Welcome to the Big Blue and sider Diay Gabriel with you in a Wednesday edition of our program, the day after Kentucky's Senior Day win over the LSU Tigers. Coming up a little bit later on, we'll talk to Sean Woods, the unforgettable guard, about not just last night's game, but when he went through senior ceremonies as well.
Always special.
We're also going to hear from Darren Headrick as he is heading for the SEC Women's Tournament. He also wore Kentucky's baseball.
Win last night.
The Cats blew out Eastern Kentucky sixteen to nothing. A year ago when Kentucky went to Richmond, the Wildcats had to break up a no hitter late in the game to come back and win. But it was all Wildcats last night, and we hear more from Darren about that, get his thoughts on this year's team, as he's been able to call some of the games so far.
As when his.
Schedule intersects with women's basketball, he sticks with basketball, but he has seen the baseball Cats a few times, so we'll talk about that as well. And our West End BUA chief Gary Moore as always joining us on a Wednesday, and we'll talk, of course about the Wildcats, who got their twentieth win last night and Senior Night for six people, Annsley, Almanor, Kobe Breath, Lamont Butler, and Drew Carr, Jackson Robinson and Amari Williams. Senior Night wins fifty three against just six losses.
And that thirty one point win last night largest for UK on Senior Day since they beat Vanderbilt in twenty three. Fifteen and three at home for the Cats, most victories for Kentucky in the last three seasons didn't reflect very well again on the John Caliperi last couple of years, Wildcats hit only fifty point seven percent from the field. They had that stretch there in the second half. They went kind of cold, you know, but it was just something to see, man, the way they kept throwing in shots.
And as you know, when the Wildcats hit fifty percent or better, they are tough to beat. In fact, they are thirteen and one and not just hit shots last night, but hit three pointers twelve of them, and Kentucky eight and oh this year when making at least twelve triples, they got enough three pointers they try to get, you know, thirty thirty five and they got.
What they wanted last night.
LSU. Look, let's face it, it's just not very good. I don't know if the Tigers will become good in the near future. They've got some talent, they've won some games, but not very many, and they just aren't very good this year. They have been the team Kentucky fans love to hate every now and then, but they're only fourteen and sixteen. So, by the way, the Wildcats seventeen times this year have made at least ten three pointers. That's
the most in UK history. How about that? And the Cats won the rebounding about of course they wanted against Auburn by a substantial margin, but Auburn didn't miss many shots. So anyhow, they got to keep that up because they're thirteen and four this year when they out rebound the opponent. So overall, a great night Otaga away. Let everybody with twenty four had eight point or eight rebounds, three assists, three steals. Tremendous game. Brandon Garrison had fifteen points, four
assists and three steals, man Almoner at fifteen points. Colin Chandler hit three triples in a career high eleven. He's getting good at just the right time. He also had four assists on the night. So Travis Perry and Trentoah aren't quite haven't been quite as effective as they've been in the past. But that's okay. You know, they may in the next game get right back to that. But Chandler's picked up the slack, there's no question about that. So we'll talk more with Sean about that coming up
in just a few minutes. Looking around in the league SEC tournament, as you know, is coming up, and how about this. Dan Shulman and Jay Billis will call the tournament. They've done the ACC four years. Dave O'Brien and Corey Alexander called the a SEC tournament. But now Showman and Billis, And I know some of you still don't like Billis. Look Showman, in my opinion, and there are a lot of great TV playbook play guys out there. I think
he's the best guy. He's my favorite. Let's put it to you that way, because he does not tell you everything the screen is showing you. You know, he dribbles left, dribbles right, he shoots it, hits the rim, no good. You know, TV guys don't need to do that, and too many of them feel like if he feels like they're getting paid by the word. Shulman does a great job mixing the video and his descriptions, and I just think Billis does a great job. And I wrote about
this on the website. You know, why do so many people dislike Jay?
Billis?
And he was talking to Tony Kornheiser on Corneizer's podcast the other day about and Corneizer asked him, do people think he's biased as he go overboard trying not to be you know? And Billis said, look, you know, it's been forty years since I played there, so yeah, I love the play, but yeah, he works hard. And some Duke fans don't like Billis because they think he tries too hard not to be biased toward Duke. So anyhow, Showman and Billis, I like him, of course. I always
split time between Tom and Jack. And coming up in our next segment, we're gonna hear some of Jack gibbons conversation with the seniors. He interviewed all six seniors after the game, three at a time, so we'll hear the first half of that at the bottom of this hour. Come up after the break and then an hour number two, we'll hear the second three that he interviewed. But it was really a lot of fun to hear somebody making
headlines again, Rick Pattino. His team is winning, so he's making headlines for that reason.
But I mean, he's a good story.
You know, he's back in college basketball in New York winning, they win the Big East. But on a WFN show yesterday I think it was or the day before, I think it was yesterday, he was addressing rumors as usual that he would leave for Indiana. Some people thought he would leave Iona for Indiana, but he said, New York is where I belong. He said, why would I leave where I'm gonna go that I would want to leave. He said, this is New York City, the greatest.
City in the world.
This is a program that is in the top ten. And he said, I'm overpaid right now. They should take some money away from me. I don't need anything. And he said, my agent's going to kill me for saying that, because he keeps saying you're not in the top five of Biggie's coaches. He's gonna kill me now. But Tina reportedly makes three point three million per year from Saint John's. That doesn't include any endorsements he might get. And look, whatever he might need, he'll get it from Mike Ropoli.
And you might recognize that name. Mike Ropoli is a billionaire alum from Saint John's. He had two different sports drinks or or waters or whatever that he sold for an incredible amount of money. So now he does a lot of other things, but he dabbles in horse racing, and at some point he had he had the Derby favorite in Derby one fifty fierceness and didn't win it.
I like the horse.
He also had the favorite to Night in twenty twenty three forte but had to scratch. I also like that horse. But look, he will be a factor because he can buy good horses. So you'll hear his name around the Kentucky Derby and the Oaks and all these big races for years to come, I would think. But anyhow, look, if Patino needs something, Mike Roppoli will get it for him or give it to him, and right now together, because Roppoli, of course is the nil guy for Saint John's.
They've got their best record since the eighty five eighty six season. Their best team since eighty five when they came to the Final four here in lexingon Well Luke Carniseca and that Big East title they just won first in forty years. They haven't won an NCAA tournament game in twenty five years. And Sean and I will talk about this again, and we talked about it last week. That is a team that is going to be really dangerous in postseason. They don't score well, they don't shoot
well Saint John's, but they guard like crazy. And I commend to you Redstorm Rising if you can find it on WES the Vice channel. That's the documentary series. They're also showing the series on Caliperi documentary series that might have just been leading up to the UK game. I haven't kept up with it, but I've been watching the Saint john series and it's classic Patino. I mean, f Bomb's left and right, and he's been pretty frank about
his team. He's run the camera crew out of his locker room a couple times, and he doesn't let him in at halftime. But he still wears the wireless mic so you can pick up the audio. You can hear what he's saying. You just don't have a camera there in the locker room. So anyhow, it also reminded me of when we did a special a documentary, if you would. I was one of one of the ones I put together with some help from KYT several years ago, many years ago, called a day with Rick Patino, and he
agreed to let us follow them around. I set in on a staff meeting. Fascinating, but he would not wear a microphone during the game, and it's certainly it was because of the profanity. He didn't want people to hear that. But we had microphones near the bench. They picked it up anyway, We bleeped it, you know. But he tried to tell us he didn't want to wear a mic because he thought the players would be self conscious.
