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: All right, let's get it start at five o'clock on
Speaker 2: a Wednesday afternoon, cold, very cold.
Speaker 3: Actually, what's snowing on my way in? But I have
Speaker 3: no clue.
Speaker 2: I've learned to stop giving you any kind of half
Speaker 2: assed weather update on this show, because once I walk
Speaker 2: in this building, I don't see I mean, actually, I
Speaker 2: never really thought about it this way. Once I walk
Speaker 2: in here, I don't see any light until the next
Speaker 2: morning when I wake up because there's no windows. When
Speaker 2: I get out of here at like six o'clock, it's dark.
Speaker 2: So I guess I should start saying goodbye to daylight
Speaker 2: whenever I get here, even if it's like one o'clock.
Speaker 2: But anyways, it's cold outside and we had some snow
Speaker 2: going on. I'm not sure what's going on now, but
Speaker 2: I've talked up this snowstorm quite a bit this week,
Speaker 2: just because I give the guys who projected it, the
Speaker 2: guys and gals, the local mediorologists, and I guess anybody
Speaker 2: in meteorology that was predicting us getting a lot of
Speaker 2: snow they were right, and I'm fine with it. I
Speaker 2: don't you know, it's not really inconvenience me in a
Speaker 2: major way, and I happen to enjoy when we get
Speaker 2: some snow. If it's going to be cold, might as
Speaker 2: well get snow. That's the way I see it. So
Speaker 2: you know, I'm not been against it. Wouldn't mind getting
Speaker 2: a little bit more. But this could just be fear mongering. However,
Speaker 2: there are some folks that claim this region we'll have
Speaker 2: the worst winter we've had in like decades, which that
Speaker 2: probably won't be fun for a lot of people because
Speaker 2: at some point, you know, you get a little stir
Speaker 2: crazy if you're snowed in and kids start missing school,
Speaker 2: and that's usually an inconvenience for parents and that kind
Speaker 2: of stuff. So we are getting more snow later this week.
Speaker 2: I guess on Friday we could get another good snowstorm.
Speaker 2: And I think it's supposed to, I mean, because all
Speaker 2: we need is some warm weather to melt this and
Speaker 2: then we're back. You know, it's kind of back to
Speaker 2: how winter typically is around here, because to be honest
Speaker 2: with you, we've had really really cold winters here and
Speaker 2: there without any snow. This has just been one where
Speaker 2: we've actually, at least as of the last few days,
Speaker 2: we've had a lot of snow that we typically don't get.
Speaker 3: So I think Sunday.
Speaker 2: We'll get temperatures above freezing and then it's all gonna melt.
Speaker 2: And who knows, Maybe they're wrong and this isn't some
Speaker 2: crazy bad winter when it comes to winter weather. Maybe
Speaker 2: it's just the one off storm we just have, but
Speaker 2: we shall see. But I love this time of year
Speaker 2: because college basketball seems to really get roll and everybody's
Speaker 2: playing conference games. Last night it was a big night
Speaker 2: in college basketball, Louisville of course, coming out on the
Speaker 2: winning end once again. We'll get back into that. As
Speaker 2: you could imagine. We've discussed that quite a bit.
Speaker 3: Today.
Speaker 2: Kentucky takes a loss on the road, and I think
Speaker 2: it's just a reminder this team, when they're good and
Speaker 2: it's at their pace, they can beat anybody. But they
Speaker 2: also are vulnerable if it's the opposite, meaning it's not
Speaker 2: at their pace. College basketballs and is really getting getting
Speaker 2: geared up, and then of course you've got college football
Speaker 2: playoffs about.
Speaker 3: To uh to come to an end.
Speaker 2: We'll find a champion in college football, which again this
Speaker 2: I keep forgetting it because this is the first year
Speaker 2: of this format, this schedule, to where I kind of
Speaker 2: feel like football season's over at the college level, But
Speaker 2: the NFL playoffs start this weekend, and I'm real, real
Speaker 2: excited when it comes to that. Now, Lamar Jackson and
Speaker 2: the Ravens they're taking on the Steelers, and as of
Speaker 2: right now, the Ravens are favored by nine and a half.
Speaker 2: I'm really surprised by that number. I think they're better
Speaker 2: than the Steelers, and if I had to bet the
Speaker 2: spread here, I would take them to cover because I
Speaker 2: trust I mean, I know that they're a lot that
Speaker 2: they're better than Pittsburgh. And Pittsburgh is entering the postseason
Speaker 2: with like no momentum. Aren't they coming off like five
Speaker 2: straight losses?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: Four or five straight losses for the Steelers.
Speaker 5: Are now fed up with Mike Tomlin and the way
Speaker 5: that he's carrying things. They might have people want him
Speaker 5: fired for a reason. I know that there have been
Speaker 5: some ruts that people beloved.
Speaker 3: Guy out there.
Speaker 5: He's just they don't have a coaching problem, they just
Speaker 5: might have a quarterback problem.
Speaker 2: Yeah, chill out, And I mean Tomlin's one of those
Speaker 2: guys that I think has for many years been able
Speaker 2: not every year, but in many years he's been there,
Speaker 2: he's been able to kind of hide that they've always
Speaker 2: done more with less. I mean, they've gotten the most
Speaker 2: you could ever get out of certain players and you
Speaker 2: don't realize it at the time, and then they move
Speaker 2: on elsewhere and they're out of the league. And I'm
Speaker 2: not even just talking about Antonio Brown and Levey on
Speaker 2: Bell that's a different situation. But like they've had receivers
Speaker 2: that you're like, oh, wow, this guy. Mean, Deantay Johnson's
Speaker 2: out of the NFL, is he not? Like he's been
Speaker 2: cut by like three teams this year. Mike Wallace, yea
Speaker 2: who's out of Juju Smith Schuster who's out of the league,
Speaker 2: that was there for a while, that was from Notre
Speaker 2: Dame Claypool. So they've historically gotten way more out of
Speaker 2: players than anybody else can.
Speaker 3: And they always go to the cheap route.
Speaker 2: And again Tomlin has fit that Steeler DNA to where
Speaker 2: they just they do it their way and they've got
Speaker 2: the formula to make that work more often than not.
