Welcome to The Big Blue Insider. Dick Gabriel with you on a Tuesday edition of our program. We are live on tape back in the saddle here in the garage after some time off my last vacation week of the summer, and I hope you did enjoy the best of the Big Blue Insider. It's always kind of fun to go back and cherry pick some of those interviews. But we were back at it, and while I was gone, I
was up at Saratoga Racetrack with friends and family. We'll talk more about that coming up a little bit later on Great Place you Gotta go if you're a racing fan. But of course it happened during the Olympics the second week, and when we weren't at the racetrack. Honestly, we spent a lot of time. We rented a house or eight of us in Airbnb, and we spent a lot of time watching the Olympics, both live and what they call the encore presentations. So we had a lot of fun
and cheering on. You know, the locals. You know, most of the guys in my group were from Louisville, but they were appreciative of the fact that UK athletes current and former. We're racking of gold medals and there were people there with Louisville connections winning medals, so that really made it a lot more fun as well. And of course you can't knock the basketball, I mean, whether you think it belongs in the Olympics or not. It was spectacular,
especially Steph Curry of course. But right now there are some controversies that are following the games, including Jordan Schilds. She has to return her bronze medal. USA Gymnastics appealed and it sounds like she got hosed.
But the appeal was overturned.
There was a question about a score, and I'll try to boil it down for you as best I can. Lord knows, I don't know much about it. But if you have a question about scoring, you have one minute to make that known to judges. There is a protocol and you have one minute now. According to the powers that be, the decision came four seconds too late, four
seconds beyond the time limit for scoring inquiries. The US says it has video evidence that the inquiry became became thirteen seconds prior to the deadline, so it's been a mess. There was an appeal the USA won it and then the Court of Arbitration voided the appeal. So now they're saying you got to give the medal back, and the USA says, we will fight this to the very very and she has another medal, but she wants this one,
and from what you can tell, earned this one. The USA says it will go as far as it can to keep her from having to give that medal back. So stay tuned for that. If you're interested in the gymnastics. What's next for Australia's tremendous, sarcastically break dancer. What do
you like it or not? Does it belong in the Olympics. Well, you can make the argument that it's athletic, that it's very difficult to do properly, and that the athletes train, or that the dancers train like athletes, and if you believe that any activity that needs a judge should not be called a sport, okay, But what about boxing? What about gymnastics? What about synchronized swimming? Nobody complains about that, And what about the diving, you know, which is gymnastics
going into the water. So you know they've had ballroom dancing before. I'm not sure why they do this. The problem is they added this and dropped baseball, which is an international sport, and basketball something basketball doesn't belong. Ours about golf being in the Olympics, those are all international sports.
Now.
We taught the world basketball, there's no question about that, and we taught the world baseball.
But the world has.
Caught up with us, or at least is challenging us. And it was a very difficult run for men's basketball to win the gold break dancing, you know, it is incredible, there's no question about that. Some of the things these folks do. But the controversy revolves around a woman from Australia. She's thirty six, has a PhD. Her name is Rachel Gunn.
She goes by b Girl Ray gun She's a college professor and she's now famous, but not for how good she is, but for how terrible she was compared to the women that she was competing against, who were half her age. Swept out of a round robin stage, did not score a single point, and her performance has been called embarrassing. And you've got to wonder how did she even get that bar in this competition? And if you're Australian,
are you embarrassed by this. She said, I was never going to beat these girls and what they do best their power moves. What I bring is creativity. Come on, now here's my standard. And I'm sixty eight years old. I'm watching what she's doing, and I'm thinking, for the most part, I could do that, and forgive my grammar. If it doesn't pass the me test, if she's not
better than me, she shouldn't be out there. And I'm sure there are things she can do that I can, But for the most part, she in no way even came close to what her competitors were doing. It just seemed like she was making a mockery of what was going on. And I'm talking more about breakdancing than I ever thought I would on this show. But this, again is residue from the Olympics, So that's out there right now. The discussion is out there as well. Next games are
in Los Angeles. Back in LA in twenty twenty eight, way different from nineteen eighty four. Back then the city had seven point nine million. Now LA has nine point seven million, and of course a gazillion people are coming to the Olympics. The folks who run the LA Games say they're studying what happened in Paris looking for improvements. Naturally, Paris made ambitious pledges about sustainability and clean up of
the River Seine. Sustainability meaning if you had to build anything, does it fall into disrepaarity you keep using it because in Rio a lot of the sites where they built are now overgrown with weeds. In Paris they tried to clean up the river. You know that story by now, some of the swimmers got sick afterwards they're still trying to turn you know, if it was because of the pollution, come on now. But La has got different issues of
course with water. But they claim that they will have a car free Olympics, meaning if you go to the games, according to the mayor, you will have to take the bus to the events. He said, we're a car dependent city, but if you're going to attend any of the sports venues, you're going to have to take public transportation. That's ambitious,
but it's also a great move. They're going to use more than three thousand buses from across the country to help in that endeavor, and they're going to hope for more help from eligible workers remote eligible workers to reduce traffic. So LA's got a big job ahead of it. But in nineteen eighty four the Olympics made money because then as they are now, they're not gonna build anything. They're
gonna use the UCLA campus for the Olympic village. They're gonna use Sofi Stadium, of course, which has hosted the Super Bowl for crying in Atlanta's hosted Taylor Swift. Surely
he can handle the Olympics opening ceremony. Some of the swimming events BMX racing in the San Fernando Valley, Pacific Palisades between Santa Monica and Malibu for golf, and we were talking about water long beach triathlon and marathon swimming that area as according to the AP, a quote mixed history on water cleanliness, but lately the ocean waters there have scored high when it comes to cleaning. So this is gonna be really ambitious, but they got the head start.
On it right now.
All right, we're gonna come back and talk Kentucky football, and a little bit later on Jeff Piicor and Aaron Gersham will join us here in the garage. Jeff is shooting for a preseason special on SEC football and UK football and the Big Blue Insider will be featured. How about that here in the garage, and we'll talk more about the SEC on ABC after the break. You've already heard some of the music and it has been underwhelming according to the folks who weigh in on such things.
But yeah, we'll talk a lot more football, and I'm our number two with Jeff and Aaron Gershon of the Cats Balls, but we'll hear from the Football Cats next. You're on the Big Blue Sider six thirty WLAP. Welcome back to the Big Blue and Sider coming up in a few minutes. Well here from the Football Wildcats. They scrimmaged on Saturday, and of course I wasn't Darrows out of town, but generally the media we don't get to go anyway. But we'll hear from the Cats and their coaches.
And now number two, as I mentioned, we'll hear from Jeff Picorrel and Aaron Gershan Here in the garage.
We'll talk a lot of Kentucky football.
We're also going to talk about the SEC on ABC because Jeff now, the sports director of WTVQABC thirty six, is preparing pregame programming for the upcoming season. Thing I used to have to do at Thede KYT. So I've handed off the mantle to him and we'll talk about
that coming up. While I was gone, Mark Stoops spoke for the first time about the penalties handed down before, right before I left on my vacation, where Kentucky has to vacate ten wins and now UK fans are finding out what it feels like that other schools have got to deal with that vacating wins. Of course, uove La had to take down a banner. UK fans got a big kick out of that. I personally never believed that the penalty fit the crime on that, but that's a
different issue. I understand why Kentucky is vacating wins because the guys who were involved, the eight players of the eleven who played in games while they were being paid for work they didn't do by rule that made them ineligible. And people like to say, well, now with nil, you know that wouldn't be. Yeah, it would have been because clocking in and accepting money for work you don't do, especially at a university which involves federal funding.
