Speaker 1: It's time for coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day. Now here's Nick coffee.
Speaker 2: That's right, it is coffee and Company fueled by Thornton's
Speaker 2: here on Sports Talk seven ninety hour number two in
Speaker 2: the final edition of this show, which again I know
Speaker 2: I've mentioned it many times, and I guess I should
Speaker 2: say both things. I'm not leaving, like I'm not. Actually,
Speaker 2: it's not like you're never gonna hear me again. I mean,
Speaker 2: if you don't want to hear me again, you can
Speaker 2: certainly choose not to. But I'm just moving up your
Speaker 2: radio dial and at a much earlier time slot five
Speaker 2: am to nine am.
Speaker 3: So this is the last show.
Speaker 4: Again.
Speaker 2: We've talked about it a lot throughout the last few weeks,
Speaker 2: but with the four o'clock hour hitting potentially a new audience.
Speaker 2: I mean when I mentioned it in passing and don't
Speaker 2: really lay things out, I get people that hit me
Speaker 2: up that I guess. You know, they listen when they can,
Speaker 2: and they aren't aware. You know, It's wild how people
Speaker 2: aren't totally consumed by what's going on in my life.
Speaker 3: It's crazy.
Speaker 2: I figured everybody was always keeping up with me and again,
Speaker 2: I hope you can. You can since the sarcasm there,
Speaker 2: my poor attempted humor. But yeah, we've got two more
Speaker 2: hours left and I'm gonna gonna make the most of them.
Speaker 2: And this is fun. I've said it each time we've
Speaker 2: come back from break. I'll say it again. Not letting
Speaker 2: people know who the next guest is. I can just
Speaker 2: feel that you are on the edge of your seat
Speaker 2: in anticipation, and that excites me. And I don't know
Speaker 2: if he's excited, but I'm excited to bring this guy on.
Speaker 2: He's a former Louis of a Cardinal played in the NFL,
Speaker 2: which I told him one time, and I meant it.
Speaker 2: I would say that to everybody. I would tattoo that
Speaker 2: on my head. I played in the NFL. I'm an
Speaker 2: NFL player, not just you know. He actually was on
Speaker 2: a roster for a couple of seasons, had an NFL career.
Speaker 2: He's a friend, He's been a big part of the
Speaker 2: show when it comes to talking football. He is mister
Speaker 2: Alex Cupper.
Speaker 3: Cupp.
Speaker 2: How are we doing, brother, I'm sure it's an honor
Speaker 2: for you to be here today.
Speaker 5: It is the solar, the you know, the celebratory send off.
Speaker 4: That's right to be a part of it. Great congratulations.
Speaker 5: So I'm moving up to the the big time and
Speaker 5: whs and all that.
Speaker 2: My friend, let me ask you and thank you. By
Speaker 2: the way, let me ask you you. You went from
Speaker 2: being a I mean, you're a football lifer. We've talked
Speaker 2: about your story. A great story, by the way. Something
Speaker 2: you see in a movie. A kid locally walks on
Speaker 2: at the hometown program, earns a scholarship, plays, has a
Speaker 2: great career, was a big factor on one of the
Speaker 2: best teams we've ever had. Here goes to the NFL.
Speaker 2: I mean, you're not one to brag, so I'll brag
Speaker 2: for you. But you then switched to being a career guy.
Speaker 2: You now are in the you know, you now don't
Speaker 2: work in football, and obviously you're doing really well in that.
Speaker 2: What was the transition? I hear all the time about
Speaker 2: how when you've put so much, I mean, the biggest
Speaker 2: part of your life is probably up to that point,
Speaker 2: you know football and it and it consumes you. You
Speaker 2: work your ass off at it. That's how you end
Speaker 2: up in the position that you were in. What was
Speaker 2: the transition like when you walked away and you decided, Okay,
Speaker 2: I'm ready to start this next chapter, as I'm starting
Speaker 2: a different chapter, still doing radio, but obviously a different
Speaker 2: world from what I'm used to.
Speaker 4: No, for sure.
Speaker 5: I mean that's a really yeah, it's really a interesting
Speaker 5: to look back on it, because I don't i mean,
Speaker 5: now consumed with so many other things. Football is still
Speaker 5: fun and now I get to get the privilege of
Speaker 5: trying to bring my kids up through it. But really
Speaker 5: the bridge of not playing ball anymore and still being involved.
Speaker 5: So those those few years I did the color commentary
Speaker 5: with Paul was very.
Speaker 4: Very helpful because it still felt involved.
Speaker 5: It still felt like, you know, I would listen to,
Speaker 5: you know, a game plan, you know, a Petrino game
Speaker 5: plan and kind of understand you know, ways of ways
Speaker 5: of working, still a little bit without the physicality part
Speaker 5: of it. So that was that was a helpful tool
Speaker 5: because really, yeah, the mental side.
Speaker 4: Of it is tough.
Speaker 5: It's hard to shift your mind to thinking about, oh gosh,
Speaker 5: you know, I need I need to look at life differently,
Speaker 5: and you know, there's not as much of a.
Speaker 4: Demand on my body, but a demand on you.
Speaker 5: Know, how I think about things and and how I you.
Speaker 2: Know, I mean it really is a different it's a
Speaker 2: different life within your life.
Speaker 5: Right, Oh yeah, no, absolutely, And then you know as kids, uh,
Speaker 5: as the kids started growing it it made you know,
Speaker 5: made that transition obviously a lot more, a lot more seamless,
Speaker 5: and there's there's way there's way more of a focus
Speaker 5: and attention on on that. And obviously as you know,
Speaker 5: that is that is the primary. That is the the tertiary.
Speaker 5: That's everything. So everything you you know, all the all
Speaker 5: the decisions and in all of the you know, essentially
Speaker 5: non work items is is your family life. So those
Speaker 5: two pieces in general or were the big bridge. But
Speaker 5: you know, people ask me quite a bit on on what,
Speaker 5: you know, would I go back and do and play long?
Speaker 5: You know, it's like an obvious would be yes, would
Speaker 5: miss miss that part of it? Just because the competition,
Speaker 5: the things that I talk to you about all the time,
Speaker 5: sure during the season, just just that itch on the thrill.
Speaker 4: There's there's nothing that there's nothing that.
Speaker 5: Can match that, that level of competition, that level of
Speaker 5: you know, angst and and energy that you can get
Speaker 5: and the thrill you can get on being successful in
Speaker 5: that it's second to none.
Speaker 2: Look, a lot of people who really put a lot
Speaker 2: into it. And I don't want to say you weren't
Speaker 2: blessed with God given talent, but obviously I think you've
Speaker 2: always been a guy that really put in the work
Speaker 2: and let the results speak for themselves. And you know,
Speaker 2: when you get the good results that you got, like
Speaker 2: the career you had in football, you know, it's not
Speaker 2: a surprise to see that you can transition that to
Speaker 2: really a second a second life. And I don't want
Speaker 2: to act like you had no life in all you
Speaker 2: did was football. You were a robot, just some dumb jock.
