2024-11-21- BBI

Welcome to the Big Bones.

Sider Dick Abriel with you on a Thursday edition of our program, and this will be the last one of the week because tomorrow night we are bumped for UK basketball, the Wildcats taking on Jackson State. Hear it right here, tip off at seven o'clock. Darren Hedrick will have the call with Jack Gibbons because of course Tom Leach, along with yours truly, Jefpikor our UK Radio Network crew and the Wildcats will be on our way to Austin, Texas.

The ball of late.

We'll talk more basketball a little bit later on in the show with Daryl Bird of the Cast Pulse.

He comes up at the bottom of the hour.

We will also chat with the aforementioned mister Hedrick in our number two we'll talk about women's basketball.

Well.

Darren of course is the radio voice of UK women's basketball. A little bit later on in our number two, Forrest Tucker of WTVQ, who covers all things sports here in town for Channel thirty six, and he's a big soccer guy. If you're a soccer fan, especially the teams here in town. We'll talk to a forest about that. Follow him on

Mistakes, and yet some really good showings.

By the Wildcats. And I'm not talking about the winner Murray State. I'm talking about taking Georgia to the matt upsetting Ole miss playing really well down in Knoxville, and I know they don't like moral victories.

Who does?

But who expected that kind of game where it's a one score game in the second half of Kentucky missing so many starters going in and then losing its starting quarterback and others to injuries in that game. So it's just been a really befuddling kind of year. So it's interesting to hear what some of the outside voices are saying.

Randall, this is a Kentucky team that went to Ole Miss earlier in the season and put a blemish on their resume.

What could it take for Kentucky to derail Texas this weekend?

I think you have to go on the defense ball and start on the defense side of the ball and look to take away what Texas does really well, and that's getting the ball out of the quarterbacks hand quick. But what they do when they getting the rest on is they start to give you double moves and start to find ways to take that shot down the field.

Yeah.

You know, Kentucky the strength early on in the season, especially run defense, they could make a team one dimensional and because of that, it would support their pass defense and it complimented who they wanted to be offensively, because that started to wane and you allow Texas to get a ground game established and all of a sudden you're facing a multi dimensional attack in a game where you're outmatched. I mean, let's speak plainly, Texas right now, coming into this game, it's advantage Texas.

When you look at the roster.

This advantaged Texas when you look at where this game's taking place. When you go on the road, you have to find a way to make that team, whoever the home team is, you got to make them one dimensional. And this league is to take away the run. Kentucky's got to find a way to get that back.

That's been the strength of their team, yep.

And it has been all year when they've been healthy and when they have executed well. There have been some games where they were healthy and didn't do a very good job. Did they against opposing offenses? Vandy Florida? But while they were talking, of course this being television, they were showing clips from the most successful games Georgia n and Ole miss Really impressive. How the Wildcats got the

Week Arkansas, this past weekend, A and M next weekend with Kentucky here, how do you guys. As coaches approach that whole concept of a trap game, do you do anything different with the guys. I just said, this is to me, this is the biggest game of the football season. This is the most important game of the year, last home game of the year. I envisioned us putting our best foot forward. I really do. I think our guys are gonna come ready to play.

Which, of course, we'll make it all that much tougher on the Wildcats, but you expect that whenever you go on the road. And Sarkesian talked about that coming off that road win at Arkansas, which something should have been an easier win quote unquote for Texas. The Hogs made

You know, in this conference, in Southeastern Conference, going on the road and getting a win is really challenging. And we see it across the board, and you know, somebody brought to my attention that we're the only undefeated team on the road in conference play, and so I think it speaks volumes to how difficult it is to go on the road and win. I credit our guys for playing the way they played. Proud of our guys and

Yeah, you know, by now it's senior Day. Maybe that will be a distraction. We have seen that happen here, haven't we football and basketball Senior Day festivities. The veteran players are thinking about a lot that is not actually playing the game of football. So perhaps perhaps Kentucky can get off to a good start, but move the change, take care of the football, make something happen.

You just never know.

They are, of course, decided underdogs by twenty and a half points, and the folks over on cbssports dot Com CBS Sports HQ, I should say we're talking about that as well. You've got first Chip Patterson talking about whether or not Texas can cover, and then Chris Hassel and Danny Canell chime in on what they think will happen, whether or not the Wildcats can beat the spread of twenty and a half, and how they think this game is going to play out.

Texas's defense is the identity quinn ewers, arch manning, arch maning, arch manning, all the fancy little dart bikes that they've got out of all the skill positions, like that's the stuff that makes you your eyes attracted to Texas. But there is a real grittiness to the way that this team plays, whether it's along the defensive line, whether it's

Again.

They could blow them out in the first half, they could cover it late, but it's just not a situation where I trust Kentucky to go into Austin and score all that many points against the Longhorns.

Yeah.

I mean Texas defense is great and Kentucky's offense is atrocious.

That to me looks like a.

Very comfortable win for Texas twenty eight to three, thirty four to seven, something along those lines, because I do think last week was a little bit of a wake up call for Texas, and I think Arkansas was a better team and a tougher environment on the road than coming back home where you want to take care of your business, get some of the starters out, and even with backups, I still think Kentucky would struggle to score.

Yeah, so all they talk about Kentucky's defense, all the Texas defense isn't isn't anything to sneeze at. And it's one of the reasons Texas has covered huge spreads this year. The long Horns back in August thirty first, they were thirty five point favorites over Colorado State. Yeah, they covered the fourteenth of September ut San Antonio thirty five and a half points. And they cover more specifically in the SEC they were twenty one and a half point favorites

And it's interesting because.

Gino I didn't know this, maybe you might have because of his last name, but he was actually born in Italy, saw his first basketball goal while he was walking to kindergarten and was supposed to be just sort of a holdover coach until Yukon could find somebody better. And now there is nobody better. It's amazing what this guy has done.

