Speaker 1: Welcome to the Big Blue Insider. To Gabriel with you
Speaker 1: on a Tuesday edition of Game Week. You got basketball
Speaker 1: tomorrow night, you got football on Saturday, you got baseball
Speaker 1: on Sunday. We'll talk about it all tonight here on
Speaker 1: the Big Blue Insider. Coming up tomorrow, it's Kentucky Wesleyan
Speaker 1: and the Wildcats in an exhibition game. We'll have it
Speaker 1: for you right here. The entire Big Blue Insider will
Speaker 1: be preempted by full radio coverage of Kentucky and wesley
Speaker 1: and yes, it will be on the SEC Network. Then
Speaker 1: on Saturday, it's Kentucky Auburn seven forty five kickoff five
Speaker 1: thirty airtime for the UK Network with Christy, Jeremy and
Speaker 1: Logan and then Tom, Jeff and I with the call.
Speaker 1: The Cats and the Tigers. They must win situation for
Speaker 1: the football Wildcats if they want to keep their bull
Speaker 1: streak alive. We'll talk. We'll hear from Mark Stoops about
Speaker 1: that in just a minute, and coming up at the
Speaker 1: bottom of the hour, Darryl Bird will join us, editor
Speaker 1: of the Cats Pause. He will talk to us a
Speaker 1: little bit about the yearbook that has been published, but
Speaker 1: also about the latest issue of the magazine where he
Speaker 1: talked at length with Leanne Pope, Missus Pope, the first
Speaker 1: Lady of Kentucky Basketball, the new first Lady. She's on
Speaker 1: the cover along with her husband. So we'll talk to
Speaker 1: Daryl about how that went, and apparently it went really well.
Speaker 1: Second hour, we'll talk with Michael Epps of Fox fifty six.
Speaker 1: He is, as I call him, the road Warrior because
Speaker 1: he makes a lot of the road games and he
Speaker 1: went all the way to Gainesville to cover that mess
Speaker 1: down there, so we'll hear from him about that. And
Speaker 1: Darren Hedrick, our buddy from the UK Radio network. It
Speaker 1: was our football anchor man when it comes to the scoreboard,
Speaker 1: but also the radio voice of UK women's basketball baseball,
Speaker 1: which has a scrimmage coming up Sunday. It won't be
Speaker 1: on the radio, but Daryl also worked the Blue White
Speaker 1: Game with Jack Gibbings this past Friday, so we'll get
Speaker 1: his thoughts on the UK men and women's team. So
Speaker 1: a lot coming up on this particular radio program, The
Speaker 1: Football Wildcatch Mark Stoops talked to the media last night,
Speaker 1: talked to the fans on his radio show, talked to
Speaker 1: the media yesterday afternoon, and I tossed out a question
Speaker 1: Adam and I talked about it on the show last
Speaker 1: night with Jeff Bcorrel and Aaron Gershawn Billy Rutledge about
Speaker 1: the fact that as ugly as that Florida game was
Speaker 1: and they got off to a bad start, Kentucky did.
Speaker 1: And I'll be honest with you, Jeff during the break said,
Speaker 1: one of the first commercial breaks, said, if they don't
Speaker 1: change some things right now, they're going to get a
Speaker 1: real good butt kicking. And in terms of the final score,
Speaker 1: it was, but in terms of how they competed for
Speaker 1: quite a while there, it was a ball game. And
Speaker 1: I brought that up. I mean it was there. I
Speaker 1: won't say it was there for the taking, but Kentucky
Speaker 1: was a break or two away, a big player two
Speaker 1: away from really grabbing a momentum in that game and
Speaker 1: doing what it had done more than watch that engagement
Speaker 1: that hushed the crowd and make a run of a win.
Speaker 1: And I talked to Stups yesterday. I asked a question
Speaker 1: about the fact that it had to be frustrating about
Speaker 1: the fact that, yes, it was a game for much
Speaker 1: of the much of the evening mark is as tough
Speaker 1: as the final score was you had to come from
Speaker 1: behind all night and you were in the game. You know.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's what Yeah, that's what's frustrated started to cut
Speaker 2: you off their deck. But it's like, yeah, I mean
Speaker 2: it felt like got away from you so close, but
Speaker 2: you're sitting there in the fourth with a two score
Speaker 2: game and the ball. But anyway, I finished a question I.
Speaker 1: Got you besides with the team when you go back
Speaker 1: and look, yeah, yeah, it is like you're not far off,
Speaker 1: you know what I mean.
Speaker 2: Again, we gotta we got to finish. We gotta finish drafts.
Speaker 2: You know, we know that, we all understand that. You know,
Speaker 2: when you got the ball in the inside the three,
Speaker 2: you got to get it in, you know.
Speaker 3: And and.
Speaker 2: You know, so we're not as far off we think.
Speaker 2: And even defensively, if there's some plays that it looks bad,
Speaker 2: but you know that that are fixable. We got to
Speaker 2: get some guys healthy. There's a there's a fine line
Speaker 2: this week you know, with me, with you know, how
Speaker 2: how we practice. I don't generally alter mess with my
Speaker 2: practice schedule in season, I think, but you know, I
Speaker 2: have to look at how much banging and how physical
Speaker 2: we are on Tuesday and Wednesday, like we normally are
Speaker 2: what good against good because we're getting thin, you know, so,
Speaker 2: but we'll we'll have them ready to We'll have them
Speaker 2: ready to.
Speaker 1: Go, and they have to be ready because Auburn has
Speaker 1: played almost everybody. If you look at the scores, almost
Speaker 1: everybody tough its own worst enemy, and most of its
Speaker 1: losses lost to Georgia, like thirty one thirteen Georgia is
Speaker 1: we know how good Georgia is top ranked again after
Speaker 1: beating Texas. But you know what Kentucky did against Georgia,
Speaker 1: played into the final three minutes with a chance to win.
Speaker 1: So if Kentucky doesn't beat itself, it's a decent football team.
Speaker 1: Same you could say about Auburn, although the Tigers are
Speaker 1: in a spiral right now and they got nothing to
Speaker 1: lose going to well, actually they do because their hopes
Speaker 1: for postseason are still alive. But I think it's going
Speaker 1: to be two desperate teams on Saturday Night. But one
Speaker 1: of the things Stoops also talked about was that streak
Speaker 1: of postseason play and how it's in jeopardy right now
Speaker 1: and they want to keep it alive.
Speaker 2: We're in the right now, you know, and trying to
Speaker 2: win this game, you know, and that's where we have
Speaker 2: to stay focused. Is important. I mean, I think it
Speaker 2: is in the grand scheme of things. I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: there's only eight schools in the country that have gone
Speaker 2: to eight straight. I mean there's only four in the SEC.
Speaker 2: It's it's not easy.
Speaker 1: And I do appreciate it when he brings that up
Speaker 1: because he's right, of course, and people love to slough
Speaker 1: off Bowl appearances anymore. By saying you can schedule yourself
Speaker 1: to ball game, really, well, then why haven't more teams
Speaker 1: done it? With all due respect, that's my question. If
Speaker 1: it's so confounded simple to do, why haven't more teams
Speaker 1: scheduled their way to even one of the lower level
Speaker 1: bowl games? Because it ain't easy. Uh yeah, the powerhouse teams,
Speaker 1: they're expected to go over you. It's not a big
Speaker 1: deal to let down if they have to settle, you know,
Speaker 1: for other music, city ball or whatever. And recency biased
Speaker 1: being what it is. There's an entire I don't know
Speaker 1: if it's an entire generation, but we're getting there, aren't
Speaker 1: we of Kentucky fans who are used to going to
Speaker 1: Bowl games. Really you can go back. I guess you
Speaker 1: could say it's a generation of fans because you can
Speaker 1: go back to the mid aughts to six, that's eighteen
Speaker 1: years ago when Rich Brooks team finally broke through by
Speaker 1: beating Matthew Stafford and the Georgia Bulldogs at the Colisseum
Speaker 1: and won their way to a Music City Bowl. Now
Speaker 1: people shrugged that off. Do you remember what that was?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 1: How much fun that was? And they upset Clemson and
Speaker 1: celebrated like they'd want a conference title. It was such
Speaker 1: a breakthrough. That's how big those bowl games are. Their
Speaker 1: rewards for the fans and their rewards for the players.
Speaker 1: And yeah, you can be bored about going to the
Speaker 1: tax Layer Bowl or this or that. I'll trust me
Speaker 1: on this. The players are not because when the players go,
Speaker 1: it's the extra month to practice, but they get a
Speaker 1: per diem, They got all kinds of free stuff, maybe
Speaker 1: even a new computer, and they get a little jingle
Speaker 1: in their pocket as well. That's not the only reason
Speaker 1: they enjoy going, but it's a big deal. So the
Speaker 1: Cats need this win on Saturday to keep that dream alive.
Speaker 1: Kentucky and Auburn, you're gonna hear it right here. First
Speaker 1: time they will have played since the COVID season. We'll
Speaker 1: talk about that a lot more as the week goes on.
Speaker 1: Up next, an interesting comment from the Boston Celtics head coach,
Speaker 1: a guy who was a thorn in the side of
Speaker 1: the Wildcats many years ago. That's next year on six
Speaker 1: thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider Dick
Speaker 1: Gabriel with you. Coming up at the bottom of the hour,
Speaker 1: Daryl Bird, the editor and publisher of The Cats Paws.
Speaker 1: We'll talk to him about the yearbook, but also about
Speaker 1: the latest issue of the magazine, which features on the
Speaker 1: cover mister and Missus Mark Pope. Because Daryl did a
Speaker 1: sit down interview. He did one earlier with Mark. Now
Speaker 1: he's done one with LeeAnne Pope, so we'll find out
Speaker 1: what she had to say a little bit as a
Speaker 1: little little bit of a teaser for you. And coming
Speaker 1: up an hour number two, Micahleps of Fox fifty six.
Speaker 1: He made the road trip down to Gainesville. We call
Speaker 1: him the road Warrior. Also Darren Headrick of the UK
Speaker 1: Sports Network. We're going to talk about UK football with Darren.
Speaker 1: He's our anchor on our football radio network for the
Speaker 1: Scoreboard Show, but also UK women's basketball baseball, and he
Speaker 1: wore excuse me, the blue white game games I should
Speaker 1: say plural. The women and the men played on Friday.
