2025-06-16 - BBI

a gathering on Saturday of the family, the granddaughters. We had a good time, and of course being Father's Day weekend, we got a chance to watch a little bit of the golf. I don't sit through the entire tournament. I'm a golf fan when it comes to the majors, but I don't watch every stroke of every tournament. But I did watch JJ spawn when the US opened at Oakmont

Up in Pennsylvania. Typical US Open course, really difficult, And I heard an interview with Steve Sands at a golf channel prior to the tournament where he said that the greens for the tournament probably weren't as difficul as they are on a given week but they still look pretty tough to me. And you had in the rain, which became pouring rain at one point, So what a challenge, and what a great finish by JJ spawn a huge

birdie putt. He only needed a two putt, but he drained one and I think was sixty four and a half sixty four, Yeah, sixty four and a half feet that rolled in there, And it was great. It was great TV, It was great drama. Then we come to find out that this gentleman had been up at three am because he had to go to the pharmacy to the store to get something for his daughter who had been throwing up. So he had a sick little girl and still came back and shook it all out of

his head and rally. He wasn't the leader going into the last round, but he won the US Open, So I hope that was fun. Coming up tonight, we're going to talk to Jim Deopolis, who's a longtime friend and he's been on the show before, but now he is an inductee into the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame, so he will go in alongside former Wildcat Danny Trevathan among others. Coming up at the end of this month. So Jim is a friend from way back when he

was a grad student at UK. I was a referee, umpire official in the Inner Murals program and Jim was my boss. He did our scheduling and things like that. And from there he went on to be a high school referee, a college ref in the OVC, at the SEC and the National Football League, and even worked a Super Bowl. So now going into the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame. And he's always been at these events. And I talked to somebody last year, so why isn't

Jim Dappolis in the next thing? You know, I'm not saying because I said anything, but he certainly deserves it. Going in going to talk to John Hale of the Arow Leader about UK football, if it's merrow moving, how they're putting this team together these days, and we'll also talk football and UK women's basketball with Christy Thomas. Shankers are UK Radio Network pregame coverage along with Jeremy Jarman and Logan Stenberg. Season is right on top of it

doesn't feel like it, but trust me, it is. It gets the summer gets shorter every year. I think we know this coming up next, we're going to talk about the College World Series. I know the Wildcats are not in it, although the state of Kentucky well represented with two teams in Omaha this year, Murray State and the University of Louisville. And I watched a lot of that over the last few days, and yesterday marked a great anniversary for UK baseball. We're going to relive that coming back.

But I got to tell you, it's like anything when you get a chance to go to an event like the College World Series. Many of you have been to NC tournaments, to final fours, bowl games. They're fun and you want to go back. And yeah, I know I'm working these events, but it's still fun, and especially if it's for the first time, like the College World Series was for all of us last year. So we'll talk about that, we'll talk about some of the things that

have gone on already in Omaha. But it's one of the great sporting events and I hope for all of our sakes, the program, the coach, the players, the fans of media, we get a chance to do it again. Say with us here on the Big bluon sider on six thirty WLAP. Welcome back to the big bluon Sider coming up in just a few minutes. Jim Deopolis, former NFL referee. He's a UK grad. When I was there, he was in grad school and he ran the officials

for the intermural program. So I worked for Jim. How little did I know he would go on to work a Super Bowl as an NFL referee. He is going into the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame coming up at the end of the month. So we'll talk to the ref in just a few minutes. But I did want to talk, of course about the College World Series, and I hope you had a great Father's Day yesterday.

And Darren Hendrick posted are the radio voice of the baseball Wildcats, posted on social media reminding us that yesterday, a year ago, June fifteenth, a year ago, was the day Kentucky pulled off one of the great comebacks of last year's College World Series. Got a home run in the not bottom of the ninth inning and then a home run in the bottom of the tenth inning by Mitchell Daily to cap that come from behind when against

North Carolina State. Here's a swinging of dribe today left Becos Nixon looking up.

had an outfielder named Ty Krittenberger last year. He had transferred in from Western Kentucky, played some early in the year and then kind of lost the starting job to Nolan McCarthy, became a pinch hitter, defensive specialist, and man they needed him because he made a huge catch, a diving, tumbling catch late in the game in centerfield to help preserve that win. And because he didn't get to play a lot, we didn't have much chance to talk about

Krittenberger's background in the game notes. There were two Kentucky players last year on the roster who had relatives grandfathers. Well,