Speaker 2: But you know, it's you have to put everything into
Speaker 2: it if you want to be super successful at it.
Speaker 2: But when you did, when you did say okay, I'm
Speaker 2: gonna hang up the cleats, I mean, was it were
Speaker 2: you still trying to see if you could get a
Speaker 2: practice squad thing, or were you content thinking, okay, I
Speaker 2: could still try to grind it out. But you know,
Speaker 2: I'm ready because I feel like it would be a
Speaker 2: really hard thing to do, because it's you know, you're
Speaker 2: gonna have the belief in yourself, You're probably gonna be
Speaker 2: able to stick around. And look, you could have played
Speaker 2: in CFL done those kind of things. But when that
Speaker 2: moment happened, did it, did it hit you that, Okay,
Speaker 2: I'm doing it. I'm actually gonna you break free.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean the unfortunately, the the UFL and and
Speaker 5: XFL and all there, that hybrid. I guess the spring,
Speaker 5: the spring alternative. I guess you could say professional leagues
Speaker 5: warnt a thing. Unfortunately. Uh so the CFL never never
Speaker 5: really entertained it.
Speaker 4: I did.
Speaker 5: I mean, I kept kept working and and actually tried
Speaker 5: out a few more times.
Speaker 4: But I'd say it like.
Speaker 3: They missed out.
Speaker 5: Yeah, they're lost skinning at the six month mark. I
Speaker 5: appreciate that. It was when I, you know, came to grips,
Speaker 5: got got re enrolled and finishing up you know, some
Speaker 5: of the master studies that I had started and started
Speaker 5: down the career path.
Speaker 2: Well, congrats on career, Congrats on all your success. And
Speaker 2: I can tell how much you love being a family man,
Speaker 2: and and I can I can't relate to a lot
Speaker 2: of things, I believe it or not. Folks did not
Speaker 2: play in the NFL, never played a snap of football
Speaker 2: in my life. But you know, I can tell how
Speaker 2: much you're into being a family man. And I'm now
Speaker 2: more so. Inter you know, I'm still going to talk
Speaker 2: sports on HS and it's going to be always a
Speaker 2: big part of my life. But now what really gets
Speaker 2: me excited and the passion I have is experiencing it
Speaker 2: with my with my son. And I'm sure you know
Speaker 2: you're going through the same thing on your end, and
Speaker 2: it's a beautiful thing, no doubt. But I have to
Speaker 2: pick your brand quickly before we let you go and
Speaker 2: get your weekend started. The era that you were at
Speaker 2: U of L, I feel like is monumental to where
Speaker 2: the program is, and there's been few there's been a
Speaker 2: few instances throughout where it feels like, okay, that was
Speaker 2: pretty big as far as Louisville continuing to be able
Speaker 2: to say as a program, we were thrown in the
Speaker 2: microwave and and we've had some big jumps throughout and
Speaker 2: we're not a power program by any means, but we're not.
Speaker 2: You know, we're pretty successful and I think the success
Speaker 2: is going to be there moving forward. Is there's something
Speaker 2: you could share and I'm putting you on the spot here,
Speaker 2: but that when the transition happened from Steve Kragthorpe to
Speaker 2: Charlie Strong and the culture change, and within a few years,
Speaker 2: you guys were, you know, we were, we were losing
Speaker 2: our minds because you beat who was its Southern Miss
Speaker 2: and the Beato Brady's Bowl and Saint Pete. I mean
Speaker 2: that felt like the Super Bowl. And I don't mean
Speaker 2: to to to poke fun. I mean literally we were.
Speaker 2: We were brought back to life and it was exciting
Speaker 2: as hell. There was clearly a lot of energy on
Speaker 2: the roster or on the field with just the enthusiasm,
Speaker 2: and then a couple years later, you're beating Florida in
Speaker 2: New Orleans in the Sugar Bowl. Is there maybe something
Speaker 2: that you don't think people realize about sort of that era?
Speaker 2: I mean again, I think it's pretty straightforward. You guys
Speaker 2: were coached hard, you played hard for your coach. I
Speaker 2: think you had a really good stat that maybe people
Speaker 2: don't know about, but that that run that team really
Speaker 2: it's it's it's my favorite season as a fan just
Speaker 2: because it was.
Speaker 3: It was awesome.
Speaker 2: But is there something you could share that maybe people
Speaker 2: would be surprised by. I don't mean like giving us
Speaker 2: dirt on your teammates or anything, but I would have
Speaker 2: loved to have been a little bit more connected to
Speaker 2: the program back then. I was a lot younger, but man,
Speaker 2: it was a lot of fun.
Speaker 5: Oh absolutely, and it yeah, I mean all those things
Speaker 5: just to turn the you know, the turnaround six games,
Speaker 5: it felt like we won twenty, you know, like it
Speaker 5: was it was really you that passion that the fan
Speaker 5: base felt.
Speaker 4: It was tenfold in a locker roo.
Speaker 2: It kind of reminded me a little bit of basketball
Speaker 2: this year, Cut because you know, I think you know,
Speaker 2: you guys then could sense that you were bringing us
Speaker 2: kind of back to life and we were really energetic.
Speaker 2: And I think that's exactly what played out with Pat
Speaker 2: Kelsey this year.
Speaker 4: Oh for sure.
Speaker 5: And really the big I mean, although they're in basketball,
Speaker 5: is a little different, just based on the track for
Speaker 5: it and the coaches that we we did have prior
Speaker 5: to you know, our turbulence that we've gone through. But really,
Speaker 5: if you leave Louisville fans with anything, it's it's the
Speaker 5: resiliency and not as much consistency. So just how how
Speaker 5: resilient the program can be and basketball, you know, finally
Speaker 5: finding its footing. Football's always been that way where it's
Speaker 5: if you have the passion, you have the support from
Speaker 5: the fan base from the athletic department.
Speaker 4: The programs set up in a way or gout.
Speaker 5: You know, kids, guys, you know, young men want to
Speaker 5: come be a part of it and really try and
Speaker 5: push the program forward. You know, you have that pipeline
Speaker 5: that started in Florida. It's still there. And then I
Speaker 5: think coaching wise, I mean, it's it's it is. You
Speaker 5: can call it a stepping stone job, and that's what
Speaker 5: people you know usually refer to it, as.
Speaker 4: You know from AFAR.
Speaker 5: But but really it is one of the top notch
Speaker 5: programs just based on how much focus you have and
Speaker 5: how much you know, how much people care about it
Speaker 5: really and how big the town is. I mean, it's
Speaker 5: it's a it's a large college town. People always talk
Speaker 5: about it. So being a part of it, being a
Speaker 5: small part of it was you know, a pleasure and
Speaker 5: a gift that I'll.
Speaker 4: Cherish for for a very long time. So always happy
Speaker 4: to chat about it too.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, and I again, I don't think you tell
Speaker 2: people enough and I don't know how you would do it.
