Speaker 1: It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day. Now here's Nick Coffee.
Speaker 2: That's right, Coffee and Company hour number two here on
Speaker 2: a Tuesday afternoon. Thanks for hanging out with us on
Speaker 2: a chili very fall like day today, which I enjoy,
Speaker 2: But I didn't enjoy the weird weather on my way in.
Speaker 2: I think somebody is it hailing somewhere here in the
Speaker 2: Kentuckiana region.
Speaker 3: I heard Jay Cardosi mentioned some Yes.
Speaker 2: That's not good hails, kind of scary. But I am
Speaker 2: enjoying the cool temperatures. I know some people probably hate it,
Speaker 2: and I get it. You know, everybody's got their preferences
Speaker 2: when it comes to weather, and I would say I'm
Speaker 2: probably in the minority, not that people don't enjoy fall
Speaker 2: and you know the holiday season that comes later in
Speaker 2: the year, of course, in the actual winter. But I'm
Speaker 2: not some body that really has impacted whenever it gets
Speaker 2: dark outside earlier. But it's a true, like it's a
Speaker 2: true issue for people to wear like their morale like
Speaker 2: it it's you know, seasonal depression, like it's a real thing. So,
Speaker 2: you know, condolences to those that are about to be
Speaker 2: very sad, but I can't relate. I mean, hoodie, we
Speaker 2: got hoodies out, we got you know, bonfire season is here.
Speaker 3: It's uh, it's good to say with.
Speaker 4: I'm still somebody. I'm put the shorts away pretty late.
Speaker 4: I'm still wearing my khaki shorts today. I'll probably wear
Speaker 4: regular shorts too throughout the week. But I usually I
Speaker 4: try to, you know, delay putting the jeans on.
Speaker 3: That type of stuff. Why. I don't know this comfort
Speaker 3: or what I think. I think it's a comfort thing.
Speaker 4: I mean, I enjoy jeans, but also even when the
Speaker 4: weather is cooler, I kind of just like having summertime
Speaker 4: clothes on.
Speaker 2: I guess, yeah, I I'm a routine guy. So like,
Speaker 2: you know, the shorts are still there, but like I haven't,
Speaker 2: you know, unless I'm like at home laying around the house.
Speaker 2: I've been jeans, joggers, that kind of stuff. And it's
Speaker 2: you know, it's cozy, especially whenever it's it's chilly outside.
Speaker 2: But it should be in the mid or low seventies.
Speaker 2: I think it's low seventies on Saturday, which should be
Speaker 2: perfect honestly, and the sun is supposed to be shining
Speaker 2: again a lot a lot of that can change when
Speaker 2: it comes to you know, the forecast. But Saturday is
Speaker 2: setting up to be a beautiful afternoon at ellen N
Speaker 2: Cardinal Stadium. And as we just learned about thirty minutes ago,
Speaker 2: thirty minutes or so ago from a press release from UVL,
Speaker 2: they have sold out the game. So the louisvill Miami
Speaker 2: game is sold out, which I'll admit it, I didn't
Speaker 2: expect that, especially you knowing that you know it's at noon,
Speaker 2: and I would say, well, I don't know, maybe everybody's
Speaker 2: schedules different, But when it comes to you know, making
Speaker 2: arrangements to get a babysitter or you know, just you know,
Speaker 2: because you go to a game and you plan on tailgating,
Speaker 2: like you're spending, regardless of the game's at noon or
Speaker 2: if it's in the afternoon or the evening, I mean,
Speaker 2: it's a big chunk of your Saturday. And with that,
Speaker 2: you know, people need to make arrangements. And I think
Speaker 2: people are less inclined to make arrangements for something if
Speaker 2: it's if it's noon, But hey, it's sold out and
Speaker 2: that's that's what you want. Third sellout, As I mentioned
Speaker 2: a moment ago, Third sellouts since Jeff Brohm.
Speaker 3: Has has been here.
Speaker 2: All right, so we have to talk some basketball as
Speaker 2: it's also not really in season, but getting close. Right,
Speaker 2: We're six days away from Louisville having an exhibition game,
Speaker 2: and you know that's exciting. We'll actually see them play
Speaker 2: against a different opponent, and I'm sure they will will
Speaker 2: handle whoever it is they play. I meant to look
Speaker 2: it up earlier, but I didn't. Either way, I feel confident.
Speaker 2: I feel confident in saying that that is going to
Speaker 2: be like the first uh. I mean, it's gonna be
Speaker 2: the first thing that really stands out as far as
Speaker 2: how bad the previous regime was. Not that we don't
Speaker 2: already know that, but like getting past these exhibition opponents
Speaker 2: is something we couldn't do the last couple of years.
Speaker 2: So I'm sure they'll and in fact, I'm now even
Speaker 2: more confident not only that they're gonna win, but like
Speaker 2: they may blow this team off the off the floor.
Speaker 2: And it is Young Harris College, not old Harris, not
Speaker 2: middle aged Harris, but Young Harris College. That's who they play.
Speaker 2: And I've never I've never heard of them. They're in Pennsylvania,
Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure.
Speaker 5: Yep.
Speaker 3: They are. Yeah, they're another in Georgia. Oh well look
Speaker 3: what I know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean maybe that you're maybe you're thinking old Harris.
Speaker 2: This is this is a young.
Speaker 4: Harrison Town State, is what I'm thinking of the Pennsylvania
Speaker 4: aren't they.
Speaker 3: Now they're Ohio? Are you in Youngstown in the city
Speaker 3: that is called young Yeah, I mean I'm looking like
Speaker 3: it's okay.
Speaker 2: I mean again, like that's why whenever we do discuss
Speaker 2: these kind of teams, I say things like butt crack State,
Speaker 2: because like, it really doesn't matter what their name is,
Speaker 2: and this team is probably gonna get killed. I mean not,
Speaker 2: I don't think there's any probably to it. I would
Speaker 2: say that they they get they get demolished by Louisville,
Speaker 2: not because Louisvill is e lead. I mean, that's what
Speaker 2: a team like Louisville is supposed to do when you
Speaker 2: play these kind of teams. But Pat Kelsey said any minute.