That's serious stuff.
If you have an NIL deal where a company or an employer a booster, whatever you want to call him, just hands you a check that's legal.
And I know these are the times.
We live in now they say everything's legal now, well, no it's not, but much much more of it is. But the bottom line is the Kentucky athletes will help from somebody at the Med Center.
Did wrong, got away with it for a while.
UK says it's internal investigation turned it up. Bottom line is they got caught. They had to pay the price. And you remember now Chris Rodriguez sat for four games. And I mentioned this when this first came out, that people were blazing away at Mitch Barnhardt for dragging his feet on nil And I don't know that he did or he didn't, but I know this on a panel discussion show that I did on k ET with Mitch.
We were both guests. He did a lot more talking than I did, thankfully because obviously he had a lot more to deal with. But his bottom line was, we want to do everything right so we don't come back and have to answer for things after the fact. And that's exactly what's going on. And UK is not the only school where this has happened. I don't know of
any other schools that the vacate wins. But I do know that there was there have been some schools who have been penalized because in the early stages of NIL, which is of course we all know of the wild Wild West, they broke rules that were still in existence. And people who think that, well, we should just move along and get rid of the NCAA and do what you want, Well, that's not fair to the schools that don't have the deep pockets of an Alabama or a
Georgia or even in Kentucky. You don't think of that in terms of Kentucky when it comes to football, but Kentucky is one of the few college athletic programs with its head above water. That's what people forget. They see these huge numbers in the media on social media and if you still read newspapers whatever with dollar signs in front of them, and you think everybody's getting rich, and they're not. Some are, but for the most part, an
overwhelming majority of college athletic programs lose money. And these are programs unlike UK that are supported at least in some part with tax dollars. Reminder, UK is athletic budget, which is what one hundred and fifty million or something. That's all independent of tax dollars. People used to love to see my tax dollars are paying for bad football. No, no, you're paying form with your tickets, but you're not paying
form of tax dollars. So there's a lot of money being thrown around out there, but most of it is being spent and not a lot of it is coming back. So any school, I think the last count I heard this is old for like forty schools of the three hundred plus in the NCAA are in the black, UK is U of l IS and other than that, I don't know. I haven't seen numbers lately. So anyway, Stoops talked about it, and we'll hear more about that coming
up in our number two. Also, as I said, the ABC music that will be used in some way on SEC football comes out there calling it the anthem. To me, this looks like a promo and people are comparing it and complaining based on what CBS used to use. Now you'll recognize this music. This was the CBS music. If you watch the SEC on CBS and WKYT here in town or wherever, that's the music that brought you into
the ballgame. So it was music that made you feel good because you knew you were about to watch Uncle Vern and Gary Danielson and whatever teams you wanted to watch. So when a different network takes over ESPN, which you'll see at times on ABC and you'll see every week on ABC, you know, they come up with their own music. And what I'm hearing, though, is what I think is a promotional campaign that you'll see a lot, and it's one of the columns described it. Here's the music we'll
be getting sick of. But I don't believe this is what you're going to hear going into ballgames. Probably some of the musical elements, yes, but it can't be. It just can't be what they're going to use. Because well, if you haven't heard a listen for yourself.
This is the SEC.
Every walk is a parade, every song is symphony, Every Saturday is a celebration, every game a spectacle.
The SEC takes us into the wild and it always feels like home.
This is the SEC on ABC, and this is how it's done.
All right, that's that's well done.
And they've tried to coin a new phrase and they're hoping that.
It overtakes, It just means more in popularity. I'm sure.
I guarantee you there was a room full of people sitting around throwing ideas and hoping that the one would stick.
And that's what they came up with.
But can you imagine going into a ballgame and trying to build up hype and emotion and reach into people and pull their emotions out of them with that. No, so I think we're criticizing or judging it in the wrong way. I want to hear the music they run going into and up to kickoff, or coming in and out of breaks, that kind of thing. You know ESPN's got down N that has become iconic. I worked for a little while for IMG and they wrote their own music that they have coming in and out of breaks,
and it doesn't work, in my opinion, doesn't work. They firmly believed it would take over as another version of and it doesn't. I don't care how many times you play it. It didn't work. So I'm curious to see what ABC and ESPN come up with. And I guarantee you they are sparing no dollars. They will pay top dollary. By the way, the guy who wrote the sec theme song as a composer from New York and they have been using that music. It's nineteen eighty seven, which I
think is kind of cool. And if you recall back during the Final Four, we did a commentary on One Shining Moment. I saw the story on the guy who wrote One Shining Moment. It was actually written I think for the Super Bowl. They never got a chance to use it, and somebody suggested they reposition it, repurpose it, and they use it on the Final Four. And I brought it up because every year now it seems like there are complaints that people try to become relevant, but
they need to stop showing that. They need to do away with One Shining Moment. It's old, it's tired of stupid. My suggestion has been, don't watch it if you don't like it. Most of us ere e least many of us love it. And again it always runs at like twelve forty five am on the night of the championship game. So if you don't like it, go to bed, turn your TV off and go to bed. But music matters,
and I really really want to see you. And like I said, Jeff Picrow is going to be here a little bit later on, maybe he can shed more light on that. All right, Coming up next stoops in the Wildcats, on the scrimmage, and more here on six thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider. Coming up in hour number two, Jeff Pikorro Aaron Gersham will join me here in the garage and we'll talk Kentucky football. And I'm guessing that Jeff got a chance to go to
the scrimmage on Saturday. He often does, but we'll find out because, of course he is the color analyst on the UK Football Network, although now also sports director at WTVQ, so you know, maybe they decided to not let him in because he's in regular media along with Aaron of the Cash Boss. We'll find out coming up at the top of the hour, but we will find out more about the scrimmage. Of course, I was on vacation and get a chance to see it or hear from the coaches.
I know there's been a lot of media coverage since then, but I was interested in some of the comments that a couple of the players made After the scrimmage was over, and JJ Weaver came out and spoke for the defense. He talked about the fact that he is basically going to enjoy this senior year by just setting himself free and not putting any pressure on himself except for like in a good way. But he just wants to be
able to play fast and not worry about things. And with that said, he was asked, what do you tell the young people on the defensive side of the football about just how to execute and how to compete?
Man, Just be competitive?
Show coach White, show coach US officers of coordinated what y'all can do? Just be competitive, play fast, play physical, everything that's gonna take place. If you messed up, at least you did it fast. Only the first scrimmage, so next week we actually erase the names and put the names on the boards.
You're only as good as your last scrimmage. I can't say the same about practices. If he keeps screwing up the same drill, you're gonna get that rep.
But you know how it goes.
Where the defense usually outshines the offense and the first scrimmage because their execution levels are different. But the next time, it seems every year the offense gets a leg up on the defense. But as Weaver said, the key is make a mistake at full speed. If you're going to screw up, make it at full speed, because at least that way, and I'm kind of paraphrasing here, you show the commitment you have to trying to make the right play and do the right thing. So make a mistake
at top speed. If you're gonna make one at all, hey, at least you look better, right brock Vandergriff came out and spoke for the offense, and of course one of the questions he answered was about the offensive line, and the word was the old line look pretty good. And you're never going to air a quarterback come out of a scrimmage, a practice, a drill, a dinner party and speak poorly of the offensive line. Those guys have got
to be his best friend. But he did go a little bit deeper when people asked him about how the old line has been doing, not just Saturday, but in the camp in general.
They've had a good fall camp.
The best thing with O line is all just chemistry and stuff and making sure they're working together on some of the different stuff that the D line brings and brings on us and make sure they're on the same page. So just building that chemistry with them has been great with them.