Speaker 1: We were all down in Gainesville, Tom Leach and the
Speaker 1: rest of the crew, so Darren sat in doing both
Speaker 1: men's and women's basketball. So that's coming up in our
Speaker 1: number two. I wanted to share with you some things
Speaker 1: that I found earlier today. First and foremost, this is
Speaker 1: a comment from Joe Missoula. He is the head coach
Speaker 1: of the Boston Celtics, the reigning world champions. And you
Speaker 1: probably know of Joe Missoula if you're a Kentucky fan,
Speaker 1: because he played at West Virginia and he was the
Speaker 1: author of the greatest game in his career, picked the
Speaker 1: worst time for Kentucky fans to have the greatest game
Speaker 1: of his career. In the Elite Eight in twenty ten,
Speaker 1: Missoula went off on the Way Wildcats that was the
Speaker 1: Cousin's John Wall team and kept Kentucky had in the
Speaker 1: final four. And to this day, I know you had
Speaker 1: a team that almost went undefeated. I know you had
Speaker 1: a team that won a national championship. Talking about Caliperia
Speaker 1: at Kentucky, I'm not so sure his first team was
Speaker 1: his best team. Yeah, because not only did they have
Speaker 1: Wall and Cousins, they had Patrick Patterson. They had a
Speaker 1: ton of points or a ton of talent. But Joe
Speaker 1: Mozula scored a career high seventeen points and by the way,
Speaker 1: it was his first start of the year. In the tournament,
Speaker 1: Wildcats were stone cold, and West Virginia pulled off the
Speaker 1: upset in the East Region final seventy three to sixty six,
Speaker 1: keeping John Caliperry's first UK team out of the final four.
Speaker 1: Bob Huggins goes on to the final four. Remember a
Speaker 1: few years later, Huggins runs into trouble. He's fired, But
Speaker 1: prior to that, he had a kid named Oscar Shebwey
Speaker 1: who was not working out the way Huggins wanted or
Speaker 1: the way Oscar wanted. So Oscar transfers to Kentucky and
Speaker 1: becomes player of the Year one year, but kind of
Speaker 1: a problem the next is they just could not find
Speaker 1: an offense that meshed around him. I kind of digress,
Speaker 1: but Missoula goes on to a coaching career after helping
Speaker 1: to eliminate a Kentucky team that that year, when thirty
Speaker 1: five and three. Kentucky missed its first twenty attempts from
Speaker 1: three point range, finished four of thirty two. That's just
Speaker 1: to tick worse or I'm sorry, just to take better
Speaker 1: than three for thirty three that Kentucky hit or missed
Speaker 1: in Seattle in nineteen eighty four. Man frustrating. Anyhow, I
Speaker 1: bring this up because Mozilla had a really, really fascinating
Speaker 1: comment to a good question from a Boston reporter a
Speaker 1: media day about how Mozilla balances the pressure from the
Speaker 1: media and dealing with the Boston media. He didn't say
Speaker 1: it that way, but I am because the Boston media
Speaker 1: is different from Lexington and Louisville Rougher, I gotta say
Speaker 1: it's just a just that kind of market. Seems like
Speaker 1: I had a guy work for me from Boston. He
Speaker 1: was always angry. Everything made him angry, and that just
Speaker 1: seems like an angry city. And I don't live there.
Speaker 1: I haven't spent a lot of time there. Maybe that's
Speaker 1: not fair, but just in knowing the way the media
Speaker 1: cover sports in Boston, so this guy asked Mozilla about
Speaker 1: handling that as a head coach, and this was his response,
Speaker 1: which I thought was pretty deep.
Speaker 4: I just don't look at it as pressure because like
Speaker 4: a Boston media member or some they expected me to win,
Speaker 4: Like they don't have a weapon, Like they're not gonna
Speaker 4: like come after me, or we don't win.
Speaker 5: Like if you're saying words so like they don't mean anything.
Speaker 5: They're just words. We're just saying them because you have
Speaker 5: to say them.
Speaker 4: You're attractionally obligated to write a you know, five hundred
Speaker 4: page article after our word article after they're just words.
Speaker 4: You can't do anything, and so it's just a made
Speaker 4: up word. We don't have a pressure if we love.
Speaker 5: We're not losing our life. Like we're not surgeons, we're
Speaker 5: not like in the military. We coach basketball for a living,
Speaker 5: and no one's putting.
Speaker 4: More pressure and expectations than we are in ourselves.
Speaker 5: And it's like we have a responsibility.
Speaker 4: And we have an ownership. And like I ask guys
Speaker 4: all the time, like would you rather have someone expect
Speaker 4: you to lose or win? Like if you came up
Speaker 4: with you, we're like, man, I really expected you to
Speaker 4: lose that game.
Speaker 3: I would be best.
Speaker 5: But it's like you come up to me like you
Speaker 5: should have won that game.
Speaker 4: It's like, yeah, that's that's what we signed up for,
Speaker 4: you know, So I think it's just the perspective of
Speaker 4: how you look at it and like the truth. You know,
Speaker 4: but words have power, No, they don't if you look them,
Speaker 4: Like if you allow words to take your personal power,
Speaker 4: then yes, So I don't allow words to take my
Speaker 4: personal power, and like that's just important. Like words don't
Speaker 4: have good they only have power of you allowed me,
Speaker 4: And like that's what.
Speaker 5: I try to teach my kids.
Speaker 4: It's like I don't give what someone says to you,
Speaker 4: Like did you allow that to have an impact on you?
Speaker 5: Like he didn't put his hands on you, he didn't
Speaker 5: touch me, he didn't like to do anything. He said
Speaker 5: something to me.
Speaker 4: So now you have a choice to like decide how
Speaker 4: you're going to interpret that. So, like, it's not pressure.
Speaker 4: There's nothing anyone in the circle can do to me
Speaker 4: that's going to impact my identity and who I am
Speaker 4: as a personal We're either going to win or we're not.
Speaker 5: In forty years from now, none of you are invited
Speaker 5: to my funeral. And that's it.
Speaker 4: That's it.
Speaker 1: That is probably the most mature answer I've ever heard
Speaker 1: from a coach when it comes to dealing with the
Speaker 1: media and you know, you could say, well, it's kind
Speaker 1: of short sighted because you want to keep the fans
Speaker 1: on your side. He knows that when you win, you
Speaker 1: don't have to worry about that. When you lose, you
Speaker 1: don't worry about that because nothing you say is going
Speaker 1: to change anything. And I'm not knocking coaches who are
Speaker 1: sensitive to what the media say and what fans say,
Speaker 1: because you need to know. But it's a matter of
Speaker 1: how much do you take that to heart and how
Speaker 1: do you let that dictate your words and your actions.
Speaker 1: And the best coaches are secure enough to not let
Speaker 1: it dictate some can't handle it. I really like Mozilla's
Speaker 1: answer though. I thought that was fascinating. And again, he
Speaker 1: didn't single handily eliminate the Wildcats, but he played a
Speaker 1: big part in that particular season. And yeah, I know
Speaker 1: the twenty twelve team had Ad and it had Michael Kid,
Speaker 1: Gil Christen, a lot of talent, But man, I mean,
Speaker 1: if you match them up Cousins versus and Thanny David
Speaker 1: at that stage of their careers, I think Cousins can
Speaker 1: neutralize him. Who on that twenty twelve team is going
Speaker 1: to cover John Wall Marcus Tige. I don't think so
Speaker 1: cal Perry's first team thanks to the fact that Patrick
Speaker 1: Patterson has stuck around and others had depth. The twenty
Speaker 1: twelve team did as well, but I still think that
Speaker 1: the twenty ten team would have handled that twenty twelve
Speaker 1: I think it was Cali Perry's best team, even better
Speaker 1: than the team that went nearly undefeated. I do. That's
Speaker 1: how good I think Patterson, Cousins, and Waal were. Got
Speaker 1: one other comment to share with you. Scott Van Pelt
Speaker 1: was talking to Steph Currier on Steph Curry on ESPN,
Speaker 1: and as they were signing off, Curry gave a shout
Speaker 1: out to the Carolina Panthers. Steph Curry grew up in Charlotte,
Speaker 1: was born there his day, had played for the Hornets,
Speaker 1: the original Hornets, and was tight with Rex Chapman, their
Speaker 1: best buddies. Rex I think is Steph's godfather at any rate.
Speaker 1: I know he has talked more than once about changing
Speaker 1: Steph's diapers. So yeah, he grew up in Carolina. So yeah,
Speaker 1: we plays for the Golden State Warriors, but he's a
Speaker 1: Carolina Panthers fan and he tossed in Go Panthers toward
Speaker 1: the end of the interview and listen to listen to
Speaker 1: Van Pelt's response, and he cracked up. Steph Curry put
Speaker 1: the ellipses at the end right on. You know that
Speaker 1: there's a lot more in the tank for sure.
Speaker 2: We look forward to the season which gets underwear Wednesday
Speaker 2: for you all in Portland.
Speaker 5: Always great to visit with your.
Speaker 6: Steph and stay well until the next time.
Speaker 5: A right, absolutely and go Panthers. Good luck with that,
Speaker 5: Keith Poundered. STEP's a big Carolina Panthers fan.
Speaker 1: I love that. And again you can see on camera
Speaker 1: still Steph Curry cracked up when Van Peltz said that.
Speaker 1: So anyhow I'd share that with you. Up next, Darryl
Speaker 1: Bird of the cast Ball is to talk about the
Speaker 1: basketball and football Cats here on the Big Moon Sider
Speaker 1: six thirty. W Lap welcome back joining us on our
Speaker 1: celebrity highline. Is a long time friends of the show
Speaker 1: and I always talk Darryl Bird about Overlap, especially in October.
Speaker 1: Nobody knows that more than you because you've been working
Speaker 1: on the basketball yearbook since the middle of the summer. Really,
Speaker 1: iid as soon as you h put to put to
Speaker 1: bed the football yearbook you start in. But got mine
Speaker 1: the other day the cover story energized. Are you pleased
Speaker 1: with the way it turned out?
Speaker 7: Very, very pleased? Probably probably one of my favorite covers
Speaker 7: that I've put together. And just of course I'm an
Speaker 7: old Star Trek fan way back when, so I couldn't
Speaker 7: pass up. And it just hit me one day that
Speaker 7: that's that's the way the whole fan base is, and
Speaker 7: that's the way Mark Pope's personality is. It's just an
Speaker 7: injection of pure energy into everything right now. And you
Speaker 7: can just tell it by I don't know if you've
Speaker 7: been you could go down to the Craft Center in
Speaker 7: the weeks after the hire. It was like this weight
Speaker 7: had just been lifted all that Hire building. Everybody was
Speaker 7: smiling and laughing, and it's like, it's just I mean,
Speaker 7: I love Cal working with, got along Gray with fifteen years,
Speaker 7: but it was just time to change. That happens happens
Speaker 7: with everything.
Speaker 1: Yeah, things just weren't going well and the whole building
Speaker 1: feels in media fans, I mean, that's the way it
Speaker 1: is when you got a hut profile program, right yeah.
Speaker 7: And I don't know if you catch the SEC media
Speaker 7: days in Birmingham, cal Cal's portion, I was like, oh no,
Speaker 7: he said, Yeah, I took a COVID test yesterday. I
Speaker 7: hopeing I wouldn't have to come down here. I'm like, really,
Speaker 7: oh man, that's where that's where you're gonna go already,
Speaker 7: has he? I don't miss that, has.
Speaker 1: He told the Arkansas fan. Yet he doesn't care about
Speaker 1: the SEC title.
