Speaker 1: It's time for Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 2: Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think
Speaker 2: we are. Get off our show.
Speaker 1: Idiots.
Speaker 2: The kids are playing or tail life. Countries are screwing
Speaker 2: it up.
Speaker 1: Gold Play Inner Murals, Brother, gold Play Inner Murals. They're
Speaker 1: supposed to be mature adults, but they're really not.
Speaker 2: Who's the kid here?
Speaker 1: Who's the kid here? Are you kidding me?
Speaker 2: Now?
Speaker 1: Here's Nick Coffee.
Speaker 3: All right, let's get it started. We made it. It
Speaker 3: is Friday, Happy Friday, everybody. When I say we made it,
Speaker 3: I mean we made it to the end of the
Speaker 3: week and uh, Friday, best day of the week. I
Speaker 3: can't tell you how many times I've probably said that
Speaker 3: over the years, and it's still true here on Friday,
Speaker 3: May the sixteenth, So welcome in. It is Coffee and Company,
Speaker 3: fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety. Take us
Speaker 3: with you wherever you go. You can listen live on
Speaker 3: the iHeartRadio app. Also listen live at seven ninety Louisville
Speaker 3: dot com. Nick Coffee, that's me. Austin's out today. As
Speaker 3: we discussed yesterday, he's out working. I think he's at
Speaker 3: a bar with Dwight, like that's work. I mean, I
Speaker 3: know a lot of times what we do here talking sports,
Speaker 3: having fun, a lot of nonsense. Really, I mean some
Speaker 3: people probably laugh that we call it work, but I
Speaker 3: mean he's with Dwight Whitten at a happy hour or
Speaker 3: something like that. It's an appearance for the Tony and
Speaker 3: Dwight Show. So yes, if you can't tell, I'm a
Speaker 3: little jealous because you know who didn't like a happy
Speaker 3: hour on a Friday at three o'clock. But again, they're working,
Speaker 3: so without Austin, we'll miss him, but we've got we've
Speaker 3: got the show in good hands, mister radio, Rick Ryder
Speaker 3: alongside and Vick happy to always be with you, Rick,
Speaker 3: always a pleasure, and we'll have some fun today and
Speaker 3: I hope you guys will stick with us. I will
Speaker 3: start by saying that I've got some nerves right now
Speaker 3: that I really haven't felt in a while.
Speaker 2: And I don't really know why.
Speaker 3: I mean, I know why because I'm about to share
Speaker 3: some news that some of you may already know, and
Speaker 3: I guess I'll just get to it. And the nerves,
Speaker 3: by the way, are just because you know, I don't
Speaker 3: really know what I don't really know what kind of
Speaker 3: emotion may come with this, but you know, I guess
Speaker 3: there's only one way to find out. So this morning,
Speaker 3: I was on news radio eight forty whas set about
Speaker 3: eight thirty five, and I joined Tony Cruz, and he
Speaker 3: made the announcement that with his retirement coming up, he
Speaker 3: will be retiring on I mean, the end of May
Speaker 3: is whenever he's going to be done with a legendary
Speaker 3: career here at news radio eight forty whas. But he
Speaker 3: announced that I will be taking over as the host
Speaker 3: of Kentucky and his morning news on news Radio eight
Speaker 3: forty whas. So this has been something that has kind
Speaker 3: of been I don't even know if it would be
Speaker 3: accurate to say that it's been in the works, because
Speaker 3: you know, there's a long process. It's not you know,
Speaker 3: it's a lengthy process. I should say. It's one of
Speaker 3: those things that obviously, you know, there's a lot that
Speaker 3: goes into it from people who I'll never meet that
Speaker 3: make these kind of decisions because they're very much higher
Speaker 3: up in the corporate structure at iHeartMedia.
Speaker 2: But I'm really excited.
Speaker 3: I I mean, I can't really put into words how
Speaker 3: grateful I am for the opportunity. I'm well aware of
Speaker 3: what the opportunity is, meaning, what that job is, what
Speaker 3: the show is. I mean, it's Kentucky and this morning
Speaker 3: news on news Radio eight forty Whas I've learned over
Speaker 3: the years just how impactful eight forty WHS is in
Speaker 3: not only in this market, in this region, but just
Speaker 3: in radio, the history of the tradition, the legendary and
Speaker 3: talented broadcasters that have worked on that station, and many
Speaker 3: of them are still there right so I'm honored. It
Speaker 3: still kind of doesn't seem real, and you know, it's
Speaker 3: one of those moments in my career. I used to
Speaker 3: feel really uncomfortable saying the word career when talking about this,
Speaker 3: because you know, you never really know how long you're
Speaker 3: going to be able to do this. Nobody ever does,
Speaker 3: and for me, it was always something that for a
Speaker 3: long time I just dreamed of being able to do.
Speaker 3: And here I am. I think I can say career now,
Speaker 3: successful career, average career, terrible career. I guess that's you know,
Speaker 3: you guys can come up with your own way to
Speaker 3: describe it. But this is what I do, and I'm
Speaker 3: very very, very fortunate. I always try to remind myself
Speaker 3: every day with this opportunity at seven ninety the platform
Speaker 3: I have that, man, this is a dream. Live in
Speaker 3: the moment, enjoy it, never take it for granted, because
Speaker 3: you just never know. So I'm a little The emotions
Speaker 3: for me are more so just realizing that, like the station,
Speaker 3: that I learned what sports radio is far as the
Speaker 3: format and the culture and the history of not just
Speaker 3: this station, but just sports radio in general. I mean,
Speaker 3: I'm I'm I'm a lifer meeting in radio, I suppose,
Speaker 3: but nonetheless, like you know, I whenever I was talking
Speaker 3: through this whole thing with the folks that thankfully decided
Speaker 3: to give me the opportunity, you know, it just kind
Speaker 3: of hit me that I've been I've been at this
Speaker 3: station for almost ten years. I've had three different day parts.
