1: the Netherlands to come up with the wind. And I'm
Speaker 1: sure if you tune in tonight you'll see the finish
Speaker 1: at some point. But they got it done. They got
Speaker 1: it done in that nasty water, and they don't have
Speaker 1: to do it again. The American women who play rugby,
Speaker 1: they're the ones I think who have made the greatest headlines.
Speaker 1: And this happened I think yesterday, and I couldn't get
Speaker 1: it on the air in time, but it was what
Speaker 1: they call the rugby sevens. That's where they play. Instead
Speaker 1: of fifteen people on each side, there are seven and
Speaker 1: they played two seven minute halves and it's an exciting
Speaker 1: brand of rugby. I covered rugby when I was a
Speaker 1: freshman in UK for the UK newspaper, so you may
Speaker 1: have seen this already. But what happened. It was twelve
Speaker 1: to seven. Australia scored a try which is worth five points,
Speaker 1: and missed the conversion, which is worth two points, so
Speaker 1: they kind of left the door open. But in the
Speaker 1: closing seconds it looked like they were going to be
Speaker 1: able to run out of the clock, but somehow on
Speaker 1: what essentially was the other team's five yard line, Australia
Speaker 1: after it missed the conversion, and these conversions are I
Speaker 1: mean right in front of the goalposts and there's nobody
Speaker 1: trying to block it. They just missed it. But they
Speaker 1: kicked off and buried the Americans. It looked like back
Speaker 1: on their own essentially five yard line, but USA somehow
Speaker 1: worked the clock out and got the ball to Alex
Speaker 1: Cedric running essentially around right end. She burst past a
Speaker 1: couple of defenders and went ninety five yards eighty five
Speaker 1: meters ninety five yards for the try that tied it up.
Speaker 1: And if you're watching, they have to touch it down.
Speaker 1: It is truly a touchdown, and rugby you have to
Speaker 1: touch the ball down in the end zone. She did that,
Speaker 1: dives across and then she kicked the conversion that gave
Speaker 1: the Americans a medal for the first time. The last
Speaker 1: American team to win a medal came in nineteen twenty
Speaker 1: four by the men's fifteen. It's the first women's rugby
Speaker 1: medal for USA rugby and Olympics history. And this is
Speaker 1: what it sounded like on NBC.
Speaker 3: Sedric Spiff, Cedric's so why Cedric up out of the
Speaker 3: fifteenth the photing She's gonna take it all the way,
Speaker 3: Cedric for their US.
Speaker 1: And I am all the time myself.
Speaker 3: Right now it is level at twelve a piece.
Speaker 4: The conversion will win the bronze medal for Team USA.
Speaker 3: Yes, Sammy, we got you.
Speaker 1: Calm down.
Speaker 3: It's all down to the kick.
Speaker 5: Wow, just wow, this is.
Speaker 1: Going to be the easier kick right down the max.
Speaker 6: There it is.
Speaker 4: Oh there it is Cedric with the conversion and Team
Speaker 4: USA make history in Paris.
Speaker 1: Oh my god, that is a lazy.
Speaker 4: Alone of mother hands in the air. They've done what
Speaker 4: no other American rugby team in sevens have ever done before.
Speaker 4: One hundred years after the men's fifteen a side team
Speaker 4: won the gold medal in this city against France.
Speaker 1: Absolutely amazing. It was so entertaining and what a moment
Speaker 1: for USA rugby. But imagine that busting off of play
Speaker 1: at the very end of the game to win it.
Speaker 1: American men ended a twenty four year wait to reach
Speaker 1: the quarterfinals of Olympics soccer. They beat Ginea three to nothing,
Speaker 1: so now they will play in the knockout phase against
Speaker 1: Morocco on Friday. But that's a huge step forward for
Speaker 1: the USA men's team. And they were playing for the
Speaker 1: first time in the Olympics since Beijing of twenty oh eight.
Speaker 1: They actually qualified, so that's a big win for USA soccer.
Speaker 1: Like I said, all kinds of big moments happening right
Speaker 1: now in the Olympics in Paris for not just the
Speaker 1: USA but other countries as well, naturally, but none of
Speaker 1: One of the headline making events was gymnastics by the
Speaker 1: women's team by Team USA, as you know, led by
Speaker 1: Simone Biles who posted on social media after the win,
Speaker 1: took a stab at one of her former teammates, at MICHAELA. Skinner,
Speaker 1: who won the silver medal on vault. Back in twenty twenty.
Speaker 1: Skinner had posted a video on YouTube after the Olympic
Speaker 1: trials criticizing the team's talent, depth and work ethic. Everybody
Speaker 1: beyond Simone Bios. She said, beyond simone, I feel like
Speaker 1: the talent and depth just isn't what it used to be. Obviously,
Speaker 1: a lot of girls just don't work as hard, they
Speaker 1: don't have the work ethic. And she later issued an apology,
Speaker 1: said she was misinterpreted, misunderstood and issued a formal apology.
Speaker 1: But Simone Biles, she wasn't having it. She posted on
Speaker 1: social media a photo of herself and her teammates hoisting
Speaker 1: the gold medals with the these six words quote lack
Speaker 1: of talent, comma lazy, comma Olympic champion. So yeah, that's
Speaker 1: a dig at Skinner, even though she had apologized, But
Speaker 1: can you blame her? I really can't. While we're talking Olympics,
Speaker 1: so mentioned yesterday the men's bronze medal that the team
Speaker 1: won first time in forever and the guy who clinched
Speaker 1: it was the one man who did one event, the
Speaker 1: pommel horse Stephen Netterasik. And now he has become famous
Speaker 1: quite frankly because of memes and video and all that.
Speaker 1: And his girlfriend is too. Her name is Tess McCracken.
Speaker 1: You couldn't write a better story. This guy looks like
Speaker 1: a nerd, admits he's a nerd, and has a girlfriend
Speaker 1: named Tess. She is a retired gymnast. They lived together
Speaker 1: in Sarasota, Florida. That's where he competes and trains. She
Speaker 1: also went to Penn State and works remotely as a
Speaker 1: project manager in cell and gene therapy for a biopharmaceutical
Speaker 1: contract research organization based in Pennsylvania. So she's a nerd too.
Speaker 1: They met on their first day at Penn State, both gymnasts,
Speaker 1: and they were an athlete orientation together. They hit it off,
Speaker 1: they started dating. Now they're together and she is basically
Speaker 1: as much now of a celebrity as he is. People
Speaker 1: look at those horn room glasses and they refer to
Speaker 1: him now as Clark Kent and when he takes them off. Superman,
Speaker 1: she said, used to be Tom Holland, the actor and
Speaker 1: Spider Man, but now Superman and she says, I firmly agree.
Speaker 1: So that's one of the great sidebar stories to come
Speaker 1: up out of the Olympics in Paris. John Woods is
Speaker 1: next here on six to thir welcome back to the
Speaker 1: Big Blue Insider joining us. Now, really it could be
Speaker 1: a tag team event because each week we talk with
Speaker 1: Sean Woods, the unforgettable guard. He is as we speak,
Speaker 1: having the Philadelphia for TBT action. They're in the final
Speaker 1: four for me and alongside of him. I don't know
Speaker 1: if it's a Batman and Robin thing or Duke's of hazard,
Speaker 1: but John Hood assistant coach, how you guys doing? Are
Speaker 1: you hanging in there?
Speaker 7: We hang it? We hang it good.
Speaker 1: Sean, let me ask you what both of you because
Speaker 1: you were both out there playing peacemaker and the guy
Speaker 1: who spat on Nathans seeing in his sense, apologized for
Speaker 1: whatever that's worth. But uh uh, just I had to
Speaker 1: shake my head. You know, this is supposed to be
Speaker 1: a fun thing, but a competitive thing. Did well. I
Speaker 1: don't want to say it was inevitable, but did it
Speaker 1: feel like a situation coach, where something could happen at
Speaker 1: the end of that game the other night.
Speaker 7: Well, they get pretty cheapy. I mean, it was, it was,
Speaker 7: it was. It was you know, that type of game,
Speaker 7: that type of atmosphere. It was a typical U of
Speaker 7: L situation. But you know, like people say, miners don't
Speaker 7: change their stripes, and some of those guys that you know,
Speaker 7: acting kind of out of character, that has been their character,
Speaker 7: you know, even when they were at the University Nobles.
Speaker 7: So you know, it's unfortunate and the ultimate saying, you know,
Speaker 7: from a personal person who has been in somebody's face,
Speaker 7: and that was just so disrespectful. But the good thing is,
Speaker 7: you know, it could have gotten worse, the situation, the outcome,
Speaker 7: because it wasn't that many security people there, So thank
Speaker 7: God for that.
Speaker 1: What was it like for you guys to have to
Speaker 1: dive in there and pull these grown men away from
Speaker 1: each other?
Speaker 7: Well, so that was part of it until big Daluel
Speaker 7: Orton came and it was you guy, the giant showed up.
Speaker 7: Everybody kind of backed off a little bit.
Speaker 1: John Hood. Did you expect to have to get in
Speaker 1: there and show some muscle.
Speaker 6: Well, I was never I wasn't in it.
Speaker 1: Oh okay, I.
Speaker 6: Grabbed I grabbed Nate and kind of pulled him away
Speaker 6: and tried to tried to de escalate the situation that way,
Speaker 6: and then I had no idea until I saw all
Speaker 6: the footage yesterday kind of what had going on behind me.
Speaker 7: So it was uh.