Speaker 7: I don't know, not that I'm aware of yet.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Man, he kept towards the end trying to walk
Speaker 1: stuff back. But anyway, let us move on as the
Speaker 1: program has. Those covers are fun. I don't know how
Speaker 1: much of a challenge they are for you to come
Speaker 1: up with some I'm sure it is to come up
Speaker 1: with something new every year, But there are times you've
Speaker 1: asked players to dress up or hold props or wear
Speaker 1: a hat or something. Are they usually pretty good about that?
Speaker 1: You have to sell them on it.
Speaker 7: The only time the hats was the only time that
Speaker 7: I ran into any kind. Even then they it was
Speaker 7: more it was the hairs and twins and Jewish random
Speaker 7: because they were in Texas. So we went down that road.
Speaker 7: And I guess I can say this on the ear,
Speaker 7: but they opened up the rocks. I showed a due
Speaker 7: he's ran he said, oh hell, no, and the worst
Speaker 7: part was it wasn't that, it was that we were
Speaker 7: taking the photo and all of their teammates are behind it.
Speaker 7: Unlimited grief about everything. But we did one one year
Speaker 7: where they had a lot of international players and I
Speaker 7: ordered that was great flags. I ordered flags from all
Speaker 7: over and they had a ball with those, the guys
Speaker 7: Canada and Haiti and hell, they were having it such
Speaker 7: a good time running around with those things, so that
Speaker 7: one had no problem once I've ever getting them to
Speaker 7: participate there.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you remember, but you you were
Speaker 1: kind enough to lend me a lot of your photos
Speaker 1: and I produced a TV piece and I think I
Speaker 1: downloaded the national anthems for particular countries. That was a
Speaker 1: fascinating and a pretty good team, as I recall.
Speaker 8: It was a good team.
Speaker 7: But yeah, how.
Speaker 1: Do players feel about being on the cover. I mean,
Speaker 1: do they feign like, oh, come on? But I got
Speaker 1: to think they like it?
Speaker 7: No, Yeah, they do.
Speaker 6: They're cool about it.
Speaker 7: And the people at UK and did more Susan lacks
Speaker 7: football side. I mean they last time we did football
Speaker 7: slack was like you got this is a big deal,
Speaker 7: enjoy this, in which I appreciate your players. Yeah, this
Speaker 7: is a big to be on this cover. Have fun
Speaker 7: with it, and they always do.
Speaker 1: Oh god, twenty years from now, ten years from now,
Speaker 1: they'll they'll have multiple copies that they'll show friends, relatives, kids. No,
Speaker 1: there's no question about that. Do you have it's like
Speaker 1: asking you to choose among children, But do you have
Speaker 1: a favorite or two that you recall.
Speaker 8: Of a cover?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 7: Ah, boy, that is hard to do.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 7: The very first the very first year I started was
Speaker 7: the ninety seven ninety eight season, Tuby's first year, and
Speaker 7: Men in Black was off the charts popular, and I said, please,
Speaker 7: Mark Marcoms was with us, Please, we're doing men in Blue.
Speaker 7: We have to And we ordered the blue suits, we
Speaker 7: got the sunglasses, we've got the tie, and they they
Speaker 7: jumped all over. They loved it, you know, they had
Speaker 7: a ball with it. And Tubby kept the jacket and
Speaker 7: and the glasses.
Speaker 1: That's correct.
Speaker 7: And of course back then the players had to hand
Speaker 7: everything back over. Sorry, you can't have this is a violation.
Speaker 1: Do you know what you still have that? I still
Speaker 1: have that copy. It's right over here in my bookshelf.
Speaker 7: That's such a great myself.
Speaker 1: I got to get those boys to sign it, you know,
Speaker 1: and I don't go for autographs very often, but that
Speaker 1: one was so much fun and they really went into it,
Speaker 1: and it turned out to be a pretty good team.
Speaker 7: Yes it did. I had a good team, wasn't it.
Speaker 1: Speaking of what do you make of this year's team.
Speaker 7: I don't have a clue. I hope somebody out there does.
Speaker 7: I know it's going to be drastically different, and I've
Speaker 7: talked to a lot of people and they can't wait
Speaker 7: to see this three point barrage. And I talked to
Speaker 7: Cody Figure during the summer, who's been with Mark Pope
Speaker 7: every step of the way, right said, I said, seriously,
Speaker 7: thirty five threes a game? He said, yes, that's the
Speaker 7: number we reached doing the analytics. It was thirty five.
Speaker 7: Was the often hit thirty three percent out of thirty five.
Speaker 7: You're going to win most of your games, and we
Speaker 7: plan on hitting much much better than thirty three percent.
Speaker 7: I said to your I said at BYU last year,
Speaker 7: we would come into the locker room halftime up by
Speaker 7: ten and say, guys, we've only taken ten threes. Well
Speaker 7: behind pace. We got to pick it out. I'm like, wow,
Speaker 7: that's dedication. Wow, that's that's going to be so different now.
Speaker 7: Talked a lot of old timers who were like, well, yeah,
Speaker 7: what do you do when you're three or thirty one night?
Speaker 7: What happens? Yeah, that's a very good question. We've seen
Speaker 7: it happen. I mean, Kentucky played Alabama one year, and
Speaker 7: a lot of years Alabama just drilled UK with the
Speaker 7: threes and UK wouldn't take any And there was one
Speaker 7: year where UK kicked the daylights Alabama because they were
Speaker 7: like three of twenty eight or something horrendous. I guess
Speaker 7: to me, not knowing that how much playing times will
Speaker 7: be spread around, I think you just go with the
Speaker 7: hot hand and you hope that twelve guys aren't off
Speaker 7: on the same night, and you somebody, somebody will have
Speaker 7: the stroke every game, or at least ninety nine percent
Speaker 7: of the games.
Speaker 1: You know, it's so coincidental that you bring this up
Speaker 1: because earlier in the show tonight, I played a soundbye
Speaker 1: from Joe Mozilla, the head coach of the Celtics, the
Speaker 1: world champions, and we all know what he did for
Speaker 1: West Virginia against Kentucky. Well, that night, you recall probably
Speaker 1: Kentucky was four for thirty two from beyond the arc,
Speaker 1: which was only like one shot one make better pretty
Speaker 1: much then what happened in Seattle in nineteen eighty four. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: you've got those nights with the three. But I remember
Speaker 1: Mark Krebs telling me that they had a great game
Speaker 1: plan for that West Virginia game, because I said, you know,
Speaker 1: you saw the one three one, and there are certain things,
Speaker 1: you know, certain pockets from on the floor that you
Speaker 1: can use. He said, we had a great game plan.
Speaker 1: I said, what happened? He goes, people lost their minds.
Speaker 1: They just started jacking his words, They just started jacking
Speaker 1: up three. So this is more of a controlled environment,
Speaker 1: isn't it.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 7: I think de Marcus Cousins is still mad that they
Speaker 7: just give me the ball, thank you inside, give me
Speaker 7: the ball inside. Yes, this day he's mad about it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I don't blame him. I am too.
Speaker 6: No, I don't either.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but I do believe that this will be, like
Speaker 1: I said, with Pope's offense, more of a controlled environment
Speaker 1: when it comes to shooting threes.
Speaker 7: Yep, Yeah, I think you're right. It's it's it's that's
Speaker 7: the heart of the plan.
Speaker 6: This is the goal.
Speaker 7: Every trip down is to it's to shoot a three,
Speaker 7: and it's not. We'll do something else.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they've got the people want to do that. Yeah.
Speaker 7: I just I don't know about you. But every time
Speaker 7: I watch this and I read about this, and I
Speaker 7: hear Mark Pope talking about this is how we do this,
Speaker 7: I'm like god, water waste last year was to have
Speaker 7: three of the top six three point shooters in the
Speaker 7: country and two of the three don't qualify because they
Speaker 7: haven't taken enough. Him, that is such a waste.
Speaker 1: Daryl Bird is our guest. He is the editor and
Speaker 1: publisher of The Cats Balls. We'll come back and talk
Speaker 1: more Kentucky basketball. Let's throw a little football too here
Speaker 1: on the Big one Sider six thirty WLAP. Welcome back
Speaker 1: for talking with Darryl Bird. He is a long time
Speaker 1: I'm a member of the UK Beat for The Cast
Speaker 1: Pause and other publications, but as the editor of the
Speaker 1: Cast Pause, featured columnist and a guy who had to
Speaker 1: sit down with Mark Pope for the Basketball Yearbook. But
Speaker 1: your latest issue of the magazine, you had a chance
Speaker 1: to send that with missus Mark Pope. How did that go?
Speaker 7: Yes, that was outstanding I put in there. It was
Speaker 7: one of those where he was hired in April. I
Speaker 7: put in request in May. I'm like, I don't know
Speaker 7: if she'll ever want to do it, but I would
Speaker 7: love to sit down and talk. And got the call
Speaker 7: in early October that she wanted to do it. And
Speaker 7: I was the first one, which you know, in our visit,
Speaker 7: that was a thrill for me. Oh yeah, to be
Speaker 7: the first one. And she is so her life is
Speaker 7: fascinating more I think as probably more fascinating than Mark.
Speaker 7: Everything she heard. Her dad was a coach coach at
Speaker 7: Iahost State. He coached at Utah Jerry Tartanian gave him
Speaker 7: his coaching break way back when Wow, she just she's
Speaker 7: very much can I said you were more prepared to
Speaker 7: be head coach and Mark was and she laughed. She
Speaker 7: didn't deny it, but that's not her upbringing that it's
Speaker 7: just fascinating. And then the work to go to b
Speaker 7: YM and get internships and eventually a full time job
Speaker 7: was David Letterman, isn't that crazy? And to be hooked
Speaker 7: up on a blind date or her brother ran in Mark.
Speaker 7: I think the exact quote was he was coaching at
Speaker 7: a clinic. Mark was a player at a clinic a
Speaker 7: big Man camp and they ran. He called. He said,
Speaker 7: I just met you, but it's a dude. You've got
Speaker 7: to meet this guy. If you but a dude, I said,
Speaker 7: is that accomplished? She said, I took it to mean
Speaker 7: we were very compatible.
Speaker 8: Yeah, yeah, and so and they did.
Speaker 7: But they wrote this is She said, this is the
Speaker 7: beginning of email. She said, you have to understand. Every
Speaker 7: day I had to cut she went to work at
Speaker 7: Lebanon show. I had to get the I T guy
Speaker 7: to hook up, you know, the the doll doll tone.
Speaker 7: And I had one person in my email box and
Speaker 7: that was Mark Pope. And she said, every day I
Speaker 7: came to work, there was an email and we email
Speaker 7: every morning. We talked every night for six weeks before
Speaker 7: they ever met in person.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 7: Really yeah, And it was my favorite quote. We're sitting there,
Speaker 7: I said, I said, so obviously that's worked for you all.
Speaker 7: You've been married twenty five years. Why, I said, why
Speaker 7: did Why was that a good way to go? Why
Speaker 7: did that work? And she said he's a really good writer.
Speaker 8: I said, hey, well, I can't time.
Speaker 7: We were at the Crasher and Mark Pope walked in
Speaker 7: right on cue. She said, he's a good rush of
Speaker 7: his I love him. And he walked in right just
Speaker 7: like he'd been hiding outside the door, listening on one
Speaker 7: to come in. And he was pretty clever too. He said, uh,
Speaker 7: he said.