Speaker 2: But they've also been blessed with some really good players
Speaker 2: when it comes to them being able to maximize it
Speaker 2: and win Super Bowls. And I just don't really know,
Speaker 2: Like on offense, like who I mean, I think they
Speaker 2: got a lot more out of Rustle than I thought
Speaker 2: they would have. But you know, he kind of at
Speaker 2: this point in his career, he's just still really inconsistent.
Speaker 2: When he's on, he can make some plays, but like,
Speaker 2: do you trust him to make a run in the postseason?
Speaker 2: Probably not, So they got no momentum right now, And
Speaker 2: in a way that kind of makes me be a
Speaker 2: little more fearful of him, because like that's Tomlin's a
Speaker 2: guy that can get his guys ready to play, especially
Speaker 2: when nobody's expecting them to win. Like he's They've always
Speaker 2: come up big when they were doubted. In fact, I
Speaker 2: don't know what the record is now, but at one point,
Speaker 2: his record as far as winning games straight up that
Speaker 2: he's favored in it'll blow your mind. It Actually, the
Speaker 2: number itself probably wouldn't surprise you.
Speaker 3: But that's because you know what.
Speaker 2: A lot of teams in the end, a lot of
Speaker 2: coaches in the NFL, when they're underdogs, they rarely went
Speaker 2: out right. You know, often than not, they may cover
Speaker 2: the spread, but winning outrights a little bit different. So
Speaker 2: the Steelers worry me a little bit in that regard.
Speaker 2: But it is in Baltimore. But then again, Baltimore is
Speaker 2: like known to not have some great atmosphere. That is
Speaker 2: really you know, of all the teams in the postseason,
Speaker 2: I shouldn't say all of them, but like, if this
Speaker 2: game we're in Pittsburgh and the roles were reversed and
Speaker 2: Pittsburgh was the favorite in a better spot, there'd be
Speaker 2: a whole lot Well, you're not gonna go into Pittsburgh
Speaker 2: win like, not in the playoffs.
Speaker 4: Not with that.
Speaker 3: I mean, there's people are fearful the Ravens.
Speaker 2: I don't think much of it is to do with
Speaker 2: the fact that they've got some crazy atmosphere. So I'm
Speaker 2: starting to get in my own head here when it
Speaker 2: comes to Lamar, because today he won another award. And
Speaker 2: this is not me just saying this about Lamar. I've
Speaker 2: said this many times when it comes to these type
Speaker 2: of awards.
Speaker 3: Lamar probably isn't.
Speaker 2: Gonna win the MVP, even though I think he should,
Speaker 2: and a lot of people seem to think he should.
Speaker 2: But I get why Josh Allen will get it. And
Speaker 2: it's it's you know, it's just how.
Speaker 3: Oh it is.
Speaker 5: I still don't.
Speaker 2: Yeah, well, I'm with thank you, because I you know,
Speaker 2: his team's better by a few wins or whatnot. But
Speaker 2: in every other way, Lamar has I mean, when Lamar
Speaker 2: put it this way, Lamar has done better this year
Speaker 2: than any year, including two where he won MVP. So
Speaker 2: he's upped what has already been rewarded as an NFL
Speaker 2: season with Josh Allen. Like in most instances, I feel
Speaker 2: like people would say, well, hey man, what a hell
Speaker 2: of a season from Josh Allen. But you know, like
Speaker 2: Lamar is just crazy good. And I think maybe there
Speaker 2: are people like you and I probably see it that way.
Speaker 5: They just see that he has no Josh Allen, that
Speaker 5: he has no weapons around him. I mean, I know
Speaker 5: they lost to Fon Diggs last year, and that's fine,
Speaker 5: and James Cook as a serviceable running back. It's not
Speaker 5: like he's anything special. But it's not like Josh Allen's
Speaker 5: numbers are throwing you completely out of this world when
Speaker 5: up against Lamar Jackson, who everyone the biggest culprit against
Speaker 5: him as well. They got Derrick Henry this year and
Speaker 5: that's fine. Is a fly Hours is an okay receiver.
Speaker 5: Sharp Bateman is just finally now came into his own.
Speaker 5: He's been in the league for about like eight nine years.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Babman finally broke through little.
Speaker 5: Bit, Isaiah likely and that Mark Andrews who's been who
Speaker 5: hasn't been doing anything other than like the last four
Speaker 5: or five weeks. So, I mean, the the case for
Speaker 5: at least for me, and I guess obviously for you,
Speaker 5: is he should be the MVP. Is his touchdown interception
Speaker 5: ratio is just ridiculous. The yards that he's had. It
Speaker 5: would be in the first player to over four thousand
Speaker 5: yards and and and and have what eight hundred yards
Speaker 5: rushing something like that. It's it's just absolutely ridiculous. He
Speaker 5: topped what he did last year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and and I think again the only claim that
Speaker 2: could be made because again nobody will say this, but
Speaker 2: and it sounds crazy, but I'm telling you as dumb
Speaker 2: as it sounds. One of the factors that that that
Speaker 2: if he doesn't win well that it'll be is people
Speaker 2: just don't want to give it to somebody for the
Speaker 2: third time and give it to him in back to
Speaker 2: back years. You want something new and something different. In again,
Speaker 2: people may not even realize that's why they vote for
Speaker 2: Alan over him, because if you're I mean.
Speaker 3: It's just it.
Speaker 2: And that's the same thing with the heisman. I don't
Speaker 2: necessarily you know, it doesn't make it doesn't make sense.
Speaker 2: But it's really kind of always been that way. And
Speaker 2: another factor is with Lamar, like he's better this year
Speaker 2: than he's been in other years. But maybe you're gonna
Speaker 2: need to be a lot better because you've you know,
Speaker 2: you've set you've set yourself up here with a standard
Speaker 2: that's insanely high, and even if you do slightly go above,
Speaker 2: maybe people need to see more before they're ready to
Speaker 2: just say, okay, no, this guy is the best. So anyways,
Speaker 2: if you're gonna make the case about Josh Allen, well
Speaker 2: it's team's better. Okay, Well, if you want to play
Speaker 2: that game, we can. Yeah, they have a couple more wins,
Speaker 2: but they also got beat bad by Baltimore, and Lamar
Speaker 2: had a way better game than Josh Allen did in
Speaker 2: that night. In fact, that was a bigger night where
Speaker 2: Josh Allen, if I remember correctly, played poorly than it
Speaker 2: was Lamar just went insane. Lamar, you know, got the
Speaker 2: job done, played well like he typically does. But you know,
Speaker 2: like so I really don't. The only thing I could
Speaker 2: think of it to why somebody would give it to
Speaker 2: Josh Allen was just because they're they're tired. Let's give
Speaker 2: it to somebody different this year. But we shall see.