Speaker 6: And there were a couple of times where where it
Speaker 6: got really really chippy, and like Coach would said, there
Speaker 6: tigers don't change their strikes. You kind of expect something
Speaker 6: to happen. You didn't expect it to be that way,
Speaker 6: and that severe one after the game.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, Sean, let me ask you a little bit.
Speaker 1: You and I spoke before the tournament began about the coaching,
Speaker 1: and John will asked you as well, But sewn at
Speaker 1: what point? And I love the fact that both head
Speaker 1: coaches are miked up and you were right in the
Speaker 1: middle of one and John I heard you as well.
Speaker 1: But Sewna heard you helping Tyler. You listen, you talked
Speaker 1: about how you are You're there to help Tyler and
Speaker 1: he turned to you late in the game and when
Speaker 1: you guys just needed that big shot and you were
Speaker 1: advising him on what to run. How much fun was that?
Speaker 7: What's been fun the whole week? You know, there's only
Speaker 7: two guys with experienced and coach that's me and and
Speaker 7: Hood and Thalas never coached before. But he's done a
Speaker 7: great job of just really navigating and taking information from
Speaker 7: John and I and trying to you know, implement it,
Speaker 7: you know, his own way. But you know he's a
Speaker 7: humble young man, and you know he knew you know,
Speaker 7: he has guys around him that that you know, are
Speaker 7: ventures at the situation and you know, he just asked
Speaker 7: me to deal that he's never been involved with, never
Speaker 7: been in that situation before, and you know I helped
Speaker 7: him out. We gave him something. That's that's what we're
Speaker 7: here for.
Speaker 1: Last night on the show, I said that it looked
Speaker 1: to me down the stretch, you guys had a lot
Speaker 1: of those empty possessions when all you needed were six
Speaker 1: more points with the helm rule. I just saw it.
Speaker 1: Both teams were really tired because both teams I thought,
Speaker 1: played pretty hard. Did I read that right, No doubt
Speaker 1: about it.
Speaker 7: You know it's the team set in.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 7: And then also it kind of gets tight when you
Speaker 7: get in that when when you get to that point,
Speaker 7: and uh, you know, I thought we saidled a little
Speaker 7: bit just to come to fatigue because we always had
Speaker 7: success when we're attacking the basket, but then we settled
Speaker 7: down after after we caught a time out and rest.
Speaker 1: Of district, John, were you surprised it was Andrew and
Speaker 1: that Aaron Harrison who hit that shot at the end.
Speaker 6: That, uh, that was a little a little strange because
Speaker 6: I was a part of that run where Aaron couldn't
Speaker 6: miss late in the game. But what what I loved
Speaker 6: about it was the i Q that was shown all
Speaker 6: games by Airplap.
Speaker 1: Though.
Speaker 6: Yeah, and he didn't have his best game statistic wise,
Speaker 6: he I know, he got the biggest sifts to Tony
Speaker 6: and put him in the right spot for for that
Speaker 6: driple drive kind of pitch back. He got the switch
Speaker 6: on the on the game winner, attacked Peril and Drew
Speaker 6: I think for guys, so whoever was out there, I mean,
Speaker 6: it was all going to them, but it was it
Speaker 6: was interesting that it was Andrew not Aaron.
Speaker 1: We're talking to Sean Woods and John Hood former Wildcat,
Speaker 1: well once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat, but assistant coaches
Speaker 1: for lat of me. They are actually driving to Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: I will leave that alone while you're not on a plane.
Speaker 1: That's not my business. But I appreciate the effort and
Speaker 1: appreciate you being with us as always. We talked to
Speaker 1: Sean every week here on the Big Blue Insider and
Speaker 1: they're assisting Tyler Ewlis and guys. Has it been what
Speaker 1: you hoped it would be in terms of your interaction
Speaker 1: with the veteran players. These guys are every one of
Speaker 1: them professionals except for maybe Brnan Canada. But they're all
Speaker 1: professionals and they know how to be coached. Is that right?
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's been joyful for me, you know, and these
Speaker 7: guys have been very receptive. The good thing is, you know,
Speaker 7: after the first two, three, four days in and they
Speaker 7: realize that, you know, it's bigger than just the tvt
Speaker 7: and you know, they they the Kentucky switch kind of
Speaker 7: turned on a little bit. And I'm telling you that's
Speaker 7: what's been caring is because these guys are really bought in,
Speaker 7: you know, especially defensively. You know, more sold and more
Speaker 7: teams in this tournament, and you know, we've been pretty disciplined.
Speaker 7: We've been you know, preparing just like we normally doing,
Speaker 7: you know, in a normal school situation. So you know,
Speaker 7: it's been it's been an interesting but really gratifying experience
Speaker 7: to coach pros and the good thing about it is
Speaker 7: these guys really know you know when to turn it
Speaker 7: on and and that's been, you know, so gratifying to us.
Speaker 1: John, you are coaching at the small college level now. Sean,
Speaker 1: of course taking a year off, he's a veteran of
Speaker 1: the college coaching wars. Uh, And I'm wondering what it's
Speaker 1: been like for you guys, because the players have all
Speaker 1: talked about the joy they have found in coming back,
Speaker 1: and you've been back on campus, I know. But and Sean,
Speaker 1: you've gone to practice quite a bit just to to
Speaker 1: observe last season, but uh, just to be a part
Speaker 1: once again of University Kentucky basketball. Essentially, what that's been
Speaker 1: like for you, John, I'll start with you, just the
Speaker 1: fact that you know, you got your coaching and dealing
Speaker 1: with wildcats again.
Speaker 6: Well, it's it's dealing with wildcats, but it's also dealing
Speaker 6: with pros. And it's a lot easier, a lot easier,
Speaker 6: and a lot different when you're dealing with pros rather
Speaker 6: than just kids, because it's basketball all the time, and
Speaker 6: that's all they want to they understand, like coach said,
Speaker 6: they're coachable. They want to hear different voices and different perspectives,
Speaker 6: but being back on campus has has been has been
Speaker 6: everything that I had wanted. I mean, I'm grateful that
Speaker 6: I'm able to have spent a month out here, away
Speaker 6: from away from my office and away from our team.
Speaker 6: But it's it's been. It's been fantastic, getting to work
Speaker 6: with them, getting to be around UK practice as well
Speaker 6: and learn along the way.
Speaker 1: What about you, Sean, Okay.
Speaker 7: You always free what type of people they are, you know,
Speaker 7: and unfortunately, you know, that's how it guys. Because of
Speaker 7: their short stay as far as their career serve the UK,
Speaker 7: no one has really gotten to know them, you know
Speaker 7: what I mean. And I've had an opportunity for two
Speaker 7: weeks to get to know them, you know, as people,
Speaker 7: and share stories, you know, on what their experience was
Speaker 7: like in UK and mine and you know, and also
Speaker 7: I've had an opportunity to really teach them and make
Speaker 7: them understand how significant they are as a UK basketball player,
Speaker 7: even though they only spend eight months there. You know,
Speaker 7: I told them that, you know, you could play in
Speaker 7: the NBA and this and that, but you won't as
Speaker 7: significant as you are as being a UK basketball player.
Speaker 7: So relish this. Take advantage of this and maybe now
Speaker 7: the bridge you know, we can bridge the gap a
Speaker 7: little bit more with you guys knowing what it's like
Speaker 7: to really be a konentuctive basketball player, how you really
Speaker 7: appreciate it. And then also they're getting to know each other.
Speaker 7: Because they were so competitive when they were playing, they
Speaker 7: didn't get to know each other. So now they're getting
Speaker 7: to slow down and getting to know you know, Tyler's
Speaker 7: getting to know the twins, and you know, Willie's getting
Speaker 7: to know you know, Nate and so on and so forth.
Speaker 7: So that's been really good too. You know, it's like
Speaker 7: a reunion within a competitive situation of bringing these guys together,
Speaker 7: and tell you what, it's worked because they're all playing
Speaker 7: for each other as you can see. You know, you
Speaker 7: don't get those guys to play and hold everyone that
Speaker 7: we play under sixty points in this deal. So you know,
Speaker 7: these guys are really bought in the really enjoyed playing
Speaker 7: with each other. Hasn't been any to mix this happ whatsoever.
Speaker 7: And shoot, it's been a blast. It's been pretty smooth,
Speaker 7: to be honest with you.
Speaker 1: We're talking with Sean Woods and John Hood, Wildcat players
Speaker 1: from the past who are now assistant coaches with Tyler
Speaker 1: Ewlis as part of TBT, and they're on their way
Speaker 1: in the car to Philadelphia for the final four this weekend.
Speaker 1: We're back in a minute on six thirty WLA Welcome back.
Speaker 1: We're chatting with Sean Woods and John Hood, assistant coaches
Speaker 1: under Tyler Ewis. Of course, all three of them played
Speaker 1: for the Wildcats, all of them Kentucky guards, and they
Speaker 1: are coaching in TBT, the Basketball Tournament, playing for a
Speaker 1: million bucks, and they play in the final four in
Speaker 1: Philadelphia this weekend. John and Sean are driving to Philly,
Speaker 1: so we were happy to have them on the phone
Speaker 1: with us, hoping that they remain safe as they talk
Speaker 1: to me while they're driving. And before the break sewn,
Speaker 1: you were talking about players getting to know each other,
Speaker 1: and I thought about Willie cauley Stein, because here's a
Speaker 1: guy who could have been of course back in the day,
Speaker 1: going probably right out of high school, most people thought
Speaker 1: he'd be a one and done. He stayed three years
Speaker 1: at Kentucky, so he was like you guys, he stayed
Speaker 1: quite a while. But I really think that that you know,
Speaker 1: I know, Cistina went nuts in the third quarter, but
Speaker 1: will he seems like he was a secret sauce the
Speaker 1: other night. What do you think of the way he's
Speaker 1: been playing.