And by the way, this was his.

Three hundred twenty ninth victory of at least forty points. He said, more than twice as many forty point wins in his career as total losses. That's how dominant Yukon has been under Gino Arima.

Pretty amazing.

The Pro Football Hall of Fame announced its list of twenty five semi finalists.

Some interesting names on there. As always.

I talked about this when he was on the ballot earlier. Antonio Gates, a tight end who played basketball at Kent State. He was a big, burly but undersized in terms of height center at Ken State, and people thought, well, this guy to be playing football, and in fact, the NBA didn't want him. He goes to the NFL and now he's a Hall of Fame candidate. I don't know if he gets in on this vote, but I certainly will Gates helped Kent State win its way to the Elite eight.

Also.

This is the one that I find really interesting. Eli Manning. You know him, of course from his time with the Giants and now his commercials and the Manning Cast with brother Peyton.

True Hall of famer.

But people debate Eli Manning because his team was not successful most of the time, and yet he quarterbacked the Giants to a hair of Super Bowl titles. Now, some people say that alone should put him in the Hall of Fame. Others say no, otherwise the Giants didn't do anything. But this is why I would vote for Eli Manning. I don't know if it be first ballot, I'd have

Eli handled it.

And took his team to victory. So it's not just for me the Super Bowls. And yeah, the Giants when they weren't winning Super Bowls, they stunk with the ELI and that of course wasn't all his fault. But I do think the comebacks mean he is a Hall of Famer. One of the other names is kicker. Adam Vinettieri, a placekicker, and you might wonder how many kickers are in the Hall of Fame. But the answers five, one punter, four placekickers, and one of the placekickers is Lou the Tow Groza.

Rupps Runts team.

Lou played at Ohio State, and of course Groza came down to play for Adolph Rupp. He has since passed away. I was always fond of him. I went to elementary school with his son Lex or Alex Junior. And mister Grose was a friend of my late father and who died when I was young. So anytime I would see mister Grose, he would talk to me about my dad. But that's why I still call him mister Groza.

But yeah, Adam and a.

TIERI on the ballot, and there's a lot of good ones. I'd hate to be a voter, but it might be kind of fun. I know I would vote Eli Manning in. Maybe not on the first ballot, but I'd get him in there for sure. I don't know if Chris Sale will be a Baseball Hall of Famer, but he is a cy Young Award winner. He and Tarik school Ball have won the Cy Young Sale now with the Braves school ball with the Tigers, and the name Chris Sale might not mean much to you, but it means a

I mentioned to you last week.

I think it was that Tom Brady is facing all kinds of broadcast restrictions from the NFL now that he is an owner, and now he might face even more scrutiny from the league because of a sit down interview he did with Patrick Mahomes. That question has come up. It's become an issue. According to Sports Business Journal, after Brady sat down to do the one on one with Mahomes. According to the article, it may have quote ruffled some feathers.

So stay tuned for that one. Lots of drama surrounding Tommy b Up.

Next, Daryl Bird of the Cats pops here in The Big Blue Sider six thirty WLAP Welcome Back to the Big Bluon sider joining us now as a longtime friend that show and a buddy who has covered this beat for a long time. He is Darryl Bird, the editor of The Cats Pause general manager, I should say, and as he puts, a lifelong fan of the Reds and the Oakland Raiders now in Las Vegas. But I want to congratulate. Do we talk before it came out? We haven't a chance to chat since the yearbook came out

Yeah.

I think so too. You just I was trying to think of a It's always hard on covers because you really need just one or two words to sum it up.

Yeah.

And the more I went around talked to me with energezzers struck me one day and it's exactly how it was. The whole fan base was completely re energized, starting with that introductory press conference that just was absurd when you think about it looking back on it, and just so much new like pumped into it and energized. And when you think energize at least I do. I think star Trek. Of course, I could not pass up the opportunity to go on that scene.

There have been so many iterations of Star Trek, but that is endured. It hasn't it energized?

Yeah?

Yeah, absolutely, that's the original.

Now they I assumed did you take the cover photo because you're really a I've told you this before, you're a really good photographer.

But did you set up and take you that?

Now?

That's Chat White took that one.

Okay, he's great too, he's the UK and Athletics photographer.

Uh is that?

Tell me about the background because it looks like the I know it's green screen or CGI or whatever you want to call it, but it looks like the transporter chamber.

It is the transporter room. Yeah, run a photo of that, and I had to cut out all the individual players and yeah, resize them proportionally so they looked like they were being being to board the UK starship.

Ye. I was a bit of a start to do. I was a bit of a Star Trek nerd.

On its second running, it was I guess after it's been canceled but became super popular.

I read a book. One of the first books about the making of it and.

How they came up with the way that they created that energizer. Look with the spar that's aluminum dust, they were able to sprinkle through a light or something like that. So I was so happy to see.

Yeah, William Shatner's book about it is really good.

Really, I've had that.

I read that along. Yet it's really good. I got that a long time ago, about just the whole process and how season three they had they knew they were done, and they cut the budget to nothing, and the prompts were horrible and all.

It's a really good reasons in.

The original book I read it might have been in his as well.

And we'll get the folks, I promise we'll get the basketball in a minute.

But they wore those those.

Uniformed shirts made out of volure, and of course you know, there were physical scenes and this and that, and whenever they would clean them, they would shrink, and so they had to wear them as long as they could before they were just impossibly tight. And as you said, the budget, you know, oh my god, I got to buy more of these things. So anyhow, yeah, exactly, So let us let us get to the basketball program. And I used the SoundBite the other night from one of your questions.

You know it was pretty long.

