Welcome to the Big Blue and sider Dick Gabriel with you Wednesday edition of our show, which means we will be visiting but unforgettable. Guard Sean Woods will talk about basketball, but we're going to talk about coaching in general because there's been so much said and written about Mark Stoops in the way he is coaching his team. So Sean, of course a veteran of the college basketball coaching business.
Of course it is Wednesday meeting. We'll talk with West End Bureau chief Gary Moore, and we're gonna bring in Van Hiles. We usually don't lean on Van quite as much because you hear him on Sunday Morning Sports Talk, you hear Mom with Tom on Monday mornings. But I just have to get his response to what happened with Vanderbilt. So Van Hiles will teach us some football coming up at the bottom of this hour, so stick around for that. Speaking of coaching and teaching, I follow Tony Franklin on
Twitter or actually whatever you want to call it. Tony is the former UK assistant who was here when Mummy went down in flames, and you know, Claude Bassett tried to paint him as the bad guy, the guy that turned Kentucky into the NCAA, which he did not. That's why he wrote his tell all book, which a lot of people still disapprove of and still don't like him
for doing it. I don't blame him though ordinarily I don't like that, but he thought his career was over, and really, in fact it was at that point because he was being blacklisted, and he finally broke through and got back into college coaching. And as I've said before, he was the quarterbacks coach for Jared Goff at Cal coach the number one draft pick and a guy's doing pretty well now with the Lions. And he was the guy who coached or rather quarterback the Rams to his
Super Bowl early in his career. So anyhow, Tony now has his own consulting business, it's coach tf dot com, but he also posts on Twitter basic messages kind of coaching the coaches, and his latest post or one of his latest on Twitter was sick steps to how to deal with your team during I guess the midway point of the season, and he said, do this fix what's broken with details and fundamentals. Don't panic, You're not as bad as you look. Don't celebrate. You're not as good
as you look. Coaching really matters now in all caps and in parentheses. Adjust number five one on one meetings with players and coaches. Number six, get healthy, and you think about any college football team in America, any high school team. This is great advice. But apply this to Kentucky clearly they need to fix what's broken with details. How about you know, playing cleaner and fundamentals, that's all hand in hand. Don't panic. So many fans have nothing
to celebrate right now. But everybody's celebrated after the old miss win, big win. But you're never as good as you look. Coaching really matters now, of course it does, absolutely it does for not just the Wildcats, but everybody. One on one meetings with players and coaches and get healthy. Now about that one on one meeting thing. Mark Stoops has been doing that with leaders and Eli Cox, the
veteran center. Now offensive linemen. Talk about that with the media, and how the Wildcats are going to try to go about fixing what's wrong right now.
Just talk about emotional control amongst the chaos. You know, Saturday is a chaotic environment. Everyone's fans have been fantastic. Course, for the home games. I mean, can't thank them enough for the environment they've created here, and we need to feed off that, but also not let it take us past the whistle where it creates those penalties that are shooting ourselves in the foot on both sides of the
ball and not letting us finish drives on offense. So that's kind of the message to the guys in lockers to feed off that environment, to let those emotions be there, but in a healthy way, and not let it escalate pass the whistle to the s of mistakes that you saw on Saturday.
I don't know that I've ever heard that term used emotional control, but that's as good as anything and it's right to the point, isn't it. And according to Cox, it's not something that you think about pregame. It starts like everything in practice.
Yeah, I think it's something you start with those habits of practice being blocked into the plays because every football snap is absolute chaos. I mean, there's bullets flying in every which direction, and I think just a certain level of maturity is required for our guys that are in the game and understanding that you do need to play with a healthy emotion in between the snaps, because if you came out flat, you'd have the exact same result,
maybe even worse. Because I don't think this team's ever come out flat this season. I think we come out with the right intentions with the juice, but again it's tricking past the whistle and it's just stupid mistakes that we just can't keep having.
After a loss like that, everybody wants to point fingers, especially at the coach, and again, more than more than that, I look at the players who make the mistakes. If I think the team has played hard and has a good game plan, which I thought both of those facets were true in the Vandy game. You know, coaches are responsible, yes, but as far as the players go, they are not without responsibility. And Cox said that begins right there in the locker room.
I think this team is a mature one and I think we understand that. The way this team felt in the locker room after this game, I think was indicative of the way we need to correct things. And I don't think we really need to bark and talk at each other more about it. Sometimes it's not really the way to go. I think this team understands where it fell short. Or disappointed the fans, disappointed ourselves, and what we need to do to correct and move forward.
So we'll see how that all plays out down in the Swamp. And again, it's a place where Kentucky knows what it's like to win, knows what it's like to have a win taken away, knows what it's like to get blown out down there. But I do think the Wildcats will play well. But I think Florida is going to play about as hard as it can after that overtime loss in Knoxville, the Tennessee game it should have won.
Shifting to basketball very quickly because media days have wrapped up down in Birmingham, the media have said the Wildcats the men's team, let's see preseason number twenty three of the women number twenty two. Jackson Robinson, a third team preseason All Conference pick, and Mark Polk talked to the media wearing the equivalent of a letter jacket letterman's jacket. I don't recall ever seeing that at media day, but he was asked by Ben Roberts of The Hero Leader
about where are you right now? Basically in terms of what are you looking for and what do you have?
We're blessed to have a really veteran group that's got a ton of experience, that's got no experience with each other. And so it's been since the very very first day that we were together, it's been a major piece of focus for our guys that understand us and understand each other and try and fit together and communicate with each other.
And so that's been the biggest part for us. We have guys that bring in exactly the skill sets that we're looking for in this first year, and it's just a matter of us growing together, and that's something that we've done extraordinary well. I think over the course of the summer, I've been really proud of our guys and into the fall and into Banner Camp, and then the next step for us is to actually get on a court and play against somebody else and start coming together
that way too. And so I think we're well on our way in the process and we're excited for the next steps.
Like every college team, they're tired of looking at each other. But I got to think it's so unusual the way they put this roster together that the curiosity level has got to be off the charts. What can we do? How can we make this thing work with all these new teammates And we've read about them, we've heard about them, we've seen them in practice. What can we do in
a real game? And that's coming up quickly. And I think Kentucky, believe it or not, is in a position to sneak up on people this year just a little bit, not for long. That'll take hold very quickly. College football TV ratings are soaring. That's coming up next in six thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big Moon Sider coming up Van Hiles, we'll talk Kentucky football. Van of course
makes the media rounds every week. I try not to call on him too much, you know, because I don't want to wear at our welcome But we just needed to talk to him about what happened with that Kentucky Vandy game. So that's coming up in just a few minutes. There's a lot of TV news when it comes to sports and especially college sports this week, including the story about the fact that the SEC and the Big Ten are talking about trying to work up more money. Of course,
scheduling we're talking football now. As many as twelve to sixteen regular season non conference games every year, SEC and big ten are. They are the heavy hitters, the big players. And of course this of course prompts me even more talk about a super conference. But here we see in football now it could be like the ACC SEC Challenge. This year they're playing three non conference games. You got USC, LSU, Alabama, Wisconsin, Texas, Michigan.