Speaker 7: I mean, he's been the savior. You know, he covers
Speaker 7: so much ground and he's one of the reasons why
Speaker 7: our defense has been so so good and so solid
Speaker 7: because what we're doing is we're pushing everybody to him
Speaker 7: to be the racer and he's you know, he can
Speaker 7: guard a point guard. He can you know, slaught a
Speaker 7: big and come from the weak side to swatter it.
Speaker 7: And as you saw the other night, which I've been
Speaker 7: seeing all week, the guy can really shoot the dag
Speaker 7: on basketball. You know, those those three that he made
Speaker 7: in the first half. He does that every day in
Speaker 7: practice really, which is very surprising. Yet, I mean he's
Speaker 7: shooting like he's been doing it his whole life.
Speaker 1: But isn't the NBA now and he's not that far
Speaker 1: removed from the lee you can make it back. That's
Speaker 1: a league that he's a guy like Boogie Cousins shooting
Speaker 1: threes and clearly Carl Anthony Towns that's isn't that where
Speaker 1: we are right now? In the league?
Speaker 7: Here we are, you know, it's very hybrid and uh,
Speaker 7: you know, today's game. If you really can't shoot the basketball,
Speaker 7: it's hard to play you and unless you do something
Speaker 7: that was very special. And I just think that surprising
Speaker 7: to me. This is what you know, he showed me
Speaker 7: some things that I never saw. You know, we know
Speaker 7: as a Kentucky fan, even though I was coaching, and
Speaker 7: if we'd have beaten Western Kentucky and that in the
Speaker 7: playing game, we would have played those guys when they
Speaker 7: were thirty one to zero. That was one thing that
Speaker 7: never would have crossed my mind. And I'm telling you,
Speaker 7: in practice, he shoots as good as anybody on our team.
Speaker 7: So I wasn't surprised when he was making those the
Speaker 7: other day. I was just happy that he was making
Speaker 7: a game type situation.
Speaker 1: Speaking of big men shooting, John Hood, you're a guy
Speaker 1: who's never saw a shot he didn't like. What was
Speaker 1: your reaction when you saw Nate Cistina drain in those threes?
Speaker 1: And he's another big guy. I know. I watched you
Speaker 1: guys in drills the other day before the tournament began,
Speaker 1: and you were running the ball to Sustina for outside shots.
Speaker 1: But man, he was on fire. He was.
Speaker 6: I met Nate, I mean the first actually two days
Speaker 6: before our first practice, three days before our first practice.
Speaker 6: And he is a he's a guy that he has
Speaker 6: that type of personality.
Speaker 7: And I mean when.
Speaker 6: I am when I'm back in Missouri Western, you see
Speaker 6: me on the sidelines and I'm very stoic onto the
Speaker 6: next play. But this has allowed me a space to
Speaker 6: kind of celebrate on the sidelines a little more. And
Speaker 6: he's one that that really, really you want to cheer for.
Speaker 6: And when he starts making those pump fake snide step threes,
Speaker 6: that's that stuff that we've worked on in crack, that
Speaker 6: stuff that he and I have worked on it and
Speaker 6: work out and it's good to see it.
Speaker 1: It happened.
Speaker 6: And I mean he's he's a big he's a big
Speaker 6: time shooter and a big time player.
Speaker 1: Well, John, you grew up in Kentucky. It's shown you
Speaker 1: spent a lot of your childhood in Kentucky visiting relatives,
Speaker 1: and of course both played several years at Kentucky. What
Speaker 1: amazes me. Nate Cistina is from Pennsylvania. He began his
Speaker 1: career a college career at Bucknell and then transferred in
Speaker 1: He was here for the COVID year and yet man,
Speaker 1: he has has died in the wool blue as any
Speaker 1: of those guys.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: I guess we shouldn't be surprised by that, should we. John?
Speaker 6: Now, some some people, some people understand the rivalry more
Speaker 6: than others, and some people definitely embraced it more than others.
Speaker 6: And and Nate is one of those one of those
Speaker 6: guys that you know, it's it was explained to him,
Speaker 6: he experienced it, and he's never let it go.
Speaker 1: Well, Sean, let me ask you about the game coming up,
Speaker 1: because this is a group of guys who played at
Speaker 1: Ohio State for the most part, and they won easily
Speaker 1: in their quarterfinal game. What do you know about them?
Speaker 1: What do you expect?
Speaker 7: Well, their physical you know they're going to attack the glass,
Speaker 7: and they shoot the ball very very well. They play
Speaker 7: within each other and everything from Hood said, it starts
Speaker 7: from the inside. So we just got to continue the
Speaker 7: way we play of taking away threes because they're making
Speaker 7: twelve of games shooting almost thirty nine percent on three,
Speaker 7: So we got to make sure we take that away
Speaker 7: and make them take tough shots at the rim like
Speaker 7: we've been doing. But the main thing is keeping them
Speaker 7: off the glass and not getting us in bout trouble.
Speaker 1: Well, we just talked about two of your bigs who
Speaker 1: can hit three pointers. I gotta think when they your
Speaker 1: upcoming team, what is it Carmen's Group or something like that,
Speaker 1: whatever they are, when you start looking at the video
Speaker 1: of your game, they gotta be scratching her heads. Like, man,
Speaker 1: we got to cover Willie, Carley Stein and Natestina on
Speaker 1: the outside. That's a huge plus for you, isn't it.
Speaker 7: Well? Yeah, I mean, shoot, I'll tell you what. It's
Speaker 7: a couple other guys we got they can shoot the basketball. Yeah,
Speaker 7: shoot in particular well that night, So you know, that's
Speaker 7: not too many guys on our team that can't make
Speaker 7: the three. They can't shoot, which makes us that much
Speaker 7: voting it uh and that much difficult to scout for.
Speaker 7: And you know he's been uh, pretty successful then. And
Speaker 7: I'll tell you what. And we got to go to
Speaker 7: guy in cancer. You know, he didn't play well the
Speaker 7: other night like he has been, but man, he he's
Speaker 7: a force to be reckoned with. And he may be
Speaker 7: one of the best big especially score wise, in this tournament.
Speaker 1: I felt like the referees let you guys play quote unquote,
Speaker 1: which is a pro thing. I know I thought at
Speaker 1: times it was kind of ridiculously too physical. But does
Speaker 1: that help you guys as much as anybody or does
Speaker 1: it pretty much balance out?
Speaker 7: Well, it bounces out, but you know we're getting you know,
Speaker 7: if they call it right from every guard, were probably
Speaker 7: in foul trouble fouled out just kind of guard Eric
Speaker 7: Bledsoe and one of the twins. So you know, it's
Speaker 7: been We're not as physical. I think we're just a
Speaker 7: better defensive team. And I think we're defending without balence
Speaker 7: more so than these other teams. But I'll tell you
Speaker 7: what Friday night is gonna be a very sensible basketball game.
Speaker 1: Well, I'll let you guys go with this. John, the
Speaker 1: last question for you watching you mentioned you were part
Speaker 1: of that run and part of that championship team back
Speaker 1: in twenty twelve. But watching the Twins play, uh, are
Speaker 1: you're flashing back much to those days because you that
Speaker 1: was that was the heyday of the John Caliperi era.
Speaker 6: It's very fun to watch. Aaron didn't have a.
Speaker 1: Night the other night. I don't.
Speaker 7: I don't think it's forward. Uh usually, I mean when.
Speaker 6: They were here and during that run, if Aaron had
Speaker 6: a bad night and the next one he was he
Speaker 6: was due. So I'm hoping that that kind of repeats
Speaker 6: itself for this for this upcoming game against uh how
Speaker 6: alumni and crew. So but it's uh, it's been good.
Speaker 6: I just hope he makes a couple of big shots
Speaker 6: like he did.
Speaker 7: In the back.
Speaker 1: John Hood assistant coach, Sean Woods assistant coach to Tyler Ulis.
Speaker 1: For the TBT event, they are driving to Philadelphia. We'll
Speaker 1: we'll get into that some other time, but making the
Speaker 1: sacrifice for the team there their team coaches, fellas, be
Speaker 1: careful on the road, keep each other awake, and best
Speaker 1: of luck to you.
Speaker 6: Thanks Jack, thank you.
Speaker 1: Stay with us. Number two is next year on six
Speaker 1: thirty w l a P. Welcome back to the Big
Speaker 1: Blue and Cider Hour, number two of our show coming
Speaker 1: up at the bottom of the hour. He's back, Gary
Speaker 1: Moore or West End Bureau Cheap. Between his vacation and
Speaker 1: my vacation, we haven't really well. We have communicated, but
Speaker 1: we haven't heard from him on the air. So he
Speaker 1: has a number of things to get off his chest.
Speaker 1: So we'll be hearing from him coming up. As I said,
Speaker 1: in less than thirty minutes. But I as promised, we're
Speaker 1: going to talk more and hear more from the basketball Wildcats.
Speaker 1: They're making them available right now to us because there
Speaker 1: are summer workouts going on rule changes, and boy, they
Speaker 1: couldn't come at a better time for the Kentucky Wildcats,
Speaker 1: a team that basically, you hate to say put together
Speaker 1: from scratch because that just sounds like they're just snagging
Speaker 1: anything they can and throwing it into the pot and
Speaker 1: stirring it up. But basically, when it came to the roster,
Speaker 1: new coach, new staff, and they had to start over,
Speaker 1: everybody left, as we all know. So it's a good
Speaker 1: time for additional practices or early practices, which means we
Speaker 1: get a chance to talk and you guys get a
Speaker 1: chance to hear and see and read about these new ballplayers.