Speaker 2: It wasn't just you know, coach speak. He said, they're
Speaker 2: gonna prepare for that game just like they would be
Speaker 2: playing Duke. And I just think that's his routine. He's
Speaker 2: super organized, super detailed, and you know, the not gonna
Speaker 2: be any game Rather it be exhibition, conference game, non
Speaker 2: conference game, tournament game. Like they're going to stick to
Speaker 2: a routine and a plan as far as how they prepare,
Speaker 2: how they get ready, and you know, don't mean it's
Speaker 2: gonna work. I mean, I think it'll work against Young
Speaker 2: Harris College, but it's gonna be weird for me, Like
Speaker 2: I don't want to be the guy that's like bragging
Speaker 2: on a coach who's you know, doing his job. But
Speaker 2: we went a few years without really seeing that happen,
Speaker 2: so it is kind of exciting. We'll let you hear
Speaker 2: more from from Pat Kelsey coming up here a little
Speaker 2: bit later on. Also at four thirty, we are going
Speaker 2: to bring in David Hale of ESPN. We will get
Speaker 2: his thoughts on this Louisville Miami matchup. He of course
Speaker 2: covers the ACC for ESPN, and this is certainly a
Speaker 2: big matchup within conference play. I wish Louisville was in
Speaker 2: the same spot Miami was, meaning undefeated in conference play.
Speaker 2: But hey, a win here could go a long way
Speaker 2: for Louisville. Easier said than done, but you really can
Speaker 2: put yourself in a spot to look at the rest
Speaker 2: of your schedule after that, you know, again, I'm getting
Speaker 2: ahead of myself here, but if they do find a
Speaker 2: way to win this game, then I think we can
Speaker 2: start having this the type of conversations we were having
Speaker 2: a few weeks ago, and they actually, you know it
Speaker 2: actually be real, right. I mean, I just for Louisville
Speaker 2: to go on a run here and really finish strong
Speaker 2: and you know, beat Miami, beat Clemson at their place,
Speaker 2: pits in the top twenty. I mean, it's not that
Speaker 2: I'm telling you there's no scenario any of those things
Speaker 2: are going to happen. I'm just willing to acknowledge that
Speaker 2: six games in this team has kind of shown me
Speaker 2: who they are. And they did take steps in the
Speaker 2: right direction on Saturday against Virginia on the road and
Speaker 2: they found a way to win and that was great.
Speaker 2: But they're still making avoidable mistakes that can in any moment,
Speaker 2: you know, cost you a game, can flip a game
Speaker 2: in the other direction. And I'm not asking for perfection,
Speaker 2: and you know, not like they got to go out
Speaker 2: and prove anything to me, but I think they need
Speaker 2: to prove it to themselves. And I think Saturday was
Speaker 2: a big step because a loss there could have really,
Speaker 2: it really could have sent this season in the direction
Speaker 2: at a really high rate of speed.
Speaker 3: But they found a way to win.
Speaker 2: And now this opportunity is there and hopefully they make
Speaker 2: the most of it. Right And even if you do
Speaker 2: play really well and you lose, that's still gonna be
Speaker 2: tough because that gives you two losses in conference play.
Speaker 2: But I just hope that it's not a loss where
Speaker 2: you look back and look at penalties, you look at.
Speaker 3: Bad play calls, you look.
Speaker 2: At you know, just avoidable mistakes, things that like have
Speaker 2: nothing to do with Miami being really good. Just it's
Speaker 2: you not being able to get out of your own way.
Speaker 2: Like that's what That's what I fear is that you
Speaker 2: play them close. It's competitive, but when when you go back,
Speaker 2: it's it's a game that you feel like, man, if
Speaker 2: we just were better, if we were a little bit
Speaker 2: more sharp and more sound and then sync, then we
Speaker 2: would be you know, we've been in a much different
Speaker 2: situation and you'd have to look in the mirror if
Speaker 2: that's how it plays out. But we'll see, we shall
Speaker 2: see something else that we did just discuss in the
Speaker 2: three o'clock hour for those just now joining us. Rick Patino,
Speaker 2: you know, he was obviously in Lexington this past weekend.
Speaker 2: We talked a lot about that yesterday, but Pat Kelsey
Speaker 2: was asked about Rick Pittino ever coming back to Louisville,
Speaker 2: and he was all so asked about his relationship with
Speaker 2: Chris mac as those two have essentially just traded jobs.
Speaker 2: I hadn't really thought about it that way, but it's
Speaker 2: absolutely what happened, and you know, for what it's worth,
Speaker 2: and I'm not surprised at all that he said it,
Speaker 2: but he would welcome Patino back at any moment, and
Speaker 2: I don't know fans would agree, especially right now, but.
Speaker 3: I think eventually that will happen.
Speaker 2: I just don't know if we're any I mean, I
Speaker 2: think it could be a long long time before that happens.
Speaker 2: And maybe I'm wrong, maybe it doesn't ever happen, but
Speaker 2: I still think. And we've had a few people and
Speaker 2: we'll get to the fole lines in just one second,
Speaker 2: but we've had a few people on the text line
Speaker 2: mentioned that, like, at this point, what scenario would bring
Speaker 2: him back? And it is clear if in fact there's
Speaker 2: ever anything done where they can hang that banner again,
Speaker 2: and I'm not saying there will be or if there
Speaker 2: needs to be, I mean, I mean, I would hope
Speaker 2: that they eventually can because I know it would be
Speaker 2: special for those guys. But my thoughts about twenty thirteen
Speaker 2: title team. I don't often sit around and think, like, man,
Speaker 2: I wish we would have won the twenty thirteen title
Speaker 2: we did within the NCAA told us that we didn't.
Speaker 1: Like.
Speaker 2: That's not how my mindset is because I'm an you know,
Speaker 2: I mean, who would.
Speaker 3: Who would do that?
