2024-07-24 - BBI

It's Stick Gabriel taking a little bit of time off, so we thought we would replace some of the best interviews from over the last several months. Please enjoy the best of the Big Blue Insider, joined now by Kenny Brooks, Kentucky's new women's basketball coach. And I say new coach, but you've been on the job for a little while, but welcome to my show. Well, I appreciate it. You know, it's been a it's been a wonderful month. It's been a whirlwind, learning a whole lot about UK and just

really trying to put a rock together. But I've enjoyed every minute of it. What have you learned about UK? Very passionate fan base, and I tell you they're everywhere. You know when I talked to When I talked to Mitch, at one point he talked about the state of Kentucky being University of Kentucky fans, and he wasn't joking. You know, it doesn't matter where I go, I can get recognized a lot of different places and a very passionate fan base. So at good food, a lot of good food.

So I'm looking forward to just really learning even more about the whole whole state the whole big Blue Nation. And uh, it's been a lot of fun so far. Though, anything in particular that's that's tickled your palette in terms of the food, Well, I did. I went to a restaurant and uh and and I like ribs, but I like them a certain type of way. And uh, as soon as I ate them, you know, it was like, these might be the best ribs I've ever had in my

life. And so I'm a kind of ear I I I eat to live, I don't live to eat, and so usually if I get onto something, I might go back to it like three or four or five times and uh, until I have to go to something different. But those ribs really stuck out to me and they were fantastic. That's awesome, that's great to hear. Well, there's a lot more to learn. Uh, But let let us get over to basketball. And before I talk to you about your team, I've got to ask you. You played under Lefty Drissel at James

Madison. What was that like? Oh, it was the craziest experience of my life. It was the best periods of my life. When I played for him, I thought he was a little crazy. Uh, and I thought I thought he I thought he was doing things to us. And what I what I later learned in life, uh and as a coach, is that he was doing things for us. You know, he taught me. He taught me how to be a better basketball player. He taught me how

to be a better uh, a better husband, a better father. Uh. And he also taught me how to incorporate family into your basketball team. And uh, you know, he always had his wife around, He always had his family around, and when they were around, he was always very affectionate. I loved on them. And uh. Then he then he would go to practice and yell at us. So I found out that you could merge the two. But you know, I actually worked for him for a

year. He actually was the one who gave me my first coaching job. And uh then being around him in that aspect, just coaching, not just the player coach was really eye opening for me. And it taught me a lot. And uh and so until the day that he passed, Uh, it was it was really you know, he was very inspirational to me.

The conversations that we would have even up into his passing, they were they were just meant so much to me because he meant so much to me, and I owe him, you know, pretty much everything that I've gotten so far. He doesn't get the credit for starting midnight man this, but really he did. I mean just the midnight practice. And of course everybody knows what he said about making Maryland the UCLA the East, so kind of a self promoter. But lost in all of that coach, the fact he was

a pretty good basketball coach, wasn't it. Yeah he was. He was excellent basketball coach, great motivator, He was an innovator, as you just talked about. You know, he was always thinking outside the box. You know, if NCLA says you couldn't practice until October to fifteenth, when most people were doing it at nine o'clock or ten o'clock the next day, he did it at twelve o'clock. As you mentioned, starting the midnight madness and

just pushing the envelope. But you know, he he came up in an era as a coach where you know, the NCAA tournament wasn't as accessible as it is now. You know, one team out of every conference went I think it was a champion and uh and so it just wasn't what it is today. And if it was, who knows, who knows how he could have, you know, gotten his teams to play and go out and compete

for national championships. But uh, just to be around him. You know, he always motivated you, you know, to get the best out of his players. Uh. And and I find myself doing a lot of things that he did with my own twist on it. But you know, very influential man in my life, frevant influential man. And uh in basketball. And uh one of my claims of Thames was he got inducted to the Basketball

Hall of Fame finally. And uh. He went on in his speech he talked about two of his former players being head coaches, and I'm thinking to myself, he's about to say my name, and then all of a sudden, he paused and he went in a different direction, and I talked to him. I talked to him about a week later, and he said, Kenny, I've meant to say something about you in my speech, but I forgot your name at the moment. And I said, coach, that that

is fired with me. Long as you were thinking about me during your moment, that that was special for me. That's great. And then quickly I just wanted to know about you coached at v m I, which I think is interesting. What's it like at a at an institute, like that's kind of different from your basic four year school. Yeah, it's almost like full circle Lexington to Lexington, where I started, where I came, and where I am down and uh, you know, so now it was it was

it was an eye opening experience. Uh. It taught me a lot about the recruiting and uh and it kind of it kind of helps in today's world even though it's much different. But when we were recruit young men to v m I, we we were able to lurel them in because of the education and know what the DMO degree would do for them. Uh. But probably

the harder part was keeping them there. And we would get them there, they would go through the first year of the of the military and uh and it was really hard to keep them there because they wanted, you know, some of them wanted a pavilion life. They wanted a civilian college like and uh so I had to learn how to, you know, make sure the

guys were taken care of, they were good. Uh, and you had to recruit them, but you also had to rerecruit them while they were there, and uh, and this and it kind of it kind of bodes well for this day and age with the with the transfer portal and you're you're constantly now and you know, you're getting kids in and and you have to make sure that you're recruit them, but you also to make sure you re recruit them to make sure that they continue to want to stay at the universe that

you are now. So so it taught me a lot. It taught me that you know, you don't you don't take no for you don't. You don't let the nose balk you down. You have to continue to fight and continue to you know, just try to continue to recruit. And uh, that was a hard place to recruit for it. It was also a hard place to maintain and keep kids. But it taught me a lot and I think it really helped my helped shape my recruiting, uh mentality, And uh,

here I am today. You know, it's interesting you say that because having spent my career on TV and radio and getting to know a lot of sales people, and they've told me, you know, you you can't let the know you just have to keep going. And obviously that's what you've done with recruiting and now here you take this job and I got to think, for the first time in your career, you've had to build a roster almost from the ground up, and there are a lot of coaches having to do

that right now. How daunting a task was that when you first took this job, Very daunting and I wouldn't recommend it. It's exhausting to the point where you know, not only do you need bodies that you need the right type of body, you need the right type of mentality. And so you know, I think you put yourself in bad shape if you're just trying to

just go grab somebody. Because in the portal that says they average twelve points and twelve rebounds, you know, you still have to vet it, make sure that it's it's a good situation, not only for you, but for both parties, you know, because like like I mentioned before, you're constantly re recruiting and you want you want to be a good situation for both parties.