Yes, was a typical Mark Pope answer. You know that there has been a lot of thought and research and emotion going into it.

But explain to everybody.

In a nutshell what he said if they didn't hear it the other night or when you first asked it.

Yeah, it was.

I wrote about it yesterday. To me, it's getting to be the norm. You asked what you think is a simple question, you get a very profound answer. Is much more than what you bargeted for. Basically summed up at the end, we focus on what we want to happen. We don't focus on what we don't want to happen, right, which is the only way to look at and he said, and then he gets into the neuroscience, of course, is

He says, we don't get nervous, and I was like, man, it's no human to be nervous. And you wonder, how did they coach that either out of somebody or into somebody, you know what I mean?

Yeah, he said, the natural reaction is to be a little nervous that it might happen, and they just calculated and dismissed it summarily and get on with it, which I think you can do with an old team. I think it's a completely different question. If this was an all freshman like we're used to.

It also helps to be pretty good, doesn't it.

Yes, it does.

That's what That's what it is amazing me because we all it's kind of like with the football season and said, how good kid, I don't know how good rock Banders is? He's never played this group. How good is basketball? I don't know. It's twelve guys who've never been around each other. How long is it going to take the mesh? How good are And you look at all these guys were considered good, Yes they weren't. They weren't considered elite by any stretch of the imagination at any no matter where

Yeah, he's got it.

I think he had one player was a brand who came off to be was the sixth man, and you had led the team in scoring or something like that, but still accepted the role as six man. You know, was not the marquee player on that team. That You're right, maybe Lamont Butler fit that bill just because San Diego State was known for defense and it was their point guard. But and hit that big shot in the tournament. But yeah, that's a great point. No great, but a lot of good, right.

Yeah it is. But yet the sun so far as it is looking great, and I know it's early, but there's so much more, so much room for them to improve. Yeah, some of these when I can't wait to see Colin Chandler get the rest completely off and start playing up to his school potential.

And you know, it's a great point you bring up, because as you look at this team, and I was thinking about this the other day, what are they going to look like in March? Everybody wants to know that, of course, and they're gonna be much better and they're gonna win some games. But will we call one player in particular great? You know, this guy has become a

There's there's so many of them, you know what I mean.

Yeah, you're no, You're not gonna It'd be interesting to see what postseason awards look like, because nobody's gonna be way up there on average per game, right, I mean, that's what I thought about the other day, Andrew against Duke. Andrew Carr has seventeen, Jackson Robinson has one point right, flip it come back a week later, Robinson has twenty, Andrew Carr has two. They did a complete reversal and

Yeah.

When I was looking at this roster and reading up on them before Pro Day, I got to Andley alman Or. I saw his size and his ability with a three pointer, and I thought, that is a matchup nightmare.

And there's more than one on this roster, isn't there?

Yeah? There are.

It's it's a very unique group and like yeah, I got I got a guy over here that shoots seventy eight percent from three point line, but he can't break the starting lineup.

But what a weapon to bring off the bench. That's fantastic, you know.

Is Yeah, we're talking to Darryl Bird. He is a general manager of The Cat's Pause. Writer, columnist, photographer. Uh were you a photographer before you started shooting pictures.

For the casts? I've always mentioned meant to ask.

You that now.

I started when I started the newspaper in Elizabethtown. I was tired as a writer, but quickly, with a smaller staff, you end up taking a lot of photos at your own event. And just kind of fell in love with it. And my desk was literally across the hallway from the dark room, and you know, the stowers like can you help me with it? And I just started doing that.

Career dodging and Bernie Man I remember that, and you old school photographers nobody's talking about.

I learned that much when I wrote for the UK paper. Uh, I never took that. I wish I had taken the course in photography because I enjoyed doing it, but never followed up with it. But one of the guys, Stuart Bowman or somebody taught me that. But I never learned how to do the world.

You have to obviously, you don't want to expose your film to any light.

So when you're rolling your own film into those little canisters that you put in your camera, you have to do it in utter darkness just by feel, and.

I feel and hope that the film does not can't touch the It has to roll in a way that it doesn't touch or when you're getting ready to develop it. Yeah, amazing, meaning roll your own back.

Then and now with digital technology it's easier, but in some ways it's tougher, so you know. Uh, but you can take a lot of pictures, a lot of pictures without spending more money, you know, because with the old days, every time you expose the frame.

It costs your money.

If thirty six rolls per thirty six images per roll film, that's right. And now you'll see people shoot five six hundred of these games on digital and you know thirty six and shoot three rows of film and get back have it developed the next day and find out your exposure was wrong, which you know digital it's like you take it, you look at it and you're like, okay, just here. Yeah, it's amazing how much.

Different I see you guys on the sideline, and most guys add it as they go.

They'll take picture from the football play and look at it.

Nope, don't like it, delete it right now so they don't have to do it later. Sonny, we got a little guy a little bit off off track with Daryl Bird, but I do want to talk some football when we come back here on six thirty WLAP Welcome back. We're talking with Daryl Bird, the GM of the Catch Paws, who takes pictures and rights and reports.

And does everything for the cast bolls.

He and Aaron Gershawan and a kind of a skeleton staff anymore with the Cats Balls.

But they put out a great basketball yearbook just in time. For Christmas.

But I want to talk to you, of course about Mark Soups in his football program. This has been kind of a throwback season when it comes to wins and loss has been in a different way, isn't it. It's not that Kentucky doesn't have enough talent. When Stoops got here, the cupboard was almost bear. With all due respect, he's got some talent on this team, but between injuries, mystifying penalties, it has not been a satisfying season to say the least, has it.

No, it's been very, very frustrating, and out of the fans are really frustrated, and I think, you know, we're gonna be honest here.

That's a pretty good segment.