All three games finished among the top ten most watched during the first month of the season when most of those games are played, and that is a sign of potential financial strength of an arrangement. You know, presidents, ads, chancellors, whatever you want to call it, on the constant looking now for ways to make more money. They have to because revenue streams are kind of drying up. Really, I mean, it can only get so much from the contracts they
signed with individual networks. So if they can cross pollinate and make more money that way and command more money, well that's the way to do it. And whether you like it or not, I mean, when you look at ESPN's college football this past weekend, that Oregon Ohio State game was the top rated game, but the SEC commanded the numbers in games numbers two and three. Texas OU Now an SEC game drew nearly eight million viewers seven
point nine. That was second. Okay, South Carolina Alabama, believe it or not, that game was the third most watched game at six point four. And that's a far cry from what Oregon Ohio State drew, which was ten point two million viewers on average. But still, when you're number two and three when it comes to overall viewing as a conference, not too bad. Ole Miss LSU four point two million viewers in the primetime window on ABC, directly
head to head with Ohio State. Oregon. Florida Tennessee chipped in with three point two million viewers at seven pm over on ESPN. So the eyeballs are coming for these TV networks, and anything the SEC and the Big ten can do to pull in even more viewers and command more dollars, it's going to happen, whether you like it or not. College Game Day. This was the Oregon Ohio State situation. They're out in Eugene, Oregon, and what a crowd at six o'clock in the morning, and they go
on here at nine am. Well there's three hours behind, as you know, but the nation tuned in to the three hour show to the tune of an average of two point three million viewers. That peaked at three point one mil and according to ESPN, that was up eight percent over last seasons Week number seven show, and overall they say they're on pace for their best season ever. So the viewers are tuning in the super conferences. They're winning, but it might bring up some situations that traditional fans
just don't care for. But as you well know by now, how you feel about it, John Q, public doesn't matter. Good news for the WNBA in terms of ratings, the Finals scoring the biggest audience since twenty one on Sunday, that was Game two of the Finals. Kaitlin Clark's not playing. ABC says it averaged one point three to five million viewers, and again, no Caitlin Clark. This is Minnesota versus New York. But that is up ninety three percent versus the average
of last year's WNBA Finals. So we kept saying all these players who were chafing and balking about Caitlin Clark were incredibly shortsighted. And again it's the cliche, but the rising tide rising, you know, raising all boats. You're an independent contractor, you're a businesswoman, make a smart decision and support not just Caitlin Clark, but the new you know,
influx of talent, angel recent people like that. But when you're looking at numbers like this for the final round without Kaitlin Clark, you know that that was people who are exposed to the WNBA like what they saw, came back for more. And this was not a huge market in Minnesota, New York. Yes, but you don't know how much of that is attributable to these numbers in a WNBA. But one point three to five million, up ninety three percent versus last year, largest of any finals game since
twenty oh one. It's pretty incredible, and I think it's just going to get bigger. While we're talking media, of course, Yankees Dodgers is what Major League Baseball wants. They won't admit to that, but there is a promotional spot out there, commercial if you will, for playoff coverage, and it features Sho Hao Tani and Aaron Judge. How do you feel about that if you're a Guardians or Mets fan. I saw that come on the other night and I thought, wait a minute, did I miss something? Are we already
looking at a bicoastal series. No, Guardians still alive, Mets still alive, but their promo basically their commercial about themselves MLB MLB dot Com Aaron Judge and I mean singing their praises in Shohiotani. How do you feel if you're a fan of those other teams? Oh, by the way, Cleveland still in it, Mets are still in it. I wouldn't be comfortable, but Major League Baseball could not care less.
Yankees are rolling, it looks like. But John Sterling, playboy play man for Wfan, not happy with the play that came kind of early in the game. But Anthony Rizzo had a huge lead from second, started to take off on a pitch in the dirt. Actually this was in the sixth inning. They were up four to two and got picked off. And I guess that's been a problem. Eron Gerstein could tell us he's a Yankees fan, but
evidently that's been a problem all year long. And John Sterling, the play by play guy, went after the Yankees when Rizzo was picked off.
The two.
A bouncer and Rizzo is going to be picked off. He's in the middle between second and third. Hedges now throws to second on the way to third, back to second, back to third. Tagged out end of inning. Boy, if that wasn't the Yankees, that's that's what they do. Run the bases like drunks.
Well Clayborough will lead.
Off the next sun.
That is John Sterling on the Yankees Network. Courtesy of WFN, the flagship station that brings us to Jerry Jones and his criticism of hosts on a radio show in one O five point three the fan in Dallas. When I was in Dallas, Krold eleven ten eighty AM had the Cowboy rights. But they've bounced around a little bit. Now they're on the fan. My buddy, Chuck Cooperstein works for them,
the voice of the Mavericks. But apparently Jerry Jones went off on the hosts of a Cowboys show and he threatened their jobs and talked about the fact that he was paying them. Well, he's not. The money goes in a different direction. The radio station pays the Cowboys for the rights. But Jerry Jones didn't like their questions and he talked about them as if they didn't know anything.
And he said, you know, if there were real fans or people who knew football, But these guys are covering football for years and it's not their job to be real fans. But I think the clock's running out on Jerry, and I think he's losing his mind. We'll talk about that more with Weston Bureau chief Gary Moore a little bit later on all Right, Van Hiles up next year on six point thirty Wlap join us on a celebrity hotline.
We ordinarily don't pester Van Hiles as much as we have lately because he's on this Sunday morning sports talk as his own podcast UH and is own with Tom Leach on Monday mornings. But Ben, I think right after this game, I texted you, like, boy, do we have to talk. I cannot imagine you are our celebrity monologue going into this game taking us back. Now, you took
us back to a shutout in ninety sex. I wasn't expecting a shutout, And we'll talk about a defense that only gave up twenty but a festival of yellow flags and another missed opportunity at home. How are you processing?
I can't process it, because honestly, it doesn't make sense this for me. I thought this team was a different team. I thought this team could be consistent in their effort, and you cannot do what you did against Georgia and Old Miss and then do what you did at home against Bandy.
To me, it makes no sense.
There is no bevariables in it. You have the same players, the same coaches. We are not down like we was down will Levis. A couple of years ago, we was down from players see rother first four game like this is not the case this year. We have everybody at our disposal that we played with against Georgia and Old Miss. And why do we come out and play the type of game that we played Saturday compared to what we played the last few weeks. It's unexplainable to me.
Now you talk about an effort. I thought they played hard, but obviously they played sloppy, which, of course the tracks from how Hard You Play?
Right, Yes, there there were some and it's we can say. I can say all I want to say about accountability and leadership and all the all the cliche things that I can say, But when you really look at it, why do you have those same issues against other teams? Why does it rear its ugly head in this game? What was the bearable that that was introduced on Saturday to make them play different than they played against the other two tough teams.
Any any theories, any guesses.
My my guess is that this bye week some guys started, as us old people say, started smelling themselves. They started feeling getting a little fat, and lady started thinking that they have reached a certain level that is not given in this conference until the end of the year, and this this bye week a lot of get healthy, but allow them to get their their ego to get boost with the way they played against Ole Miss. That's the only thing I've come up with, because what else can
you come up with? When they played so well against Georgian Ole Miss, why would it be different this week?