Speaker 2: But back to the whole award that he won today,
Speaker 2: he in the eyes of NFL players, Lamar Jackson was
Speaker 2: the best quarterback in the league. And here's how you
Speaker 2: know that. The NFL Players Association, they don't do MVPs.
Speaker 2: They do all pro and again Players Association, the NFL,
Speaker 2: your peers. They those who are going to work with
Speaker 2: you or against you every day. Those who are in
Speaker 2: your profession, your peers, they vote, they think you are
Speaker 2: the best. And by the way, Lamar is a pretty
Speaker 2: likable guy, so it's not uncommon for him to get
Speaker 2: gassed up. But you can just tell, like people some
Speaker 2: of the players in the NFL, like, who's ever taken
Speaker 2: a shot at Lamar Jackson in the NFL, like in
Speaker 2: the media or you know, And it's not to say
Speaker 2: that people who take shots like it's valid, but people
Speaker 2: know not to even like go like Lamar Jackson has
Speaker 2: earned the respective of NFL players in a major way.
Speaker 3: And that's not even that's not a shot at Josh Allen.
Speaker 2: But like that, if I was Lamar and I worried
Speaker 2: about the NFL MVP Award, which he should, he may
Speaker 2: say that he doesn't, and maybe he doesn't.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 2: Lamar's a different guy. He's a very humble, competitive dude,
Speaker 2: and he's just different. And I mean that in a
Speaker 2: good way.
Speaker 3: He's special.
Speaker 2: But it's normal to want to have your your accolades,
Speaker 2: you know.
Speaker 3: Makes sense.
Speaker 2: But the one that's going to get talked about, the
Speaker 2: one that actually is the MVP award that is recognized
Speaker 2: by everybody, is the NFL MVP Award that is given
Speaker 2: out at the end of the season, meaning you know
Speaker 2: it'll be out before too.
Speaker 3: They don't. They don't announce it. Do they announce her
Speaker 3: in the playoffs? I don't know either way.
Speaker 5: Yeah, it's like right before the Super Bowl.
Speaker 2: Okay, So anyways, what I was getting at is that's
Speaker 2: the one that like counts. When people say he got
Speaker 2: an MVP, they're referencing referencing that, But if you really
Speaker 2: think about it, what actually I think is more impressive
Speaker 2: and that should have more like internal value is the
Speaker 2: dudes who have to go against you saying that you
Speaker 2: are the best.
Speaker 3: That is.
Speaker 2: I mean, that's got to be one of the most
Speaker 2: gratifying feelings ever in sports, when you you know you
Speaker 2: have that respect among your peers, even if they hate you,
Speaker 2: they respect the hell out of you.
Speaker 3: And they know that you're that good.
Speaker 2: The same thing with Donovan Mitchell whenever he won the
Speaker 2: NBA Players Association Rookie of the Year by a landslide,
Speaker 2: whereas the media vote went to Ben Simmons, who was
Speaker 2: a red shirt rookie. You remember that controversy. That's a
Speaker 2: big deal of course back in the day. So Donovan
Speaker 2: he got the one that I think would actually give
Speaker 2: you more gratification, and Lamar has done that here. We'll
Speaker 2: see what happens with the actual award. I just when
Speaker 2: I see Alan continuously being the betting favorite, I guess
Speaker 2: they've been wrong before on that, but I just think
Speaker 2: it's gonna be Josh Allen.
Speaker 3: Don't you get that vibe Austin.
Speaker 5: That it's going to be Josh Allen. Yeah, it's what
Speaker 5: I'm and once again that's I just I just don't
Speaker 5: see it yeah, and.
Speaker 2: It's great, and I think the Bills are really good.
Speaker 2: They made win the super Bowl. But the NFL MVP
Speaker 2: Award is a regular season award, and I don't I mean,
Speaker 2: to me, it's quite clear who the best player in
Speaker 2: the lead is. You know, actually, are we biased? Like again,
Speaker 2: there are other people who don't care about Lamar that
Speaker 2: that that are saying that.
Speaker 5: I mean, he's I mean, just go look at under
Speaker 5: every comment thread after a game that they're after, like
Speaker 5: a good game from Lamar versus a good game from
Speaker 5: like a Josh Allen, like a Buffalo fan. Seems like
Speaker 5: only Buffalo fans want him to win. I think the
Speaker 5: average NFL fan, I think they love Lamar Jackson. I
Speaker 5: don't think that they've I think they come around to
Speaker 5: just calling him the regular season merchant rather than playoffs.
Speaker 5: Of course, we're all still waiting to see how this
Speaker 5: how this playoff run goes. But you can't deny everything
Speaker 5: that he's done. I mean he has. He has forty
Speaker 5: one touchdown passes to four interceptions and a sixty six
Speaker 5: percent completion rate. He's just absolutely insane. And the whole
Speaker 5: imagine Bill Pollian right now, imagine the people that wanted
Speaker 5: him to be a wide receiver a running back when
Speaker 5: he came in. Imagine taking Josh Rosen over this guy.
Speaker 2: I mean, I would be sick. I mean, and he's
Speaker 2: out of the league. And the only thing that could
Speaker 2: make you feel better is knowing everybody else did it right,
Speaker 2: Like it wasn't as if you were that you had
Speaker 2: the number one pick and you drafted Ryan Leaf and
Speaker 2: not Peyton Manning, Right, you know, that's different that you
Speaker 2: are the sole franchise that that just you know, had
Speaker 2: the opportunity and passed on it. Everybody passed on it,
Speaker 2: So I guess you don't feel as bad knowing that others.