Speaker 2: But if they ever do get clearance from the NCAA,
Speaker 2: or they just say they don't care and they decide
Speaker 2: to rehang the banner, or if there's you know, I mean,
Speaker 2: we're only you know, maybe at the fifteen year reunion
Speaker 2: if they do that for the twenty thirteen team, or
Speaker 2: maybe I don't know, maybe it's the twenty year reunion
Speaker 2: in twenty thirty three, long way away, right. Rick will
Speaker 2: be very very old at that point. But I would
Speaker 2: say something that honors the scenario where he's back, is
Speaker 2: where they're honoring that team or that era in those
Speaker 2: players who are close to Rick and mean a lot
Speaker 2: to Rick, they want him to be there. I have
Speaker 2: a hard time thinking he would say that, No, he
Speaker 2: wouldn't come. So you know, I'm not saying he's just
Speaker 2: itching for an invite, but I think that scenario is
Speaker 2: not that far fetched to see it play out, but
Speaker 2: it probably won't be, you know, anytime soon. It doesn't
Speaker 2: need to be like Louisville and they're I mean, I
Speaker 2: think right now. Again, no games have been played, there's
Speaker 2: not in any results to assess at this point, but
Speaker 2: I can just sense the there is a lot of
Speaker 2: good energy with Loell Hoops right now, and there's nothing
Speaker 2: to do with the Rick Betino.
Speaker 3: It's about Pat Kelsey.
Speaker 2: You just got the job, and you know fans are
Speaker 2: excited about it, myself included. All right, let's go to
Speaker 2: the phone linees Fibot two if I'm seven one seventy
Speaker 2: nine hundred is the number. Let's welcome in kirk Kirk.
Speaker 2: How you doing this afternoon, sir?
Speaker 6: Hey, how you doing today? Mister coffee?
Speaker 3: Good to hear from you, Good to hear from you, Good.
Speaker 6: To talk to you again.
Speaker 5: Uh.
Speaker 6: I you know I wanted to put my two cents
Speaker 6: on this Rick Betino thing. I know you've headed up
Speaker 6: to your eyebrows in it, but you know I've been
Speaker 6: a Louisville fan for all my life. I'm fifty four
Speaker 6: years old, and uh uh, I have zero problem with
Speaker 6: him going to Kentucky. I mean, you know, look what
Speaker 6: the guy's done there. You know, he's he he's a legend,
Speaker 6: and you know, just for us to even have him
Speaker 6: for the time we had him, I'm I'm surely grateful
Speaker 6: for that. I guess the only thing I've seen a
Speaker 6: problem with was he was wearing the UK shirt and
Speaker 6: then the next day he's got the Saint John shirt on,
Speaker 6: and I kind of see that that's a little bit
Speaker 6: of problem for their fans, because if he's coaching Louisville
Speaker 6: and he goes to Kentucky and he puts on a
Speaker 6: Kentucky shirt, I'm I'm kind of gonna have a problem
Speaker 6: with that. So, you know, so I just was just,
Speaker 6: you know, thinking their fans are probably the ones that
Speaker 6: are having more of the problem with it than the
Speaker 6: Louisville fans. You know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I appreciate the call, Kirk, good to hear from you,
Speaker 2: and I'll say this, man, like I thought about Saint
Speaker 2: John's fans Friday night when I saw him wearing the
Speaker 2: blue at the football or at the big blue madness.
Speaker 2: I mean, it would have been kind of awkward for
Speaker 2: him to be out there wearing Saint John's gear, But
Speaker 2: you know, he could have wore I he could have
Speaker 2: wore suit, could have war something neutral, And I don't
Speaker 2: think it's a I mean, it kind of makes sense
Speaker 2: that he wore blue, but the fact that he is
Speaker 2: currently coaching at A I mean, they're not a rival
Speaker 2: by any means, but like Saint John's is a big
Speaker 2: East program that has legitimate expectations. This year, Patino loaded
Speaker 2: up in the portal. Like I think we still don't
Speaker 2: really view him as like a thread in the grand
Speaker 2: scheme of college basketball, just because you know, it's been
Speaker 2: so long since he's he's been a big factor, right,
Speaker 2: Like they almost the tournament last year at Saint John's
Speaker 2: and maybe they break through this year.
Speaker 3: But you know, like.
Speaker 2: Kirk, the first thing, I really you know, I and
Speaker 2: I have no clue, but like, does Saint John's really
Speaker 2: have like a big fan base like their New York's team,
Speaker 2: But like I think it's just whenever they're good, Like
Speaker 2: people that live in New York were like, Oh, we've
Speaker 2: got a team here in town that's actually pretty good
Speaker 2: when it comes to college hoops. Let's go to the
Speaker 2: Garden when they play there. Like, I'm sure they do
Speaker 2: have fans. I'm not acting like they have no fan
Speaker 2: base at all, but like, I don't really know if
Speaker 2: there's this big mob of Saint John's fans that would
Speaker 2: feel a certain.
Speaker 3: Way about it.
Speaker 2: But if they did, I would get it, because keep
Speaker 2: in mind Patino returning to Big Blue Madness. I mean
Speaker 2: that got a ton of attention. And I'm not just
Speaker 2: talking about around here. I mean he got a ton
Speaker 2: of attention in the college basketball world, and you know,
Speaker 2: it just probably wouldn't make you feel good to see
Speaker 2: your coach, even if you understand why he's there and
Speaker 2: what's going on, like him probably getting more coverage then
Speaker 2: he's maybe gonna get all year. This year is at
Speaker 2: an event for another school where he's wearing their gear,
Speaker 2: and it's just unusual. But again, Rick, like Rick gets
Speaker 2: away with things other coaches wouldn't get away with. People
Speaker 2: don't really bad an eye with certain things he says
Speaker 2: and does because it's just him being him, and he's
Speaker 2: been pretty consistent for many, many, many years. You know, Like,
Speaker 2: I think both things can be true. I think he's
Speaker 2: happy for Mark Pope that he got the job, and
Speaker 2: I think it's really special to know that a guy
Speaker 2: that's now leading that program was a captain and won
Speaker 2: a championship for him. Like I'm not saying that he
Speaker 2: doesn't care about it at all. But again, when I
Speaker 2: say both things can be true. The other thing I'm
Speaker 2: talking about, outside of him being genuine and being happy
Speaker 2: for Pope, Rick saw an opportunity to make something all
Speaker 2: about him and he's done that for years, Like that's
Speaker 2: just who he is. We don't have to know him
Speaker 2: personally to know that's that's on brand for him to
Speaker 2: do that. But yeah, Saint John's fans like I saw,
Speaker 2: I mean I saw a lot of people, even Kentucky fans,
Speaker 2: not just louisvill fans, but like it was a pretty
Speaker 2: common reaction. Wow, people forget he coaching at Saint John's.