Speaker 3: I started out in mid days from noon to three
Speaker 3: for a few years, did the morning stint for a
Speaker 3: few years from seven to ten am, and now I've
Speaker 3: been here in the afternoons for I believe around a
Speaker 3: couple of years. So just to be able to say
Speaker 3: that I've that I've been able to do that is
Speaker 3: still something that I you know, not to be so repetitive,
Speaker 3: but it doesn't seem like reality because it's it's it's
Speaker 3: a dream for me. So the only scenario where I
Speaker 3: would ever walk away from from this would be for
Speaker 3: the opportunity that I've that I've been given. I'd be
Speaker 3: foolish not to take advantage of it, and I'd also
Speaker 3: be foolish not to give it everything. I have to
Speaker 3: make sure that, you know, it doesn't fall apart. It'll
Speaker 3: be a challenge for me. It'll be certainly different than
Speaker 3: what this is, but I'm so energized and motivated to
Speaker 3: make it work. I mean, this is one of the
Speaker 3: this is I have no choice but to make it work,
Speaker 3: and I'm confident that it'll be that.
Speaker 2: It'll be a you know, a great show.
Speaker 3: It already is, and I'm going to try to keep that,
Speaker 3: keep that going and add my own flavor along the way.
Speaker 3: So I am fortunate to be working with a great
Speaker 3: crew that I've really never had before. You know, I'm
Speaker 3: very grateful for everyone who has in some way been
Speaker 3: a part of my shows here over the years, from
Speaker 3: Matt Allen to John Alden to Austin Montgomery to those
Speaker 3: who have have filled in many times, like Rick Ryder.
Speaker 3: I mean the list goes on and on. There have
Speaker 3: been so many people that even you know, it's it's
Speaker 3: been great. But as far as a daily thing, I've
Speaker 3: really kind of been a one man band when it
Speaker 3: comes to just you know, hey, here's three hours, figure
Speaker 3: it out, like make it work. And you know, at
Speaker 3: times that's been challenging. But now I'm going to be
Speaker 3: joining a crew that that has a very all Everyone
Speaker 3: has a very important role in the Kentucky and the
Speaker 3: morning news format from five am to nine am. I mean,
Speaker 3: it's it's it's teamwork. So I can't wait to work
Speaker 3: alongside Scott Fitzgerald, who is has been I mean he
Speaker 3: himself is a staple within eight forty whas for many,
Speaker 3: many many years, a guy who works his tail off
Speaker 3: and you know, is really passionate about about what he
Speaker 3: does and it comes across in him as a broadcaster.
Speaker 3: So he'll be joining me as the sports anchor, but
Speaker 3: also he'll be a part of the show more so
Speaker 3: than just that to an extent, and I can't wait
Speaker 3: for that. I'm going to be reunited with the company
Speaker 3: man John Alden, which I'm going to try to speak
Speaker 3: that nickname back into existence. They stole him from me.
Speaker 3: He made the jump to the big leagues before I
Speaker 3: was given the opportunity, but hey, I get it. They
Speaker 3: could see some real talent with John, but he's the
Speaker 3: producer of that show now. And then also John Shannon,
Speaker 3: who gives news updates throughout he's the news anchor. So again,
Speaker 3: I'm so excited. I'm well aware of what the opportunity
Speaker 3: is and the challenges that come with it. And although
Speaker 3: I mean it when I see, I can't wait to
Speaker 3: get started. And I'm so excited. I'm also going to
Speaker 3: cherish the remaining shows I have here at seven ninety
Speaker 3: and I want to talk sort of about what this
Speaker 3: becomes after me, and I guess i'll I need to
Speaker 3: get it out of the way and not lead you
Speaker 3: to think that I've got some news. I'm teasing. I
Speaker 3: have no clue and I'm not someone who would have
Speaker 3: any say so in any decision that's made as far
Speaker 3: as what this looks like post me. So again, no clue,
Speaker 3: but I do want to talk about that just a
Speaker 3: little bit. But again, I'm super excited. And and those
Speaker 3: who you know, I guess kind of you know, I
Speaker 3: don't want to talk out of turn here, but you know,
Speaker 3: if you are someone advocating for me to be in
Speaker 3: this position to take over for the legendary Tony Cruz,
Speaker 3: who I mean, I believe I'm going to be the
Speaker 3: fourth person to kind of have this position in you know,
Speaker 3: fourth or fifth person in the existence of news radio
Speaker 3: eight forty whs. That's something that like hits me, hits
Speaker 3: me deep because that just it doesn't it doesn't seem real.
Speaker 3: But again, those who make the decision to you know,
Speaker 3: get to to advocate for me and say, hey, we
Speaker 3: want we want Nick to be the guy here.
Speaker 2: Thank you.
Speaker 3: And you know, I would hope that if I, if
Speaker 3: I somehow can't make it work, that you know, you're
Speaker 3: not held accountable. But you know, if so, like that's
Speaker 3: kind of what this is. So I'm beyond grateful for
Speaker 3: everyone involved, and I know there's many people involved as
Speaker 3: far as what gets done here, how it all works.
Speaker 3: And so thank you to Gus Allen, who has been
Speaker 3: my boss now for a while. We've worked together for
Speaker 3: a long time and obviously he's been a big part
Speaker 3: of this entire process. Christy Beebe Nathan Nelson, I mean
Speaker 3: even those who used to be with us that are
Speaker 3: no longer a part of iHeart, that have moved on
Speaker 3: to do other things, Josh Everett, Kelly Carl's.