Speaker 1: We got a chance to talk to three more this week.
Speaker 1: One of them I've already talked to it length, that
Speaker 1: Trent Noah on the show not too long ago, but
Speaker 1: you know, I've got a chance that we're owing a
Speaker 1: few more questions to him. But I really got a
Speaker 1: chance to talk, as did everybody else with Jackson Robinson
Speaker 1: and Kobe Bray. I had not yet talked to them,
Speaker 1: or met them, had read about them, obviously. But Jackson
Speaker 1: Robinson was a guy that people spotted early when Pope
Speaker 1: first started putting a roster together, and he had himself
Speaker 1: in contingent for the NBA draft. He was in the portal,
Speaker 1: could have gone back to Brigham Young, but said no
Speaker 1: to the NBA, and then you know, he might have
Speaker 1: gone or he might have stayed in the draft. But
Speaker 1: as you'll hear, he had to make a decision after
Speaker 1: a workout as to whether or not he'd roll those dice.
Speaker 1: So he decided obviously to come to Kentucky, which is
Speaker 1: his third stop, sorry, his fourth stop in college basketball.
Speaker 1: He began his career at Texas A and m didn't
Speaker 1: play a whole lot there. Played at Arkansas the next year,
Speaker 1: transferred within the league, played fourteen games there, then moved
Speaker 1: on to Brigham Young, where he was really really good.
Speaker 1: Played a couple of seasons there, sixty eight games, thirty
Speaker 1: six starts, averaged twenty seven minutes per game over his
Speaker 1: career at BYU. Last year he was the Big Twelve
Speaker 1: sixth Man of the Year and of course picking up
Speaker 1: honorable mention all Big twelve accolades. So he blossomed at BYU,
Speaker 1: he had a chance to play and became one of
Speaker 1: the league's best shooters. Forty three times. He was in
Speaker 1: double figures for BYU, five times twenty points or more,
Speaker 1: and over his two years, the third most three point
Speaker 1: field goals per game. He averaged more than two triples
Speaker 1: per game and had a three point streak three pointer
Speaker 1: streak of twenty one straight games with a three pointer.
Speaker 1: So here's here's a guy who fits exactly what Mark
Speaker 1: Pope was looking for at Brigham Young and looking for
Speaker 1: this season at Kentucky. So we had a chance to
Speaker 1: talk to Robinson. He talked to us about how his
Speaker 1: game has progressed through his career.
Speaker 8: To be honest with you, I think it has more
Speaker 8: so to do with this experience getting out there and playing,
Speaker 8: and I think going into year five for me, I
Speaker 8: think it'll be good just to go out there and
Speaker 8: be a vet for this team, be a leader. That's
Speaker 8: what I came here to doing, to win ball games.
Speaker 9: When everybody's ran new to a team, who who steps
Speaker 9: up and provides that voice, you know, to league.
Speaker 8: I don't think it's one specific person Coach Pope causes
Speaker 8: a player lead team so everybody on the team has
Speaker 8: a voice. There's not one specific person, but you know,
Speaker 8: just making sure that we are leading the team as
Speaker 8: players and not just the coaches I think is huge,
Speaker 8: especially coming from YU in my second year. That was
Speaker 8: something that coach Pope made a big emphasis on. So
Speaker 8: I think these guys have done a good job at it,
Speaker 8: and I think it's paying off for the huge and
Speaker 8: we're joll super fast.
Speaker 9: How easy your tough was the decision to stay in
Speaker 9: the draft versus versus coming back to school?
Speaker 5: What did you struggle it all or was it pretty?
Speaker 10: Oh?
Speaker 8: Yeah, I mean I was the deadline was it was crazy.
Speaker 8: I'd worked out in Milwaukee the day of the deadline,
Speaker 8: and on my way to the airport, I was still
Speaker 8: trying to figure out what I was going to do
Speaker 8: for twelve o'clock head So.
Speaker 1: Where were you?
Speaker 7: Where were you heading back to from Milwaukee back to
Speaker 7: going back home to Oklahoma.
Speaker 8: So I spent a lot of time in the airport
Speaker 8: talking to my family trying to figure out what the
Speaker 8: next best move was, which was what's it was a
Speaker 8: tough choice.
Speaker 6: When did you come to the decision in the air
Speaker 6: while you were flying?
Speaker 11: When did when did.
Speaker 8: It Probably like an hour before I had gotten the air.
Speaker 8: I had talked it all over my parents, my age
Speaker 8: and figured it all out.
Speaker 1: So what's sensitive for you? Why did you make that choice.
Speaker 8: I just felt like it was the best one for
Speaker 8: my growth and my career overall, so, you know, just
Speaker 8: trying to make the right decisions. One of the things
Speaker 8: I love about Coach Pope is he he knews or
Speaker 8: he knew that I was going through a lot, so
Speaker 8: he gave me the space and the time that I needed.
Speaker 8: But he was also, you know, whis from behind my
Speaker 8: ear to come to Kentucky. So I mean, he's a
Speaker 8: great guy, and I love Coach Pope and we have
Speaker 8: a great relationship. So it was a good experience just
Speaker 8: being able to communicate with him, and not only him
Speaker 8: trying and recruit me back to Kentucky, but to have
Speaker 8: regal conversation even after like some of the Combine games,
Speaker 8: he gave me a little advice stuff like that. So
Speaker 8: but it was good.
Speaker 7: So coming back, what's the biggest thing you wanted to
Speaker 7: add to your game?
Speaker 9: Is it something specific with your game or is it
Speaker 9: more like leadership called what's the biggest thing you're wanting
Speaker 9: to me.
Speaker 8: I think this summer has been about leadership, you know,
Speaker 8: just trying to get the guys in the right state
Speaker 8: of mind with a new program, new group of guys,
Speaker 8: and I think we're all doing a pretty good job
Speaker 8: at that. It's not only me, but it's everybody else
Speaker 8: on this team. There's a lot of vets. So a
Speaker 8: guy like Lamar Butler is always talking trying to figure
Speaker 8: out what the next best move is as a floor general,
Speaker 8: and everybody respects him.
Speaker 11: They want and practice. Everyone was kind of surprised that
Speaker 11: the green light that Pope has given everybody. All the shooters, right,
Speaker 11: you obviously know that, so you know that wasn't an
Speaker 11: adjustment for you. But what are some things that everyone
Speaker 11: is trying to adjust with as they're you know, learning
Speaker 11: about him.
Speaker 8: Like you said, just shooting open shots. I think that's
Speaker 8: something that a lot of people don't really think about,
Speaker 8: but when you play for a coach like coach Pope,
Speaker 8: that's something he emphasizes every day. If you don't shoot
Speaker 8: an open shot and you're probably gonna come out. So,
Speaker 8: I mean, you can't ask for a better coach than that,
Speaker 8: to be honest with you, and it's been a great experience.
Speaker 12: What what what does he have because some of the
Speaker 12: players that he just has it.
Speaker 5: What is it that he has that makes you guys
Speaker 5: follow him?
Speaker 13: Or I don't know?
Speaker 8: Or is the only answer I got. Coach Pope is
Speaker 8: a great guy.
Speaker 1: All of you guys who have played a lot of
Speaker 1: basketball around the country, a lot of different teams, different teammates,
Speaker 1: but this roster basically starting from scratch with a new
Speaker 1: coaching chaff What is that? What has that been like?
Speaker 1: What's that that process been like for you guys.
Speaker 8: I think it's been super cool. Like you said, it's
Speaker 8: a lot of different people from different areas, different experiences,
Speaker 8: so just learning all of them and just getting to
Speaker 8: know your teammates on a deeper level has been huge.
Speaker 8: I think it's been really fun. I just brought up
Speaker 8: but Kurk Crisa. I love hearing stories about his time
Speaker 8: in Estonia and what he's been been through. So, you know,
Speaker 8: like I said, just hearing unique stories and learning the
Speaker 8: gel and play as a team, it's been fun.
Speaker 11: Obviously, building an entire team is a tough task. I mean,
Speaker 11: it could have gone pretty sold, But do you guys
Speaker 11: almost kind of look around and be like, oh, this
Speaker 11: is actually kind of impressive building an entire team and
Speaker 11: it actually has this much talent.
Speaker 8: I mean yeah, like I said, we're just trying to
Speaker 8: chase number nine, and we know we have the talent
Speaker 8: to do it. So it's just a matter of us
Speaker 8: putting in the work and trusting each other.
Speaker 11: That's it.
Speaker 1: And that's Jackson Robinson. Kobe Bray had transferred in from Dayton,
Speaker 1: where he was a three point specialist. Made one hundred
Speaker 1: triples last year. You may know this by now, hit
Speaker 1: nearly fifty percent from long range, average twenty nine minutes
Speaker 1: per game last season for Dayton, which finished one game
Speaker 1: out of first in the eight ten, advanced to the
Speaker 1: second round of the nca Tournament. And he got off
Speaker 1: to a slow start because he was on crutches, really
Speaker 1: in a wheelchair at first with an injury. But he's
Speaker 1: ready to go now.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 5: I wasn't able to be on the court unfortunately, you know,
Speaker 5: due to some recent injuries and stuff. But you know,
Speaker 5: just seeing it from the outside, I was able to
Speaker 5: learn a lot, you know, try to coast the guys
Speaker 5: up as much as I can, you know, try to
Speaker 5: be a leader off the court. Because you know that's
Speaker 5: only going to help me once I get back and
Speaker 5: showing now coming back into practices. But you know, definitely
Speaker 5: just been learning a lot, learning from you know, Jackson.
