Speaker 1: But fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day.
Speaker 1: Now here's Nick Coffee.
Speaker 2: All right, let's uh, let's finish strong the last hour
Speaker 2: for me here at Sports Talk seven ninety Coffee and company,
Speaker 2: the final the final episode fueled by Thornton's. And that's
Speaker 2: that's when. Hell of a way to go out. Certainly
Speaker 2: appreciate my friends over at Thornton's. And I know they're
Speaker 2: still going to be, uh be with me as I
Speaker 2: as I make the move. So it's really starting to
Speaker 2: hit now that now that we're here the final hour,
Speaker 2: and nobody better to get this hour started with than
Speaker 2: a man who uh you know, really introduced me to
Speaker 2: sports talk radio on this station when he was an
Speaker 2: afternoon underdog, and is Tony Venetti. Tony, give me, give
Speaker 2: me some advice. You've given me great advice over the years.
Speaker 2: Things that you said that I just assumed there was
Speaker 2: no way, no way that's true. There's no way, you know,
Speaker 2: there's no way this is gonna pl out the way
Speaker 2: that it did, and then it did. You were correct, Tony,
Speaker 2: give me some advice.
Speaker 3: Well you know when you switch and again, congratulations, buddy,
Speaker 3: you earned it. You know, nine years ago. We stuck
Speaker 3: you on an island and basically told you to figure
Speaker 3: it out, and you did. So you know I helped it.
Speaker 3: I tried to help you guy do as much as
Speaker 3: I could.
Speaker 4: But basically you were on your own.
Speaker 3: And people don't realize when you do a solo, three
Speaker 3: hour solo sports show and you moved to a station
Speaker 3: like seven ninety, that is a tough, tough gig and
Speaker 3: you figured it out, you fought your way through, and
Speaker 3: you got it done. So congratulations with that. But here's
Speaker 3: what's going to happen.
Speaker 4: And you know I do this with you all the time.
Speaker 4: What's gonna happen.
Speaker 2: You may not believe me, but I'm telling you. I
Speaker 2: don't know how many times you've said that.
Speaker 3: Right, Sports radio is like having children. Okay, so here
Speaker 3: here's the analogy.
Speaker 4: Ready.
Speaker 3: Okay, So when you have your first kid, you try
Speaker 3: to keep at least one You try to keep one
Speaker 3: foot in your old life.
Speaker 4: Right. You're like, hey, I can have my old life
Speaker 4: and have a kid. Right, I can have that. I
Speaker 4: can do that. I can pull that off.
Speaker 3: You soon, you have enough energy to pull it off
Speaker 3: for a little while, but when kid number two shows up,
Speaker 3: you realize, no, no, no, no, that old Nick is
Speaker 3: dead and now Dad is.
Speaker 4: You know, Nick is reborn.
Speaker 3: In the Dad and your old fun, cool life gone.
Speaker 4: You're gone. That's gone. Now you are goofy Dad, and
Speaker 4: that's what you do. But at the beginning, you keep.
Speaker 3: One foot in that old life and one foot in dadhood.
Speaker 4: You can't do that. So sports radio will be the same.
Speaker 3: So when you leave and you leave and you start Monday,
Speaker 3: you'll be enthusiastic about you know, sports guys calling you
Speaker 3: and say, hey, can you do a segment? And you'll
Speaker 3: be like, I wish I could talk about this game
Speaker 3: on my sports show. And then about four years later
Speaker 3: you'll you'll try to keep your foot in that world
Speaker 3: and then try to try to do your thing with
Speaker 3: the news. But in about four years, you won't know
Speaker 3: the players' names. You won't know you won't know it coaches,
Speaker 3: all the coaches. Look right now, you could probably tell
Speaker 3: me where the athletic where the offensive coordinator.
Speaker 4: At U of L. You know, well that's Brian Brown.
Speaker 4: That's easy. But you know, you.
Speaker 3: Could tell where all these guys are from, where they
Speaker 3: came from, all the details of the assistant coaches in
Speaker 3: a couple of years, you won't be able to answer
Speaker 3: those questions.
Speaker 2: I thought I was getting pranked or I was in
Speaker 2: an alternate universe, because you and I chatted earlier today
Speaker 2: at Tony Cruise's retirement party, and you said something along
Speaker 2: these lines, and I'm I'm not kidding you. That has
Speaker 2: been my mindset the last two weeks is that this
Speaker 2: is going to be great. It's better for me professionally,
Speaker 2: and man, what an opportunity. But hey, I mean, I'm
Speaker 2: talking sports all the time. I mean, I'm that's still
Speaker 2: going to be there. I can just walk down the hall. Hell,
Speaker 2: I know how to run the board. I can just
Speaker 2: go on the air whenever I want and talk sports
Speaker 2: and get it out of my system. So that has
Speaker 2: actually been in my mind that this is Ah, it's fun,
Speaker 2: it's fine. Don't be sad, you're not leaving. You're just
Speaker 2: you're gonna be doing a little bit of both. But yeah,
Speaker 2: it'll I'm sure it'll. Again, I wouldn't believe you, But
Speaker 2: there are things that Tony told me in twenty and
Speaker 2: sixteen that I appreciated, one even knowing the guy, because
Speaker 2: I've worked with him now and he was somebody that
Speaker 2: really helped me, you know, become a fan of sports radio.