Speaker 2: I wonder what their fans think. I'd be pissed, But
Speaker 2: I haven't seen the single Saint John's fan online that
Speaker 2: was upset. And it might not be because they are
Speaker 2: you know, understanding and don't care. It might be because
Speaker 2: there's not many of them out there, Like what is
Speaker 2: their fan base? Again, I'm sure they have fans, but
Speaker 2: like I can't think of, like I mean, I don't
Speaker 2: know a Saint John's fan. When I think of basketball
Speaker 2: fans in New York, I don't really even think college
Speaker 2: hoops fans. I think mostly I think mostly of the NBA,
Speaker 2: and when I was in New York for the for
Speaker 2: the Big East Tournament a couple of times, you know,
Speaker 2: and before the league split up, and you know, obviously
Speaker 2: it's a different world now. Like anybody that was there
Speaker 2: that was from New York. They were cheering on Syracuse
Speaker 2: And it might have been because QS was a lot
Speaker 2: better than Saint John's.
Speaker 4: But maybe Saint John's is more of like the Catholic
Speaker 4: fan base.
Speaker 7: That could be.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it could be.
Speaker 2: I mean, I just again, I maybe I'm way off
Speaker 2: and they have this big old fan base that I'm
Speaker 2: just unaware of. But like I mean, I've not even
Speaker 2: I don't think I've ever even seen like a presence
Speaker 2: of them online. And that doesn't speak to the fact
Speaker 2: that that doesn't mean they don't have any fans, but
Speaker 2: like if you're somebody that is active on like Twitter
Speaker 2: and whatnot, or even Trillie Donovan's discord or message boards,
Speaker 2: you know, like you can at times get a get
Speaker 2: a you can get a feel for like what kind
Speaker 2: of presence a fan base has online and like like
Speaker 2: for example, like Providence Providence basketball fans. I would I
Speaker 2: wouldn't think that that's a huge fan base in the
Speaker 2: grand scheme of things as far as the amount of them,
Speaker 2: but like they're they're nuts, Like they're like they're crazy,
Speaker 2: So you never know.
Speaker 3: But yeah, thank you for the call, Kirk. I appreciate it.
Speaker 2: Let's go back to the thol lines. Now we'll welcome
Speaker 2: in Jerry, who joins us on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 2: What has happened in Jerry? How are you doing?
Speaker 3: Brother?
Speaker 7: Hey Ben Nick.
Speaker 3: Good to hear from you.
Speaker 7: Hey, yeah, real quick, So I want to I got
Speaker 7: one question, a bunch of comments, and then I'll ask
Speaker 7: you my last question. My first question is did you
Speaker 7: read the Eric Crawford article about Rick someday coming back
Speaker 7: to Louisville bringing Crumb up in the article and all that?
Speaker 7: Did you read? I not know.
Speaker 2: I saw piece from Eric earlier today about Pat Kelsey's team,
Speaker 2: but I have not seen what he wrote about Rick Patino.
Speaker 2: I want to check that out.
Speaker 7: Yeah, it's well anyway, in the article he talks about
Speaker 7: basically is what he's saying, as Patino should should look
Speaker 7: at Crumb because Crumb came around. But he but he,
Speaker 7: but he he mentioned the bitterness, and and I was
Speaker 7: a big Crumb fan. But I've never understood the his bitterness,
Speaker 7: his current wife that he had when he passed away,
Speaker 7: his bitterness, his ex players, and some of the hardcore
Speaker 7: Denny fans being bitter about the whole thing. Because let me,
Speaker 7: let me touch on a couple of things. I went
Speaker 7: back and looked and Denny's last four years, and like
Speaker 7: I say, he was awesome, man. I mean, you know,
Speaker 7: it's like I tell people to do what he did,
Speaker 7: practicing out of cropper gym and dancing around horse horse
Speaker 7: horse events at Freedom Hall, you know, in juggling dates
Speaker 7: with rodeos and all that craft he did. He worked wonders, okay,
Speaker 7: But in his last four years Crumb was sixty two
Speaker 7: and sixty two with two NCAA tournament appearances, no wins,
Speaker 7: okay in that time, two losing seasons. Not in his
Speaker 7: last four years, but in his last six years he
Speaker 7: had like two losing seasons. I set through one of
Speaker 7: them as a season ticket holder when he went twelve
Speaker 7: and twenty two one year. Yet yet when he left,
Speaker 7: I went back and looked at it, and Eric didn't
Speaker 7: mention this in his article. They he did mention the
Speaker 7: first day. I'm getting ready to say they gave him
Speaker 7: two million dollars, okay, but then they gave him three
Speaker 7: hundred and thirty eight thousand dollars for fifteen years. They
Speaker 7: gave him an office on campus and a secretary in
Speaker 7: a title under then President John Schumacher. They gave him
Speaker 7: a ticket allotment and all that other thing. So the
Speaker 7: bitterness I will never understand.
Speaker 6: I'm a grad.
Speaker 7: You know I'm a fan, but I'm not a big booster.
Speaker 7: Yet during that time, I was so frustrated. I called
Speaker 7: Tom Jerridge. He didn't know me from Adam. I've still
Speaker 7: never met the man I called him. I called him
Speaker 7: one season and then I called him and Denny's last season,
Speaker 7: and I echoed the same thing both times. Not that
Speaker 7: I influenced him. I'm sure he was getting a lot
Speaker 7: of calls, but he, to my surprise, he called me,
Speaker 7: and not only did he call me, he gave me
Speaker 7: twenty twenty five minutes of his time both times, and
Speaker 7: he was very forthcoming, and I was I was shocked
Speaker 7: how honest he was with me and some of the
Speaker 7: things he said. Okay, I was for what he did
Speaker 7: and making the move. I was for him hiring Rick Petino. Okay,
Speaker 7: uh Patino. When and when twenty thirteen was over, if
Speaker 7: somebody asked me, and I go way back, as I've
Speaker 7: told you before, you know, I'm in my sixties, I
Speaker 7: go way. I've watched them. I've watched a ton of
Speaker 7: practices in Crawford Gym when I went to you graduated
Speaker 7: during nineteen eighty three. But anyway, in twenty thirteen, if
Speaker 7: somebody said, who are you a Crumb guy or Patino guy?
Speaker 7: I was a Patino guy. Okay, I had switched over.