And they played well because they played as that invariable unit that we talk about with you know, talk about focus or whatever, doing your job, staying your gap, all that kind of thing. But let me let me run a theory at you that I posed on our Stay Wide show Monday night because it kind of came to me late in the first half, after yet another penalty.
I was wondering, did they come into this game like thinking, all right, we're going to kick these guys, but we know they beat Alabama, but hey, we're coming up on Miss. They were a little too excited and for to use a cliche, kind of got out of their lane, not out of their gap, but you know they were just yeah, just way too anxious to get this win and move on to the next one. Does that make sense?
No, it makes sense. Is a is a great opinion? I don't know's it's like, I would say this, some of the things that we have done haven't been called in the previous game. This is not the first time these receivers have done. Some of the things that they have done, it's just it wasn't called, and unfortunately we got we got enticed to doing something because honestly, it should have been called both sides. I mean, the Vanda built guy got up bump bumped them dan Key under
the chin, and then dank Key reacted. Yeah, so but you can't react. We all know the second guy's always caught. So why react? Why say, okay, let him get the fifteen yard pill, let me get even closer to the to the promised land. So those are things that you cannot do. They you know what's crazy. Vandy did to us what we did to.
Ole miss Yeah exact.
They played sound football, balanced, smart, took big plays when they had it, didn't do any stupid things with stupid turnovers.
So they did.
They had all game plan, but.
You know what, it was very similar. Kentucky's effort was similar. Ball control. I thought, you I we'll get more to this. I thought did a decent job against Diego. He still heard him with some big plays. But this is a team that, as you know, scored forty against Alabama. But when you mix in the penalties, you cannot This to Kentucky team is not good enough to overcome all that. I remember the seven team that was Kentucky's best offensive
team in modern history. Man, if they took a fifteen yard penalty, one flick of the rest with Andre Woodson and he's got Keenan Burton for twenty and they overcome it. This team can't do.
That, you know, right, Yeah, And you just can't put yourself consistently behind the chain, and that's gonna eat you up every time, because like you said, we just don't have the explosiveness and we are still playing with a new coordinator, new quarterback. That these kind of these growing pains are to be expected. I'm gonna say this. The defense played good enough to win, but they didn't play up to their caliber. And that's something that's very disappointed.
And it's interesting you say that when they only gave up twenty. You know, made some mistakes. I thought the defense did put the offense in a position to win, sure, but there were times they need you know, they made a mistake into the first half, cast him a touchdown.
A touchdown where go to me was playing for the field goal. Yeah, his quarterback scrambled with fifty seventh with fifty five seconds or fifty two seconds left. He didn't even call time. We had two in his pocket. The clock ran down to under twenty second. He had no intentions on his team. We scored great, but let's not allow them get the football, so we're going to kick a field goal. So it could have been ten seven and a half for.
The Fortunes exactly. It's just frustrating to talk about. As we chat with Van Heils when weer Kentucky defensive back. He is V Styles on V Styles seventeen on Twitter and he breaks down Kentucky football on the internet and he is Tom Leech's guest. Every Monday morning is the Monday Morning quarterback. You played quarterback once upon a time.
Right, That's all I played until I got to college. I was a quarterback my entire career until I stepped footing Lexington.
So will you recruited as a d back or quarterback?
I was recruited by the bigger programs as a D back. I was my senior in high school when people started recruiting me. I was five to nine, probably one hundred and fifty pounds. So back in those days, in the nineteen hundred, quarterbacks six four six five. So if I would have came up about seven years later, I probably would have played quarterbacks.
Yeah, because back then they were looking for the next Peyton Manning. Right.
Yes, before Payton Umber, there was a guy Drunken Miller that played for a votech I played Jim Dash. That guy was humongers. And that's what the prototypical guy was. The the what's the guy from Houston? The last thing with a K? Remember the university clingler? Yeah?
Yeah, c Universe. Yeah.
David, like all those guys, was sixty three six four, couldn't run much. They couldn't they couldn't avoid a rush, but they could stand tall, take ahead, stand in the pocket to deliver a pass. And then all of a sudden it's starting to change about seven years later.
You know, there's something about tall quarterbacks. I remember Iowa had a guy named Chuck Long. Yes, yes, for a while, six foot eight. Yep, you know it wasn't wasn't great, But boll he looked good, didn't he.
Yeah? Yeah, look, no, none of his passes we're gonna get batted down.
Yeah, we'll take a break, come back and talk more football with Van in just a minute. Here on a Big Blue Sider six thirty wlap. Welcome back. We're talking with former Kentucky defensive back Van Hiles. You hear him every Monday morning with Tom Leach. Here him on Sunday Morning Sports Talk. Uh, he's got his own podcast. He breaks down video on the interweb as well. And now
Kentucky heading for Gainesville. And I know so many Kentucky fans, who believe it or not, Van are confident going into this one because well, Vandy, I mean Florida rather as struggled of late, and Kentucky has played well against the Gators. But you know, you got to wonder where's this team gonna be mentally? You know what I mean?
You never know. I will say this at least is a road game. Yeah, and I'm gonna tell you something, Lauder wins that game against Tennessee if Merch doesn't get hurt. So they are confident and playing good ball. I know they're down there starting quarterback, but they have enough talent on that team to beat us if we don't play our best game. If we don't, if we if we played like we played against Bandy decided we would lose that game too.
Well, that's factoring in penalties. What if they play that way minus the penalties, Well.
That that was the The game was built on penalties and turnovers.
That was that was it. If if we.
Don't turn the ball over and we don't have those penalties, we we left nine points minimum off the board because of penalty we lost and then the the second and one, which is a penalty, But then we lost points on the field goal like that. That turn that was not like uh six points wings or something like that. That was like a play points wing maybe fourteen. Because we.
Don't get a touchdown, then we don't get the field goal.
Like we got nothing out of that. And the offense was doing I'm gonna say this, the offense played well enough to win. Also, it wasn't like they didn't move into red zone, they just didn't capitalize.
So any theory on why this team is just having such a difficult time winning.
At home, I'm as a leadership Neil, and I'm just starting to realize this since I coached high school and it does the same thing on college. When when we're at home at a high school game, you have time after class, you can You've got two hours to just chill in the locker room, shoot the bs and they have fun and all their giggles and all that stuff, So you have time get distracted. When you play on
a road. For us in high school, you got to take that bus ride and sometime that bus rode can be in an hour that gets you in the right frame of mind. And the same thing in college. You get on that plane ride, you escape your normalcy and you are just you and the guys. When you're at home, it's you, your parents, your girlfriend, your best buddy, you're your classmates. It's a lot of things that distract you. You got to get tickets. Oh man, I got somebody
coming in. I need two more tickets. Who are a team?
Give me?
Like those kind of things can be a distraction. And when you're on a row is you and your players and things are regimented. You got busts off the plane and you got a meeting, you got this, you got that. Everything is on the schedule, and I think it helps you focus and that might be the difference for this team. So if that is the difference, we got to find a way to do that at home.
You remember what it's like down in Florida. I can't work. I believe if you were still playing when the students could be directly behind me, Oh yes, and that's what the because I remember it had to be yeah, because you were you preceded Tim Couch is when they were throwing oranges in ice and the Tim Couch team. That's prompted the move of students across the conference from behind a bench to just just down the way outside the
coaching box. But when you were wow, man, they were right they were right behind you, weren't they right up?