Speaker 5: He's been in the program with Coach Hope for a while,
Speaker 5: so you know, learning from him. He's probably the most
Speaker 5: experience with Coach Pope, and so yeah, just learned from
Speaker 5: him and the other guys in the staff as well.
Speaker 2: So what's the best way to describe this offense?
Speaker 1: Mm hmm.
Speaker 5: Best way to the Scott his offense? I probably say
Speaker 5: fun and fast. You know, I feel like we play
Speaker 5: really really fast, but it's so enjoyable, you know, watching
Speaker 5: it on the outside, you know, I got to see
Speaker 5: like how fun it actually looks, you know, and I
Speaker 5: feel like when we were finally able to do it
Speaker 5: in rep Arena in front of you know, BBN and everybody,
Speaker 5: I think they're gonna love, love, love like the our
Speaker 5: offense and just the way that we play.
Speaker 9: This team shoot it as well as we're here.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, definitely definitely. But you know I'm gonna leave
Speaker 5: that for you guys to see, you know, when the
Speaker 5: season starts.
Speaker 1: Intriguing comments from Kobe Bray about how much Big Blue
Speaker 1: Nation will love the way this team plays and shoots
Speaker 1: the basketball. Speaking of shooting, Trent Noah, you saw him
Speaker 1: in the sweet sixteen. You may have seen him take
Speaker 1: his team to the championship game where Harlan County lost
Speaker 1: to Travis Perry and Lyon County. And now he's a Wildcat,
Speaker 1: very nearly a South Carolina game Cock where he committed,
Speaker 1: but with the coaching change, Mark Pope stepped in and
Speaker 1: now Trentonoah's in Lexington.
Speaker 14: Our chemistry is super hot and through the roof. And
Speaker 14: I feel like that's compliment to our coaches about who
Speaker 14: we brought in. We're all kind of similar guys. And
Speaker 14: then and then getting to hang out off the court
Speaker 14: is a big deal as well. I mean, we do
Speaker 14: a lot of stuff off the basketball court, and then
Speaker 14: that just translates on the court.
Speaker 1: I feel like, how much has it helped too that?
Speaker 1: I mean, you've gotched so many experienced guys who've been
Speaker 1: through a lot of things before they even got here.
Speaker 1: How much does that help from a chemistry standpoint?
Speaker 14: Yeah, definitely. I mean they know what works and what
Speaker 14: doesn't work. I mean they've been through it and they've
Speaker 14: seen they've seen what's good and what's bad, and they
Speaker 14: get to they get to do the good. So yeah,
Speaker 14: it definitely makes it easier with an experienced group.
Speaker 1: You're a true rookie playing with guys who are in
Speaker 1: there fifteen six years. What's that like?
Speaker 14: Yeah, I mean it's awesome. There's such good players, and
Speaker 14: you get to learn so much from them. I mean
Speaker 14: they've been through it, They've been in my shoes. So
Speaker 14: just getting to talk with them, pick their brain and
Speaker 14: and and just just hearing what they have to say
Speaker 14: just means a lot to me.
Speaker 1: Are helpful with you?
Speaker 14: Absolutely?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 14: Absolutely?
Speaker 5: What's the best aply super sieved from the more veteran
Speaker 5: player or something.
Speaker 1: I would say?
Speaker 14: Uh, they we always talk about. I mean you'll have
Speaker 14: your good days, you'll have your bad Uh, just level head, Uh,
Speaker 14: remain humble and and everything will work out.
Speaker 1: You're not starting over, but you know you're there's a
Speaker 1: pecking order. Obviously, you got to earn your way after
Speaker 1: playing so well on high school. What's that going to
Speaker 1: be like all over again?
Speaker 14: Yeah, I mean it's super fun. It's awesome. I mean
Speaker 14: it's time to compete again and and and and earn
Speaker 14: your strips. So yeah, I'm super excited for it, and uh,
Speaker 14: just every day in practice, just just competing and getting better.
Speaker 14: Les Travis ever talk about the championship game with you.
Speaker 14: We've talked about it a few times. I mean, uh,
Speaker 14: they had an exceptional team. I mean they obviously had
Speaker 14: a great player and us, and they had a few
Speaker 14: guys around him that were really good as well. But yeah,
Speaker 14: I mean I think we'll talk about that for for
Speaker 14: a long long time. I mean that was a that
Speaker 14: was an awesome game for both of us.
Speaker 1: You kind of had to take over at times with
Speaker 1: your team in the state tournament. It's not quite gonna
Speaker 1: be that way though in college ball, is it. How
Speaker 1: do you see your role? What's this team? Yeah?
Speaker 14: Just doing whatever I can to help the team win,
Speaker 14: no matter what that is. I mean, just trying to
Speaker 14: be the best team and it can be, and putting
Speaker 14: our team in the best position to win, no matter
Speaker 14: no matter if it's cheering the guys on or hitting
Speaker 14: a big shot. I mean, just just doing whatever I
Speaker 14: can to help us in the best position to win.
Speaker 1: How come you off?
Speaker 14: Yeah, I mean I feel like this is set up,
Speaker 14: is set up for me. I mean I think it's
Speaker 14: set up for everybody. I think that's kind of why
Speaker 14: that he he hand picked these guys and brought them
Speaker 14: in to play his style of basketball. So yeah, it's awesome.
Speaker 14: I'm I'm loving it. What are your first impressions of
Speaker 14: Pope's coaching styles so far and kind of how do
Speaker 14: you think you all will play this year? Do you
Speaker 14: have an idea but yet? Yeah, I mean it's awesome.
Speaker 14: I mean, super fast, shoot a lot of threes. I
Speaker 14: mean that's the modern game of basketball.
Speaker 12: Uh.
Speaker 14: He's super brilliant, great basketball mine. So it should be
Speaker 14: a fun year, especially offensively.
Speaker 5: Here as a player, he's here now forst year as
Speaker 5: a coach. Do you guys feel in a little bit
Speaker 5: of pressure anything from BBN or all these fans? How
Speaker 5: how big basketball meet is this community?
Speaker 7: Yeah?
Speaker 14: I mean, I mean, growing up Kentucky fan, I obviously
Speaker 14: know how big of a deal it is to to
Speaker 14: wear the Kentucky jersey, and I mean we're at the
Speaker 14: University Kentucky and pressures are privileged, like it's it's amazing
Speaker 14: to be here, super grateful to be here. So yeah,
Speaker 14: I mean that's why we don't take it for granted.
Speaker 14: We come in every day and work and and it
Speaker 14: really is an honor to put on the jersey. So
Speaker 14: just just trying to leave it all and and do
Speaker 14: it for do it for the state. What does that
Speaker 14: pressure like? I mean, it's just I mean, everybody expects
Speaker 14: to win at Kentucky. I mean it's the mecca college basketball.
Speaker 14: So anything short of a national championship is is a failure.
Speaker 14: So that's that's our goal, uh, to to hang banners
Speaker 14: and and that's what we're gonna.
Speaker 1: Do, trying to know and from what we hear about
Speaker 1: this offense, he will fit right in. Up next, once again,
Speaker 1: we'll hear from some of the brand new UK women's players,
Speaker 1: as well as one holdover one who came back from
Speaker 1: last year's team. Next on the Big Blue Insider Bottom
Speaker 1: of the hour, Gary Moore on six thirty WLAP. It
Speaker 1: is the Big Blue Insider coming up in just a
Speaker 1: few minutes. West End Bureau Chief Gary Moore will be
Speaker 1: back with us after a break, my vacation, his vacation,
Speaker 1: but we're back together again. We talked to some of
Speaker 1: the UK women yesterday, including Sanaiah Tyler, who, as we said,
Speaker 1: was one of two players to come back from last
Speaker 1: year's team. She played in thirty two games, average a
Speaker 1: little more than ten points per game, and talk to
Speaker 1: us about the decision to come back with a brand
Speaker 1: new coach and a brand new roster.
Speaker 15: It it was a very hard decision. I know, I
Speaker 15: put my trust in God and I just found signs
Speaker 15: to keep me here. So it was sad to see
Speaker 15: everybody go, But I know, like my story is different
Speaker 15: from everybody else's, so I'm just embracing what the God
Speaker 15: Lord has for me.
Speaker 1: So why did you stick?
Speaker 15: I just wanted to see the culture. I'm I'm loyal, so, uh,
Speaker 15: Kentucky's close to home. I'm from Saint Louis. It's only
Speaker 15: five hours, so I didn't want to move. I want
Speaker 15: to take my family for somewhere else and travel around.
Speaker 15: So I just felt like staying.
Speaker 1: What do you think of the roster Coach Brooks is
Speaker 1: put together, especially the size and the potential physicality in
Speaker 1: such a tough league.
Speaker 15: Yeah, I think the roster you put together is gonna
Speaker 15: be really really good, just to be able to compete
Speaker 15: in the sec You like, got tall, A lot of
Speaker 15: tall people here, so it's gonna be a lot different
Speaker 15: than last year's team, But I'm excited to see the work.
Speaker 1: You're an old head. What's that like for you?
Speaker 15: That is it's tough to say, Like I remember my
Speaker 15: freshman year. Now I'm a junior, so I'm an upperclassman.
Speaker 15: It's just it's tough. But time shrew does fly by
Speaker 15: for real.
Speaker 1: You know the style of play that's ahead of you
Speaker 1: be already. That's gotta be exciting.