Speaker 2: And I'd say this all the time to people, and
Speaker 2: I don't know if it really hits. I don't even
Speaker 2: know if you remember this, Fanetti, I didn't know you
Speaker 2: did rock radio. I was too young when you did that.
Speaker 2: And not to make you feel like an old man,
Speaker 2: I did so when people thought you were, you know,
Speaker 2: not to give you a bigger ego, but like you know,
Speaker 2: obviously you've done a lot of great things, and you've
Speaker 2: been very successful in this market in a variety of ways.
Speaker 2: But eighteen seventeen year old Nick Coffee who turned on
Speaker 2: seven ninety and heard you yelling at Adam Neft and
Speaker 2: I feel like you bullied him at times, but it
Speaker 2: made for great radio.
Speaker 5: But I didn't even know that.
Speaker 2: So I just thought you were the name you were
Speaker 2: because of sports specifically, and I remember telling you that.
Speaker 2: I don't know if you believe me, but it's true.
Speaker 2: And then I later learned, you know, the legacy of
Speaker 2: the one Tony Vinetti who's made all these moves from
Speaker 2: rock radio sports radio super successful in both of those
Speaker 2: now killing it, crushing it with Dwight on News Radio
Speaker 2: eight forty whas. So you've made some big jumps and
Speaker 2: been successful each and every time. And now I know,
Speaker 2: I guess you do know what you're talking about because
Speaker 2: you told me, Nick, tell me listen, man, I know
Speaker 2: you love it and I can see your passion. But
Speaker 2: come come a few years down the line, when your
Speaker 2: daughter gets older and maybe you have another kid, you
Speaker 2: know you're not gonna have the energy to go watch
Speaker 2: Louisville play Montana State at nine pm on a Tuesday,
Speaker 2: And I'm like, oh, I'll be doing the postgame show.
Speaker 2: I'll be the press conference asking the questions. I might
Speaker 2: go to Montana State to scout. I'm like, I'm young,
Speaker 2: I'm energetic, I'm thinking nobody's talking about. And like this
Speaker 2: past year, as Pat Kelsey brought Louisville basketball back to life,
Speaker 2: all I thought about was enjoying that experience with my son.
Speaker 2: And you literally told me that was going to happen.
Speaker 3: Yes, yes, and by thought and by the way, it's
Speaker 3: not rocket science. Watched the game and talked about it
Speaker 3: the next day. You don't have to be there, Uh,
Speaker 3: those are the nineteen seventies. You don't want to when
Speaker 3: you have a family, You've got young kids.
Speaker 4: You want to behold you got what you got a
Speaker 4: short window to be with these kids, and.
Speaker 3: You know they, you know, enjoy the time when they
Speaker 3: want to be around you. But yes, those those beginning
Speaker 3: days of NET where we were just finding our way.
Speaker 3: You know, nobody expected you know what we did on
Speaker 3: seven ninety. I mean we had. It's the famous story
Speaker 3: where Kelly Carl's our former marketing.
Speaker 2: It's never been done before in this market and will
Speaker 2: never be done again as far as what seven ninety
Speaker 2: was at that.
Speaker 4: Time, that's right, that's right.
Speaker 3: And we had a huge meeting with all eight radio
Speaker 3: stations and they said we're going to unveil the marketing
Speaker 3: plan and marketing budgets for each station and the plans
Speaker 3: to elevate. So I sit there with Nef sitting next
Speaker 3: to me, and at the time I was on two stations,
Speaker 3: one rock station.
Speaker 4: And one of sports. And we got we got through
Speaker 4: six stations, and he goes, Okay, that's that's good.
Speaker 3: You guys go back to work. We'll regroup and send
Speaker 3: you an email back with a recap. And I went
Speaker 3: up to Kelly Carlos and said, hey, you didn't do
Speaker 3: any there's no seven ninety or qmth and he said, yeah,
Speaker 3: we didn't do plans for them.
Speaker 5: Did he give me a Kelly Carl's life laugh?
Speaker 4: Yeah? Yet, well no he didn't do the laugh. But
Speaker 4: he was not a lot.
Speaker 3: He wasn't very emotional, so he just went, yeah, we
Speaker 3: didn't do plans for those.
Speaker 4: We didn't. We don't really have plans for those, and
Speaker 4: then walked away.
Speaker 2: Now can I ask you us real quick because I'm
Speaker 2: curious at that time were you aware in your career
Speaker 2: what HS was. I assume you were then just because
Speaker 2: you'd been around radio a long time. But for me,
Speaker 2: I didn't really know the true power of HAS until
Speaker 2: a little bit, a little bit of time here. But
Speaker 2: when he said that to you, I mean clearly you
Speaker 2: had to go figure it out, and you did. But
Speaker 2: like you know, HAS is and the Kelly is is
Speaker 2: that was a big role. But I'm just curious at
Speaker 2: that time when that was said, were you were you
Speaker 2: stunned or were you like, Hey, all right, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: go prove these people wrong.
Speaker 5: I'll make it work.
Speaker 3: Uh. It was a big ego hit because you know,
Speaker 3: you know, you have to make plans for me and
Speaker 3: my ego whenever we make reservations.