Speaker 2: You don't bring it up in conversation, but you do
Speaker 2: have a really cool story. It's been great to get
Speaker 2: to know you and call you a friend over the
Speaker 2: years because I was a big fan of yours and
Speaker 2: I still am today. So I'll leave you with this,
Speaker 2: and I'm not gonna put you on the spot. I
Speaker 2: found a way to where I'm not gonna make you
Speaker 2: like pick which teammates you think are better, because that
Speaker 2: would be a cruel thing to do. But I, in
Speaker 2: the last couple of days, have been tasked by one
Speaker 2: of our listeners to give my top four Louisville football quarterbacks,
Speaker 2: running backs, receivers, and then defensive players. And I'm not
Speaker 2: going to tell you how you'd rank them. I'm gonna
Speaker 2: give you my four. You give me a grade in
Speaker 2: the A would mean that you really agree, in like
Speaker 2: a D would mean that you totally disagree. And I
Speaker 2: won't press you to tell me which, because I don't
Speaker 2: want your teammates find that out. You know, you know
Speaker 2: you didn't have them in the top four. So you
Speaker 2: and I are relatively the same age. So some of
Speaker 2: these guys you played with, and some of these guys
Speaker 2: I know you grew up watching them because you know
Speaker 2: you're you're you're a Louisville guy like me. So I'll
Speaker 2: start with quarterbacks. To me, this was pretty easy. Lamar
Speaker 2: number one, Teddy number two, I went, I went with
Speaker 2: I don't remember how I ordered him because it's really tough.
Speaker 2: I know I went Stefan. Did I go Stefan?
Speaker 1: No?
Speaker 2: I went Brom three, Stefan four, And I'm content with that.
Speaker 2: But I was really close to putting Stefan at three.
Speaker 2: But I don't know if it's just because I was
Speaker 2: just so obsessed with that. I still think that twenty
Speaker 2: four team, with the coaching staff and that roster, despite
Speaker 2: it being a Conference USA team, that team was special.
Speaker 2: A lot of guys that went on to play in
Speaker 2: the NFL. How do you grade that?
Speaker 4: So you had you had Brahm at three and Stefan yeah,
Speaker 4: fo yeah, yeah, I would be in line with that.
Speaker 5: Okay, so an A, you know the Red Redmond were
Speaker 5: as the as my you know, you know those guys.
Speaker 3: Hey, look we're spoiled as hell. A quarterback. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 3: I mean again, Tyler Schucke.
Speaker 2: He only played her one year, so it's gonna be
Speaker 2: really weird to think about how he's thought about down
Speaker 2: the line. But we know he had we had a
Speaker 2: pretty good quarterback here last year. And it sounds like
Speaker 2: he's doing well with the Saints, all right, So with
Speaker 2: with uh, let's go, let's go with receivers. I went
Speaker 2: to Vante number one. I don't know if that's just
Speaker 2: my era. I feel like he was just a weapon
Speaker 2: and there was a good chance that if you throw
Speaker 2: it up, he was going to go make something happen.
Speaker 2: I then went with Harry Douglas or no, I'm sorry,
Speaker 2: Deon Branch, then Harry Douglas and then at number four.
Speaker 2: I think it was more just with those three. Is
Speaker 2: that aligned with you give me A you're thinking, B,
Speaker 2: you think?
Speaker 3: And C. Is there somebody I'm leaving off that you
Speaker 3: would have had on there?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Or I mean urridy it was another one.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean production wise, it's hard to beat, hard
Speaker 5: to beat Harry and yeah.
Speaker 2: So with Mario he was he was great, But I
Speaker 2: feel like he doesn't get forgotten. But I think maybe
Speaker 2: I'm guilty as others as far as maybe not realizing
Speaker 2: how good he was because he played with some other
Speaker 2: really good receivers too.
Speaker 4: Sure, No, I know we are aligned all right now?
Speaker 2: With running backs, I went and again, this is really
Speaker 2: my lifetime what I can remember. Obviously, you know, there's
Speaker 2: some guys that I know are great, but I can't
Speaker 2: tell you I watched him play because I wasn't a
Speaker 2: live where I was too young. So running backs, I
Speaker 2: went Mike Bush number one. I went with the low
Speaker 2: pal number two, just because of how special he was
Speaker 2: in that last year, and obviously he had some other
Speaker 2: good moments before that. And then three, I got a
Speaker 2: wild card for you. I think most people forget this guy,
Speaker 2: and it's unfortunate because the timing of what was going
Speaker 2: on in the world. He will be forgettable, but he
Speaker 2: was special. Jadane Hawkins was bad. He was I mean,
Speaker 2: that guy was really really talented, and I think it's
Speaker 2: easy to forget because there wasn't a who lot of
Speaker 2: accomplishments along the way, although he was acc Freshman of
Speaker 2: the Year in his first season, but again all that's
Speaker 2: a blur. And then at number four, I went Brandon
Speaker 2: Radcliffe just because I felt like consistency was there. But
Speaker 2: there's other good options that you know you could throw in.
Speaker 2: I mean, even guys like Colby Smith, who who obviously
Speaker 2: got a lot more run whenever Mike Bush got hurt.
Speaker 2: So we've been pretty spoiled. A lot of positions. That
Speaker 2: one was a little bit more difficult for me. It
Speaker 2: wasn't at the very top. But you know me give
Speaker 2: me your assessment of that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 5: I always look like looking back on like the Eric
Speaker 5: Sheltons of the world.
Speaker 3: Yes, Shelton's a good one.
Speaker 4: It's funny how I look at it.
Speaker 5: It's just the way the uniforms looked, and just how
Speaker 5: they looked in the uniforms. Just how you know, It's
Speaker 5: like you see their their pictures and they're the Montague.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're that.
Speaker 2: You're looking at Eric Shelton in his uniform and you're
Speaker 2: you're you're you're at Trinity High School or almost there,
Speaker 2: and you're thinking, you want to you want to be
Speaker 2: wearing that uniform, right, I get it.
Speaker 4: Oh yeah yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so no, But I mean Bush obviously for obvious reasons,
Speaker 5: and and we we all think about what could have been,
Speaker 5: but what could what did happen was he he was
Speaker 5: extremely successful, so was Blau in the NFL and had
Speaker 5: had very fruitful careers. So those those two are the obvious.
Speaker 5: The one too, Hawkins was Yeah, that was god. He
Speaker 5: It felt like he was our only option there in
Speaker 5: that first year of sadderfield, and he was. He was
Speaker 5: productive as hell running behind Beckton and and that offensive line.
Speaker 5: So that was that's that's a really sneaky one because
Speaker 5: you do forget about it.
Speaker 4: But he was. He was the hell of a back.
Speaker 4: And this is this is not nice that we got
Speaker 4: our legit to.
Speaker 2: Oh, no doubt, we're spoiled in a lot of ways.