Coach Wolf spin on them. That's good.
And the O line's been having a good fall camp and we're looking forward to this.
Season with them.
By all accounts, they should be better. This offense should be a little less complicated in terms of verbiage and ability to get plays off and things like that. But also the helmet comes, you know, the.
Radio and the helmet.
That's going to be a big deal this year throughout college football. There will be a lot said, written and spoken about it, and it's gonna take some getting used to. They've had it in the pros for a while now, but Rock Vandergriff talked about the helmet come and just getting used to that and how it's gonna make his life easier.
I can get the whole play whatever, I only gonna have to look to the sideline, So I'm getting it to the O line to play, and I can go ahead and do my pre snap whatever my little routine is whatever one high two high man's own blitz coming yes or no, stuff like that, and being able to see that I don't even have to get my eyes to
the sideline. Those are basically just for the skill guys, so I hear it, bam, tell them to play, and it just gives me a lot more extra time into line while other guys are getting.
Lined up and stuff. And then if we have.
Any like cans or checks plays, obviously it cuts out it I.
Think fifteen or sixteen seconds.
But if we get it in and we get on the ball before that, then obviously being able to have some extra set of eyes up top and help them with those checks and stuff.
So that's really good.
But at the end of the day, I got to know the checks and the cans and stuff like that for if it's after fifteen seconds.
Here's what stuck out to me, jumped out really from that comment. He talked about audibles, he talked about changing the call, and it was clear in the Rich Skangarillo era that one year there wasn't a lot of that that went on, And there might have been things like that going on when Devin Leary was the quarterback last year under Liam Cohen, and maybe there was was Skangarello, but it just seemed like the Scangorello offense dragged so much and it was so mired in burbage that they
didn't have a chance to do much of that. And I always go back to something that Tom Leech would would bring up that Rich Brooks talked about with regard
to Andre Woodson. As Andre developed as a quarterback, he went, if you we recall as a starter sophomore year and really through maybe the middle of his junior year, he would come to the line and then look to the sideline to Randy Sanders, the offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach, and early in his stay Andrea, because I'm on the side of it, I could see him, eyes bugging out of his head, nervous, didn't want to make a mistake, short on confidence. But the more he worked and the harder
he worked, the better he got at it. Of course, that's how it works with great athletes. And I remember about midway through the six year, remember that was the first Music City Bowl year. I could tell that Andrea was more relaxed, body language, expression on his face, and he would come to the line and look to the sideline, not looking for help desperately, but just checking to make sure, you know, maybe looking for a suggestion. And that's what
went back to what rich Brooks said about him. Andrea became so good. He said, and not necessarily checking us into a good play, but getting us out of a bad play. You know, you might check to a play that gets you a couple of yards, moves the chains a little bit, but what it does also do is keep you from going backwards, getting off schedule, negative yardage, and just keeps things going. And Andre Woodson became really good at that. You didn't get a chance to see
much of that really the last couple of years. I don't know how much will Levis did. Didn't seem like he needed to, but I'm sure he did. And you can tell if you're down there, if you're watching TV for listening to the radio, oftentimes you'll hear them barking out signals sometimes yell check, check, or things like that.
What I always liked during the.
Air raid was watching Tim Couch and then Dusty Bonner and to a degree Jarrel Lorenzen making eye contact. Every now and then I see Dusty drop a hand down behind the centers rear end and kind of wiggle it and you know, whatever receiver was on the outside, but just kind of nod or acknowledge it, and then they
do something fun. But when they can go to the line as Vandergiff said, with enough time and knowledge to read the defense and then rattle off what he wants him to do, that's going to be a big difference. Not every quarterback is good at that, As I mentioned, Andre Woodson became good at that.
No idea about.
Devin Leary because I don't know what he was dealing with, but it just seemed like there was too much confusion at times offensively, and this is Liam Cohen's offense, which works so well with Will Levis.
That one year.
But the other thing to remember is Skangarello subtracted the quarterback run forbid it basically from will Levis, So not only was it not part of the game plan, he was encouraged to stay in the pocket way too long. Quite frankly, it was obvious in hindsight us got hurt too much, and most of it came, ironically enough, from not running the football but padding the football and getting
clocked when he was in the pocket. VANDERGRIFFI has said, you know, basically, and I'm paraphrasing, he doesn't want to be known as a running quarterback. Who doesn't, I mean, you know, every quarterback in college ball wants to be able to sling the football, get the opportunity, get the rip as a guy who can throw the football, and quote un what make all the throws? Why, well, it's because what the scouts want to hear and see. If you tag running quarterback on a guy, he's going to
fall down some draft boards. But Vandergriff, and what I've seen in practice, is a thrower but can also run. For me, the most important thing is run away from trouble. Yeah, maybe there's a quarterback running a game plan like there was with Levis against Louisville to a two and four touchdowns, But I believe Vandergriff can make the throw.
And run the football all right.
Coming up next, we'll share some vacation experience a little bit later. Jeff Pecorrel, Aaron Gershaane. I want to come on a Big Loon Sider six thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider. Coming up in just a few minutes an hour number two Jeff Picaorrel and Aaron gershan right here in the garage. Aaron's never been here.
Aaron's been on the show many many times, and in fact he will join me along with Billy Rutledge coming up in a couple of weeks when the Mark Stoop Show cranks up, and then of course we'll have BBN Radio and the live version statewide of The Big Blue Insiders. So we'll be talking Aaron each week on that show. But he is joining Jeff here and I talked earlier about this, Jeff actually shooting a feature story. Yeah, the Big Blue Insider is going to be featured on a
preseason pregame football show on ABC thirty six. ABC, of course, is now the home for SEC football. It's gonna be weird. We played the new anthem for you. I guess that's how they're starting to broadcast that. You know, they release incidents their anthem. I just don't think you're going to start a show with that kind of low key voiceover. But anyway, we'll all find out. I guess maybe Jeff can shed some light on us. So anyhow, they're coming up in just a few minutes.
I hope you.
Enjoyed the best of The Big Blue Insider. I have a good time putting those together. You know, I know some people aren't crazy about it when I hear reruns, but when we can go back and pull out some of the best interviews we've done over the last several months. It's kind of fun for me and I hope you enjoyed them as well. And I saw some retweets, which I appreciate on Twitter when we announce each night what's going to be on the show. I was on vacation.
I went up to Saratoga again with my brother and some friends. This was the fourth year we've done this trip and it is a lot of fun. If you're a horse racing fan, I highly highly recommend it. I will tell you it is a commitment if you're going to drive, especially and if it gives you fly. Of course there's expense, but it's a about a twelve thirteen hour drive. We break it up and I recommend this being the summertime, especially if you're a baseball fan. Three
to four years we stopped and saw baseball. We have seen games in Philadelphia. We saw a minor league game in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where one of my friend's daughter lives, and the one year we stopped to visit her, but there was no game. This team was out of town. I think at a Class A team, maybe for the Washington Nationals. This year we stopped in Cleveland and got an airbnb.
Which are great if you get the right one, as.
You know, and unfortunately Hurricane Debbie messed with us. We got a great airbnb two blocks from the Guardians Stadium.
We could see the lights to the.
Ballpark right through our window, and we walked over in a little bit of a sprinkle, but we knew there was rain on the way, but there also appeared to be a win there between fronts where they might be able to get the game in. So we go into the ballpark beautiful.
I'd not been there, and.