Come on, man.
But it turned out to be a great show. It was fun, and I borrowed an idea from the old Candid Camera Show, which every once in a while would show a piece that it did. It was a Pittsburgh traffic cop who would dance in the intersection as he directed traffic, and they put it to opera music. So I had the idea, let's put a camera on Patino
for the entire game. We had one guy shooting, just Patino and all his antics, and our production manager Tom Bickel, sat in an edit bay for hours with tape after tape after tape and had two different pieces of opera music, one was Italian, one was German, and put it together.
It was brilliant. It won an Addie.
Award that year.
So Patinos wore mikes before, but he always wants to be in control. But before the break, could I please just take a moment, if you'll indulge me. I have said many many times that I will not mix I will not talk politics on this show unless for some reason it mixes with sports. All right, there are plenty of shows out there and podcasts, and you know, plenty of media out there on politics, but social media is
a different animal. I will tweet and retweet about it, even under the name Big Blue Insider on my Twitter account and of course on my own personal Facebook account, and I've gotten that strict of sports stuff. No, not gonna do it. I'm an American citizen, I'm entitled to my opinion. I promised you I won't mix it in. I won't bring it up on this show unless it
has to do with sports. Like Congress getting involved with something, but on my social media account, no, I'm not going to adhere to shut up and dribble kind of thinking. So just wanted to throw that in. If you don't like it, that's fine. I respect you don't follow me, that's cool. I won't think any less of you. Well maybe a little, but h No, I'm gonna keep speaking my mind.
All right, let's step out.
When we come back, we'll hear from the UK seniors one six point thirty wlap Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider coming up in just a few minutes, unforgettable guard Sean Woods. A little bit later on Darren Hedrick, just ahead of the UK women's basketball team's trip to the SEC Tournament yep, March Madness postseason. It's already on top of us. And later on our West End Bureau chief Gary Moore has promised, I wanted to share with you.
I'm gonna do this in segments, the conversation Jack Gibbons had with the seniors, and he did this last year and I remember, you know, there were so many question marks or was it a couple of years ago what he had all the seniors on and he said, I don't want a decision now, but there could be a chance and some of you are coming back and all that, and people clapped and they all kin. You know, nobody
came back. But Jack talked to the six seniors three at a time after the blowout win last night over LSU on the UK Sports Network. So here's the first batch. I'm gonna play the second part because he didn't talk to him all at once. He've only got so many microphones. I'll play that in the second hour. But this is Lamont Butler, Mariy Williams, and Kobe Braya talking to Jack Gibbons, and Butler speaks first just about his experience here at Kentucky.
Yeah, man, I think it was easy though.
I mean, just having the great people around me, the guys to push me every day to go out there and you know, be my best and you know, just allow me to be a leader as well. You know, coming from a different school with also everybody else coming from a different school, it was kind of new. And
you know, from day one I saw everybody's working. I think everybody's passion and h you know, we grew together, you know, really quick, and you know, it's been beautiful what we were able to do, and now we want to continue to do more and make it special again.
One thing that said early on was you guys kind of play with a little bit of a chip on your shoulder because I think, to a man, you guys wanted to prove that you deserve to be here and should have been here from day one when you came out of high school. Amari, did that figure in with you at all when you had to make the decision to come here.
In terms of, like you said, trying to prove yourself. I was thinking that just you know, coming from a mid major, and I can say the same about I say, like a like Ansley Kobe too, just you know, just proven out you you can play on this level and can go into the challenge.
Wry I to say that for sure.
Yeah, And Kobe, you know when you came in with a big reputation, you've lipped that out. It's just fun to see how you guys have come together. And that's hard to do with the backgrounds coming from all over the place. But talk to me a little bit about how that process has developed over the course of this season.
That has flown right on behind.
Is honestly It's honestly crazy how fast time has flew by this season. And I think when you think about that, you kind of go back to the summer and everything that we went through during the summer, whether it was all the Bluss Winds series that were putting together in the gym, or just all the fun that we had together off the court. You know, I think that stuff
that kind of made our bond a lot stronger. And I think that when we step on the floor and we play, you can kind of see how much we love each other.
And that's been a big part of our success. Yeah, that's for sure.
I want to go back you're talking about over the summer. I want to go back because you guys, all three of you, actually all six of you, could have gone to any number of schools around the country. I mean, you were getting recruited. You were it's like coming out of high school. What had you heard about Kentucky that made you want to make the decision to play here?
Oh?
Well, I mean I heard that it was just different here, just you know, the fan base was just a different level.
Also just playing you knowing the sec.
You know, I knew that I was going to be a bigger challenge for myself, and you know, I just was ready to take that challenge head off.
Yeah.
We don't see many seven foot point guards, man, I mean we just don't. I mean, that's a part of the game, folks that get because because of our injuries, especially that this one runs and the normal point guard. I don't know that we're nearly as good as we are with the improvements you've made in your game. Talk to me about that. Think in a seven footer running the point guard spot.
Yeah, I mean it came about in the Tennessee game. Before the game, I really didn't know that that was going to happen, and you know, I took the ball of the court a few times and we figured out it was. And you know, ever since then, my teammates coaches have the confidence of me to just bring the boat up every time, and it's held me in many other areas too, And I feel like this is the reason why my game grew on so much.
Comes As a guy who is going to be taking the next step.
You always wanted to think what's up next?
How important is it for you though, to close out the rest of this season understanding that the next step is going to be there a lot of decisions still to be made. Talk to me about the importance of the rest of this season. Yeah, I mean, I think.
For ourselfs and just for the rest of the team, where we're all trying to just stay present in the moment. You know, we know that we have big plans, big goals that we're trying to achieve the next step. Honestly, that's the furthest thing from right now. I think we're all focused on number nine and that's been the main focus since we got here. We're not going to start to you know, we put in all the way that we can't to be able to get to this at all.
I like that answer the last question, and either one of you or whole of you can deal with us. Senior night is always special. I mean it's always special. Some of you might have experienced that in other places, but you know the emotion that goes with that, having your families here to enjoy this night with you, I know, it's very special. Talk to me just a little about that senior night experience.
Were you a little bit tight early in this game? I was ready to go.
Yeah, after the senior and night thing, but you know it definitely was a special moment for me and my family to be here, know in front of you all fans and you guys. You know, just like like someone said earlier that you guys just just took his hands so quick, and know, you guys just showed us a lot of love, and you know we played with that same love on the court, you know, for each other
and for you guys. So definitely want to thank everybody for coming out and supporting us, and you know this has been a great year for us.
And that's Curtis City UK Sports Network of course, and our number two. We're here the other three seniors talking about their experiences here at Kentucky Senior Night.
Always special as you know, it.
Includes the traditional playing of My Old Kentucky Home. It's always a treat. And you know what's been circulating on social media was a clip from this day, March the fifth, nineteen eighty eight, when the Wildcats said goodbye, and that was one talented Kentucky team that was Rex Chapman's second year, Cedric Jenkins, Winston Bennett, Robert Locke. It was also the last time Happy Chandler would sing My Old Kentucky Home at Rupp Aerina. I'm gonna play the entire thing for
you at the end of the show. Here's a little snippet of it from Chandler. And by the way, for those of you who are still maybe uncomfortable or resentful of mild Kentucky Home, because the initial song itself included a word that is now offensive to attribute everybody but to African Americans. And of course that was a song was a product of its time. But because of that, it's become known as a racist song. And you can
wonder about that, and I think it's fair. But I actually did a little research on this and I was amazed to learn. And we should know this as Kentuckians, because if you know the song, appreciated it, like it.