Speaker 4: So it's it.
Speaker 3: Was an ego hit because I thought, no, this is
Speaker 3: an important station and sports will be important. And then
Speaker 3: I figured it out. They don't care about the rock
Speaker 3: and they don't care about the sports. They thought the
Speaker 3: sports was cute at that time, Hey, just have fun,
Speaker 3: do your thing, and if you make any money on it,
Speaker 3: that'll be good. And that was a shock to me
Speaker 3: because I had, you know, I had just finished ten
Speaker 3: twelve years of Rock Guy, where it was always a
Speaker 3: priority and it was rock was huge and all that,
Speaker 3: and that's when rock was dying. So it was a
Speaker 3: wake up point for Neft and I and I said, Neft,
Speaker 3: we got to go to work.
Speaker 4: So we went and took the show on the road. Yeah,
Speaker 4: loose on the round. So we did a live show
Speaker 4: for free every day.
Speaker 3: For you know, for three hundred and sixty five days
Speaker 3: a year, and we went after it and the rest
Speaker 3: is history. But man, it was a big ego hit
Speaker 3: and people forget there was a you know, oh, there
Speaker 3: was always a priority for sports.
Speaker 4: No, No, there wasn't. People are like, oh, it's kind.
Speaker 3: Of cute, you just do your thing. But we did
Speaker 3: it and then listen. And that's why I'm telling this story.
Speaker 3: Is it easily details into yours.
Speaker 4: You had to do the same.
Speaker 3: You know, we stuck you on that island and said,
Speaker 3: Nick Coffee, figure it out.
Speaker 4: That's a big reason why you got the gig you
Speaker 4: got now. Yeah, and you did it by yourself.
Speaker 2: Well, thank you, and you you've shared that with me
Speaker 2: before as far as just because you told me to
Speaker 2: go do the same thing, and I tried and they
Speaker 2: wouldn't let me because I said, look, I'll go do
Speaker 2: a show anywhere for free. I just want to build
Speaker 2: the show, get my name out there. I was well
Speaker 2: aware when I got hired that I did not have
Speaker 2: quite the radio following that others that had been in
Speaker 2: this industry a lot longer, and I was willing to
Speaker 2: go introduce myself and be out, but they they wouldn't
Speaker 2: let me do that. But you said something that did another.
Speaker 2: It's another thing that played out. You said that you
Speaker 2: got to make it work because at the time, you've
Speaker 2: got little John and Maggie, really young kids at that point,
Speaker 2: and you're just thinking, Okay, this is survival. Let's just
Speaker 2: go make it work. And I don't know if I've
Speaker 2: been in that exact spot. But I also realized, look,
Speaker 2: if I'm not out here making relationships with clients potentially
Speaker 2: and just try and you know, trying everything I can
Speaker 2: to keep it alived where they don't see me as
Speaker 2: somebody that just looks like dead weight, then it'll be
Speaker 2: it'll be it'll be my day. And then this last
Speaker 2: you know, year or so really especially the last few
Speaker 2: weeks just kind of realizing sort of what this move
Speaker 2: is for me professionally. You know, I now not only
Speaker 2: think about how grateful I am, but like I think
Speaker 2: of my kids and I go, it takes me back
Speaker 2: to when you'd said.
Speaker 3: That, and there's no Yes, there's no bigger motivator than
Speaker 3: standing in a hallway with a door cracked to your
Speaker 3: kids room when they're sleeping as a guy, as a
Speaker 3: you know, as a dad.
Speaker 4: And say, look, man, I got to figure this out.
Speaker 4: And you're willing to.
Speaker 3: Do anything at that point because there's there's so cutes
Speaker 3: there and there sleeping and that you know, it's at
Speaker 3: night and you're standing in the doorway and you're like, look,
Speaker 3: this is on me.
Speaker 4: So you are at that spot and you and you're
Speaker 4: it's gonna be fun. Man, you're gonna You're gonna have
Speaker 4: a ball dude.
Speaker 3: Plus, we come in right, you know you are our
Speaker 3: lead in, so we come in and cause chaos.
Speaker 5: Are you gonna make Dwight shower though?
Speaker 2: Because I think I think Dwight should should need to
Speaker 2: shower at least once a week.
Speaker 4: No, you don't understand. You're you're gonna learn.
Speaker 3: You're gonna learn the Dwight going going to work. Uh
Speaker 3: he gets you together about nine thirty, but he comes in, Uh,
Speaker 3: you know, still hungover, still drunk. You know what when
Speaker 3: the sunglasses are still on first segment, we all know
Speaker 3: what's going on.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we know what's going on.
Speaker 2: Let me ask you this when it comes to the
Speaker 2: transition that you went from sports talk to news talk.
Speaker 2: You guys started out six to eight eager to take
Speaker 2: that spot, to show what it would what it would become,
Speaker 2: and it became very successful and then obviously made the
Speaker 2: move to UH to to to mid days from nine
Speaker 2: to noon. Now, what was a surprise for you as
Speaker 2: far as because again, knew it would be different. You
Speaker 2: knew there would be a big adjustment. You knew you'd
Speaker 2: have to prove yourself and you've certainly done that at least,
Speaker 2: not prove yourself as a as a as somebody that's talented,
Speaker 2: but just you know that that you could you could
Speaker 2: clearly be successful within that type of show. What stood
Speaker 2: out if you could remember early on that that might
Speaker 2: have been you know, okay, didn't think of that, but man,
Speaker 2: I'll adjust because I know that's going to happen to me.