Speaker 2: It's and you mentioned it. It's been proven if you
Speaker 2: can coach stepping stone or not, you can win. And
Speaker 2: it's been proven many many years. And if you can play,
Speaker 2: you'll get on the field and you'll stand out. I
Speaker 2: mean that's been proven as well. Now with defense, we
Speaker 2: did a I just just before the sake of toime yesterday.
Speaker 2: I just went through defense as a whole, not specific positions.
Speaker 2: I had Elvis Dumerville number one. I went with a
Speaker 2: Mobia Koye at number two. And I can't remember if
Speaker 2: that was justified based off of like production or just
Speaker 2: knowing that he was sixteen years old when he started
Speaker 2: playing in college and he was an early draft pick.
Speaker 2: And then after that, man, it's tough and a lot
Speaker 2: of these guys that I was on the fence about
Speaker 2: putting in the top four you played with. I mean
Speaker 2: Calvin Pryor, he was good. I mean that guy was
Speaker 2: dangerous out there, and I mean that in a good way.
Speaker 2: Drodd Holloman. It never made any sense to me how
Speaker 2: he got fourteen interceptions. And I don't mean that to
Speaker 2: insult him, but like right place, right time, consistently, that
Speaker 2: guy was just I mean, fourteen interceptions in a year
Speaker 2: is insane. And then two guys that you played with
Speaker 2: that I hope are remembered in a good way, Lorenzo
Speaker 2: Mauldon and Preston Brown, not that people would remember them
Speaker 2: in a bad way, but like Charlie Strong put some
Speaker 2: defensive studs here on campus. Oh absolutely, and un forget.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I obviously Jaire didn't play with him. But Sheldon
Speaker 5: Rankins is another one that you put in. And this
Speaker 5: is more from a brought on and maintained you know,
Speaker 5: didn't didn't go I mean this day and age, guys
Speaker 5: like with that caliber potentially go looking elsewhere with the
Speaker 5: coaching change.
Speaker 4: Sheldon didn't.
Speaker 5: He stayed true to his guns, stayed working, became a
Speaker 5: first round pick, was extremely productive under under under Bobby
Speaker 5: in that coaching staff. So that's another one that that
Speaker 5: pops out that I know personally playing with him.
Speaker 4: He was young when I was there, but Lozo for sure. Uh.
Speaker 2: James Burgess is another guy that I that I think
Speaker 2: was really consistent.
Speaker 5: He was so I mean, just when you talk about
Speaker 5: a ballhawk, and just so smart. He was so cerebrally
Speaker 5: gifted when it came to football, like picked up fun
Speaker 5: things so quick. I could read and react so fast.
Speaker 5: But then there's God, I'm I'm blanking Marcus Smith Lord.
Speaker 5: Oh yeah, another first rounder didn't didn't really pan out,
Speaker 5: but how tough he was, and in a ton of
Speaker 5: the plays he made that year, you know, that Sugar
Speaker 5: Bowl year for sure. The year after, I mean he
Speaker 5: was he was an ex football player and there, I
Speaker 5: mean you could if you go back into the the
Speaker 5: Bobby one point days, I mean you can start rattling
Speaker 5: off several guys.
Speaker 3: Brandon Johnson was pretty pretty damn good too.
Speaker 1: Ja.
Speaker 5: Yes, gosh, I can't think of him. He was a
Speaker 5: dude that would carry away. He was a linebacker or
Speaker 5: a big ass back plate.
Speaker 4: It was it was so yeah. Yes, Ronald or McCune.
Speaker 3: Oh, Robert McCune, Yes, Oh.
Speaker 4: He was m He had the biggest traps. Oh god, yes,
Speaker 4: we would put they'd put.
Speaker 5: Up like graduation photos or what are guys that you
Speaker 5: know on the wall whatever, and like everybody you know, normal, just.
Speaker 3: You could tell he was kind of scary dude like
Speaker 3: he was.
Speaker 4: It was a different times.
Speaker 5: Yeah, apparently I think he was in Like he wasn't
Speaker 5: in the service, he was in something like that when
Speaker 5: it was all we always heard that he like carried
Speaker 5: around a like a hundred pound bowlder or somewhere everywhere.
Speaker 3: That's how his traps got well there, they were humongous.
Speaker 3: That's another one, him and Michael Dyer.
Speaker 2: There's a couple of pictures of those guys and I'm like,
Speaker 2: if that's not photoshopped, I'm very scared of these dudes.
Speaker 2: Michael Dyer. He had basketballs on his arms. Oh yeah,
Speaker 2: that guy was a character. But all right, lastly, and
Speaker 2: I'm nerding out so much on this air was such
Speaker 2: a fun, fun time during Uh, it's fun now too,
Speaker 2: But going back in the past is always fun. I'm
Speaker 2: sure it's fun for you as well. Which staff are
Speaker 2: on Charlie Strong's group, would you say may have been
Speaker 2: a bigger impact than your all's overall success? That maybe
Speaker 2: people wouldn't necessarily know. I know you've oftentimes given a
Speaker 2: lot of praise to that entire staff because really that
Speaker 2: was it was a perfect form of of guys that
Speaker 2: really seemed to mix well, and Charlie had a good
Speaker 2: staff and clearly there was a lot of success. There
Speaker 2: is there anybody that maybe you look back on and
Speaker 2: feel like maybe they were more impactful on your all
Speaker 2: success than than than we would know.
Speaker 4: Oh man, that's hard to narrow it down to one.
Speaker 5: I mean Bedford strategically, I'd say from a mentality standpoint,
Speaker 5: Clint Hurt for sure, Yeah, just just from all the
Speaker 5: guys that he brought like he was able to I
Speaker 5: mean he was.
Speaker 4: He was the key recruiter, right.
Speaker 5: He was the guy that would you know, with the
Speaker 5: ace in the hall if you will, if you're trying
Speaker 5: to get a guy to commit, and he would follow
Speaker 5: through with it.
Speaker 3: You know, there was he had a genuineness to him.
Speaker 2: It seemed that really stood out to where players really
Speaker 2: connected to him.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: I mean he got caught up in whatever happened in
Speaker 5: Miami that gave him a bad rap, But I would
Speaker 5: I would run through a walt for Clint Hurt.
Speaker 4: And I didn't even play.
Speaker 5: Defense, So that I'll tell you the type of coach
Speaker 5: he is, and it just shows you know how how
Speaker 5: resilient he's been working his way through the NFL's on
Speaker 5: the Eagles.
Speaker 4: Now you know obviously they're that character.
Speaker 5: And and that makeup as a coach is wanted and
Speaker 5: needed and is valued at a very high level. So
Speaker 5: that's that would for sure be the one that I
Speaker 5: would peg that answer to.
Speaker 4: Cup.
Speaker 3: You are the man.
Speaker 2: Thank you for giving us twenty minutes of your time
Speaker 2: here on a Friday. You can get your weekend started
Speaker 2: now and stay well, my friend. I know I'll be
Speaker 2: seeing you soon and I'm looking forward to appreciate your brother.