Was hoping he might retire and just kind of ride off into the sunset after thirty years, but he's made it clear he has no intention of doing that. Those same people who would like that kind of like seehim right away are well he is. He has earned the chance to fix this with what he has done. I always go back to UK has four Keen win seasons and thee hundred plus years of football.

And he has two of the four exactly.

So shut up. He knows what he's doing. If he wants to try to fix that, you owe him that.

I don't know.

But it's been a weird year.

Oh it has. And that least to my next question.

I don't about you, but I kind of feel bad for him because it's written all over his face and he's not He's backed off on talking much about the portal and nil because there was some backlash nationally.

I think when he complained about it.

But oh, he said, Darryl, I promise you whatever he coach in America was thinking that instead of coaching now, my spare time goes to raising money.

I had that one on one with him for our football, right. He was so open and I'm like, are you kind of thinking? Are you sure you want? And he's like, and I said, thank you for saying this. That He was the first one that Mayor if you remember, came out one day to Prescott and said, well, these are free agents.

Oh my god, we let's come.

And then this year it was I'm working to meet payroll and I'm like, what do you mean payroll?

Payroll?

If I don't play, If I don't raise enough money to pay these guys, they either won't play the game, or they'll leave. Ye, and you better believe that pressure is real and it's in his fairness. I did a thing with Texas Radio this morning and I said, well, they were asking me kind of the same thing, and it's like, well, here's the deal in Io at Texas. It's going to football. They're like, yeah, here you get half. Maybe, yeah, maybe it's a best you can hope for is a

Yeah job.

And I'm like they brought the a n M job And I said, well, any fan with logical sense here in Kentucky said, yeah, you better talk to an M if the call you.

Yeah, be Look and you know I work down there.

There's a bottomless pit of money down there, so that that would never be an issue. Plus, as you point out, football is king. So a few minutes left with Daryl Bird, what about this game with Texas? Uh, I expected, with all those injuries going into Knoxville, an ugly blowout because we've covered some of those games down.

There, haven't we?

Yes, But now and their question marks about Texas, about strength to schedule, and then when Georgia did going in not the Kentucky's Georgia, but Kentucky played with Georgia. So I think there are some Longhorn fans who are wondering about the Wildcats.

I had. That was the exact reaction from the guys on the Texas podcast. I said, you're going to get a game. They're like, oh, yeah, we know we're going to get a game. There's no question because they're like, what's the deal? How do you beat Ole miss and nearly beat Georgia and play Tennessee as hard as you did and then lose your some of the games you've lost. Yeah, and it's I don't know, I said, I think it's the soup's mentality in that locker room. They are going

Yeah, I'm looking forward to just being done. I've been in Austin when I work down there back in the eighties, but not for a game.

Uh you know.

So I'm told it's going to be a full house. And one of the weird things I was on a radio show down in Austin and I had the guests on my show. The host on my show, I said, what can we expect? And one of the things he said there I was, they don't tailgate down here. They have a different kind of setup, you know, with a long I guess this road that surrounds the stadium that's dotted with different places you can.

Go to eat and drink of that kind of thing. But my reaction was they will learn to tailgate once they see the rest of the sec Yes, they will.

Yeah, not everybody accuracy. What they're going to think is to me. And they were talking about UK and I said, well, here's the deal.

UK.

At the beginning of the year, I would k's living. I guess you're eleving by the end of the year. After going through the SEC now their beat to death. Yeah, and I'm wondering if Texas is like, wow, this is this is a much more physical league than what we're used to do.

You run the gauntlet, there's no questions about you do. Darryl Bird is the general manager of the Cats Paws. You need to pick up the Cats Paws basketball yearbook. It features, among other things, Mark Pope how he got to Kentucky. I love there have been so many takes on this and I love reading everybody's takes, profiles and all the players and SEC preview, the opponents, talk of recruiting. State colleges are covered, Boys and girls, high school, the

It was a lot of fun. I love that team.

Yeah, that team was great and that story is its tremendous and I was able to I talked to Joe Hall before he to talk to Kevin Greevy and Mike Playing all those guys their memories of that whole season, and it's really cool stuff. It's amazing. Like this team, we can get good stuff, but talk to him ten fifteen years from now and you'll get so many great stories that they won't tell you. Now.

You're right about that.

And what I always loved when teams got together with Joe b years later, he always said, I'm hearing things, stories about things.

I'm glad I didn't know we're going on when I was.

Coaching exactly, but every now and then he would tell them stories that they didn't know.

You know, that was going on with the coaching staff.

But that's seventy five basketball season followed a super weird seventy five football season, you know, with with the investigation of Sunny Collins and or then included Sunny Collins unfairly, and you know Kentucky kept snatching defeat from the jaws of victory all year and points shaving rumors which were bogus. Uh so, yeah, we needed that basketball season, didn't we.

Yeah it was. And then to go up early and have Indiana beat your brains in, and you know the old head slapped at Joe Bobby Knights come back and beat undefeated Indiana to get to the final fours. Almost perfect, people, John Wyn decided he's going to retire.

There are people to this day and I'm sure they ask you. They asked me, what's your favorite game or moment or this or that? And my favorite basketball game is still all things considered, that game where they came back and beat Indiana in the regional. And I know they didn't have Scott Green or Scott May or whatever his name was, Scott May, but still everybody expected Indiana to roll over him again and that didn't have happened.

So that's why that's nat.

So everybody talks about you know, Joe b in the seventy eight he finally got out them under Adolph's shadow. To me, seventy five, that's when he got That was his signature coming out party. Look what he did with he took down mighty Indiana what two years three years after Adolph.

Yeah, great point, and took down Bobby Knight with him.

So yes he did.