It was absolutely what I had hoped it would be, with a downtown vista behind centerfield wall. But the game didn't start on time. It didn't start and didn't start, and two hours later they said the game has been postponed and the next day they were going to play a doubleheader, which did us no good because that was
a travel day for us. So we go off to a restaurant to grab a bite, and would you know, while we're at the restaurant, the rain stops and might have been that might have been the window we are expecting, but we wondered maybe because the game would have pushed through midnight, they weren't going to play so anyhow, but it is available to you depending on what route you take, and of course we went up through northern Ohio and
then over into New York State. Saratoga is beautiful. It's different than Keenland, and people who have been to both tell me they prefer Keenland, but Saratoga is just a gorgeous facility and different from Keenland in so many ways. But the biggest way is that basically the area for the fans and I'm not talking about the apron down by the track. If you don't want to sit there,
you sit. And what's basically a picnic area near Union Street, which is where the track is located, and it backs up to the walkway that leads from the barns on the backside all the way around the track, all the way around the far turn into the paddock, which is huge where they saddle the horses and the horses stalls are way back away from the fans, but there's lots of room to walk them when they're saddled, and for fans to get up to the fence, not unlike the
hedge at Keenland and see the horse as they walk out onto the track. But in that area shy of the walkway are picnic tables and stands with monitors and speakers for the PA. There are booths where you can buy, of course food and cigars and merch and photographs. There are at least a couple, and one of them is owned and operated by a man named Richard Gabriel.
Hello, no relation.
I met the guy, and my family name going back to Italy as an E on the end of it. So if anybody's last name is Gabriel, like Roman Gabriel, or who's the wide receiver for the Raiders a couple of years ago. Anyway, they if it's if the name is Gabriel, I know they're not related to us because our name has an E on the end of it,
which my father dropped be more American. But it's fun and we set up our collapsible chairs around the picnic table, the lunch you can bring in, you can bring in anything but glass, and just made a day of it or several days of it. Now, we got there on Wednesday evening, so we went to the track on Thursday.
And here's another cool thing.
If you're going to camp out like we did, not camp out, but set up for the picnic area. They allow you the gates don't open until eleven thirty, but they allow you to come in, grab a spot, reserve a picnic table if you can get one, and set up your stuff, set up your cooler, set up your chairs, whatever, and then leave. And there are people there to make sure you don't just sit there the rest of the day.
But yeah, you can get there at seven am and there is a line down the street to do this and people rush in like it's open air seating at a concert and set up, which we did, some of us did. I did, as there were volunteers who did that, and then we come back at eleven thirty when the gates open. So it's a great set up up and
it's a lot of fun. We started on Thursday. We lost a day on Friday because it was raining so hard by the end of Thursday and the forecast was terrible, and so you know, they were taking races off the turf and all this, and they decided we can't safely race on Friday, and why should we even staff the
track when it's going to drive patrons away. There still would have been people there, but the track shut down and in one newspaper estimate, NIRA New York Racing Association lost between fifteen and twenty million dollars in betting handle that day because sarah Toga was not open. But we went back Saturday Sunday. Whether it was wonderful. I made a little bit of money, believe it or not. I got a little bit.
On Thursday, roasted.
On Saturday, I mean got crushed, came back and won almost all of it back on Sundays.
That was great.
My brother hit a big race, big race, so good for him and wonderful time. So I recommend Saratoga. And by the way, we got a chance to go over to Kenny mcpeak's. Barney invited us to come over. He wasn't feeling well, so he wasn't there that morning, but we got a chance to see Torpedo Anna. Now, when I was hanging out by her stall, she had her back to us, so you saw those hindquarters. But what those were was a reminder of why she's so good.
Powerful hind quarters, big horse, and she'd run against the boys in the Haskell.
So we're rooting for her. And I was with some folks who had never done that. Two of my friends are owners.
They were together on the Thracky Queen, a horse that ran what was it eight years ago in the Breeders' Cup here and I think got third.
But then they've got other horses.
But some of the other folks had never been around the backside, so that was pretty cool. They got to see the horses in the barn at a respectful distance, and then we went over what they call the Oklahoma Track, which is a training track across the street from the main track, and just as we got there, it seemed like everybody. It was about eight am, and I guess the brake was over. I'm not sure what time they break.
They break I guess earlier than they do at Keenland, But there was just a parade of horses coming out to train, and it was nice and cool and a perfect morning, and we had a wonderful time at Saratoga. Highly recommend it at least once if you're a racing fan. Put that on your bucket list and check it off. But be prepared if you don't sit in the grand stand,
and you can get tickets to the grand stand. Some of my friends did that, but be prepared for a picnic if indeed, that's the way you're going to go. Like I said, it's something you need to do if you're a racing fan, and.
I know a lot of you already have.
All right, Ever, Number two is coming up next with Jefpicor and Aaron Gershaum live and in color on tape right here in the garage and the Big moone Cider six point thirty wlap. Welcome back to the Big Blue and Cider. I remember two of our show. As promised, we are here in the garage, live on tape and color. Jeff Biccorrel, Sports Director WTVQ. And of course this is your third decade now, right, you got at least twenty
years behind you on the UK radio network. And Aaron Gershawn just a callow child like comparison, but a veteran of the UK beat with the Cats Bows. Now, but how many years did you cover football and basketball for the Colonel?
I didn't do Colonel.
I worked with you and then Sea of Blue, so I went a route, yeah, and then obviously I worked for you for three years. So yeah, this is this gonna be year, I believe season six or seven on the Wow twenty.
Four for me twenty twenty eighteen for me.
See you'll have me a little beata. It was a good year to start though, well, you know, and.
The one thing it does is, no matter how many years, it gives you perspective. And I'm trying to wrap my head around this one. Of course, once the season begins, that'll help, but it just seems like, Jeff, every time you start a season with a new coordinator, you know, what kind of perspective does they give you?
Right?
It's It's really interesting because the game has changed so much from a player standpoint in the intricacies of how plays are called, the different offenses and defenses that are run, for instance. And this is something I asked Bush and I asked Liam this as well. And I think the biggest problem with Scangarello was the professional verbiage. And it just took ten to fifteen seconds to call the play. So I said, when I played back in the you know, the early eighties, it was a pass. Play, was a
right zz past eighty six x corner. Okay, that's it. That was the whole call. Eighty That meant it was a drop back pass and the line blocked that way. Fifties were different. Sixties or different series. Seventies was different
than eighty. Was this seventh step drop for the quarterback, so Bill Ramsa would take the snap, take his regular drop and turn and the the stuff I was the other words or what the pass play is Now it's range, flipper, paramount packers, you know, algebra, waggle crazy, it's it just takes foreffort. And I think that has changed, and I'm
really interested in seeing how much it helps. With the microphones in the headset of the quarterback and the linebacker like they do in the NFL, it's gonna be real different because now there were times in years past where they'd come to the sideline in the offense quarter What are you doing? He goes, well, that's huge, Collis. No, I didn't. I called this because well, that's not how it got to me.
You know.
I saw, you know, they do the hand signals of the He goes, yeah, they do.
They still are yeah, yeah.
No, I saw a Nabisco. I did not see Lucy from Charlie Brown.
Yeah, it's like all right, they still was a fun signs. Yeah, okay, that's good. I was worried we were losing that in college football.
Crazy.
No, you know, And I had a comment from Brock vandergriff on the show earlier, and he sounds erin this this game after the scrimmaging. You might have been there too, Jeff. He sounds like he's not only confident in that communication system, but looking forward to using it.
Oh yeah, I would agree one hundred percent. I just again, I think it makes life so much easier. You have the plays in your head, you have to run up to the sideline, get all the hand signals, look at every sign make sure you have it perfectly. It's right
in your head. You're listening and you're relaying it. And also I think this offense too, the way they're going to operate with a no huddle, there's gonna be less not I wouldn't say less thinking, but just less more going out and playing football.