So it was tough. It's been very very tough act on myself, on on my staff who I'm I'm extremely proud of, and uh, they've done a wonderful job, not only trying to get accimated to lexings and people don't people don't understand how hard it is to transition and you bring a whole new staff and everyone's trying to get to learn the new procedures, uh the new surroundings, trying to build a roster at the same time, and uh

so, so many people say are you settled yet? And I just kind of think I get tickled, and I'm like, I'm the furthest thing for being settled. But my but my assistants has done a tremendous job and we kind of piece it all together. We're taking kids around on campus to you know, to tour campus, and I feel like I'm wanted the student appings to myself because I'm learning, you know, a lot about the university. So but it's it's been it's been challenging. I think we've done a really

good job to date. We're still not finished, but I like the direction that we're going in and uh so, we're not just trying to put together a team. We're trying to put together culture. And I think we've got some kids coming in that are going to really help help set it off. Because when I went to Virginia Tech. Eight years ago, there was no transfer portal, right, so pretty much what you had was what you inherited

and that's what you have to go with. And now with the freedom of movement with the transfer portal, you know, it allows kids to be able to move, but it allows coaches to be able to put together, you know, a whole new roster, you know, really quickly. So it's been challenging, exhausting, taxing, you know, whatever as you you want to use, but it's been exciting as well. UK women's basketball coach Kenny Brooks my guest. We'll have more with a coach after the break. We're

listening to the Best of the Big Blue Insider. More to come here on six point thirty w LAB. It's Dick Gabriel. Welcome back to the Best

of the Big Blue Insider. We're talking with Kentucky women's basketball coach Kenny Brooks, who, of course has been on the job for about a month, coming over from Virginia Tech, building a new roster and as coach said, a new culture at Kentucky And in terms of that roster, coach, having covered this program for quite a while myself, I can't remember the last time I saw this much size on the UK roster, which is obviously, as

you well know, something you need in general in women's basketball today and especially in the SEC. Right, Yeah, exactly, And it's something that it's been a recipe for our teams for the last five years. You know, we had Elizabeth Kitley, who was a three time for All Americans ACC Player of the Year and it allowed us to do so many different things. And so that was the blueprint that we were continuing on. And you know,

we want to be able to play through our post players. And I'll tell you one thing, when we walked through an airport, no one will mistake us with a soccer team, So they're definitely going to know that we're a basketball team. But I think you need that height. You need that height to be able to rebound. And rebounding is probably one of the big keys in the SEC. Every time we would go up against an SEC opponent when I was at Virginia Tech, uh, the key to the game was always

rebounding and uh. And obviously if you want to rebound the basketball, you gotta have some athletes. You got to have some size and that and that's something that you know, it was just a recipe for us. And we've got a couple of young ladies coming in. Albeit they're they're young players, but I think they're going to mature into players that can be uh a force in the SEC because of their height. You know, the six seven six five sixty four. Uh, got a couple of six three kids, So

so that that's that's something that we look for. Our defense is predicated on protecting the rim, so you've got to have some some shot blockers back there, but you also got to have some long players on the wing. So that's been our recipe. We're going to stick to it. That's like, that's how we like to play, and I think it's going to be I think it's gonna go well for us. What is your defensive style, your philosophy. You know, you got to dumb it down for for the the

masses, but but what do we expect. Well, it's not very complicated. It's uh, it's uh. If you want pressing and trapping and causing havoc all over the place, it's probably not the place you're going to come to and see that. We don't do it that. I think someone I was doing a podcast not too long ago, someone brought it up to me that we were out of three hundred and sixty three teams, I think we were like three hundred and sixtieth in forcing turnovers. And it's because we like

to rely on accountability. You know, we want to make sure that we're guarding the paint and we're going to make sure that we're going to contest shots, and then we want to be in great rebounding position to rebound the basketball. And although we were we were three hundred and sixtieth out of three sixty three and forcing turnovers, we were in the top ten percentile of defensive efficiency.

So we really we really guard the paint, we really contest shots, and we like to rebound the basketball at a high cliff and those are all those are all things that we led the ACC in or the top of the ACC is the defensive efficiency and rebounding, and then I think that leads to us getting out on the break and then we've had a really good offensive efficiency. So I'm not one of those helter skelter coaches where we're going to press

for forty minutes and you know, all that kind of stuff. We'll we'll put some pressure on you in surprise areas, but mainly we're going to protect the thing. Are you a zone man a man? A mix which you know what if you had asked me two or three years ago out of scoff at the zone. But by necessity we've had to do a little bit of it. And and uh we went to zone a little bit last year, more than probably ever in my career, just because we were tall and we

were long. We just weren't the most athletic, and so we had to mix our defenses up to keep people off balance a little bit. But primarily man a man. That's what I love, because I love the accountability of it. You know, against the zone, you can always say, well, I didn't know whose coverage it was, well, and a man of man, we know whose coverage it was, and so so that's part of the accountability part of it. But but I'd like to be primarily man a

man, but we will sprinkle some zone in there by necessity. You have nine players on your roster officially, do you anticipate going to thirteen or fifteen with walk ons or have you decided that yet? Now we haven't decided yet. I mean obviously, like I mentioned earlier, I think it's a bigger key to get the right right type of players, right type of people. Sure, a great working number for us would be about twelve, twelve or thirteen, and so you just want to be able to maximize and be very

efficient, you know, with your with your players. One time I went to fifteen and I just felt like it was it was it was it was crowded. Yeah, So we've all working number for us has always been good twelve or thirteen players, and if we can get that, that's what we'll be happy with. We still were still waiting on a couple recruits, you know, making decisions. We've got the recruiting shutdown coming up next week and

then we'll get back at it again the week after. You have an international flavor to this roster, a couple of kids from Australia, from Canada, Portugal. You have an assistant from Lithuania. Is that unusual for you or is that always something you've looked at the international side of things, you know, I think it's kind of just kind of goes. You have to evolve.

And I do have an assistant coach who is from Lithuania, who is you know, heavily involved with the international scene, and you know she's you know, very knowledgeable and you know, so she's being able to bring a few players to light. But some of it too, it just happens to you know, we recruited George A. Moore to Virginia Tech and she just happened to be from Australia. And then a lot of times when you get a player like that who has as much success as a player like Georgia does,

it really makes your program more attractive to even more international players. Sure, because these players are coming over and you know, they want a mirror

of success, and Georgia was a blueprint. So it's kind of opened up a couple of doors for us. But also a lot of it has to do with with coach rad and and her connections, you know, with with the players over there because she goes over and uh she coached on the junior national team I think summer ago, and you know she's able to see a lot of these players and what they can do and how how their abilities could

translate, you know, to the to the American college game. And uh so it's been very very successful for us being at Virginia Tech, where you know, we weren't the household name. We had to build it up. We had to build it up. And and you know, because you know the kids over there, they don't dream about coming to sup Virginia Tech. So we had to make Virginia Tech very attractive and uh and so now and being at the University of Kentucky a little bit more name recognition, you know,

hopefully that it would open up some even more doors for us. And with the success that we've had with for the international players, you know, those two couple together, it could open up a lot of doors for us. You have one player right now in your roster from Kentucky, Cassidy Road from Virgie. Uh do you know much yet about Kentucky girls high school basketball? Did you get into Kentucky much recruiting from Virginia Tech? We we did.

