Welcome to the Big Blue Insider. Dick Gabriel with you on a Wednesday edition of our program. It is tournament week for both the UK men and the women, and everybody who roots for either one of these teams in Kentucky Blue and White has been waiting for this week to see just when, where, and how their favorite teams would play. You know by now. The men play Troy on Friday in Milwaukee at seven o'clock. That's the first primetime game on Friday for CBS, and it's going to
be interesting. This is a dangerous Troy team. We'll talk about that tonight here on the Big Blue and Sider with the Boyce Tom Leech. We'll also hear from Unforgettable Guard to Shawn Woods. It is Wednesday, and our Western Bureau chief Gary Moore joined us as well. The UK women open up with Liberty also on Friday. That's a
noon game in Historic Memorial Coliseum. Now Auburn is playing in the NCA Tournament as well in the Lexington this weekend, and by coincidence, and I do believe in the conspiracies of the Selections Committee and matching up teams for TV ratings, I think this is strictly a coincidence, but Auburn baseball will be in town this weekend. So what that means is, of course on off days or a day, you're going to see a lot of Auburn fans. I'm sure at
Kentucky Proud Park. Hey, we're in town for basketball. Let's go across the county, across city and taking the baseball game. For all we know, Auburn fans might outdraw Kentucky fans. I doubt If the weather's good, I think you'll see a good crowd. We saw a decent crowd last night. They did not see a decent effort by the baseball Wildcats. They lost to Murray State five to four. And Murray's
a good team. Murray now has won thirteen games. They're well coached, They've got talent, and they showed it last night. They jumped on Kentucky early, jumped out three to nothing. Kentucky got a run back, Murray got the run back almost immediately, so it's four to one going into the seventh. Kentucky got a basis clearing triple basis loaded triple from Sean Montoya, tied the game and then fell behind five tofore and for the second time in the game had
a runner picked off second. The first time Devin Brooks was on second was early in the game and there was a wild pitch or what he thought was a wild pitch, and he broke for third, but the Murray State catcher, who was preseason All MVC Missouri Valley Conference, made a great pickup, like a scoop, like a shortstop, and now Brooks is caught in no man's land. And if you kept running, you might have made it the third.
But instincts takeover. When you see the ball in the dirt or bounced as it does in the artificial turf, you know ninety nine percent of the time kids are going to take off run, which he did. He's a good base runner. But the kid made a great stop and then fired to strike. The second picked him off. Well, that was early in the game. This one late in the game. There was a kind of a wild play and James McCoy was actually pitching. He made it. He got on base, he drew a walk and the hitter
laid one down. McCoy makes the turn at second and nobody's covering third, so he starts to break for third, but the pitcher went over and covered and they were able to get him in a rundown and pick him off. So instead of having a man on second with one out, there was nobody on base but two outs and that was that. So anyhow, But the worst of it was nine strikeouts by the Wildcats, seven looking seven called third strikes.
So not a great effort by the baseball Wildcats last night, but they have a chance to bounce back this weekend. You'll hear it on our sister station ninety eight point five FM, the UK Women again playing at noon. Georgia Amore is a second team All American, and as good as she is, this is the first time she has been recognized as an All American. She was a really good player of course at Virginia Tech, helped the Hokies
and Kenny Brooks get to the Final four. But the job she's done at Kentucky with Kenny Brooks and her teammates Clara Strack and others in the league, in the SEC in a terrific platform, Georgia Aymore now is an All American. And I'm sure you've heard by now that some of the basketball Wildcats have been honored. Nobody made the AP All America team. But the coaches All Star
teams are starting to come out. The NABC teams Otega Oway and Marii Williams and Lamont Butler making the All District teams, so you know their their efforts are being rewarded as well they should be. There are many, well, I think a dozen districts, and Amari Williams, who kind of caught fire midway through the season, began to realize what he could do and as Mark Pope said, what he could get away with physically what a year eleven points, eight and a half rebounds and for the big man
three assists per game. Rebounds and assists are both career high marks, and he also hits fifty eight percent of his field goal tries, leads the team of forty blocks ten multi block games. I believe with Lamont Butler in the lineup that Maary Williams will represent the biggest problem for Troy coming up on Friday. Lamont Butler has got to be in the lineup and Troy's got a really
terrific playmaker. So but assuming that Lamont Butler does his job and does it properly, I really think that Amari could have a huge game, and I do think he'll be the headache for Troy. And when you start breaking down Kentucky, you start with this guy. I've got to think obviously, Kentucky the coaching staff has been breaking down Troy. Mark Pope, though, appeared on the Field of sixty eight podcast.
We had Rob Doster from the Field of sixty eight on our show and early in the year, and Pope jumped on with these guys right after the brackets were announced and talked about what he knows about Troy, which is not a whole heck of a lot, but just talked about prepping his team for the first NCAA tournament he'll enter as the head coach of the Wildcats.
I don't know a ton yet. I know they're an elite level offensive rebounding team. I know they're number seven in the country and steals. I know that they played with a bowload of energy. I know Scott Cross, a big time coach that's been doing this for a long time, has had a ton of necessity. He's really smart and he's got a he he could really rally guys.
Uh.
I know that they were really, really competitive as some big games in the non conference, so I know that we're gonna have our hands full. It's the n LA tournament. Like if you if you want to have a right off game, just go to a different tournament. Don't come here like.
This is this is where you.
Come get this smoke.
Man, Let's go.
How's the health of you of your group?
Yeah, well so, my my, my s I D told me today that we ranked three hundred and fifty fifth in the country and minutes continuity this season. I would like to fix that number in the postseason.
I'd be great if you could do that. But but okay, Lamar Butler, can we can we start there? Let's start with Lamont and give us the update here. Obviously he said shoulder issue after shoulder issue, because he's about as tough as it gets and he doesn't want to sit out. You, my guess is Lamont's gonna tell you, like, I want to play that first game.
How are you going to handle this situation?
No, I mean that's the plan. The plan is for him to play, for sure. I don't think there's a lot of doubt in that. You know, in the SEC tournament he took a little hit and you know he probably wasn't going to be super functional to play. But if we had green lighted him, he would have run out there for sure. And you just kind of get in the space where it's tough decisions. You know, I'm not a load management guy at all, but we also have to have a little bit of sense about what
we do. Uh, he's gonna be great. You know, he lives for March. You guys know, I don't know if he's if he's the most veteran March madness guy, but he's got to be pretty close.
Hey, coach, a big picture question here.
First year at Kentucky, you have to bring in basically a whole new roster.
This has got to be pretty right to be able to get Kentucky.
To the tournament in your one as a three seed.
Guys, if I don't get Kentucky to the tournament, I'm not gonna be the head coach PROTUCTI.
I mean, what are we talking about here?
This is Kentucky boys. But I will say this, it's really rewarding.
You know.
I wish I wish you guys.
If you guys could be in our locker room every day, you would be so in love with our guys.
Man, Like what these.
Guys have done from top to bottom, and the commitment they've made to each other and their ability to kind of withstand all the tortuous terms of losing guys. Every fifteen minutes you lose another guy and have to rewrite the roster, and the way that they've responded to that in the sec this year. You just gotta love them. And so the most rewarding part, you know, I'm not a big, big picture guy. I don't have time to get lost in the thirty to thirty thousand four of you.
The rewarding part.