I think that's something.
The last two years of this offense with the verbigs, it just got overly complicated. I mean it's twenty twenty two. With rich Gangarillo, it was just a nightmare getting plays in. And last year it just was much better. And I think part of that was the quarterback and just being used to a spread tempo compared to Pro style. But I do think between the communication and the way they're going to operate this offense, it'll be easier for that.
I mentioned Ken Spencer and our path from over in Louisville, but he was Jeff's predecessor as sports director at WTVQ a while back, one of the predecessors, and again he played at more at stage, so I like to get his opinion on things. And we talked about the changes in offense through the years, and I said, well, at least with Stoops, they haven't changed much in terms of style. But as Kent pointed out, when you're changing verbiage, it
really puts a burden on players. And Jeff, you were talking about verbage earlier and how they've kind of whittled it down much more than you know. But Mark Stoops talked about this at the kickoff lunch and you were both there. He made a conscious decision bringing in yet another OC to use Hamden's verbiage and not ask him to adjust. He has asked the players to adjust again, but what does that mean to a player?
Well, I think the biggest difference is those last two we've talked about. Skangarella and Liam both brought an NFL perspective to things, and so they're teaching it as they would teach it to twenty three, twenty five, twenty eight year old guy. Now comes Bush Hampden, who's done his entire career basically it's been college football, correct, and I think that he understands. Look, kiss, keep it simple, stupid.
Yeah, you know that's the But to that end, would it not have been simpler to keep the verbage they already had, They already knew, they already somewhat comfortable.
With yes and no and stuff said, because we had time to change.
Yeah, but Brock never played under that. Well, that's true, so it's a whole new qu Yeah, none of those guys have remember every guys, and I just remember in this I think is before your time. But Jared Lorenz remember he had was it three different coordinators? Oh yeah, four, and he was like, I'm just getting this down in this play right, Yeah, but one guy. But he's like, it's the seventh or eighth game, I'm finally comfortable, and all of a sudden, I got a change again the
next year. So that's really hard. But but bringing Wolford back, I think, you know, I think that helps a little bit too, because again another college guy, So you're bringing two college guys in instead of two pro guys which you had in Yinzer and Liam.
Yeah, and let's face it, with running backs, they they just take the ball and go. You know, they know what hole they had, they know what the yeah, you know.
But I think probably you've got to be on the same page, of course with your wide receivers.
But quite a bit of the burns on the old line.
Oh it's I mean, at the end of the day, that's what's kind of derailed then the last two seasons. Last year the quarterback had a lot to do with it, but twenty twenty two, the offensive line. You couldn't operate with that offense line. I think forty seven sacks allowed last year. They were better in pass pro, but Ray Davis created a lot of those run plays. The offensive line, you know, one of the worst graded run blocking old
lines in the country. So that's why you feel better not only with coach Wolford, who I think gets the best out of his players and demands it, but this group is so experienced. I mean, I forget the exact number starts combined Marcus Cox and Eli Cox have. It's an obscene amount. I mean, Marcus is a seventh year guy. Eli's a sixth year guy. Jager Burton is going into his third year starting. You really need to make him,
have him take a jump. Gerald Minci started the last two years at Tennessee, and then Jalen Farmers the least experienced guy in the line. But apparently it has been awesome since he's gotten here. He's kind of took over that job from Dylan Ray. I thought actually played pretty solid last year. So and that's the big thing too, you know, mixing Dylan Ray there's actually death, if there's an injury, it's not gonna be as catastrophic as it would be the last two years.
Yeah, you took the words right out of my mouth. Dylan is a guy that we've seen. He play both sides and a guard, right, and Jagger is a guy that could play both sides of a center.
And I think keenum that he's cross cunning at guard and center.
But he's I think he's the air parent at center.
Yeah, for sure.
I think they really like the way he's been playing. Uh. And then Malachi, he looks like a whole different dude. I remember when he first got there, and I was like, man, that's a basketball player to learning to play football, right, because he's what six eight? He was six, but now he's just a tall football player, you know. Now he's got the part. Yeah, and he's still been Yeah, he's still got to add more, but he's close to fifteen. Yeah, but they really like the way that he's been progressing.
So now we've talked about seven eight guys and the experienced so and that's something they just haven't had the last couple of years.
I got a minute or two before the first break, But how about I tossed this one out? Will we see them throw much to.
The tight end this year?
So?
I mean that's everybody else. Yeah, I don't.
I think Jordan Dingles as that athletic of the pass catchers they had since Conrad, honestly, so you'd like to see him get the ball. I'm not sure about Caddis. I think he's more of a blocker. He's been dinged up in camp. Uh, you know, Kamara Anderson's guy. I
really want to see him ball. I mean that hurdle he had against Louisville that was all I needed to see, right, So we'll see, we'll see uh at the end of the day, when you're five deep at receiver six, if Hartley Gilmore comes back and may be challenging, it's all been depending on if they can get those extra snaps that they've been working hard to get.
Yeah, Willie the freshman cupcaff Willy is a monster. He is a big boy. He's got a college body.
Yeah.
They posted a highlight that he had in that scrimmage. It looks like he ran over three dudes. Will really like him.
Cup CAAF is a great program up in northern Kentucky and they're just churning out really nice football players. And he's he is a bigger version I think of Katis and blocking. He's a dog and that's what coach says. But to your point of will they throw to him, I think that's more of a quarterback thing, I really do. I think one problem with Learry is he was smallish and he just couldn't really see the middle of the field, and that's why most of his throws were to the outside.
My whole thing was then moving, move the pocket.
Game out said, that's.
How they did not play.
It was a combination of he didn't know the offensible enough and they didn't play to a strength.
Yeah, it was just a bad marriage.
Yeah.
Uh. The thing about tight ends is, and I've said is more than once, it's either a design play for the why for the for the tight end, or it's a safety valve, which is often why the quarterback can stay alive in a pocket and dump it.
A tight end already.
Has at least a one step advantage on a linebacker and that's why people love it.
But to get back to Air's point, do I want Macklin with the ball down the field or do I want a six yard eight yard pass to the tight end and maybe break break a tackler.
Two. That's why on.
The outside, that's why it is.
It's a safety valve thing you call to play every once in a while to keep them honest.
Right, yep, plush. I think you're gonna see him in the backfield blocking a lot too.
Oh yeah, yeah, I agree.
Yeah, they're gonna make fun stuff.
There were some sets they did in the open scrimmage where I forget which one that they lined. I think if they lined Willie as a full back a couple of times. So they're they're gonna do some funky things there.
Aaron Gershan from the cast Pause, Jeff Piicorrel from the UK Network, live on tape here in the garage, and we're gonna come back with more football chatter and just a minute on the Big Moon Siders six thirty WLAP. Welcome back our number two of our program. We're in the garage with Jeff Piicarel of the UK Radio Network, Aaron Gershan from the cast Paws. Naturally, we're talking about
Kentucky football. You'll hear Jeff's coverage alongside Tom Leach coming up, and you will also read Aaron Gershaan's and the pages of the cast pause in online. If just typingcastpaus dot com, it'll take you to the website. We spent the entire first segment talking about offense, because, as Jet pointed out, that was the mystery. Uh, defensively, I know there are questions marks, but Jeff, we've seen a lot of good defenses, especially in the twenty eighteen team.
With Josh Allen.
I don't know that there's a Josh Allen. There might be in terms of draft status and notoriety and maybe even in a different way impacting the game in Dion Walker, but overall could his defense.