Speaker 7: That's just the way it is. But when Patino said
Speaker 7: that he was going to contribute to UK football, that
Speaker 7: was enough for me. I was done. I'm like whatever, Okay,
Speaker 7: but I will say this. I've and I've told this
Speaker 7: to a lot of people. I'm gonna ask you a question.
Speaker 7: It's just my opinion. My answer. Who was the big
Speaker 7: winner when Rick went to Midnight Madness the other night?
Speaker 7: Who won more than anybody.
Speaker 3: I mean maybe Rick himself, right, I mean, I mean.
Speaker 7: Well, my answer, my answer is Pat Kelsey. Pat Kelsey wins.
Speaker 7: He's the big winner in my opinion, because the guys
Speaker 7: that were sort of hanging on to Patinos ill yet
Speaker 7: maybe me a little bit, you know, you know, pining,
Speaker 7: pining for those days he was. You know, I'm sort
Speaker 7: of I'm sort of moved on now. And if he
Speaker 7: hit the home run, if he hits the home run,
Speaker 7: he owns this place. Man, I'm telling you, with his personality,
Speaker 7: the style of ball, he's the winner. He comes out
Speaker 7: the winner on this deal more than anybody, I think.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and and Jerry, I appreciate the call. We got
Speaker 2: to get your break in just a second because we've
Speaker 2: got a guest coming up. But I will say this, Yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean for those that were kind of hanging on
Speaker 2: a little bit, maybe that ripped the band aid off,
Speaker 2: so to speak, as far as like, yeah, you know,
Speaker 2: this guy's kind of shown us that he's more of
Speaker 2: a he's clearly more blue than he'll ever be red.
Speaker 2: And you know, maybe it made it a little easier.
Speaker 2: I just you know, it's because of my age, not
Speaker 2: to make you sound like an old man Jerry. But
Speaker 2: I never ever thought about I'm a Rip guy or
Speaker 2: a Denny guy.
Speaker 7: I was.
Speaker 3: I was, I was both.
Speaker 2: I mean I idolized. I mean, Denny Crumb is what
Speaker 2: made little of basketball what it is today. And I
Speaker 2: was so young, like at the time Rick came back.
Speaker 2: I mean, I was aware that, even at a young
Speaker 2: age that it was kind of it was kind of,
Speaker 2: you know, Denny being forced out by Tom. And I'm
Speaker 2: sure people who love Denny and Denny himself weren't happy
Speaker 2: about that. But the bitterness, I mean, it was there.
Speaker 2: I mean quite clearly, it was there, but I didn't
Speaker 2: feel like that we heard I mean me to me
Speaker 2: is one of those things that it didn't really become
Speaker 2: such a public thing until late, like many years down
Speaker 2: the line. We'll get back into this a little later on. Well,
Speaker 2: we got a run right now. We got a guest
Speaker 2: joining us on the other side, so we'll pay some
Speaker 2: bills and bring him in. He's David Hale from ESBA,
Speaker 2: who covers college football the ACC for the Four Letter Network.
Speaker 2: He's with us next right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 3: That's right.
Speaker 2: Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk
Speaker 2: seven ninety taking you up till six o'clock. Thanks for
Speaker 2: hanging out with us, certainly appreciate it. If you are
Speaker 2: just now joining us. We did get news in the
Speaker 2: three o'clock hour that the game Saturday, Louisville and Miami
Speaker 2: is a sellout, So that's exciting. I mean, Lowell does
Speaker 2: big games pretty well when it comes to atmosphere crowds.
Speaker 2: In fact, I think they do big events in Louisville,
Speaker 2: not even just Louisville Cardinals stuff, but you know, when
Speaker 2: there's something big going on, you know, people like to party,
Speaker 2: people like to have a good time. If it's you know,
Speaker 2: a random team coming in town that nobody cares about,
Speaker 2: yeah they're gonna be fine watching it on TV.
Speaker 7: All right.
Speaker 2: Joining us now to talk about this matchup is mister
Speaker 2: David Hale, who covers the ACC in college football for ESPN,
Speaker 2: and how we doing this afternoon, David.
Speaker 5: I'm well, I'm excited for this game. It is a
Speaker 5: sellout and I will be among the sold out.
Speaker 2: Hell yeah, that's all the matters out there. It's all
Speaker 2: that matters to me is that you're going to be there,
Speaker 2: and is this. I feel like those who know the
Speaker 2: AEC pretty well, you are obviously one of those people.
Speaker 2: Before the season started, when you looked at the schedule,
Speaker 2: this was probably one of the more intriguing matchups of
Speaker 2: the of the slate. Is that still the case? Louisville
Speaker 2: has a couple of losses already that wasn't necessarily expected
Speaker 2: by folks around here, and in Miami they're undefeated, They're
Speaker 2: ranked number six in the country. I guess, how would
Speaker 2: you say these teams have done thus far compared to
Speaker 2: what you were expecting?
Speaker 5: Yeah, you know, I mean, it's just the bar is
Speaker 5: set pretty low when you're looking at NC State and
Speaker 5: Florida State and you know, Virginia Tech all having three
Speaker 5: or more losses at this point. Like the teams we
Speaker 5: were expecting to be good have been a mixed bag
Speaker 5: to say the least. But you know, I think Miami
Speaker 5: has probably exceeded expectations, at least in terms of entertainment factor,
Speaker 5: and of course they're undefeated, and then you know Louisville.
Speaker 5: The frustrating part I think if you're a Louisville fan
Speaker 5: is the margin between where they are and being exactly
Speaker 5: where Miami is is razor thin, like they very easily
Speaker 5: could have won both of those games that they lost.
Speaker 5: Of course, they could have lost last week two as
Speaker 5: easily as they won, So sometimes that goes both ways.
Speaker 5: But I walk away or I walk into this saying
Speaker 5: I think these are two of the most talented teams
Speaker 5: in the ACC still in spite of the couple of
Speaker 5: l's on Louisville's record, and frankly, I would not be
Speaker 5: surprised at all if this is a game Miami struggles
Speaker 5: to win, because I think, you know, just if you
Speaker 5: look at who they've played thus far, and I know
Speaker 5: they had a couple of close ones with calum Virginia Tech,
Speaker 5: but I think of all the teams that they've played,
Speaker 5: this will be their most talented opponent.