We we we recruited a couple young ladies from Kentucky. Always aware of players in Kentucky and uh so, Uh, I know, I know that it's very important. You know, there's a player of our caliber that we make sure we go after her with due diligence. It's also got to be a good fit. It really does. And I think Big Blue Nation, you know, they they want to win. You know, they would love to win with Kentucky players, but I think they still want to win.

And so so we're we're diving in hard. We're diving in hard and trying to get to know the state even more and uh and trying to cover the state and make sure that you know, any young lady that is good enough player to help us win basketball games that we're on it. And but you know, you get into a situation where when I was at Virginia Tech, we had one young lady on our roster from Virginia and that was my daughter. So you know, so but you know, Hokey Nation loved us because

we were winning. And so, you know, it's just it's a different it's a different era. It's a different age where sometimes you get a kid, you know, and they want to get away, and so you have to respect that too, but you also have to just go out and you do your due diligence, but also try to keep you know, all the Kentucky kids at home. So what we're looking forward to it you know, we're getting settled right now and pretty much our main focus right now is to

get a roster together, a good roster together. And as soon as we're able to put that to bed, we're able to dive into the younger players in the state of Kentucky to make sure we get them on campus and introduce them to our new staff and our new philosophies and new culture and what we're going to try to do at KAY. You introduce them to an upgraded facility as well. What were your thoughts on Memorial Coliseum when you saw it?

How close are they to being done? Well, it's still in the scale to the stages, so you have to when you come over, you have to use your vision goggles. That's the way selling recruit, you know. So I'm I'm a big HGTV fan, and I like the thirty minute episodes where you see the beginning of it and then you get to see, you know, a couple of commercials later, you get to see the finished product.

Right. Well, that's not that's not the case here. You know, it's taken a little while, and uh everything I've been told that it's on schedule to be done in uh in August sometimes, and uh, but it's gonna be It's gonna be a huge selling point because I think the intimacy of the building is going to be fantastic for women's college basketball. And uh, you're going to get sixty five hundred people in there. It's allowed. It's going to give you a home court advantage. Uh, brand news,

beautiful new locker room. Those are all things that you have to have in this day and age. You have to have, you know, a great program, you have to have in il you have to have facilities because you know, these kids are going from campuses to campuses and a lot of times in the early stages are there, they're comparing and you want to put yourself in position and give yourself a chance to recruit these kids. And I think

the renovations to Memorial would definitely help. And then you know, obviously the ever ever changing landscape of nil and things of that matter, just they're really really important, and it's just just the whole the whole thing is shifted in the last two, three, four or five years, you know, from year to year of the importance of little things like that, and so this is no this is no different, and you know Memorial is definitely going to

help them. Coach, thank you so much for joining us. I'm looking forward to meeting you you as well. Thank you for your time. You're listening to the best of the Big Blue Insider. More to come here on six thirty w l a P. It's Dick Gabriel, Welcome back to the best of the Big Blue Insider, joining us down on a celebrity hotline as a longtime friends of the show and a pretty successful college volleyball coach, and that is Craig Skinner, coach. Welcome back from Japan. I don't remember.

I've been there a couple of times. I don't remember if I ever knew how to say welcome them back. But how did that go? I don't think I can tell you that. Either I can say thank you Orgato and then hello can eat you up. That's about it. It sounds good. It was a phenomenal trip and what a life experience for all of us that had the chance to go, and and our players just had a really new, cool experience the way to play the game of volleyball, and and

also had some challenging bonding times together and overall huge success. Well, let's talk about a couple of those things. First of all, the bonding. This isn't the first overseas trip that that your team one of your teams has made Have you always seen the results you hoped in terms of pulling kids together?

Yeah, yes, because you know all our you know, we're all Americans typically, and you know we have you know, people coming from all over the place, you know, on different background of different families, different socio economic backgrounds and all of the above. And the one of the coolest things they get a shared experience together that none of them, none of them have ever seen, done or felt before. And so having that to pull

from during the season and challenging times, I think it's it's crucial. And all of these kids have traveled as athletes, but as you said, generally within the confines of the United States, but anybody who's gone overseas, especially to Asia, I found, uh, that is that is so different, isn't it. It brings some challenges, but it's kind of fun, isn't

it. Yeah. I mean the sleep deprivation, the way of life, the you know, the long hours and the plane and you know, trucking your bag through airports and trains and buses and you know all that stuff. It's it's you know, we're very fortunate and privileged to be able to travel the way we do here in the United States, and that's a whole different experience. And so absolutely, and the players there in Japan, I mean they say take such pride and passion for all of their possessions, and that

was a really neat experience. And it was leadership from the top down, from the seniors to the freshmen. In those colleges, the seniors were the one doing the work showing the freshmen how to get it done. When you were coming back, could you tell or did you talk to them about the trip? I mean, I got to think they really enjoyed it. Oh,

for sure. We had the last day, we had a kind of a debriefing meeting with everybody and they shared some amazing different thoughts and experiences about what they saw, felt and witnessed and and you know, so that this our team, I think, really did a good job of having great perspective on what it was all about. You mentioned at the very beginning that they found a different way to play volleybody you mean that literally? I mean, is there a different style you all played over there, or what? Oh?

Absolutely, I mean you know that the one thing that the Japanese are very aware of who they are and what their strengths are and they do everything to maximize them, and so we're more physical, taller, higher above the net, but very execute the skills and defensive possessions as well as any teams that we've played since I've been in Kentucky. And so it was very difficult

to terminate the ball. And you know, you just see just typically balls that were kills by us were being played right back and and so you had to earn it and it was really cool to see your team kind of have to figure that out. That's great. How many matches did you play? We ended up playing five matches, and they're all against college teams there who are all every maetative, and we ended up winning four of them. Two of them went to distance. The five sets, and but you know,

there, I think there was only two blowout sets. We got blown out in a set and we we blew a team out and a set, and other other than that, it was it was pretty close. That's that's perfect for what you need on And one last question about this trip. It's not the same, I know as moving a football team, but that's a lot of people to take a long way, and there's lots to do with visas

and passports. Who gets the gold star for organizational skills? Oh, I mean christ and Sanford, our director of operations, was amazing with all of that. And Katie Eiserman, you know, our administrator. You know, it's huge in that. And then we have a company called Bring It Promotions, a guy named Tim Kelly has been taking us on tours ever since and they do an outstanding job of keeping us dialed in and organized and itineraries planned

and just just you know, amazing behind the scenes work from everybody. Excellent. Well, let's get back to one of the original reasons I called you was because of the American Volleyball Coaches Association First Served Showcase. It'll be here before you know it, right August twenty seventh over in Louisville, and that gives you a head start on your what does it mean to your program to

begin the year with an event like this so close to home. Well, first of all, this showcase used to happen about ten or fifteen years ago, and we were part of it in twenty ten. But to be able to do this and play three or four days before everybody else in the country at the final four venue an hour up the road and our fans have a chance that our fans need to buy tickets soon because the teams that are there,