Be as good or better?
Yeah, I think they can. I think JJ Weaver came back for a reason. It was because you just had a so so season last year and a lot of the NFL people are like, we can't take him. He has to show us more. You know, he's not huge, he's good sized, he's long, he's long. I don't know how good he is in coverage in open field. So there's some things that he has to improve on. And
I think this is a huge look. When you get to be twenty twenty one, twenty two years old and you're playing football, you start thinking do I have a future in this? Because the one thing you tell kids you go to high school or something. Look around this room. How many of these guys get college scholarships?
Two?
Three, four on a good team? Right, you went to turn it's a little different, but still, then of those guys, how many of them make the pros?
That's right?
Maybe one every two years, every three years.
Many.
Yeah, so he has an opportunity to go to the next level he does. Can he get better?
Dion?
You know what he got? You know what his He doesn't have a ceiling. He's a ceiling. Is the Moon.
He might.
He might be. He might pass Allen as the highest draft pickery he could. Sarah think you might.
I think it. If we're talking about the front, everything hinges to me on Silver. If Keithshan silver five star recruit came here from North Carolina, if he plays like that, this defensive front is going to be really really good.
Agree, Jeff.
Let me ask you because you were at the scrimmage Saturday while I was investing at Saratoga.
Second play eighty R touchdown pass?
Wow?
About that?
From whom to whom?
Brought to Dane Nice?
Well?
Who do they burn? Is that a good news things? Yeah?
Jansen Dunne, it was a he just got inside of him and at his length, you've got to stay over the top with him. You can't if he gets over the top of you. As a defender your beat. You know, Jansen took one bad step and and he went by him.
But well, that kind of answers my question a little bit. But we always talk about how in scrimmage's defense generally, when's the first one?
Was that the case?
I thought they played pretty even coach even said it afterwards. I think the coaches saw it was it was pretty even. There were some shock plays that we call, you know, the long plays like that, but I thought both sides of the ball played pretty well. You could see the defense is really good. But I think the difference is the offense is much better than last year. They're just better.
So it was that apparent.
Yeah, oh yeah, yeah. I mean there was some room to run on certain plays.
I was tempo.
It was good that. That's the one thing you like, and the one thing you see at practice, and I know you know is the coaches employing them. Get set, Get set, Get up there and get set.
Now.
They're not trying to be Tennessee. They're not snapping it at a you know, ridiculous seting. It's just get set. So because he gets twenty five seconds to talk to him. At fifteen seconds, communication stole between the coaches in the box and the quarterback and the linebacker. So he's calling in a play and watching what's the defense doing. Okay, they're bringing a nickel. Okay, we're gonna do this. Blah blah blah blah, bah bah blah blah. Whatever the play
is called, and they want everybody set. So if he calls something, if he sees that they're bringing somebody in or taking somebody out. He can shift that, you know, call it audible to his headset to him. So you just want to get get there, don't care where you just get up, get to the line. We're not gonna call the play, but just get there.
You may have said this, Aaron, but hamed in going to be in the booth. I think he.
I think he think he said that it was his preference back when.
I asked, because oh, she usually are Cohen did both.
Yeah, col switched, he gamed a game.
Well, his first tenure here was exclusively on the field.
This year.
I think he was on the field to start the year and then he had that issue the health health geah, and then he stayed up there a last season and then Skang Guerrilla, same thing where he started, not health issue, same thing, but he started the year on the field, decided to go on the booth. So uh yeah, I think it sounds like a was gonna be upstairs. And that's how personally I always think is the best for no.
I talked earlier in the show and Aaron, I'm not sure where you were in life when Andre Woodson was starting to.
Well, he was drafted by the Giants, so I knew.
I knew that.
Well, I'm just saying I did my research on him back then when I was when you playing, well, I was eight years old.
But I'm saying his first two years he was like you out there, yeah, and then all of a sudden, his third year, we were like.
Well, yeah, wow, that's what I just That's what I'm getting to.
And I mentioned this earlier, is that Rich Brooks his best compliment was, it's not that Andre gets us into a good play, he gets us out of a bad play. By the time that confidence, you remember when he stopped looking to the sidelines, like help me, and then he was almost like overnight, I got this, you know. And I think I gotta think the helmet comms will be a huge help there.
It is.
I always this always was intriguing to me because I'm very good friends with Kenny Anderson, the former quarterback for the for the Cincinnati Bengals, and we talk about this all the time. And the guys that he played with, the Terry Bradshaws and Burt Joneses and Dan Fouts and all them, they wanted to call their home plates. They like, I'm on the field. I know what's working. I know you know, so you almost want that in your quarterback too.
It got to a point when you have a guy that started a year or two, it's usually that second year that they can almost tell the coach I want to do let's do this. Yeah, you know this is working.
It's almost And I think you're going to see that in Dian Walker on the defensive side, where they're gonna use him a lot like Bruce Smith or Reggie White, where he might be in the two hole, like between the garden center, and then the next play he might be outside the tackle, and the next one he might be on the left side instead of the right side.
Probably not coverage, but he's gonna move around mound, but he wants to be in coverage.
Yes, he's pre I mean, was it last year of the Florida again. Yeah, that's still one of the coolest plays I've ever seen.
And that's what he keeps going back to, because the joke here is, if you haven't heard it, is that he begged, begged him, and.
He put in one play and it worked.
And that was the play, and you've seen it over and over where he absolutely destroyed.
The end and it turned into a pick for Trevin Wallace. Yeah, and a touchdown on the other end.
And apparently, and Brad just mentioned this to us the other day. He comes back to the sidelan Dion does celebrating. Stoops went up to Brad White. Don't you ever do? But can you imagine going over the middle and seeing a guy terrified? I can't imagine.
Yeah, No, he he wears wide receiver shoes.
Yeah, what he wears wide receiver shoes. Yeah, he's that defensive line.
Yes, Stope said that after that game. We why because he says he nimble, nimble, I mean he is like and.
My other question is what wide receiver has feet that shyye.
That Well, that's why the last segment. I think he might end up going higher than Josh Allen because of that. I mean, he's six six three forty eight and moves like a outside backer. And in the NFL nowadays, more than ever, interior defensive tackles are getting paid and they're making impacts. I mean, as johnsid Dexter, Lawrence is our best player. He's a I saw a stat where he's eighty one pressures to sixteen to the next closest guy the last two years.
Well, that's a guy who's been compared.
To Donald Aaron Donald, and he only barely scratches three hundred. Not a monster.
No, you know what it reminds me of As we get to the break, Jeff, this goes back away, but Dwayne Robertson. Yeah, you know it was the third or fourth.
Player taking yes, yes in the draft, and and the Jets had to and you're from New York. The Jets had to make sure people understood this guy is not going to be sacking the quarterback. He's going to be commanding double teams and everybody else.
Have more fun.
Nowadays, these guys are getting to the quarterback too.
I mean when I talked to Octavi so Oxen down about playing alongside and yeah.
We love it when he's doing this thing, which you can on everybody. That's right.
Aaron gershawan, Jeff Pacoro in the garage right now, we're talking football. More to come on six thirty w l A P Welcome back. We're live on taping the garage with Jeff Pcorol the UK Sports Network, Aaron Gershwan of the Cats Boss and Jeff, why don't you shamelessly plug the project you've got coming up. We already shot video for a special and as I mentioned in the first hour of the show, Jeff's station WTVQ now has the
SEC through ABC and ESPN. So now Jeff has to put together the same sort of shows that I used to have to put together. And before you went to work for a competing TV station, you anchored a lot.
Of those shows over at C.