Speaker 3: So far before we get to to Louisville.
Speaker 2: I think I have a little bit of a different
Speaker 2: opinion on Miami than most, and I'll throw it at
Speaker 2: you and see what you think. Obviously, they are fortunate
Speaker 2: to have avoided losses in their last two games, with
Speaker 2: the questionable call and then the reversal of the call
Speaker 2: against Virginia Tech and then really just a desperation, you know,
Speaker 2: comeback that worked out for them. I actually think that's
Speaker 2: you know, again, they could easily have lost, and it
Speaker 2: proves they're vulnerable against those caliber teams. But I kind
Speaker 2: of feel like Miami teams of old would have lost
Speaker 2: those games. I mean, maybe it was just the ref
Speaker 2: bail on them out, but like I kind of feel
Speaker 2: like in a weird way, despite it making them vulnerable
Speaker 2: and some people saying they're not worthy of the number
Speaker 2: six ranking, I actually think them winning is a big
Speaker 2: a good sign for Mario Christoval and I think they're
Speaker 2: I mean again, I feel like most Miami team in
Speaker 2: the last like twenty years would have not won those games.
Speaker 5: You are, without question, one hundred percent accurate here.
Speaker 3: I hear that lot.
Speaker 5: I'll preface no, and it gets boring after a while
Speaker 5: being so right. I'll preface this by saying there's not
Speaker 5: a team worthy of the number six ranking, Like there
Speaker 5: aren't six really good teams right now. Miami is as
Speaker 5: good as anyone else you would rank at number six
Speaker 5: in my opinion, and look, good teams play games like this.
Speaker 5: I mean, we just watched a absolute like shootout with
Speaker 5: Georgia and Alabama a couple of weeks ago, where we
Speaker 5: thought we understood what that meant, and we didn't. But
Speaker 5: George is a really damn good team that basically did
Speaker 5: the same thing that Miami did, and that they had
Speaker 5: just an everything went against you first half and then
Speaker 5: scrambled and fought and clawed their way back and had
Speaker 5: a chance to win but didn't. Miami did, And look
Speaker 5: have they gotten some breaks? Like I'm not really going
Speaker 5: to say they got a break against Virginia Tech. I
Speaker 5: think the ultimate call was right. How we got there
Speaker 5: was lunacy, but the call was right eventually, Like should
Speaker 5: that have been a targeting in the Cal game? Like, yeah,
Speaker 5: I think you probably make a pretty strong argument on that.
Speaker 5: But you know, I sort of made this argument about
Speaker 5: Miami last year when they lost to Georgia Tech, and
Speaker 5: everybody's like either arguing the call that it shouldn't have
Speaker 5: been a fumble or how dumb Mario was for not
Speaker 5: taking a time out, and forget all of that. Georgia
Speaker 5: Tech still had to go in March seventy some yards
Speaker 5: in like forty seconds to get a touchdown to win
Speaker 5: that game. All the stuff that Miami did against Cal
Speaker 5: in that fourth quarter is mind bogglingly good and did
Speaker 5: they get a break along the way somewhere. Absolutely they did,
Speaker 5: but that doesn't change the fact that all of the
Speaker 5: other stuff that they did was ridiculously indicative of an
Speaker 5: incredibly talented team. And part of this all sort of
Speaker 5: circles back to the quarterback. And I'm not one that
Speaker 5: wants to make the entire story about the quarterback all
Speaker 5: the time, but him Ward has changed who Miami is
Speaker 5: because his personality is just infectious. The level of confidence
Speaker 5: that he plays with and I said this during the
Speaker 5: Cal game, like sometimes it's his worst fault too, is
Speaker 5: the level of confidence that he plays with and he
Speaker 5: gets him into trouble, but it is also his best strength,
Speaker 5: and it is infectious with everybody else where. I think
Speaker 5: this Miami team, particularly after these last two, just feels like,
Speaker 5: you know, they got all the vibes going in their
Speaker 5: direction and there's no game that they're going to be
Speaker 5: out of or be intimidated by. And that is, to
Speaker 5: your point, a huge step forward from the Miami teams
Speaker 5: of the last oh I don't know, most of our lifetimes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And there's always been this talk about the you
Speaker 2: is that are they ever going to be back? And
Speaker 2: sometimes fans thought they were back and then they learned
Speaker 2: the hard way that they weren't. And there could be
Speaker 2: a lot of factors, and there are a lot of
Speaker 2: factors I'm sure that have kept Miami from, you know,
Speaker 2: winning a national championship. Not many teams are sharing those
Speaker 2: this day and age. It's usually the same cast of
Speaker 2: you know, elite programs that do it. But one of
Speaker 2: the things that I feel like never gets talked about.
Speaker 2: Maybe it is and I just don't pay attention, but
Speaker 2: Miami hasn't had a really really good quarterback in a
Speaker 2: long time. Like they've had some guys that were fine,
Speaker 2: but you know, and if you are a program with
Speaker 2: history like Miami has its one national championship, you know
Speaker 2: you need it's gonna take a really special quarterback every
Speaker 2: now and then for you to have a special type
Speaker 2: of season. And I feel like that's kind of where
Speaker 2: they are right now. I mean, he you know, you
Speaker 2: kind of answered my next question anyway, because he is
Speaker 2: he is that special. Were you were you expecting this
Speaker 2: from him this year? Because I feel like it was
Speaker 2: kind of a mixed bag as far as people believing
Speaker 2: he would come in and really make this big of
Speaker 2: an impact for Miami, and I think you know the
Speaker 2: quarterback as you know somebody who covers football like it's
Speaker 2: a very important position.
Speaker 3: But I think you're right.
Speaker 2: His energy, he's a winner, he's competitive, it's infectious, and
Speaker 2: I just don't think you can make the kind of
Speaker 2: comeback they did against Cal without that guy leading you
Speaker 2: and everybody feeding off of his energy.
Speaker 5: No, I one hundred percent agree with this. And now
Speaker 5: look what should be said. Well, you'll let me double
Speaker 5: back to your first point, which it cannot be overstated enough.
Speaker 5: How bad the QB play has been at Miami for
Speaker 5: twenty five years. If you go back over the last
Speaker 5: quarter century and just compare Louisville in Miami and rank
Speaker 5: the quarterbacks from best to worst, how far down the
Speaker 5: list do you go before you put a Miami quarterback like,
Speaker 5: I mean, Louisvill's got at least what the first five?