Speaker 15: Yes, yes, it is still trying to I do notice
Speaker 15: out of play, but it's still a few things like
Speaker 15: we can all work on stuff.
Speaker 8: So yeah, this time of the summer is so limited,
Speaker 8: right you only can practice all the court so much.
Speaker 12: It can only be in the weight room so much.
Speaker 12: You know, there's so many rules.
Speaker 8: How are you making the most out of the limited
Speaker 8: time that you all do have together as a team
Speaker 8: right now?
Speaker 15: Yeah, we're just going hard each day because like you said,
Speaker 15: it's only a limited amount of time and a few
Speaker 15: things we can work on in the summer. But like
Speaker 15: the summer is just trying to, like I said, get
Speaker 15: everybody figured out, figure out what everybody can do well,
Speaker 15: and just try to implement some new things going into
Speaker 15: the fall.
Speaker 1: So Tyler is back and now joined by a lot
Speaker 1: of new faces, including Dajah Lawrence, who spent her career
Speaker 1: prior to Kentucky four seasons at what they used to
Speaker 1: call you UNC Charlotte now just Charlotte, where she was
Speaker 1: an All Conference performer, scored eleven hundred plus points, grabbed
Speaker 1: nearly three hundred rebounds, but decided to sign off with
Speaker 1: Kenny Brooks and the Wildcats.
Speaker 12: Everybody was just so welcoming as soon as I came
Speaker 12: off the plane, the coaches, they welcomed me with open arms.
Speaker 12: Coach Brooks was amazing, he laid it out for me.
Speaker 12: And just the skilled development here. I think it will
Speaker 12: help me get to the next level in the next
Speaker 12: part of my career. And just the fan base here
Speaker 12: at Kentucky. I've always watched Kentucky's wins basketball, even when
Speaker 12: I wasn't playing here, So just being able to play
Speaker 12: in the fan base, and I think it's a great
Speaker 12: opportunity right now, just pretty much everything's new, you know,
Speaker 12: just a new era of women's basketball right now Kentucky.
Speaker 1: Not to sound like a cynic, but aren't all recruiters
Speaker 1: welcome in with open arms? I mean, what was it
Speaker 1: about Coach Brooks there had to be something kind of
Speaker 1: special about him.
Speaker 12: I just think the way he approached it, he just
Speaker 12: he felt he seemed very genuine, and you don't get
Speaker 12: that from a lot of coaches these days. A lot
Speaker 12: of coaches are all about, I just want you here
Speaker 12: to help us win. But he was like, I want,
Speaker 12: I want you to come, so of course you can
Speaker 12: help us win, but I'm going to help you improve,
Speaker 12: like as a woman and whatever you want to do
Speaker 12: post basketball.
Speaker 1: This is so brand new. I mean, new staff, new roster,
Speaker 1: almost new facilities. I mean, that's got to be exciting.
Speaker 1: What's that like for you?
Speaker 12: It's very exciting. I'm just grateful to be a part
Speaker 12: of the first team that gets to play in the
Speaker 12: new Memorial Coliseum. I think it's going to be very exciting,
Speaker 12: but it's it's also just it grounds me and I'm
Speaker 12: just grateful to have this opportunity.
Speaker 1: Dodger Lawrence is from Greenville, North Carolina, but this Kentucky
Speaker 1: team has a real international flare to it. Players from Portugal,
Speaker 1: the Czech Republic, and two players from Australia, including Amelia Hassett.
Speaker 10: It is difficult being like such a long way from
Speaker 10: family and obviously coming to a new place, it's obviously hard,
Speaker 10: but just having like the support system around and obviously
Speaker 10: all the girls kind of to keep you busy and
Speaker 10: get your mind off things, so it gets easier once
Speaker 10: you sort of get to know everyone.
Speaker 1: So how did you find your way to election?
Speaker 3: So?
Speaker 10: I went to a duco first, so obviously I was
Speaker 10: there for two years, and then obviously getting recruited by
Speaker 10: coach Brooks and then just loved his culture and everything
Speaker 10: about him and obviously all the coaching staff, and then
Speaker 10: when he said that he was coming to Kentucky, he
Speaker 10: was kind of a no brainer, and it was mainly
Speaker 10: about him and the coaching stuff and obviously the girls
Speaker 10: that he had also coming.
Speaker 1: So yeah, I've heard so much about him and his culture.
Speaker 1: How would you describe that? How would you explain it?
Speaker 10: I guess I would say he's very like caring and
Speaker 10: obviously cares about all of us and loves all of us,
Speaker 10: but he's very like tough, loving, so like obviously on
Speaker 10: the court he wants us to perform and like be
Speaker 10: at our best, so obviously he pushes us a lot,
Speaker 10: but then obviously off the court he loves us, like
Speaker 10: obviously he's a girl dad, as he said, so yeah,
Speaker 10: he just loves all of us.
Speaker 1: You know what you're getting into with the SEC. It
Speaker 1: is the best and it's a tough physical league, especially
Speaker 1: for bigs. Yeah, how do you feel about that? Yeah?
Speaker 10: Obviously it is a big conference, so it's obviously going
Speaker 10: to be a step up from where I previously was.
Speaker 10: But I think just everyone here and obviously all the
Speaker 10: girls will be going up against each other and practice
Speaker 10: and stuff, so I think will be prepared.
Speaker 1: As it is six three, they also have big so
Speaker 1: you go six four, six ' five and six seven.
Speaker 1: This is I got to think the biggest team in
Speaker 1: the history of UK women's basketball. Up next, West End
Speaker 1: Bureau Chief Gary Moore, you're on the Big Blue Insider
Speaker 1: six thirty w early Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider.
Speaker 1: Take the other again for the first time in a
Speaker 1: long time. We surely along with our West End Bureau
Speaker 1: chief Gary Moore. He's been on the West Coast though,
Speaker 1: and I was out down in a big d for
Speaker 1: a while, so we haven't shared much lately. How are
Speaker 1: you sir? Very good? You're right.
Speaker 9: I was moving to a new West Coast Bureau office
Speaker 9: out there whenever we need to do some West Coast
Speaker 9: stuff and you know what moving, you know what moving
Speaker 9: is like. You know, for our West Coast office, the
Speaker 9: main thing is making sure that you unhooked the kegs
Speaker 9: in proper fashion and then get them hooked up through
Speaker 9: the new taps.
Speaker 1: That's right.
Speaker 9: You got to get the right movers for that. I
Speaker 9: was gonna call you actually, because I know you're a
Speaker 9: pro at that stuff.
Speaker 1: So oh yeah.
Speaker 9: Anyway, with the new office out there in Long Beach
Speaker 9: is where four twenty twenty eight Olympic Games are going
Speaker 9: to be, and well, let's just get right into this.
Speaker 9: Two guys in a six pack. This is our first
Speaker 9: sip here. We're talking about the Olympics now, although I
Speaker 9: will tell you out there people in Los Angeles have
Speaker 9: been talking about the opening ceremony that we saw in Paris,
Speaker 9: which is by far, nobody's going to top that, Okay, La,
Speaker 9: with all the stars and all the cool things that
Speaker 9: are out there, they ain't going to top Paris in
Speaker 9: four years to compete with the Louver and the Eiffel
Speaker 9: Tower and the Sin and all of that. And I
Speaker 9: know a lot of people are still talking about what happened.
Speaker 9: You know that whole silly controversy about the last supper painting,
Speaker 9: a painting that people got outraged by. Had no problem
Speaker 9: with the Mona Lisa floating in the sin, by the way,
Speaker 9: That other Da Vinci wasn't the real one, by the way,
Speaker 9: right exactly. So we talked about stuff that happened on there,
Speaker 9: and maybe the worst thing that happened was that it
Speaker 9: least a flagholder guy lost his wedding ring in the sin.
Speaker 9: Maybe it was the worst thing that happened during the
Speaker 9: whole thing. But you know what didn't happen during the
Speaker 9: opening ceremony. Let to go down the list. There were
Speaker 9: no terrorist attacks during the ceremonies, were no boat crashes.
Speaker 9: Nobody jumped the torch bears running with that, and speaking
Speaker 9: of running, nobody slipped and fell that I saw carrying
Speaker 9: the torches or doing any of the stunts on the
Speaker 9: whole thing. Of course, there was no dry weather either,
Speaker 9: But there are also no extra notes for Mike Arriko
Speaker 9: to tell us who some of the performers were or
Speaker 9: where some of the countries were located. I mean, I'd
Speaker 9: say they're going through all this going like where's Togo again?
Speaker 9: Not the sandwich shop either. But you know what, Dick,
Speaker 9: I think, aside from all of that, it was the
Speaker 9: best opening Olympic ceremony by far I've ever seen.
Speaker 1: I heard complaints about the boats and then it wasn't
Speaker 1: a traditional march in not many either. I loved it.
Speaker 1: I thought it was you know how I am anything
Speaker 1: that's just different, and the sane rivers, as polluted as
Speaker 1: it is, is such an important part of the history
Speaker 1: of that city. But I just thought it was a
Speaker 1: great idea. I tipped my cap in the pouring rain
Speaker 1: to any of the texts who had anything to do,
Speaker 1: Oh man, getting that on television. People have no idea
Speaker 1: how tough it is in the rain to make that happen,
Speaker 1: and communicating things like that. I loved it, And yeah,
Speaker 1: I felt to the guy with a wedding rising, but
Speaker 1: I think his wife understood second swig on the six packs.
Speaker 1: So let's talk USA Olympic basketball. USA women coming into
Speaker 1: the Paris Olympics looking for their eighth straight gold medal.