Speaker 4: Sounds good that congrats again.
Speaker 3: Thank you, take care.
Speaker 2: That's Alex Cupper, former Louver Cardinal, former NFL O lineman
Speaker 2: and a damn good dude. So good stuff. Quick break,
Speaker 2: we'll come back. We do not have a guest coming
Speaker 2: up here on the other end. So and this has
Speaker 2: been so much fun and it's it's working out like
Speaker 2: I wanted, where I'm just enjoying conversations with friends and
Speaker 2: hopefully you guys are enjoying it as well. We are
Speaker 2: talking sports we talked from Seinfeld and had some fun
Speaker 2: along the way. But it's been a nice distraction to
Speaker 2: where I'm not in my own head because I can
Speaker 2: get my head a lot and not a good way.
Speaker 3: But this has been good.
Speaker 2: So again, if you're not enjoying it, if you're listening
Speaker 2: to me say that, then you know that just means
Speaker 2: that you're you're willing to ride it out with me
Speaker 2: one more time because it's it's the end after this.
Speaker 2: So if that's the case, thank you very much, quick break.
Speaker 2: We'll keep it rolling along here. It's Coffee and Company.
Speaker 2: Feel about Thorton's on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 1: If you're listening to Coffee in Company with Nick Coffee
Speaker 1: on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 2: So I'm unable to leave you in suspense here about
Speaker 2: a guest coming up at this point, but we do
Speaker 2: have a couple more, maybe three more, that are going
Speaker 2: to be joining us before it comes to an end.
Speaker 2: And when I say it comes to an end, I
Speaker 2: don't mean just the show and the week. I mean
Speaker 2: the show for good. So it's been fun so far,
Speaker 2: and I hope you guys will stick around. Don't make
Speaker 2: me do it alone, which I don't think you will.
Speaker 3: And there have been some.
Speaker 2: Folks that have asked about calling in, and we've had
Speaker 2: some people that did call. And you guys know how
Speaker 2: bad I am as it is when it comes to,
Speaker 2: you know, keeping this thing on track. And I've already
Speaker 2: done a poor job of it today as far as
Speaker 2: being on schedule and whatnot. So you know, uh, thanks
Speaker 2: and really do appreciate you. And there have been some
Speaker 2: that have reached out. And you know what is what
Speaker 2: is probably something that I should should say more than
Speaker 2: I do, and certainly should have said more so in
Speaker 2: the last nine years, is that you know, people who
Speaker 2: loyally tune in and interact with your show, and you
Speaker 2: can sense the people who rather it be. And I'm
Speaker 2: so glad we have social media now because you know,
Speaker 2: you really would have no way of knowing who listens
Speaker 2: other than other than than if they call you, which
Speaker 2: of course, We've had a lot of regular callers over
Speaker 2: the years, and I certainly appreciate those folks, even those
Speaker 2: that you know, when they would call in, it wasn't
Speaker 2: always a great conversation, because you know, that's what I
Speaker 2: love about doing this, meaning I can actually you know,
Speaker 2: have a common you know, even if we don't agree,
Speaker 2: we can still have a conversation and that's what makes
Speaker 2: this fun.
Speaker 3: So thank you to everybody.
Speaker 2: And when people say, hey, you know, I've been listening
Speaker 2: a long time, I mean I know, like you know,
Speaker 2: if you're somebody.
Speaker 3: That has asked if the podcast is.
Speaker 2: Going to be up soon in my DMS and mention it,
Speaker 2: you know, I can't speak for anybody but me. But
Speaker 2: even if they don't acknowledge it, people don't forget that
Speaker 2: who do this because you need that, you need all feedback.
Speaker 2: But what really I think, just knowing me as an
Speaker 2: individual and how I'm wired for better or worse, that
Speaker 2: has that has helped me is that there's no daily
Speaker 2: report card. And I think if if if you were
Speaker 2: able to truly measure every single day how many listeners
Speaker 2: you had, it would.
Speaker 3: Get in my head. And I don't mean like I.
Speaker 2: Would get big headed, but like if we had a
Speaker 2: show that, for whatever reason didn't reach the same amount
Speaker 2: of people as it did the previous two days, I
Speaker 2: think I would probably pay and think, O, what did
Speaker 2: I do wrong? So you know, you don't ever know,
Speaker 2: and I think that's a good thing. Now you can
Speaker 2: track things digitally now, like we know live streams and
Speaker 2: podcasts and whatnot, and that's a great metric to have,
Speaker 2: and that's certainly what we need now. Is obviously media
Speaker 2: has changed in a big way. You got to be digital,
Speaker 2: and you got to be you got to be productive,
Speaker 2: you got to be able to reach people. And with
Speaker 2: radio there's ways you can do it. But I don't
Speaker 2: want to nerd out on it today. But if you
Speaker 2: guys knew, and some of you might know, really how
Speaker 2: they judge what's called ratings in a market like this
Speaker 2: with a journal, I mean you wouldn't. You probably wouldn't
Speaker 2: believe me because it's just I mean, it's an archaic
Speaker 2: way of and it's it's kind of always been nonsense,
Speaker 2: but it's the only way they've really been able to
Speaker 2: do it, because when you're listening on a trestial radio,
Speaker 2: there's no way at this time to currently track specifically
Speaker 2: how many people are picking up your signal, because radio
Speaker 2: is as old as time, right And I'll say this
Speaker 2: once again because why not it's fitting to say, given
Speaker 2: the conversation we're having right now, radio is still an
Speaker 2: insanely popular medium. It's just consumed differently and one of
Speaker 2: the reasons why I think, you know, I'm so energized
Speaker 2: about going to HAS is they they they really sold me.
Speaker 2: When I say they, I mean those that make this decision,
Speaker 2: that that decided I was somebody that could, that could
Speaker 2: at least until they tell me I can't anymore built
Speaker 2: take over for Tony Cruz and be in that spot.
Speaker 2: I mean, it's it's it's a big opportunity, but adding
Speaker 2: some more youth. I said this to Terry Miners when
Speaker 2: we were talking earlier today, and I'm not this is
Speaker 2: nobody's fault, and I'm trying not to put my foot
Speaker 2: in my mouth and say something that may come off
Speaker 2: the wrong way. But I am thirty six. I'll be
Speaker 2: thirty seven in July. I grew up listening to AHAs,
Speaker 2: but just because of the sports aspect, and when I
Speaker 2: became a young adult, HAS just really didn't. It wasn't
Speaker 2: what's the right way to say this, I wasn't somebody
Speaker 2: that you know, was worried about traffic on my way
Speaker 2: in listening to the radio. You know, I didn't grow
Speaker 2: It just wasn't. It didn't become because of the digital
Speaker 2: world being available apps on your phone smartphones, that kind
Speaker 2: of stuff the Internet. I never grew up having to
Speaker 2: rely on the great resource that is eight forty whs.