Speaker 3: I'm a Brad Kaya, Yeah, I mean that's.
Speaker 5: Probably the best one. And that's insane.
Speaker 3: I'm sorry, Brad, Sorry, Brad Kaya.
Speaker 5: He was a nice guy. I enjoyed covering him. Look,
Speaker 5: you know, so yes, I mean there, it's just such
Speaker 5: a huge step up. And did I expect this?
Speaker 6: You know?
Speaker 5: I thought he would be very good, because everybody that
Speaker 5: I'd talked to said he's very very good. And I
Speaker 5: got to know him a little bit as a person
Speaker 5: this offseason, and you can see the personality like it is,
Speaker 5: it's real. So you you know, I thought that's a
Speaker 5: good fit in Miami. All of that works out. But
Speaker 5: I think what's really probably under talked about here is
Speaker 5: that for all of the hand ringing over the final
Speaker 5: record for Miami the last couple of years, it really
Speaker 5: was sort of going a bit unnoticed how much talent
Speaker 5: Mario Crystobaal was acquiring to surround this great quarterback. And
Speaker 5: so you know, I think cam Ward is not a
Speaker 5: markedly better player today than he was at Washington State,
Speaker 5: but he has a much better supporting cast in Miami,
Speaker 5: and that is part of it too, Mario. Look, you know,
Speaker 5: people can can knock him for his game day coaching.
Speaker 5: I think that's there's enough evidence that that's not wrong.
Speaker 5: But the dude like eats, sleeps, and breathes recruiting. I mean,
Speaker 5: he loves recruiting the way anybody else loves the thing
Speaker 5: that they love most in their lives. Like there is
Speaker 5: nothing he loves more than recruiting, and he has really
Speaker 5: added to the talent level and people are forgetting. Like
Speaker 5: coming into the season set aside cam Ward, you probably
Speaker 5: would have said the two top NFL prospects at Miami
Speaker 5: were Ruben Bain their defensive linemen, and Jalen Rivers their
Speaker 5: left tackle. Those two guys have missed the bulk of
Speaker 5: the season, like they're just getting back to healthy now.
Speaker 5: So like it is, it is a very good football
Speaker 5: team around cam Ward too. And then when you take
Speaker 5: a genuinely magical player and put him at the most
Speaker 5: important position surrounded by good players, the ceiling becomes awfully high.
Speaker 7: Now.
Speaker 5: I think, as we've said, from these last two games,
Speaker 5: the floor might be a little lower than some of
Speaker 5: those other top ten teams, but the ceiling is ridiculously
Speaker 5: high from Miami.
Speaker 2: David Hale is our guests joining us here on Sports
Speaker 2: Talk seven to ninety talking about this matchup between Louisville
Speaker 2: and Miami coming up on Saturday. From the Louisville side
Speaker 2: of it, I mean, I feel, as somebody who's watched
Speaker 2: every second of them the first two games, you kind
Speaker 2: of throw them away because of the opponents. But certainly
Speaker 2: an encouraging sign when it comes to personnel, and I
Speaker 2: still feel that way despite them having the lost in
Speaker 2: Notre Dame, the lost SMU. I think Tyler Shuck's been
Speaker 2: a really nice addition for Jeff Brom. Isaac Brown's one
Speaker 2: of the best freshmen in the country. I think ja
Speaker 2: Cory Brooks has been just what you thought you would
Speaker 2: get from a guy who was previously catching touchdown passes
Speaker 2: from Bryce Shung and Alabama. Defensively, you've dealt with some
Speaker 2: injuries and they've just kind of been a mess. But
Speaker 2: I just you know, this Louisville team, I still feel
Speaker 2: as if they knock off anybody left on this schedule,
Speaker 2: it's not going to be a huge shock because they
Speaker 2: I think they do have some decent person now certainly
Speaker 2: some weaknesses, no doubt. The old lines not been probably
Speaker 2: what Jeff Brom wanted.
Speaker 7: It to be.
Speaker 2: But to see them here with these two losses, knowing
Speaker 2: they've made so many avoidable mistakes, if you just take
Speaker 2: like one or two of those mistakes away in those
Speaker 2: two games that you lost, like you could probably still
Speaker 2: be a team that's six and ohero But yet you
Speaker 2: know you have to get better. It's been a really
Speaker 2: weird year for Louisville thus far. I don't think fans
Speaker 2: are totally dejected, as we discussed it as a sellout,
Speaker 2: but I think what has kept Louisville from having a
Speaker 2: better record at this point is not what anybody would
Speaker 2: have expected. And that's just a team that continues to
Speaker 2: hurt themselves. That happens from time to time. But just
Speaker 2: kind of your thoughts on Jeff brom in year two,
Speaker 2: kind of you know, having a team that's sloppy, that
Speaker 2: does make avoidable mistakes more often than most well.
Speaker 5: I mean, look, frankly, luck is a bigger part of
Speaker 5: outcomes of games than anybody wants to talk about. Or
Speaker 5: if it's not luck, then it's these very small minor errors.
Speaker 5: I mean, look, we just decided Oregon must be the
Speaker 5: number two team in the country in Ohio. State's not
Speaker 5: as good because of their quarterbacks slid a second too late.
Speaker 5: If you had split a second earlier, maybe the conversation different.
Speaker 5: So like, that's what the margin is sometimes. And I
Speaker 5: think you go back and look at that Notre Dame game,
Speaker 5: they were one of five on fourth down. If they're
Speaker 5: two of five on fourth down, I think they probably
Speaker 5: win that football game. So like, the margins are not big,
Speaker 5: and frankly, you know, in year one under Jeff Brumm,
Speaker 5: the coin tosses largely went Louisville's way until the very
Speaker 5: end of the year. And some of that is, you know,
Speaker 5: aggression to the mean this year, as the math nerds
Speaker 5: like to say. But I think this is a better
Speaker 5: team than last year or overall. And you're right to
Speaker 5: point out, you know, the injuries on defense, that they
Speaker 5: were healthier last year, and sometimes bad luck happens with
Speaker 5: just injuries and the old line is not as good.
Speaker 5: I think sustaining drives is by far the most important thing.