Darryl, thank you so much. And again you need to pick up the Catspaws Yearbook. Follow Darryl on Twitter at Darryl Bird. But they can get the the yearbook wherever they get sports magazines.

Am I right?

Kroger specifically shop Yeah, now not Kroger this year, but shop Catspaws dot com.

The easiest way Okay, very good, all right, the easiest.

Way we can get it right to you.

Thanks appreciate it, Darryl, have a good one.

Take care up next Tour number two including Darren headrinc of the UK radio Now we're well talk football, baseball and basketball all here on the Big One.

Siders six thirty would be.

Name Welcome back to the Big Lewinsider joining us now in our celebrity hotline is a guy whose voice is well known to UK fans. He is the radio voice of UK women's basketball baseball. You hear him on BBN Radio each week as Darren Heddrick, who is oftentimes here in the garage with the Chain gang, Doug Flynn and Keith Madison flying solo.

Today I needed to catch up with Darren on a number of topics.

And first of all, Darren, we were talking before I went on the air about the fact that Chris Sale wins the cy Young Award and boy Dan Roselle has.

Coached a lot of talented pitchers.

He has quite a resume and this might be the plumb right here, here's a guy who helped get to the majors when they were both at Florida Gulf Coast and now a comeback for Sale to cy Young Award.

That's pretty cool.

Yeah, it really is. And I was just sitting there naming off all the different guys that co Trozell has helped put into the major leagues and you and I could spend a while on that, but yeah, really awesome story when you think about where Sale was at what I would have called the peak of his career and then to go through the injuries and how many years has it been two or three since we've seen him pitch with any kind of consistency just making starts, let

Well, and since he's been a Kentucky and number of pitchers assigned pro contracts and of course what was the two seasons back, the staffs at the single season school record at UK for strikeouts, and Tyler Gilfoyle comes in and under Roselle becomes an All American out of the bullpen.

So yeah, he's getting it done.

Yeah, no question about it. And you think about Sean Harney of course coming in here. The story behind how Sean and Dan and the Kentucky program met up is still one for me that I always enjoyed telling about the emails going back and forth. And so you think about guil Foyle and Harney, Mason Moore, his development in the three years at Kentucky, I'm anxious to see how

Yeah, and I'm anxious to see what he does with the not entirely new staff, but a lot of new faces coming up this baseball season. So let me shift over to women's basketball. The job Kenny Brooks has been doing. He's got everybody excited. He've got a little bit of a time off. Now, you guys will be going down to the Music City Classic in Thanksgiving week Arizona State in Illinois.

Interesting, they grind out and went over Louisville. Then the women have to.

Work pretty hard to beat Perdue Fort Wayne, which is not a bad ball club. But this Music City Classic's going to be a real challenge.

Isn't it.

Yeah, it is. Illinois is a top twenty team, they're undefeated. That's probably next to Louisville. Illinois will be the best team that they've played to this point. Arizona State is three and two and like the Wildcats, Sun Devils are off until they play that Music City Classic game next Tuesday. So a couple of Power five teams. Obviously they're going

Yeah.

So yeah, you're talking about two Power five teams and it's I was joking with Cammy Moore Williams are sports information director. I said, I'm still getting used to calling Arizona State a big twelve teams because I was wanting to look up at twelve records. But obviously that is a moot point now. But certainly a couple of tough challenges away Kentucky next weekend and the Music City.

Speaking of challenges that comeback, and it was a real comeback. I mean, prdue foro Wyn was up nine a couple of times, and I heard you talking on the radio about the fact that if if Kentucky could just get the lead, but you know, they would flirt with it and then fall back, flirt, wouldn't fall back. They finally got it and proved you to be prescient.

They were able to ease away.

But I kept in watching and listening to you, kept seeing straight line drives. You know, they took the Wildcats to the rack. Is that a blueprint do you think right now?

For this team?

I think that's something this coaching staff has been working on with this group. And I've heard Coach Brooks talk over and over about communication. Communicate, communicate, communicate, and so they're still learning each other. He's still learning how to best you know, use this or deploy his defense and his style the way he wants to play. And yeah, I do think more athletic guard oriented teams. Smaller teams could give this group trouble just because of their size.

Is this the team that used to be Indiana University, Purdue University Indianapolis or so, No, they're Fort Wayne. What's the I U p U I is a different school, isn't it.

Yeah?

So I always called him U p U I.

Yeah, the Transylvania.

Yeah, so that school no longer exists as I U p U I. Interesting enough, Indiana elected the university elected to separate from the school at Fort Wayne. So now that's just Purdue Fort Wayne. Purdue has apparently, from what I read, elected to separate. So now it's just Indiana University Indianapolis.

Ok.

So I U p U I and I PFW are no longer y thing is Dick and the game notes for the Master Dons it says, do not refer to us as IPSW. That school no longer exists. Yeah, yeah, I mean direct to the point.

It's right there on the campus.

But no, that school doesn't exist. So this is the poohy part. But now instead of Indianapolis, it's Fort Wayne. One other question for you, if it's in a game noes. Forgive me mastadons? How did that happen?

You know what they have that in the game. I'm sure I was going to share that on the radio, and now I've kind of forgotten some of the key details to it. But essentially, there's land near the school where they discovered mastadon bo.

That's what I figured.

So, yeah, yeah, a friend of mine the other night I said, what is a mastadona? So just think of a like a pre dinosaur elephant.

That's basically what it is.

So well, you mentioned that I was staying on the radio Kentucky could just catch them and take the lead, and I think I said something to the effect of, man, if they could just catch the Masterdons, let one thing to catch a mask todon, but what do you do with it?

That is a fair point. We're talking to Darren Hedrick. He is the radio voice of the UK women's basketball. He also, when he's available, is our scoreboard anchor on the UK football broadcast. We'll come back and talk some college football here in just a minute on the Big Bloom Siders six thirty WLAP.