Speaker 6: He looked at me.
Speaker 7: He said, you know what, I would get a journalism
Speaker 7: degree and work twenty years on the beat just to
Speaker 7: sit down with this lady one time. And he walked out,
Speaker 7: walked up the room, and she looked there. She said,
Speaker 7: see what I mean? I said, yep, oh yeah, she
Speaker 7: was really her life is really fascinating and this unlike
Speaker 7: any I think UK fans are used to, this is
Speaker 7: a partnership. She said, we got hired, we we got fired.
Speaker 7: She's been that way since she was a kid. She
Speaker 7: said her dad was at Idaho State. She said, yeah,
Speaker 7: we got fired after five years. I said we She said,
Speaker 7: oh yeah. It's a family affair. And it used to
Speaker 7: research when they were BYU this. She is very, very
Speaker 7: prominent in the program.
Speaker 1: Did she talk about baking cookies for the other opposing team.
Speaker 7: Yes, she did that as though she was at the
Speaker 7: Big twelve first year and she's like, I'm going to
Speaker 7: do this to welcome the spouses coming. You know they're
Speaker 7: coming to us for the first time. They don't know
Speaker 7: anything about BYU. And she said, I just you know,
Speaker 7: they may need to know how do I get a
Speaker 7: pass for my kid? Where do I park when I
Speaker 7: get there? So she took that role of I'll just
Speaker 7: make them cookies and we'll talk about this is how
Speaker 7: it works, this is how to make them feel comfortable.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, very cool.
Speaker 7: So yeah, it was very cool.
Speaker 1: Talking to Daryl Bird, editor of The Catch Pause. The
Speaker 1: latest issue includes his interview with Leanne Pope and interesting,
Speaker 1: somebody on the inside it's many weeks ago told me that.
Speaker 1: And this is not a knock, but the Scott Drew's
Speaker 1: wife absolutely wanted no part of the notoriety of being
Speaker 1: the first lady of Kentucky basketball. She's just not put
Speaker 1: together that way. And again there's nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 1: Some people treasure their privacy and and and shepherd their
Speaker 1: children in a different way, like you said, Leanne Pope,
Speaker 1: just see and and Allen CALIPERI handled it well, I thought,
Speaker 1: with her Twitter account, you know, and taking out the
Speaker 1: garbage came. My wife followed her, was one of thousands
Speaker 1: who followed Ellen Caliperry. But I just feel like, you know,
Speaker 1: this woman, missus Pope, is so well equipped, you know,
Speaker 1: and her daughters, their daughters to handle this part of
Speaker 1: their lives, you know what I.
Speaker 7: Mean, that's her life. She grew up the daughter of
Speaker 7: a coach, so she doesn't know any other way. And
Speaker 7: I did late in the interview, I said, all right,
Speaker 7: I was going to ask about your daughters. If you
Speaker 7: don't want to touch that out of privacy, I'm one
Speaker 7: with that. And she said, well, she said, now you
Speaker 7: know what, they're all pretty much adults. For the baby
Speaker 7: Chase sixteen. She said, they're adults and they know how
Speaker 7: to handle this. They've been through it before, so they're good.
Speaker 7: And we've talked. And the fascinating thing for me is
Speaker 7: the middle daughter, the tennis player at BYU. She's here
Speaker 7: for the opener on November fourth, and she leaves for mission.
Speaker 7: She's gone for eighteen months into Central American and I'm like,
Speaker 7: that would terrify me, he said, awesome, mister, terribly, But
Speaker 7: she knows this is what she wants to do. Yeah,
Speaker 7: and she's she's comfortable with that. But yeah, it's it's
Speaker 7: and the daughters are, like I said, they've grown up
Speaker 7: with it. So she said, this is his tenth year
Speaker 7: as head coach. The kids know what's coming. Sure, they
Speaker 7: know how to handle this stuff.
Speaker 1: A friend of mine, he and his wife, one of
Speaker 1: their daughters, lives and is a teacher in Columbia in
Speaker 1: South America. Yeah, and they go down to visit and
Speaker 1: they love it, and she loves it down there. So
Speaker 1: you know, it's what you make it. A few minutes
Speaker 1: of a Darryl Bird of the Cat's paws and gosh,
Speaker 1: we haven't even talked much about the basketball team. But
Speaker 1: that's okay because I want to read this interview with
Speaker 1: Leanne Pope and I thought it was one of my
Speaker 1: favorite parts because I think it was part of our
Speaker 1: documentary on the ninety sixteen where Mark told the story
Speaker 1: at his introductory news conference about one of his daughters chanting,
Speaker 1: who's in the house tonight? You know, you got to
Speaker 1: wonder how many times have they heard that?
Speaker 7: Yeah, Yeah, it's different. It's it's a nice, very refreshing
Speaker 7: change right now. And I think he's got everybody's always
Speaker 7: been a honeymoon period.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's got a.
Speaker 7: Two year honeymoon period given who he is.
Speaker 1: And yeah, and by the way, I will miss and
Speaker 1: I'll still see them. But the Caliperry daughters clapping back
Speaker 1: at fans on Twitter, I thought that was really really entertaining.
Speaker 7: Yeah, they they were their daddy's daughters. Oh he's very sassy.
Speaker 7: They very much the old Italian player. You're coming at me,
Speaker 7: I'm coming back quite as hard and.
Speaker 1: Very intelligent too. I just have a couple of minutes.
Speaker 1: I'm going to keep you on basketball. Uh, all right.
Speaker 1: As a guy who has covered so many different teams, programs, coaches,
Speaker 1: you know the expectations of the Big Blue Nation. Will
Speaker 1: they be able Daryl in your opinion to hold them
Speaker 1: and check A and B. What do you think we
Speaker 1: are going to see this season from this team?
Speaker 7: Well, I wish I knew it's I think expectations, well,
Speaker 7: expectations right now would be like it would be nice
Speaker 7: to win one game at the tournament. Thank you, thank
Speaker 7: you for lowering the bar that far, mister Caliperry. That
Speaker 7: Mark Pope should be sending a Christmas card for lowering it.
Speaker 7: But get to that, get to the second weekend, I
Speaker 7: think is good. We just don't know what twelve guys
Speaker 7: that have never played together, how are they going to blend.
Speaker 7: What kind of team is this going to be?
Speaker 3: It?
Speaker 7: It looks like you look on papers like these guys
Speaker 7: can play. And I asked Mark about it at one
Speaker 7: point he said, the thing we can't measure, and he
Speaker 7: can't measure yet you have no idea what it means
Speaker 7: to most of these guys coming from mid majors or
Speaker 7: wherever they get to play for Kentucky. Did you have
Speaker 7: no idea what that means to them and what kind
Speaker 7: of a driving force that could be that when we
Speaker 7: look up and say, wow, he wasn't this good at
Speaker 7: Dayton or he wasn't just good at Fairley Dickinson. What
Speaker 7: happened and this may be a huge part of is
Speaker 7: they've got a chance, they get to play, they get
Speaker 7: to put on a Kentucky uniform and go show the
Speaker 7: world what they can do. It said, you don't know
Speaker 7: how what that's going to do.
Speaker 1: You know, I had a chance looking at.
Speaker 7: It could be a huge positive that we're going to
Speaker 7: look back. Whoa Andrew Carr didn't do that way for it?
Speaker 1: Wow, I had a big, big blue white game. I
Speaker 1: had a chance to chat with most of them prior
Speaker 1: to Pro Day, and in terms of grasping the situation.
Speaker 1: They know because they know the Kentucky brand. But until
Speaker 1: they run out there, do you know this? Until they
Speaker 1: run out there against an opposing team, not their own
Speaker 1: teammates in rupp Arena with twenty three thousand, they're not
Speaker 1: going to know, are they?
Speaker 5: No?
Speaker 7: No, then they can't. Yeah, right, Even Travis and Trent
Speaker 7: who have grown up with it, they've they've been at
Speaker 7: games where they you know, they're sitting right behind the
Speaker 7: bench and they hear the roar when they come out,
Speaker 7: And no, not until you do it. And I talked
Speaker 7: to Travis Perry Lion County. He talked about the first
Speaker 7: time he got to run out inter rupt as a
Speaker 7: sophomore Lion. They said, you that feeling is just you
Speaker 7: never forget it. Yeah, and it's going to be times
Speaker 7: ten when he gets to do that. You know it'll
Speaker 7: be that way early on when you bring a big
Speaker 7: time opponent into the building.
Speaker 1: Look, oh, yeah, you're right, both Travis and Trendonoah, noah,
Speaker 1: it's like to run out there. But you know, the
Speaker 1: cheers they hear are from a pocket of rapperana from
Speaker 1: their high school crowd, not everything raining down from the
Speaker 1: ceiling so yeah, I can't wait to see them.
Speaker 7: And of course the flip side of that is good
Speaker 7: luck running out at Auburn's true or some of these
Speaker 7: places on the road. That's right, get ready for that
Speaker 7: side of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know. I remember the first time I covered
Speaker 1: a road game. Gosh, this was back when I was
Speaker 1: in school in the seventies. It was at Alabama and
Speaker 1: Kentucky came running out on the floor and it looks
Speaker 1: so odd Darrow to see them in the blue uniforms.
Speaker 1: I've never seen him in person and anything but white,
Speaker 1: and the booing that came down, and you know what,
Speaker 1: I couldn't quit laughing. I mean it wasn't you know,
Speaker 1: like doubled over laughing, but it was just so odd
Speaker 1: and different. So I mean, the players aren't going to
Speaker 1: be laughing, but they were used to it by then.
Speaker 7: But you're right, but it's I mentioned I'll bring it.
Speaker 7: That's my favorite road trip by far. This That place
Speaker 7: is crazy and it's to be only nine thousand. It's
Speaker 7: thunderously loud in there, and and the guys get it.
Speaker 7: But it's changed. I remember talking with Miss Mike Pratt
Speaker 7: so much that used to said when they go on
Speaker 7: the road to Mississippi Missippi State. He said, we were
Speaker 7: so close to the floor that the student section reach
Speaker 7: out and pull the hair on your legs and you're
Speaker 7: trying to throw the balling back.
Speaker 1: I've heard that story more than one's funny.
Speaker 7: Yeah is Darryl Bird.
Speaker 1: Look for his work in the pages of the cast
Speaker 1: Pause Online part of the two four seven Network. Follow
Speaker 1: him on Twitter or acts at Darryl Bird two ours
Speaker 1: two L's all you need. Darryl, Thank you so much
Speaker 1: and congratulations on getting another yearbook out and I'll see
Speaker 1: you down the road.
Speaker 7: All right, Thanks sir, I appreciate it.
Speaker 1: Now number one on the books coming up in hour
Speaker 1: number two. Darren Hedrick of the UK Network Mike elapsed
Speaker 1: from Fox fifty six. Here on the Big Going Sider
Speaker 1: six thirty wlap.
Speaker 9: Many st.