Speaker 2: I mean people who have helped me be able to
Speaker 2: do this. I mean, even going.
Speaker 3: Back to Dougan Ryan, who's the first person that ever
Speaker 3: gave me an opportunity in broadcasting when I was gosh,
Speaker 3: twenty maybe twenty three years old, and you know, I
Speaker 3: was doing a podcast in my one bedroom apartment with
Speaker 3: my then girlfriend who's now my wife. So you know,
Speaker 3: he gave me an opportunity. And I did know early
Speaker 3: on that it wasn't just something I enjoyed doing as
Speaker 3: far as talking about sports and talking about Louisville, talking
Speaker 3: about my favorite team and having a platform to do it.
Speaker 3: I just became a nerd for radio in broadcasting, and
Speaker 3: for so long I just never envisioned in any way
Speaker 3: I would be a part of it with it not
Speaker 3: being super centered around sports. But you know what, I've
Speaker 3: kind of grown up here. You know, when I got
Speaker 3: started and got the opportunity to make this what I
Speaker 3: do for a living, you know, it was a big part.
Speaker 3: It was a big time in my life.
Speaker 2: Life.
Speaker 3: I've told the story before when I got offered a
Speaker 3: contract to come and work for iHeartMedia as a full
Speaker 3: time host on seven ninety. That offer came as we
Speaker 3: were leaving the hospital with my daughter, and you know,
Speaker 3: imagine the emotions that comes with that. And then I'm thinking, like,
Speaker 3: you know, it'd be real selfish of me to take
Speaker 3: a big risk when I was already pretty comfortable in
Speaker 3: a different career to you know, go be selfish and
Speaker 3: see if I can chase my dream. And that's kind
Speaker 3: of the way I viewed it. But the support of
Speaker 3: my wife, who has been nothing but great to me
Speaker 3: and advocates for me, and she's you know, super supportive
Speaker 3: in every way. But you know, it wasn't. I was
Speaker 3: assuming we'd have some kind of discussion about let's see
Speaker 3: what makes the most sense, what should we do? Should
Speaker 3: you know, should I play it safe and say no,
Speaker 3: just because you know, we now got to take care
Speaker 3: of a human being, we became parents for the first time,
Speaker 3: we're still relatively young, all that. But there was no
Speaker 3: conversation because she just told me, you know, you're gonna
Speaker 3: do it, and it's gonna work, and she believed in
Speaker 3: me and for that. I really appreciate it more than
Speaker 3: she'll ever know. I knew that would happen, so I'll
Speaker 3: try to keep my composure. But again, thanks to everybody,
Speaker 3: everybody who's reached out to congratulate me after the news
Speaker 3: came out this morning. So anyways, back to where I
Speaker 3: was going with that story. You know, I never knew
Speaker 3: if if this would ever be something I could I
Speaker 3: could do, And you know, you never know when it's
Speaker 3: gonna be your last show, believe it or not. Tony
Speaker 3: Vinetti has given me some good advice over the years
Speaker 3: when it comes to just like, you know what this is.
Speaker 3: He's a lifer, he's been super successful, he's been grateful
Speaker 3: or he's been great to me, and I'm grateful for him,
Speaker 3: along with many others that have been, you know, kind
Speaker 3: of a part of my journey here. And you know,
Speaker 3: you never know what it's gonna be your last show.
Speaker 3: There are people who don't get the opportunity to do
Speaker 3: this out of nowhere. And it's not based off performance,
Speaker 3: it's not based off of I mean, sometimes it can be,
Speaker 3: but a lot of times it's not, so you know,
Speaker 3: to just kind of I think that's what's helped me
Speaker 3: just live in the moment and always enjoy this because
Speaker 3: I know it could be gone at any moment. So
Speaker 3: I've kind of just been in that mindset for so long,
Speaker 3: hoping that I can keep this going until one day,
Speaker 3: you know, my time comes so to be. You know,
Speaker 3: roughly ten years in at a station that again I
Speaker 3: got the bug for what sports radio is the platform.
Speaker 3: I mean listening to joe By and Denny, listening to
Speaker 3: the afternon underdogs, but Tony Venetti and Adam Neft and
Speaker 3: then you know, he's no longer on the FSR network,
Speaker 3: but like Jim Rome, like that was an element of
Speaker 3: sports radio with entertainment that I wasn't exposed to, and man,
Speaker 3: I loved it. So you know, it's crazy that I've
Speaker 3: been able to want at least have the time I've
Speaker 3: had here at seven ninety. But now I've got an
Speaker 3: opportunity that you know, many more talented than me, many
Speaker 3: more polished and successful than I am, you know, would
Speaker 3: love the opportunity, and I have it. So I'm grateful
Speaker 3: for it, and I'm going to do my best not
Speaker 3: to take advantage, you know, to take it for granted.
Speaker 3: So as far as what happens after this, I don't
Speaker 3: really know, and I don't Again, I'm gonna try not
Speaker 3: to talk out of turn, because last thing I want
Speaker 3: to do is say something I shouldn't say, and maybe
Speaker 3: they're like, yeah, you idiot, you got to yap in
Speaker 3: your mouth, you got you got emotional, and we're no
Speaker 3: longer we're no longer interested in you. I hope that
Speaker 3: doesn't happen. So again, I have no clue what they're
Speaker 3: gonna do, and whatever they choose to do, I do
Speaker 3: understand that there will be there'll be reasons behind it,
Speaker 3: and I'll support it.
Speaker 2: But I have developed a.
Speaker 3: Like I'm protective of what this is, right, and I
Speaker 3: know many people have been on the station long before
Speaker 3: me and have helped make it the brand that it
Speaker 3: is to where it's a sports station that's been around
Speaker 3: for a long time with a lot of successful shows
Speaker 3: over the years. So trust me, it's not like I
Speaker 3: feel like I've got a right to, you know, to
Speaker 3: the station that others don't, but like, I'm protective of it, right.