Welcome back.

We're talking with Darren Hedrick, is the radio voice the UK women's basketball and baseball and is our scoreboard anchor on the UK Football Network.

And uh, we're all heading down.

Well, those of us are working the games and remote to Austin, Texas. Have you ever worked anything in Austin?

Austin is the one Texas town I've not been to.

Wow.

Been to Houston, been to Dallas, Yeah, and I've been to College Station, but I've not made it.

To a How about Lubbock? Been out there?

No, I haven't done that, that's all. Yeah, yeah, all right.

Well you'll appreciate I actually went out there with baseball fell in for Neil before you got here, and it was not a good Kentucky team and Tech swept the Wildcats and I think the score on Sunday was nineteen to three, So you can appreciate what I went through there. I went out through all my game notes like three times.

You were just talking.

About, you know, making the switch from Arizona State, Well, how about Texas now in the SEC.

Yeah, you know what, I'm excited that we have Oklahoma and Texas in this league, even though they are historically what was it, I was trying to think Big eight is what Oklahoma was the in Tech originally?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, in Tech, Texas was Southwest.

Yeah, the swe what I was trying to think of the Southwest? You're right, thanks, But no, those two programs historically, yeah, they've not been SEC teams, but I've always felt like they were SEC caliber programs, and so it's exciting to have them. It's also exciting to go to a couple of new cities, see new traditions and new venues. So

Yeah, in modern times.

Yeah, they played once down there in nineteen fifty one.

Yeah.

I lost seven to six. So yeah, Texas leads the series.

Kentucky played a course in the Cotton Bowl back in the day, but Dallas is not as far west as Austin, so John is absolutely correct.

Some of the scores and teams.

You'll be keeping an eye on and I know you it's fun hearing you trying to throw a net over everybody as you as you're following so many different games, but chief among them is Indiana at Ohio State number five, at number two, and it's so intriguing because Indiana's got this storybook season going. However, Indiana has yet to play any of the teams in the top tier of the Big Ten, which of course has what eighteen teams now whatever. They have beaten Michigan State and Michigan back to back.

Oh, if they pulled this off, the world's going to turn upside down, especially if you live in Columbus, Ohio. So you know, Indiana is going to be a real test case because right now the way this committee is kind of putting things together, and I've heard other people nationally and more regionally express this concern. You know, if Indiana loses this game in a blowout, and I know everybody's got a different definition of a blowout. But say it's forty two to fourteen and eleven and one Indiana

Well, speaking of Lane Kiffin, his team seems to be playing it's best football right now. But I think the SEC game that will draw the most attention. Why I shouldn't say, but in fact, Ole miss plays at Florida, will miss up to night. But Florida Darren they got the healthy quarterback again, although he's their backup guy.

But we saw how explosive he can be against Kentucky. So now the.

Gators in the swamp playing their best football at ole Miss coming in.

Yeah, this amazing intriguing game because Old Miss can crash the party if they went out and Florida is a team that can play spoiler with a healthy DJ Lagway. And I think the thing to watch in that game this weekend is Lagway is one of the most accurate passers, if not the best passer in college football, completing catches of twenty or more yards. So big Chuck plays but everything else, he's still kind of a freshman at doing so can Old Miss limit is Chuck plays down field.

All about can Florida control the pace of the game the way Kentucky did against Ole Miss and Oxford. Two of the games that you'll glance at, I know and keep everybody up to speed on. Georgia plays UMass, Tennessee plays UTEP, Both of the SEC teams at home. They should up, they should put up video game numbers. But I am intrigued by Army at Notre Dame. Now, Notre Dame's pretty good. They're kind of flying a little bit

Yeah, Army just keeps winning and they're doing so They're no, I don't think they're a football independent anymore. They found the home in a conference and so they're they're just continuing to win. They've got Notre Dame this weekend, and that's a big one for the Irish and people who are not fans of Notre Dame because right now that's the team that they've got well in the playoffs and

Uh.

Notre Dame played an undefeated Navy team earlier this year and completely dismantled Navy and took them out of the conversation. So let's see what the the Black and Knights have for the Irish this weekend.

Later in the evening, Alabama at Oklahoma, not you, not your daddy, your granddad's Oklahoma could be interesting, but Alabama's playing its best right now.

And I had one another.

Oh, also, Vanderbilt at LSU. Neither team is ranked, but man, you know this is going to be fascinating, isn't it.

Yeah? I just think this could be a trap game for Vanderbilt looking ahead to the big Tennessee game next weekend in Nashville. I like LSU in this one.

Boy, isn't it interesting that to use the term trap game in Vanderbilt in the same sentence.

I think that's fantastic.

I was talking to one of my guests earlier this week on the show about the fact that USC and UCLA play at ten thirty pm Eastern on NBC, and you know what, the nation shrugs. That used to be one of the great matchups, you know, with the storied names on both schools and the uniforms and the you know, playing out there in Los Angeles and the coliseum, and now neither team is really relevant right now.

I hope that changes someday.

Yeah, it is one of the best uniform matchups in college football, and I love when they get to both teams get to wear their home uniforms in the matchup. You're right, it's not the rivalry it used to be. UCLA has really struggled, especially in modern college football. I don't know if it's recruiting or resources or what, but they've just not been able to sustain it like USC has and gosh, I don't know if this moved to the Big Ten is going to help that or not.

Before I let you go, we're talking with Darren Hedrick of the UK Network. Part of your very busy schedule, you'll feel Bill be filling in for Tom Leach Friday night because we'll be traveling to Austin and you're going to call the Jackson stake in Tucky men's game, so I know you're doing your homework on that one. But this is a fun team as well, This Mark Pope ball Club.

Isn't it?