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Big Blues Sider. Joining us now
Speaker 1: on our celebrity hotline is a voice well known to
Speaker 1: Kentucky fans. He is a radio voice of UK women's
Speaker 1: basketball baseball, but he's also our scoreboard anchor on the
Speaker 1: UK Football Network. You also heard him filling in a
Speaker 1: Man of many talents on The Blue White Game Friday
Speaker 1: Night mister Darren Hedrick. Busy time. Over lap time is
Speaker 1: a busy time for all of us, though, isn't it? Yeah?
Speaker 6: Really is that? You know what, Dick at the fun time?
Speaker 6: And I have to say, just from the responsibilities of
Speaker 6: anchoring in the studio, the last two weeks, man, my
Speaker 6: job has been fun watching. You know, while Kentucky's playing,
Speaker 6: I'm sitting there watching Georgia and Texas and Tennessee Alabama
Speaker 6: and Tennessee Florida was good last week. There was a
Speaker 6: couple of other games. You just sit there channel surfing
Speaker 6: while paying attention to the Cats. So it's been a
Speaker 6: fun time for my job.
Speaker 1: Well, let me ask you about those games, because I was,
Speaker 1: like most of the nation, shocked, frankly at the big
Speaker 1: lead for Georgia. You knew Texas would come back, but
Speaker 1: how surprised were you to watch that thing unfold?
Speaker 6: You know what I was. I was sitting there going,
Speaker 6: this can't be right. And especially if you looked at
Speaker 6: how that game unfolded, like you mentioned, because Carson Beck,
Speaker 6: you would think, okay, well, George's blowing out Texas. Carson
Speaker 6: Beck must be having a night, yeah, behind center, and
Speaker 6: you look at his stats and it was really pedestrian.
Speaker 6: It's not good. He threw I think for like one
Speaker 6: hundred and seventy five yards, no touchdowns and three picks
Speaker 6: and Georgia still had a twenty three point lead at halftime.
Speaker 6: Then you had the controversy of the pass interference that
Speaker 6: was or wasn't in the second half. But you know
Speaker 6: it's Georgia reminded the nation of who they are against
Speaker 6: Texas the other night. So we've seen some wild results.
Speaker 6: You think about Alabama against Georgia, now Georgia Texas. So
Speaker 6: the top of this league is starting to eat itself
Speaker 6: a little bit.
Speaker 1: Yeah, which we kind of expected, but not like this.
Speaker 1: And I'm glad you brought up that Georgia Alabama game
Speaker 1: to come back because I mentioned earlier in the show.
Speaker 1: Whenever I see Georgia do something like that or of late,
Speaker 1: I think back to hell. Really well, Kentucky played against Georgia,
Speaker 1: even in a loss, which makes the way Kentucky has
Speaker 1: played the last two games even more puzzling.
Speaker 6: You know, yeah, you know, And I think that's what
Speaker 6: has everybody frustrated, from Mark Stoops to the rest of
Speaker 6: the staff, to players and fans. As you sit there,
Speaker 6: and look, Kentucky was an eyelash away from winning that
Speaker 6: game against Georgia. And then you go down to Oxford
Speaker 6: and beat Old Miss, And I know Old Miss has
Speaker 6: absorbed Aloft at LSU and they've sort of dropped in
Speaker 6: the polls, but that's still a really solid football team
Speaker 6: that Lane Kiffin has and they you know, And I
Speaker 6: think that's what's the frustrating part is you play these
Speaker 6: two top programs so well and beat one of them
Speaker 6: and had a chance to beat the other, and then
Speaker 6: you come back and unfortunately against Vanderbilt and Florida, lose
Speaker 6: the ball game and really watch Vanderbilt and Florida dominate
Speaker 6: those games to an extent. So I think that's the
Speaker 6: maddening part of this whole thing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And what it did against Vandy and Florida, which
Speaker 1: it did not do against Georgia and Ole Miss was
Speaker 1: beat itself. It's hard enough to win much less on
Speaker 1: the road, but to beat yourself like that, it's just nuts.
Speaker 1: And uh, you know, obviously the Auburn game is huge
Speaker 1: coming up. Before I switch over to basketball, what was
Speaker 1: your reaction when Texas Georgia went crazy on that reversed call,
Speaker 1: because I mentioned earlier, if you think about it in
Speaker 1: terms of a booth review or something like that, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's going to be booed, it's going to be controversial.
Speaker 1: But to follow a seldom seene protocol, which is confer
Speaker 1: about the call. I've seen it before and pick up
Speaker 1: the fly. But but at a moment like that was
Speaker 1: just crazy.
Speaker 6: You know, it really was. And I've kind of gone
Speaker 6: back and forth on that whole moment, Dick, because initially
Speaker 6: you're just sitting there AGAs that after they throw stuff
Speaker 6: on the field and and there was just this chaos,
Speaker 6: they come back and say, okay, yeah, we we we
Speaker 6: reconsidered it and there was no defensive pass interpearance. You
Speaker 6: just don't see that a lot. And so you're I
Speaker 6: don't know if it shocked is the right word, but
Speaker 6: you're just going, this is this is incredible. And then
Speaker 6: you sit there and think, actually, they got the call right.
Speaker 6: And and to me, you know, you could probably question
Speaker 6: and wonder about the avenue that the officials arrived at it,
Speaker 6: but they got the call right. At the end of
Speaker 6: the day. The one thing, and I think Kirby did
Speaker 6: have Kirby Smart did have a bit of a point
Speaker 6: there is you kind of set a standard because the
Speaker 6: perception from watching that game was okay, well, if your
Speaker 6: students sections throw water bottles and beverage cans on the field,
Speaker 6: they can get a controversial flag picked up or you know,
Speaker 6: a play overturn, and that's the perception of it. So,
Speaker 6: like I say, I've kind of gone back and forth.
Speaker 6: I see both sides. They got the call right, but
Speaker 6: the way they arrived at it is not the standards
Speaker 6: you want.
Speaker 1: Well put all right, let me shift over to basketball.
Speaker 1: Because you worked the Blue White game with Jack Gibbs
Speaker 1: on Friday, I had to be a lot of fun
Speaker 1: in the coliseum. You worked there many many times calling
Speaker 1: the women's games. But of course Jack and I worked
Speaker 1: pro day and that takes him back to his first
Speaker 1: two years of college basketball when the varsity played in
Speaker 1: the coliseum.
Speaker 6: Yeah, he was sharing some stories about playing in the
Speaker 6: coliseum and was pointing on the floor where he hits
Speaker 6: the big shot against Mississippi State when they had that
Speaker 6: miracle comeback. I yeah, what was it down five with
Speaker 6: ten seconds or something like that, which in today's modern
Speaker 6: college basketball is very possible in the way they play
Speaker 6: the game. But they also have a three point line.
Speaker 6: They didn't have that when Jack played, and somehow Kentucky
Speaker 6: was able to force overtime and they beat the Bulldogs
Speaker 6: and ot so he was sharing some really neat stories
Speaker 6: about playing in the coliseum. I enjoyed it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's uh, He's so much fun to work with
Speaker 1: on a situation all the time, but on a situation
Speaker 1: like that, to see Jack so happy to be back,
Speaker 1: and when you think about it, you know, all the
Speaker 1: hours and hours of practice and sweat and Joeb yelling
Speaker 1: at him in the cune was fun. But tell me
Speaker 1: a little bit about what you saw in the game.
Speaker 6: You know what, I saw a team that was fast
Speaker 6: and it was really fun to watch how they got
Speaker 6: up and down and camera Mills and Jacket both warned
Speaker 6: me that they want to get up thirty five to
Speaker 6: three pointers a game. That's the goal, and this team
Speaker 6: is not afraid to shoot it. And I think we're
Speaker 6: going to see some possessions this year where the ball
Speaker 6: never touches the floor. I think it could be pass
Speaker 6: past shoot, it could be pass shoot, it might be
Speaker 6: pass past pass shut. But the way they work the
Speaker 6: ball up and down the court, the way they just
Speaker 6: have the speed to go. Was really fun to watch
Speaker 6: that can shoot it from anywhere. And you know, the
Speaker 6: one thing, like Jack was talking about, the biggest question
Speaker 6: you might have will be can this team rebound consistently,
Speaker 6: because if you shoot that many threes, the rebounds can
Speaker 6: tend to get wonky when they come off the off
Speaker 6: the rim there. So that's one thing coming out of
Speaker 6: And then obviously everybody wants to see how this team
Speaker 6: will play defensively in terms of can they shrink the floor,
Speaker 6: can they get the pressure on teams and so uh.
Speaker 6: But but offensively, Dick, I think anybody that shows up
Speaker 6: to watch this Kentucky team is going to be highly entertained.
Speaker 1: Ansley Amanor is a decent three point shooter, but it
Speaker 1: was only one for six from the floor. La Mott
Speaker 1: Butler won for four, not really known for his outside shooting.
Speaker 1: But Colin Chandler man the youngster, not really all that young,
Speaker 1: but uh, he looked he lit it up for the
Speaker 1: White team. How did he look to you?
Speaker 3: You know what?
Speaker 6: I thought? He stole the show in the Blue White Game,
Speaker 6: similar to Big Blue Madness with the dunk over the
Speaker 6: top of Coach Pope and his wife Leanne. I thought
Speaker 6: Chandler stole the show. I thought Andrew Carr showed really well. Yeah,
Speaker 6: and so you know you sit there and think, well,
Speaker 6: it's the Blue White Games, it's going up against teammates.
Speaker 6: But I thought both of them showed out when the
Speaker 6: lights turned on, and Colin Chandler sort of reminded folks
Speaker 6: that he was well, he was the highest ranked or
Speaker 6: one of the highly ranked recruits that he brought into
Speaker 6: BYU before Colin did his two year missionary work there.
Speaker 6: So I think fans are going to enjoy watch the Chandler.
Speaker 6: I'm interested to see how the year unfolded he fits
Speaker 6: into the lineup.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he was a Gatorade up. I should say he
Speaker 1: was a Gatoraye Player of the Year in Utah. So yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, such as it. I mean, you know how
Speaker 1: big is Utah for high school basketball? We don't know,
Speaker 1: but one of the top rated nationally. And I've heard
Speaker 1: more than one person say they think Chandler will be
Speaker 1: for a little while flying under the radar. You mentioned
Speaker 1: Andrew Carr finished with a game I twenty five plus
Speaker 1: seven rebounds, ten for ten from the line. This was
Speaker 1: the wake Forest transfer and uh, he did have six fouls,
Speaker 1: but no, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, he only had two fouls.
Speaker 1: He forced six fouls, which meant he was a handful Forrest.
Speaker 1: Is I really really like his game?
Speaker 8: Yeah?
Speaker 6: Yeah, I do too, and he just like I say,
Speaker 6: he was one of the guys that really stood out
Speaker 6: me the way he was going after loose balls, He
Speaker 6: rebounded and he could score the ball.
Speaker 5: He was just a.