Love it.
It was written by Stephen Foster. You know Stephen Foster story over in Bartstown. Stephen Foster was an abolitionist. Stephen Foster was an outright opponent of slavery and activist and an activist when it came to slavery. So why did
he write the song? Well, the song was written in his mind through the eyes of a slave, a man who had been working a farm in Kentucky and had been sold taken away from his family and sent to another farm out of state, and he was just thinking about the day he could return to his family in Kentucky and how much he loved being in Kentucky. Now, I didn't love being a slave, obviously, but I just thought that was a fascinating piece of history. So I had to do a little about face or big about
face on my old Kentucky home. And there's a little bit of happy Chandler singing it. On March fifth, nineteen eighty eight.
Will see one.
Talking oh.
Oh oh, and you've probably seen the clip that Chandler finishes.
With a deep, deep bow. Crowd went nuts as you could hear. Robert Locke, a Californian who was given to tears during the song, went over and gave him a big hug. The late Van Florence, who at the time was the president of the Committee of One O One. The guys who wear the blue jackets, had to help Governor Chandler out in the Chandler's wheelchair and then they left to just a lingering ovation. It was a great
moment in the history of rupp Arena, all right. Coming up next, Shawn Woods, the Unforgettable Guard he went through a senior night of his own or back in just a minute here on six point thirty Wlap.
Welcome back to.
The Big Blue and Cider joining us now to us every week is the Unforgettable Guard Coach Sean Woods and coach before we talk about the high school schedule you're working. The regionals are on top of us. But last night, man, a blowout wind. You love to see that on senior night. And I know, I don't think your senior night went quite the way you had hoped it.
Would, but.
It's always special. What was it like for you, you know, the days leading up to that and knowing how emotional it was going to be, that sort of thing.
What was that like?
Well, we had a bet that you know, we didn't want to cry when they played my old Kentucky hose. Yeah, the four of us, and we didn't cry. I'll tell you what the other players did. All the teammates of more teary eyed and more sentimental than we were. Surprising, But you know, it was a great night, you know, starting off and my goal that night was to break the single game assist record, which was I think eleven or something like that. It's not twelve. I can't remember
twelve thirteen, and I was on my way. I had seven assists in the first seven minutes for eight minutes, and then I get in an altercation with Jay Wright or whatever his name was, and get thrown out the game.
I had forty seven people to come watch, family members. They all go out to get something to eat at concession stand and come back and there's no more sean.
Amazing.
So that's what I remember about my senior night. And then coach Patino comes in and after we had won a tough game against Tennessee, Coach Patino comes in, goes wait to spend senior unit in solitude sewn.
Wow, he knew how to dig it in, didn't he?
Do You know what the single game assist record is now, I'd forgotten about this now ty Ty Washington at seventeen against Georgia back in twenty twenty two. People forget how good he was when he was healthy and what he should have done here. That that guy was crazy talented, and then then he got hurt, came back, got hurt again. So but not unlike Lamont Butler. But Lamont played against LSU. You had to love that watching him take apart Lsu.
Well, Lamont Butler. I just wanted him to be, you know, have to you know, have some success to end towards the end of this year, because he deserves it. You know. Unfortunate, this shoulder injury, this labor deal is is just a hard injury to deal with and the only way it gets better is with surgery, and he's fighting tooth and nail through it. Just so weak as a basketball team
and have a chance. And I just give him all the kudos because you know, without him, there's no telling what this season could have been like just by himself being that ultimate point guard on both ends of the court.
So I just want him to have a.
Great ending to a heck of a senior year. Only one year here at the UK. I wish he had more years here because he's definitely the epitome of what a winner it is, especially at that spot.
We just heard the comments he made to Jack Gibbings after the game, and you could tell how much he loves it here and how much all of them appreciate it. It's really great, Sean, and you can relate.
Obviously you lived it.
We're all six of them, but beginning with Lamont talked about what it meant to them just to get the opportunity to play here, just for a year because on the outside looking and you grew up with Kentucky basketball because of your relatives and election and even though you
were up in Indiana. We know, you know you've talked about this many times, but think about players, and you've played against guys across the country who probably look at your team your programming thought, Man, what must it be like to play for a team that's on the mountaintop, And some of them, I'm sure thought I should be there. I'm good enough, he no better than I am. But that's just the way it was. And these guys were so appreciative of wearing.
That jersey, no doubt about it, especially where they're coming from.
You know, most of these guys were mid major players who come out of high school, had no chance of coming to the University of Kentucky. But about the grace of God and rule changes and things like that. To be honest, under the circumstances of coach Pope putting the team together at the last minute, getting the job late, so on and so forth, he couldn't have put a better group of guys together to really embrace what Kentucky
basketball is all about. And kudos to him and his staff because there wasn't just it wasn't just about trying to get the best players, which they were trying to do, but in hindsight, they got the best people that he could have gotten as young men, especially for a situation like this.
Yeah, and he had to do it so quickly, you know.
And you and I've talked before about what it's like trying to figure out and recruit.
You really can't recruit chemistry. Billy Donovan.
I asked him once about those championship teams of his at Florida, and he said, look, we all hope for good chemistry, but you can't create it. You can't recruit it. It just has to happen, and you just got to hope for the best. Mark was able to recruit mature individuals, guys who had already grown up a great deal. But he had to do it in a hurry. Whereas you as a recruiter of high school and JUCO kids, any occasional transfer, you got a lot of transfers.
As you said, you got to.
Count on other people telling you this kid's a good kid, or you might want to stay.
Away right out about it.
And even more with transfers because they're older, they're kind of setting their ways a little bit. You know that they've they've been in programs being coached by other guys, and you never know what their coach is like. You know, I never tried to go after a guy that scored a bunch of points on a losing team, because that's
who he is. He's a loser, even though he's capable of scoring points, but he still has that loser's mentality because if he was all that and and the best player, he wasn't good at making other people better on this team. So you know, that's where Mark did a great job of getting guys that epitomized team. I mean Lamont Butler, you know, helped at the point guard spot get his team to the final four. He's the you know, besides the players at Alabama, he's the most experienced and most
successful point guard in the SEC that you know. So and then you get other guys that Jeff are happy to be here and would give everything they got to play at Kentucky, he got those type guys. He didn't get a Prima Donna coming in here, he didn't do anything and that's what made it work. Unfortunately, you know, injuries and reality set in a little bit before a first year deal. He was super competitive. Our cats were,
you know, a team to be proud of. We just didn't have enough or don't have enough to win it right now. But I think the print is already set. I think the coach is already set, and I think, you know, the the shoe print is already embedded into the mud. So now these guys, you know, when they go out and you know, get a player two, it ain't about the name anymore. It's about what fits. And
now these guys have become household names. We just got to get more and get deeper, and you know, we got to get used to, you know, as Kentucky fans. You know, at first he was the one and done with high school kids. Now it's gonna be one and done with Collins tredfor maybe two years.