I think one was a great grandfather. But Ty's grandfather was a well known general in the United States Army and was critical in World War Two, and in fact, I went back and re read his history and at one point General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme Allied Commander for the impending Allied invasion of Normandy in nineteen forty four, selected Krittenberger, the UK centerfielder's grandfather, as one of three

core commanders for the invasion. But Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, who was selected later as the first Army commander by IKE for the D Day invasion, replaced all three of the core commanders. Looking for it says here different differing temperaments and commanders who had more combat experience, but still Krittenberger if you just google him, go to wiki. He had an incredible career and again one of his offspring went on to play centerfield for the Wildcats, a team

that played in the College World Series. Yesterday's games were crazy. They usually are crazy, good, crazy, weird. You've got Louisville down to Arizona three to one going into the late innings. They make it three to two, and then they explode for six runs in the eighth inning to the Cardinals, and they beat Arizona eight to three. Arizona started that inning with an error routine ground ball to short and they brought in their great relievers and Louisville just started

hitting the ball. An Arizona outfielder makes a mistake with nobody out, and a Louisville kid hits a sinking line drive. He tries to make a circus catch and misses it, and it goes and stead as a single for a triple, which came back to haunt Arizona. Obviously, there was an overthrow at first base. The catcher backs it up, snags the baseball, tries to throw it back towards second base. The ball popped out of his hand and landed behind him,

and the kid didn't even know it. So meanwhile, the Louisville base runners are circling the bag and this kid finally realizes they yell at him and the ball is sitting behind you. It's not in the middle of the infit. It was just bizarre. But what U of l fans watching at home might remember is during the break between the six and seventh innings, ESPN's cameras caught Louisville coach of Dan McDonald getting into his team. I mean, and if if you like coaches that yell at players, you

had to like this. It went on for quite a while. Here's here's about fifteen seconds of it.

Doug goes and speaks to the Louisville team every now and then, you know, not necessarily just as an FCA speaker, but as a guy a former big leaguer, you know, just so he see. There's the same thing with UK players. But I really enjoy always talking to Damn McDonald. I respect what he's done at Louisville, and yeah, this was And by the way, don't think for a mint and Nick Manjeones doesn't do that. I've never seen him do it in the middle of a game. I'm sure he has.

He generally waits till the game's over before he really gets into his team. But it was just interesting that it happened on this stage. You know, the College World Series National TV is teamed down, et cetera, et cetera. So that was a really interesting moment, and, like I said, a bizarre game as Louisville comes back still in the loser's bracket and has to fight its way out of that.

Cardinals next play Oregon State tomorrow at two o'clock. Today's games, there's one going on right now because of course we pre record. My apologies, I cannot tell you what's going on right now between Arkansas and Murray State, but I will tell you this. One of the great moments came

after Murray State's loss to UCLA. Racers fell behind, made it a game late, they fall six to four on Saturday, and in the interview room after a young man named Dustin Mercer, who is a right fielder, and Murray's five to four win over Kentucky back in March, Mercer had an RBI single, but he was asked by a reporter about the fact that He's sitting up on stage at the podium behind the mix with a smile on his face, and was always seemed to be smiling even though his

team lost, and he gave a great answer.

I mean, Skirk's son, he just loves watching us playball and they look up to us, And yeah, about the smiling, I'm done playing baseball in two weeks, no matter what. So I'm just trying to keep that on my face and enjoy the ride.

And what great for me watching the College World Series And I've watched it more this year than I ever have, excluding last year when I was there, because I was there. And I don't know if that makes much sense to you, And I don't know if that affects you as you're watching nca Tournament games. If you've ever been to an NCAA Tournament game at a neutral site with Kentucky playing, or maybe you're watching UK play and you couldn't go that year, you know what it feels like to be there.

And ESPN does a great job at the College World Series, more so than with Pro Ball, showing the crowd, showing the color shots, showing kids, exterior shots of the stadium, interior shots. They do such a great job of capturing the mood and the field and the color at that place. It's just a different vibe than it is at a pro game. And I've never covered a World series, a pro World Series, but Omaha, Charles Schwab Stadium to call it the Chuck. It's just a really great place and

it's a great event. And I'm listening to this kid from Murray make this comment in an interview room where I was at this time last year, and in fact a year ago yesterday, I was sitting in there listening to the Kentucky kids talk about Mitchell Daily's home run, talking about Nicholson's home run to tide the game in the bottom of the ninth. I was there when Nick Manjione accepted the Coach of the Year trophy, So it

means a little bit more. Not trying to pair it a the SEC, but it's just kind of cool if you've been there, and in the time we were all there the media, we got to know her every inch of that place. So now watching it, yeah, I wish we were all back there covering the game, watching Kentucky play. But maybe next year. SEC still has two teams, one in the winner's bracket, one in the loser's bracket. LSU beat Arkansas on Saturday, so that's why Arkansas playing Murray