Speaker 6: Handful in that Blue White game. So obviously he's got
Speaker 6: a ton of experience coming from Lake Forest, as a
Speaker 6: lot of these guys do it. And that's something else
Speaker 6: that's different than what we're all accustomed to, is these
Speaker 6: are guys with experience, and so the biggest thing for
Speaker 6: them is just learning how to play with each other
Speaker 6: and build the chemistry as the team. Because other than that,
Speaker 6: they pretty much know how to do a lot of
Speaker 6: the other things. This is not the all freshmen team
Speaker 6: that we're used to seeing in Kentucky where you sort
Speaker 6: of watch them grow and develop as the season progresses
Speaker 6: and hope they're ready for March.
Speaker 1: Yeah. The two other scholarship freshman that Kentucky and Travis
Speaker 1: Berry and Trentoa modest offensive numbers. Travis played thirty six minutes.
Speaker 1: The only thing that surprised me, Darren, is in thirty
Speaker 1: six minutes, Travis only put up three to three pointers.
Speaker 1: Trent played twenty minutes and only put up four. But
Speaker 1: they're feeling their way, aren't they.
Speaker 3: Yeah, they are, and they're going to be just fine.
Speaker 3: You can just tell that they're pure shooters and scorers.
Speaker 3: I mean, they're going to be just fine. And like
Speaker 3: you say, they're feeling their way a little bit on
Speaker 3: a team that's full of a lot of experience, for sure.
Speaker 1: We're talking to Darren Hedrick. He is a radio voice
Speaker 1: of UK baseball women's basketball and also work the Blue
Speaker 1: White Game on radio for US on Friday Night Villin
Speaker 1: and for Tom Leach. We'll come back and talk more
Speaker 1: with Darren on the other side of the break here
Speaker 1: on six point thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big
Speaker 1: Blue Sider. We're talking with Darren Hedrick, radio voice of
Speaker 1: UK women's basketball baseball. He is our Football Network scoreboard
Speaker 1: anchor and also called the Blue White Game on Friday
Speaker 1: with Jack Gibbons. Before I shift to other sports, tell
Speaker 1: me about the atmosphere of the crowd at the coliseum,
Speaker 1: because this was new this was different. This was something
Speaker 1: that benefited the Nil movement, the fifteen club on campus.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I thought the energy was tremendous for the men's game.
Speaker 3: I thought it kind of built as the night went on.
Speaker 3: I thought it was good for the women's portion of
Speaker 3: the event. There was a little bit of a lull
Speaker 3: there in between the two programs getting to showcase their
Speaker 3: talents on the floor, but you could feel it as
Speaker 3: the night went on, as the women's scrimmage and then
Speaker 3: the men came out on the floor to do their scrimmage.
Speaker 6: I thought the.
Speaker 3: Crowd really got into it for the hustle of both teams,
Speaker 3: but in particular during the men's Blue White game, there
Speaker 3: was a scramble for a loose ball on the floor
Speaker 3: and it kind of got deflected a little bit off
Speaker 3: hand a couple of times. And the more the more
Speaker 3: the Blue and White team went after this loose ball,
Speaker 3: the louder the crowd got it. When it was finally
Speaker 3: corralled and the possession was controlled, the lid blew off
Speaker 3: that place. So I thought that was pretty cool to
Speaker 3: see the fans really get into and respect the hustle
Speaker 3: of the teams going after a loose ball and a scrimmage,
Speaker 3: so that was pretty fun to watch. But overall, I
Speaker 3: thought the crowd was good, and like you said, there
Speaker 3: were some growing pains for the event, but hey, it
Speaker 3: was a pioneering event. Nobody else has tried anything like this,
Speaker 3: so you know, I'm sure there's going to be things
Speaker 3: that when they sit down and hey, we can do
Speaker 3: this better or next time, let's do this or that.
Speaker 3: But overall I thought it was a good event. I
Speaker 3: thought the crowd was really good and Dick, as you know,
Speaker 3: Memorial Coliseum is such that you feel it to the
Speaker 3: raptors and you couldn't hear the person sitting beside you.
Speaker 6: But if you have three.
Speaker 3: Thousand to thirty five hundred in there, it's still very loud,
Speaker 3: then't you.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, what impress you in a women's game?
Speaker 1: Because from reading the write up, evidently Clara Silva looked
Speaker 1: pretty good. And of course Kenny Brooks had some kids
Speaker 1: come with him from Virginia Tech.
Speaker 3: Oh yes, and those Virginia Tech ladies showed out. Georgia
Speaker 3: Amore had a couple of really nice scoring opportunities. I
Speaker 3: thought she really smothered the basketball. Now, Brandon, they were
Speaker 3: playing the practice guys, practice players, but I thought she
Speaker 3: really hounded the point guard for the white team. And
Speaker 3: then obviously, like you mentioned, Clara Silva and Clara Strack,
Speaker 3: those two can score the basketball, they can stretch defenses.
Speaker 3: I think they're going to be as they continue to develop,
Speaker 3: because we've got to remember Strack as a sophomore and
Speaker 3: Silva as a freshman. But they're going to be matchup
Speaker 3: problems for a lot of teams. And as Bria Goff
Speaker 3: said on the radio, if you want to contend in
Speaker 3: the SEC, you've got to have size, and that's certainly
Speaker 3: something that Kentucky has in Amore. Have already developed a
Speaker 3: chemistry from last year playing in the NCAA Tournament. But
Speaker 3: I think the one person that really stands out and
Speaker 3: is somebody that is going to be a big factor
Speaker 3: in Dejah Lawrence. To transfer from Charlotte really yes, and
Speaker 3: I think her, along with Georgia Amore, going to form
Speaker 3: a really good Batman and Robin type duo in the backcourt.
Speaker 3: Desiah can score the basketball and she's now on a
Speaker 3: team that a lot of the attention is going to
Speaker 3: be on Amore or the bigs inside. And I think
Speaker 3: that's going to open up avenues for Lawrence to be
Speaker 3: a real scoring print for this kentucktive team.
Speaker 1: The women does look like to me, Darren play any exhibitions.
Speaker 1: They opened the regular season on Monday, November fourth against
Speaker 1: usc Upstate, which has been a fixture on the baseball
Speaker 1: schedule for many years. The men, of course played Wesley
Speaker 1: And tomorrow night in an exitibition game. But that's kind
Speaker 1: of unusual, isn't it. No exhibitions for the women or
Speaker 1: is that normal?
Speaker 6: No? They typically will play one exhibition game, or at
Speaker 6: least they have since I've been here, but this year
Speaker 6: they do not have one. They do have a couple
Speaker 6: of or maybe at least one closed scrimmage. They'll play
Speaker 6: Ohio State on Sunday in Columbus in one of those
Speaker 6: what do they call them, the secret scrimmages. Yeah, so
Speaker 6: they'll have that. But in terms of an exhibition game
Speaker 6: in front of fans, no, they don't have one scheduled
Speaker 6: this year.
Speaker 1: Okay, Well, five home games open the season, including those
Speaker 1: Louisville Cardinals coming in on Saturday November sixteenth. Then they
Speaker 1: go to the Music City Classic with Arizona State and
Speaker 1: Illinois and right after that the SEC a SEC challenge
Speaker 1: with North Carolina. So we'll find out very quickly about
Speaker 1: the women's team. And as I said, the men, as
Speaker 1: everybody knows, they open up tomorrow against Wesleyan Boy they
Speaker 1: got to be as everybody is tired of banging on
Speaker 1: each other. They got one more scrimmage after that than
Speaker 1: the opener with Wright State again on Monday, November fourth,
Speaker 1: so it's right on top of us, and there's a
Speaker 1: baseball scrimmage. They wrap up the fall with morehead coming
Speaker 1: up Sunday. And I was talking to Nick the other
Speaker 1: day about the fact that you know, we're learning more
Speaker 1: and more. Anybody who covers a team when we've talked
Speaker 1: to the players in the spring about how a team
Speaker 1: is kind of beginning to blossom, don't they always say
Speaker 1: the same thing. We knew in the fall we had
Speaker 1: a chance to be good. That's how vital these these
Speaker 1: scrimmages are.
Speaker 6: Oh, it really is, And especially baseball, And even before
Speaker 6: the transfer portal has become a major storyline, and as
Speaker 6: we see it in basketball and football, baseball was already
Speaker 6: pretty transient because players could leave so early for the
Speaker 6: draft compared to the other sports. So nnam Giona is
Speaker 6: no stranger to having to complete feel a completely new
Speaker 6: ball club from the infield to the outfield. That's just
Speaker 6: part of the game in college baseball. But he's he
Speaker 6: and his staff have done a terrific job. But yeah,
Speaker 6: these fall scrimmages, fall exhibitions are vitally important for the
Speaker 6: staff to see what the team could look like, to
Speaker 6: tinker with different lineups and combinations on defense. And you
Speaker 6: know what, I remember thinking last year that that team
Speaker 6: had a chance to be special. Turns out they were
Speaker 6: really special. And I really Dick, I like the talent
Speaker 6: on this year's team. I think in some ways we'll
Speaker 6: see if they have a Ryan wald Schmidt Frand Smith,
Speaker 6: a million P Tree type. We'll find that out in
Speaker 6: the spring. But what I can say is they may
Speaker 6: not have that high end player, but they have more
Speaker 6: depth that that makes sense. And I don't like saying
Speaker 6: they may not have that high end player, because actually
Speaker 6: they have a first round draft ticket shortstop, so we
Speaker 6: know they do have him. He's just young.
Speaker 1: I would love to see another story like Emilian Petrie
Speaker 1: and that somebody comes in. They don't expect much from him.
Speaker 1: They expected a quality player, but he just blossomed into
Speaker 1: a nationally known player playing alongside the best defensive shortstop
Speaker 1: in America. So oh, man, I know, don't get us started.
Speaker 1: We know. Darren Hedrick, radio voice of the UK Women's basketball
Speaker 1: baseball Football Network Scoreboard. Thank you, sir, and we will
Speaker 1: see you down the road.
Speaker 6: Yeah, no problem. Thanks for having me up next.
Speaker 1: Michael Epps of Fox fifty six, The Road Warrior. He
Speaker 1: was there in Gainesville. We'll come back and shat with
Speaker 1: Michael in just a minute here on The Big Blue
Speaker 1: Insider six point thirty WLAP. Welcome back to the Big
Speaker 1: Blue Insider. Joining us now is a guy who's been
Speaker 1: on the show several times because we like talking to
Speaker 1: the Road Warrior, Michaels from Fox fifty six, who made
Speaker 1: the trip down to Gainesville. That was a rough one, man,
Speaker 1: wasn't it.
Speaker 6: It was rough?
Speaker 5: You know.