Louisville, Wisconsin, and Nebraska all all have a great following. And so we need to, you know, show up in blue with all those red schools that are could be in this event and show what we're about, so a big blue nation. We need you to start buying tickets on I believe it's June thirteenth or fourteenth, but at an unbelievable event that we have the privilege of being invited to. And man, are you biting off a big chunk You just read it off three programs that are among the best in

the country. You know, I could see those fourteens being ranked one through four pre season. They will be very highly ranked, and they will travel and they will be eating up tickets. And I don't have any doubt that this is going to be a sold out event so at the young and it's going to be hyped all over the place, and of course I know we'll do our part and can't wait to see some Blue in the crowd for sure. Yeah, and it's going to be somewhere on one of the ESPN flavors,

but yeah, we urge you to get there. You face Nebraska and U of L plays Wisconsin. People who follow the Kentucky program might know that you your first year job prior to Kentucky was at Nebraska. Craig, what's it like for you? And it's been quite a while since you were there, but still I know what it meant to you to work there and learn there. What's it mean to you when your team faces off because you've played

Nebraska a few times during your head coaching career. Yeah, I mean it's it's, you know, one of the most respected, you know, sports program and all of college sports, you know, with the following they have the commitment they've had to volleyball itself. And I was fortunate enough to work in that program, And if I didn't work in that program, I wouldn't

be in the in the seed I am today. So you know, certainly have a lot of respect for them, and and you know, obviously enormous amount of you know success with national championships and you know, we were able to win one here a few years ago and still haven't beaten Nebraska yet,

So that's on the on the bucket list. And then what not a better time to do it in August twenty seventh, So you know, great chance for our program and certainly to be mentioned in the same breath as them now as an honor for me personally, but also for everyone of all the Kentucky I know you gave him a run during the nca Tournament one year, but

yeah, you need you need to check that off the list. Every basketball fan in Kentucky knows how Kentucky basketball became what it is the grassroots with the Adolf Rupp and then through the years, how did Nebraska become such a power in women's volleyball? Man they you know, it started back in the eighties.

A guy named Terry Pettitt was the coach there and he always tells the story is he was peddling tickets door to door and he would he would bring out he would bring out folding chairs when they first started matches and what their their coliseum was in Nebraska campus, and they started with you know, a couple of hundred, then in a thousand, and then you know, by the time it got to the mid nineties and they were selling out four thousand

in their coliseum, and then they had to you know, start over and go to the demanding center and now they're getting eight or nine thousand people every game, and then had ninety two thousand people in the football stadium last August for a preseason match. I mean, it's it started from the ground up and they did the leg work, and you know it's it's uh. You know that Terry Pettitt John Cook has done an unbelievable amount of that program in

the sport of volleyball so well. And that said, you referenced this past year during the postseason when you got some some great crowds and during a regular season what it was like when you first got here to Kentucky And obviously it was a great opportunity for you as you as a head coach for the first time. But why did you think that you could get You haven't quite gotten to where Nebraska is with crowds, but you're getting there. Why did you

think that was possible at UK? To be honest, I had several chances, you know, to be a head coach prior, and I wanted to be the head coach at a program that was the flagship institution of the state and had no pro sports in the state. Because the fans live and die by their wildcats, and that's certainly proven true to this point. We still got, you know, some steps to go, but from where we started with about seventy five people in the stands our first match to where we are

now is the marathon away. But we got another marathon to go, and you know, wouldn't want to do it in any other place. Yeah, man, I remember covering in the eighties. Lexion had hosted the Final Four and it was so great. That's where I kind of got the bug, which, as you know, I've had for quite a while. But it's been so much fun watching watching the program grow. But I don't know if I ever heard that from you that you had other opportunities to be a head

coach. How tempting was it to do the knee jerk thing and say yes? Or maybe it wasn't a knee jerk thing. I mean it was. It was a good feel I you know, I was offered the Iowa State job around the same time and interviewed there, then came to Lexington and had lunch with Mitch and and to it around. It just felt like a place that my wife, Megan and I belonged, and you know, you just have a feeling sometimes, and the same thing with recruiting. I mean,

recruits have a feel and that's where they belong. And you know, so I got that feeling when I was here, and I'm like, this is this is where we're going. And we thought we'd be here five years and here we are almost twenty years later, and then doing the same thing. So raising your kids and hoisting a national championship trophy. And I've talked to Mitch occasionally when you he's gotten really passionate about something and I can't imagine what

the hard cell's like when he's trying to hire somebody. Well, it's you know, he's a pretty pretty authentic natural guy and he wants people that you know, kind of you know, see the blue collar, down to Earth's mentality that that he does. And you know, so, I mean, you're not you don't have to sell a tank and to come to Kentucky. It's just a pretty pretty special place. We're talking with Kentucky volleyball coach Craig Skinner. We're listening to the best of the Big Blue Insider want to come

here on six thirty w lap. Hey, it's Dick Gabriel and you're listening to the best of the Big Blue insider talk about Craig Skinner, Kentucky head volleyball coach, about the Wildcats opening games or game in the ABCA First Serve Showcase coming up August twenty seven. Keep an eye out for tickets. This is going to be a big deal with the Wildcats taking on Nebraska, Louisville taking on Wisconsin. These are power house programs and it would be great volleyball

coming up August twenty seventh. Let me ask you a little bit before I turn you loose about your roster. You've got new faces, as always, that's all part of college sports. Kids come and go. But Emma Groham is back, eleanor Bevan Molly tells you you've got in Brooklyn and Aaron Lamb. You've got the core of what could be a pretty special team, don't you really really good group of upper classmen returning. We have a couple,

you know, red shirt freshmen that didn't play last year. They're super athletic and have a chance to be special for us. And then a freshman class for well three freshmen and a transfer d Laney Hogan from Xavier. But the freshman class is super athletic. You know, got a chance to impact our

program. And you know, so the blend of upper class and a freshmen is exciting and you know, but the margins are thin against teams like Nebraska with cottin Louisville, and you know, so we got to do over part you know this in August and training to to's see how we can separate ourselves. The freshman couldn't go to Japan, right, We actually were able to take our freshman this year. Change that rule a couple of years ago,

so we took three of them. Unfortunately, one of them got hurt our first day of practice that you couldn't make the trip, but you know, they they were able to come and it was yeah, you're having that, you know, a couple of week bump and time with us is huge for pre seasons. Yeah, just not just the bonding, but learning the way that you want things done, I mean live, live action, right,

absolutely, No, it's huge. For sure. What are we going to see from your team in terms of the way you plays are going to be more of the same. You're gonna have to tweak things. I mean every year is different. I know. Yeah, our balance probably distribution might be a little different, but we want to spread the net from antenna to antenna, go with speed. And you know, I think are blocking and serving has taken another step up this spring, which was a point of emphasis.