State in the loser's bracket. Tonight UCLA LSU at seven o'clock in the winner's bracket, and again tomorrow, Oregon State takes on Louisville. Beaver's eliminated last year in Lexington, but they're making a run this year. And Coastal Carolina plays Wednesday at two o'clock. Coastal has won twenty five straight games. The Chantaicleers are on fire, so if Murray State is

out today, that's your Cinderella, even though it's not. Coastal has been to the World Series multiple times and actually won it back in twenty thirteen, So those guys play

on Wednesday afternoon. Up next, Jim Dappolis, UK grad and retired NFL referee and now a Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Famer, want to come on the Big Moved Sider six thirty WLAP joining us now on our celebrity hodline as a guy I used to actually work for back in the day when I officiated games at UK and Jim Dappolis went on too much, Bigger and better things went on to work high school, college and then in the NFL on the field for eleven years, as an

NFL referee supervisor for twelve and now is going in to the Kentucky NFL Pro Football Hall of Fame along with four other notables. Ref. I couldn't be happier. Congratulations, Well, thank you, Dick.

the day and played pro football. You're keeping pretty good, pretty good company there, ref.

down or given a signal for something. But like I said, it is just so so humbling to be included with this group of individual, unbelievable football players in their own right and be included with them is just a it's so exciting for me.

I set a goal to get in the NFL. That I ever think I was going to get here, absolutely not. I just you know, I was hoping that I would. I was hoping i'd work a championship game, you know, one of those games up at Saint x Or, you know, one of the high school championship games. But I got some breaks, and then in the Ohio Valley Conference, I

kept pursuing it. I really wanted to do basketball. I really wanted to get in the NBA at basketball, but my breaks came in football, so it gave me an opportunity. I got some great opportunities, so hey, I pursued it and very fortunate to end up where I did.

of time. As you remember when you were doing your fat you know, you get to get there. But you know, it was a great way to get some additional income. I didn't want to have to sack groceries as at Kroger's on weekend, So just gave me an opportunity to pick up some money and pursue something that I really enjoyed.

I first started. Gave me the opportunity, and I'm so thankful that I had that opportunity. But I started doing it and I just fell in love with Talking to.

and work scrimmages. And then I you know, you finally get a break and somebody sees you, and you know, you get that opportunity, so you know, and then you just start making your application and hopefully I know that if it hadn't been for Frank firsty, I probably would have never get the cell piece of conference because Fran was very instrumental in my getting in there. But it was every afternoon going over to Kentucky practices and working

and putting my time in there. And it's a it's a time thing.

I worked in the When I first got in the Southeastern Conference, you know, I was an umpire, and then I worked downfield. Uh, the NFL took me in as a deep official, and then I said, well, I'm never going to be an umpire again because I don't want to go in there with you know, with those guys that get killed. But my one of the officials that hurt.

I was refereeing the do Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills, and I made I think I made three holding calls and I threw Brian Cox out of the games fighting, and and my boss called me on Monday and he says, you're an umpire next year.

it would go over there. And the thing that was really interesting about it, Dick, was that we would go over there and you know, they can officiated, we could work for them. We wanted to see how they were hanging out, you know, for a week over there, you know, kind of you know, it became a family and does he fit in with the group. Do you want to spend You spend a lot of time with your your actual your crewmates, so you know, do you want to spend time with this guy. So that was what we

kind of did over there. But yeah, it was a it was a great It was a developmental league. It was the best league that they had. It was great for NFL.

later this month. There's a lot of festivities, but that's that's the big deal, and Jim has always been there as a supporter and now is going to be honored that night. Although it's sold out, Jim, I don't know if they're going to be able to fit anybody else in there, but it should be a lot of fun going in with Danny Trevathan, the former Wildcat, Michael Bush, the former Louisville cardinal, Walt Uarski who played at UK, and Sam grenaison from Louisville. But Jim, of course going

in as are have you mentioned Tommy Bell? He became something of a local celebrity. How much did he influence you, if at all? I got to think he did well.