Speaker 8: I love being the Road Warrior and I wanted to
Speaker 8: be at that old miss game, especially after being the results,
Speaker 8: but you know, just conflicts there. But it was a
Speaker 8: lot of fun being down there. My second time in
Speaker 8: the swamp, a place where Stoops has had success. He's
Speaker 8: won two of the last three down there going into
Speaker 8: that game, you know, obviously conquered the challenge of breaking
Speaker 8: the streak thirty one straight against Florida, and it just
Speaker 8: felt like the Cats really had the mental edge and
Speaker 8: the rivalry and had a chance to really put a
Speaker 8: sword through the Billy Napier era there and just just
Speaker 8: just didn't do it. And now you look at you know,
Speaker 8: the Mark Stoops era with you know, a little being
Speaker 8: a little uneasy, with a brutal October that really the
Speaker 8: Cats needed to capitalize on. With Vanderbilt, Florida and Auburn
Speaker 8: three winnable games and now you've lost two of them already.
Speaker 8: That makes this Saturday a massive game.
Speaker 1: Oh man. You know, it's interesting you were there yesterday
Speaker 1: when I asked Stoops about this, and I've talked about
Speaker 1: it already tonight. The fact that for all the bad
Speaker 1: things that happened in the first part of this game,
Speaker 1: it was still you know, you use the word winnable,
Speaker 1: it was still manageable. I mean, it was still a game,
Speaker 1: you know, at twenty seven to twenty and they had
Speaker 1: the ball, and then even later it was a two
Speaker 1: score game in a fourth quarter and they just couldn't
Speaker 1: put it together. And that's what to me, what made
Speaker 1: it so frustrating.
Speaker 8: Yeah, they gave up all those chunk plays. Yeah you know,
Speaker 8: I mean DJ Lagway only complete seven passes that has
Speaker 8: like two hundred and fifty nine yards averaging thirty seven
Speaker 8: yards of completion, which is unreal. And those happened in
Speaker 8: the first half. But you thought, okay, you know, after halftime,
Speaker 8: maybe the defense makes some adjustment, secondary plays back a
Speaker 8: little bit, and you know, see what happens. You come
Speaker 8: out of halftime with a great drive. I mean, brock
Speaker 8: On the football really poorly in the first half, had
Speaker 8: a good drive. They were running the ball, chip train them,
Speaker 8: had a couple of nice, nice runs, and they score
Speaker 8: coming out of halftime to make it a one touchdown game.
Speaker 8: And you're like, after a disaster of the first half,
Speaker 8: it's a one touchdown game, like this is a winnable game.
Speaker 1: And then the.
Speaker 8: Defense just, you know, uncharacteristically just felt flat on his face.
Speaker 8: I mean, I was son that the response right there
Speaker 8: was to give up a touchdown there and with another
Speaker 8: big play, and it was just as tough to watch
Speaker 8: because the defense has been one of the best. I
Speaker 8: didn't realize in the nation going into that game, especially
Speaker 8: run defense. But when you get those chunk plays, you know,
Speaker 8: between the thirties or between the twenties, and then you
Speaker 8: know Florida is able to just run the ball right
Speaker 8: over you inside the twenties. It just it was a
Speaker 8: poor recipe. And the forty eight to twenty. I hate
Speaker 8: that final score because I agree with you, Dick. It
Speaker 8: felt like it was a It was a close game
Speaker 8: there in the second half, in the third quarter until
Speaker 8: they just let it slip away Carter Bully throws a
Speaker 8: pick six. I mean, it was tough to watch there
Speaker 8: in the fourth quarter, but they had a chance, and
Speaker 8: they had a chance in these games. They just can't
Speaker 8: make the plays when it matters most outside of Oxford,
Speaker 8: which is the crazy part about it is, you know
Speaker 8: Rock capitalized, but if Brock over throws that ball a
Speaker 8: little bit to Berrian on that left sideline, you know,
Speaker 8: or Barrion actually gets called for that push off, which
Speaker 8: you probably did push off that old mis defender on
Speaker 8: that big cats, then you know, then they lose that
Speaker 8: game too, and who knows what they're looking like. So
Speaker 8: it's a big, big game here against Auburn, and then
Speaker 8: you just try to scrape the six wins.
Speaker 1: And you know what, you use the word uncharacteristic when
Speaker 1: you describe the defense, and you're right, of course, and
Speaker 1: yet you go back and look, they had TFLs, they
Speaker 1: had sacks, but in and around those were those big
Speaker 1: chunk plays because they gave a freshman core all kinds
Speaker 1: of time to sit back and get comfortable in the pocket.
Speaker 1: You can't do that, I don't care if you're playing
Speaker 1: Tage Greek Junior High. You can't do that. And this
Speaker 1: was the first time, even the Georgia game, they didn't
Speaker 1: allow Carson Beck to get too comfortable. They had to
Speaker 1: move the pocket. Against Kentucky, Georgia did so. Uh yeah,
Speaker 1: that one's that just makes me even more confused. You know.
Speaker 8: Yeah. In the front seven, I feel like has been
Speaker 8: a little underwhelming in terms of putting. They put pressure
Speaker 8: on the quarterback at times, like you said, but not
Speaker 8: getting enough stack. You know, I expected JJ Weaver to
Speaker 8: have a better season coming back again. You know, he's
Speaker 8: old now, but he's still got so much talent, but
Speaker 8: he hasn't done much. You know, Dion Break, you know,
Speaker 8: whats up plays every once in a while, which is
Speaker 8: fun to watch and shows you why he's got the
Speaker 8: potential and it's going to be a first round pick.
Speaker 8: But you know, these guys up there just aren't getting
Speaker 8: to the quarterback. And you know they you know, Pop
Speaker 8: is going back and making good plays, the Eric's making
Speaker 8: good plays and pass covers. But if you'd just love
Speaker 8: to see them get to the quarterback speed things up
Speaker 8: for a freshman quarterback. Surprising that they that Brad White
Speaker 8: didn't call that up, but they're they're gonna have to
Speaker 8: do it against Seyton Thorn. Thorn can can move and
Speaker 8: he's experienced. He can handle that kind of thing, so
Speaker 8: it's gonna be tough challenge.
Speaker 1: Well, you were there when Stoops talked to the media
Speaker 1: Monday and talked about the fact that basically Auburn's problem
Speaker 1: has been turnovers. So it's almost like he was saying,
Speaker 1: we gotta we got to turn them over or we're
Speaker 1: not gonna win. And you could say that about a
Speaker 1: lot of good teams you know that are that are
Speaker 1: good teams until and unless they start turning the ball over.
Speaker 1: So that means put pressure on people, don't let them
Speaker 1: get comfortable.
Speaker 8: Right, Yeah, I've watched a couple of Auburn games this year,
Speaker 8: Thorn makes some head scratching grows. And he's been doing
Speaker 8: that since he was an eat planting And I know
Speaker 8: because I'm a Michigan State guy, right And he was
Speaker 8: brutal up there. I mean, he had his moments, had
Speaker 8: a couple of good wins, but it was tough to
Speaker 8: watch sometimes. So he he'll come in here and make
Speaker 8: a couple of mistakes. I'm sure you know he'll he'll
Speaker 8: get the crowd excited if they if they're a pick
Speaker 8: six or a big bumble. You know they're gonna need
Speaker 8: something like that because this offense is really tough to watch.
Speaker 8: You think, you know, oh with chip train him back now,
Speaker 8: it's now the offense will be fine. It's like, no,
Speaker 8: not at all. I mean, Demi sum mccarmbery's been running
Speaker 8: the ball pretty well, you know, Jamaran Wilcox has been
Speaker 8: running it really was just isn't getting the carries because
Speaker 8: he can't tie his shoes. I mean, did you saw
Speaker 8: it in the Flora game. This shoe came off again.
Speaker 8: I'm that big running at up the middle, which is
Speaker 8: just stunning. And Soups talks about it again on Monday,
Speaker 8: like he's gotta they bring him along. I forget what
Speaker 8: the exact burbage was, but it was like, bring him
Speaker 8: along in all areas, and he kind of like, you know,
Speaker 8: nodded his head there, like we know what that means,
Speaker 8: you know, off off the field, Get this kid ready,
Speaker 8: because you know he's gonna have to be a guy
Speaker 8: for them next year, whether Stoops is here or not.
Speaker 1: You were talking about Auburn's quarterback, and of course Cal
Speaker 1: comes across the country and beats Auburn on the planes
Speaker 1: twenty one to fourteen, four turnover, four interceptions by Thorn,
Speaker 1: and Auburn has since beaten New Mexico but has lost
Speaker 1: four straight. But all but the Georgia game, they were
Speaker 1: all pretty tight. You know, he played Arkansas close, they
Speaker 1: played Oklahoma close. They're coming off that four point loss
Speaker 1: at Missouri game and maybe they should have won. So yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, it would be just Kentucky's luck, wouldn't it
Speaker 1: for Auburn to put everything together in election on Saturday?
Speaker 8: Well, and before this loss in games, well, you know
Speaker 8: the last couple of years, the Cat's been playing better
Speaker 8: in SEC road games than home game. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 8: right as it two and ten in the twelve home
Speaker 8: games in the conference, which is brutal, and if you
Speaker 8: lose this one, Dick, I mean, it's it's really it's
Speaker 8: gonna be tough to watch. You're gonna hear a lot
Speaker 8: of booze at Kroger Field because these fans are just
Speaker 8: set up. I mean, it's a bummer because Stoops really
Speaker 8: did a great job with this program. It had a
Speaker 8: couple of ten win seasons and built so much excitement
Speaker 8: that kind of peaked when I got here in twenty
Speaker 8: twenty moments that will Levi us here and then you know,
Speaker 8: storm in the field with Florida beating LSU and you know,
Speaker 8: having this ten win season, Will Levis comes back, Wandell leaves,
Speaker 8: William Cohen leaves, and since then it's just been on
Speaker 8: a on a pretty tough decline, and it's it's you
Speaker 8: really just wonder if if Stoop's has enough to you know,
Speaker 8: turn this around and bring another peak, you know, next year,
Speaker 8: whatever it might be. I just I don't know if
Speaker 8: I see it. You know, he had his run and
Speaker 8: it's been a great ride for UK fans, but it
Speaker 8: feels like they're they're over the peak now and falling
Speaker 8: into this valley that is going to be a pretty
Speaker 8: low point if they miss a bowl game. Even if
Speaker 8: they get to five and seven and make a bowl game,
Speaker 8: then if you just squeak into a bowl game just
Speaker 8: to keep the streak going. But if you lose to
Speaker 8: Louisville and you don't make a bowl game, and you
Speaker 8: get what four wins I mean, if you lose this weekend,
Speaker 8: you're losing the Tennessee, losing the Texas, you're beating Murray State.
Speaker 8: That's four and seven going into that Louisville game. You
Speaker 8: have to win that game, and if not, I don't
Speaker 8: know what this offseason looks like for Soups.
Speaker 6: In the program, we're talking.
Speaker 1: With Michael left SI's a sports director at Fox fifty
Speaker 1: six wdk Y here in Lexi, and we'll talk more
Speaker 1: with Michael on the other side of the break here
Speaker 1: on six thirty WLAP. Welcome back. We're talking with Michael
Speaker 1: LEPs from Fox fifty six. He covered the Kentucky game
Speaker 1: down in Games. We'll also talk to some of the
Speaker 1: basketball Wildcats earlier today, but before we talk basketball, a
Speaker 1: couple more football questions for you. Your beloved Spartans are
Speaker 1: coming off a win over Aye, but prior to that,
Speaker 1: they lost three straight. But how weird is it for you, Michael,
Speaker 1: as a big ten guy, to see all these weird
Speaker 1: teams in your conference.