You might get love, but you're right about that. Shawn Woods, my guess, the unforgettable guard. We'll come back and talk more basketball with sewn on the other side of the break. Six thirty Wlap welcome back. One more question for Shawn Woods, our unforgettable guard. We talked to him on Wednesdays about this Kentucky team before I ask you about high school ball, because Shawn is part of the Glacott coverage of high
school ball. In it's a tournament time, you know, do you throw out the Auburn game is just a bad horse race. I mean they were in it until that flurry of turnovers. I thought they got rattled a little bit. I thought they were intimidated, intimidated a little bit. I think they can use that experience in a good way. How do you approach that?
The only thing we did good in that game was we made it tough for Broum. But other than that, you know, reality is reality, and that team is just more, way, more talented than we are right now today, you know what I mean, That's just it is what it is. You know, was it a disappointing loss, Yeah, But that team right now the other day was that much better
better than us. I mean, let's just you know, with everything from top to bottom players, you know, you can have all the coaching in the world, but if you ain't got those Jim and Joe's, you know, it's it's hard and They just are so talented and that's the reason why they're the number one team in America. They lost last night, but I think they were on a little high and really a little hangover knowing that they clinched the number one spot in the SEC, and not
only that. I don't think it's going to bother them by being the number one overall seed in the NCAA tournament.
Yeah, I agree with you.
Well, let me shift you over the high school ball. You are a busy, busy man with the Glackcott broadcast. The eleventh Region tournament is already underway right now. It's Great Crossing coming up against Brian station le see in Catholic against Frederick Douglas. Man. Those are going to be great, great ballgame, Sean. Do you see a state champion? I guess they are potentially state champs. But do you see perhaps the boys state champion in that group?
Potentially?
You know, on paper you would say great Crossing because they got you know, Moreno and the other kid that's going to Moorhead.
But you know St.
NX is really good.
You know St.
Nax is really really good, and.
Thus far, you know, they've beaten everybody that they need to beat in the state. The thing about the eleventh region is it was the toughest region in the state of Kentucky. It was the most competitive region in the state. And you know, Douglas wasn't darling of it. But coming down the stretch, they beat Brian's Station three times in a row, and Brian Station finally beat him when it
counted in the district championship. But on paper, talent wise, Douglas is the better team, but that night Brian Station got him. On any given night, that can happen. You know, Brian Station, the game you know so far is going to be Brian's Station and Great Crossing coming up this weekend, simply because of contrasting styles. Brand Station. You know, it's a great pressing team. They put pressure on you for the whole game. They cause KOs chaos, and they can
give Great Crossing problems. If they can keep Marino off the glass. If they can, you know, keep Marino off the glass and not let him dominate the game and make him have to come out and speed them up, Brand Station has a good chance of upsetting them. And if not, Dougas is the same, but a little more talented and bigger they have a shot, but right now the team to beat in the eleventh region is Great Crosses.
Okay, by the way, Saint X if you like to follow the entire state place Friday night in the boys seventh region semis against Ballard, which could be a good one, my beloved Trinity Shamrocks. Or in the other bracket we played DuPont Manual. And then the championship game is on March tenth, and it's all at Valley High School, which is way out at the other end of Jefferson County, way far away from Trinity and accent, especially Balor. But anyhow,
we'll keep an eye on that one. Did you have a chance to see Moreno last year, because I'm wondering I did in the sweet sixteen. I'm wondering how much he's improved in your mind.
I did see him last year, and I've seen him this year. Sure, I don't see that much. I didn't see that much improvement. I thought he was. I was very impressed with him last year. Just with a guy that with that side, that can still maneuver and get things done against smaller people. Some bigs, you know, a really good big, you know prospect as far as college basketball is concerned, but sometimes they have a hard time with little guys that are guarding them, and they got
to guard the little guy in high school. Well Moreno was skilled enough, got enough ball hand ability to where he can make moves in traffic against midgets. So that's that's what that that is what impressed me with him thus far. You know what what can urns me is playing for Mark Pope is can he shoot the basketball with range? You know, he's supposed to be a skilled guy, and I would like for his motor to get to get going a little bit more. But from a dominating standpoint,
you know that that's the question. Because if you're a McDonald All American you're coming to Kentucky, you must you've got to be in your area the most dominant player around. And you know, I've seen him dominate some and then I have it. But you know, the potential is definitely there, uh for sure, and you can't turn down to McDonald America, especially in your back door. So hoping and wishing and that he, you know, can come here and really have
a great career, uh being a Kentucky kid. But there's a lot of people gonna be looking at him because he does have that McDonald all Americans bulls on his back, and he's not coming in here to be a role player.
You got to come in here and be a.
Stud, especially with all these guys to leave it. So yeah, he's going to be counted on real early.
That's well put. You can't come here and be a role player. In that role, he's at every game sitting in the end zone when he can. And you know, my question is can he come here and be the passing big man they need in this Mark Pope offense because clearly Amari Williams, I don't expect Marino to bring a ball up the floor, you know, but that high post passing and Brandon Garrison had a career high and
assist last night. Of course everything went right, but that's that's a key, it looks like to me, I mean, you know more about it than I do. To the Pope offense, just everybody cutting for the back door.
Well, I have.
Seen him at times get the ball off the glass, get a rebound and push it himself and make play.
So he is capable of.
Doing that, you know. Now with the level you know enhances, he's at a higher level a lot more is going to be expected of him from a work ethic standpoint, and let's see when he gets into fire. But potentially I think he's he has the goods. It's unfortunate that, you know, because this transport portal and as many guys as Kentucky have leaving, you know, he's he's got to be counted on real, real fast, unfortunately, and uh, you know, his growth is going to have to be considered.
Real real quick.
I don't know if you ever saw his brother play over at Eku. Oh yeah, his brother, Man, he had a motor, didn't he.
His brother was a really good high school player under sized post, but injuries kind of hurt him a little bit. And he wasn't a shooter in high school and because of the injuries, he couldn't move like he used to. And he became one of the best shooters in Eastern Kentucky basketballers.
That's exactly right, and he was an absolute all star. So, uh, he's get What that tells you is that Michael's getting good advice, or of Malachi is getting good advice from Michael. And if they're hanging out in the backyard playing, you know they are He's gonna help him there as well. Coach, Thank you so much, and be sure you look for Shawn Woods on the Glackcod coverage. Well, are you working with Keith Elkins this week again?
Yep, Keith Elkins and I together Friday night.
All right, brother, we'll be watching. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Follow Shawn on Twitter at Shawn Woods one one two zero, Shawn Woods eleven twenty. I be sure you drop in the eleven twenty because I forgot a couple times and somebody else named Shawn Woods would reach out and say wrong guy.
Uh.
But also again, watch for his coverage on YouTube. We'll just go to Glackcod dot com and I think they're on YouTube later. But he and Keith dulcans working the eleventh region, and as he said, it is the most contentious region right now down to the semifinals in boys high school basketball. They got girls games too.
They got it all, all right. I Number two coming.
Up next with Darren Hedrick and Gary Moore here on six point thirty WLA.
Puntattattention then anything to.
Do.
Welcome back to the Big Bone.
Sader I renumber two of our program joining us now on the Celebrity hotline is a guy who now is hip deep in March madness. It is upon us because conference tournaments are here. Darren Headrick is as we speak, heading for Greenville, South Carolina. But Darren, how excited are you with this Kentucky team which has shown it can play with anybody. They showed that at South Carolina, and they've gotten now all star players thanks to the list
that came out the other day from the SEC. They got a shot, don't they?