Yeah, but now you're a producer and probably do some of the editing. Yeah, the chief cook and bottle washer.
But the twenty fourth, which is a week from this coming Saturday.
Is it a UK show as Yeah, it's.
Just a it's it's our preseason show for the for the the start of.
The foot Networks. I'm sure gonna have something.
Yeah, and we're actually having a big bash that Wednesday of the opening weeks. That would be twenty four until sixth. What date is that, I don't know, But anyway, the Wednesday before at Double Dogs out there and it's the SEC on ABC twenty first.
The next week, yeah, twenty eight.
Twenty at Double Dogs and yeah, and we got a bunch of stuff from like ABC and and SEC and ways. Jeff Ruby's gift certificates, all kinds of stuff out there, So coming out the Double Dogs will be it'll be a lot of fun. I'm gonna try to get some guys out there, uh, Bill Ramsdells and Dusty Bonders of the world to come out. You got that right, A lot of specials.
Yeah, I also played earlier these they're calling it the sec on ABC anthem, Yes, but I think there's a difference between that and the theme music, you know, the theme that CBS said, you know, going in and out of.
Break bringing a vern and all that. Do we know yet what ABC is doing.
I've not heard it yet. I've just heard the song.
Ye what did you think of that? And I know you're a company man, but.
Oh, you know me, it'll take I'm like the same thing with Monday night football tanks from one hundred years. So just let it play.
You know, it's got to be different, got to be different, gotta be different.
Well, obviously we're looking at the Wildcats, but also this is going to be what might be aaron the toughest season in the history at SECA, not just for Kentucky but every Florida schedule.
I'm gonna pull that up. I mean, I think they're the.
First day you think Napier's not going to survive well through the entire year.
He's probably in the hotest seat right now and maybe in all the college football I didn't.
I think, yeah, here you go, now that you have the ap top twenty five Pole came out. They start with number nineteen Miami. They have a Samford game, and then they play number nineteen A and M also on their number fourteen Florida. I lost the Pigs, but I know Florida's on Tennessee. I'm sorry, Number fourteen Tennessee is on there. They have to go to they have to play All miss at home. Who else is on there in Florida State. At the end of the year, they
gave Kentucky at home. They have Texas on the road. What I believe, I mean, their schedule is brutal. I think they played eight or nine ranked teams in the preseason, like and the Kentucky's I saw it was ranked the fourth hardest in the country.
Like They've got Mississippi State in Starkville September twenty first, and then you see.
F which won't be easy. Nope, that's in games. But but after that they head for Florida. I'm sorry, they head for Tennessee.
Had for Tennessee, and then they have Kentucky coming in the next week for their homecoming.
Game, and then Texas Georgia, Texas Georgia year.
Yeah, ls, I mean, and that's the thing for Kentucky.
And Florida State, who should have been in the playoff list.
Kentucky falls for them between Tennessee and Geordan.
Kentucky's got that's either a or a bed.
Well, it should be well Kentucky theoretically they're gonna have bye week Vandy Florida.
There you go, and we've seen them compete in Gainesville. Do you guys think keep winning?
Like you just said, Florida State should have been in the playoff last year? Do you think that having twelve because their bowl game was ridiculous shouldn't have been played? Yeah, I mean that it was just horrible that what thirty players something like that didn't didn't said we're not going that can't happen. But now that you've at least expanded to twelve teams, I'm one of these guys that there's
always going to be the thirteenth team. There's always there's always the sixty fifth or now what is at sixty ninth? And now they're going to expand that even more. Come on, Yes, it set a limit.
To me, Well it should, I like twelve. I think it will stay.
It needs to be true.
But I'm exactly with you, but it's not going to be just the thirteenth team.
It's going to be the thirteenth through the.
Twentieth because there will be teams, of course, with multiple losses playoffs. So any team with two losses, depending on their schedule, will be able.
To point there are far fewer teams.
If you lost two games and you're not LSU and seven, you're not getting into a fourteen playoff. And if you lost one game, there's a chance that you won't be You know.
State lost zero games, didn't, Yeah, exactly, And it was all because their quarterback, because he got hurt.
And that's why I said no, because I did not believe they were the same team. I agree, And there were other Somebody brought up Ohio State won a big game with a backup quarterback, Well, so what.
You Yeah it was Cardill Jones, Yeah, but the running back was Ezekiel Elliot. Yeah, exactly, Yeah, thank you.
Yeah, so, uh no, but I think it'd be better for college football.
But I do think the chasm is widening.
Oh I mean it is. Yeah, never been bigger than what it is now.
Yeah, it's gonna be like I was having this, they're gonna be three team, three loss teams in the SEC where you're gonna be like they should probably. I was having this argument in a conversation, not argument, but talk
with someone the other day. Like if Kentucky goes nine and three with the schedule and hypothetically steals an Old Miss, Texas, Georgia or what's the other one, h that's in there, Tennessee, Tennessee, Old Miss Georgia or Texas, if they steal one of those at nine and three, do they have an argument?
Yeah, they do. You've got to assume in there is and win over Louisville.
Oh yeah, if they handle their business, which the point is Louisville may, Yes, yes they might.
Right.
So it's like if they steal one of those games, which more so Texas, Ole Miss or Georgia, like that's a legitimate right.
No, it's gonna be fascinating.
Yeap, And it's going to be fun.
And it's interesting because you know, they got the TV show and this and that, and and I know a lot of people have been frustrated by that through the years, not just a number of teams, but just the whole process in general. But I said, keep in mind now that while everybody's arguing about college football, they're not talking about the NFL. Right, And your network is affiliated of course owns the ESPN, and their research top to bottom,
as you know, shows how popular the NFL is. That's why it's when the season begins, especially for NFL nuts like you, Aaron.
Every hour on there there's a there's an NFL show on the air.
Yeah, I think the difference in it is right now, it's so much fun to be a college fan because in the NFL, for instance, Joe Burrow played what the first series in the last game. They're saying here in game two, none of the starters you can pay, they're not even gonna play. So why talk about Jeff Bacoro playing wide receiver for the Bears this week?
Who?
No one cares because it's not it has nothing now when the season starts, forget about it.
Any who cares?
Bananas the gamblers, Yeah, and fantasy player. Well, you know what, it's interesting because now it brings up the thing that we've heard about college football and the injuries. Are they gonna make it where they have to become more black and white with these injuries?
Remember college level? Yeah?
Yes, I could keep going back to twenty twenty two. The only reason anyone found out that Will Levis was herd is because the line dropped from seven and a half to two for that South Carolina game out and everyone's like, what the hell's going on? It's like, oh, well, well Levis and everyone thought he was his finger, remember his finger at all missed me before like snapped, Oh he's out for the game. Oh ends up being a foot and it's more serious injury. But yeah, it's got
to be the Big ten. Did it last year?
I don't know why it's not universal at this point.
Well, and Jeff and I talk about this all the time.
Rich Brooks first practice at Kentucky, We're all grouped around him and the first thing he does.
Pull out his paper, pulls out a.
Piece of paper and goes okay injuries. Then he stopped himself.
Yeah, and he said he looked around and goes, ah, it's an NFL thing, and he wade off the injuries and you know, because.
He was like some coaches doing.
The sun came up the next day and Kentucky won the game.
And you know, I mean Florida. I remember looking through their game notes. They have an injury report on their South Carolina does.
It, but I don't.
I don't disagree with Stoops say if why not everybody does it, I'll do it.
He's always said, why should I do it?
If everybody no? No, I get that.
Oh, I have no issues with what he does. I'm just saying it needs to just I agree. Rip the bandit off.
Well, and here's the question.