Speaker 3: Well, the big thing was and again, if you don't
Speaker 3: think you have to prove yourself every single step of
Speaker 3: the way when you're my age, you'll you'll look.
Speaker 4: I was upset that they wanted me to do an
Speaker 4: audition tape for the Switch.
Speaker 3: I was like, are you kidding me? And let me
Speaker 3: tell you something. I did it because that's what you do,
Speaker 3: because it's look, it's show business, not show friends.
Speaker 4: So they you know, you go do it. But here's
Speaker 4: a big thing.
Speaker 3: So if sports and politics and this new stuff is
Speaker 3: very similar, if you could survive, I said it, Leland Comway,
Speaker 3: Mandy Condle, Tony Cruz, Dave Jennings, myself, and now you
Speaker 3: all came.
Speaker 4: From sports and went over to news.
Speaker 3: Because if you can do sports radio, you can do
Speaker 3: any job in broad testing. That is absolutely a fact.
Speaker 3: Because it is like seal team training from broadcasting.
Speaker 4: It's crazy. Now.
Speaker 3: What I found out very quickly was Trump was just
Speaker 3: elected in the first term and I thought, well.
Speaker 4: This will be fun because I thought of.
Speaker 3: The Fun Sports Day and making fun of the UK
Speaker 3: and all that, and then the fun rock days and
Speaker 3: all that, and I said, this will be fun.
Speaker 4: Well, I found out.
Speaker 3: National politics is so divisive. People don't they don't float
Speaker 3: over to the other side in elections or opinions. And
Speaker 3: so we started in you know, Dwight was the pro
Speaker 3: Trump and I started making fun and in two weeks
Speaker 3: in it was like, okay, this ain't working because the
Speaker 3: national politics. So we figured out we're just going to
Speaker 3: cover local politics, which is JCPS, l MPBU and the
Speaker 3: you know, metro council and smaller city groups like j
Speaker 3: Town and Saint Matthew's in Middletown at the West End.
Speaker 3: And that was better because a Republican will vote for
Speaker 3: a Democrat locally or the opposite. But in national politics,
Speaker 3: people go to their corner and they're nasty and I
Speaker 3: feel local that's.
Speaker 2: What you just go to. What you just said though,
Speaker 2: like I feel like that's that's true. But it's probably
Speaker 2: never been more true than it is currently with the
Speaker 2: climate right correct, correct, because.
Speaker 4: It is at an all time high.
Speaker 3: Uh. But it's And by the way, you'll want to
Speaker 3: be local politics anyway I am. I'm a personal opinion
Speaker 3: that you can't really change that national politics.
Speaker 4: Good luck. Yeah, what are you doing? You know you
Speaker 4: want to go to a protest or something.
Speaker 3: That that's not gonna that's not gonna change national politics.
Speaker 4: The d's and the rs is what they call them.
Speaker 4: They don't really care about you. Locally.
Speaker 3: You can make change locally, big time. You can make
Speaker 3: change locally in your in your district, in your neighborhood.
Speaker 4: You can make a change. But national politics forget it.
Speaker 2: So I've already I said this earlier that of I
Speaker 2: love the all of the many I love you butts
Speaker 2: that I've had in my in my life recently those
Speaker 2: and then I love you butt congrats, but please stay
Speaker 2: away from the politics. And it's like, you know, first
Speaker 2: they want me to stick to sports. Then they want
Speaker 2: me to not talk about sports. Uh, and then they
Speaker 2: want me you know, I'm just gonna be me and
Speaker 2: you know, let it, let it, let it play out
Speaker 2: the way that it is but uh, I do. I'm
Speaker 2: kind of entertained. I'm not trolling anybody, This is not
Speaker 2: a bit, but I can I get the sense that
Speaker 2: people are of the opinion that I'm gonna I'm gonna
Speaker 2: roll in there on Monday and just let out a
Speaker 2: real big indicator of red or blue, Democrat Republican and like,
Speaker 2: that's not I mean that first.
Speaker 5: That's not what the show is. But also like, why
Speaker 5: would I do that? That would be really stupid.
Speaker 4: No, No, Mornings is a different bie.
Speaker 3: So you got your information, and uh, you know you
Speaker 3: don't do the Hall Report anymore like the old days.
Speaker 4: Uh, but you know, no, that's not your job. That's
Speaker 4: not what you do.
Speaker 3: And it's and it's really they'll figure out what you are,
Speaker 3: but you you know that's not your job. And by
Speaker 3: the way, you do what I do on every new show,
Speaker 3: and you should do it on Monday. At the beginning
Speaker 3: of every new show I do, I say, this is
Speaker 3: the worst.
Speaker 4: Show that you will hear in this time slot from us.
Speaker 4: This is the worst, but tomorrow will be really bad
Speaker 4: but a little better.
Speaker 3: Okay, set the bar as low as possible, right, and
Speaker 3: then just find your way.
Speaker 4: Son.