So we were I think we were the number one first of all side out team in the country last year, and we needed to score some more easy points of the blocking defense. We spent a lot of time this spring working on that and I think it's paying off and you know, hopefully we see some of that in August and September. Emmac grom is a three time All American. Not a bad focal point, right, I mean, when you can build around somebody like that coach on the floor, that's pretty obvious question,

Craig. But how big is that for you? Well, you always say that, you know, you don't realize how good a quarterback or setter you have until they're gone. And you know, I mean, Emma is a special talent. She's led the country and assists a couple of times, and just a superior athlete. And with her experience, you know, coming back, it allows us to put our energy and focus on some other things that we need to shore up. So Yeah, it's a great luxury to

have a player like her with us again. And Brooklyn Delay got a chance last year to blossom because you were juggling some injuries and when the kids got healthy and came back, she made you play her, didn't she. I mean she she picked up a lot of early experience. That a real bonus for you. I think, Yeah, we knew what the talent she was coming in, but you never know how quickly the freshmen are going to adjust.

And you know, when she got the opportunity to play in the back row midway through the season, she became one of the best attackers out of the back row in the country. And her attack percent is out of the back row is unlike any attack percents we've ever had there. And so she grabbed that opportunity, ran with an elite competitor, and she's getting a chance this summer with the USAU nineteen team and oh wow, to try and qualify

for the World Championships. So she leaves to compete with usas you and fourteenth And yeah, special player. One other question about a player that's Eleanor Bevin. It was only the libre of the year as a true freshman. You have had I don't want to say luck, but you've had success with Libro's defensive players, setters. You know, you've had some some of the big kids as well do incredibly well. But what is it about your program? I guess it is I know a lot of its talent evaluation and development.

But it's been such a mainstay in your program. You know that that started in the first year we came to Kentucky. I've always felt like that you if you had good liberros, you had good setters, you had a chance. And you know, I've always felt like that. I think that if you have those two positions, I think in any sport you know where you're have the numbers we do. If you have two or three positions anchored down every year, you have a chance to compete, and then you fill that

around with people that gets a job done. At crunch time, you're always in the conversation when you have players, good players in those two positions. And I think that, you know, you can say that for every top ten team, they have a good setter and they have a good liberro, and we certainly don't ever want that to change. Well, I'll let you go so this. This is a really challenging time in college athletics for you coaches, really for everybody with a portal with NIL, but particularly in the

SEC. Now you've got two teams coming in one in particular, it's going to make your life a lot more difficult with Texas and Oklahoma joining the league? Are you looking forward to that? Did you cringe when you heard it? How do you feel about that? You know, I don't. I don't want to say we've ever gotten comfortable, but winning seven SEC championships in a row, you know you kind of like, oh, what else do when you do? But it certainly doesn't get let you have any comfort at

all. And you know, Texas has won the last two national championships, so they have the target on their back and you know, we got to figure out a way to challenge them for our our conference championship and then compete for national champs So I love the opportunity with situations like this, and that's why it came to the SEC because Florida was dominating our league, and you know, it was a great chance to kind of go after a program like

that and this will be no different. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Take care you're listening to the best of the Big Blue Insider. Our number two is next here on six point thirty w lap. Hey, it's Stick Gabriel. Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider. Our number two taking a little time off, so please enjoy the best of the Big Blue Insider. Joining us now as a guy who's been with us many times here on the Celebrity Hotline. That's Tim Sullivan, veteran sports writer. He is

a freelancer over and Louisville, contributes to Louisville's Leo Weekly. And Tim, welcome back. Haven't talked with you in a while. Since then, so much has happened. But and I don't want to sound like I'm dragging you in to talk about, you know, the rest in Peace segment of the show. But we've lost some important people over the last couple three weeks, including Willie Mays. And you tweeted that you got to see him play once

in the All Star Game in nineteen sixty nine. What were your memories of that and of just Willie Mays in general, because you worked on the West Coast for a while. Yeah, well, you know, I was fourteen years old when the All Star Game came to Washington, and you know, we were the two closest cities were both American leagues, so I never really got to see all the great stars of the National League, which was really dominant at that time, except in that nineteen sixty nine All Star Game.

And I looked up the box score last night and I saw that Willie Mays didn't even start the game. He pinch hit and hit a fly ball to the right field, and that was the extent of it. I don't think he played the field. He probably was on a plane by the time the game ended. But that was the only time I saw Hank Aaron play, and Roberto Clemente and William Covey, a lot of really great stars who unfortunately that was before interleague play, so there was no opportunity and I wasn't going

to drive to Philadelphia as a fourteen year old. Yeah, and we've talked so much about Willie Mage over the last couple of days, and I never got to see him play in person, obviously on television, but from everything I've read and seen, I believe he was the greatest all around player in the history of the game. Do you share that or who else do you put up there. Well, I think he kind of stands alone in that

regard. Mean, Bob Costas was analyzed that an interview I guess he did yesterday, and you know he said that Ted Williams or Hank Aaron might have been better hitters. You know, it's hard to compare him to the stars of the segregated era, Babe Ruth and Na Cob. But you know, in my experience, you know, I never saw anybody who could do everything that he did. I think he let the league in stolen bases four times and home runs four times, and you know it just was such a dynamic

player in center field. I remember growing up, the kid across the street was a big Willie May's fan, and I was. I was a Mickey Mantle fan at that time, and we had some vigorous debates. But as time went on and Mantles injuries accumulated, his run kind of the two in the mid sixties, I mean, it was pretty clear that that May's had surpassed him. And you know, you know, for most of my life, he's been the greatest living ball player, and he may have been the

greatest ballplayer of them all. That's very subjective. But you know, Ruth pitched, which gives him an extra dimension. But I don't. I don't think he could run like likely May. You know what's fascinating to me is having read so much about him over the last few days. The catch of the Vic Wurtz fly ball in the Polo Grounds, the massive polo grounds.

Willie May said that wasn't his best catch, and he talked about a couple of others, including one where he knocked himself out running into the wall against the Dodgers. When he woke up, there was Jackie Robinson standing next to him, just to make sure that Willie had caught the ball. So when even Willie May says that wasn't his best catch, that to me is staggering. Well when you when you think about it, I mean this is this was a catch in the World Series, so it has a special cachet.