the NFL. And as I said earlier, I never thought I would get there. I really didn't. But I talked to Tommy a lot, and when I was in the SEC, I had the opportunity to go to the NFL. And I actually spoke to Tommy prior to his passing and uh, you know, I said, I love the SEC. I was working great games, I had a full schedule, and he said, Jim, as an attorney, I'm going to tell you how I

equated it. You know, do you want to work in front of the Appella Court or do you want to work at the Supreme Court and that, and that's pretty much kind of kind of sold it for me. And you know, I just felt so fortunate to, you know, have him there to be a mentor and let me

ask some questions about it. And you know, he he was inducted into the Kentucky Coat Football Hall of Fame a number of years back, and I was very fortunate to give his induction speech, and you know, I was so proud to be able to do that and respected him so much, as you know, he refereated a number of Super Bowls and he was one of the most visual referees that they ever had in the NFL. People who he was.

on the during the week. You know, I'm a lawyer, but on the weekend, I am the law and that's that's who he is. That's who he was, you know he was. He was so unique at such a great individual.

not nearly as accomplished as you. But I am quite sympathetic as a media person, and I kind of twinge when I hear people say, you know, we need full time referees, and I always tell them, Look, if you knew the hours these guys put in away from the game, looking at video and talking to each other and meeting, it's basically like these guys are already full time when it comes to the hours they work and the scrimmages and things like that. Am I right that?

But guys work right through the year. I mean, if you're not doing studying talking to someone every day. The best you know who the better officials are. They're the ones that spend the most time working this. It is not a part time job. It's a full time job. They finally, you know, they are compensated now accordingly. You know, it was a long time. You know, they say, well, you're only working games on Sunday. Well, I think the league has finally discovered that, you know, they need these

individuals working, you know, and studying. So yeah, it's a it's a full time profession now, uh, and they do very well with it.

going to be rehired. And you know, it's a situation now, you know, you get hired by the NFL as a as an official, you know, it's almost like you hit the lottery. It's a it's a it's a it's a great situation. You know, great benefits, the great compensation and great retirement. So it's not a bad situation. But you've got to do the job. And if you don't do the job, you will be replaced.

you know, everybody has an opinion on that. But as a guy who has been a professional, either a supervisor or on field official, what are your thoughts on on that? And again, I don't you know, I don't want you to pile on to guys in another sport, but how does that sit with you as a guy who was a professional official.

of lost their uh their guts to make calls. They're more concerned with getting you know that, well, we'll go to replay, Let replay, refix it, let replay do that. I think you've got to have confidence in the individuals that are working out there, but you have to have confidence in yourself as an official. And I think they used it too much as a as a crutch rather

than you know, using it to correct those errors. They almost hit to a point, especially in football, where they want to officiate the game from instant replay, which I think is a big mistake. But you know, people expect NFL officials to be perfect. You know, they don't expect bank baseball guys to make everything correct, basketball officials, et cetera. But they expect football officials to get everything right, and it's not going to happen. They make mistakes out there,

and uh, you know, I like the tool. I like to replay tool. The one thing I always would like to have done in my life was get behind the plate and call balls and strikes in a makes the League game. I have so much respect for those guys. I don't even know how they determine what is the ball and what is a strike? I mean the way

that comes, you know. But it's like everything else, as you said earlier, it's the repetition, you know, when you're looking at thousands of them, thousands of them every year called, then you know, you know, everything flows down and makes it easier. But you know, I like replay, and I think people expect replay, but I think it all comes out. People really want everything correct, and it's just not going to happen.

last chance to you to counter or whatever. And of course we've seen this play out so many times of Vince Marrow in the back of my mind and you know, okay, this is just another another thing that's going to end with a new contract or a new title or something like that, and read the end of it. And then that weekend came and it was like, well, they didn't talk today, They're going to talk next week. And then the next week it came and still heard nothing. And so by the end of that week I was like,

I'm assuming this is not happening. And then the Sunday before it came out, I got a text that night that said it's a done deal as long as Ben doesn't back out at all. Whow, I well, that still leaves a fair amount of grace. This maybe he goes to Mark and they have that final conversation and everything gets worked out. And then the next afternoon, that Monday, I was trying to track stuff down and had not heard back from anybody in the ESPN report comes out as well, it's actually happening.