Speaker 2: I've been here for long enough to where I deeply
Speaker 2: care about it.
Speaker 3: So you know, I'm gonna throw some suggestions out to
Speaker 3: them as far as what I what I think they
Speaker 3: could do that would be doable, But again I have
Speaker 3: no say so, and they could tell me, okay, thanks
Speaker 3: for your advice, Nick kick Rocks, and look, they'd be
Speaker 3: justified in doing that because it's not my decision. I
Speaker 3: have no say so or influence. But you know, we'll
Speaker 3: see how things shake out. I'm gonna be in this
Speaker 3: spot at least from now until uh two weeks from now,
Speaker 3: So the thirtieth of May, I suppose will be the
Speaker 3: last time you you know, you hear me in this capacity.
Speaker 3: But you know, you never know what's gonna you know,
Speaker 3: what's gonna change as far as what they do decide
Speaker 3: to do here, and you know, maybe you'll maybe you'll
Speaker 3: you know, hear me in doses if they decide to actually,
Speaker 3: you know, if they decide to make, you know, an
Speaker 3: additional programming decision. So anyways, as far as what HA
Speaker 3: is is in the mornings, if I'm sure a lot
Speaker 3: of you listening are at least a well aware of
Speaker 3: what Kentucky and This Morning News is and has been
Speaker 3: for such a long time. And yeah, it'll be different.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's a different it's really a different job.
Speaker 3: Than what I've what I've always done. But that's that's
Speaker 3: that's challenging, that's that's you know, that's that's what makes
Speaker 3: it exciting for me. But also like, I'm still gonna
Speaker 3: be able to talk sports. It's gonna be a sports show,
Speaker 3: but sports very much a part of the news talk format,
Speaker 3: and you know, you'll still get me. But you know,
Speaker 3: if you for some reason they're like, yeah, if he's
Speaker 3: not talking about U of L or you know, UK
Speaker 3: or whatever it may be, or just being you know,
Speaker 3: a knucklehead like we can be at times on here,
Speaker 3: then you know I would hate to hear that, but
Speaker 3: you know it'll be different. It will be different, but again,
Speaker 3: there's no scenario where I'm not at least talking sports
Speaker 3: to some extent. But also there'll be things that come
Speaker 3: up that you know, you don't typically hear on this show. However,
Speaker 3: I think over the years, I've become more comfortable and
Speaker 3: felt better about not always just being nothing but sports
Speaker 3: for three straight hours, because you know, technically the format
Speaker 3: here is sports talking. I know there are some people
Speaker 3: out there that just if you for a second veer
Speaker 3: off into something that's not super sports related, they'll let
Speaker 3: you know, thought this was a sports show. So like,
Speaker 3: I know, there's some that really only want to hear that,
Speaker 3: But like I've enjoyed. What I've learned about myself in
Speaker 3: this is that like I do, in fact enjoy talking
Speaker 3: about things that are more relatable that maybe aren't sports
Speaker 3: related at all, or you know, things that are big
Speaker 3: stories that I have thoughts on that really have nothing
Speaker 3: to do with sports. So, you know, going back to
Speaker 3: where I got choked up and thought I was going
Speaker 3: to have to take an early break because I you know,
Speaker 3: I knew that was going to come at some point,
Speaker 3: but I was talking about I kind of grew up here,
Speaker 3: meaning like I mean, I was a lot younger ten
Speaker 3: years ago, and all I ever wanted to do was
Speaker 3: talk sports. And as I get older, you know, I
Speaker 3: find myself more interested in things and keeping up with things,
Speaker 3: you know, because as mention I grew up, I grew up.
Speaker 3: I've I mean, I'm there's a big difference in being
Speaker 3: thirty seven and twenty six, and you know, I'm I'm
Speaker 3: a father, I have two children, I raised my family
Speaker 3: here in the in the Louisville area, and I now
Speaker 3: pay attention to things other than sports, because you know
Speaker 3: what it impacts me. It has, it has you know,
Speaker 3: it affects me because you know, I'm I'm a grown
Speaker 3: up now kind of I make the joke about you know,
Speaker 3: I'm kind of a grown up. I am technically, but
Speaker 3: you know, sometimes I can get lost within this show
Speaker 3: and what this is, and it's nice to, you know,
Speaker 3: not feel quite like a grown up with such responsibility.
Speaker 2: Clearly, it's going to be different over there, because it is.
Speaker 3: You know, I got to be a little more professional,
Speaker 3: a little more polished, and I'll certainly do my very
Speaker 3: best at that. But I'll go back to and trust me,
Speaker 3: we'll take a time outage to second and we'll get
Speaker 3: into what we typically do here. But I want to
Speaker 3: at least address this just because you know, I didn't
Speaker 3: want you guys to find out any other way, which
Speaker 3: I'm sure some of you already knew anyway. But nonetheless,
Speaker 3: whenever this got thrown my way, it's been well over
Speaker 3: a year, not that the opportunity was there to accept,
Speaker 3: but it was presented to me by one of our
Speaker 3: former program directors who just you know, say, hey, when
Speaker 3: Tony Kruz does decide to retire, would what would you
Speaker 3: ever think about maybe making a move and being a
Speaker 3: part of HAS at some point? And I was legitimately
Speaker 3: surprised for a lot of reasons, but one I was like,
Speaker 3: you know what, what about me would make you think that,
Speaker 3: like I would be a good fit.
Speaker 2: I'm honored.