I don't think people understand how small the Florida sideline is.
There's no room over there. There is zero.
So when I so if you could think of usually there's a bench and you have some room, there's no room it's a bench and basically the guys on the sideline standing right up on you, and the fans are right on your back. And I can't believe, and this is before the internet, how much research those kids did to learn about you. It's like they knew stuff. I'm like, I don't be don't figure that out, Like it was crazy. Yeah, so that's nice to hear that.
Somehow they would get hold of a media guide.
Ah, that's not the.
Only way they could have done it, but you know that wasn't easy. Right to the bookstore and maybe chipped in their money. I don't know.
Yeah, yeah, that's a good point.
I don't know how they were.
Yeah, that takes because.
It's not just I guess, I guess word, I'm off and they just filled up there everybody. Everybody starts memorizing all kinds of stuff. I'm like, yeah, that's wild.
Yeah, that's you know, people have yelled at me in the years that I've been on the side. One guy down in Baton Rouge in my home state, no afterwards to me, I'm going to kill you more than once pointed at me. And then late in the game I turned around said, do I need to be worried about this guy. Uh. But then when the next time I turned around Van, he was by the police. Oh wow, Yeah, so he had gotten into the people around him.
It's nuts. Uh.
But yeah, this this Kentucky team bands together and now they're gonna play with one QB. For the most part, Mertz is injured. A guy who at at one point wanted to come to Kentucky, but his career is over. And now I gotta thinks as a defensive guy, do you foresee a lot of uh changes by by Brad? Why do you see hidden coverages things like that to try to blitz his to try to confuse a young guy.
I mean, the advantage is is we play a mobile quarterback this week? Black way is there's a mobile young quarterback. Now, can you confuse them? I'm sure for me, we can't do what we did against Vandy. We have to stop the run. We cannot allow Bandy being second to five consistent. I mean, we can let Florida be in second to five like we allow Vanna to be consistent. If we can't force him to throw the ball but keep him in the pocket, it can be a good game for us.
But we cannot let in the quarterback, the running back, Johnston, that's the name. We can't allow him to get in a rhythm. If he gets in a rhythm, it can be a long night.
Yeah, so many times Vandy really pushing the pie. I thought the Vandy O line was really impressive, starting with their center who went three sixty one and Dion Walker had his hands full. But man, every time it seemed like, uh, they're they're going second and five or shorter.
Right, Yeah, it was I haven't seen and maybe I underestimated the ability of their O line and their O line coach because I didn't see that coming. Yeah, And it wasn't like a flute this about it.
It was consistent.
There were sometimes they double be on, sometimes they didn't double be on, and they still got to push. And that's something you cannot have in a three four defense. You cannot create another line of scrimmage that knows. And those four eyes got a whole anchor and we did not hold anchor like we get a bit against Georgia and Old Mith, whom I believe have better run games. So what happened?
Yeah? Yeah, there are so many questions, so few answers.
Right.
Well, you.
Know, I'm still trying to figure out. I'm I've watched this game more than I normally watch a game because I'm trying to get a tendency and trying to get a beat on what happened. And to me, it's just guys, I don't know, effort, intensely focused, pat levels too high, like that was not our defensive line. And I know that stewards on there you know what this week because that is not how they've played any game this year from one.
To Week five. That's this has come to talk.
To a lot of games. They have not played like that anytime this year, and then all of a sudden they played like that last week. It's confusing reading.
Their own clippings. All right, I have one question you can answer about being a grill master in Louisiana. Have you ever prepared Gator?
I personally have it?
Do you like that? I'm sure you've had it.
I've had it. It's not it's like this for me. It's not like even a favorites, like I have so many other things that I can prepare before Gator, Like that's like so far down the list. Or someone would have to say, man, can you cook some gator for me, and I don't have anybody in my family who would ask me.
To prepare that when I when I've eaten it, it's been served as an appetizer at this is fine, you know, and it's more than anything. It's fun to say you've eaten gator. It's not you know, it's not bad. It's not great.
You know, it's not that special.
No, not really.
But it's like frog legs, Yeah, you like them. No, it's like it's nothing special.
Oh, Okay, I think there's a little something. I think there's more to frog legs than gator.
I would say, yes, I will agree with that. I will agree with that.
Tell you what. Last week or week aldgo Friday. We stayed in Tupelo where the team stays. Okay, and there's a restaurant there that specializes some of his dishes and wild game. I've had quail there was very good. One of the it seemed like there weren't as many, but one of the appetizers we got were duck poppers. Man, were they good?
Really?
Now, when you order duck, you know you don't get a whole out of meat.
Nope, you do not, Buddy.
If you ever go, it's called Woodies and I highly recommend it.
Huh.
Okay, so there venison, then there's venison. Then I've been a two blow many times.
Yeah yeah, so so check that out. I'm sure. I'm sure it varies, you know, from what they can get from whatever hunters.
Yeah, that's true. That's a good point.
But then and for dessert, men, we had the bananas Foster fantastic, big, big flames fantastic.
Wow wow. Yeah that sounds good. Yeah.
Well, if you sound good every week, we appreciate you being with us and hope the news is better next time.
I'm open so too doing the boss over, so you can't blame me, that's true, all right.
Well you can. You can listen to Van and as I said, Monday Morning Sports, Monday Morning Quarterback with Tom Leach and you can hear him as well on driving with Styles in the locker for one one, as well as Sunday Morning Sports Talk. Have a great weekend, my man. You up next hour number two Shawn Woods, the Unforgettable Guard.
He'll talk about madness and we'll talk about football coaching and of course our Western Burea chief Gary Moore here on the Big Blue Sider six thirty name, joining us down in our celebrity highline as he does each and every Wednesday, is the unforgettable guard Sean Woods, his jersey hangs and the rafters of Rupp and Coach. Before we talk about basketball or football, I need to ask you
though about madness. You were there on hand, a lot of former players were, but also your former coach, and as I understand it, did you even know he was going to be there?
I did not up until probably the night before because a couple of guys came in town and told me that that he was going to be in town, and you know, he was coming to the football games. I had no idea he was going to do the badness field.
How'd you feel about that?
Well, everything's starting to become more refreshing now and getting back to what we call Kentucky basketball normality of you know what this program has been built on, and that's you know, involving everyone. But to see my former coach there, who actually started what we call modern day Kentucky basketball. Let you know, you know, even though he left to go to the Boston Celtics, we know where his heart really stands, and it's here. Even though he's coached at
Louisville and in some other places. This is the one place that holds true to his heart.
You know.
He did everything a crowd that night.
Yeah, he really did. Uh. And you mentioned him leaving and people, of course are still upset that he took the Louisville job, and he said he regrets leaving Kentucky. But when you look back on him, man, I mean the money that the Celtics gave him and the odds that he would get Tim Duncan, you can't really blame him in hindsight, can you.
No, you can't, you know. And in this profession, you're trying to move up and you're trying to you know, do some things and make history. And the coach was coach. That's that's who he is.
You know.
He's always you know, searching for the next challenge and you know, resurrecting programs and teams. And unfortunately that boss himself did when he didn't get Tim Duncan, you know, and he was telling the truth. You know, Larry Berry's not walking through that door, Kevin Mchel walking through that door.