And that's like he was going to be in the roster manager part, which means like his whole job is going to be recruiting at Kentucky. That's that's a huge portion of it, Like he's actually going to do that. And especially when it was dragging out the way it was, when I was hearing behind the scenes, I was like, Okay, he's getting cold feet. He's not going to end up doing this. So to see it actually come through, yeah,

I was surprised. I mean, and his comments you know, over the last week publicly when he's talked, we still haven't really heard from Mark Stoops other a statement they put out that relationship is very, very interesting, and it seems like Vince is trying to have it both ways where he wants Kentucky fans still love him and not being mad at him. I don't think that's realist stick in anyway. But it's going to be fascinating to watch

moving forward. What's this means? You know, as as he goes out and recruits against Kentucky, and he's not been shy about poking all over the years and having done with the rivalry and how they're fans embracing him. Let's face at Kentucky's recruiting has not been very good the last couple of seasons. Their roster man has not been great with the results on the field. So can he get better results at Louisill was the philosophy change at Kentucky that kind of led him to make this decision?

Is that going to work? Is that going to pay off? I wish Mark Stoops would have come out last week and done some interviews, but I guess the next time we're going to hear from his SEC media day, Yeah, in Atlanta in July, and that's that's going to be all we want to talk about.

recruiting process where he basically had final say over every player they pursued, and Mark has not approached it that way, especially over the last off season, probably the last year. In generally, you look at that that transfer portal class they put together over the winner and we'll see how it plays out. I mean, I don't think anybody can tell you for sure whether it's a good class or a bad class or whatever, but it's a very different class.

So often before, so many of their transfer targets where guys that Vince had recruited out of high school and they you know, went to Ohio State or Tollabama or wherever, and they didn't get and then it came back. It worked with Wandell Robinson, although Wandell Sai didn't come here. If Lamponen's not the offensive court, it did not work

with a bunch of other guys. You know, maybe Chip train and ends up being good last year if he's not hurt, but he was hurt, and then even after he was healthy, he wasn't really a part of the offense. So they clearly made a philosophy change in the transfer class to not do that anymore. And they had given each of their position coaches more power to decide who they recruit at their positions and ice in the high school classes. Obviously their twenty six high school classes gotten

off to a really really slow start. I think they're up to three commitments finally, but don't had one going into June, which is kind of unheard of, And so that part of it had already changed. And Vince wanted that power, you know, to kind of have final say back, and Mark had not given it to him. So maybe

that plays out. That's why I'm kind of surprised that she has not been more out in front of this, because I think you could have made a very compelling case to come out and say, hey, the results haven't been good enough. The last couple of years. I have to put the program first. So we made these changes. And you know, Vince is my friend, but he has to do what's best for him. And if he doesn't agree with the changes, you know, good luck to him

somewhere else. And you maybe could have even won some battle that you've been struggling to win this summer with fans who want you to make changes. But they didn't do that, and they've kind of just had to be reactive to the whole situation, which is I'm sure frustrating for fans, but I do think they legitimately had already made changes in their recruiting approach, which kind of led to this now the questions whether those changes work or not.

such a deal by it. But when you look back in hindsight, none of those guys really panned out. JJ Weewer was the only guy they got in Louisill in that stretch who was even a starter. The rest of them all left before their eligibility was up, and JJ's career didn't really pan out the way that we thought it was early in his career because the injuries and so like that really didn't work. They're in state recruiting.

The last two or three years, they have not gotten star players from in state, and that's not Vince's fault necessarily. They got the best players in the state just kind of whoo who was available in those years, but there in state recruiting in this current class, Woisill was already cleaning up, or they got vents. Maybe that was a

philosophy change because they hadn't worked recently. They do have young guys in their you know, freshmen coming into freshman year this year, their second year on campus from both Kentucky and Ohio that Vn's recruited who maybe turned into stars. But those pipe ones had not been nearly as successful the last couple of years as they were for most of Fence's tenure here. And so that's interesting to see. Are they is that because they were getting different players,

they weren't getting as good players. Is the talent just dried up? But my understanding is the high school class in Kentucky, the junior class now is like one of the best in the state in a long time. Like that's going to be a huge deal with Wolwill gets all those guys in Kentucky does. But they also have to pan out, which has not been the case recently.

maybe the recruia websites were wrong. Maybe something else happened. Maybe in this constant era of constant you know, roster turnover, they didn't stay around long enough to developed somewhere. I don't know, but like that part of it has not. It just never paid out the way that we hyped it up on signing day. So it will be fascinating to see if Louisville has more success with those guys, assuming they're getting the down Kentucky's not.