Of this is these guys made a decision to come here knowing that there was no guarantee for them individually and knowing that there was no guarantee for a first time first run at this is a program. And they came and said, we're gonna go do this. We're gonna go make some waves, we're gonna make the country pay attention. We're gonna put on this jersey with all the stress and pressure that's involved in that, and we're gonna go
find a way. And they've done it, and now we go to the like, this is the truth moment, right, This is where you go try and put yourself in a record books.
Well listen, man, we're happy for you. You know we're gonna be rooting for you and hopefully we get a little bit of healthier for you.
Guys.
You deserve some good health luck here. So congratulations man, But you haven't done anything yet. Three seed in the tournament is a three seed in the tournament.
Best luck.
Go start prepping for Troy.
You gotta figure this theme out.
We gotta get a win here.
Let's go.
Boys.
Appreciate y'all.
Say that's Mark Pope appearing on the Field of sixty eight podcast. It is a good one. They do a great job. One of the members of that esteemed panel, Jeff Goodman, it was really funny when he came on with Pope saying, you know, Kentucky fan like me. Now, you know he came on the show two or three
years ago. He was actually at UK Immediately. I give him credit because he and Cali Perry clashed and when he came on the show, he said, you know, John and I are good now, but he did try to have me fired and I went back and checked that out, and yeah, Cali PERI had problems with him. When when Cali Perry was at Memphis. I can't confirm or deny that he tried to have him fired, but they definitely clashed.
And now he doesn't make any bones about the fact, Goodman that he still doesn't regard Cali Perry very highly. So anyhow, UK fans don't have to worry about that anymore. And now they can like Goodman all over again, because yeah, he gets along with Mark Pope. Hey, who doesn't. I'm sure somebody out there doesn't. I like to hear about it. I'd love to know why. All right, when we come back, West Virginia's governor, according to two of the highly placed
talking heads, needs to shut up and sit down. Bottom of the hour. Tom Leach joined us later on Sean Woods and our West End bureauchie Gary Moore here on six thirty WLA. Welcome back to the Big Blue and sider coming up in a few minutes. Tom Leach's the voice of the Wildcats, and he is, of course prepping for Kentucky and Troy the tournament already underway last night.
You may have tuned in for a little while to watch first Alabama State beat Saint Francis on a touchdown pass, basically a play similar to the Laytner play when a passer who was lightly guarded. I sat on Tom Leach's show this morning that they didn't guard the passer, and somebody corrected me, and they were right. But I saw the play more than once and I just remember thinking, it really wasn't much defensive pressure on the passer. He
had plenty of room to make his throw. But anyhow, this kid who threw the ball for Alabama State was a quarterback in middle school. That doesn't mean that he was a great passer in middle school, but he's used to throwing a football like that. Threw a great pass to the high post, but it was heavily contested. You may have seen a highlight of already loose ball. Alabama State picks it up, throws it in at the buzzer,
and beats Saint Francis. So then they follow that up with a horrible North Carolina San Diego State game where nothing went right for San Diego State. Everything went in for North Carolina. And what I took away from that I felt bad for the announcers because all they could do the entire game, for the most part, was talk about North Carolina. They every now and then they'd say something about San Diego. So this isn't what we ordinarily see from them, and you know, you could tell they
felt bad about it. But everybody who talks about announcers rooting for this team or that, no, we root for a good game. I just worked the Girls Sweet sixteen on radio. Some of the games were really good. Some were just not They just were not competitive. A Sacred Heart beat Johnson County Central by you know, a zillion points and going into that game, you know it's going to be a tough one. Johnson said, Central just wasn't that good, and Sacred Art was four time now five
time defending champion. It's really hard. I'm not bad mouthing or poor mouthing, but I will tell you it's hard to broadcast games like that and make them sound interesting, even for the teams that are winning. But generally in a situation like that, such as I was working some of the games, Greg Statomeyer, the voice of EKU, working others. If people are listening to you, the odds are they are not fans of the teams that are playing because
they're listening to the hometown radio. Right. Same thing last night with CBS and overwhelming majority of the people watching were not North Carolina fans or San Diego State fans, just because of the sheer normality of the audience. So these guys are trying to hang earrings on a pig, and they just spent the night and it almost sounded like they were trying to make a case for North
Carolina being in the tournament. I know that wasn't what was going on because very few people side of that room of the selections committee believe that North Carolina belongs in that tournament. And I do not believe that what happened last night justifies the selection. But meanwhile, West Virginia, what should have been in, you know, is getting support from the governor of West Virginia who's talking about suing
and getting the attorney general to investigate. The state Attorney General, Stephen A. Smith, said he needs to sit his bleep down and back away from it, and Jay BILLI said the same thing. And I agree politicians for the most part, sometimes yes, but ninety percent of the time they need to stay out of sports. They have bigger and more important things to do. And I get it. This is an emotional situation. I grew up a West Virginia fan because my dad went to school there. My grandparents settled
from Italy in Fairmount, West Virginia. I used to wear a West Virginia T shirt under my baseball uniform. But no, you know, just just stay out of it. You know, I don't know what's going to happen. You can make the best argument now for taking the bracketology away from people who were involved directly in the sport, as in committee members who either play with or against the teams involved, and go to an independent source like bracketologists. But that
ain't gonna happen. You know, they have vested interest, yes, but North Carolina had a financial stake in it. And I do believe that the chairman of the committee ad for North Carolina, got up and left the room when they talked about North Carolina. But so what the people who sit next to him and work with him closely all year long on that committee, sometimes for multiple years, they're still in the room. You cannot make an argument for North Carolina. You just can't. And they lost so much.
Some say all of their credibility by putting the tar heels in the tournament. And I'm not a tar heel hater. But they just don't belong. And yeah, they beat San Diego State, but that happens. I commend you to the second half of the Kentucky Georgetown game in nineteen eighty four. Who saw that coming. Kentucky have double digits in the first half of nine at the half, it goes three for thirty three in the second half. I mean, things happen in games, but the governor of West Virginia just
needs to stay out of it. Speaking of stay out of it, Dan Shaughnessy is a Hall of Fame baseball writer. He wrote a skating column in The Boston Globe about why he is sitting out the tournament, and it's essentially because of Nil and the portal. He thinks it's ridiculous all the player movement, which is prompted by the money they're making. I don't know this for a fact, but I'll guarantee you Shaughnessy was probably one of the guys banging the drum for more player freedom and the fact
that coaches could move around and players couldn't. It is ridiculous right now because coaches at least are bound by contracts, and yeah, they break contracts all the time, but there are buyouts involved? Is that what's coming next for players? Contracts and buyouts and college sports? It probably needs to but now you're talking about collective bargaining or things like that. It's got to change. You can't have guys who are in school for five, six, seven years at five or
six different schools. It's gonna kill the sport. And not just basketball, but it seems to be more prevalent in basketball, but football and baseball and even now women's basketball. Yeah, but Shaughnessy says, I'm out and there may be more on the way. Tom Leach is on the way next six thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big Blue Cider. Joining us now is the man who is the radio voice of the Wildcats. Plus you hear him every morning on this very radio station to Leach, who is is this? Which?
Which tournament is? Is for you? Twenty twenty five?
Yeah, I should see the first one was two thousand and two season. Yeah, so this is twenty twenty three minus twenty twenty minus twenty twenty one minus twenty thirteen, yeah, minus two thousand and nine.