Speaker 2: And I'll say this, you rely on it now, but
Speaker 2: we know at least I know you can get it elsewhere. Right, News, traffic, weather,
Speaker 2: those are things that if you just get out that
Speaker 2: thing in your pocket that's called a phone, you can
Speaker 2: you can get that stuff. My attempt at HS is
Speaker 2: going to be I'm going to be well aware that
Speaker 2: you can get that. You'll still get that there. But
Speaker 2: the reason you stay there is one because you're an
Speaker 2: HS lifer and we certainly appreciate you. But also you
Speaker 2: can have some fun along the way. You can be
Speaker 2: entertained throughout your your daily or your morning commute or
Speaker 2: just your morning routine, whatever it may be. And that's
Speaker 2: what excites me is because you know it's built into
Speaker 2: where it's routine for people. They want they're driving to work,
Speaker 2: they want to know what traffic looks like, they want
Speaker 2: to hear the weather, they want to hear news. And
Speaker 2: within that, I've got a chance to get creative and
Speaker 2: have some fun and I look forward to doing that.
Speaker 2: But anyways, back to my original point, like those that
Speaker 2: reach out and tell me, you know, hey, I came,
Speaker 2: I came to your show at this at this time.
Speaker 2: I remember that like I and when you call and
Speaker 2: you say your name is this, and that I remember
Speaker 2: because I appreciate you, and you are, you know, having
Speaker 2: somebody that And I'm sure there's people who listen that
Speaker 2: have never interacted with me and never would And I
Speaker 2: wouldn't expect you to write that's not a necessity, but
Speaker 2: it is appreciated when it does happen, because you can
Speaker 2: really in this in this particular, I guess space you can.
Speaker 2: You can kind of convince yourself whatever you can tell
Speaker 2: yourself you're you know, you're kicking rear end and you've
Speaker 2: got the best show in the world, and you know
Speaker 2: there's really not a way for you. I guess there are.
Speaker 2: There are ways to determine that. Like if you're making
Speaker 2: all the money and you got all the endorsements and
Speaker 2: you know everybody's telling you're great, then you probably are
Speaker 2: gonna believe you're great. But whenever you don't have that,
Speaker 2: you can kind of convince yourself whatever you want. So
Speaker 2: I actually appreciate knowing that each day. I wouldn't able
Speaker 2: to know was this show good or bad? And really
Speaker 2: it's all up to people's opinion. Tony Vinetti said this
Speaker 2: to me many years ago, and it's been one of
Speaker 2: the many things he said that ended up being true.
Speaker 2: He was right that you would have a show where
Speaker 2: you felt like he was the best thing ever, and
Speaker 2: then you didn't get any traction.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 2: You may had callers and interaction, but like you didn't
Speaker 2: have anybody notice that you thought the show was particularly
Speaker 2: better than it usually is. And then you'd have a
Speaker 2: show you're like, man, I hope my boss wed listening.
Speaker 2: That could be it for me, and you'll have people say, man,
Speaker 2: the show is great, and that wouldn't make any sense
Speaker 2: to me. But it made me realize just get comfortable,
Speaker 2: do your thing, and really write it out as long
Speaker 2: as you can. I mean, I've said this many times
Speaker 2: in the last few weeks. To be able to say
Speaker 2: that I've been in this position for nine years is
Speaker 2: it still doesn't seem quite real. And I don't mean
Speaker 2: that just because I'm blessed beyond belief, which is true,
Speaker 2: but like, I've never once thought about how long I've
Speaker 2: been doing this. I've never once felt like, man, nine
Speaker 2: years what's next, or you know, are you gonna? Because
Speaker 2: I never wanted to. I never would lead this market.
Speaker 2: I mean, I just wouldn't. This is my home, this
Speaker 2: is where i'll I'll live the rest of my life.
Speaker 2: And if you know, if I had to change careers
Speaker 2: because of something, I would because I'm not leaving Louisville.
Speaker 3: Never would.
Speaker 2: So that's probably another reason why I've been able to
Speaker 2: stick around, because you know, I'm not looking to get
Speaker 2: out of here and go to a top twenty five market,
Speaker 2: and I wouldn't wouldn't leave for a two hundred percent raise,
Speaker 2: probably just because this is what I've always wanted to do.
Speaker 2: So I think because of that, it has hit me
Speaker 2: in the lab. I was talking to Tony Cruz this
Speaker 2: morning at his event as we celebrated his retirement, and
Speaker 2: you know, he said to me that he kind of
Speaker 2: hit him that he didn't he couldn't believe that I've
Speaker 2: been here almost ten years. And I thought, I'm saying
Speaker 2: like I saying it out loud, it almost doesn't seem real.
Speaker 2: But to give you, you know, another poor attempted humor
Speaker 2: and a really overused cliche. Time flis when you're having
Speaker 2: fun and I've had myself a whole lot of fun,
Speaker 2: and I'm gonna have fun on HAS and I hope
Speaker 2: you guys will will join me starting next week. Five
Speaker 2: am is in early in early start, but I'll be
Speaker 2: I'll be ready to go, and i'll be I'll be
Speaker 2: trying to make that as best I can. And I
Speaker 2: do love knowing that there is not necessarily like a
Speaker 2: crazy amount of pressure. But like there's been four people
Speaker 2: that have had this job since it's existed for over
Speaker 2: one hundred years, seemingly. I mean, I don't know the
Speaker 2: exactly I mean, I know how old HAS is in general,
Speaker 2: but it's been you know, a long, long, long long time.
Speaker 2: So that means that those guys were doing something good
Speaker 2: that has continued to make that very successful. And it's
Speaker 2: such a big part of people's daily routine. You know,
Speaker 2: I better not screw it up or they won't. You know,
Speaker 2: they're gonna let somebody sit there and sabotage something that
Speaker 2: has been so successful for so so long. So real quick,
Speaker 2: before we get to a quick time out here and
Speaker 2: get to the last segment here in the four o'clock hour,
Speaker 2: a couple of things that are not related to me
Speaker 2: blobbing about me and me ending my time here at
Speaker 2: seven ninety. But the decision from the SEC to now
Speaker 2: find teams half a million if they if they storm
Speaker 2: the field. Maybe I'm missing something here. I'm just was
Speaker 2: there some type of legal action that they're now like
Speaker 2: letting you know, all right, enough's enough, or because this
Speaker 2: is way after the season has ended. I just I
Speaker 2: feel like there's got to be some level of some
Speaker 2: level of risk that they've they've realized that they they're
Speaker 2: now having to let people know it's going to be
Speaker 2: an even bigger fine. I mean, I believe they doubled it.
Speaker 2: I think, yeah, yeah, it says. The SEC's new five
Speaker 2: hundred thousand dollars fine for field storming, announced yesterday, replaces
Speaker 2: an earlier escalating scale of one hundred thousand dollars for
Speaker 2: the first offense and two hundred and fifty thousand dollars
Speaker 2: for the second, five hundred thousand dollars for the third
Speaker 2: that was put in place in twenty twenty three. Now
Speaker 2: you do it at all, he's half a million dollars,
Speaker 2: which is a lot of money, I feel like to anybody.