Speaker 2: But imagine also not taking a run at him. Imagine
Speaker 2: him being an MVP, having one season where he was
Speaker 2: hurt and and you know, the team was underwhelming and
Speaker 2: he was a free agent and no not one call.
Speaker 2: Now again, tough to really know how that played out
Speaker 2: because how the message gets out right or wrong. And
Speaker 2: by the way, there was no messaging because Lamara's have
Speaker 2: an agent. The agents are in charge of all that.
Speaker 2: So I mean, I don't think that anybody, even those
Speaker 2: that were truly all in. I mean, look, I always
Speaker 2: felt like anybody, anybody who claimed he wasn't a quarterback
Speaker 2: didn't watch him. They were just honestly, they're doing the
Speaker 2: stereotypical stuff and they were, and he was so good
Speaker 2: at running the ball, that's what That's what got way
Speaker 2: more attention. When to this day, if Lamar Jackson is
Speaker 2: gonna get a play, that's gonna get people jumping out
Speaker 2: of their chair. People's share like, you won't believe what
Speaker 2: Lamar Jackson just did. Not out of ten times, it's
Speaker 2: gonna be him doing something with his legs, either going
Speaker 2: and you know, taking off and you know, taking one
Speaker 2: to the house, or using his legs to keep a
Speaker 2: play alive and then make a ridiculous throw. Like it's
Speaker 2: gonna be him utilizing what makes him different than any
Speaker 2: other quarterback that's ever played the game.
Speaker 3: So when that happens in.
Speaker 2: College, they just that's just all they think of. But
Speaker 2: I didn't, you know, clearly, Lamar wasn't wasn't a super
Speaker 2: accurate guy, and he's not perfect now, but he's gotten
Speaker 2: so much better in that area. So what what I
Speaker 2: was getting at is, I don't think anybody, even those
Speaker 2: that were the most optimistic about his time in the NFL.
Speaker 2: I don't think anybody true thought he'd be this because
Speaker 2: this is just rarely do guys get better at something
Speaker 2: that is that is at times of a weakness in
Speaker 2: the NFL because you know you're going up against the
Speaker 2: best in the world. And Lamar he was good enough
Speaker 2: to still win and make plays. But what used to
Speaker 2: be not like a big weakness to where he was
Speaker 2: terrible at it, but clearly what made him dangerous was
Speaker 2: his legs. Well, now he's a guy that he don't
Speaker 2: even you know he can use him and they certainly are.
Speaker 2: They come in handy at times. But he's also been
Speaker 2: one of the most accurate passers in the NFL this
Speaker 2: year by a landslide.
Speaker 3: I mean.
Speaker 2: Some of these metrics that you see, these stats like,
Speaker 2: I don't even know how they come up with this,
Speaker 2: and I choose to trust him. Maybe I'm a fool,
Speaker 2: but when you look at Lamar Jackson having a one
Speaker 2: point four turnover worthy play rate this year, that I mean,
Speaker 2: think about that, and I'm sure he's had a couple
Speaker 2: since this was last a stat that kept getting thrown
Speaker 2: out there or a clip I should say, they kept
Speaker 2: getting thrown out there for at least the first half
Speaker 2: of the season. I think two of his three interceptions
Speaker 2: were quite literally good passes that his guys, his guys
Speaker 2: you know, screwed up, which happens sometimes, so like he's
Speaker 2: having and I guess that's why I'm always going to
Speaker 2: be rooting for Lamar and whatnot. But that's why I
Speaker 2: just think the NFL MVP is a ridiculous thing to
Speaker 2: even consider it going to anybody else. I clearly at
Speaker 2: this point it seems like we know who's gonna get it,
Speaker 2: and it's not gonna be him. But this year he's
Speaker 2: playing the best football of his life. And that doesn't
Speaker 2: mean that you know, it's only because he has a
Speaker 2: better supporting cast now, and you know what that's doing
Speaker 2: is it's helping him. He's playing even better because they've
Speaker 2: got a better run game now that Derek Henry's there,
Speaker 2: he's got some weapons of receiver finally. But that shouldn't
Speaker 2: be held against him, right, I mean, in fact, I
Speaker 2: think it speaks to how impressive it was for him
Speaker 2: to get to MVPs before he had this kind of help.
Speaker 2: So that's clearly my team when it comes to the playoffs.
Speaker 2: My team, of course, probably will not make the playoffs
Speaker 2: for a long time, so pulling for the and I'll
Speaker 2: always pull for the Ravens regardless, which somebody asked me
Speaker 2: this yesterday, Austin and I, I don't know if I've
Speaker 2: ever I've never been in this, I've never been in
Speaker 2: this position. But like if if like the ray if
Speaker 2: the Colts and the Ravens played, I mean I would
Speaker 2: I would have to pull for the Ravens, sure, because
Speaker 2: you know, if the Colts are in the playoffs, I
Speaker 2: guess that means they're doing something right. But like they
Speaker 2: need like them winning would would they wouldn't. They wouldn't
Speaker 2: gain anything from that.
Speaker 3: It would be an upset and then they would probably.
Speaker 2: Get beat again, and it would be they get beat
Speaker 2: in the next round, and then they'd still have not
Speaker 2: a great draft pick, and it would just be the
Speaker 2: revolving cycle. It would be them continuing to be able
Speaker 2: to claim that they're content with being you know, extremely
Speaker 2: mid or slightly below mid. So anyways, I'm all in
Speaker 2: on the on the Ravens. I know Austin, he's got
Speaker 2: a team they're purple, but not the Ravens.
Speaker 3: It's the Vikings. I can't wait for the NFL playoffs
Speaker 3: this weekend. We'll talk more about it super wild card weekends,
Speaker 3: super super stuff.
Speaker 2: We'll talk more about it throughout uh I guess well
Speaker 2: tomorrow and maybe a little bit later on the five
Speaker 2: o'clock car. But we got to get back to the
Speaker 2: basketball stuff, because what a when, what a vibe currently
Speaker 2: there is with Louis of basketball good stuff. Kentucky they
Speaker 2: come up short, and I still think they've you know,
Speaker 2: they're a damn good team.
Speaker 3: They've shown at this point they could beat anybody.