Uh to me. One of the most remarkable things about that catch is how quickly he got the ball back to the infield and held a runner. Yes, but I've seen you over the head catches. I think Jim Edvans may have done that a few times. But I remember watching the game of the week, probably the mid sixties from San Francisco, and he went up and his memory serves his foot was like in the in the in the stomach of the left fielder went up and went up catch the ball. I mean,

I'd like to see a replay of that. I don't I don't know that I have for probably fifty years. But he he was indelible, and uh, you know, I think if you look at at the numbers, you might conclude that that the Hank Aaron was was was the better hitter. But boy Uhmed and everything. Yeah, there's a there was a great line. He had a hit a triple once and then somebody wrote the only man who could have caught it hit it. Yeah, and then you know, we're

all reminded that he lost a couple of seasons to service. And I always think about that howling wind in San Francisco that robbed him of home run. So, uh, we have also lost Jerry West And you tweeted about him, and I talked on the show right after tim that with my dad going to West Virginia, U he was from Fairmont. I grew up a Jerry West fan. I knew who he was, and I didn't realize until I read it no, but that Wes was not a fan of the nickname Zeke

from Cabin Creek because he really wasn't from Cabin Creek. But the bottom line is a tremendous player who has denied so many opportunities to win a title. He did win the one, but also was the architect of championship teams. So when you put those two facets together, he was absolutely one of the all time greats, wasn't he. Yeah, well, I think he's in

the Hall of Fame for three different achievements. You know, one is an executive, one as a player, and then I think he was in there also as a member of the Olympic team in nineteen And you know, I was talking to somebody. I guess it was a few days ago, and I so, here's a great trivia question for you. And you named the only player in baseball, football, and basketball to be named the MVP of the championship from a losing team, and he was one of them. Yeah,

you can get the other two. I'm gonna be really impressed. Uh, Chuck Howley for good, I do not know baseball. Bobby Richardson, no kid, when the Pirates won on Masarowski silm Run. Oh yeah, I remember reading about that series, Tim where the Yankees scored one thousand runs and the and the Pirates scored a handful of runs, but they scored just enough four times. So But anyway, getting back to West, I don't know if you watched any of these made for TV series, but I I

don't have HBO, so I didn't see the one. But uh, in reading about him, I didn't realize that he was such a tortured soul because you could understand it because they could not get past the Celtics. Did you know much about that? You know, I I remember reading about that, and you know I watched some of those games as a very young boy. But you know, he was such a dynamic player, and he and Baylor,

Algian Baylor were you know, tremendous combo. But you know, the Celtics were so stacked in those days, and you know, if you could get past Pablo Cik and Sam Jones, you had to deal with Bill Russell. So you know, I think he was kind of a filtering of the Windmill in a way. I mean, just they were a little bit out manned, although you know, they they took him to the wire several times and before they finally got wilt and broke through. But you know, he

was tremendous fun to watch. And I was talking to Bob Galvano about the nineteen seventy shot that he made the force overtime against end up losing the game. But I mean, what everybody remembers is that shot. Yeah. I mean, sometimes the guy from the losing team is more compelling than the winner, just because of, you know, the burden he as the bear and

the performance that he has to do to keep his team in it. And I always think of Jerry West as this noble warrior who is just a little bit out of his depth when it came to the overall talent on his team versus the Celtics. Yeah, and he played three times with West Virginia and the UK Invitational tournament has three double doubles, so obviously one of the best players ever to come through lexing. And we're talking with Tim Sullivan, freelance

sports writer over in Louisville. You're listening to the best inside talking to Tim Sullivan, foreland sports writer based in Louisville. And Tim, before we talk more sports, I did want to ask about a tweet of yours that came a couple of weeks ago, when you said you were fortunate enough to accompany a D Day veteran back to Normandy when you were with the Cincinnati Inquirer. I didn't know that you had done that. Tell me about that. That

must have been an incredible experience. It was. It was really one of the most memorable things I've done in my career. And you know, as the fiftieth anniversary of D Day was coming up, I had the idea that maybe there was a D Day veteran in town who would be willing to retrace his steps, and I talked to maybe half a dozen of them, and they're probably all gone now, but you know, I found a gentleman named Erry Wecter. It was a medic and hit Utah Beach on that morning and

you managed to survive. And we went to England and France and you know other places that he had stopped during his his time, and it was just it was an honor really to be a part of that. And we went before the fiftieth anniversary, so all of our stories could be prepared before that exact date. But I remember we were walking through a museum somewhere in France, and I I didn't sense that I was getting the reaction that that that I had hoped for. And I said, Harry, would you mind wearing

your VFW hat? And he did, and this this gentleman comes over to him and says, thank you for saving me country. That was. That was pretty emotional for I think for all of us. And I think back to that trip and pat Ready was a photographer from the Inquiry. He was. He came along and documented it, and I remember spending about an hour and a half on Utah Beach waiting for him to get the light just right for the main photo. And it was worth it, I think. And

and I miss Harry, and he's been gone now probably twenty years. But that was. That was a tremendous assignment. One of my next door neighbors several years ago was a veteran. In fact, he played a key role in getting the World War Two memorial erected in Washington, d c. And in fact, they sent an honor flight to get him when they unveiled it. Archie Deadman. But he told me one story about World War Two. But as you probably know, veterans don't like to talk, especially D Day

veterans about what happened there. Did you get Harry to open up a little bit about his experience, Not as much as I would have hoped, And you know, he was kind of reticence and did not go into great detail about V Day itself. You know, there were some interesting stories about, you know, when he was stationed in England waiting for the invasion, and some of the things that happened to him, you know, along the way,

but very terse when it came to the battle itself. But there were you know, there were some veterans who were much more animated and detailed, But Harry was a wonderful guy and I wouldn't have traded him for any of them. Yeah. Well, let me shift you back to sports. You have tweeted and written as well about the Kentucky Speedway and that was such a great place to be on racing weekends, and then the races go away, and now that's a big parking lot. Do you have any hope that we're

going to see significant races there again in the near future. I would say the near future is pretty unlikely. The NASCAR schedule is packed and in order to get a race, you basically have to take one from somebody else, right, you know that's here. I mean the owners of the track. They on eleven tracks, and they decided to move the Quaker State four hundred to Atlanta, which is another track they own, and you know, that's kind of the heart of NASCAR country. So I don't know what kind of

attendance they've had there. NASCAR doesn't announce attendants. Sometimes you can find it in documents, you know, when they apply for refunds or or subsidies from the state. But I think it's pretty unlikely that that you'll see racing there anytime soon. Although h Denny Handlin, the driver, was talking about the shift to more mile and a half tracks, and he mentioned Kentucky Speedway on

his podcast last month. Uh, you know, his possibility. But you know, he added that there'd be a lot of work that had to be done. You know, it's been almost four years now since the last race, and I don't know that they've done a lot to maintain the track, and it probably needs a lot more than a pay job at this point. But you know, the big problem I think is that the culture of our racing now is such that states are throwing millions and millions of dollars at operators

and NASCAR to attract and maintain races. And state of North Carolina I think divided forty five point eight million dollars among seventeen tracks. Now that's and including eighteen million at North Wilkesboro, which is a very small track and had not had a race in decades. But they managed to spend enough money to attract the NASCAR All Star Race, and they've had that a couple of years now. You know, I don't quite understand how attract that size can command races

when Kentucky's feed ways much bigger. Yeah, and presumably could could draw a significantly bigger crowd. But if you look at the statistics and the the refunds that they've gotten on sales tax, tell me where you want to know. But from the first NASCAR race and twenty eleven, the first Quaker Stay four hundred to the last one, the decline in sales tax refunds that they received,

which was a reflection of attendance pretty dramatic. I mean, I think the last year was three hundred and fifty three thousand as opposed to a peak

of you know, one point one four million. Wow. You know, so we don't know what the actual attendance was, but that includes concessions and food and you know, anything that charge sales tax on, so you get a pretty good glimpse of it. I don't see the political will to subsidize the track to any greater extent that it's already been, and it doesn't appear that the owners are in any great rush to do anything. They're making money off of the parking of forwards XS inventory, and I don't know if that

covers all their costs. But they do have ten other tracks that all have NASCAR races, so I don't think they're hurting too much. Tim Sullivan is a freelance sports writer who has worked on the West coast, Cincinnati, Louisville. Works out of Louisville now and you can see some of his work in Leo Weekly, among other places. Tim, thanks so much. Good talking to you, Chick. My pleasure any time they're listening to the Best of the Big Blue Insider. More to come here on six point thirty w LAP.