The sad years. But this season has been anything but this season has been a season of joy. And yet Tom, there have been so many ups and downs for a a fan base that has overjoyed with the coach and so looking forward to the tournament. It is amazing that the roller coaster ride that this season has been, hasn't it.
Yeah, you just wonder what could have been with their full lineup intact, because you know they're sitting there at fourteen and three when they played down at Georgia. After they lost the game down at Georgia, excuse me, after they beat Texas A and M. They lost, so they had you know, they lost the road game to Cleinson. It's no great shakes there. But they played awful against Ohio State and didn't play a whole lot of at Erganst. Georgia. But you know that's twice in seventeen games they had
off nights. And you know Jackson Robinson that you know, really started to heat up after Mississippi State. I mean, he was averaged four to three is a game when he got hurt in early February. You know, he's probably an All SEC guy if he finishes up at that pace. And you know then Butler in and out of the lineup.
Car now I think is finally I'm sure he's not one hundred percent, but he's playing at the level that I think we all expected and saw early in the season, maybe even a little better with how well he's scoring. So you know, if it just if they had, you know, a full strength Butler and a full strength Robinson, much less Cresa, I mean, he put together a really nice group of guys that really fit together well. Yes, and it's you know, it's if this analogy works. Remember the
game Jinga. Yeah, he keeps pulling pieces out and there have been times where they pulled one out and the hel something fell down, and then they built it back up and then you know, you pull a piece out, Okay, still stand up. So it's been a little bit like that.
That's a great analogy. And if Andrew Carr, I mean he's going for loose balls, he's rebounding, blocking out and this after coming back from a back injury, and everybody somewhere knows somebody or has had problems with a bad back. And if you're a collegiate athlete playing I mean, I remember when Kenny Walker hurt his back as a rookie
with the Knicks. I don't know if he ever really got over That probably took him quite a while, but Carr is active again, and he's the guy I remember tom early in the year, people were saying this team will go as far as Andrew Carr takes it, you know, before we really knew about this blog club, you know what I mean.
Yeah, last five games, it just run some numbers here, fifteen points a game, seventy six percent on two point shots. So he's been deadly right around the basket and that can be a very hell and yeah, and he's had like I think it's like six blocks and five steals in the last four games. So yes, very you know, active on that end, you know, very lethal as a scorer on the other end, and both of those things
are a big plus for their postseason chances. They you know, with a butler on the floor, you're not going to say, you know, a fully healthy long pullery close to that probably, But if he could go out there and just be himself, yes, and whatever the best version of himself is right now, something that we you know, saw down the end of really when he came back against Oklahoma, he was getting better each game. Yeah, and then he got hurt again in the Oklahoma game. So hopefully. I guess maybe they
don't see Oklahoma again. But he the version that we saw, and say, those last couple of regular season games, that last week of the regular season, he was back to his best and not surprisingly, probably the ever ninety three points a game in those twos.
That's true. But you know, you you bring up how well Jackson Robinson was playing. Man, you know, you play the what if game, but he had he had struggled a little bit with mental issues like getting down on himself and worrying too much, and Mark Pope literally coached him through that, you know, and it was just so I remember the first game he came out, and I remember Pope telling you in the postgame show that he had had a talk with Jackson don't stop worrying so much,
and he was like a different player. And all, you know, you let your mind go crazy with what might happen. And yet Tom, there's still a three seed, there's still a thread. You know, a lot of people haven'ten a Sweet sixteen or whatever. So it's just it's amazing what this team's overcome.
Yeah, and you know that there's no good to really again play the what if Game's just be grateful that the latest injury to Lamont Butler was not the reaggravation of the main one inside that you know, shoulder somewhere and you know, this is apparently I don't know what you call it, whether it's like a bruise or you know, a football coaches and players call a stinger or something, but it's something that he's able to quickly bounce back from with some treatment.
Choos used to call him Ali's Yeah.
So you get him out back on the court playing his game. And Troy's best player is their point guard. So you know, if he's at himself, he you feel good about winning that matchup, and you know, win that matchup, you probably got a great chance to win the game. And then you know, you move on and you know, after the last three years, you don't take the first one for granted.
No, no, sir. I'll come back to that in a moment.
But one other note about the improvement on this team, and you've got numbers and you crunch them, the dramatic difference, the dramatic improvement in defense for this team, or Pope basically said, you know, they had to either go back to work or amp up what they worked on in practice and you go to practice and shoot arounds, and I thought it was incredible how much improvement we've seen in this team defensively, and as we all know, that's that's going to carry a long way in the nca
Tournament if you can get back to that.
I don't think they played to that standard against Alabama, and again that was with that Lamont Butler and Alabama's very guard heavy and you know, guard dominant, and so they took advantage of the experience they had at the perimeter and then o take away being knocked out for an extended period, so knocked out of the game. So getting you know, Butler back having away, I think their defense likely does get back to what we had seen previously.
And it's not like they became a lockdown defensive team, but they just became. They improved some percentage from that Ole Miss game, and it was significant. I don't know what the percentage was, but it was it was significant. The main thing is the number that I tracked was that they were averaging about four more turnovers forced a game, and that's four extra possessions for a team that's really good on hafense.
Tom Leach is my guest the radio voice of the Wildcats. We'll come back and talk more NCAA tournament with Tom on the other side of the break here on six thirty WLAP Welcome back. We're talking with the voice, Tom Leech. He'll be calling the action when the Wildcats take on Troy in the nca Tournament. We talked a little bit about Lamont Butler and defense, and he just makes everybody better that on ball pressure enables his teammates to step
up their defensive game. And it's it's so evident, isn't it.
Absolutely? And I think back to the second time they played Tennessee and I thought gonna set the tone for the night when he picked Ziegler's pocket at mid court very early in that game. And you know, and that's one of the top point guards in the league. So Lamont Butler is a guy who can you be that tone the center for your defense. You hope that you know, he he's the guy that's in to him in three times,
but he's fouled out more than anybody else. Yeah, I think of late they when he was back playing, they would if he picked up an early when they get him out, and I think that's wise because you want to try to get him to halftime with say one vowel regularly to you could live with, especially one or none is a big plus because you don't want to you know, sometaly don't want to have to play without him because of injury, but you don't want him to
get into foul trouble. Was just you know, either way you lose.
Him, and if he does, then you'll see Colin Chandler or Travis Perry or a combination of both. And you and I have talked about this before and I have been pretty outspoken. I don't buy that they're not freshmen anymore arguments because the three freshmen who have played significant minutes at different times are going through everything they're about to go through for the first time on and off the floor. So how much do you think we can
expect from them? In all fairness remembering that Reed Shephard and Rob Dillingham last year did not play well in the NCA tournament and yeah, you know, and pressure is on and this is all brand new.
It is, and you know they have taken on a greater role with the injuries to Robinson and Crisa, and Goose says I think he puts the number at fifteen. If you can get fifteen points a game collectively from the bench, that's you know, that's three of the three freshmen plus almon Or and Garrison and all those guys
get minutes, but you know the freshman. I go back to that Missouri game again, excuse me, which was you know, an outstanding performance by Kentucky to win out there Missouri, and we lost once the freshman had a three in the first half. I think they had nine points combined
at halftime. And I was doing some prep and one of the interesting numbers and those the three freshmen, Well, actually the bench, it's not just the freshman, as the bench collectively made three of sixteen threes in the SEC tournament.