Yes, I think they do. I'm really excited to see what this team can do in the tournament. And obviously it's all going to start Friday with either Arkansas, Georgia or more likely Oklahoma, depending on how things shake out. And you know, Kentucky beat Oklahoma on their home floor. It's hard to ask Georgia amore to repeat forty three point performance. But I still I like the matchup for Kentucky.
And then you look forward to that more than likely you'll see South Carolina, and then it's going to be more than likely Texas, and it's coach Brooks says, you wouldn't wish that on your worst enemy. But I think this team is built, you know, for runs like this and I know after playing South Carolina is so tough in Columbia, I personally would love to see that match up again just to see if Kentucky could figure out
a way to make that one point game into a victory. So, you know, it's going to be a fun tournament down there. I think it's going to be with so many teams dick on that same elite level, LSU, Kentucky, Texas, South Carolina. I think it's going to be a really fun tournament this weekend.
Yeah, and you know, we all know the LSU game got away from him. They played so well against South Carolina.
It got away from him.
Was there anything that happened in both of those games in the second half that they need to avoid? Was there was there anything that that was a coincidence or was it the same sort of problems?
So I think it's just avoiding that little bit of a lull against South Carolina. Kentucky had in a one point game with five minutes to go and then turned it over seven times down the stretch. And South Carolina is a team that you turn it over and their transition game is going to make you pay for it. Against LSU, it was a combination of a few things, but there was a bit of a lull there where they had some turnovers and weren't able to score it.
And I do think Kentucky learned from that LSU game and that third quarter in the second half, the disastrous third quarter with some shots didn't fall, and they learned from that. I thought against Tennessee, they finished the game when they had a chance coming out of halftime, put their foot on the gas and just pulled away. You know, South Carolina is a different animal because their first wave
and their second wave, there's no fall off there. And Kentucky was still in that ball game with five minutes to go. So I think it's just learning to clean some things up and finished plays. And Kentucky he's right there there. It's they're right there with some of the best teams in the country right now.
Yeah.
Yeah, I was sitting next to you.
I mentioned this on the show the follow right after the Tennessee game, but you turn to me during a commercial break at halftime, you said, now, you know, can they play well in the third quarter? Basically, you know, they got to come out and pay well in the third against Tennessee, and they did that. So yeah, you know, they'll learn, they've got pride, they're smart, which brings me to my next question. I love hearing you talk to
Kenny Brooks. I learned so much about basketball, about his team, about him, both postgame and on the Monday Night show. You've watched them all year, Darren. What is it about him that that you think chiefly that that has made him so successful?
I think it's just being genuine. He's very open and honest. I do think that he'll have excuse me, he'll have intimate commonversations with you about basketball and give you his honest thoughts, and he'll kind of let you in on his thinking process. And I love the way he can relate things to people he's talking to, like myself or
even the players. I still go back to the pregame chat against Tennessee when I asked him what made Tennessee's press different from other teams that have tried to press him, and he says, well, they're just like the flies at a picnic. They want you to know they're there. You can swat them away, but then they come back and they're just kind of there, and then all of a sudden they land on your food and you're trying to
keep them off your food. He wasn't calling Tennessee players flies, but it was a similar deal there with the annoyance and just having to deal with the problem. But it's just the way he can describe things and relate to players and the family atmosphere. But overall, Dick, I think he's just genuine with how he treats people, how he deals with people.
Yeah, and he was about that Tennessee press, uh, because sitting in their court side, you realize it. You know, if they turn you over, that's great, But what they're trying to do is make you hurry up, make you think a little bit more, make you use up more of the shot clock, because let's face it, if a team's laying back in half court, you know, whoever's bringing the ball up the floor gets a little bit of a breed, like two or three seconds respite, and then
they got to attack. Man, you got to attack as soon as you put the ball in bounds. But yeah, again, they learned their let They were so darren, so well prepared for the Tennessee game.
It was so impressive.
Yes, Yeah, I was amazed at how well they bounced back and learned from that LSU game and attacking Tennessee and the way they attacked that bress you kept taking man, can they keep up this page? Is Tennessee's depth is gonna wear them down? No, somehow Kentucky turned all that into their advantage all day long and Georgia A. Moore and Dejah Lawrence they were finding the open bigs. But again that goes back to I think something that separates Kentucky from the rest of the field and puts them
on the cusp of being a leaf. They've got bigs Dick that are mobile. They can run the floor, they can bring the ball up. Clara Strack, Seanna Key, Amelia Hasset are all matchup nightmares for anybody that plays Kentucky this year.
And Amelia's kind of been out of position this year, but because of the injuries to the two kids, it might have been starters.
But she's played well, Yes, she really has. She's been a difference maker for this team. And you know, I think Coach Brooks even said on his radio show Monday Night, he'd like to see Amelia hunts her shot a little more right now, but she's still producing so big on the on the boards, averaging over eight rebounds a game, and she is a threat from three point range, and so bigs are having to close out on her that way, her guards are getting distracted by her, and so she
just presents a multitude of problems. And as she continues to get better going into next season two, Kentucky's just going to be I think, a team that a lot of folks are going to want to watch.
We're talking to Darren Hedrick, radio voice of the UK women's basketball program and also UK baseball, and as schedule has permitted, you have been able to check out, including last night's game Baseball Cats.
That was around.
Everything went well. The wind helped Kentucky was squaring everything up. But every game obviously hasn't quite been like that. But from what you've seen, and you've gone to scrimmages practices, what do you think of his team so far? What do you know about this team so far?
I think this team is still improving, Dick. I don't think we've seen the best version of the baseball Cats, But having said that, as they're continuing to get better, I've been so impressed with how this team is handling business when they're going up against teams that they are
better than. They're taking care of business, and they're winning games a dominant fashion, and I think that's building the confidence in the group as they continue to gel together and figure out the coaches are figuring out the way they want the lineup to be tooled. I have noticed that the coach, Benjiones seems to be dialing in on the lineup that he wants consistently as we approach SEC play.
I think you're seeing the pitching staff start to come together into the roles that we expect him to be in going forward. But I've just really been impressed with the way they've handled business. They have four run rule games already, they've produced three shutouts, They've won what is it now, nine games in a row, entering a potential
matchup with Eastern Kentucky this afternoon weather committing. So you know, it's just a team right now that's continuing to come together, and I think once they hit their stride, this is going to be another team to watch out for.
People obviously will try to compare it to last year's team, which really isn't fair. But the way they played, just said, Benji o On and staff are and they recruited this team, most high school kids in through the portal. I think with that image in mind of how they won last year, and that is a lot of different guys who played different ways offensively, who pitched differently, different armslots chaos on the base paths, a surprising amount of power.
And Nick pointed this out of media day.
You were there when he said, and I thought he caught people by surprise. In conference games alone last year, Kentucky was fourth in the league at home runs. So those of us who initially were calling a small ball we had to back that down and say, no, that the they win every which way, and I believe this team is doing that.
Yeah, I agree with you. I mean, you look back at the win against Tostra on Sunday. It was eight walks, eight hit batters, and eight stolen bases, which tied a program record going back to two thousand and seven. And so they found different ways to score against Posture using what they like to call the tickets, which the three bases. But then against Eku, it was the power they hit. I think it was three doubles, they had a triple,
they hit three home runs. This team has already hit three Grand Slams, and Dick, I'm thinking back to last season. I don't think the team that made Omaha ever hit a Grand Slam. If they did, they might have had one. There's not one that jumps to mind, so I apologize if I'm wrong on that. But this team's already hit three of them, and Cole Hayes provides a big bat.