Speaker 3: You'll use your crutch of the sports Every once in
Speaker 3: a while and you're lost and you you kind of
Speaker 3: just come back from break and you'll go to a
Speaker 3: sports thing because that's your crutch. You went to your right,
Speaker 3: you know, And I don't know if you want to
Speaker 3: your left or right in basketball when you're in high school,
Speaker 3: I don't know what your go to play was when
Speaker 3: you drove to the basket.
Speaker 2: I could, I could go left, but right was where
Speaker 2: I preferred. So I will say this the Yeah, the
Speaker 2: one thing that in the last four or five hours,
Speaker 2: just in the conversations I had with so many great
Speaker 2: people that I got to meet today and some others
Speaker 2: I got to catch up with us. We celebrated Tony
Speaker 2: Cruise's retirement, and that is that I've known this, but
Speaker 2: for some reason, it just now a lot of things
Speaker 2: are just processing. Is it's been so chaotic in these
Speaker 2: last couple of weeks. But the amount of time that
Speaker 2: Kentucky in this Morning News has existed and been a
Speaker 2: part of generations. Right There's people that listen to it
Speaker 2: on their daily drive and their daily commute, whatever it
Speaker 2: may be.
Speaker 5: The routine, and.
Speaker 2: Their dad did, and their grandfather did, and along all
Speaker 2: those years, many many years, there's really only been like
Speaker 2: three people that have done it all for a good
Speaker 2: amount of time.
Speaker 4: I'm glad you noticed that.
Speaker 1: Screw it up.
Speaker 4: Pressure at all, Son, No pressure at all, Son. We're
Speaker 4: counting on you.
Speaker 3: Yeah, you're like number four hosts in like the last
Speaker 3: eighty years.
Speaker 4: Luck.
Speaker 3: But I will tell you this, and again, I hope
Speaker 3: this isn't all due inside baseball for everybody, but.
Speaker 5: If so, we don't care. The show ends after the day.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's right here.
Speaker 3: So when you when you showed up did the Tony
Speaker 3: Kruz thing, and we say.
Speaker 4: Goodbye to the grill masters, having you.
Speaker 3: In that group of Kerry and I and Dwight and
Speaker 3: Guss and Joe Elliott and and and that was bringing
Speaker 3: you in and then having that picture was was really
Speaker 3: sort of symbolic for me. I felt good because I said, now,
Speaker 3: I said, the kid, the kid's now not a kid anymore.
Speaker 3: He's earned a spot.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And and it really did again, and I wouldn't
Speaker 2: have had it any other way as far as how
Speaker 2: it played out. But also, you know, it's a it's
Speaker 2: an old corny cliche, but I never as this started
Speaker 2: to finalize and come together is when it really started
Speaker 2: to hit me, like, wow, I really have been at
Speaker 2: this for nearly ten years, and I've never you know,
Speaker 2: I probably have, I don't know, not sure sure what more.
Speaker 2: I mean again, I think having the three different day
Speaker 2: parts I've had on Sports Talk seven ninety such a
Speaker 2: big station. KRD has been around a long time, Like
Speaker 2: I mean, I couldn't ask for much more. But now
Speaker 2: that I'm here and then being with all of you
Speaker 2: guys today and and you know, like I don't want
Speaker 2: to say that I don't feel worthy, but obviously I
Speaker 2: realized how much of a step this is. And for
Speaker 2: you guys, especially you, Tony Terry as well, Dwight, Gus,
Speaker 2: everybody that's everybody that's that's currently a part of the
Speaker 2: team or that has been a part of the has team,
Speaker 2: they've just been nothing but supportive. And they don't realize
Speaker 2: it maybe or maybe they do. Letting me know that
Speaker 2: you do believe that this is going to be good
Speaker 2: and I'm fit for it does does mean a lot
Speaker 2: and go a long way. So I really do appreciate that.
Speaker 3: Well, we got your back. I mean, that's that's that's
Speaker 3: the thing. And let me tell you when you've got.
Speaker 4: Guys like that that have your back. You can steel
Speaker 4: pretty confidence, you know, and you got to have people
Speaker 4: in this industry then have your back.
Speaker 3: Now we will all talk smack about each other, of course,
Speaker 3: we all, we all will, we all have your back.
Speaker 2: I have PTSD. I have PTSD Tony. Whenever I see
Speaker 2: somebody with pleated pants.
Speaker 5: I showed up.
Speaker 2: I showed up to the spring game first time. You know,
Speaker 2: I'm working at a spring game as part of our broadcast,
Speaker 2: and I've got a red Louisville polo with pleated tacky
Speaker 2: pants tucked in, and I show up and you and
Speaker 2: Dave are finishing up, and I'm about to go on
Speaker 2: with Howie. And you said, why did you show up
Speaker 2: to the spring game looking like Jake from State Farm?
Speaker 5: You what pleated pants on? Bro? And then I knew
Speaker 5: that you would you would always be honest with me.
Speaker 3: No, no, yeah, looks look I fixed napped, I fixed Dave.
Speaker 3: You know we worked on YouTube, but I am I'm not.
Speaker 3: I'm not a cyborg. But I will tell you you
Speaker 3: know where you stand with me.
Speaker 5: Sure, And that's appreciated.