Wow.
If you go back to when Jackson Robinson was hurt for the South Carolina game, in every game Kentucky's won, the bench gave them at least fourteen points in the game. So that speaks to how significant a contribution from the benches, and that if you're getting it from the bench, most likely that's going to include at least one of those freshmen.
Yeah, exactly what do you know about Troy? All I know is up tempo. They like to press a little bit, and they got some shooters.
Actually not as up tempo offensively, but yeah, they will press. They changed defenses a lot, yea zone, some zone, some man and Spradlin on Monday Show. Yeah, who coached them against them twice at James Madison And that's one of
the things he talked about. He compared them to either Ole Miss or Mississippi State in terms of, you know, extending the pressure on the perimeter, which brings us back to the importance of having Butler back to be able to handle that and get Kentucky into offense and not be trying to you know, down like they were done at Ole Miss when they didn't have Butler trying to start the offense from you know, thirty five feet out on the floor. So that you know that it just
adds to the significance of Butler. Connorway is their best players, the player of the year in the Sun Belt. He's their point guard, high turnover guy. They're a high turnover team. He's turned it over eighty nine times this season. But primary ball handler, yeah, primary score. But they are a team that you know, they force a lot of turnovers,
but they also make a lot of turnovers. The other thing I found interesting You look at their numbers and they're like a thirty three point shoot but they've taken only two fewer three point shots than Kentucky in the same number of games. So that means if this happens to be the night they make them, they could hurt you with that. Ye, no doubt, not like they don't take them. They It's not like they don't take them
because they don't make them. They keep taking them. So if you know this is the night, but the again, the games they played power forward teams in a non conference they played Arkansas, played Oregon, played Houston, and they struggled to make threes in all three of those games.
Well, you know what Kentucky's goal is when it comes to three pointers. You know Troy will try to run the Wildcats off the three point line if they're either not hitting from the arc or if they are not getting the shots they won from beyond the arc. How do you think Kentucky wins this game, assuming assuming you think it will.
Yeah, I do think they will. And if they are struggling to get looks at three and make a higher percentage of them, and they have been shooting as well, save for the Missouri game especially, I've been shooting as well last two or three weeks. So hopefully this little break can recharge the batteries and help them. Yeah, I wonder how it's going to look not playing SEC teams game by game, outlets breaking down so much tape on
them and haven't seen them. And Porter Mooser after the Oklahoma game talked about how, you know, hard Kentucky is to prepare for because they played differently with most people with the five out and the things they do with their five man. So I hope some of that will enable them to get back to the team that's scoring, you know, eighty five plus in a game like this, even though Troy didn't you know, give up eighty very often. If Kentucky can find the formula they get to eighty plus,
they're chances of winning are very very high. I would think car I mentioned Carr, you know, he's scoring for the game last night games, scoring around the basket. You know, I don't know that they have a good matchup for him. They are a good shot blocking team, even though they're not tremendously tall, so they do defend the basket pretty well, but you know, Carr and Williams are bigger by two or three inches than anybody Troy had, right, so you
would hope maybe Kentucky could do a little damage. They're not a great offensive rebounding team, but maybe they could do a little damage in that area in.
A game like that. That's the thing that I keep coming back to is that I, with all due respect to Troy, I don't know that Troy is seen in Amari Williams. And then when you add in you know, Andrew Carr in the paint, you know that's a batman and Robin they haven't really come across.
I'm guessing right, right, And you know they hopefully can take Kentucky can take advantage of that. If you think about you know, the like the Oakland team that up said Kentucky last year, they had a you know, got to go off for thirty two, an incredible three point shooter. Doesn't look like Troy has has that guy. You know he goes for thirty it's Connorway but likely, but you know he's not likely to do it on threes and against Lamont Butler, I would guess he's not likely to
do it period. You know, uh, they think back to the Saint Peter's game that was they had a guard that went for twenty seven. I think so you want to, you know, keep their best player in check. And again, a lot of this keeps coming back to the value of having Lamont Butler back in the line.
Oh yeah, well, I'll let you go with this. We all know that there were naysayers when Pope was hired. Some have either come around or they're kind of laying in wait, how much pressure do you think there is? I doubt if Pope stays awake at night wondering or worrying about this, but he still needs to win that first n say tournament game, you know.
Yeah, No, I think that's the valid point. If they were to get upset, it would you change a lot of the first year narrative. I think if they can get two wins and get to the Sweet sixteen kind of you know, just the opposite in the other direction, where you know it'd been that far in a while
and that's not normally Kentucky standard. But when you factor in having to put together a team late at from scratch, and to have the injury issues that they've had on top of that, you know, I think anything beyond there is kind of I would think viewed very favorably. So and you know, and there's obviously when they beat Troy one game in between there, and you know, if that didn't go well, you'd somewhere on the spectrum of approvability, it would it would land. I don't know where that
would exactly be. But the bottom line is, I think everything he's done with this program has been very well received. Other than just you know, they have more losses in Kentucky's used to and I don't think they would have as many had they been able to have their full roster.
Right, exactly right, Thomas, thank you so much. We will be listening. Have you made out your brackets? Have you got Florida like everybody else?
No?
Probably just because of you know, the trendy pick, I'll probably lean another direction. It kind of feels like the ones and two's are really strong, but that maybe uh, you know, stay from and then the threes are you know, pretty solid. But maybe from four on down, certainly from five on down that I think, you know, we'll probably see a fair number of surprises. I would think it's just trying to to find them. I think San Diego
is one that I like over Michigan. Yeah, I think I had a couple of SEC teams Ole miss and Missouri getting out to the Sweet sixteen, as that would be a little bit of an upset relative to siting. So I think the SEC strength is legit, and I guess I don't know that there's I can't imagine any scenario in which whoever wins the national title doesn't be at least one SEC team to get Yeah.
Yeah, thank you, Absolutely right, Tom. I hope you have a long trip to Milwaukee. Of course, uh Packers Country Show. You'll love it up there. Thanks so much. Have a good one.
So I shouldn't wear my Bears gear.
Wear it. It's your own risk. Have fun.
Might not be your longest day in Milwaukee for me if I.
Do, let me know how that goes.
Yeah, thank you.
I remember two with Sean Woods and or Western brochief Gary Moore next six thirty w.
I then any such tact, anything can anything to anything.
Welcome back to the big Blue in Sider joining us now as he does each and every Wednesday, is our unforgettable guard. Sean Woods. His jersey hangs in the raptor of rupp Aerna where the boys Sweet sixteen will happen next week, Sewn worked the girls Sweet sixteen. We'll talk some high school hoops here in our next segment, we got to talk about the Wildcats cranking things up in
the NCAA tournament. You have been there, Sean, What goes on inside the mind and the gut, the butterflies or whatever of a young man going into the nca tournament.
Well, you know, they know what's one and done and being you know what is going to be interesting with these guys because they're all new playing for Kentucky going into the NCAA tournament, so they understand the magnitude. I hope they got used to it, just you know, with going to the SEC tournament, what type of atmosphere and magnitude that was. Now with times seeing and I'll tell
you what, Dick, I love the draw, you know. And and the good thing is if the mont butler can just sustain because he has more experience and more success than any point guard that's even in the nc double A tournament besides the point guard at Alabama. Ye, so having him and just like having him throughout the season, you know, they they're a different team when mentally, when he's not there, they're a different team mentally when he
is there. It's gonna be the same situation going into the NCAA tournament.