Yeah, it really is. I have enjoyed watching this group and the way they Everybody likes to talk about their offense, and for good reason. They've scored three hundred points in three home games. That's phenomenal, pretty good. But yeah, their defense is pretty good too, and we saw that against Dukes, so you know there's still a work in progress, as he likes to say, you know, they're still wanting to

Sounds good to me, and you'll sound good Friday night as the Wildcats take on Jackson State. You'll hear Darren Hedrick call the action with Jack Gibbons, and I know you listen, and I don't know about you. I love how tickle Jack gets by the shooters.

You know, yes, he loves it.

Yeah, I just enjoy how much fun he has calling those games beside Tom and you know, and then you've got Cameron Mills. How he gets fired up on the pre game. Oh yeah, I just I enjoy listening to those broadcasts.

They're very well done, Darren, Thank you so much, and we'll be listening Friday night.

Thanks so much.

DG.

Back in a minute here on the Big Blue Sider six thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big Blue Sider. Joining us down our celebrity hotline is a familiar face if you watch TV here in lexingon WTVQ, sportscaster Forrest Tucker joining us. A guy who covers well, because you're a local TV sports guy for us, you got to be an expert on everything, don't you.

Oh yeah, that is the trick of the trade.

Yeah, so UK baseball and football, Eastern Kentucky, Georgetown. You're also you cover a lot of the soccer, the Lexing and Sporting Club soccer. I want to ask you about that in a moment, but you coasted a story the other night about the three point shooting prowess of this Kentucky team and just how crazy it's been so far.

I don't know if people expected this, do you.

I think maybe it could have. Maybe you couldn't have because we know Mark gol was to shoot thirty five threes a game, making them a different story. But I think it definitely shows that they're on their way to that, and I think that's an encouraging sign. You know, it just seems like it's a no brainer that they would be doing this.

Well.

They have guys that were committed and they were lethal shooters that they got out of the portal. So I'm happy that they're, you know, along this way. And I was wondering what storyline I was going to write about and talk about after the game they played versus Lipscomb and and lo and behold, they're the first Kentucky team ever to make ten or more threes in their first four games.

You know.

So that's pretty crazy, and it's just funny because Mark said himself, how do we not.

Do that.

On the title and how have they not done that in any other season? Because there are a lot of a lot of great tiers come through this town. But I think that's the sign that he's building something special and that's a cliche to stay. But we're gonna hopefully learn a little more about this team when we talk to Mark today, and then just as as you know, the non conference schedule goes on.

Yeah, and it's funny because Rick Bettino. I don't know if you were too young when he went on his first run, but you know this about Patino a guy who appreciates the three pointer, and when he took Providence to the final four, his philosophy had become you either take it to the rack or shoot a three, nothing in between. And you're sort of seeing that with Kentucky, although there are some mid range jumpers, but that's a little bit of Atino rubbing off on him as well as the analytics.

Right, Yeah, he's a huge analytics guy. You know. We were hearing him speak about Catapult, which is the GPS tracking for players last week I think it was or two weeks ago, and he's just like a professor. Maybe he can say he over explains things a bit, but I would rather do that than not give us anything at all. It's fun to listen to because he reminds me of me. I can ramble for a long time if you give me the task to do it and it's not coach speak, but you know, it's like he's

Yeah, yeah, and he'll he'll answer your question.

I mean the previous management that coach liked to control the narrative. He had a message he wanted to get across. And you know, he didn't invent that style of press conference, but he mastered it.

You know. But now you ask a question to the new guy, maybe he'll start doing that Forrest.

I don't know, but I like, hell, he'll answer a direct question with a direct answer.

You always got some fumor involved too, which is really nice, and I think we all appreciate that because if you can sit there and worry about your deadline after a game, you can worry about what you're gonna neat for a lunch after the press conference, but if he can keep you in the here and now, which I think is really nice, then I appreciate that.

Yeah, we're talking with Forrest Tucker. He is a sports reporter anchor for w t VQ here in Lexington, and we've been talking a lot about basketball, well we got to talk football.

We see each other.

At the Mark Stoops News conferences occasionally, and this season it seems for us it's really wearing on Stoops. You know, nobody likes to lose, obviously, but and he briefly mentioned but said, I don't want to sound like I'm whining or crying about the portal and nil, but you can tell he's just not enjoying it.

Is he.

Now?

It's it's difficult for him. It's difficult to watch him week atter a week. I feel like that, you know, I thought that our colleague at Nolan Media, John Long's question to him about you know, are you thinking of leaving? You know, will you step down on your own accord, which he answered with you know, zero percent chance that's happening,

Yeah, he really does.

Although yeah, and to be more specific, John asked him, are you going to retire? And I had heard that rumor some some of the coaches out there believe that that Stuops was hitting you know, he's he's he's made a lot of money he's earned the right, as John said, just enjoy life, you know, maybe not go to another school, but just hang it up and be happy and not that SUPs is saying, no, I want to stick around and not be happy. But he still loves the coaching part of the game, doesn't he.

Yeah, you can tell he likes every you know, he he cozies up to it every you know, game day and everything. I think that he's not going to tell you he's excited to go to Austin, Texas and play a football game, you know, for the first time and however you know long it's been. But I mean, I appreciate him. I would hope he sticks around, but I think it's you know, next season is like this season. You know, it's forty four million, as seems, you know.

Yeah, And I think it's it's really premature to talk about Kentucky separating from him because of what he's done here. And a lot of this for us is young people like you. You're on the on the early stages of what I'm sure he'll be.

A fine career.

But those of us who go back to the days where Kentucky had almost no hope of winning any games other than non conference and maybe Vandy, but maybe not because Vandy, even though people always think, you know, uk SHA two or Vandy every season, it's fifty to fifty about whether they should should be Vandy, and the statistics.