Speaker 2: That that's that's that's that's more valuable than a lot
Speaker 2: of people realize, but Tony, thank you so much for everything.
Speaker 2: Cannot wait to get started on Monday with you guys.
Speaker 2: And you know how special you are to me, and
Speaker 2: you know how great you've been in this industry. And
Speaker 2: it's still crazy to think that I have been able
Speaker 2: to know you over the years and now get to
Speaker 2: work with you and again now we're on the lineup
Speaker 2: together again. So thank you, brother, appreciate you. Have a
Speaker 2: great weekend. And you know, let me know if I suck,
Speaker 2: because I know you'll be honest.
Speaker 3: I will tell you when you do that, that's how
Speaker 3: I raise my kids, and I'll do that to you.
Speaker 4: No, you're not gonna suck. It's gonna be great. I
Speaker 4: love you, Nick.
Speaker 3: Coffee and enjoy your last thirty three minutes all right
Speaker 3: in seven nineties.
Speaker 5: We're gonna make it count. Thanks brother, Talk to you soon.
Speaker 5: Love you. That's Tony Venetti. He needs no introduction, He's
Speaker 5: Tony Natti. Quick break.
Speaker 2: We'll come back thirty minutes left. Another guest, one more
Speaker 2: guest to join us. We said the best for last
Speaker 2: round here and then we'll we'll have another quick segment
Speaker 2: and then that'll be it.
Speaker 5: So thank you. All, it's coffee and company.
Speaker 2: Feel about Thorton's right here on Sports Talks.
Speaker 1: You're listening to coffee in company with Nick Coffee on
Speaker 1: Sports Talk seven nine.
Speaker 2: We got about twenty five minutes left here before we
Speaker 2: wrap it up and get out of here for the weekend.
Speaker 2: And then I get out of here and I'm gonna
Speaker 2: go home. But then when I come back, I'm gonna
Speaker 2: walk down a different hallway because I I'm making the
Speaker 2: move D eight forty whas And this show so far
Speaker 2: has been really what I wanted it to be.
Speaker 5: I was.
Speaker 2: I've been able to at this point not have you know,
Speaker 2: any kind of real emotional meltdown, which is what I wanted.
Speaker 5: That wouldn't be good for anybody.
Speaker 2: Would be you know, I probably wouldn't be embarrassed, because
Speaker 2: I don't really get embarrassed by that kind of stuff,
Speaker 2: but like he wouldn't be good. But a lot of
Speaker 2: conversations with a lot of friends and people that I
Speaker 2: look up to and really admire and that have been
Speaker 2: a part of the show in certain ways. In this
Speaker 2: next guest, he was a big part of the show
Speaker 2: for a long time, and he is somebody that I
Speaker 2: consider a work brother, a radio brother, and I was
Speaker 2: gonna say little brother, and I guess that's true. But
Speaker 2: maybe I'm still fighting the fact that I'm a lot
Speaker 2: older than him, because you know, I don't I never,
Speaker 2: at any point felt like the old guy. And this
Speaker 2: guy has never made me feel old, other than you know,
Speaker 2: when he occasionally references things that I just assume he remembers.
Speaker 2: Oh he doesn't remember because he wasn't alive. But he
Speaker 2: is a great man and he's somebody i'm proud to
Speaker 2: call a friend. And I guess I'll start with the
Speaker 2: question to the company man, John Alden, Are you ready?
Speaker 2: Are you ready to be back with me? Because you know,
Speaker 2: I just assume, of course he's excited. I mean, you know,
Speaker 2: maybe I can be a lot to deal with. Are
Speaker 2: you as excited as I am? John Alden?
Speaker 6: Oh, my gosh, I couldn't be. I couldn't be more
Speaker 6: thrilled that we are gonna be working together and we're
Speaker 6: gonna be on the big stick this time on news radio.
Speaker 2: Look at us exactly, and you are, first of all,
Speaker 2: I'm in every one word I said. And to see
Speaker 2: you climb and not only move up and any any
Speaker 2: show you've been a part of You've done a damn
Speaker 2: good job in every way and now that's why you're
Speaker 2: You're producing not only Kentucky in his morning news, but
Speaker 2: also Tony and Dwight. And I take no credit for
Speaker 2: any of that, but it does make me feel good
Speaker 2: because again, I'm proud of you, and I Vannette's more
Speaker 2: like an uncle to me because there's a bigger age
Speaker 2: difference between him and I than than the two of us.
Speaker 2: But you are you are great, and I know you
Speaker 2: hear that a lot from a lot of folks, but
Speaker 2: I want you to know how much you mean to me.
Speaker 2: The time we worked together was was a lot of fun.