One of the other bits of news about assistant coaches was an extension of the contract for Eric Woolford, who coaches the offensive line, which has been one of the most highly criticized lment of this team over the last two or three years. Did that surprise you, John, or did you hear about a job offer or you know, how did that go to?

out and win games. So I understand that part of it, But there are still casual fans who are giving you the benefit of the doubt and maybe aren't on Twitter all day long or whatever. Those fans like Vince Merrill leaving the Woolford extension like that, those are the kind of news that resonates to those fans, and you got to explain a little bit more. I am assuming I have not been told this. I haven't got it confirmed.

I just don't see a scenario where they give Aeric Quill for an extension or any assistant an extension this offseason without some other school trying to hire them. So my assumption is somebody tried to hire him, and regardless of the results last year, they think he's a really good recruiter. They clearly gave him full autonomy to rebuild

this offensive line the portal over the winter. They apparently like what he did there, and so they've kind of made their bed there in terms of, like, if we're going to get this fixed, it's going to be air Wolford who does it. And so at that point, if you believe in him that much, you can't you can't really have another offensive flying coach turned over and start from scratching in the summer. So you've got to do

what you can to keep them. And so if it took an extension and one hundred thousand dollars Rays to keep them from whatever school came and pursued him. That's the decision you made. Maybe it's the wrong decision in the long run, but I understand why they would do that. But they need to come out and tell us that. So, I mean, like, come out and explain what's going on there and maybe people will understand a little more. I actually don't. I mean, one hundred thousand dollar Rays, I

know he's gotten a lot of attension. I wouldn't read too much into that at all. That's just how these contracts work. When you give a guy an extension, the salary goes up by about that amount every time. So

that's is what it is. The extra year is more interesting because they have I think five assistant coaches who are only signed through next season, and normally they don't let those contracts get down to the final year unless there's obvious like maybe this guy's not good enough, not going to come back, and like Brad White's only got one more year left, and Chris Collins, who they've promoted

the convincesquarrias you only got one more year. Normally we would see those guys getting extended by Nail, and the fact they haven't done that seems to be a clear reflection of where the program is right now. And so since they've made the exception with Wolford, that's got to be because somebody came and tried to get him. Know, let's hear a about why that happened.

finance these facility improvements at Kroger Field. Like all of that speaks to a finances are a big deal, but also be like they have to find a new way to get revenue and control expenses. And the fact that all of these first this first wave of facility announcements they did are all at Kroger Field tells you that

football is really really important to making that work. Like they have to be able to make the revenue off these new luxury suites at football whatever this entertainment district outside the stadium ends up looking like they have to get revenue from that to survive or to at least thrive in this new environment where you're going to spend twenty and a half million dollars every year in revenue sharing,

and so part of that is definitely controlling expenses. But they have not laid people, They have not cut salaries and ask coaches to get money back like we've seen at other schools. Like they are spending money to make money and it's almost all on football right now, so that's they got to get better results too.

But the finances are what they ought at some point, and to make this work, they're going to have to find a way to generate more revenue, which is the hope with these luxury suites and some other things. And that depends on football being good enough to sell the tickets.

couldn't do previously. Like even the facilities the announced last week still voted on them the same way they did before, still got the loan from the university that they would have needed otherwise, the one accepted. That might be the board. They want to bring in people with outside expertise and pro sports that can consult and advise them on how

to do this. And the three people they announced Jacob Tanney, and we know has this illustrious history both playing in Kentucky, playing in the NFL, and now is a guy who advises professional athletes on their money, so that's an important part of it. Shannon Arvin, the president's CEO Hngland, has been there while Keenland is undergoing their biggest renovation since the track open in terms of building some new seating and restaurants and the new paddock, like that's going to

be helpful for them. And the third guy, Chris sitting in Prindeville, was an executive that Fanatics recently, was very involved in that nil space and their college licensing program. We're in a licensing company before the Kentucky was a client of, so he clearly has expertise in that space. It will be fascinating to go to these meetings and see like how active those three members of the of the board are and how much say they actually have.

You know, I assume it's not just going to be window dressing where you put them on the board to get a headline and then they don't actually do anything right. I still don't think we have a lot of a lot of information yet about how that's going to actually work and what they're going to do. And the next year, my understanding, is going to be kind of a transition period where they're figuring that out themselves. But they're going to start meeting soon and we'll find out well, and.