Speaker 1: They're off to a great start, of course, blowing out
Speaker 1: Japan one oh seven seventy six on Monday. How if
Speaker 1: you saw this before the game, A Japan fan held
Speaker 1: up a sign that said, you need Caitlin Clark to
Speaker 1: beat US. Yeah, if they wanted to beat Japan by
Speaker 1: more than twenty six yeah, maybe then. The men's USA
Speaker 1: teams won seven out of the last eight gold May
Speaker 1: I bring up when they settled for the bronze in
Speaker 1: the two thousand and four Athens Games, when Argentina beat
Speaker 1: Italy in the finals. Hopefully that won't happen again this year.
Speaker 1: Clearly though, the European competition has gotten a lot better
Speaker 1: for the men and Dick after the WNBA Stars beat
Speaker 1: up on Team USA, I ask you who's under more
Speaker 1: pressure to get the gold? The women or those men
Speaker 1: who looked pretty mortal in that exhibition with South Sudan.
Speaker 1: I think that's a great that's a great question, I
Speaker 1: would say of the men, just because the spotlight burns
Speaker 1: a lot brighter and hotter on the men's team. But
Speaker 1: you make a great point about the women's team. I'm
Speaker 1: a little surprised, Gary that the world hasn't made greater
Speaker 1: strides in women's basketball, because we taught the world how
Speaker 1: to play basketball. And I thought one of the most
Speaker 1: telling stats about people love to compare and it's ridiculous.
Speaker 1: You should never do this. Whatever Olympic year we're in
Speaker 1: that basketball team to the true dream team, the Michael
Speaker 1: Jordan Dree never ever ever do that. You should never
Speaker 1: do that. But that team Gary in Olympic competition faced
Speaker 1: a total of nine NBA players. On other teams, this
Speaker 1: team will face a total of sixty one at least
Speaker 1: NBA players, which is one of the reasons South Sedan
Speaker 1: gave him as scared in a preliminary game. So but
Speaker 1: Charles Barkley was talking on his podcast about what made
Speaker 1: the Dream Team, among many things, so special, and he
Speaker 1: said it was the unselfishness. Everybody knew Michael was the star,
Speaker 1: but he said Chuck Daily did such a great job
Speaker 1: of handling the egos and everybody played for one another,
Speaker 1: for each other. He said, the next Dream Dream Team,
Speaker 1: the next Olympic team he was on, was totally selfish,
Speaker 1: and he said was miserable. So that is I think
Speaker 1: the key to getting things done.
Speaker 9: Agree one hundred third swig in the six pack. One
Speaker 9: of my favorite questions to ever ask you, are you
Speaker 9: ready for some pro football?
Speaker 1: Now?
Speaker 9: Do we care it's meaningless practice pro football? No, we don't.
Speaker 9: The annual Hall of Fame Game Dick tomorrow night already
Speaker 9: eight pm ABC at ESPN. That's been a good summer
Speaker 9: for two players in particular. I want to point out one.
Speaker 9: Your boy, quarterback Jordan Love, took the Packers for a
Speaker 9: four year, two hundred and twenty million extension, seventy five
Speaker 9: million dollars signing bonus one hundred and sixty million guaranteed.
Speaker 9: It's the richest quarterback, right, so, the richest content for
Speaker 9: quarterback in NFL history, and uh it he deserves it.
Speaker 9: I mean, look at his super Bowl record. I mean
Speaker 9: it's like a uh wait a minute, that's checking notes.
Speaker 9: It doesn't seem to be one here. Well, well, then
Speaker 9: if he doesn't have a super Bowl, how about the
Speaker 9: playoff record? Look how long this? Oh well that's nothing.
Speaker 9: Let's see one and one and okay, two hundred and
Speaker 9: twenty million for all that. Okay, Well, he's gonna be
Speaker 9: really good and get him down the line, we hope.
Speaker 9: Then there's Tua and the Dolphins checkbook. He just dinged
Speaker 9: the Fish front office for two hundred and twelve point
Speaker 9: four million, an extension over four years with even more
Speaker 9: guaranteed dough than Love. One hundred and sixty seven million.
Speaker 9: And how about his playoff record. Huh, that's something to
Speaker 9: really be impressed. Zhe to one in the playoffs against
Speaker 9: that in that sub zero game. It's Kansas City quarterback
Speaker 9: rating sixty three point nine. Okay, well, uh, let me
Speaker 9: ask you this, did your pack and the Fins fork
Speaker 9: over way too much dough for two little so far?
Speaker 1: Maybe so I know that's not the answer you're looking for.
Speaker 1: But one of the first things I always remind myself
Speaker 1: when I read about these contracts, and there's a lot
Speaker 1: of guaranteed money, but NFL contracts, as you know, because
Speaker 1: you've you've covered a lot of Major League Baseball not
Speaker 1: the same as Baseball and NBA contracts. You can get
Speaker 1: if you get a signing bonus, that's great, but not
Speaker 1: all of it is guaranteed, and it's easier for teams
Speaker 1: to get out from under that money than it is
Speaker 1: to have to pay up. You make a great point
Speaker 1: about what are these guys accomplished. Clearly, the franchisers are
Speaker 1: saying we believe in you, were committing to you for
Speaker 1: the future, and that sends a message to the rest
Speaker 1: of the franchise. But you're going to make sure you
Speaker 1: put people around them who aren't going to, you know,
Speaker 1: grumble and put their heads down. And why are you
Speaker 1: getting that by kind of money?
Speaker 10: Uh?
Speaker 1: You know, Well, we'll go back to the conversation you
Speaker 1: and I had this time last year about Love, when
Speaker 1: we talked about Aaron Rodgers trundling off to New York
Speaker 1: and how the Packers players and some of the front
Speaker 1: office people could not stop praising Jordan Love, who'd yet
Speaker 1: to take a snap that season. But they loved him.
Speaker 1: They loved his work ethic, and I think they love
Speaker 1: being out from under the Aaron Rodgers umbrella. And so
Speaker 1: I think his teammates are going to be rooting for him.
Speaker 1: I gotta think they're happy that he got the money. Now,
Speaker 1: you're right, his Super Bowl experience is a watch again
Speaker 1: on television. He might have gotten to go. A Cano
Speaker 1: players get tickets, so maybe he goes, but he also
Speaker 1: gets Gary to go buy the images and the trophies
Speaker 1: in Green Bay every day, and his way to work.
Speaker 1: He knows what's expected, and so does Tua for that matter.
Speaker 9: It's probably more than a couple of Packer fans. Well,
Speaker 9: he's worth all that just for beating the damn Cowboys
Speaker 9: last year.
Speaker 1: You and by the way, being an owner, I passed
Speaker 1: on the opportunity to go. They always have a shareholders
Speaker 1: meeting in the summer. I can never work it into
Speaker 1: my schedule. So I might have been able to get
Speaker 1: up there and question this and jump into the middle
Speaker 1: of this, but I just didn't get the opportunity. So
Speaker 1: I blame myself.
Speaker 9: I understand that fourth swig and the six pack. One
Speaker 9: more from the NFL that I think hits home with
Speaker 9: you being the best sideline guy ever in the business.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 9: New policy in the NFL has each team in every
Speaker 9: game providing a coach available for a live interview during
Speaker 9: the game, not just going into or coming out of
Speaker 9: the locker room at halftime. Now, initially they specified a
Speaker 9: head coach, but you could hear the swear words emanating
Speaker 9: from practice fields clear over here over that. So it's
Speaker 9: going to be the option of head coaches or defensive
Speaker 9: or offensive coordinators at the end of quarters or at halftime.
Speaker 9: I think you and I both know who's going to
Speaker 9: be doing the talking and exactly when that's going to
Speaker 9: be happening. And let me ask you this, what is
Speaker 9: this nonsense? Of interviewing WNBA coaches and emil BE players
Speaker 9: major League Baseball players during their games while they're trying
Speaker 9: to do stuff. Coaches in the WNBA clearly hate it.
Speaker 9: And in baseball, besides inane questions from the booth, we've
Speaker 9: already seen players commit erris while they've been miked up. Dick,
Speaker 9: I ask you, what's next? Should we be chatting with
Speaker 9: Simone Biles during her double layout with a half twist
Speaker 9: and triple double? Hey, how's the width on that balance
Speaker 9: being going for you?
Speaker 1: There?
Speaker 9: Huh oh, looks like it kind of slipped a little bit.
Speaker 13: There.
Speaker 9: You're gonna rectify that? How's it going, Simone?
Speaker 1: How's your ankle feel right now?
Speaker 9: Right?
Speaker 1: Yeah? As someone who's remember the honorable order of sideline reporters,
Speaker 1: you know, first of all, let's let's let's go last first.
Speaker 1: In game interviews are great in All Star games, in
Speaker 1: exhibition game, they're great, they're fun, they're agreed. Agree. I'm
Speaker 1: not a fan of end game. They make me nervous,
Speaker 1: and I feel bad for the players who have to
Speaker 1: do them, especially to WNBA coaches who have to do them.
Speaker 1: But I I think what happens is these clowns who
Speaker 1: make these decisions men and women see the success of
Speaker 1: them in the exhibition games. Ooh, we need that energy
Speaker 1: in our games. No, that's a bad idea. I don't
Speaker 1: like it. I'm okay with coordinators, you know why, because
Speaker 1: of a head coach doesn't clearly they're not gonna want
Speaker 1: to do it, and they're gonna be ticked off about it.
Speaker 1: You ain't gonna get much. But oftentimes assistant coaches give
Speaker 1: you more, they give you better stuff, and let's face it,
Speaker 1: they might be auditioning to be a head coach and
Speaker 1: trying to impress somebody. So, ah, you know why not.