Speaker 3: That's a big deal. It's I mean, it's HAS. Let's
Speaker 3: be honest, like that's crazy, but you know what would
Speaker 3: that look like with me? And this really is something
Speaker 3: that always stuck with me because the conversation, you know,
Speaker 3: it just shifted to where, you know, they realized that
Speaker 3: I can, I can do this and not just talk
Speaker 3: about nothing but sports, and they wanted to add a
Speaker 3: little bit, a little bit of youth to to the
Speaker 3: HAS lineup, which of course you know is important. And
Speaker 3: from then on, I've just here and there been thinking about,
Speaker 3: you know, what I could do to keep that thing
Speaker 3: rolling like it has been for decades, for generations. Right
Speaker 3: with Kentucky and his morning news, you're getting your weather,
Speaker 3: you're getting your traffic. You know, you're getting your news,
Speaker 3: and you can always get that. But for me, I
Speaker 3: know now when it comes to the broadcast platform that
Speaker 3: is radio, we got a lot of competition and it's
Speaker 3: these things that people put in their pocket they're called
Speaker 3: cell phones, that you can do really anything you want.
Speaker 3: You can get any information you want, and we all
Speaker 3: know that. So my goal is to, you know, make
Speaker 3: it convenient to where you're not you know, you're not
Speaker 3: driving in in the morning on your phone, or you're
Speaker 3: not you know, getting your phone out to to to
Speaker 3: see the weather or see the news because you're you know,
Speaker 3: you're getting ready for work. Well, if you have has on,
Speaker 3: you're going to get your traffic, You're going to get
Speaker 3: your weather, You're going to get your news. You're going
Speaker 3: to get things that are important to to to be
Speaker 3: to be notified about because it's news. But also, you know,
Speaker 3: I want to try to add something that makes you think, Okay,
Speaker 3: this is the reason why I'm here, And I don't
Speaker 3: mean because of me, but just because you know, not
Speaker 3: only am I going to get what I need knowing
Speaker 3: I could get it elsewhere, but I'll be entertained. I'll
Speaker 3: hear interesting interviews that kind of stuff. So again, twenty
Speaker 3: one minutes in here, I didn't expect to talk about
Speaker 3: it this much. But you know, if you guys can't
Speaker 3: tell I'm a little long winded at times. You know,
Speaker 3: they gave me a three hour show, you know, ten
Speaker 3: years ago roughly, and I'll never forget it. I was
Speaker 3: so excited, so eager, just didn't seem real. And then
Speaker 3: like the day of, like I was prepared, but I'm like, yeah,
Speaker 3: you know, I've never really thought about it. I've just
Speaker 3: been so excited about the opportunity. I never really thought
Speaker 3: about that I'm gonna have to fill three hours of
Speaker 3: radio with really no other you know, no other you know,
Speaker 3: contributor or whatnot. So you know, anyways, thank you all
Speaker 3: to those who've reached out. I know there'll be some
Speaker 3: that that like tell me that this is a part
Speaker 3: of their their afternoon and you know, they're not happy
Speaker 3: about it, and one thank you, like that means so
Speaker 3: much to me that like you that this is going
Speaker 3: to I mean, I'm not happy that you're unhappy, but like,
Speaker 3: I'm still gonna be around. You'll still hear me. It'll
Speaker 3: be a lot earlier than you used to and a
Speaker 3: lot of people probably aren't even gonna be up before
Speaker 3: the show ends because it's a really i mean it's
Speaker 3: five am to nine am.
Speaker 2: But you know, I to know.
Speaker 3: That this is a weird thing to say, but it's
Speaker 3: just the truth to know that, like this is news
Speaker 3: that people will probably hopefully understand and kind of see
Speaker 3: my position and hopefully, you know, hopefully they'd be happy
Speaker 3: for I mean, if not whatever, I get it. You know,
Speaker 3: you don't know me personally. You don't have to feel
Speaker 3: happy for me. I understand that, but you know to
Speaker 3: know that that this show has meant enough to where
Speaker 3: you do enjoy it. It's part of your routine whenever
Speaker 3: you're leaving work, leaving school, whatever it may be. Like
Speaker 3: that means so much to me and I, you know,
Speaker 3: in what we do, there's no daily rundown of Okay,
Speaker 3: how good was your show? How many people truly listened?
Speaker 3: There's no there's no daily update to really know, So
Speaker 3: you just tell yourself keep you know, keep at it,
Speaker 3: try to stay fresh, try to stay you know, try
Speaker 3: to stay sharp, and try your best every day to
Speaker 3: put together the best show that you can. But you
Speaker 3: really never know if that's happening. I'm sure I've had
Speaker 3: many more bad shows than good. That's probably the case.
Speaker 3: But when I do hear from people that tell me
Speaker 3: that they listen, and you don't even have to tell
Speaker 3: me that you love it.
Speaker 2: I mean, I hope you do.
Speaker 3: If not, if you listen, and we you know, we've
Speaker 3: earned your attention and your time on your afternoon commute.
Speaker 3: Maybe it's for ten minutes, maybe it's for an hour, whatever,
Speaker 3: Maybe maybe you're a podcast listener like g It's still
Speaker 3: is crazy to me that that that, you know, when
Speaker 3: I have had this opportunity that I've had, and yet
Speaker 3: there are people who, you know, like it happened a
Speaker 3: few weeks ago, somebody reached out to the show and
Speaker 3: along our back or along our exchange on our text line,
Speaker 3: you know, they let me know that they listened to
Speaker 3: me when they were like finishing like high school, and
Speaker 3: now they're grown ups, now they have children and like
Speaker 3: they're you know that that made me feel old. But
Speaker 3: also it's like, you know, clearly, not only did they
Speaker 3: check it out here and there, they enjoyed it and
Speaker 3: it became something that they really appreciated. So I appreciate
Speaker 3: all of you. And uh, I'll quit yapping about it now.