I love the power from the freshman Tyler Bell. The home run he hit last night against the Eku out to right field in the teeth of that thirty five to forty five mile an hour wind gust was a man sized home run. It was a shot that that speed, the swing, the timing was all there on it. That young man's just a phenomenal talent. And you know, you and I could continue to go through the list. Obviously, Dylan Coon's is going to provide some pop there at
first base. This is a team that, just like I said, continues to come together and they're flashing a lot of the exciting ways of winning games that we've come to expect from baseball real quick. I just want to mention Luke Lawrence. I think if you wanted to look at the definition of a Kentucky baseball player Luke Lawrence, and we talked to coach benji On about it yesterday. He's a guy that checks a lot of the boxes.
Yeah, catch Darren's call Friday two thirty in the SEC tournament. Thanks so much, save travels.
Yeah, no problem, DG. Thanks for having me bud up.
Next, more of Jack Gibbons' conversation with a UK Seniors following last night's Senior Night victory over LSU and after that, Western Bureau Chief Gary Moore all ahead on six thirty back coming up in a few minutes, Western Buer Chief Gary Moore. But as promised, part two of Jack Gibbons' conversation with the sixth Seniors. Now he's talking to Jackson Robinson, Andrew carr And and Lee Almanor.
I just want them to give you some love because of the way you guys have laid.
Us on the line.
Yeah, you know, it's been it's been pretty interesting because and I talked to Alvin Brooks about this. I said, Alvin, what have you guys done to help these guys to get these guys to blend.
Together the way they have? What did you all do?
And Alvin quite Frankly said, Man, I don't know. We just got some good guys, and I think that's been evident from day one.
Jacks, Yeah, I think it starts to Coach Pope and just the people that he wants to bring into this program and represent the University of Kentucky. I think all these guys, all my teammates, my coaches, have made it really easy for these beautiful.
Fans to really fall in love with this team.
Yeah, and Andrew, you have been in a lot of ways, especially to the younger guys, you have been a guy that they have looked up to. They come to you a lot with questions. I'd see you put your arm around them, actually all of you guys. But I think that's one of the things, Andrew that has been special for this team. It's it's not about individuals, it's all about team and that makes.
A big difference. Yeah, for sure.
You know, I think for for all of us, it started in the summer. You know, off the court is the most was one of the most important things for us, trying to just get to know each other the best we can. And I think the cool part for me was just being able to to try and learn as much as I can about everybody, you know, on the deepest level as possible, just try and you know, be
able to connect with everybody differently. You know, everybody's got their own interests and so you know, it's definitely important for me to try and get to know everybody on a on a super deep level. That helps you, you know, on the court and how how that brings everybody together. And so from the start we were able to do that just going out to eat and and you know, this is the the most fun I've had on a team.
Man.
I really love these guests, good and and Annesley.
As I'd look at all the guys over the course of the season, I think you have had to grow your game as much as anybody on the team because everybody trying to play you for because they know how well you shoot the basketball. You've had to start creating off the dribble. And it's been fun to see how you have had to adjust your game to fit into new roles to help this team.
Yeah, it's definitely fun.
You know, Like I said when I came here the first, like first day, I just want to come here and be able to help the team anyway possible. You know, and with Jackson going out like like that, so I just, you know, had to step into an extended roles, I think, a bigger role that I was previously you know, used to earlier in the season. So, like you said, just playing with the drible creator for myself and doing a little things like that, it makes a difference.
Yeah, And I like the growth of this team. We've had injuries. I don't have to go into that. Two of the two of the casts sitting here have.
Had to struggle through a jacks You of course, Man, I just hated that you're not going to be with these I mean, you've accomplished so many great things, but Ben, you never can kind of prepare for the injury bug, and you've had to make adjustments through that.
Issue as well.
Yeah, I mean it's been huge these guys. Credit to these guys for just stepping up. Like Asley said, a lot of us have to figure out ways six in our roles and come better and find just little things that could you know, be the difference.
In winning and losing ball games. So it's a huge credit to them.
Like you said, you never know what could happen with injuries. So I'm just really proud of the guys for continue to rally, fight and come out with way as well.
One thing I will say, though, because I watch you a lot.
I watched the.
Bench because when you were playing, I said you were the main guy, and even sitting over there, you were one of the main guys, and you stay engaged the whole time.
I just love basketball, That's all it is.
Whether I'm playing or sitting on the bench watching, I just love to, you know, just watching and analyze the game. So just being able to be on this floor, on this court and watch my.
Brothers go hope, it's it's super special to me. Andrew.
You've had to deal with some injuries as well. You've worked through those, you are getting back. You're probably about ninety percent. I would say, you can correct me if you if I'm wrong about that.
Yeah, you about ninety percent.
I saw you take it in there one time tonight and you wanted to do that, man, and you just barely missed that dump. But but you have worked hard to get yourself back ready to contribute the rest of the way.
Also, Yeah, for sure.
You know, I think like Andy is talking about being able to step up. You know, everybody on this team is prepared to do that because everybody comes ready to go every single day. You know. I think that's one of the best things about the see we you know, we you know a lot of times if we have stuff for a tough loss or something like that, we've been able to really try and figure out how to get better and people try and step up and continue
to get better throughout the season. And so I'm super excited to be able to go into Missouri on Saturday and then into the postseason.
I'm super excited.
And that leads me to the next question answering, because there is still a whole lot of work left to do. And I know what this this team has been working on what you guys want to contribute and to accomplish.
The rest of the way.
We're celebrating tonight, but it's gonna be short lived, man, because tomorrow you got to get right back to work.
Yes, that's how it is, and how this league is, you know, having a quick turnarounds. That's why you come and play in such a tough league because you know every night it's gonna be a battle. It's like tonight was it's that's gonna be another battle. And once that tournament starts. Everybody hear your play, so you never know, you know, everybody's seasons on the line. So he's just going out there and playing extra hard and people will
start hitting more shots than they usually make. So we're just having a team being willing to get better every single day like we are. You know, wins lost his practices, no practices. We're trying to get better an any way we can every single day so that when marshmad Is actually starts, he's when we starts riding our best.
Up next, West m Buera chief Gary Moore on six thirty WLAP.
Welcome back to the Big Blue Cider.
It is Wednesday, and we are not reampted by basketball.
So West n Buera achieved.
Gary Moore is on the line with us on our celebrity highline.
Ah, there you go, two guys in a six pack, you and me. Let's get into it. Six things to talk about. And you know, with all the men's and women's college basketball teams here in the Commonwealth gearing up for their respective conference tournaments, which I still hate, I just will never I will never.
Cotton up to conference tournaments.
Hey, one last chance, Roy, you crummy teams wake the f up, screw up some better teams get into the dance you ready. Of course, you got boys and girls high school teams and regionals this week, so it's only fitting that we lead off.
With baseball today.
Is this the best start ever to a young baseball season for four of the major college programs in Kentucky?
I give you this evidence.
Coming into number twenty three UK ten and one three with Wafford at Proud Park this weekend, they should win all three of those. Louisville nine and two three with Illinois Chicago over here at Patterson and they'll win all three of those. I think Murray State was seven and oh, one of only eight D one undefeated teams coming into today's game with Old Miss down there and WKU, my alma mater eleven and one after their best start since
nineteen twenty eight. They got UNC Asheville and Bowling Green for three this weekend. Of course, we had the World Series clinching battery of Bueller and Smith from Lexington and Louisville. So Dick I asked you, was the Commonwealth a bona fide baseball state? Now?