You know.
Yeah, I want a national championship with some of these guys, but playing at this level is totally different.
Yeah, and it was also his own worst enemy. I thought he was a really good coach and a poor general manager because he was so impulsive and gave up on Chauncey Billups, who winds up in the Hall of Fame. So uh, you know there he probably had a little too much on his plate. I don't know if you feel qualified to say that, but but I thought I felt like the Celtics always played hard for him. He just didn't have enough personnel. You know.
You know, it's like anything else. You know, you can have all the eggs and those that you don't have those Jim and Joe's right, you know, it's it's it's hard and you know, like anything else, if you don't have players, it's gonna be hard. And he realized that, and you know, he went to the next spot. And the next spot was actually our nemesis, which was the Louis Cardinals.
Yeah. Yeah, well you you were part of Madness as a player, and now they bring you back. Before I ask you about coming back this year, did you enjoy that as a player Madness?
Yeah? Yeah, that was that was a huge start kickoff, you know for every player. You know what I mean, that's that's huge. Even as a recruit, you know, you want to come in and experience that it's like no other basketball program. First day in America?
Were you part of madness as a recruit? Did you pay a visit during a madness?
No?
I did not.
Had you already decided?
I committed in October and signed November eleventh. I'll never forget it.
Really, what do you remember about that?
Just it was October eleventh, the first signing date back then in nineteen eighty seven, even though I graduated in high school in eighty eight. There was the Fall of eighty the fall of eighty seven, and we were the number one recruiting class in America. And I just knew that, you know, this could be a special place for me. I've you know, grown up coming down and visioned my parents, I mean, my family, my grandmother things, and I had a special place for this special place in my heart
for this place. And you know, even though I'm from Indiana and you got the Indiana who's usual got to produce all the makers, you got another dang fighting Irish. But it was just something about the mostique of Kentucky basketball that got this old Indiana guy to come back home to where his mom was going.
To raise at What was life like you as a kid growing up in Indiana and a well known basketball player, yet you signed with Kentucky. What was life like for you after that?
Well, you know, back then, you know, we didn't have an answer machine. Now we had to order My mom had to buy an answer machine because when I signed and committed to Kentucky, we would get prank calls all the time.
Yeah, and my.
Mom and my dad, you know, because they worked in the state of Indiana. You know, they were getting a little greef, you know, that crazy grief, but you know they were getting some some stuff, some some some Smaraki stuff. And also, you know, my high school coach, my senior year, we got a new coach. He played for Bob Knight at West Point. So it kind of brought it put a little you know, a little dapper in our relationship
starting off. You know, I never would take an official visit to Indiana, such an unofficial and I remember he drove me up there and uh after we were coming back and we left and we're coming back. You know, he said, what do you think. I said, I'm not playing for that guy, I'm gonna play I Kentucky.
You read in my mind that was my next question? Did you ever consider playing for Bob Knight? But that also brings up another good question. I've never asked you this. If not Kentucky, where might you have gone?
Purdue Iowa, Georgia, UNLV.
Wow, Vegas was Vegas back then, wasn't it?
Well? Vegas almost has Sean Tim, Chris Mills and myself at that particular time, US three were going to school together. We had played on the same AA team sewn and I played on the same eight team since eighth grade. And then we got picked up were they were our nemesis LS California and Nike ARC team and we ended up, you know, playing on the same team and becoming great
friends and getting recruited by the same schools. And US three decided we were going to go to school together and it was gonna be one of those And Chris really really liked Indiana really to be honest, Yeah, nobody knew. If Chris hadn't gone to Kentucky, Indiana was probably his second choice.
He would have played for Bob Knight, He would.
Have played for He was really considering playing for kidding.
He was okay with that style of coaching.
You know, his dad was tough. You know, it wasn't the coaching that scared me. You know what I'm saying. We've been growing up back then. We were getting coached Tarbory our high school coaches, then towards and things, so
that that didn't bother us. The thing with me was I didn't like bob nic style of play, and too, he had just signed the year before Jay Edwards and Lynnon Jones, who won three state championships and were cole mister Basketball the year before me, and I wanted to go somewhere where I can start and play right away. And I didn't you know, that was my idea. My mom did not want me to consider about night. But you know I didn't mind the hard coaching. I come
from Gary, Indiana. I mean we were chess tis and and things like that. I did. As long as you're playing me, I don't care because I'm gonna make it work. But if I'm sitting on that bench and you chestised me every day, and then that's a problem.
I don't blame you. Sean Camp from elk Cart, Indiana, Eddie Sutton once told us that he was the best high school player he has ever seen. If it had worked out for Sean camp here, what do you think might have happened, Sean? Because that guy would have never left.
Yeah, and we would have had an opportunity to win several national championships.
He was that good, wasn't he?
He was that good?
And we were that good as a team. You know nothing, Say you know the personnel stays. Okay, say Rex doesn't leave. Say Eric Manna doesn't have to leave, Saint Chris Mills doesn't have to leave.
Wow.
Just those three guys right there include Sean Kemp. Now you u nlf think they had something. No, they were not better than that. Said that particular time, if everybody would have stayed.
A staggering when you think about it, and here, you would have been feeding all those guys in basketball, your assisted numbers would.
Have been nuts off the charts. You gotta remember, now, eighty percent, just think of these numbers. Now, eighty percent of my of of of my passes for shots were threes. Right, Okay, I didn't have a post player. Okay, Now, out of those threes, as a team, we're shooting thirty five percent from the three. So what was my chances? And I still let the sec and assists? How hard was that? You know? I averaged about five six a game? How
how much? Just think if I'd have had just that wow chance of me getting an assists, Wow.
Would have thrown and getting down the floor.
Man, Bullie you think derk Minnifeld is saying Bullie or Roger Hartman, Kenny Walker work great? Halley you, Oh my gosh. Me and shaw Camp that's what made us. You know what I'm saying. They caught us mustard to ketch up on a hot dog because it was so much fun playing for me. I throw a pass over my head and he go get it just because I know he could.
I'm having fun just thinking about that. Man. It was a long time ago, but that would have been something else. Sean Woods, the Unforgettable Guard, is my guest. We'll come back and talk more hoops with Sean and a little football on the other side of the breaking around six thirty wlap Welcome back. We're visiting with Sean Woods, as we do each and every week, The Unforgettable Guard, and we've talked some football on this show, and you played
a little football. But let me ask you about coaching because now the debate after that Vandy mishap with Kentucky football last week, and so many people are trying to decide how much of it is coaching, how much of it is the players. I lean more towards the players. You talk about the Jimmy's and Joe's, the ones out there making the silly mistakes causing the flags. Now, ultimately
the coach is responsible, but it's the same team. It was brilliant two weeks prior against Ole Miss. And I know this is what drives you coaches nuts, But how do you break that down? Sean any you know, and I know it's a different sport, But coaching is.