It's Dick Gabriel. Welcome back to the Best of the Big Blue Insider. Joining us now the Road Warrior Brian Milo, He, like a lot of us, was out in Omaha to cover those Kentucky Baseball Wildcats. And Brian, I like to call you, mister Baseball. Having played as you did at the college level, what was it like for you going to Omah.

I don't know if you've ever been there for the Cosworld Series, but to go and cover a team you have covered for so long, it had to be like, you know, making a pilgrimage in the Holy Land. For you, it was. And I think of another Louisavillion ned Baty, who passed a couple of years ago, in the movie Rudy, when he said, this is the most beautiful sight these eyes have ever seen. You

know, it was a big deal for me. I had never been to Omaha to cover the College World Series, order to be at the College World Series, but I was there in March to cover more heads eight that's right. And my hotel room was right behind home late and I remember telling my dad, I mean, you opened the curtains and there's the statue, And I told my dad, maybe this is foreshadowing for the baseball Wildcats, And sure enough it was. Yeah, Hotter and blazes. But still, you

know, some broad enough breeze so we could survive it. But still the entire town was full of baseball fans literally, wasn't it. Yeah? It was. And when I checked out yesterday morning, there was a gentleman at the hotel. He said, people just don't understand. This is a ten

day Christmas celebration for the city of And I didn't think about that. But when you also factor in how many Little League teams and I say little League, they're baby Bruce cal Ripken whatever they're calling them in these days, perfect game, what have you. There were more than six hundred teams in the Omaha area from age eight to eighteen, I guess that were participating in tournaments. And they purposely do that so the kids can also come to the College

World Series. And I thought, what a genius marketing move to hold those tournaments in the same city at the same time, so to speak, so you can go and enjoy it. And you see the city just open up its arms in a way that maybe only Oklahoma City does for softball. That it's unique because football, they're all over the country. Basketball you're all over the country. And then you only get four teams to the final four. Well, baseball, you get eight and you bring in ages from five to

ninety five. I've been to Oklahoma City for the College World Series when Kentucky went, but our hotel wasn't right in the middle of downtown, nor was the stadium, So I can't draw that parallel. But yeah, I think you'll agree that Omaha has a bit of a reputation just it's Omaha. It's Nebraska's in the Midwest. But you talk about vibrant, I mean the architecture, the buildings are fascinating, They're gorgeous, and downtown is lit up.

And I don't mean just the office lights in the buildings. I mean all these art projects are lit up. And it's just fascinating, isn't it. It is, it's and I think it's just the aura. Omaha knows who it is, if that's such praise, and they know for these ten days they must be perfect. Yeah, if the picture ever throws a perfect game or a no hitter, the city of Omaha, if it was a picture, they know for ten days they have to be flawless. And you don't

see you don't see problems. Outside of the stadium. People are friendly, they're getting along for the most part. Yeah, you may have a discussion, a heated discussion about which team is better or who's going to win, but you see people all of the time, Hi, her, are you good morning? Good morning? Hey, go Cat, go Aggie's go Gators, whatever, And it is just a fraternity of baseball people that it was so enlightening and refreshing to see people genuinely happy just to be at a location.

And then afterwards you go out and you see these same people and they're rehashing the game from earlier and for the games and just a it is. As I mentioned on social media, it's the highlight of my career. I've been to like you, been to final fours, Bowl games, Kentucky derby, PGA championships, on and on and on. Nothing in my professional life will ever equippse what took place this past week because it was the first time.

As I mentioned in the postgame interview to Nick minzion, I said, you know, for decades it was the question was when will Kentucky get here? And now the question is when will Kentucky get back? That's right, because we've all had a taste of it. Although as you know, I was there forty years ago, but not covering Kentucky. That's a different animal. And to see I still talk about I don't remember who it was. It might have been a Tennessee fan who predicted on Twitter the UK fans would

not show up in Omaha. Could not have been more wrong. And Tom Hart took up for the Big Blue Nation from the SEC network. And you know I gauged it. I mentioned this on the show last night, Brian. But I'm sure you saw the omavalls Oma pack, you know, with different T shirts. I tried to find an Oma Cats T shirt for a friend of mine and I found one store that had three shirts remaining. They were all like two X and three X. I couldn't buy one. That

to me was as good a barometer as any. You couldn't find an Oma Cats shirt? Do you need a large shirt Oma Cats? Yes? Well I bought something else. But let me find out. I know a guy. Oh, you know a guy. Okay, you know a guy you mentioned the postgame news conference with Nick, and I really think he was a hit. I think UK was a hit. The dugout, the style, the way they won the game. The town was talking about him. They absolutely and Nick Minze he captured the variable fan the X factor. Well who

do we root for? You know, that day before and I said this on social media again, he just and I don't know if he meant to do it. Nick is very calculated now true, but I don't know if he understood it at the moment. Maybe he did, and to his credit, he probably did. But I think he just coined the baseball phrase for the Wildcats, let it be the Cats. And when he said, if you're looking for a team to root for, if you let it be the Cats, and I just thought, that's gold, Jerry, that's gold.

You know, he just hit it. And sure enough people from Florida were wanting the Cats to win. For Florida State fans, they were wanting the Cats to win. Other teams that don't like Texas, A and M were wanting Kentucky to win because they are there for the first time, and they

did. And when you win the way they did the first time, North Carolina fans were rooting for Kentucky to be in C state because of all the rivalry elsewhere of the other seventeen means, Carolina adopted UK to beat in the states, and then Florida State fans were cheering for uk to beat Florida. I mean it was Bucky was the X factor in that tournament in terms of the fans, and they nailed it. Bryan Mile and my guest from WKYT were listening to the Best of the Big Blue Insider. More to come here

on six thirty WLAP. It's Dick Gabriel, Welcome back to the Best of the Big Blue Insider for talking with Brian Mylin, sports director WKYTE back from Omaha after the weather delay in the tournament and then the weather delay with his flight, But it's all worth it. In that moment, Brian, I told somebody, I said, I had to blink and reprocess Mitch Day's home run and I had to shake my head like did I just see an instant

replay of something else? This is an incredible moment that anybody was there will never forget. You talked about it earlier, but and you having seen a million baseball games, that's got a rank right up there with you. It does. And the thing about it that I don't think you think about at the moment, because there's a great quote that says baseball is wonderful in its