I mean he's been in baseball state for a while. Both the youth leagues, and you know, you've had teams that have come out of election and in Louisville do incredibly well in the national tournaments. Louisville under Dan McDonald took a little dip last year, but it's been to the College World Series. Kentucky has now EKU for a while. There went to a few NCA tournaments. Colonel's struggling right now, but yeah, you're toppers. And then you're from Murray, so
you're racers as well. And they're all beating teams that they probably should beat. But they're taking care of business. They're doing it well, and that's the important thing.
We've had some Little League World Series winners.
Yeah these parts now Ripken World Series.
Yeah yeah, second squig in the six pack. And while Major League Baseball Spring training rolls on in Florida and Arizona. It's a front page story in yesterday's Wall Street Journal. You may have seen it, explain this new media deal the Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is thinking about implementing. Manford wants all thirty teams to seed control of their local rights to the league office, so then MLB can sell
them as one big unified streaming package. Since everything is blown up with ESPN, well, good.
Luck with that.
It's probably a doa idea for the Dodgers, who, as you may remember, signed a twenty five year, eight point three five billion dollar deal time Warner Cable in twenty thirteen. It's also probably da for the Yankees, Cubs, and Red Sox have also got lucrative local deals. I mean, why would you give up all of that to help other teams even more when you've already got revenue sharing? Dick, You've forgotten more about TV and TV rights than I
will ever know. Do you think there's any idea anyway this is gonna happen?
No, No, for the reason you just gave and you know, throwing our Cardinals. They've got a pretty good TV deal
as well in a Midwestern market like Saint Louis. But what they're trying to do this is ironic to me, Gary, because they're trying to go backwards, go back to when we were little children, and think about the way college football was presented on television, the game of the week, sometimes why yeah yeah, sometimes two games a week, and then in the early eighties, after lawsuits, schools and conferences had their own rights, and we're able to go out
Georgia and Oklahoma. Uh, and I'll sued and won and said, hey, great, now we can put our team our rights up for bid.
And we're gonna make a ton of money.
And they both had to pull their rights off the table because they didn't get the bids they wanted. So there is strength in negotiating as one. But the teams you just mentioned have already won the contest. They got out and so the affiliates landed their bids and cut their deals and all that stuff. And the bean counters have crunched the numbers and have made it work. And now to ask everybody to go backwards. I think there does need to be some revenue sharing just to keep
things a little more equitable. But he's trying to make everything equal and.
That ain't gonna work.
Socialism, right, I'll take it one of my social Security check rolls around.
But hey, I paid for that, exactly, no kidding.
A third swig in a six packs speaking man for the commissioners rethinking about a reviewing a request for hit King Pete Rose to be permanently removed from MLB's ineligible lists, So make him eligible for the Hall of Fame.
Have too bad.
Pete died last September. It won't be here to bask in some of the hope for this. Of course, this was after Donald Trump said he plans to pardon Rose, and Pete even said this was probably gonna happen, and to sit down interview and Dayton, Ohio with sportscaster John con To ten days before he died last year, Pete said, quote, I've come to the conclusion I hope I'm wrong that I'll make the Hall of Fame. After I died, Pete went on to say, what good is it going to do me or my fans?
So they put me in the Hall.
Of Fame a couple of years after I pass away.
What's the point? What's the point? Because they'll make money over it.
Unquote feels like kind of a cheap, sort of a populus crumb to throw to some people that might be kind of unhappy with some things that are going on with the administration. But also Pete had multiple chances to fall on the sword and repent, and he didn't. Obviously a Hall of Fame player, that's not in question, but he was his own worst enemy. After he got off the playing field. And if he gets pardon, if they let him back in, why not shoeless Joe Jackson.
While you're at it.
I fully agree on Jackson. Look, you and I have talked about this for years. I have always held out I'm one of I guess I'm an outlier, and.
I think you were too.
He doesn't belong because for exactly what you said, he failed to take responsibility, full responsibility for the longest time. And what got me the most, and my friend Doug Flinn said said this to me. He never apologized to his teammates for lying to them. But somebody sent me a copy of a letter that Rose sent to the commissioner less than a year after he died, and this was not publicized. But he absolutely fell on the sword
the way you and I wanted to see. And I had to go back and say, okay, now I am in. But this Gary happened within months of you and me speaking today. So actually he did fall on his sword, but way too late, sadly for him for baseball guys like you and me. And by the way, Trump just needs to stay out of it. That's got nothing to do with him. We'll have no effect on any of this. This is a baseball deal. He can pardon him all he wants, but.
It won't matter.
But yeah, take now. I think they should take him off the list. I wish he had written that letter twenty years ago.
Mardinal sin number one, you do not break Yeah baseball, yep.
And I don't care about all these bettings serve well, people are betting.
Yeah, it doesn't matter.
People have bet on sports for hundreds of years baseball and rule number one has always been in place as well.
It should be a f fourth swigging six pack. So I was looking over the ap pole here of the college basketball.
My eyes deceiving me.
Is that Louisville at fourteen and UK at nineteen?
What the well?
It's fun while it lasts for Cards. Fans over here probably got the footing. They're footing back with the program after being in MIA for so long. They got crummy Cal Berkeley tonight at the Young Center, nine o'clock. It's also on the ACC Network. Did you happen to see Chucky Hepbert go off on Pitt as we predicted here last week we pointed out Chucky was left off the Bob Coosey Award ballot for the nation's top point guard.
Inexcusable on every level. Chucky had a career high thirty seven, including an absolutely electric six straight threes on six straight possessions. The roof was about to come off of the place the other day, so they should win tonight. Meanwhile, it's seen on TV the Cats blew out LSU and what has to pass? I guess for Senior Night even though the guy's leaving just got here last Fauls.
Yeah, I don't know about you.
This went by way too fast. I've so enjoyed watching these guys play, and I want to see them go far into the tournament. They got number fifteen Missou Saturday high noon. It's so great and wonderful to have Missouri in the SEC, isn't it?
Said?
No one east of the Mississippi except maybe Greg Sanki. Who exactly is their rival?
Now?
Used to be Kansas and Illinois? Maybe Arkansas? Well, Arkansas ought to be in the Big twelve. Still, Okay, I'll sit down, Go Cats.
Yep. Yeah.
We had comments from all the seniors on the show earlier as they talked to Jack Gibbons on the postgame show. What impressed me, Gary, and you're right, it's coming gone too quickly. But the level of their understanding and appreciation for being a Kentucky player and for senior night was
so impressive. And like you said, these guys have been here less than a calendar year, but it didn't match, but it rivaled, you know, the feelings of some of the guys who came through who played here for three, four and even five years.
That was so impressive to me.
To me, but as I talked to Sean Woods earlier tonight, these guys had been on the outside looking in. They appreciate as guys who knew what it was like to play college ball but had to wonder what must it be like to play at Kentucky. All of a sudden, Hey, would you like to join us here?
Sure? You know so they loved it.
There's nothing like a packed, loud, rub arena American college. There is nothing like it. I don't care where you go, there's nothing like it. All the banners up there in the BBN, it's great speaking of that at Fitzwig. Kind of feeling for Matt McMahon last night fromer Murray State coach who just got blown out really bad of course. You know, hey, listen, that's what you signed up for.