I truly believe, and you.
Know, we only as go. We only gonna go as healthy as he can sustain and stay. So he's a major key. Unfortunately it's riding on one specific guy. But that's the way this team has, you know, been made up. And I'm hoping, praying because I knew in my gut and we talked about it, were you know, as long as he was good, we were gonna be good. When he went down, we went down. And it's gonna be
the same situation in the NCAA tournament. I'll tell you what, if we were totally healthy with the draw we got, man, I like our chances at least getting to the final eight, if not the final four. Wow.
Well, I've talked to some people about it, just in general, all the reporter types, but you can speak to it directly. I keep saying it seems like, and I think it's true that when Butler's on the floor defensively I mean clearly on offense as a point guard, but defensively makes other people better. How does that work because you were a guy known for defense as a point guard, Well.
He dominates the point guard on the end, so he distracts the point of emphasis from the jump. You know, you can make the other point guard, the point guard on the other team uncomfortable, then that means that their team's uncomfortable. And that's what he does to the opposing point guard. And that's what makes him so effective. He's you know, coming up the court, you can't get into
your stuff if your point guard is rattled. You know, your office is not gonna run a smooth if your point guard is rattled.
You know.
And and the good thing is, as that shot clock is going down nine times out of team, it's your point guard that has to make the play at the end of the shot clock. Well, if he can't make the play because of Butler, then that make Kentucky that much of that much of a better team. So that's where it starts at. You know, it's not alway guarding the wing. Yeah, you may be stopping their score, but you're stopping the fluency of the team by distracting the
other team's point guard. And that's what he's great at Yeah.
Speaking of point guards, one of the game's first game and election in is Louisville Crayton, which I think is a really difficult matchup for both should be a great game. Creighton gave Saint John's all it wanted in the Big East in a Big East tournament final. And speaking of point guards, Chucky hepburn. I know he's wearing a Louisville jersey, but you were friendly with U of l guys, and I know you respect him, don't you.
Oh, no doubt about it, you know, I really do. I think he's really good. I think he has a chance. But I'll tell you what the sec Louisville. I mean, Creighton, it can be a bracket buster. But I don't call them a bracket buster because they're always a fixture in the NCAA tournament. There's always been a dangerous team. I think they're one of the most well coached teams in America night in and night out, year in and year out.
So you know, yeah, they could be They can hurt Louisville right off the jump because of who they are and who they been. And I thought that, you know, they lost a tough game to a team that I think is one of the hottest teams in America.
That Saint John's oh yeah, yeah, definitely Saint Jansas's kind of a trendy pick right now to go to the Elite Eight, if not the Final Four.
I mean, shoot, I don't see why not. I think Coach Patino is one of the most dangerous teams in America right now, and there's not a team in America that really wants to play him. I mean, I know, Cal's talking a bunch of stuff and this and that about yeah, we got this. You know, he's lucky to even being there, but man, you know, I just can't see him having much success against that tough, hard nosed juggernaut coming out of Queens, New York. I just don't see it.
I agree. Plus, he's got to get by Kansas. Getting back to the Wildcatch. Troy is a team that is not a great three point shooting team, but they shoot it, and they get up and down the floor. They got a really talented playmaker, so obviously that'll be important for Lamont Butler. But Troy has to guard Kentucky, and I really believe Sean that if he stays out of foul trouble. Amari Williams could be one of those guys that people
across the country are talking about after this weekend. Does that make sense?
Oh, no, doubt about it. I don't think Troy has an answer for Mario Williams. I don't think Troy can score enough points to give Kentucky problems. I mean they may come out, you know, the first five minutes and be okay, but as the game goes along, I don't think Troy can keep up with Kentucky scoring. I really don't. And this could be a game I said. We had
a bracketology deal in Louisville with the Louisville UK alumni. Yeah, and Jack and I and we were just going, you know, we had a panel and we were just giving our opinions and things. This is a And I told him, I said, let's just you know, we're all talking about Lama Butler. Let's just go ahead and talk about the elephant in the room. And the elephant in the room is Perry. And I said, Kerry, this could be a
game where he gets some confidence. This could be a game to where Lamont Butler does not have to play a whole bunch and Perry can get some coup because he's there. We gotta play him. We gotta play Parrys because of Lamont Butler situation and Mount Butler can't play forty minutes a game. I'm just I mean, I wish I told everybody to just send messages whatever and try to give this kid as much confidence and let him
know that he belongs. You know, you're a kid that scored five thousand points, there's no way, and you're from Kentucky and that that thinks, and that that brand that says Kentucky is across your chest. You should be drooling with confidence. I think that's been his biggest part, more so than anything else, is not ability, not athleticism. He doesn't he doesn't come across as a confident player. When he comes in, he has that look like he's scared to mess up. You know, he's a much better shooter
than what he's shown. I mean, I've seen in the last game. You know, he's rushed, he's shooting bricks when we know that he can really shoot the basketball right, But he's not comfortable because he's not comfortable in his own skin. And you're not a freshman anymore. You're a sophomore. You've got enough games under your belt to where you got to know that you do belong. How many kids that's playing college basketball right now score five thousand parts
in high school? You know what I'm saying. How many kids have success And you've gone across the country and played against some of the best players in America at your age or whatever, and you've had success. It's no different. Now we need your confidence and when if you come in there with confidence, you're going to play like you're supposed to play and the way you're good enough. I
think he's good enough. I just think his confidence level has not matched what it needs to be in order for him to have success and and be a major part with the minute that he's getting for this team.
Interesting, although I remind people that, yeah, they've played a ton of games and they've practiced more than they ever have in one year moving from high school to college. But the NCAA tournament's a different animal. And even Reed Shepherd and Rob Dillingham struggled mightily in the NCAA Tournament last year for whatever reason. Now, you guys, you had a veteran team when you played, but you weren't allowed to play for a couple of years, so you built
up to that. You were guys. You guys were like caged animals by the time you got to the tournament, weren't you.
Yeah, we were.
But the job that the best job that I think Mark Pope has done this year is to get a bunch of strangers to buy into becoming people that they act like they've been knowing for four or five years. Yes, you know what I'm saying. He has done a great job of taking all these different type of players coming from all these mid major places and built their mentality up to be a stroll Kentucky mentality. I truly believe.
I think that's the best part of the job he's done this year is creating a mentality that you do play for Kentucky and you know this is unlike any place you've ever played, and play like you from Kentucky. And they've done that. Unfortunately, you know, injuries have plagued them, and as bad as they've been or you know, the problems that they've had defensively, they've still beat big time people and been in every single game that they lost. So they've been battle tested too at every sense, from
every sense of the word. You know, Kurt Carrezo, he hadn't played enough to make even making them impact. Well, stop saying we're missing him. You know, We've got every one of these guys that played enough and have had enough success as a team together to still be dangerous. And so I really think that, you know what I'm saying, the key is now going into the tournament with a chip on your shoulder and with great confidence because everybody in the first round, I don't care if you're the
number one team, number one seed, number two seed. Everybody's coming in here nervous. There's not one team gonna come in the real loose. Yeah, and they have a chance, you know, because they're still they're still explosive, they still can score different ways. I think going forward, I don't see anybody that can match up with Amari Williams. I don't see if Butler can stay just stay healthy and stay out of the way that he still can create
enough havoc to give them. You know what I'm saying, enough stability defensively, and you still have guys on the team that can make shots.