Speaker 2: And you know, I could tell right away that you
Speaker 2: you took this this serious. You You were somebody that
Speaker 2: has always been very professional, but you just, you know,
Speaker 2: you took it serious to where you if for some
Speaker 2: if something didn't work out, if we had a goof
Speaker 2: of something, you know, and that happens, you know, you
Speaker 2: took it and wanted to get better. And that was
Speaker 2: so noticeable to me that you care. And it's weird
Speaker 2: to say, you know, somebody cares about their job, but
Speaker 2: a lot of people don't, and a lot of people who
Speaker 2: do do and you do, and that's rare, I think
Speaker 2: in a lot of ways, especially somebody who is who
Speaker 2: is who was young like yourself. So I'm really looking
Speaker 2: forward to it. And how about this we You know,
Speaker 2: this is crazy to say, but I was talking to
Speaker 2: a buddy of mine who listens to you along with
Speaker 2: the morning show at eight forty now and he misses
Speaker 2: you on this show, and he said something that I
Speaker 2: hadn't thought about. But maybe it's just because I didn't
Speaker 2: want to have PTSD. A lot of the time we
Speaker 2: worked together, all you had. All you listened to was
Speaker 2: me complain and cry about Kenny Payne. And we won't
Speaker 2: have to do that on has John.
Speaker 6: I gotta say, is that the time where I jumped
Speaker 6: on and you moved the afternoon, there was a lot
Speaker 6: larger of a chunk than I would have ever imagined
Speaker 6: of Louisville basketball being in the doldrums of wherever they were,
Speaker 6: and the moment that I got ripped away from you,
Speaker 6: it seemed like that was the moment that Louisville and
Speaker 6: Pat Kelsey were able to get things all, you know,
Speaker 6: the way that they were going this past season. So
Speaker 6: maybe I was the problem, and nobody really knew that.
Speaker 2: No, it wasn't you, and I mean it, trust me,
Speaker 2: it wasn't. But who would have Who would have thought
Speaker 2: that we'd be having those conversations, because who would have
Speaker 2: ever thought that Louisville basketball would be in the position
Speaker 2: you know that they were, So yeah, it's but even
Speaker 2: with that, like I'm not kidding you, that was that
Speaker 2: was therapeutic for me. And you know you, you were
Speaker 2: a good teammate on the air and let me get
Speaker 2: it out of my system. And again I'm now glad
Speaker 2: that that's over. But when it comes to the move
Speaker 2: to h As, I can now lean on you for
Speaker 2: some guidance. You've been getting up pretty early. You also
Speaker 2: are the father now of a of a newborn baby girl,
Speaker 2: and so that's a that's a different element of it.
Speaker 2: But I feel like even if you weren't a new father,
Speaker 2: and I guess before the baby was here, you were
Speaker 2: already getting up early. Tell me it's not as hard
Speaker 2: as I think it's going to be. Tell me that
Speaker 2: it's gonna be okay, John.
Speaker 6: I think I think a lot of it really is
Speaker 6: mind over matter, because whenever I realized that that's the position,
Speaker 6: that I was getting thrust into back in November. I
Speaker 6: was obviously nervous that there was going to be times
Speaker 6: that it would be maybe impossible to wake up, and
Speaker 6: until I had the baby. We've had the baby for now.
Speaker 6: I think she's seven weeks old today. Until just a
Speaker 6: couple of days ago, I've never had an issue getting up.
Speaker 6: But now that we've thrown this whole element of taking
Speaker 6: care of a newborn along with my wife.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they control your schedule. There's really no way around that,
Speaker 2: right the I.
Speaker 6: Got the call from Tony Cruz at about four fifty
Speaker 6: nine am the other day, and I realized that was
Speaker 6: going to be several minutes late for the first time.
Speaker 6: But I think you'll just just fine. And you've probably
Speaker 6: heard this already a million times from Tony Cruz and
Speaker 6: maybe a few others. But you never get used to
Speaker 6: getting up that early. There's there's parts of it that
Speaker 6: you get used to it, but you'll never wake up
Speaker 6: and feel refreshed at four in the morning.
Speaker 4: Doesn't happen.
Speaker 2: Only people who do that, I'm gonna assume, because I
Speaker 2: was thinking about that the other day, like, you will
Speaker 2: be used to it as far as it's routine. But
Speaker 2: I think anybody whose alarm clock goes off at three
Speaker 2: point thirty or four o'clock or maybe earlier and they're
Speaker 2: they're up and added and eager, they're either on drugs
Speaker 2: or they're crazy. I mean that maybe I'm wrong because
Speaker 2: I don't know how it could be normal, but uh, yeah,
Speaker 2: I'll get used to it and I'll certainly make it work.
Speaker 2: But how how has how has the dad life been
Speaker 2: so far?
Speaker 4: For you? Uh?
Speaker 2: And you know, not just you, obviously your lovely wife Alicia.
Speaker 2: You guys are new parents, and uh, first of all,
Speaker 2: I know that's that's an awesome experience. I told you
Speaker 2: that it would change your life, and I'm sure that
Speaker 2: it has. But uh, how, I mean, I mean, how
Speaker 2: how has it been? And I know, I know sometimes
Speaker 2: it can be difficult because again, newborn babies sometimes they
Speaker 2: just decided, yeah I'm not going to sleep, Yeah I'm
Speaker 2: going to cry, I'm gonna do this in that but
Speaker 2: it's it's a beautiful ride. Uh, And I'm just curious
Speaker 2: how you feel as a father.