And having that game week one is a perfect trap scenario where if something doesn't go right, so they have to be locked in immediately, because losing to Toledo is I think a realistic possibility, but also like an absolute worst case scenario in terms of getting people to buy in and get in any sort of positive vibes, it would be as aspect.

other than the weight room? How do they improve as a unit on their own, you know, because they can't always be under the coach's supervision. If there's a way to do it, I'd love to know about it.

which they did. All those guys are experienced, they played a ton of college football. The one exception joshua' bron the left guard from Arkansas, so he said that he's

played at this level. The folks, your tackles, the guy you brought it at the center, all of your depth that you run in the portal are our small school guys Bush and into the last week of spring practice like they have to hit the way from this spring this summer to get to the physical nature of the SEC to make that adjustment, they needed to put weight and muscle on this summer. And that is going to say I think as much as anything about whether this line is.

back in the day at w KYT. Miss Christy Thomas, who anchors our pregame coverage, also works UK women's basketball. We shall discuss both here on the Big Blue Sider and there's never an offseason, Christy, you.

surprise as much as where. And that's probably the case for a lot of us, is that, you know, when you've been a part of this rivalry for so long and it. You know, really, when when the University of Kentucky becomes a part of who you are and a part of your identity, you really understand how bitter that is. Isn't how put that can be for anybody to swallow. So I think it wasn't as much, wasn't as surprisingly left as much as I was about the location.

wooing the high school kids. So you've got to wonder about the direction now and the effect in miss of UK recruiting and can they get back to where they were because, let's face it, Levis comes through the portal, Wandale Robinson comes through the portal, and some others, But those are the key guys for the last really great year Kentucky had.

is different. Everything about it is different. And so sometimes, you know, I'm a believer that gone are the days that a coach is going to stay somewhere, any coach at any level, within any regardless of where you are assistant coach, a position, coach, whatever, where you're going to stay somewhere for twenty thirty years. Those days are done. Those days are gone. And I think that's maybe what we're seeing, what we've seen here is just that sometimes

it just runs. It's cool. Sometimes you've done all you can do at a certain place and then it's time to move on. And I think that's what we're seeing here with Vince is that you know, he did what he could do. He helped put UK in a really great position when he could really utilize his skills and what he did so well as a recruiter, and it's now different. And so I think because of that, it's just time to have a different perspective and a different

face and different person doing that. And that doesn't mean that he won't go be successful somewhere else. I think that's fine, you know, So I'm not super bitter about the departure and about this being different. I think, Okay, great, you he did a great job at that time, was what Kentucky be did at that time, and now it's different. So now we're moving on, and you know, and I don't mind, Like if the dynamics are different inside the building and you know, then sometimes it's just time to go.

Sometimes it's just the right time for everybody to do something else, and there's nothing wrong with that. So that's really where I'm at with this, is like, you know, now it has to be something that you know, you're looking for someone and something very different from what Vince brought to the table when he came on board at Kentucky years ago.

still factor into recruiting. This is to me what's going to be fascinating, even if he's not an off campus guy when you get a kid on campus and Vince Merrill will be one of, if not the first guy the kid talks to about, you know, your potential future

here at the University of Louisville. And you never know, the kid the next day or the next weekend might be in lexing and having the same conversation with Mark Stoops and Eddie Grant because they're going to be still going as they have for decades, to the same players.

it will be different. You know, I always wonder what's the pitch. There's a sales pitch every single time you're recruiting a kid, Right, And I said I would love to be in a living room and know what that sales pitch is from a head coach at Kentucky or a coach at Louisville, or a recruiting coordinator from Michigan or Ohios that what's the pitch. There's there's always a pitch to the kid and their parents about why they should come to or or you know, even consider coming

to that football program. So, you know, I think I think that would be really interesting to know as you shift years now to to a level what's the pitch? But you know, because sometimes that kind of stuff can get nasty, there's no I mean, it's happened in other sports, you know, as you're recruiting the same kid, you know, I know back in the day women's basketball, and you know, it would get really testy and could get you know, interesting.

So I think this could be so there could be a little of that, you know, I mean, there's some plenty of animosity to go around for.

have to just give everything I got for it. Like a very rooty situation, you know, where you end up one day, you know, maybe making a play in a game and you know, because you got in for about thirty seconds and I'm like, no, that's that's not really what I'm when I'm after. So that was it was a no brainer.

more importantly, he already knows Bush Hampden's offense. And I bring that up because looking ahead, Christy, this is the first season that ham Dan will have had the full year cycle to work with everybody on the roster and get that offense familiar. Uh. You know how much hope does that give you for the coming year?