Matt you know.
He left Murray State about three years ago after they had that great season. They went, uh, see what did I have down here for them? Thirty one and three in twenty twenty two, top twenty ranking, left for the Big Bayou Bengal Bucks and they, I guess the word is down there. They'ren give them at least another year. They're gonna get some more funding for nil stuff, trying
and build a roster and everything. That's kind of a pattern, though, when you leave Murray or even Western beware because the same thing happened to Steve Prom, current Murray State coach.
Again.
You may remember Steve's got the Racers and s Saint Lewis for the Arch Madness the Mo Valley Tournament to play Evansville tomorrow night. Prom returned to Murray after he left the Racers in twenty fifteen for Iowa State. Remember that had a couple of good years but ended up going ninety seven, ninety five and six seas, including that awful two and twenty two in twenty twenty one, went oh for eighteen in the Big Twelve. Racers are currently
fifteen and sixteen. I think the seat isn't that hot yet, but I know some people in Calloway County. You're getting kind of restless. And don't forget Steve Lutz at Western last year for a cup of coffee one year twenty two and twelve took him to the tournament. Where is he now? Fourteen and fifteen? Oklahoma State grass isn't always greener.
But the money is, isn't it? It is? But it takes a while.
Generally, when you move, you're going to a program in trouble and it takes a while to dig out. But unfortunately for McMahon, it's at LSU where the patience runs thin. Our man Darren Horn got all the way to South Carolina. Things didn't work out, but had a good win last night for Northern Kentucky in the Horizon Tournament.
Matt's gonna have to find another job, Morant, Oh yeah, everybody, Yeah, that's what's gonna happen. Well, I was an accident finding jobs, right, that's right, the great story behind that. But that's what's gonna take her. A couple of guys that could add up to one of those guys.
Our sixth and final swig.
People wiring about the Dodgers this offseason, spending all that dough and all these big names. But guess what, They're not even the biggest payroll to start this season. They're not even second third year in a row. The Mets open your MLB season with the most bloated payroll three hundred and thirty three point three million. There's a lot of threes in there for me. Yankees are second with three hundred ten million, then the Dodgers come in third
with Pultree two hundred and seventy million. It's gonna be fun, though, to see how Sodo sort of revives the Mets, how LA does with its array of stars, and how the Yankees. The Yankees perform no longer wasting time Dick shaving this week New Yorker magazine article talking about how they lifted the beard band and everything, and reminded readers that when Randy Johnson Johnny Damon came to the Bronx had to lose the beards. Johnson's era rose by more than a run,
Damon's average dropped twenty five points. Garrett Call, you may remember, had a beard, but a nine year three hundred and twenty four million contract persuaded him to shave. He's been okay so far, except for that pesky fifth inning last October that I recall in Game five of the World Series.
As one of the baseball writers pointed out, when Damon got to New York, he looked like Jesus Christ. I can't wait till the first Yankee gets an endorsement. May already have it, or a beard trimmer or something like that, just to throw it in the late grey George Steinbrenner's face. Gary Moore is our Western bureau chief. We'll come back with some hot reads in just a minute. Aaron six thirty wlap, Welcome back. We're talking with our West End bureau chief, Gary Moore. We have heard two guys in
a six pack. Why don't we throw a couple of hot reads at Gary. You were talking earlier about TV deals and Major League Baseball and the loss of the ESPN contract, which came as a bit of a shock. But direct to consumer streaming is taken over Eddie in the hallways of ESPN, which has led, among other things, to the cancelation of a very popular daily show Monday
through Friday. And that's around the Horn. But Tony Reale, who used to be, you know, an assistant producer of Around or of PTI, part of the interruption with Corneiser and Wilbond, and then that led to his own show.
He is highly respected, much beloved.
He's really good, yes by viewers and by the journalists he has on.
It's a very entertaining show.
But that was a victim of this new look ESPN, and that's going to be missed, even if they go to an hour on PTI, which I don't think is a good idea. I'm going to miss Around the Horn, I know you will.
Yeah.
Our Louisville buddy, Bill Plashki has always on been on there for several times, and you know, I found out about a guy that I'd read several times before. But he's he's a lot of fun to watch and listen to. He makes a lot of great points. Frank islaes I Sola who covered the Knicks forever and it is really a good guest when he and when he fills in on PTI as well, but he always makes some really good points. There's a bunch of other writers that come
in there. Woody Paige of course from Delia has got you know, a great history. Bob Ryan, who goes way way back with Boston and everything. I'm going to miss a lot of those guys.
Woody Page, folks, is the guy with the message on the dry erase board over his shoulder after every commercial break, not just every show, but every commercial break. Mina comes now has her own podcast or show or whatever. She's terrific. And she said that show gave her the confidence to do what she's doing now. So yeah, that's a shame. Our second hot read for Gary. It was kind of obvious during the Super Bowl the way Fox presented video
video presentation of jim Johnson's career. He didn't make the announcement then, but they've made it since Jimmy Johnson retiring from Fox Sports thirty one years and it's understandable. But I hadn't seen the breakout that Fox has won the ratings battle for the pregame shows every year since nineteen ninety four, deservedly. So yeah, now the question is who replaces them? But the other question I have is do they need somebody to replace them?
Because there's so many people.
But when you think about it, the role that he played, he was like the dad he was the serious guy, yeh, who knew his football and had Super Bowl trophies in his closet. You know, Gronk is a bit of a clown. I mean he's good, but he's comic relief. Terry Bradshaw, you know, he's kind.
Of comic relief. Now.
I think there's a spot for a guy like Jimmy Johnson with more credibility, you know, with more you know, like I said, he was the dad.
I agree. When I was at.
Gravitas, that's the word I'm looking at.
Yeah, there, Grabitas.
I worked for Arrow ninety three in l A for a while and one of our regular listeners was David Hill. I think you know that name, who was Brupert Murdoch's right arm who came in and started the whole NFL and that show and everything. I went down there a couple of times and he said, come on down on a Sunday and you know, sit around with us and watch the show with the guys and coming to the room afterwards.
And yeah, never told me that that's cool.
I never never came up.
I guess it was.
It was great to talk with And that's when Collinsworth was there on the show. And originally and they were super guys and you can see why they do so well. They're genuinely great guys. They haven't got so much credibility.
Jimmy Johnson called those guys who, even the guys behind the scenes, his best friends. And he said he has enjoyed this part of his career more than coaching Super Bowl teams. That tells you everything you need to know the Super Bowl winner exactly. Yeah, it tells you and it backs up exactly what you just said. He is Gary Moore, He is what us every week. He is our West End bureau chief.
Find him at nine five to five Gary on X where you're at.
Big Blue Insider one.
Thank you sir, have a good weekend, ye buddy, you too. And now I's promised the rendition of My Old Kentucky Home from a late great Happy Chandler, which he performed on Senior Night in nineteen eighty eight. That's a good night from the garage in Lexington, Shine.
Shine Bride in my Old Kentucky Home. Tis summer, the pee pull Arcade, the car top tribe, and the meadows in the blue, while the birds make me usic. Oh the day the four flow on the left to cabin floor. All Mary, all happy and bride.
By and by hard.
Time comes on? Nowh can at the door than the O Kentucky home. Good hap.
We no more? Oh we.
We will say one song.
Ah my b.
Chucky oh oh oh and Chalky Oh, why.
Set such shot? Take that staying donning satanas and then to back them from type don