Speaker 3: I'll get my composure together and you know, we'll finish
Speaker 3: strong here on a Friday and get out of here
Speaker 3: for the weekend. It is coffee and company. We are
Speaker 3: a feel about Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 1: Now back to coffee and Company fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 3: That's right, Coffee and Company fuel by Thornton's here on
Speaker 3: Sports Talk seven ninety. Appreciate you guys hanging out with
Speaker 3: us on a Friday afternoon, Nick Coffee and mister Radio
Speaker 3: Rick Ryder alongside. If you guys would like to join
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Speaker 3: text line today, which that's usually it's usually the best way,
Speaker 3: but obviously we do include phone calls as well. I
Speaker 3: just I don't want it to if phone calls turned
Speaker 3: into sort of, you know, the the news that I
Speaker 3: talked about earlier, Like I feel like I would be
Speaker 3: awkward and uncomfortable, and you know, I don't want to
Speaker 3: do that. So and I might, there's always the risk
Speaker 3: that I get, you know, a little choked up, and
Speaker 3: I don't want to do that. Wouldn't be fun for anybody,
Speaker 3: including myself. So the Element Federal Credit Union text line
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Speaker 3: of that goes a long way. And we always appreciate
Speaker 3: our friends over there at Thornton's. So let's get the
Speaker 3: table set today, shall we. We spent the first thirty
Speaker 3: minutes just you know, me yapping about me personally, and
Speaker 3: it was important to share. And if you are just
Speaker 3: now joining us and you have no clue what in
Speaker 3: the world I'm talking about. I'm moving on from Sports
Speaker 3: Talk seven ninety after at the end of this month,
Speaker 3: I'll be moving to has to take over for Tony
Speaker 3: Cruz on Kentucky and his morning news, and really excited,
Speaker 3: but obviously, you know, it's a little bitterswee because I'll
Speaker 3: certainly certainly miss this, but we're gonna make the most
Speaker 3: of what time we have left. So one thing I
Speaker 3: wanted to get into is the players that are still
Speaker 3: sort of on the fence about coming back to college
Speaker 3: or going pro and this is this is one of
Speaker 3: the many new elements to sort of how we cover
Speaker 3: as college basketball fans the offseason, because you know, I'm
Speaker 3: watching the NBA Draft Combine on NBA TV and seeing
Speaker 3: the five on five action, and you know, you get
Speaker 3: to keep in mind, not that long ago, you wouldn't
Speaker 3: be able to even be participating in getting feedback from
Speaker 3: the NBA showing what you can do before the draft
Speaker 3: without without foregoing all your eligibility, right. I mean, things
Speaker 3: have changed drastically over the years, but now you've got
Speaker 3: guys out there who when you hear the the the
Speaker 3: analysts discussing their big decision and sort of where where
Speaker 3: they're viewed to be currently as far as the draft board,
Speaker 3: you know you now hear, well, he'd lose a lot
Speaker 3: of money if he goes pro, because you know, here's
Speaker 3: what you're slotted to make if you're somebody that ends
Speaker 3: up on a two way contract or a second round pick.
Speaker 3: I mean, it's tough for me to believe this totally,
Speaker 3: but I'll also acknowledge I have no clue but the
Speaker 3: Texas Tech star topping J T. Toppin he was viewed
Speaker 3: to be all accounts a mid to late first round pick.
Speaker 3: Mostly I think he was projected to be closer towards
Speaker 3: the end of the first round. I mean, you'd never.
Speaker 3: I mean I shouldn't say never because it has happened,
Speaker 3: but man, it's extremely rare to bypass an opportunity to
Speaker 3: go to the NBA in the first round.
Speaker 2: At any point. Well now, I mean j C.
Speaker 3: Toppin he realized reportedly that three points something million was
Speaker 3: on the table for him to come back to Texas Tech.
Speaker 3: And despite knowing that he's projected to be taken it
Speaker 3: at you know, for sure drafted overall, but probably somewhere
Speaker 3: in the first round, Like the financial decision was better
Speaker 3: off for him to come back to college.
Speaker 2: And that's just and.
Speaker 3: It's not because he's going to you know, maybe he
Speaker 3: does develop and he becomes a better prospect, but we're
Speaker 3: talking about the best scenario for you in you know,
Speaker 3: as far as just money, not necessarily your future.
Speaker 2: So it's just it's entirely different.
Speaker 3: But anyways, the reason I bring this up is because
Speaker 3: otega Oway has been probably viewed as a late second round,
Speaker 3: mid second round guy at best, and I don't really
Speaker 3: know how he translates to the NBA.
Speaker 2: But I think he's a really talented player. I think
Speaker 2: he can play in the NBA.
Speaker 3: I just think, you know, in that position, a kind
Speaker 3: of a combo guard.
Speaker 2: You know, it's just so hard. Again, we talked about
Speaker 2: it earlier this week.
Speaker 3: It's just it comes down to opportunity, because not to
Speaker 3: say that you can just go out anywhere, you can
Speaker 3: go to the park and pick up a guy that
Speaker 3: can come in and be a you know, be a
Speaker 3: combo guard for you, your tenth guy off the bench.
Speaker 2: Like trust me, that's that's not the case.
Speaker 3: But there are a lot of guys that could fill
Speaker 3: these roles within NBA organizations, but there's not that many
Speaker 3: of those roles to go around, so you know, who
Speaker 3: knows what he ends up doing in the NBA. But nonetheless,
Speaker 3: he is somebody that will benefit from coming back to
Speaker 3: college from a financial standpoint. And yes, he did do
Speaker 3: an interview I think it was last week where he
Speaker 3: really was adamant and maintained that he you know, he's
Speaker 3: always thinking about is the NBA. He's so focused on
Speaker 3: it right now. That's not to say he's for sure
Speaker 3: not coming back to college, because I think he is.