Speaker 5: Like you can't have dumb turnovers in the red zone,
Speaker 5: and you've got to be able to convert on some
Speaker 5: of those third downs they think they're they're punt Like
Speaker 5: three in a punt rate is I think the lowest
Speaker 5: in the ACC this year, and it's been good even
Speaker 5: in the last few games where they haven't played at
Speaker 5: their best. It's not sustaining these drives. They're not either
Speaker 5: getting the chunk play they need to score or they're
Speaker 5: they're marching halfway down the field and then stalling out
Speaker 5: and it's you've got to be able to put the
Speaker 5: points up at the end of a good drive, and
Speaker 5: that's where I think too many opportunities have been missed.
Speaker 7: And again, the.
Speaker 5: Margin is small, so it's not like they've got to
Speaker 5: reinvent the wheel to go in a real run. And
Speaker 5: you know, if you told me they went out, I
Speaker 5: wouldn't be shocked by that. I don't think that there's
Speaker 5: a game on the schedule to your point that they
Speaker 5: can't win. They might not be favored in all of them,
Speaker 5: but I think they're certainly good enough to be in
Speaker 5: to be competitive in every game they have left.
Speaker 2: And what you've seen from these two teams up to
Speaker 2: this point, what would you say is the biggest thing
Speaker 2: about Louisville that could potentially give this Miami team some problems?
Speaker 2: If it's late and it looks as if Louisville maybe
Speaker 2: isn't in command at the game, but they've been the
Speaker 2: better team and if they hold on, they win. What
Speaker 2: do you think was the biggest thing And I'm asking
Speaker 2: you to predict the future here, but something that could potentially,
Speaker 2: you know, put Miami in a spot they hadn't been
Speaker 2: yet this year.
Speaker 5: Well, yeah, so I think there's two things. One is
Speaker 5: sort of what I alluded to before, is that the
Speaker 5: beauty of cam Ward is the can turn anything into
Speaker 5: a positive play. But I think his confidence in doing
Speaker 5: that has sometimes led him to maybe do a little
Speaker 5: too much, hold onto the ball too long, try to
Speaker 5: force the throw that he shouldn't, so Louisville can can
Speaker 5: force him into a big mistake and capitalize on it.
Speaker 5: Like those are the things that will dictate who wins
Speaker 5: close games. But the other big thing is Miami's If
Speaker 5: they've got a weak spot, it is their secondary and
Speaker 5: it's been exposed a little bit over the last couple
Speaker 5: of weeks by Fernando Mendoz and Kyen Drones. Well, Tyler
Speaker 5: Shuck's a better quarterback than either of those guys, so
Speaker 5: you know, I think that Miami can be exposed downfield.
Speaker 5: The question to me is is the Louisville O line
Speaker 5: good enough to give Tyler Shuck the time for some
Speaker 5: of those routes to developed to expose Miami secondary. So
Speaker 5: that to me is everything, Like if you can give
Speaker 5: Shuck the extra second in the pocket so that he
Speaker 5: can look downfield, I think that is a winnable matchup.
Speaker 5: For Louisville that can help dictate a win for them.
Speaker 5: But again, I it's it's sort of like Miami weakness
Speaker 5: is the secondary. Louisville's weakness is that O line, and
Speaker 5: so whose weakness steps up a little bit more in
Speaker 5: this game I think is going to be critical.
Speaker 2: David, appreciate the time, always good stuff, and I hope
Speaker 2: we see a competitive game. And I'm glad you're gonna
Speaker 2: be here in Louisville. Hope you enjoy yourself.
Speaker 3: My man.
Speaker 5: I'm going to have a bourbon or two just to
Speaker 5: make sure that I enjoy myself regardless of the outside
Speaker 5: outcover of the gain.
Speaker 2: That's a good strategy that seems to always work. So
Speaker 2: have fun, man. Good to talk to your brother, yep.
Speaker 3: Take care. That's David Hale of ESPN.
Speaker 2: Always appreciate him making time for us, and certainly some
Speaker 2: good insight there when it comes to.
Speaker 3: Acc football quick break.
Speaker 2: We'll come back, very short segment here in the four
Speaker 2: o'clock hour as we wrap it up, but we got
Speaker 2: another hour to go, so stick around. It's Coffee and
Speaker 2: Company Field bouth Thorns right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 2: That's right, Coffee and Company wrapping up the four o'clock hour.
Speaker 2: No no time left here, But that's okay, you know,
Speaker 2: it happens. It's really my fault, but you know it
Speaker 2: was a coming hour. Yeah, yeah, we got delay with
Speaker 2: a phone issue, which we can blame it all on David,
Speaker 2: which I mean it wasn't his doing, but I mean
Speaker 2: it was his phone's fault, Like he couldn't get called.
Speaker 2: And where you call from like in there on that
Speaker 2: I mean, is that like an internet line, Like.
Speaker 4: It's very unique, but it does act like a real
Speaker 4: phone to where whenever I dial somebody out it rings
Speaker 4: like you're calling somebody.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just he's not the first person that that
Speaker 2: that's happened with. It's not common by any means, but
Speaker 2: like it just didn't ring, Like his phone couldn't register
Speaker 2: that somebody was trying to reach him. We didn't get
Speaker 2: like a busy signal or anything. So you know, thankfully
Speaker 2: I just texted him like, hey man, we can't get
Speaker 2: to you. Mind calling any call, but it did delay
Speaker 2: us a little bit, and then we had callers in
Speaker 2: the beginning segment, which you know, I try to give
Speaker 2: everybody as much time as possible to you know, to
Speaker 2: share their thoughts and ask their questions. So you know,
Speaker 2: that's why we have a very very brief segment here
Speaker 2: to wrap up the four o'clock hour. But good news
Speaker 2: is we've got the five o'clock hour coming your way
Speaker 2: and a lot more to get into. We'll let you
Speaker 2: hear from more. We will let you hear more from
Speaker 2: Pat Kelsey, who of course had his press conference today
Speaker 2: for the Basketball Media Day. And I'll just quit yapp
Speaker 2: and so we can get this break out of the
Speaker 2: way and hit the five o'clock hour with some momentum.
Speaker 3: Baby, let's do it.
Speaker 2: Coffee and Company peeled by Thornton's right here on Sports
Speaker 2: Talk seven ninety