Speaker 2: But man, they've also shown that for a team that
Speaker 2: is that good, at times, they can find themselves in
Speaker 2: very vulnerable spots, which I think says more than anything
Speaker 2: about the That says more about the SEC than anything.
Speaker 2: But that could also lead to Kentucky having like a
Speaker 2: record and leak play that would you know, get him
Speaker 2: in the tournament, but maybe at like a I don't
Speaker 2: know what kind of seed. So we'll get to all
Speaker 2: that in a lot more stick around right here on
Speaker 2: Sports Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 1: Now back to coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven to nine.
Speaker 2: Day, real quick, before we get back into basketball, a
Speaker 2: lot of talk about Lamar Jackson, because you know, he's
Speaker 2: one of the best players on the planet. Also a
Speaker 2: guy that people around here care a lot about because
Speaker 2: he's a former Louis of a Cardinal. Another former little
Speaker 2: Cardinal had a phenomenal season in the NFL. I guess
Speaker 2: I think it's his second year. Ya ya Dabi?
Speaker 3: That's right, I mean he was.
Speaker 2: I mean, talk about a breakout year for him with
Speaker 2: the Buccaneers. He was named the Divisional the Conference Player
Speaker 2: of the Month. Just I think that was handed out
Speaker 2: earlier today for how well he did in the month
Speaker 2: of December. So really really impressive season for him.
Speaker 3: This is crazy.
Speaker 2: This is from the Buccaneers pr Yayaidiabi became the six
Speaker 2: players since twenty seventeen in the NFL to record twelve
Speaker 2: sacks or twelve plus sacks, twenty five plus quarterback hits,
Speaker 2: and twenty five plus tackles for loss across their first
Speaker 2: thirty four career games played. So that seems like a
Speaker 2: very specific cherry pick stat. And the reason these things
Speaker 2: are worth bringing up is because, as random as it is,
Speaker 2: when you look at who else has done it one,
Speaker 2: not many, but the few that have kind of tells
Speaker 2: you you're off to a phenomenal start in your career.
Speaker 2: The only others who could make that same claim Micah Parsons,
Speaker 2: Nick Bosa, Max Crosby, Bradley Chubb, and Miles Garrett some
Speaker 2: great company. So that this guy is doing some statistically
Speaker 2: meaning yeah, yeah, that only those guys did in their
Speaker 2: first thirty four career games. So phenomenal, phenomenal season for him.
Speaker 2: And look, anytime you've got representation in the NFL or
Speaker 2: the NBA for that matter, that's going to help you
Speaker 2: way more than it could ever hurt you. All Right,
Speaker 2: it's Coffee and Company. Fiel about Thornton's here on Sports
Speaker 2: Talk seven ninety. Thanks for hanging out with us. We
Speaker 2: got about thirty minutes left, and as you could expect,
Speaker 2: we've talked a whole a whole lot of Louisville basketball
Speaker 2: today and we'll get back into that coming up here
Speaker 2: in just a moment. I actually want to let you
Speaker 2: guys hear a little bit of what Pat Kelsey had
Speaker 2: to say last night. But on the Kentucky side, if
Speaker 2: I was a Kentucky fan, I wouldn't be worried about
Speaker 2: you know, how good are you?
Speaker 6: Like?
Speaker 2: I think there's their season thus far playing out the
Speaker 2: way that it has. It's it's not about can you
Speaker 2: be good and beat like you know, you're no longer
Speaker 2: worried about or maybe you were never worried about.
Speaker 3: You beat Duke and what the third game of the season.
Speaker 2: So Kaintucky fans realize that they are like they're good
Speaker 2: enough when things are going their way and they're playing
Speaker 2: well and the game is played at their pace, and
Speaker 2: especially when they're on their home floor, like they're good
Speaker 2: enough to beat anybody.
Speaker 3: And that's a good. That's a good. Not many teams
Speaker 3: are gonna be able to say that.
Speaker 2: But you also have a specific style that quite clearly
Speaker 2: gives you problems. And there's many teams in the SEC
Speaker 2: that may not be great, but they're good and what
Speaker 2: they do well really could cause problems for you as
Speaker 2: far as the matchup, and that comes to games without
Speaker 2: as many possessions as Mark Pope wants, and games that
Speaker 2: are very physical. So it's kind of a wild ride
Speaker 2: for them the rest of the way, right, Like a
Speaker 2: win at home against number nine Alabama next Saturday doesn't
Speaker 2: sound unrealistic, right because they just beat Florida at home,
Speaker 2: who then last night Florida beats Tennessee about thirty to
Speaker 2: give Tennessee their first loss.
Speaker 3: But Mississippi State on the road, they're good, and look
Speaker 3: at how they play slow.
Speaker 2: And they want to beat up, they want to make
Speaker 2: it a street fight, and that's not a good matchup
Speaker 2: for Kentucky. So you often hear this and it's such
Speaker 2: a such a general thing to say, but like it's
Speaker 2: all about the matchup. Well, I think it really is
Speaker 2: with this team, because look, they could still beat teams
Speaker 2: that want to play ugly and slow it down and
Speaker 2: get physical, because Kentucky has shown that they certainly have
Speaker 2: a good team with good players that you know can
Speaker 2: beat anybody, but they're vulnerable when they are playing those
Speaker 2: kind of teams. And when you have such a loaded league,
Speaker 2: I mean, it could result in you having I mean,
Speaker 2: right now Kentucky is projected to finish within nine and
Speaker 2: nine record in the SEC. I mean that that would
Speaker 2: probably just the pure number. I mean again, that would
Speaker 2: be five hundred. As you I'm sure you know and
Speaker 2: you can count, you know how numbers and math work,
Speaker 2: But like it'd be hard to look at that knowing
Speaker 2: the Kentucky program and their standards. There expectations and say
Speaker 2: that was a good year, but you also realize, hey,
Speaker 2: we're a good team and we play in a league
Speaker 2: that is having a year that nobody thought possible when
Speaker 2: it comes to just how loaded the SEC is. So
Speaker 2: I think it really it comes down to two things.
Speaker 2: Them being able to get into the style and the
Speaker 2: pace they want, and of course guys knocking down shots.
Speaker 2: Or maybe they do get better in these kind of
Speaker 2: games against these kind of teams, but so far it's
Speaker 2: been pretty clear that they're not very good in these situations.