Speaker 9: I will miss Nick Saban being interviewed at halftime after
Speaker 9: they got like a thirty four to nothing lead, and
Speaker 9: he's sandbagging. Well, you know, we're doing all these things wrong.
Speaker 9: Here I can go and yell at them. You go
Speaker 9: do that, coach Fitswig and the six Backs. I mentioned
Speaker 9: being out in LA with the new West Coast Bureau office,
Speaker 9: and I checked on our three Dodgers with Kentucky connections,
Speaker 9: Walker Bueller, Will Smith and Bobby Miller. Walker Lexington native
Speaker 9: trying to bounce back after his second Timmy John surgery,
Speaker 9: Dicky wasn't the same before he went on the IL
Speaker 9: with a hip problem and a five point eighty four eer.
Speaker 9: I can tell you his confidence has really taken a
Speaker 9: hit hit. He wasn't getting his fourth seamer where he
Speaker 9: wanted it, and his velocity was down a little bit,
Speaker 9: and I quite frankly, I don't know if he's going
Speaker 9: to come back this season as a starter at all,
Speaker 9: if at all. Louisville native Will Smith made it the
Speaker 9: All Star Game, but the summer heat I think is
Speaker 9: catching up to him. Will started June with a two
Speaker 9: ninety four average, went down to two seventy one by
Speaker 9: the first of July is now two fifty six. They
Speaker 9: will definitely need his bat if they're going to do
Speaker 9: anything in the postseason. And former U of L star
Speaker 9: pitcher Bobby Miller suffered a shoulder injury two weeks into
Speaker 9: the season. He's tried to come back. He had a
Speaker 9: disastrous ERA over eight, was sent to the miners to
Speaker 9: work it out. That's still in progress kind of a thing,
Speaker 9: although getting former Cardinal we know very well LA native
Speaker 9: Jack Flaherty yesterday should help. Even though the Dodgers are
Speaker 9: still three to one favorites now to win the World Series.
Speaker 9: I'm telling you, Dick, they're in trouble. They've played under
Speaker 9: five hundred ball in July. Last night the bullpen blew
Speaker 9: another game in the ninth and tenth innings, and other
Speaker 9: than the White Sox, no bullpen has blown more games
Speaker 9: than the Dodgers' bullpen so far this season.
Speaker 1: I would just city, I just wish Walker until he's
Speaker 1: one hundred percent. Just shut it down. Get healthy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: even if he has to miss the residence season, shut
Speaker 1: it down and get healthy. We got about two minutes here,
Speaker 1: go ahead.
Speaker 9: Finally, Dick, we were over in Paris last October. Greatest
Speaker 9: destination for foodies on planet Earth on the other end
Speaker 9: of the gormandizing gauge. Two worse places for food for
Speaker 9: me on this or any other planet airports and ballparks.
Speaker 9: I know I'm on the minority in the ballpark thing,
Speaker 9: but I bring this up because ESPN and my Summer
Speaker 9: Weekly reader had a story about the Kansas City Royals
Speaker 9: new Taste of k tacoping a new MLB ballpark food list.
Speaker 9: Hot dog wrapped in a cheeseburger case of deal with barbecue, brisket, fries, lettuce, onion,
Speaker 9: Shratchy Siracha, Crackerjacks and eight sixteen sauce. Whatever has Matt
Speaker 9: liquid that is. The Arizona Diamondbacks have apple pie chimney changas.
Speaker 9: The Red Sox have Irish nachos. I ask you, would
Speaker 9: you try any of those?
Speaker 1: Negative? Negative? But one thing I did learn when I
Speaker 1: was running around the country with Doug Flynn about ten
Speaker 1: years ago for two seasons during the minor league game
Speaker 1: of the week. These franchises, these companies, they're serious, man.
Speaker 1: There are full fledged chefs working at these ballparks. Some
Speaker 1: of them, though, are I think just getting bored and
Speaker 1: a little too creative. So yeah, but I'll say this,
Speaker 1: my go to is still I hope they still have it.
Speaker 1: I haven't been up in a while at reds games.
Speaker 1: Belgian waffles with the chicken chicken and waffles. Oh my god.
Speaker 1: Oh they great? Yeah, Oh pricey, but worth it. Gary
Speaker 1: Moore is our West Coast Bureau Chief slash West End
Speaker 1: Bureau Chief. He's been bouncing back and forth between LA
Speaker 1: and Louisville area. We're back in just a minute on
Speaker 1: the Big Moon Sider six thirty. Welcome back. We are
Speaker 1: chatting with our West End Bureau chief Gary Moore. We
Speaker 1: went through two guys in a six pack now for
Speaker 1: a couple of hot reads and Gary, the Canadian women's
Speaker 1: soccer team lost its appeal, So it's being heavily penalized
Speaker 1: for spying on the New Zealand team with drones. Now, nice,
Speaker 1: I mean, how in the world is there? Yeah, how
Speaker 1: can you expect this day and age not to be caught?
Speaker 1: Number one? Number two? Is there just not enough video
Speaker 1: out there of the New Zealand team playing soccer to
Speaker 1: where you have to use drones to scout in this
Speaker 1: day and age. You know somebody with a shotgun is
Speaker 1: going to take your drone down right.
Speaker 9: Plus, there's a history of this. ESPN's reporter that this
Speaker 9: is not the first time that the Canadian women and
Speaker 9: men have tried to cheat and spy. This goes back
Speaker 9: two or three four years ago. Apparently they did this
Speaker 9: with the Tokyo women's soccer team in twenty one. So
Speaker 9: ESPN's got quite the whole history about this sort of thing.
Speaker 9: So this isn't just an isolated, isolated incident here. This
Speaker 9: goes back a little bit. They're lucky they're still even
Speaker 9: playing as far as I'm concerned they're lucky because they
Speaker 9: could have really come down and shut out the whole thing,
Speaker 9: which is bad for the players. Players aren't cheaters that
Speaker 9: it's the people around them, the coaches, administrators, that kind
Speaker 9: of thing.
Speaker 1: I'm sure they said, well sorry, but aren't they supposed
Speaker 1: to be the nice people that can.
Speaker 9: Right, Yeah, so out of character.
Speaker 1: I'm so just seems like it or maybe they've duped
Speaker 1: us all along. Right. My other hot read is just
Speaker 1: your take on what happened at the end of TBT
Speaker 1: the quarterfinal game. I call it I'm finding out for
Speaker 1: my younger friends. This is an antiquated term. But the
Speaker 1: dust up whatever, it wasn't a brawl. It was described
Speaker 1: as a brawl, but what it was was silly and
Speaker 1: El's down and all that stuff. I guess that's forever
Speaker 1: going to be a part of the rivalry, just like
Speaker 1: the picture of now head coach Tyler Elis with blood
Speaker 1: streaming down his face.
Speaker 9: As pat Riley once said to chick Hern when he
Speaker 9: was on the Lakers broadcast, I've seen more pushing in
Speaker 9: the men's room at the end of that gaze. But
Speaker 9: you know what, some of these guys, you know, do
Speaker 9: all the trash talking you want to do when the
Speaker 9: buzzer sounds at the end of it. That's it enough already,
Speaker 9: even if it's how personal it is. Some of these
Speaker 9: guys need to go play in the Dirt Bowl, which
Speaker 9: by the way, is going on right now still over
Speaker 9: in Cherokee Park and learn how to do the trash
Speaker 9: talking and then end up shaking hands at the end
Speaker 9: of it. Some of these guys still need to learn
Speaker 9: that well.
Speaker 1: And you know, Nate Cistina with the l's down in
Speaker 1: mid court, you know that that does sparks something. Yep,
Speaker 1: But yeah, I could, I could understand being upset, but
Speaker 1: spitting on somebody and that's sense apologized. Yeah. In fact,
Speaker 1: Sean Woods said that earlier on the show. That's the
Speaker 1: worst thing you can do so.
Speaker 9: Much is yeah, I agree. You know, you can start
Speaker 9: talking about their mom, you can jaw back, yeah, but
Speaker 9: don't be spitting or you know, popping off or cold
Speaker 9: cocking somebody.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 9: You know, that was really a bad look, you know,
Speaker 9: and it's too bad because that was a great crowd
Speaker 9: thirteen thousand.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah. The other night, speaking of bad looks, you're
Speaker 1: looking good. Good to see you again on the zoom
Speaker 1: call and if you want to look for mister Gary
Speaker 1: Moore Weston Bureau Chief, you can find him at.
Speaker 9: At nine to five to five Gary on X, same
Speaker 9: joint you're located at at Big.
Speaker 1: Boo Insider one and I assume we'll see you next week.
Speaker 9: It's right, go us yay.
Speaker 1: And that'll do it. Thanks to my guest tonight, Gary Moore,
Speaker 1: of course, Sean Woods and our guest voice a bonus voice,
Speaker 1: John Hood on that interview as they drive to Philadelphia.
Speaker 1: Well it's been safe travelers all the way. That's it.
Speaker 1: Good night from the garage and Lexington number two.
Speaker 6: Chicken sau sand all the butter, the.
Speaker 1: Letters, the man and a cup of coffee.
Speaker 5: Anything else.
Speaker 13: Yeah, Now, all you have to do is hold the chicken,
Speaker 13: bring me the toast, give me a check for the
Speaker 13: chicken salad sandwich. And you haven't broken any rules.
Speaker 14: You want me to hole the chicken, huh?
Speaker 13: I want you to hold it between your knees.
Speaker 2: Han han mhm