Speaker 2: But again, I don't know, maybe not if you're really
Speaker 2: living that life. But schools are now. I mean they've
Speaker 2: always monitored money because they need to.
Speaker 3: I mean, they have to.
Speaker 2: But now when you've got an annual bill that you
Speaker 2: got to pay of more than twenty million dollars because
Speaker 2: you're sharing revenue with your athletes, I mean, I feel
Speaker 2: like there's gonna be athletic directors in the SEC that
Speaker 2: really have to get creative to figure out some way
Speaker 2: to make it clear you cannot storm the field. We
Speaker 2: cannot have you have we cannot have that happen. And
Speaker 2: they say it all the time and sometimes it's just inevitable,
Speaker 2: but I really don't know what you can do because
Speaker 2: a lot of the field storming I feel like as
Speaker 2: college kids, but not always the case when Lowell beat
Speaker 2: Notre Dame, when they stormed the field a couple of
Speaker 2: years ago, and I mean a lot of people that
Speaker 2: were college kids, a lot of people that were old
Speaker 2: enough to be my dad. I mean, and I have
Speaker 2: no problem with that. It's just we're a little bit different.
Speaker 2: We are We're not necessarily just a stadium that's gonna
Speaker 2: be filled with nothing but students every game. But when
Speaker 2: you see it happening, I feel like the announcers talk
Speaker 2: about it, you know what's about to happen, and sometimes
Speaker 2: they just they try to just make it as safe
Speaker 2: as possible. But even if you tried your best, how
Speaker 2: could you stop it? Like how could you mean? You
Speaker 2: would have to have an insane amount of resources on
Speaker 2: the field to keep it from happening. Like I kind
Speaker 2: of feel like this is this big number. Should put
Speaker 2: more and force, should put more awareness to those that
Speaker 2: attend your games, Like maybe they'll maybe they'll figure out
Speaker 2: who you are. Maybe there's an AI tool that can
Speaker 2: track face detection and determine who it was, and you'll
Speaker 2: be banned for a life. Like they can put a
Speaker 2: lot of fear into you that would make you second
Speaker 2: guess if you should do it or not. But in
Speaker 2: the moment, if it's worthy of a field storm, it's
Speaker 2: probably a big win. If you're a college kid, you're
Speaker 2: probably hammered. So I mean, good luck. And I don't
Speaker 2: have a strong opinion on the field storming or court
Speaker 2: storming because.
Speaker 3: I don't have an issue with it.
Speaker 2: I also don't necessarily think people are out of line
Speaker 2: when they bring up that it is a huge risk
Speaker 2: when it comes to safety, So uh, middleman. That's where
Speaker 2: I am on that, which, by the way, real quick
Speaker 2: before we take a time out, the one thing that
Speaker 2: has been said to me more than anything as far
Speaker 2: as a surprise since I announced I was leaving sports
Speaker 2: to do news talk is hey man, love you, but
Speaker 2: and the I love you but I've gotten a lot
Speaker 2: of those over the years, and I do think most
Speaker 2: people who say that they mean, well, but I love you.
Speaker 2: Butt is a really nice way to let somebody know.
Speaker 2: That's a heads up. I'm about to insult you. I'm
Speaker 2: about to say something that might be offensive. I'm about
Speaker 2: to potentially hurt your feelings. But they've given me hey man, congrats,
Speaker 2: I love you, but please stay out of politics. Please
Speaker 2: don't bring politics into it. Politics are going to be
Speaker 2: discussed as far as like news talk, because that's what
Speaker 2: it is. But I mean, if you think I'm going
Speaker 2: to go there and really just inject my political beliefs
Speaker 2: and try to influence those listening, I mean, that's not
Speaker 2: what that is at all, and you know shouldn't be.
Speaker 2: So I mean, you're gonna hear about politics because that's
Speaker 2: literally what the format is, but it's not gonna mean
Speaker 2: the way I hope it works out, is that it'll
Speaker 2: be something that clearly is feature, but it'll be built
Speaker 2: in right with our news updates as well as some
Speaker 2: of the guests that'll come on, and then in between
Speaker 2: we can have some fun our hair down if you will.
Speaker 2: All right, quick break, we'll come back final seven to
Speaker 2: the four o'clock hour, and then we'll finish strong here
Speaker 2: clock sticking. It's it's the last ride, and I'm hopeful
Speaker 2: that you'll stick with me until six o'clock. Right here
Speaker 2: on Sports Talk seven.
Speaker 1: Ninety, you're listening to Coffee and Company with Nick Coffee
Speaker 1: on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 2: We are wrapping up the four o'clock hour here on
Speaker 2: Sports Talk seven ninety Coffee in Company. Feel about Thornton's
Speaker 2: I am Nick Coffee. Hope you knew that. If not,
Speaker 2: now you do. And we've got a little bit of
Speaker 2: time left here in this hour and then one more
Speaker 2: hour to go, and I feel again, I don't know
Speaker 2: how good. I don't know how good today's show has
Speaker 2: been because it's been very different than what we typically do.
Speaker 2: And I knew that was gonna happen, and I would
Speaker 2: imagine you guys probably would have expected that to happen,
Speaker 2: but feeling good about it. And again if if if
Speaker 2: I'm alone in my belief that things are going well,
Speaker 2: that's okay, because it's uh, it's all over after this.
Speaker 2: But big thanks to to Carl Blenton who was producing
Speaker 2: this afternoon and everyone who has been a part. I mean,
Speaker 2: I've uh, I feel like I've been pretty easy to
Speaker 2: deal with when it comes to working with anybody in
Speaker 2: in in this just because I've always just felt like,
Speaker 2: I mean, the last thing I want to do is
Speaker 2: be on the radar as somebody that's difficult or somebody
Speaker 2: that you know, is not easy to work with. But man,
Speaker 2: there have been so many, so many then, and I
Speaker 2: was I was gonna try to run through a long
Speaker 2: list of folks that I worked alongside with or helped me,
Speaker 2: you know, in any way, rather it be helped me
Speaker 2: get in this position or worked alongside me.
Speaker 4: It's been.
Speaker 2: It's been a real treat. And I put together a
Speaker 2: list last night and I feel pretty good about it.