rehash. It's endless because we lived that moment. But if you think about it, the pits takes less than a half a second to get the home plate, the ball is hit and it goes out of the park in less than three seconds. And all of that takes place in a matter of four to five seconds. The swing, the ball landing, and then the celebration takes a long time, but in our imagination we see it in slow motion. And it dawned on me the next day or two days later watching batting

practice. The ball flies out the fast, but in the moment you're so caught up in everything. But for those who watched it, for the rest of their lives, that will be in slow motion. And the video of from the first from the third day dugout, they got nick in Gill going down to one knee in that emotional moment. I mean, it was the

perfect ending to Kentucky's first game in the College World Series. It really was, and it's it's a timeless moment that for those who were there, they will be able to cherish that for the rest of their lives because the sound

of the unexpected is what's so beautiful in baseball. You wind up the toy over and over again, and nothing happens, nothing happens, nothing happens, and all of a sudden, you know, it's just like, oh my gosh, it's the unexpected, and Mitchell Daily has the moment of a lifetime. And for Kentucky's first win at the College World Series, there is a

walk off. I mean, my gosh, you know, and it's almost perfect that you can debate this all you want, but for Mitch Daily to do it a guy who had played not just I've been to Omaha, but had played in a couple of College World Series with a Texas team that is synonymous with success in the World Series. But his career had just kind of gone sour. With all due respect, you know, freshman All American,

but his numbers dwindled. They recruited over him. You know. Somebody I could not get more details, but somebody said to me when I was down in Texas. Yeah, it's a shame the way his career ended up at Texas with him and the coach. And he hasn't said much about it, but he just moved on. And for him to make that statement I thought

was perfect. Yeah, you know that that is the one thing about sports and certainly baseball, since I'm a baseball guy and you are too in many ways, and that it just hits harder when there's a story in baseball, and yeah, the guy all American. This people put expectations on others that are justified, maybe not justified, but in his career maybe. Yeah, it didn't take off the way it was supposed to buy people's prognostications. But I think if you ask Mitchell Daily at the end of the day, yet

it worked out perfect. I mean, it's just that there is a redemption in sports, and especially baseball that just hits home. And for people who say, well, sports isn't important for this you go. You don't see two hundred thousand people showing up to Omaha if it's not important. And for Mitchell Daily and for Ryan Nicholson to have the tournament he had, golly,

just wonderful and I'm so happy. I was so happy for the baseball Wildcats and the fans because baseball was the only SEC Kentucky was the only SEC baseball team that had never gone to Omaha. They'd never been and now they go and it's just okay, the sporting the sports is complete. You've had softball go to the World Series. You've had Obviously, basketball and football do their things, and other sports have won championships and gone to national tournaments, made

runs, what have you. But baseball complete the picture. I think my greatest fear was that they lose to and go home. You know, I told you for years the only box score that I ever kept of a game I did not play in was that twenty one inning UK kent State game from twenty twelve. Well have another box score to put with it, and it's

the box score of NC State of the NC State game. And when you watch UK and you watch the other teams, the other teams at the end of the day, because UK gets eliminated, they were more talented because they moved on and they won. But the infectious attitude of Kentucky when you look at INC State, they looked tight the three or four days they were there.

You look at some of the other teams, they looked tight. Yeah, UK ran out of gas, but they were with the exception of that seven run inning and the way the Florida game played out, UK was having fun. Even the Texas A and M game, You're like, hey, we lost, but we've got another day when you saw some of the other teams, they were like, yeah, we lost, and we probably know

we're done. And maybe UK had that in the back of their head a little bit after that seven inning game or that seven run inning where things just fell apart in a hurry. But by gosh, they captivated the fans over there, and I think Nick Minzione has a huge hand to play in that because of his attitude. I'm not sure when's the last time the College World Series had a coach like Nick Minngione who is like, hey, we are here, baby. Most of the coaches, and most in any sport,

you know, they're stern, They're straightforward. They get to the point they don't have a lot of personality. What coach Menzone was able to provide. Omaha, you know they want them back again just because the kids reflect the attitude of their coaching staff. And you see NC State Elliot event, he is just he rarely smiles. Tony Botello rarely smiles, Kevin O'Sullivan rarely smiles. But it was just a breath of fresh air to see a first timer

with the attitude they had. He's a charmer, no question about it. So is Brian milein from WKYT and and to watch for his work, although not today because he's resting from the trip back to Omar. Thank you, Sarah, we'll talk again soon. You got it. Thank you Dick that I'll do it for now. Time only for heroes, fools and flakes, and our hero tonight, of course, is Willie Mays, the say Hey

Kid, passing at ninety three years old. And as his son said, he was somewhere in that celebration of the Negro leagues and Willie May's life. And again a tip of the cap to Fox for the production job they did on the telecast on the opening the musical number with Jean Batiste, it was just fantastic. But all the history there unfolding right before our very eyes was

really entertaining and very informative. And another tip to Fox I mentioned it earlier for allowing Reggie Jackson the time it took to tell his story, which was quite frank and quite frightening. And every time, you know, you've read dozens and countless of a counts of things like what Reggie went through, you know, when it comes to athletes just trying to play ball, and it's just amazing that these guys made it through and don't harbor more bitterness than they

do. But just just an eroic situation altogether. Last night down in Alabama. Are fool tonight. Well, it's the media, not in general, but anybody who takes part and has a hand in the coverage of Bill Belichick and his social life. Evidently he's dating a twenty four year old. Yes, it's weird. I know, he's seventy two and he's twenty four. There's ring camera video out there of him leaving her place with his shirt off

or something like that. But it's just And this is the New York Post and other supposedly reputable media outlets, but come on, do we really care about this? I mean, it's a waste of time. I've seen so many stories about it. I finally broke down the red one and it's just odd. And of course the Daily Mail in London having a big time with it TMZ having a big time with it. But folks, it's not worth your energy, it's not worth your time. But anyhow, that's the fool

for this week, our flake. Kind of a flaky situation up in Canada when the Florida Panthers were flying into the Edmonton International Airport. One of the air traffic controllers had a little bit of fun. This is, of course, ahead of tonight's championship game. The air traffic controller made an announcement, I got about a two hour hold for you, or whatever it would take for you to be low enough on fuel that you have to divert from Edmonton.

I just hope the team had a sense of humor and got the joke. The Oilers are still trying to become you're talking about flaky situation, the first Canadian team to win the Stanley Cup in thirty one years. Panthers took the first three games and Edmonton came back, took the next two, and they host to night at eight o'clock when ABC just a few minutes coming up. So maybe they can push it to a game seven. And there's nothing better in playoff hockey, especially a game seven. That'll do it for now.

Thanks for joining us for this special edition the best of the Big Blue Insider. That's it. Good night from the garage in Lexington. Have you ever been convicted of a felony or at misdemeanor? That's the robbery Karthiff, that's earthing convicted Yeah no, never convicted. A name