Speaker 8: It is weird, you know, the USC's the UCLA's are
Speaker 8: certainly strange. But it did feel good to just go
Speaker 8: have a little bit of normalcy with Iowa and Michigan.
Speaker 8: And you know, I looked up the schedule before. I
Speaker 8: think I was watching the Boston College game, the non
Speaker 8: conference game, and the Spartans had a chance and just
Speaker 8: kind of blew it. And I was looking at the schedule, like, gosh,
Speaker 8: this is looking like five straight losses, maybe with Iowa
Speaker 8: in the poll, Michigan in the poll, with Ohio State
Speaker 8: and Oregon and then someone else in there. But you know,
Speaker 8: to give them credit, they stayed composed one last weekend
Speaker 8: on homecoming Jonathan Smith and he's got talent. Aiden Childs
Speaker 8: is kind of along as a young quarterback. And now
Speaker 8: you have a chance in this rivalry game which you
Speaker 8: haven't had since the Kenneth Walker year, where you want
Speaker 8: at home. K nine scored five touchdowns and that was dear.
Speaker 8: Michigan made the College Football Playoff. That was only one
Speaker 8: of two losses they had was to Michigan State. So
Speaker 8: I did not think they would have a chance in
Speaker 8: Smith's first year to beat Michigan. But if they could
Speaker 8: go out there and get this done and you know,
Speaker 8: get get to six wins, go to a bowl game
Speaker 8: with a win over Michigan, very successful first year, and
Speaker 8: you hope that he can build this program from there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, big weekend for you, Michigan State.
Speaker 6: I'm talking.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Also weird in your conference, Indiana Rolling, although they're
Speaker 1: a quarterback needed surgery on his right thumb. But we'll talk.
Speaker 8: About that, and I will tell you that the beautiful
Speaker 8: memories I have of covering those Michigan State Michigan games,
Speaker 8: Like my junior year of college, I was at the
Speaker 8: game in ann Arbor and it was a funky game
Speaker 8: where everybody knew that this storm was coming in and
Speaker 8: it was going to hit, probably in the third quarter,
Speaker 8: so whatever the score was was probably going to be
Speaker 8: the final score. It was like fourteen to seven Michigan State.
Speaker 8: The storm hits, We're in this monsoon. I mean, if
Speaker 8: you you think you covered a game in the rain,
Speaker 8: you just wait and see what that was. I mean,
Speaker 8: And I'm a student, I got like a trash bag
Speaker 8: on my camera or like a ponto, just you know,
Speaker 8: learning how this works. I mean that that's those kind
Speaker 8: of memories are where I fell in love with my
Speaker 8: job and why I'm still doing it today. Was covering
Speaker 8: games like that, and you know me growing up as
Speaker 8: a Michigan State fan and then you know, learning to
Speaker 8: control my bias and cover the game and and for
Speaker 8: you know D'Antonio to pull out another win in an arbor.
Speaker 1: Uh.
Speaker 8: You know, those are special memories. So certainly nostalgic. And
Speaker 8: I even saw Kirk Cousins video this weekend where he
Speaker 8: was talking about, you know, him winning four straight in
Speaker 8: his four years at Michigan State, scooting three when when
Speaker 8: three when he was the quarterback. Yeah, those were the
Speaker 8: you know Rich Trout, Brady Hokeiers back then.
Speaker 9: Yeah.
Speaker 8: And you know he's like, no, when when you win
Speaker 8: the game, you get to walk the streets of your hometown,
Speaker 8: not the alleys. And we were like, I was like, wow,
Speaker 8: what a cook. Yeah you get so that's kind of
Speaker 8: like you know this Kentucky Louisville game. You know they
Speaker 8: you get to walk the streets here instead of you know,
Speaker 8: walking the alleys, and the Cats have the mental edge
Speaker 8: in this rivalry. So I do think they're gonna beat Louisville.
Speaker 8: I think if these players are kind of giving up,
Speaker 8: because I think they kind of gave up there in
Speaker 8: the fourth quarter. I'm not gonna say they gave up,
Speaker 8: but you could it was clear that they they they
Speaker 8: fell apart there in that fourth quarter in Gainsville and
Speaker 8: they had no chance to come back in that game.
Speaker 8: So but I do think if they'll, if they'll fight
Speaker 8: at all, they'll fight in that Louisville game and they'll
Speaker 8: get that courtfield.
Speaker 1: Let me shift over to basketball on the time I
Speaker 1: have left, and you talked to a couple of players today,
Speaker 1: But uh, just from what you've seen so far, and
Speaker 1: it hasn't been a lot, I know, But what what
Speaker 1: do you think we're looking at those of us covering
Speaker 1: this team and Kentucky fans watching and hoping for the best.
Speaker 1: What kind of season do you think this is going
Speaker 1: to be? Because obviously as we get closer to tip
Speaker 1: off of the first real game, expectations will rise every day.
Speaker 8: Yeah, I told you over the summer, I've told you
Speaker 8: a couple of times. I think the women's team is
Speaker 8: gonna have a better season than the mass just in
Speaker 8: terms of winning percentage. I love the women's team. I
Speaker 8: think they're set to be a second weekend team in
Speaker 8: the tournament. There's still so much to be determined with
Speaker 8: this men's team, but I do like the pieces. I
Speaker 8: actually haven't seen them in person yet because you know,
Speaker 8: the Big Madness and Blue White Game both on Friday nights.
Speaker 8: You know, I'm doing school football on Friday night, so
Speaker 8: I'm excited to see them tomorrow and this Wednesday exhibition.
Speaker 8: I think they're gonna look good. If they shoot the
Speaker 8: ball as well as the buzzes of them shooting threes,
Speaker 8: then I think they could be a special team. But
Speaker 8: I wonder if if they aren't hitting those threes, where
Speaker 8: they're going to find their offense. And there's still so
Speaker 8: much to figure out. I don't think they'll be ready
Speaker 8: in time for that Duke game. You know, if they
Speaker 8: do pull off that upset and win and beat Duke
Speaker 8: in the Champions Classic in a few weeks, I think,
Speaker 8: you know, that would certainly change the tone. But for now,
Speaker 8: I think this is a team that's going to be exciting. Obviously,
Speaker 8: the fans are all in on Pope and they're gonna
Speaker 8: have to learn about these new players. We just talked
Speaker 8: to Colin Chandler into Mary Williams, and then Colin Chandler
Speaker 8: is going to be a fun, fun player to watch.
Speaker 8: We saw him with the Donks, A big glupe, a myth. Yeah,
Speaker 8: and you know he's certainly a high fire guy that
Speaker 8: can put the biscuit in the basket too. And Amari
Speaker 8: Williams is a good big. I think he'll probably start.
Speaker 8: He's a experience, good defensive player. And you know, Jackson
Speaker 8: Robinson's gonna be a lot of fun to watch. Andrew
Speaker 8: Carr has been a heat check guy. He looked good
Speaker 8: in that Blue White game. So he's another like stretch forward,
Speaker 8: good big that they can put out there, maybe even
Speaker 8: a stretch five. And you know, you got some good
Speaker 8: experience guards, so they'll be good. I just, you know,
Speaker 8: I just want fans to be prepared if they're not good,
Speaker 8: if they're five hundred, you know, they maybe squeak in
Speaker 8: the tournament. I think that might be more likely than
Speaker 8: them being you know, a top three feed and winning
Speaker 8: the SEC. I just I don't know. I think the
Speaker 8: I think the women's team is a higher ceiling and
Speaker 8: a higher floor. I think the men's team has a
Speaker 8: lower floor. There's a chance they could be bad, but
Speaker 8: I think they'll be good.
Speaker 1: Well, they'll shoot a lot of threes. The question is,
Speaker 1: of course, will they make a lot of threes? And
Speaker 1: that you know Cali Peri used to chuckle at that,
Speaker 1: but that's the that's the honest truth, isn't.
Speaker 8: It It is? And if they don't make those threes,
Speaker 8: where are they going to find that offense? Because you
Speaker 8: know they have some mid range gate guys. I think
Speaker 8: Lamont Butler will get some buckets. I think Kirk Rizo
Speaker 8: is going to be more of a facilitator, you know,
Speaker 8: in your car. Hopefully we'll have that mid range game.
Speaker 6: I mean a Marii.
Speaker 8: Williams said his fadeaway is nice cars fade away, you know,
Speaker 8: so he can he's got some moves, you know, could
Speaker 8: you know, have a few like twenty point scoring games.
Speaker 8: So I think they'll they'll figure it out. I think
Speaker 8: it'll be fun to watch out there just to see
Speaker 8: them take on somebody new and if they hit these threes,
Speaker 8: there's gonna be a lot of fun to watch. But
Speaker 8: that I think that's a big question once they get
Speaker 8: in that Duke game and some of the other tough
Speaker 8: non conference games, when the game gets tight. You know
Speaker 8: they have experience, so they're not gonna get nervous, but
Speaker 8: where are they going to find their offense and what
Speaker 8: are they going to look like in close games? Because
Speaker 8: if you just hit threes and blow a team out
Speaker 8: by twenty five, that's night, right, that's not going to happen.
Speaker 1: Right. He is Michael Epps Fox fifty six. Follow him
Speaker 1: on Twitter at Michael EPP's TV. Thank you, Sarah, We'll
Speaker 1: talk to you soon.
Speaker 8: Thank you, Dick. It's good to see you down in Gainesville.
Speaker 8: And I'll see you this weekend.
Speaker 1: And I'll do it for now. Thanks so much to
Speaker 1: my guest Michael Epps from Fox fifty six, Daryl Bird
Speaker 1: from The Catch Pause, Darren Headrick from the UK Radio Network.
Speaker 1: A reminder of the UK baseball team scrimmages on Sunday
Speaker 1: at twelve thirty at Kentucky Proud Park, so you can
Speaker 1: go over and get a head start on UK baseball.
Speaker 1: Not exactly the same team that played in the College
Speaker 1: World Series, but some of those guys are back. But
Speaker 1: it should be a lot of fun. And Tomorrow night
Speaker 1: we will be totally preempted by Kentucky basketball because we've
Speaker 1: got UK Kentucky Wesley and coming up Dave and Cameron
Speaker 1: with the pregame, Tom Leach and Jack Gibbons with a
Speaker 1: call of the Wildcats and the Panthers. So yeah, tomorrow
Speaker 1: we got the night off in terms of the BBI,
Speaker 1: but we will be here there to watch our post
Speaker 1: team in action. And of course Saturday night seven forty
Speaker 1: five kickoff Kentucky and Auburn, a game you would hear
Speaker 1: right here, that's it. Good night from the garage in Lexington.
Speaker 3: According to this morning sample, it would be a Twinkie
Speaker 3: thirty five feet long, weighing approximately six hundred pounds.
Speaker 5: That's a big twink
Speaker 9: Sang d