Speaker 2: But I know there's probably somebody along the way that
Speaker 2: I that I would leave out. So for that, for
Speaker 2: for that, I'm not going to uh, I'm not gonna
Speaker 2: run through it because I don't want to leave anybody out,
Speaker 2: but those who are passionate about and maybe maybe they're
Speaker 2: not that passionate about it, they just they just enjoy
Speaker 2: doing it, or maybe it's just a gig. I don't know,
Speaker 2: but there are so many people that I've met along
Speaker 2: the years doing this that are that are older than me,
Speaker 2: that have been around radio a long time, that have
Speaker 2: you know, I mean, the internet wasn't a thing when
Speaker 2: they were when they were cutting their teeth and broadcasting,
Speaker 2: whether it be as a producer or maybe maybe on
Speaker 2: air in some way, but you know, they have a
Speaker 2: passion for radio to where even a little bit later
Speaker 2: in their life, they still they still come in and
Speaker 2: they produce a show, and that is a like that
Speaker 2: is clearly a very important gig. And I understand now
Speaker 2: why it's not as appealing and attractive to the younger crowd,
Speaker 2: just because you know, times have changed. It's it doesn't
Speaker 2: maybe it's not as cool to say you're on the
Speaker 2: radio as it was back in the day, and maybe
Speaker 2: you never thought it was cool.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: Everybody's got their own opinion on what's cool and what's not,
Speaker 2: but there's we still have a good team of folks
Speaker 2: that I mean, maybe they do it all for the money,
Speaker 2: I would imagine that's not the case. But they do
Speaker 2: it because they love it and they take it serious
Speaker 2: and for a host to be comfortable, that's key, you know,
Speaker 2: if you're if you're working with somebody who's in control
Speaker 2: of the I mean quite literally, they're the reason you're
Speaker 2: on the air. And I don't want to say they're
Speaker 2: just pushing buttons. I mean, that is part of it,
Speaker 2: but there's a lot more that goes into it. It's timing,
Speaker 2: it's understanding things that can make everybody comfortable to where
Speaker 2: the show is smooth. Uh, And I really appreciate those
Speaker 2: are people that don't get the the acknowledgment probably that
Speaker 2: that in fact, I know they don't get the acknowledgment
Speaker 2: that they should and they clearly don't care. And that's
Speaker 2: what makes some great people because they don't do it
Speaker 2: for that. I mean, they they go in and they're
Speaker 2: a part of a radio show every day and they
Speaker 2: don't care if their name's even mentioned. And uh, they're
Speaker 2: but they're a big part of it. Carl is certainly
Speaker 2: one of those. Rick Ryder, many others along the way
Speaker 2: that have that have you know, been here and there.
Speaker 2: I mean again, I I'm mentioning those that are with
Speaker 2: us now, but there have been others that have moved on,
Speaker 2: and those people I hope they do know that they
Speaker 2: are in fact appreciate it. I mean, I hear stories
Speaker 2: about back in the day when when you know, I guess,
Speaker 2: I guess you could still be a bit diva in
Speaker 2: a big a hole, in a jerk if you're a
Speaker 2: radio host, because I mean, that could just be who
Speaker 2: you are as a person. But you know, I never
Speaker 2: even have been a part of an era at least
Speaker 2: other You know, there are some that I've worked alongside
Speaker 2: with and I could tell that they're a little full
Speaker 2: of themselves. And look, maybe they're justified in doing that,
Speaker 2: but they've treated people poorly and that's not good. But
Speaker 2: for the most part, I haven't really worked with many
Speaker 2: people like that or encountered that, which is good. But
Speaker 2: anybody who is not appreciative of somebody that helps them
Speaker 2: throughout the show, even if they I mean again, let
Speaker 2: me give you an example. Jim Finn. He's somebody who's
Speaker 2: worked in radio a long long time. I bet many
Speaker 2: of you have heard that name. If you're if you're
Speaker 2: a loyal radio listener to talk radio in this market,
Speaker 2: you've heard the name Jim Ben. You probably know it,
Speaker 2: you may even know his title, but you've never maybe
Speaker 2: never heard his voice because he doesn't want to be
Speaker 2: on the air. And he's somebody who got into this.
Speaker 2: He's made it his life, his career. He's been very successful.
Speaker 2: He's been a program director here for seven ninety and
Speaker 2: ten eighty for a long time. And you know that
Speaker 2: that's somebody that loves this. But it isn't about glad.
Speaker 2: It isn't about the spotlight. It isn't about the fact
Speaker 2: that they just want to They want to tell people
Speaker 2: you can hear them on the radio. And I say
Speaker 2: that selfishly knowing there's a big component to that.
Speaker 3: I mean, you do.
Speaker 2: It's not like you just want to hear yourself talk,
Speaker 2: but like you know, you want to have the platform,
Speaker 2: you want to be able. I mean, there's I don't
Speaker 2: think they'll ever be a way to say this without
Speaker 2: me cringing a little bit because it just sounds like
Speaker 2: I'm full of myself. But this is entertainment. That's what
Speaker 2: it is. I mean, that's what that's quite literally the
Speaker 2: industry that this is. I don't think I could take
Speaker 2: myself serious looking in the mirror if I said I
Speaker 2: was an entertainer, because.
Speaker 3: It just it doesn't seem it doesn't seem fitting. But
Speaker 3: that's what this is.
Speaker 2: But these people are such a crucial part of of
Speaker 2: of how this works, and they're they're you know, there's
Speaker 2: a show that you probably love that you don't even
Speaker 2: know who produces it. But without them, you wouldn't You
Speaker 2: wouldn't You wouldn't the show wouldn't be the same. So uh,
Speaker 2: I know, over the years, you know, when you know
Speaker 2: somebody doesn't want to be a part of the show
Speaker 2: or just isn't expecting it, that's you just get used
Speaker 2: to that. But I also do hope those people and
Speaker 2: again I love the fact that maybe they don't care
Speaker 2: if they're appreciated.
Speaker 3: They just love this. And if that's the case, then cool.
Speaker 2: But there are many that have that have come in
Speaker 2: on a Saturday at eleven o'clock at night to produce
Speaker 2: a postgame show so I can yell about Louisville football.
Speaker 2: And they do that because they love radio and they
Speaker 2: love what they do and they enjoy it. And man,
Speaker 2: if I could find a if I could find a
Speaker 2: magical potion to give to people to get them to
Speaker 2: love this as much as I do and others do,
Speaker 2: I would, I would do it. And I know people
Speaker 2: still love radio. But obviously, like growing up, the thought
Speaker 2: like all I wanted to do was this. And I
Speaker 2: don't know if there's many people now that are in
Speaker 2: the younger demo, meaning young young adults or maybe even
Speaker 2: like high school kids like I don't.
Speaker 3: I don't.
Speaker 2: I don't think that that's viewed as like a cool thing.
Speaker 2: And look, I can't control that. I think it's cool,
Speaker 2: you know, and that's fine. But you know those who
Speaker 2: do this and it's just because they love it and
Speaker 2: then they're not looking for any any any gratification. That's uh,
Speaker 2: that's that speaks to someone's character more than anything. So
Speaker 2: big thanks to everybody, and big thanks to Carl Blanton,
Speaker 2: who's who's here on the final day and as always
Speaker 2: doing it, doing a really good job. All Right, we
Speaker 2: got to run quick hour or quick break. Then we've
Speaker 2: got an hour and that'll be it. We have a
Speaker 2: couple of guests that to join us. And again I
Speaker 2: love the suspense because I know you're waiting anxiously to
Speaker 2: hear who it is, and you'll find out next right
Speaker 2: here on Sports Talk seven ninety