Show that out.

So I go back to that when when it was dreary, it was drudge work covering Kentucky football and trying to and you know how it is trying to interview somebody about, well, how did you lose this one?

Or do you really think you can win this week?

Now the Big Blue Nation had gotten to the point where fans believe they they might win, not should win, but might win every game. That's a lot more fun. And when you take that away from a fan base, it's.

Not pretty, is it.

No, it definitely isn't. I think you just have to see what what gives what's going to give you some hope and what's going to give you some promise about things that seem to have liked how Cutter Bowli is played. Sure all of the week past where we talked about a quarterback competition, it really wasn't a competition. You know, back has always given them the best chance to win football games. So you know, I don't know, I think

And mistakes against Vandy that that cost them, So that's got to be so frustrating. And yeah, I think you talked about on field leadership.

They're looking for.

That, and the portal just complicate things that. Will Levis came through the portal, immediately won the respect of his teammates and became a real leader. As you mentioned, Learry was a quiet guy. Vandergriff his first and only season so far as a starter. But it's difficult to be a leader at quarterback if.

You're not excelling.

And the old line has not allowed him to really do I think what they brought him here to do, and that's set up and throw from the pocket. He's always on the run, he's always running for his life. I don't mean to lay at all on the old line, but his Stupids's best teams had terrific goal lines. And just about every team in America, you could say that that to me is where the rebuild has to begin.

You know.

Yeah, I think we had a lot of optimism because this team had a lot of changes they made full till wise at so many position groups with coaching, and it just doesn't stand out the way we've wanted to. I think bush Hand and his hands are kind of tied because of the certain position groups that may be underperforming, you know. So he's kind of like, well, I'm trying to do what I'm trying to do, but you know, if the position coaches don't get their act together, we

Yeah.

Yeah, I've enjoyed covering Bowl games, and you know, there was a point there Forrest where I never thought I'd get to cover another one. But they've been coming regularly under stoops.

But yeah, it's going to be tough on Saturday.

We'll come back and talk more with Forest Tucker of WTVQ in just a minute, Hair on the Big bullon Siders six thirty WLAP, Welcome back.

We're talking with Forrest Tucker.

He is a WTVQ reporter anchor and you see his work on Channel thirty six covering all sports. I mentioned earlier you are a soccer fan based on what I've seen on the air and also what you post on Twitter or ex if you will. Have you always been a soccer.

Guy one ten percent. Yeah, for for as long as I can remember. I think that's that's always been the number one for me.

Really excited.

I wish the team and the three teams they have in this town doing better at at this moment, but they're in a pivotal time right now, Dick. This is probably the biggest offseason for this men's team in their history. Which has only been two years in change of existence. That's the funny thing about this country of soccers. England's been doing it for one hundred years. We've been doing it for about ten pret pretty consistently and religiously and seriously.

Why are you such a soccer guy?

I mean, it was the first sport I really played and hung it up when I was young, and then picked it back up when I was older because I wanted to just be involved in a team sport. And so that's kind of just taken me to the point where now I I I now look fanaticate about it. I don't know why I came back to it. I think only for the reason I've played it before and I needed to just be active and you know, as a kid, I get into get into sports again going into high school and so for there it just kind

Yeah, hanging up, man, that's old man talk, you know what. You don't want to be talking like that.

So, uh no, that's far.

That's far in the future.

A few minutes up with Forrest Tucker w TVQ, and we talked about Kentucky football basketball from soccer before I let you go. Uh, women's basketball is fun again, isn't it?

Covering that team?

Yeah?

The Locisal game was a great game. But that was very fun to cover, and I I could sense that this probably was an overtime game. That was probably an overtime game when they were starting to tie the game up at certain points, multiple moments in that fourth quarter, maybe third quarter a bit, And it was definitely a thrill because you know that team sometimes and I begin

Yeah, I thought it was interesting how they had to come back against Purdue Fort Wayne.

Speaking of coming back.

And you know, and I'm not channeling John Caliperry here, but that was good for them, wasn't it.

Yeah?

I think so. I think you talked about Mark Pope not thinking about a letdown game. I don't think Kenny Brooks did that type of coach either. But it just shows that really there's just a great top to bottom baalent with the people that are playing. You know, I think Kenny Brooks would rather put a unit together that are put a schedule together rather that is going to have to be tested every game because they need that.

You know.

I think that it's always interesting to see how a team will stack up and change when they get to that point and what they're gonna have to adjust because they're SEC teams that are gonna have so much tape on them. You could imagine there's going to be a surprise somewhere somebody, somebody does something that you didn't think they were gonna do against you, and then you have to adjust and say, okay, well now that's on film. We have to make sure we're more robust in this area or that area.

Forest Tucker is a reporter anchor for WTVQ and you can follow him on x or Twitter at Forrest Tucker TV and of course follow him on Channel thirty six. Thank you, Sarah. We will see you at the ballgame.

You got it. Thank you, Dick.

That's gonna do it.

Thanks to my guest tonight, Forest Tucker, Darryl Byrd and Darren Hedrick, and of course we will not be with you Tomorrow night preempted for Kentucky basketball as a Wow Cat's take on Jackson State, and as we mentioned earlier, Darren Hedrick will have the call as Tom Leach and Jeff Mcorrol and I will be traveling along with our engineer and our producer to Austin, Texas for Kentucky football.

So Tomorrow night.

Seven o'clock tip UK Jackson State, and then on Saturday it's the Cats and the Texas Longhorns. We'll have it for you from Austin. That should be fun, should be interesting, and I promise I will keep an eye out for Longhorns fan Matthew McConaughey, Thanks for listening.

That's it. Good night from the garage in Lexington.

All right, alright, alright, Nata