He is Sean Woods, the unforgettable guard. And we will talk more hoops on the other side of the break here on six point thirty WLAP. Welcome back. We're talking with Sean Woods as we do each and every Wednesday, the un Forget Guard. Let me shift you over to high school hoops because people, more and more people are tuning in to watch you and Crystal Barr and Keith Elkins calling the high school games on tell everybody where to find you.
You can go to YouTube. Go go to YouTube and punch in Glycoyd like l I c O D liked, or you can just go straight glycod dot com and you can catch the high school games.
Now.
I don't know just yet if we're gonna be doing the Sweet sixteen boys. We did the Sweet Seas six Sweet sixteen girls, but we did all of the eleventh Region, some of the ages we did even up north, you know, southern Indiana. So we we we've been we've been rolling a little bit. But I'll tell you what. The eleventh Region championship we had over twenty two thousand, almost twenty three thousand viewers. Nice, so it's been hot. And and tell you what the eleventh Region was just like the
SEC and High against the basketball men that before. Yeah, it was the toughest region man in the state bar none. And I'll tell you what not just because Malcamorino is in it and they won it.
Yep.
You know in McDonald All America going to Kentucky, but he had they they you know, brand Station was tough, Douglas was tough. Henry Clay beat up.
I mean that was you know.
And and and I'll tell you what Great Crossing got out of that regional tournament by the skin of the.
Now they play now they played Davis County on Thursday in the six o'clock game.
Uh.
And I mean you can talk about the draw and it's a blind draw, but man, you got to play everybody to win that state championship. And I think Great Crossing, Sean and I think you agree it is better equipped to make that run this year than they were last year.
Well they're they're they're they're more season you know what I'm saying. I think they to stand now, they've been there, done that, and shoot, they're loaded, man. And you know, but they got a piece that they didn't have last year.
And he's grown older. And that's the kid LJ. Man, who's l J Holman, the sophomore guard who has a chance to be really good at the lefty, and he took on the pressure of Brian's station's tenacity, and he took on Douglas's tenacity, and he's the one who hit the big free throws down the stretch to actually steal the game against Douglas. So you know, they got their work cut out. You know, Clark County and Montgomery County gonna go at it tonight to decide who's coming out
of that region to go to the Sweet sixteen. But I look forward to a very exciting Sweet sixteen. But you know, it's always big when you got a big time Kentucky recruit that's playing in it makes it makes it more of a MUSTYTV type of situation. But I really like this Douglas's team because they got they got about three or four Division one players on that team. That's pretty good. But that same next team out of Louisville has been the darling of Kentucky basketball this year,
and they're gonna be a tough out too. And the good thing is I don't think neither one of them are going to meet until the championship.
That's right, they're on the opposite side, so that could bring Lexing to it and Louisville together. But of late. I mean, look at Lion County last year jumped up tiny little school and won it all with a future UK Wildcat. So there are so many different storylines. Like you say, Danville Christian, I mean a time seventy eight students made that they went to the girls tournament, They've made it to the boys tournament. George Rogers, Clark might
get there. The girls got to the championship game and let it slip away. They had Sacred Heart beaten, but Sacred Heart came to like the champion that it is. But there isn't a school in the boys game right now that is this dominant as Sacred Heart.
Is there. No, no, no, And I'll tell you what you know, even you know you talk about Sacred Heart and you talk about Clark County boys and girls. You know, Douglas was that type of situation too. They lost in the regional finals, but their girls made it three sixteen in the second round. So yeah, So I'll tell you what high school basketball is on the up and up. And to be honest with you, Dick, there are more promising players on the women's side right now. Than never before.
And they're young. I mean, there's some seventh and eighth graders that are magnificent that are leading their teams. And there's a young lady that I talked about all the time at Douglas. Her name is tomil Wade, you know, eighth grader, and she's just as good of a guard as anybody I've seen in the state and could be one of the best head grades in the country. Yeah, no doubt about it. So it's it's gonna be fun and exciting. I was so proud of DJ and what
he did with his team at Douglas. And the thing about it is they didn't have one senior that was playing. They had a Kate Baker, who's their own long senior and the best three point shooting, probably the best three point shooting in the region. She got hurt right before its stake her heart, So yeah, they lost his sacred heart, but went on a run and they got all those
kids back. You know, they got it. They I mean, shoot, they they got some girls over there, and and he's doing a great job and they're only gonna get better. So this region high school basketball is it's really good.
You know.
Brad station's got you know, players and Amari Williams, I mean a Mario Owens and and uh Tayshaun Adams was George Adams's grandson, you know. And then you got you got everybody coming back from from from Douglas, you know. So you got stan T I mean not san Tea, forget the kids name, but you got a couple.
Of players over there.
So it's it's gonna be fun.
It's gonna be fun, man, and six team is gonna be really good on the boys side. So can't wait. Hopefully we're doing it, and I'll get to sit right below you again.
There you go.
Follow him on glycod dot com, watch the telecash or on YouTube. Sean Woods unforgettable guard. Thank you brother, We'll see you in rupp Arena.
Take care looking forward to it.
Western Bureau Chief Gary Moore is up next to here on six thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big Bullingsider Joining us now he does each and every Wednesday when we're not bumped by basketball or baseball is Gary Moore. There's a lot of that this week. Gary. Of course, we love it uh tournament time in college baseball. He of course is our West End bureau chief. But so much overlap baseball has started a lot of football news
out there. It's kind of a fun time. And uh, the Kentucky Derby not far away.
I know, this confluence of all these great sports things come like October. You know, we always love October when all that stuff happens.
And here we are again.
Well, it's two guys in a six pack, you and me and six things to talk about, and we shall lead with of course college basketball. But ladies first, why because more women's teams are repping the Commonwealth than men this year in March of madness. Because the men of Murray State, Morehead, WKU, e k U, n KU all failed to win their conferences in advance. But UK women number four seed Friday high noon ESPN versus number thirteen seed Liberty, U of L women seventh seed versus number
ten seed Nebraska. That'll losto be Friday on ESPN. And how about my hometown Murray State Racers, number one women's scoring team in the nation eighty seven point eight points per game. That's better than that ugly orange school down I seventy five. That's better than LSU, Notre Dame, even yukon Southern cal Ucla and South Carolina. How about that the eleventh seed Racers will be taking on six seed Iowa, thankfully a year after Caitlyn Clark high noon Saturday at ESPN.
So give me the Cats cards and those fired up Phillies from Callaway County to win their opening games.
I just worked Murray State, Kentucky baseball last night, Racers get to win. Only scored five runs. But that's a team that scores a lot of points. They scored nine and a half runs a game. So what is it down there in Murray? I don't know.
Something to water down there.
Someth's going on, how about that? But yeah, Kenny Brooks the job that he did, and of course the key transfers he brought in, and of course he took Virginia Tech to the final four, so he knows what a tournament team looks like.
Yeah, we'll talk more about the baseball that's going on in the state. Yeah, that's pretty great.
And by the way, seven seed for Louisville. A lot of teams would love a seven. That's way down for U of L. Yeah it is.