Speaker 2: But I think that's more.
Speaker 3: That's just you know, I think he probably has an agent,
Speaker 3: and his agent probably told him, you know, one of
Speaker 3: the things that you could do to maybe, if anything
Speaker 3: slightly improve how you're viewed to the NBA is that
Speaker 3: let them know that, you know, you're so focused up
Speaker 3: and you're you're really taking this serious and you're appreciative
Speaker 3: of the opportunity to be at the combine and get
Speaker 3: to work out for these NBA teams. So I never
Speaker 3: really looked at that as Okay, well, maybe he is
Speaker 3: considering not coming.
Speaker 2: Back to Kentucky, and look, who knows.
Speaker 3: I guess you know, he'll have a deadline whenever that is,
Speaker 3: and he'll make his decision. But just hearing this, this
Speaker 3: chatter during the NBA Draft Combine five on five scrimmages,
Speaker 3: I mean, it's just it's just the reminder of how
Speaker 3: different things have changed. And if you're a Kentucky fan,
Speaker 3: I don't think you need to be worried by any
Speaker 3: means that you're not going to get a take away back.
Speaker 3: But I think you also would acknowledge that if for
Speaker 3: some reason he did get like a first round guarantee
Speaker 3: and he decided to go like that, would change everything
Speaker 3: for uh for Kentucky, but I don't think that's going
Speaker 3: to happen. In this clip from NBA TV will probably
Speaker 3: make you feel a little better about, you know, your
Speaker 3: star player coming back.
Speaker 4: Oh, I think if listen, it's not always about getting it.
Speaker 4: I know, it's about getting a guarantee if he wants
Speaker 4: to play in the league, they'll be there'll be a
Speaker 4: role for him. However, there's a big however, he's going
Speaker 4: to give up significant amount of money. Of two a
Speaker 4: contract is roughly six hundred thousand dollars. A second year
Speaker 4: a second round pick exception contract is one point two
Speaker 4: million dollars.
Speaker 2: He's going to get more by going back to Kentucky.
Speaker 4: That's that's that's kind of generational money. He'll be basically
Speaker 4: chasing what he gave up at Kentucky for the next
Speaker 4: three years. It's not an easy decision for him.
Speaker 2: I think a lot of it.
Speaker 4: What type of team is he going back to that
Speaker 4: plays a significant role.
Speaker 2: Also, So.
Speaker 3: With all that said, what sense would it make for
Speaker 3: otega Oway to go ahead and say, yeah, I'm gonna
Speaker 3: call it a career as a college player, I'm moving
Speaker 3: to the NBA. I mean when it would show a
Speaker 3: lot of belief in yourself, which is admirable, certainly, but
Speaker 3: it would mean he has to hate college basketball. And
Speaker 3: I'm sure there are some that like it more than others.
Speaker 3: But man, these guys have it made right now. They're
Speaker 3: paid a lot of money if you play for you know,
Speaker 3: a program like Kentucky who will invest in basketball, you
Speaker 3: know as much as anybody. But you know, you're a
Speaker 3: rock star. Your pay is not dependent upon performance by
Speaker 3: any means.
Speaker 2: You are, you know.
Speaker 3: I can't imagine the experience for otega Oway at Kentucky
Speaker 3: last year was not maybe the best experience of his
Speaker 3: basketball career. I mean, I can't speak for him. I
Speaker 3: don't know him, but he was one of the best
Speaker 3: players I thought. Look, I said it all year. I
Speaker 3: thought he was their best player. I thought he was
Speaker 3: as consistent as anybody. He was solid on both ends,
Speaker 3: more so than really any of your other guys on
Speaker 3: that team, I think.
Speaker 2: And he was talent.
Speaker 3: He's talented, like he's one of those guys that didn't
Speaker 3: hit the portal. And Kentucky's class is already viewed as
Speaker 3: a good class from the portal.
Speaker 2: But the biggest get.
Speaker 3: For them is him coming back to college and not
Speaker 3: hitting the portal because he's that good of a player.
Speaker 3: So I would you know what you heard there as
Speaker 3: far as the money the financial situation again if you're
Speaker 3: if somehow we end up hearing that he's staying in
Speaker 3: the draft, it would mean I guess a few things
Speaker 3: he got a guarantee for, like the first round, and
Speaker 3: he you know, he believed it and he was willing to,
Speaker 3: you know, make the move. Or we find out he
Speaker 3: just hates college basketball and Kentucky, which there's I mean,
Speaker 3: I just don't I don't see that happening at all,
Speaker 3: Or he didn't feel good about the position that like
Speaker 3: Kentucky's roster was into where he felt like maybe his
Speaker 3: momentum would not be sustained or elevated because he's coming
Speaker 3: back to Kentucky and they're not going to be good,
Speaker 3: and I don't know how good they're going to be.
Speaker 3: But I don't think personnel wise, there's any reason to
Speaker 3: think that he would be, you know, hesitant to play
Speaker 3: alongside the group that they have. In fact, I think
Speaker 3: Jalen Lowe and Otaga away together that's a dynamic backcourt.
Speaker 3: I think you probably worry a little bit about three
Speaker 3: point shooting consistency, but you know, in every other aspect,
Speaker 3: those guys are you know, talking about big, physical, athletic
Speaker 3: guards that can do a lot of things. So I mean,
Speaker 3: i'd say he's coming back. And it's just different. Man.