Speaker 6: Well, we're both we're both me and the wife. We're
Speaker 6: both loving and very much. It was a very interesting
Speaker 6: beginning because our baby girl, Daisy. She did come four
Speaker 6: weeks early, and so with her being premature, she was
Speaker 6: in the nick you for ten or eleven days. Uh,
Speaker 6: and so that part was, you know, pretty difficult, but
Speaker 6: we may do and we figured it out and she
Speaker 6: did just fine. But once we got to bring her home,
Speaker 6: you know, everything was a brand new. Honestly, every day
Speaker 6: right now feels like a brand new experience and one way,
Speaker 6: shape or form. But both me and my wife Alicia
Speaker 6: are absolutely loving being parents, even though you know, it
Speaker 6: can be very difficult at times, as I'm sure all
Speaker 6: parents are aware of, but you know, it's very rewarding too.
Speaker 6: Even though it's only been seven short weeks, we're absolutely
Speaker 6: loving it.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna give you some advice. In fact, this is
Speaker 2: some advice my wife wanted me to pass along to
Speaker 2: you shortly after Daisy was born. And it's really hitting
Speaker 2: today because tomorrow is my son Mussa's fifth birthday party,
Speaker 2: which is crazy. He'll be five years old on Sunday,
Speaker 2: that's his birthday. And we look back at pictures and like,
Speaker 2: it goes by so fast, it's such a blur, So
Speaker 2: try your best to take it all to soak it
Speaker 2: in and live in the moment. But I feel like
Speaker 2: if that was easy to do, everybody would do it.
Speaker 2: So just try be mindful of these early early stages
Speaker 2: because as much as it can be sometimes just a
Speaker 2: lot and can be heavy, you believe it or not,
Speaker 2: you will miss it. I believe that is the case.
Speaker 2: So you know, keep keep it up, and keep keep
Speaker 2: all you know, keep keep being you. You are a
Speaker 2: great guy and I wouldn't say that if I didn't
Speaker 2: mean it, and I wouldn't bring you on the show
Speaker 2: on my Lift show if you mean the world to
Speaker 2: me and I cannot wait to be reunited with you
Speaker 2: once again. And last question I will I will ask
Speaker 2: you have you had moments in your time now with
Speaker 2: Kentucky and his morning News and with Tony and Dwight
Speaker 2: where people who you know or like was that you
Speaker 2: on has Because that happened to me. I've been in
Speaker 2: radio like three or four years and people didn't know anything.
Speaker 2: Did I hear you on their eight forty whas? So
Speaker 2: I'm sure that's happened to you, right. It's a it's
Speaker 2: a it's a reach.
Speaker 5: I really don't. You don't quite realize until you're on there.
Speaker 6: Yeah, so back whenever I was with you one seven ninety,
Speaker 6: I got it here and there. But you can almost
Speaker 6: accidentally say something on eight forty and I feel like
Speaker 6: somebody walking down the street will say they heard you
Speaker 6: on the radio station. So yeah, that definitely called me
Speaker 6: by surprise the amount of people that listened to our station.
Speaker 6: But it also makes me excited for you know, just
Speaker 6: knowing the impact to make on any of these shows.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's uh, it's it's awesome. And again, as the
Speaker 2: conversation started here with you and I who to thunk
Speaker 2: it right here? You know, imagine when we when we
Speaker 2: launched Coffee and Company in the afternoon, whenever the hell
Speaker 2: that was I was a blur to me. You know,
Speaker 2: I thought I thought it'd be successful. You know, I
Speaker 2: thought the world of you and wanted you to be
Speaker 2: a part of the show. But now for us to
Speaker 2: be together along with some other great team members Scott Fitzgerald,
Speaker 2: John Shannon and everybody else on the lineup, you know, it's, uh,
Speaker 2: it's pretty awesome stuff and I'm looking forward to it.
Speaker 2: So thank you for your time as always, and I
Speaker 2: know Tom is probably something you know you want to
Speaker 2: use for sleep now, so get some rest, rest up
Speaker 2: for the weekend. We got a big, a big, big,
Speaker 2: big show on Monday to get this thing started.
Speaker 5: Thank you, brother, you know I love you.
Speaker 6: Enjoy your last few minutes on seven ninety and I
Speaker 6: appreciate you letting me be a part.
Speaker 5: Of it, no doubt. Thank you.
Speaker 2: That is the company Man, John Olden. I haven't asked
Speaker 2: him yet. I'm not I'm not going to force the
Speaker 2: nickname on him, but I did give him the nickname,
Speaker 2: which I think is a good nickname, the company Man,
Speaker 2: because he's he's quite literally that, and I mean that
Speaker 2: in a complimentary way. He'll do whatever is needed for
Speaker 2: the team, and UH love that guy. I don't I
Speaker 2: feel I'm to the point maybe this is my uh
Speaker 2: insecurity to where I'm not because he is. I mean,
Speaker 2: he's a lot younger than me as far. I mean,
Speaker 2: he's like a decade younger than I am. So therefore,
Speaker 2: like when I call him a little brother, I'm like, what,
Speaker 2: I don't want to be little and like he's a
Speaker 2: little kid. But also, you know, he's a lot younger
Speaker 2: than me, which means I'm I guess just in denial
Speaker 2: that I'm getting older. But anyways, quick break, the last break,
Speaker 2: and then we'll come back and we'll call it. So
Speaker 2: I hope you'll stick with me. I promise it's not
Speaker 2: going to be some boohoo session here, so stick around.
Speaker 2: It's coffee company feil about Thorntons right here on Sports
Speaker 2: Talk seven ninety