Speaker 2: Because I'll be honest with you, this is not to
Speaker 2: take credit away from Louisville, and I don't even want
Speaker 2: to say it because I don't want it to be
Speaker 2: used against me. But like, I don't think Clemson's that good.
Speaker 2: If I'm being one thousand percent real with you, I
Speaker 2: think they're a good team. That will you know, they're
Speaker 2: clearly good for the ACC and they're not a bad team.
Speaker 2: They're more so a good team than a bad team.
Speaker 2: But like what I'm giving you an example of Kentucky
Speaker 2: could have easily won that game and they didn't play
Speaker 2: well at Clemson. So you know, you know, I just
Speaker 2: for Kentucky.
Speaker 3: They could get better in that area.
Speaker 2: But when you think about sort of like their makeup
Speaker 2: and sort of their team as a whole, I just
Speaker 2: think that's it's hard for guys to recreate themselves when
Speaker 2: they're twenty two to twenty three years old, Right, you
Speaker 2: can get better. Maybe maybe Pope put some in fact
Speaker 2: when they went zone against Gonzaga and made some late
Speaker 2: adjustments in that game when it was slowed down and
Speaker 2: it was possession for possession rather than just a lot
Speaker 2: of possessions. That was impressive and that was a good
Speaker 2: That was a good sign from Pope. But they've been
Speaker 2: in that spot a couple of times now where they've
Speaker 2: really just had to guard in the half court and
Speaker 2: they've had to produce in the half court when it's
Speaker 2: not up tempo. And again they've they've shown that they
Speaker 2: can play better than they play, you know, last night
Speaker 2: against Georgia, but again it just comes down to them
Speaker 2: being a very vulnerable team in those games. And this
Speaker 2: you can do with this, You can do whatever you
Speaker 2: want with this stat but I just thought it was
Speaker 2: interesting wanted to share with you. Mark Pope in his
Speaker 2: last four seasons, including this season, he is eleven and
Speaker 2: twenty one straight up in true road games and thirteen
Speaker 2: and nineteen against the spread. Again, do with that what
Speaker 2: you want, but keep in mind that's Pope in true
Speaker 2: road games when he was at BYU and in at
Speaker 2: Kentucky and at BYU. I mean they play in the
Speaker 2: Big Twelve. That's a tough league. How long were they
Speaker 2: in the Big Twelve? Was it only one year? Because
Speaker 2: if that's the case, then some of those road true
Speaker 2: road losses at BYU WOU would have been when they
Speaker 2: were in whatever conference that Gonzaga was in, because BYU
Speaker 2: wasn't in the Mountain West?
Speaker 3: Were they Anyways? It doesn't matter.
Speaker 2: So Pope being a coach that doesn't have a good
Speaker 2: record in true road games, I don't think it means
Speaker 2: really much of anything because I don't think what he mean. Again,
Speaker 2: I think Pope's a really good coach. I would imagine
Speaker 2: that he lost true road games. Probably a lot of
Speaker 2: those true road games were games that, like his team
Speaker 2: wasn't expected to win or supposed to win, because you know,
Speaker 2: his teams at BYU were fine, but not to this
Speaker 2: Kentucky team. Because again, now he's a coach just like
Speaker 2: Pat Kelsey, where the ceiling becomes a lot higher for
Speaker 2: them because one, they've got what you need to be
Speaker 2: a good coach at this level, but now they've just
Speaker 2: got resources and a vehicle essentially to navigate through this
Speaker 2: sport that they've never had before. But yeah, I was
Speaker 2: surprised to see that eleven and twenty one straight up
Speaker 2: in true road games in the last four years for
Speaker 2: Mark Pope.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 2: So back before we get to this Pat Kelsey sound,
Speaker 2: we talked earlier about Mick Cronin and just how you know,
Speaker 2: he's kind of the worst, just a really unlikable, got
Speaker 2: good coach, but I don't think he's as great as
Speaker 2: he thinks he is, and it would not have been
Speaker 2: a good fit here with where we were in real time. Now,
Speaker 2: maybe we would have had to go through a lot
Speaker 2: of pain before he got us back to where we
Speaker 2: wanted to be if he was hired, But like, we
Speaker 2: didn't have time to wait, and Josh Hurd I think
Speaker 2: knew that end McK cronin was just not realistic in
Speaker 2: any way because of the stupid contract that UCLA gave him.
Speaker 3: So I'll let you guys.
Speaker 2: Hear this sound for our five o'clock crew that that
Speaker 2: doesn't understand the context. This is Rick cronin last night
Speaker 2: after he lost by twenty points to Michigan.
Speaker 3: This is mc cronin last night.
Speaker 6: But we don't play. We're soft, and so don't tell
Speaker 6: me you want to win, Like, just don't tell me
Speaker 6: you want to win. So just don't tell me you
Speaker 6: want to win. It's crazy, you know.
Speaker 1: And it's every day.
Speaker 6: I'm tired of it. It's every day I have the
Speaker 6: most energy of all of anybody at practice. Every day
Speaker 6: I'm upset with everybody in that locker room, my assistant
Speaker 6: coaches and my players. I mean, I don't need to
Speaker 6: do anything else. I almost got five hundred wins. I'm
Speaker 6: only fifty three. I mean it's a joke.
Speaker 1: It's a joke.
Speaker 6: But yet I come in and I have more passion
Speaker 6: and energy and pride than everybody in.
Speaker 1: That's the problem.
Speaker 6: So what the truth of it has been, it's really
Speaker 6: hard to coach people that are delusional. The hungry dog
Speaker 6: gets the bone. We got guys that think they're way
Speaker 6: better than they are. They're nice kids, they're completely delusional
Speaker 6: about who they are.
Speaker 2: So for context, for those that weren't with us in
Speaker 2: the four o'clock hour. You know, first of all, just
Speaker 2: a reminder of the Mick cron And he seems like
Speaker 2: a real joy and he seems like a real nice,
Speaker 2: likable guy, you know, and look doesn't mean he's a
Speaker 2: terrible guy. I don't know him personally, and he's a
Speaker 2: good coach. But like I just I never I never
Speaker 2: had any energy for entertaining Cronin as a candidate because
Speaker 2: it just wasn't realistic for a variety of reasons, but
Speaker 2: most importantly the money he is. Nobody would pay to
Speaker 2: buy him out of his contract, and if you were
Speaker 2: going to, he wouldn't be the guy to do it
Speaker 2: because he's not that good, So he just wouldn't have
Speaker 2: been It wouldn't have been a great fit. And likability
Speaker 2: matters unless you're really, really, really good at all times.