it and it just hasn't happened. And I think that you know, that becomes they're you know, unrest, I think in the locker room, and you know that's where you I think run the risk of really losing us to the transfer portal when you just can't have some consistency to really start to build something and and that's what

we're finally seeing. And I think once you can kind of figure out the offensive line again and you can kind of get that back on track where we are used to seeing that level of play, you can really get some consistency at the quarterback position, and you know, different things like that. All of that can really come together, and it just takes time and you have to be able to give it time. And you know, we're we're

not a patient world, that's for sure. But I think that that that will certainly be beneficial to everybody involved in the program that there's finally you know, this is the guy they know. This is a guy Shay. I don't know much about him. You know he was involved, but not in a real high profile role or situation with the program. Third, it'll be interesting to see how that comes together and it'd be a totally different perspective.

channel for UK women's basketball. Before we talk about the upcoming season in this roster, Christy, this is going to be a season minus Georgia Aymore and we only got to see her for one year, but clearly she has the impact I think that Kenny Brooks needed and wanted, And what do you think this team's going to be like minus one of the best players in America.

So I think that to me becomes so crucial in terms of what you're missing without her on the floor. You know, listen, she can put in you know, twenty six points a night, and you know, tennisis and all those are wonderful things, but when you take on those intangibles like that, it made her so incredibly valuable to this team. So I think it definitely changes the dynamic.

I think it now forces some young ladies to step up in a way that maybe they haven't normally, Like a Clara Strack is not a super vocal kind of leader and player, but she may kind of, you know, be forced into a situation like that where she's really got to take on more of that. But I think

that that will be the biggest unknown. You know, when you have the transfer portal so readily available and players that you're bringing in like that, that is going to be the single biggest question mark for Kentucky is you know, who can kind of move lessen. Everybody needs to stop thinking who's going to be the next Georgia Amore because there's not one. So I mean it's not that's not the question, it's it's who can run the offense. Right now we're looking at not who's the next Georgia Amore

and who does what Georgia does. There isn't anyone, So it's going to be who can run the offense efficiently to keep this team on that winning playing field here where where they're they're you know, Kenny brought them back last year, so they got to stay there, and then that'll be the question.

I don't think that's right. A fair assessment that somebody who could come in and have some confidence about themselves to say I can do this. We need you need me to run the team. That's what I do. I'm a point guard. I run, you know, and I can run this offense. So you know, I think she is a great get for them in that way, you know. But again it's a matter of coming in and you've

got to learn everybody. You're learning Kenny system, you're learning what he wants, how he wants things, but you're also learning Lexington and the university and a new place to live and classes and where am I going and where can I go eat? And you know all those things. So it's a lot for anybody that's coming in as a as a first year player here at any school, not just Kentucky. But I think that was a big

get for them. But I'll tell you this, I am more excited than anything about watching the two young ladies who were injured last season, and that's Jordan Obi and Dominica Parova. They by all accounts were or could have been starters and so and when you lose them, and they've got great size, they can shoot, they can do so many different They're athletic. They're long, lots of things that these young ladies can do, and they were out

all season long due to injury. So they'll both be back and I am so excited to see what they can do because there was so much talk about them going into last season as Kenny came on campus. So everybody watch out for those two. They're going to be really fun to watch well.

some fouls early. And I kept thinking that about Georgia aymore like, please just don't pick up two early fouls, and even when she did, she often still played, you know, in the first half. So yeah, you've got to have that depth to be able to play as aggressively and as you need to play in the SEC, you've got to have some depth because people are going to get

in foul trouble. You're going to get beat up and bang around, and you've got to have some depth, and they definitely will have that this year.

that many times rebounds the ball goes the distance. I've seen her take it coast to coast and go all the way up for a layup and no one stops her. So but that that versatility is really what Kenny is is actor and what he likes with his offense is you know, being able to do lots of things, like

different things like that. And you know, Claire was somebody that I think really surprised me in that regard that about how how well she passed the ball, how well she sees the floor, and so I think that's a really fun thing to keep an eye out for her too, to see, you know, she will just continue to get better. And she's a hard worker. This young lady isn't isn't

doesn't shy away from from the hard work. So, yeah, a little bit more of everything, right, I mean, when you lose twenty some points a game or you know, eighteen points a game with Georgia Amore, you've got to have a little bit more of everything from somebody like that. But again, I go back to this idea of her

being a leader. They're going to have to have more of that more than anything is her leadership and her vocal leadership, and you know so so I think it'll be really interesting to watch her kind of move into a bigger role like that and to watch who else you are. I mean, that's always a fun thing as well too.

and understands being around a little while. So she's going to be a lot of fun. I think she's somebody that could easily be turned into a fan favorite.