Coaching, right, Coaching is coaching. But the difference between coaching and playing, as I know, is you can drill and mentor and put you know, repetition, repetition, repetition, but you can't go out there and play for and every coach, especially at that level, is always prepared. It's not like they were not prepared. I think they looked like they took Vandy for granted, just because of the success they had the last two weeks prior. I didn't see the same type of pop. I don't see the same type
of enthusiasm when they came out. I don't see the same type of energy on that sideline. And then all of a sudden, you know you're playing against Vandy and Venny's pretty good. You gotta remember now they just beat Alabama. So there's no slat. You didn't lose to a slouch of a team, right, you did not. You lost to
a hungry Vanderbilt team. Just like what Kentucky is upsetting people and things like that, Vandy and Kentucky are in the same boat and there are two teams that you don't want to play and you must prepare for or you'll get stung. And I just think that's what happened.
In a situation like this. Coaches, I know, have to get together first of all with their leaders. And what is that process like as a coach where you've got to try to right some wrongs and turn the ship around whatever you want to call it. But you've got to go through the leaders on your team, and it's got to start with them, the guys who have the ownership of the team.
What is that like, Well, you know, it's psychological warfare deck and what I mean by that is you're upset as a coach because you're disappointed in their play. Not only that, you're disappointed because you're the one who's getting the criticism, so you're feeling more under pressure. Those guys are still gonna go see their girlfriends after the game, even though they're bad and sad, they're pissed off because they play well. They're gonna go out and have a
good time as college kids. While you're sitting up there with your coach is tooling your thumbs, going over film, wondering what happened, and you're still dealing with eighteen to twenty two year olds. And like we said the other day, the inconsistency of Kentucky football is just that, you know what I mean. You know, we're trying to get to be a consistent, SEC prominent team, but we're still not
there yet. You know, like Vanderbilt's going to have a couple of bad losses too, unless they this is just a magical year for him because they really get They got a really good quarterback and their defense is pretty is better than what people are thinking. But this is you know, maybe a special year for them, you know, to to overachieve but I don't see that on a consistent basis, And that's what people have to understand that,
you know, yeah, that was a disappointing loss. You know, we're feeling high because we played you know, Georgia really good and we beat such and such. But at the end of the day, Dick, you know, it's it's tough. That's that's that's why the coaches get the big bucks because everything went, you know, losses come down on them. Wins is the cornerback or whoever the star player is. And you know, I feel for coach too, because I really think that he's one of the top ten best
coaches in America. Really, but I really do, because this is a hard place.
Yeah yeah, I mean, come on, this is I mean, let's let's look at it straight. I'm not knocking Kentucky football.
But the history and history prevails, and you know, Alabama's always going to be good no matter what the cool the coach is. Georgia is always going to be good, no matter who the coach is. LSU is always going to be in the thick of things. Even though they took you know, had a couple of bad years with the coaching change, but those football schools like Kentucky. No matter who the.
Coach is, there's going to be still a top ten, top twenty five team every year in the country.
That's not Kentucky football right now. But going to a bowl game every single year, that's really really over the coach is at the Uniorsey Kentucky. But what makes athletics as look expectations, right, you know, and you know he's good enough that he's created a major expectation, high expectations of this football team. That's a credit to him. And then when people get let down because of a bad loss, that's a credit to him too, because he set the standard.
Yeah, the floor has been raised, not just the ceiling, but the expectations.
Right, And it's all because of him. He brought him the deal. So what are you gonna do? You know what I'm saying now? Are we gonna be like Fairweather fans? We need another coach? No, we don't need another coach. We don't because what you're gonna do it is still gonna be the same. But this guy's been more consistent than any coach that we've had in a long time. Look at his tenure here.
But that's the easy thing to do. Isn't it fire the coach start over.
It's the easiest thing to do, but it's not the right thing to do.
Yeah, no, I get that because, yeah.
You think you think he's slept in the last four days.
No, no, okay, it's rare.
Everybody else is sleeping, and everybody else you know, was drinking their beer and drinking their burd in and walking out of the stadium blaming students. Well while Stups is in there a nervous wreck, can't sleepy, didn't have a drink, needed one probably after the game, probably did have one. But what I'm saying is it's a different world. You know that in a college coach, being a coach period is when you got to depend on eighteen to twenty two year olds.
It is rare that a that a coach comes in, especially in football, a new, brand new coach, and immediately turns things around. You know, people one instant gratification. You've talked about that many times on this show. But it just doesn't happen. So we'll keep an eye on it.
Actually to with everything, I got that he's the best coach for this for this football team. I think he's the best coach. That's who he is as a person, his personality and invents both. I think they sit yeah, you know, and you know it. You know, this is like I said, it's Kentucky football. You know you're gonna have us up. You're gonna have some downs, that's part
of it. You know. You can bring in Bred, bring back Bed Brant, you can bring back Verry Switzer, you can go get coach West the name that was at Alabama. This is still Kentucky football.
They still have some things to figure out, but it's a lot more fun I got to tell you than it used to be. And I know a lot of people will will agree with me on that. Sean Woods is the unforgettable guard. We talk to him every week. Coach, Thank you so much.
Thank you, Dick. Happy to talk to you, buddy.
West Nber Chief Gary Moore next on six thirty WLAP Welcome back to Big Blue Insider. It's Wednesday, which means we look to the west. We look down I sixty four to our west end. Bureau Chief Gary Moore used to have to look all the way to the west coast for Gary. But he's back in LA the Louisville area and joined us every week, and he's got some good stuff to talk about, don't you.
I do two guys in a six pack, you and me and six fun things, six swigs, we call him. This is my favorite time of year, Dick. This is this is October. You think about it that. You know, we got these great playoff baseball games we were waiting for all summer long. You got the great college and pro games in October. You got these exhibition NBA games that don't mean anything until somebody gets hurt. It's a great time of year, isn't it.
So here we go in college basketball on the horizon.
Exactly, all the big blue madness and hard stuff and all that fun stuff. Well, let's go with baseball to kick things off. Our first swig in the six pack. At the end of this very hour, we're soaking and now eight oh eight Eastern to be exact. First pitch NLCS Game three Dodgers in zow York City, LA and
the Mets tied at a game of piece. Dodger starter Lexington native Walker Bueller in the biggest game of his season since a week ago last night, insane diego, Remember that you gave up all six padre runs in five innings. Hopefully tonight, Walker will a not give up a six run inning like he did last week, and b won't have his defense fail him in such an inning or
in any of them tonight. And I'm sure that the crack Dodger bullpen that they've got going on there, with that bullpen, Walker will be on a leash as long as a flea's necktie. Okay, So be ready to go. Mets are going to counter with right hander Luis Severino, good news for Otani, who's looked really mortal against especially left handers in the postseason. Dodger swept the Mets in New York back in May, so they're at least familiar
with city field and the fans. I like LA to go up two to one tonight.
You know, this might be Walker's the biggest game in his future, because you know, if he doesn't turn things around after this second surgery, you wonder and how much longer will he be a Dodger? Whither Walker bueler? You know CBS Sunday Morning had a piece on Tommy John surgery. I saw that, Yeah, and it doesn't always work, as they pointed out, and Walker has struggled so Yeah, you root for him, even if you're not a Dodgers fan. You root for him because this is a vital stage of his career.