Speaker 2: You never fade because they can. Fans will ride with
Speaker 2: you with a big upset or a down year or
Speaker 2: two if you're unlikable and a jerk, but you you
Speaker 2: have proven to be one of the best out there
Speaker 2: and they know there's nobody they would be that they
Speaker 2: could get to be better. You can be unlikable in
Speaker 2: that role and it won't matter as much. But you
Speaker 2: know who's not in that position, nearly everybody. There's not
Speaker 2: many coming, but cal look at him. That ended really poorly.
Speaker 2: To be honest with you, he was on top of
Speaker 2: the world. He was doing the same stuff, but he
Speaker 2: was winning at a high level and it was adorable
Speaker 2: in the eyes of his fans until it wasn't and
Speaker 2: they realized, we can do better than this bum, And
Speaker 2: now it's happening right before their eyes. So, you know,
Speaker 2: likability does matter. If they like you and they respect you,
Speaker 2: they feel like you're you're you know, they don't know
Speaker 2: you personally, but they feel like you're They feel like
Speaker 2: you're a good enough guy and easy to root for,
Speaker 2: and you give it your all and you appreciate the
Speaker 2: job and appreciate the fans, and you're humble.
Speaker 3: That can help you a lot. But Cronin has none
Speaker 3: of that.
Speaker 2: So the reason I wanted to bring it up is
Speaker 2: because somebody text in and said, Nick, let me pull
Speaker 2: it up here.
Speaker 3: Says Nick, call me old school.
Speaker 2: I actually prefer and love coaches that coach the way
Speaker 2: Mick Cronin does. But these guys are gonna have to
Speaker 2: realize you are not going to be able to succeed
Speaker 2: at a high level with that same approach in this
Speaker 2: new world totally right. I mean, I don't want to
Speaker 2: write Mick Cronin off like he'll never win again, but
Speaker 2: that like everything you heard about last night. And I
Speaker 2: think even if we weren't in the nil world and
Speaker 2: the portal world where college players have so much more
Speaker 2: power than they've ever had, even if we were still
Speaker 2: in the old school ways, the old amateurism model, you
Speaker 2: could still play that sound of Mick cronin in one
Speaker 2: think he sounds like an insufferable, angry little man, but
Speaker 2: also claim that you know, how about you don't throw
Speaker 2: everybody under the bus and act like you mean, it's
Speaker 2: just an arrogant look. He doesn't even like so again,
Speaker 2: even take away the money in the Portland all that
Speaker 2: kind of stuff, like coaches who do that, who always
Speaker 2: just throw their players under the bus. That's usually never
Speaker 2: a good look. And the ones who can, you know,
Speaker 2: get away with that. Rick Patino he did it a
Speaker 2: lot when he was here, you know why, because he
Speaker 2: was and he wanted a really high level, and he
Speaker 2: also did it to motivate his players, and it worked.
Speaker 2: But it was a different world and he was Rick Patino,
Speaker 2: McK cronan is not. So I don't want to give
Speaker 2: him a pass as if like, well, yeah, he can
Speaker 2: do that, but now it won't work because I feel
Speaker 2: like even before nil and the portal, I would imagine
Speaker 2: Mick Cronan probably wasn't a fun guy to play for. Therefore,
Speaker 2: guys who did play for him kind of felt like
Speaker 2: they really didn't have any better option, you know, or
Speaker 2: they didn't want to sit out when you transfer. But yes,
Speaker 2: to your point, no doubt about it, You're absolutely right
Speaker 2: Mick Cronan.
Speaker 3: He could be the.
Speaker 2: Best coach ever, but players have way more freedom, they
Speaker 2: have way more power than they've ever had. And if
Speaker 2: you can play for a coach that is just as
Speaker 2: successful or more successful and can can win and get
Speaker 2: you to the NBA without you know, I mean, would
Speaker 2: you choose to play for Mick Cronan when you can
Speaker 2: play for ten other guys that are as good or
Speaker 2: better and you know they're not him.
Speaker 3: I mean, so.
Speaker 2: I don't want to write him off because again, UCLA
Speaker 2: is probably gonna always be able to get talent. He's
Speaker 2: done well enough to where he does get some good
Speaker 2: players to come and play for him. But what's happening
Speaker 2: now is that Cronin needs to find guys and this
Speaker 2: is gonna be hard to find guys that are good
Speaker 2: enough and the absolute best fits for you when it
Speaker 2: comes to their hunger, their toughness. Like mit, Cronin needs dogs,
Speaker 2: but she got to find the dog that's willing to
Speaker 2: come there. That is, you know, the dimin in the rough.
Speaker 2: But he'll make up for what he likes and talent
Speaker 2: with effort and intensity that kind of stuff.
Speaker 3: Because at UCLA, like he could.
Speaker 2: Win there, but like will he be at well he
Speaker 2: doing that with that formula? Would it ever be good
Speaker 2: enough to where UCLA wants to be? That's that's that's
Speaker 2: what seems you know, unlikely. So McK cronin, I don't
Speaker 2: think he was ever a realistic candidate, but he certainly
Speaker 2: got mentioned quite a bit. And uh, I'm happy he
Speaker 2: didn't get hired. I'm happy we hired this guy. Was
Speaker 2: Pat Kelsey last night after the Big Wine Man.
Speaker 4: That's the power of cardination, Jesel piece, because I, uh,
Speaker 4: you know, like this time of year, I'm around the
Speaker 4: clockwork and so my girls at home, I didn't want
Speaker 4: them to have to go out there and and and
Speaker 4: shovel the driveway. So I tried to make some calls
Speaker 4: and look on Facebook, look on the you know, and
Speaker 4: made some call. Nobody would answer my call, and texted
Speaker 4: some guys that I found on the So I just
Speaker 4: put the tweet out and it was like bam, I
Speaker 4: had like four ploals ready to like, Hel's up. Hell's up.