Speaker 3: You had guys in a previous world that wasn't that
Speaker 3: long ago that would know that they have zero chance
Speaker 3: of getting drafted, but they decided after two years, Yeah,
Speaker 3: I've probably my NBA draft stock is what it is,
Speaker 3: and it's not really going to get any better. So
Speaker 3: let me just go ahead and take a risk and
Speaker 3: see if I get drafted. If not, I'm going to
Speaker 3: go ahead and start my pro career because you know,
Speaker 3: in a and I say this all the time, and
Speaker 3: what a lot of us do for a living, age
Speaker 3: isn't very much much a factor in it, right, Like hopefully,
Speaker 3: God willing, I can yap on the radio for the
Speaker 3: next thirty years. I hope radio still exist in thirty years.
Speaker 3: But like you know, I don't need to be athletic
Speaker 3: and you know, gifted with talent and ability as far
Speaker 3: as you know basketball. I mean, I'm talking, I'm yapping.
Speaker 3: So these guys, they were aware I only have like
Speaker 3: ten twelve years, maybe max, to really make a good
Speaker 3: living playing the game I love, and then I can
Speaker 3: start life after basketball, and I will have put away
Speaker 3: a lot of money, and I can go back and
Speaker 3: finish school if I want to. I can invest in
Speaker 3: a business, whatever it may be. So that's just where
Speaker 3: we were for so long. And I used to be,
Speaker 3: you know, someone who loves college basketball. I used to
Speaker 3: be worried about that because college basketball became no longer
Speaker 3: really attractive for guys who weren't using it as a
Speaker 3: stepping stone to the NBA.
Speaker 2: And that's why you had guys just decide to you know.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it was a good experience and appreciate the fans
Speaker 3: and appreciate the free education, but look, I'm gonna move on.
Speaker 2: So it was a worry.
Speaker 3: Well, now you have really good players who know they're
Speaker 3: going to get drafted, but say, yeah, I'm gonna wait
Speaker 3: because I got I got a better opportunity financially to
Speaker 3: come back to college.
Speaker 2: And that's why.
Speaker 3: And maybe I'm a little bias because I love college
Speaker 3: hoops so much, but I don't think there's an argument
Speaker 3: college basketball has benefited from this new world more than anybody,
Speaker 3: meaning more, I guess more than any other sport, because
Speaker 3: you have a better product with college basketball because better
Speaker 3: players who may not ever sniff the NBA, they're now
Speaker 3: not going to play in Turkey or Japan or Spain.
Speaker 3: And there's no I mean, I think it's insane to
Speaker 3: knock anybody who's making any kind of a living playing
Speaker 3: a sport that's something we all probably as kids dream
Speaker 3: we could do, and it's not reality for a lot
Speaker 3: of us. So anyways, I'm not knocking those guys for
Speaker 3: doing that, but that led to, you know, the college
Speaker 3: basketball product is not being as good. So anyway, so
Speaker 3: take away be a real shocker if he doesn't decide
Speaker 3: to come back to Kentucky. But we shall see what
Speaker 3: I want to get to coming up on the other side,
Speaker 3: the new revenue sharing model in the ACC. That was
Speaker 3: a big deal, and when that news broke a couple
Speaker 3: months back, that they are in order to kind of
Speaker 3: ease the tension between Clemson and Florida State with their
Speaker 3: lawsuits and basically realizing, hey, we shouldn't you know, we're
Speaker 3: already getting left behind by schools in our own state
Speaker 3: that are in the SEC or the big ten or
Speaker 3: whatever it may be. And you know we don't like that,
Speaker 3: so how about we You know, basically, they wanted to
Speaker 3: get more of what they actually brought in as far
Speaker 3: as value and revenue, and there's an updated breakdown as
Speaker 3: far as what that looks like. And I would be shocked.
Speaker 3: Dare I say this that the ACC might be trendsetters
Speaker 3: here because I think with you now having to share
Speaker 3: so much revenue, I mean twenty million more, I think
Speaker 3: it's more than that. A little bit over twenty million is
Speaker 3: now going to have to be shared with student athletes.
Speaker 3: That's never you got an annual twenty plus million dollar
Speaker 3: bill that didn't used to be there. So you're going
Speaker 3: to do everything you can to try to watch spending
Speaker 3: and really look out for the amount of money you're
Speaker 3: bringing in. And I think other leagues will see, hey,
Speaker 3: you know, we got plenty of money here at Alabama
Speaker 3: and we're not hurting, but I don't like how Vandy's
Speaker 3: getting the same rev share we are, Like, I think
Speaker 3: you're gonna see other conferences force the issue, and it won't.
Speaker 3: It won't create some crazy shakeup, I don't think. Because
Speaker 3: if you're bandy in the sec.
Speaker 2: If you are.
Speaker 3: Rutgers in the Big ten, what's your option If they
Speaker 3: tell you, yeah, you're just gonna get a lesser piece
Speaker 3: of the pie because you're not bringing in the value
Speaker 3: based off the results. What are they gonna do? Leave
Speaker 3: and go to a new conference. Even if they get
Speaker 3: cut off at the kne to an extent as far
Speaker 3: as an equal share, they're still just they still know
Speaker 3: they're lucky to be in the Big ten of the
Speaker 3: ACC because you know, they don't really add any value,
Speaker 3: which is why they would have to understand. You know,
Speaker 3: as long as we can still just have a seat
Speaker 3: at the table, we'll eat the scraps, We'll eat your crumbs,
Speaker 3: because you know, that's actually a better life than if
Speaker 3: we had to go be in the American Conference or
Speaker 3: the Sunbelt or something like that. So I want to
Speaker 3: get into that at the four o'clock hour. So we'll
Speaker 3: do that, but we'll come back and wrap up our
Speaker 3: first hour. On the other side, it's coffee and company.
Speaker 3: Bil about Thornton right here on Sports Talk seven ninety