Well, they've had some ups and downs this ye we'll see what happens our second swig. We go to swig number two of the six pack, and appropriately I have two emphatically raised middle fingers with a vengeance, one for the NCAA Men's Selection Committee as a group, and one especially reserved with extreme prejudice for Bubba Cunning, the committee chair and coincidentally North Carolina's athletic director and perhaps the committee's number one enraged avenger, because in my mind, did Gabriel.
Here's what this guy's been thinking and scheming and boiling over at night and thinking, rolling over and over. In my mind, he's saying, how dare this reconstituted Louisville program that was so relentlessly in f the last two seasons, how dare they beat my Belovitar heels this season? And also in my mind he's thinking, well, we can't pay him back this year at Chapel Hill, can't pay him back in the ACC tournament. So I shall extract revenge
another way. First, I'm going to get my heels into the dance, even a play in game if I have to, even though West Virginia and Indiana are far more worthy f them. Second, it's obvious to everyone UFL deserves a five seed, no lower than a six with those fifteen quad one and two wins to our paltry nine. But I shall scrub them to an eight, pit them against Creighton,
who gave Saint John's a tough game. Then then if they get pass game one, they shall face not just a one seed, but the number one overall seed in Auburn. That'll teach them, Dick. That's not a seating. That's a vendetta in my book. So you know what, like a certain chief executive picking on somebody, they shouldn't be picking on starting a fight. They don't need to start a fight. You want to start one, Bubba, you got one here
in Louisville. Every time you come to town. Pal you know, say what you will.
Yeah, he had to leave the room when his team is discussed when acc teams are just I get all that, I get. No, I firmly believe it. I had long conversations with Seam Newton about it when he chaired the committee. But the people he has sat with and had lunch with and hung out with for really the better part of a year is not just that one weekend. Right, They're still in the room, and there is absolutely positively,
no way to justify. And I'm not obvious the first person and the only person to say this about North Carolina and I couldn't care less what they did last night in San Diego State. No, there's just no way they should be in. And the argument for removing any sitting ad from a committee like that gets stronger by the year, you know. And I think the committee has done a much better job through the years. They've done a better job of seating and bracketing, and they've tweaked it.
They came up with the pods system and all that. But then you have a situation like this, and my question is did nobody in the room. I got to think some did raise their hand and say, folks, this just smells bad. They put North Carolina in with Bubba sitting here, and of course they put them on TV and put the number two guy could say, Bubba wasn't that that did nothing That's satisfied nobody. Although I read one article that said they put that to rest, I'm like,
what are you smoking? You know, it was just oh Man again, just really bad optics. And we've talked before about robot umpires. You know, I can't defend umpires anymore because they've done such a poor job that they're forfeiting the right to call balls and strikes. These committee members, if they're not careful, they will forfeit the right to pick these teams. And I don't know what will happen after that.
Speaking of those optics, guess what it gets worse? Third swig Speaking of Bubba or should we say big bonus bucks Bubba? Is it true? Cunningham pockets an extra one hundred four thousand, one hundred and sixty six dollars and sixty six cents for his heels just making the tournament. That's what twenty four to seven Sports is reported. Plus he could rake in another thirty five grand if you and see he gets to the sweet sixteen, which they won't,
but that's on the line. What if they got to the final four, well he pocketed another fifty thousand and if they want it all, which is impossible to happen. Five k on that being selection committee chair boy and you n c Ad as you mentioned, and wanting and just wondering how his heel somehow weaseled in, especially over West Virginia team that of all people, Joe Linardi among others. Joe had them as a ten seed and as he
and others have said, were royally robbed. You tell me now, how bad are the optics.
Well, you are closely related through marriage to an indianagrad that's another school that could make that. But no, you talk about a conflict of interest that more than anything, should disqualify him for even being involved in the in the in anybody who has a financial interest. You bring up a great point, and I don't doubt that it's accurate. It's easy to check. Those contracts are public record, public's coaches contracts with some private schools and all that are
our public record. So yeah, it just looks bad, smells bad, and that ought to prompt a change. I don't know that it will, but it certainly should. And uh again, either just qualify yourself from the money or from the process.
Well, there's a lot of backslapping that was going on before that. You know that as well as I do. Yeah, fourth twig. So let's go on to the men's field of sixty eight, my final four bracket in just a second. So just as a reminder, Louisville and Creighton from just down the street from you, Rapp Arena, Yeah, buddy tomorrow twelve fifteen and CBS cards tough draw for Louisville. Yeah, that shouldn't have happened. Again, for the seeding and the
draw itself, both of those things are wrong. Cardoso are still two and a half point favorites over Creighton. Then, of course the Cats in Milwaukee against Troy on Friday seven to ten start. Cats are eleven and a half point favorites last time I looked, So now I got Florida from the west facing, and I hate like hell to say this Auburn from the south in the first bracket that I do have the cards beating Auburn in one of these scenarios, because we do obviously two or
three or four in my case, twelve brackets. And I have Houston out of the midwest facing, and I hate saying this four letter word Duke out of the east. So Houston beats Duke, Florida beats Auburn, Florida beats Houston for the Natty. And on the women's side, I will take my postgrad alma mater Ucla.
Wow, some people I know, Ucla rising up against Juju and USC which had beat earlier. Yeah, my final four is the same, except I've got Michigan State top ofing Auburn. So you're very chalky, but a lot of people are because that's how good these schools are. But I do
have Florida beating Houston to win it all. This is just a Florida team that has I think the best guard in America and a preponderance of depth at the on the front line, and they are playing their best clearly when they need to the most.
It's kind of a flip a coin between Duke and Bama to go up against Houston in that.
Yeah, Bama's hitting shots.
Yeah right, that's the if. Yeah, exactly are Let's see here, Fitzwig, So, being the Bonzie baseball fan that you've always been, I am certain you were up before dawn the last two mornings to catch every bitch of the Dodger sweeping the Cubs to open the twenty twenty five Major League Baseball season. Enjoy play by play from broadcasters.
Not even there.
We'll have more on that than just a bit. Actually, opening Day on American soil was one week from tomorrow, three or five pm in the Bronx.
Yeah right.
The Yankees be hosting the Bridge Well, it's easier for the commissioner, Dick to take the limo up Manhattan and get over there. You don't want to have to fly in the Covington go over the bridge, you know, and keep tradition going in Cincinnatis. And what about the Reds who still should have opening, Well they've been relegated to the four to ten pm slot with five other teams. That's how much respect this commissioner has. So you want
to make it easy. He want to make it easy on himself, and you know he wants to make it easy on himself for some of these owners. Yeah, go ahead and play in minor league parks, you know, down in Tampa and in Sacramento. Well Tampa wasn't really his fault, but he there's no excuse for what went on with Oakland and in Sacramento and that craziness. And also it's easy for him not to have a floor for the
owners not to spend. In other words, did you know nearly a third of the teams this year are more than fifty million under the average payroll, which is one hundred and fifty six point nine million. I don't think we'll have a salary cap anytime soon, Dick. But do you think they'll ever be a salary floor.
I think that's up to the players union, and it definitely needs to be one. There's no question. They owe it to the fans, not just the players. They owe it to the fans to put in the salary floor and show, hey, we're trying. There are teams, as you well know, most teams cannot compete at the top with the Yankees and Dodgers. But how many times have you seen a team like the Royals jump up and win
without needing to do that? It can happen, and we've seen teams like the Dodgers and Yankees fall short even with those bloated payrolls. But if you've got no hope of getting there because you're not paying anybody anything, it ain't right. It ain't fair to the people who are footing the bills, There's no question about that.