He's a good guy, and he's a free agent too, So you're right, Ye, this is it. Second swig in the six pack. Also tonight, In fact, right now on ESPN two, my WKA Hilltoppers down in Texas, about an hour north of Houston, playing Sam Houston in a Conference USA game. It's right on a Wednesday, a desperate attempt to get eyes on his screen for Conference USA. Both Toppers and Sam Houston are two to zero in the conference, but the Bearcats are a two and a half point
favorite over the Toppers. Tonight, speaking of desperate unranked Louisville five point underdog bird whatever to number six Miami High Noon Saturday, ABC National TV. U of L had major problems you recalled a couple of years of weeks ago with SMU dual threat quarterback Kevin Jennings. Now they got to try and stop Heisman candidate cam Ward. Last year the Cards beat the Canes in Miami. They won the
Schnellenberger Trophy with coaches boots on there. You remember that, But they ham Ward at that time was at Washington State. So Miami's at five point favorites so far, and it feels feels like the Cards maybe giving back that trophy boots Saturday before he sold out homecoming crowd over here.
Yeah, and it's a uh well, first of all, let's go back to your beloved Toppers playing on a Wednesday. Conference you wus say, really, if memory serves, they were the first conference to play I think on a Tuesday. Yeah, memory serves. This is, of course after a team was off Saturday. But like you point out, desperately seeking eyeballs, and it worked, you know, I think it lifted the spirits or lifted the fortune to es probably the spirit of the team's in Conference USA.
Uh.
And let's face it, college football trumping all over high school football on Fridays. That's well, in the rearview mirror, they're going to play whenever and wherever they can to draw eyeball. So but I got to tell you I'm.
Rooting for him, me too. And they, in fact, they had Conference USA against last night, Yeah, exactly, Tuesday then Wednesday.
Yeah. And by the way, Louisville Miami, I don't remember what year, but it was several years ago, at least ten or twelve, when U of L was making a run at a BCS title, trying to run the table and had a big game with Miami and blew it. Carrie Roadie went on to a good NFL career, dropped an interception. Remember that game. Oh yeah, Miami beaten and that would have been a huge step for Louisville football,
and they just couldn't quite pull it off. I think that was the same year they beat Florida State in a monsoon in Louisville and buddies who worked that game, their cameras got washed away. I mean, it was it was a weird season. Well, Miami's done that too.
When I was in La Ucla was going for number one or they were in the top two or three, and they had that game reschedule because of a hurricane. They went back and I think the first part of December and Edger and James went crazy, beat Ucla and there went the national title hopes. It happens with that team. Our third swig and our six pack. You know, I grew up in Murray, two hours from Nashville. That was
the closest big city to us down there. And you know, we always heard people call Vanderbilt University the Harvard of the South. Maybe you heard that too, for all of this academic superiority. And I can tell you in their bookstore they used to sell maybe they still sell shirts with this school's official IVY League shield and the words Harvard the Vanderbilt of the North. I bring this up because of how much smarter Bandy played on UK's home field again last Saturday. You know you were there, you
saw it. We all saw they played smarter, better, more discipline in the UK and Dickt's almost as if that old miss game never even happened because the Cats look so unintelligent. So now we've got to go down to Gainesville, where you'll be there. UK is a one point favorite Saturday night down in the Swamp on the SEC network, seven forty five against Florida. Now the Gators damn near
one at Knoxville on Saturday. So I ask you, are the Gators getting better or do you think that was just kind of a fluke on the part of Florida and Tennessee's part.
I think part of it was Tennessee is not quite what we thought it would be. But I think Florida is on the verge of figuring things out, But that line flipped dramatically when you hear the Graham Mertz is done. That quarterback could transferred in last year, it might have been a Kentucky Wildcat, it said, ends up a Gator. But now they'll start a true freshman quarterback. So suddenly Kentucky's a one point favorite. Has had success looking for
four straight against Florida. But yeah, if they go down there and play like knuckleheads the way they did last Saturday, they might lose by two scores.
Fourth Swig and the six Pack. Beside the Cards and Cats and Toppers games, check out these three college games if you dare noon on Saturday. Number sixteen Indiana has their homecoming game with five and one Nebraska. My bride and I will be in Bloomington at her alma mater, IU six and a half point favorite. Number seven Bama
in Knoxville for the number eleven Volves. That's three balls for Let's see three thirty at ABC Bama a three point favorite so far in that one, and of course, the college game of the weekend without question, Number five Georgia at number one Texas Horns a three and a half point favorite at this point seven thirty Saturday Night in ABC. I'll take the Hoosiers to go seven to zero, and I'll also take Bama and Texas in two really close games there.
Yeah, I agree with you. I think Bama Tennessee one of the great rivalries. People think about Kentucky Tennessee for something. No Tennessee fans they want Bama, and Bama is shown to be mortal as we all know. But I do think Bama wins that one. I would love to see IU beat Nebraska. I think six and a half is a big number, but I think I you can get it done. And I think Texas is just too good.
I think Georgia is really good, but I just think Texas is just a tick better, maybe because of the quarterback. But I was in earlier in the show Geary talking about ratings and man, the SEC is swimming in it right now, and so it was the big ten. So I think they're gonna be huge audiences. And I think Indiana Nebraska is gonna draw a big one. Even though Fox has not done too well with Big noon kickoff and all that, I think that there's gonna be a
lot of red in that stadium. But I think that's gonna be.
Definitely, Yeah, I think it's sold out. If not, it's very close to being.
And that's a shocker because there have been back in the day Indiana was going to Bowl games, nobody showed up, right, you know, but I think there's year right they'll show for this one.
Their coaches egging on the fans to get out there, especially for students to show up.
So good.
I know, Hey, what else is there to do in your college? Come on, man's what college is about? Go to these football games? Yeah, fifth swig and the six pack. Okay, let's talk to NFL. Three supersized games on Sunday and one next Monday night. But you know, to get to those games, we got to slog through the Broncos and Saints tomorrow night, and then Sunday morning at nine thirty again from London, this time at Wimbley Stadium, the good people of Great Britain get a game about as disappointing
as their dental work. The one in five Jags and the one five Patriots.
I apologize for that.
Hey, look, they unloaded Harry and Megan on us. So it seems like this is like a small payback. Okay, after those, you got your Packers at home at Lambeau three point favorites over the Texans, and also at one o'clock also in the NFL North, the Lions two and a half point undercats at the Vikings. For twenty five, we get a Super Bowl rematch Kansas City one point underdogs at San Francisco, and then Monday Night eight point fifteen marvelous and the Ravens three and a half point
favorites at Tampa Bay. A lot of eyeballs on that game, but Monday Night's been really good. We'll talk about that a little bit later on. But I think, Dick, you're gonna be pulling oddly enough for Detroit this weekend, won't you?
Yeah? I will, because I cannot root for the Vikings. And you know, you got Josh Pascal playing for the Lions, so you got to root for him as well. But that's that's just a team that even though you hated to see Hutchinson go down, it's going to be a tough one for my Packers with the Texans, but Jags Pats, they'll be a huge crowd because people, as you know, love going to London You've been there many times.
They sell out every game, Yeah.
They do, but it will not be a great game. Although Drake may has shown he might well be the quarterback of the future, but Trevor Lawrence may not be the quarterback of the future for Jacksonville. I think his, if not his career, at least his status is on the line.