Speaker 2: That actually wasn't even the clip I wanted to play,
Speaker 2: but I wanted to let you hear it anyway since
Speaker 2: I started it. That was him when he put on
Speaker 2: Twitter that he needed some he needed some help getting
Speaker 2: his driveway. In fact, what he said word for word
Speaker 2: here he tweeted out yesterday or two days ago. I'm
Speaker 2: sorry on Monday, anybody with a snowplow on the five
Speaker 2: o two open for business question mark And clearly people
Speaker 2: just found out live and they showed up and they
Speaker 2: helped him. We got to get to a break in
Speaker 2: just a second, but I do want to let you
Speaker 2: hear this clip, so we'll run to break here after this.
Speaker 3: One, Austin.
Speaker 2: But this is Pat Kelsey talking about Javon Hadley having
Speaker 2: thirty two points. I mean, what a night for him.
Speaker 2: Absolutely just unstoppable. Just seemed like he got every rebound,
Speaker 2: couldn't be stopped, got to the line a lot, made
Speaker 2: some threes. It was the night of his life and
Speaker 2: it was awesome.
Speaker 4: You know, a lot of guys will have higher scoring
Speaker 4: numbers and stuff like that, but the job he does
Speaker 4: behind the scenes, under the radar a little bit is huge.
Speaker 4: He is a major, major, major piece of why we're
Speaker 4: really good. And then tonight, you know, it was his night.
Speaker 4: And what was fun is like the guys on the
Speaker 4: floor were like, go to him, Chuck, He's giving them
Speaker 4: the ball, like end of the game, go ahead, clear out,
Speaker 4: get out of the way, you know. So it was
Speaker 4: great to see. And as you know, you know, Chucky's
Speaker 4: had big, big night scoring, Fats had big, big night scoring,
Speaker 4: Rains had big, big night scoring, a big night scoring.
Speaker 4: We can hurt you in a lot of ways, but
Speaker 4: there are a lot of contributions from other guys. I
Speaker 4: thought Canai roots three was huge. At a point in
Speaker 4: the game when we were reeling a little bit, he
Speaker 4: stepped up and knocked that down. I thought Kader gave
Speaker 4: us great, great energy off the bench. James Scott, you
Speaker 4: know he's inspector Gadget. He's just go go arms. I
Speaker 4: don't know if anybody in today's dan Aganos who inspector
Speaker 4: Gadget is, but he's just, you know, just play so hard.
Speaker 4: Had a double double tonight, big Steeal at the end
Speaker 4: of the game. You know, I could go all the
Speaker 4: way down and name a bunch of different guys, but
Speaker 4: it's what makes our team really good.
Speaker 3: We call it the power of the good stuff. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't know if you can expect thirty
Speaker 2: two consistently from anybody on this team, but he is right.
Speaker 2: I mean, Louisville, they're starting to beat some good teams
Speaker 2: and things that you just assumed would have to happen
Speaker 2: for them to beat these good teams, they're not necessary
Speaker 2: because other guys are stepping up, giving you more than
Speaker 2: you probably thought you could get. They've been so good defensively,
Speaker 2: they've been animals on the backboard. It's just been it's
Speaker 2: been a really easy team to get behind and root for.
Speaker 3: Been a fun ride so far.
Speaker 2: All right, quick break, We'll come back and wrap this
Speaker 2: thing up on the other side right here on Sports
Speaker 2: Talk seven ninety.
Speaker 1: Now back to Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 2: A couple of things to close out on the conversation
Speaker 2: we were having earlier about the Notre Dame not being
Speaker 2: in a playoff. James Franklin said at the press conference
Speaker 2: today as they're getting set to play Notre Dame, that
Speaker 2: he doesn't believe that Notre Dame, he doesn't believe the
Speaker 2: teams that don't play in the conference should be allowed,
Speaker 2: I guess, in the playoff, basically saying that everybody should
Speaker 2: have to be in a conference. And I was trying
Speaker 2: to think of what argument could he have been making
Speaker 2: that that would make it to where like it's unfair,
Speaker 2: And he did bring up something that somebody reminded me
Speaker 2: of that I get it, but it's not Notre Dame's fault, right,
Speaker 2: And I guess maybe he wasn't blaming Notre Dame. Maybe
Speaker 2: he's blaming those that are in.
Speaker 3: Charge of the college football playoff.
Speaker 2: But his claim was that you should have to play
Speaker 2: in a conference championship game or not, which, yeah, that
Speaker 2: doesn't that does That puts them in a spot where
Speaker 2: they don't have to take another risk, right, they don't
Speaker 2: have that opportunity to get an added loss and that,
Speaker 2: but Notre Dame knows that going in right, So Notre
Speaker 2: Dame also doesn't have the ability to add a conference
Speaker 2: championship to their resume, which at times may hurt them.
Speaker 3: I mean probably not.
Speaker 2: And you know, everybody knows that there's no scenario where
Speaker 2: they could be a conference champion because you know they're
Speaker 2: not at a conference.
Speaker 3: But I still feel like Notre Dame is actually just
Speaker 3: that they would.
Speaker 2: They're the only program they could do it, and more
Speaker 2: than anything, it doesn't advantage them. I just think it
Speaker 2: actually disadvantages them at times, but you just don't notice
Speaker 2: it because from a five financial standpoint, they're doing just
Speaker 2: fine with their deal with NBC. They're still on national TV.
Speaker 2: Like the things that being in a conference gives you
Speaker 2: that every team relies on most every team relies on.
Speaker 2: Notre Dame doesn't need that. So yeah, they don't play
Speaker 2: in a conference, and that doesn't mean they'll never have
Speaker 2: a conference championship game. But that actually hurts them in
Speaker 2: the grand scheme. They're just able to get around it
Speaker 2: because they win enough. And again it all comes down
Speaker 2: to one thing. They schedule tough enough, and until that
Speaker 2: is in the case, they're going to be able to
Speaker 2: get in, and I don't see an issue with it.
Speaker 2: All Right, we're out of time. Were back at it tomorrow,
Speaker 2: and joy your Wednesday.
Speaker 3: Take care,