Look at the Pirates. Oh we got skeens, we got skins. What more do you want?
Yeah?
Oh, by the way, we're spending less this year than we did ten years ago. Man, amazing sixth and final swig. Well, so much for the majors. Let's head for campus and one down. I sixty five that I traversed on many an undergrad day. See what the Toppers are doing. We've mentioned them a couple of weeks ago. Well, WKU eighteen
and a zero at home. Yeah, nineteen and one record the best D one record of schools here in the state coming into today's game at Eastern That one loss against the team that beat UK last night, Murray State. About that, Murray State's thirteen and.
Four they beat Think it was extra innings too, probably.
Yeah, it was I think two to one. Yeah, they upset number twenty four UK five to four last night. Should have beat Ole Miss two weeks ago, they had them on the ropes in the late innings. This weekend, Cats, as you know, get number seventeen Auburn at Proud Park. Number fifteen Louisville. Like the basketball team seems to be revived. They're seventeen and three. They had to Va Tech this weekend. But WKU is going to get both UK and Louisville next month, as well as going down to number eighteen
Vandy and number twenty one Dallas Baptist. I don't think keep the streak going. But how much fun is this in the middle of March? Madness, we get all this baseball fund with all four of the teams that are doing well.
If Murray State, or rather if WKU wins tonight, which it should, I mean, UKU is having terrible trouble this year. They'll be twenty and one, matching to see not the same kind of record or team. I know, Tennessee out of the gates incredibly well with twenty straight wins before a loss last night the East Tennessee State. So yeah, that happened, I know. But if WKU can keep it going, man Postsen is going to be fun. And this Murray State team Gary is really skilled and well coached.
I think they surprise even themselves. But you know, they should have beaten Old Miss. They have the relief pitchers kind of, you know. Ol Miss is obviously good that they're top twenty team as well. But I'm enjoying this because for so long they've just you know, just it was always Louisville, UK UK the powerhouses.
Murray State off to its best start since the mid seventies under Johnny Reagan. How about that he is Gary Murray's our Western burea chief. That's two guys in a six pack up next some hot reeves for Gary in just a minute. You're in a big Moons Welcome back. We're talking with our Western Burea chief. Gary Moore joins this each and every week with a list of observations, gripes,
whatever you want to call it. Two guys in a six pack, and then we throw a couple of hot reads at Gary to see what he has to say. Gary touched on baseball starting of course America's games starting in Japan seventeen hours away or whatever it is. And okay, if that's not enough, Fox Sports chooses to go cheap and doesn't send announcers man and they borrow from the COVID days and they've got the announcers doing the ballgames
via remote bookups, which the SEC new working. Yes, I do work for them, still does that quite a bit with baseball, Thankfully, they don't do it with basketball anymore. There was a huge Kentucky game last year where one announcer was in Maine, one announcer was in Kansas City. Terrible. That was awful And it's not fair to the announcers because they obviously can't see everything. So but okay, that's
the SEC network, Come on Fox. Yeah, digging deep. You're paying all this money, You're making a big deal out of opening up in Tokyo. What say you? As a guy who loves baseball and loves broadcasting, as.
A former bat boy at Murray State games back in the day, I I hate it, And as a as a broadcaster for many years, I especially hate it. There's no excuse for that. There's no not fo no, not for fuck, not for major network who We understand you paid a lot of money for these rides, but you have to there. There comes a standard with all networks to have people there for a lot of reasons, to get the perspective to and to talk to some of
the players. I mean, there was really virtually no kind of interviews and nothing going on within the game, and it just it's just cheap and you feel cheap and watching it, like, why could have done that? I could have been here at home and done that, you know, get to get a get a great former baseball player in here next to me. Hell, we could have helped hooked up the mics, you know, just.
Sell another spot, sell another commercial, bringing another sponsor to underwrite, uh, you know, sell sell it to one of the airlines and score a couple tickets for your broadcasters. There are so many ways they could have gone.
Well, here's the difference too, between the baseball team and a broadcasting team. All the Dodgers get an extra seventy thousand bucks just for showing up.
How about them getting over there?
Yeah, but Fox is not going to send announcers over there. So there's your disparity in between a team and a network.
Speaking of big bucks, our second hid read Gary is a Seahawks fan, but keeps an eye on all things NFL. How about the Cincinnati Bengals, the skin flints of the NFL. Traditionally we can't afford to compete with, and now thanks to Joe Burrow, T Higgins, Jamar Chase. How about those former LSU players racking up the bucks and Daryl Stingley just got a big contract. But anyhow, three Bengals commanding
among them half a billion with a B dollars. So my question to you is is it a new agent Cincinnati? And more importantly, is there enough money left to sign Hendrickson? All he's done is lead to the league in sacks the last couple of years. But build a defense, building O line while showing your fan base. We're serious about this.
But I was sitting down when I read about those contracts getting signed, you know, I mean, we never you and I never thought we'd see something like that. Like I've thought for sure one of those guys Higgins or probably Higgins would have to go sure, yeah, to get it. But and and Burrow's credit, he wants hendrickson side. He really does want them to open it up as well. Now they got your guy TJ. Slayton from the Packers, a defensive tackle to kind of shore up. And Al
Golden is coming over. He's the new coordinate because he was a rhymebackers coach before for about a year with the Bengals, so he's back as the as the DC over there. But they're gonna need some defense, you know. They they were one of those rare teams that scored four hundred over four hundred points and gave up over four hundred last year. And have you seen the schedule for next year? Who all they're getting. They got host the Lions, they're going to face the Bills on the road.
Of course, he got the Ravens too. Then you got to go on the road to the Packers, Vikings and Broncos. Wow, you better shore up the d now.
I really believe that what Higgins did it was brilliant simple. He fired one agent and hired Chases or out a Burrow's agent and so no, I'm sorry, hired Chase's agent. And so now it's almost like putting together a super team. You can't have this guy if you don't sign that guy. And I think Gary, we're going to see a lot more of that.
I think so too. And you recall when Burrow and Chase and Higgins were all together healthy, the first time they played together, they went to something called the Super Bowl unbelievable. And that's what they need to do that if they just get there, whether they win or lose, it's gonna make all of this worth it, no doubt.
He is Gary Moore. He is our Western Bureau chief. He joins us each and every week. And if this madness isn't enough, you can find him on Twitter.
Or x at at nine to five five Gary, And you're there too at.
At Big Blue Insider one. Love it all right, we'll compare brackets next week.
My man, it'll be in tatters, but I'll be here.
That'll do it for now, thanks as always to my guests, our West End Bureau chief Gary Moore, to the unforgettable guard, Sean Woods. And we will see him at the boys Sweet sixteenth coming up next week. It would be this week, of course, but we got n SA tournament action going on in r Arena, so the boys are just gonna have to wait. And Tom leads the Boys to the Cats. You're at Kentucky Troy coming up on Friday evening. That's a good night from the garage in Lexington.
A very good, very quick basketball team.
A guy that just went by is Michael Thompson.
So you know the answer to that, don't you. He always seems to.
Get involved, I'm telling you, too many Coca nuts and hit him right on top of the skull down there in the Bahamas.
He's in trouble, tact tact.
The ship.
Then backed out like the statist conting