Sixth and final swig in the six pack. As you talked about here last night, a mere thirty six years ago yesterday, Kirk Gibson did the impossible in a Dodgers year that was so improbable, as Vin Scully said, YEP. World Series Game one, nineteen eighty eight, bottom of the ninth, Dodgers trailing four to three against the the tough Oakland A's and the Bash Brothers, bottom of the ninth, two outs, one man on. Kirk Gibson wasn't even supposed to be
anywhere near a batter's box. Hobbles up to pinch, hit, got down two, worked at the three and two off Ace reliever Dennis Eckersley then hit a back door slider over the right field fence, five to four, walk off win, and that was Gibson's only at batan the entire series that the Dodgers went under win four games to one, and Dick I was at all five of those games.
Nice the uh.
It was the first World Series I ever covered. In fact, that was my first World Series game.
To ever cover.
I should have retired to that point. We were in the auxiliary press section up upper deck, and I almost missed it because after the second out we thought, well, this is going to be it. You know whoever's going to pinch hit? And wait a minute, it's Gibson.
Okay.
When we were about ready to go down stairs by the by the aisle, yeah, yeah for the things, Okay, we better watch this sort of thing. And it was such a huge, huge moment. I don't think I've ever heard Dodger Stadium that loud, and all the games I've covered since then, and even going to games before that, the sustained loudness was was unbelievable. In fact, there's a seat that they've commemorated where the ball hit that you can actually buy now, the Kurt Gibson seat. It's right there.
It has been voted the greatest moment in Dodger's history. Sure, well, after they signed this guy named Jackie, I think that would probably take presidence over that. But what a moment, What an incredible moment.
Yeah yeah, could you feel the stadium shaking? I mean you could, yes, Wow, amazing. And as I said last night, I was actually anchoring our magazine show, our sports show, and that game, you know, Ransom and our editor comes running down with a script in the sand goes you will not believe what just happened. So the first time I saw the video was when I voiced it live on the news that night, and it was just phenomenal.
It is. It's such a great moment to revisit. I loved and I love playing both the TV call last night and the radio call Jack Yeah, Don Drysdale, No, not the national Don Drysdale.
I'll doger radio right, Yeah yeah.
Bucks was great too, but I'd never heard Drysdale's call along with Vinnie you know, so great but uh yeah, one of the great moments in baseball history. We'll come back and talk more with our Western Bureau chief, Gary Moore. Hot Ras coming up on six point thirty WLAP. Welcome back. We're chalking with our West n Bureau chief Gary Moore. We've gone through two guys in a six pack. Time for a couple of hot reads. I'll throw at Gary. Why don't we start with the NFL since we talked
so much about him? Bill Jets much of a game?
Eh?
You know, it was an interesting game, but on paper you wouldn't think it would mean much to look at. But the multi tiered coverage by ABC, ESPN, ESPN two. People wonder why do you compete with yourself? Why do you put the games on all these different channels based Well here's why. Because they drew seventeen point three million viewers. Amazing. Wow, I realize it's the NFL. I realized there are a
lot of souls football fans living in New York. But would you expect that kind of viewership for that kind of game? I sure wouldn't. Aaron Rodgers is going to draw some some interest, and I like watching it because of Ray Davis having a big game.
Boy, it wasn't that great.
It was great. But this is just some brilliant programming, isn't it? By the network? Networks plural? But it's all Disney. It's the mouse.
You're gonna do it again, money, They're gonna do it against this and why not?
Why not?
It's perfect.
It's it's a great idea, especially for that for for that number to pop up in the slog of a game that was but there was a penalty every other play. Seemingly, it just became unwatchable at a certain point with with guys missing field goals, you know, and and and all these holding calls and great plays got called back, guys dropping balls. It just was was an ugly game, but the numbers sure weren't ugly. And well, we got a good one coming up Monday too.
And it's not like it was when we were kids and there were only three or four channels, and if the President was talking, you know, you had nowhere to go. There's a thousand channels out there. You got a lot of choices. But a lot of people chose to tune into this one and uh, watch the Jets drop another one and again, uh good for Ray Davis. Secondly, those Cowboys keep losing and Jerry Jones lashes out Breton's the Fire. A couple of talk show hosts on on the Fan,
the FM station in Dallas that has the games. You and I worked together. We met at the station are in town that used to have the U came at work, and people wonder how do you handle that? You know, and I did the very first sports talk show in Central Kentucky. You know, how do you how do you criticize the team that's on your station and things like that. But Jerry Jones, I mean what they put to this
guy wasn't all that challenging. Well, I think he's losing his mind, I really think and threatening and he says, and I'm paying these guys, No, no, they're paying you for the games. Yep.
And you see what else he said to the athletic The wrong ones were doing the questioning. Now, if those had been real fans sitting there, if they had been people that knew what they were talking about, football people, I might have had a different answer. Really Well, you're a football guy who's the owner, president, and general manager of a team that hasn't been to the Super Bowl in twenty eight years, much less an NFC championship game in twenty eight years, So you think you know everything.
And I guarantee if a fan had been in there, there probably would been a lot of f bombs and stuff more frustrated fan base than a professional who actually does snow football and who actually is following the stuff. This guy's a control freak, and he probably needs to set aside he's.
An old fool.
And if the guy who's he's an old fool, who is the head of an eleven billion dollar franchise and he can't handle some words from guys on the radio, throw a backbone, man.
Yeah, and you use the word I was looking for. As a professional, these guys have been doing this radio show and working in radio and covering the NFL. Naturally we're going to take up for him. But as somebody pointed out what I was reading, Jerry Jones has handled far more difficult questions. But I'm like you, I think eternity questions.
How about that one, Jared?
But I think I just think his time is just growing dim And you know, he paid all that money for Dak Prescott, got his contract done, and you know what has he done nothing? Team?
The team isn't well, look what happened with Detroit. They weren't even close to being competitive.
No, in that game.
No, that was an embarrassment, like a college team playing a pro team.
At looks, you get to wonder is at rock bottom? But rock bottom may be right around the corner. So who knows, but it's never the fault of the general manager.
As long as he stays there, they're still going to stink. So Jerry stick around for a ten fifteen years as far as we're concerned.
I'm good with that, all right. Well, he is our West End bureau chief, Gary Moore. You can always find him working.
About Twitter or ex where at nine to five five Gary, just down the row from you at.
Big Boo Insider one. See you next week.
Have fun in the swamp.
And that'll do it. Thanks to my guest tonight, to Gary Moore, to Shawn Woods, and of course to Van Hiles and a shameless plug. I will be back with you tomorrow morning on the Leech Report, bright and early, and of course a reminder, we've got Kentucky football coming up Saturday night. And how vital is this one?
Is?
A Wildcats? Is it? The Florida Gators? Supposed to be a beautiful evening in the swamp. Maybe it will be a beautiful game for the Wildcats. They know how to win down there, and it's a Gator team that is fighting for its season and a coach coaching for his job most likely will have it for you. Five thirty start time with Christy Logan and Jeremy and then Tom Leech, Jeffcoor and I with a call Cats taking on those Gators coming up Saturday night, seven forty five. It's on
the SEC Network. But of course you got two ears. He is one for TV and one for radio. I always recommend that that's it. Good night from the garage in Lexington.
I got no respect to day I was born, really no respect. The doctor picked me up and smacked me. I found out the night she got a few into