Now, if you're a college sports commissioner, a president or whatever, you know, the NFL does it? Why gamblers gambling information? That's why there are deadlines. Yes, and you can't play games within the game.
You know, on Saturday afternoon or evening with injuries or whatever. So now with all these betting services around, did the college powers would be do exactly what Aaron is.
I was stunned. I watched a Penn State game last year and their ribbon board all the way around it said, you know draft Kings special, you know, twenty five dollars, you know for one hundred whatever, you know, whatever it is. I don't know. We're we are not allowed to do that, but I'm just I was like, you got to be kidding me. And then the net went up. You know, it used to be the All State Good Hands right and it was draft whatever it was.
Yeah, it was extra point at.
Yes, I mean so it's another avenue. Well, what the college chancellors and presidents and eighties are thinking is if Draft Kings is going to pay me a million dollars to raise that, that goes right to my nil till that I've got to have at you know, because facilities, Yeah, I mean that against that's the difference is you've got there has to be a media. We could talk all day on this because it's it's just horrible, because it's
just going to get bigger and bigger and bigger. And when I was talking chasm, I think you were talking about the losses and who gets in. I was talking about the chasm between the haves and the have not. Miami of Ohio, Ohio, University, Western Michigan, all those schools, e K. They're they're done, They're finished. They're irrelevant now. All you are now is a feeder system to everybody else.
It took Walt Wells ninety five percent of his nil money to keep Parker last years his quarterback because all these Division one teams one name is their backups, right, and we're going to pay him hundreds of thousands of dollars to come as a backup.
Crazy.
We'll come back and solve more problems in just a minute. Here on the Big Blue.
Insider, jefp Picorro, Aaron Gershan you were surely on six point thirty wlap welcome Back final segment with Aaron Gershawan and jefpicorl right here in the garage because Jeff, prior to us taping our show, shot a little TV feature so that will appear on the pre season special.
Is there a name for this alleged show yet?
Just our Solid Blue preview.
Show, gotcha? Okay?
When I was doing this sort of thing at KYT, naming shows was my by far weakest weakest traits. So anybody who can come up with a clever name, you know, I'll tip the BBI cap to them. As we wrap up our discussion about Kentucky football, we talked about where we think they're they may end up with possibly eight nine whatever. But Aaron, you talked about growing up. I don't know how much you paid attention to Kentucky football, but I feel certain that it wasn't then clearly as
relevant as it is now, which to me is fascinating. Jeff, you grew up for the most part here in Kentucky, you played at UK. This is got to help us the fortieth anniversary season. If you're all his eighty four bowl game team, the team that won the Which Bowl.
Did you win? Back then?
It was called the Hall of Fame Bowl.
The Hall of Fame Bowl, which went on to become back the out Back Bawl in Tampa Weak Wisconsin.
Then finished the year sixteenth in the country.
Back to back winning seasons after a winless season, not far, you know, But relevance for Kentucky then it's sagged.
But ever since Mark.
Stoop's got here, it's been climbing. Now where it's got to be in the conversation, doesn't it?
Aaron?
I think you might know the number here, but what is it? Eight bowls in a row that he and there's only there's only like four teams in the country that have done more in the SEC.
I'm yes, it's only it's only Bam and Georgia. I'm pretty sure.
Yeah, roj Obama, that's it Tennessee, not Florida.
That's why when people scoff, well, you have to do a schedule your way to a bowl game.
Uh, it's that easy.
Everybody would be doing. That's exactly. And you got to remember too. I know a lot of people say, uh, you know, they have an easy Louisville has. Let's let's face it's been on a roller coaster at Louisville, right, I mean, they were good, they're bad, They're good, they're bad, They're good, they're bad. Jeff Brawm has brought them back to prominence. They're very good. You really have three games, yes,
and Louislle. Louisville's totally different that that should not be counted as a a automatic win like Eastern Kentucky, and.
People chalk up non conference exactly, you know, and sadly when they add the ninth game, I think we'll see the.
End of a regular game with.
I agree, I think and I thought. For all that you love or hate about Mitch Barnhart, the one thing that he talked about was here's what you have to remember. With that one extra game. That means every team in the SEC is going to get a loss. Texas isn't going to be nine or half the teams at least. Yeah, I mean that's who I met. Yeah, half the team could get lost. So let's say you have to add that game, and now Texas has to play Alabama. Alabama has to play Georgia. Georgia has to play L s U.
So it's that one extra game. Now you might have to play Oklahoma L s U and Texas.
You every other year, we'll have to go on the road.
And right, that's what I mean. So that extra loss, it's good if you if you come through the SEC undefeated, you're the number one in the in the playoffs, you have to play and probably the Big probably the Big Ten too. If you're undefeated, that up top the top. You know you've got Oregon is what third to Michigan.
I mean, Jeff Kelly, Rick Patino were the first.
But many have said, just give the football power conferences, let them do their own thing with football, leave everybody else alone, and.
The world would be a better pay year exactly right, not it definitely would definitely. I think you should have four sixteen team conferences in football, and then that's sixty fourteen.
And all the other sports men and women go back to the original geographic Yes, traditional.
Yeah, did you see what came out about UCLA today? They're traveling twenty two thousand miles this year in the football games because they have a game in Hawaii, which is only one hundred miles further than I think it's Wisconsin that they're playing something. So what really, Yeah, it's twenty two hundred miles.
I wouldn't if they go to figure Southern calill do something similar. You would, YEA in Washington.
Well, but they're not playing Hawaii, Like you said.
It sucks even more faller sports. I mean you're talking. You're talking a soccer game between Rutgers and UCLA on a Thursday night and them got to be in class Friday morning.
Or tennis or golf.
Yes, and I guarantee you in sane. Jeff and I are privileged to fly with the team.
On the charter.
Not all those people new they're on American.
Airlines and your luggage to somebody and you see it at the hotel. Not that.
Not the smallers PLoP Nope. So yeah, it's ridiculous, fellas. I do appreciate you coming by, Jeff one more time shamelessly plug your show.
Yeah, it's our Solid Blue preview special the twenty fourth.
So and there will be a little segment, little feature on the BBI.
Aaron and I will be with Billy Rutledge the night of the first March Stoops Radio show and then after bb AND Radio.
But Darren Hedrick, the three of us.
Will jump on board and chat things all football. But where can folks find your work?
Yep castpalls dot com, pigres of the Cats Paws.
We have an issue that will be printed today in the Football Yearbook has been out for about a month and a half. They'll still time to grab that.
What do they need to look for in the yearbook?
Feature story me one on one Dean Walker six seven pages. I did an interview with him back in June.
Yeah, you know what I like about the high school coverage in there too? Oh yes, last forty pages.
Of high school and all writers from across the state.
Yeah, I was gonna say, and who puts all? Who does the lions work?
Eryl bird Man, Caryl bird He busts his butt and we're already we're in a we're ahead of where we usually are with the basketball y your book, and he's knee deep in that too, so he doesn't And.
By the way, Harrold' is the one who got the headlines rolling with his interview of Mark Stoops and Stoops' comments.
Uh, well that's been churned up. It'll hang over the program for a little while.
Thank you, fellasp.
Now I'll do it for this special edition of the Big Blue Cider as Aaron and Jeff joined us here in the garage and again watch for us on Jeff's special coming up tomorrow night. We're back in our usual Wednesday routine. It's anything but with the unforgettable guard Sean Woods. We'll come back and talk about the basketball tournament, but also Olympic basketball as well. Gary More, Western Bureau Chief will join us and priced from the UK network. He's
a guy who digs up all those cool numbers. That's a good night from the garage in lexingon