2025-06-4 - BBI

Gary Moore joined us in our number two. I wanted to talk a little bit first about UK basketball, the NBA and the media because for many, many years being a member of the media, I've heard people criticize us, those of us in the media about being negative or whatever. And that's the case. You're always going to hear that if somebody says or writes anything that doesn't agree with what they think, and isn't you know, if you're not

with us, you're against this kind of stuff. But if you think it's bad here, and I've heard people talk about how terrible it is. No trust me, it's not. And I will start by saying, I remember many many years ago hearing Rick Patino talking to somebody about the media in Kentucky compared to the media in New York. Because remember he had come from coaching the Knicks. You talk about a lightning rod. Now he had won a bunch of games up there, they had won a divisional title,

they had packed Madison Square Garden. But he was still criticized because if you're a pro coach anywhere, you're going to be criticized, especially in New York. And of course Tom Tibodeau just fired by the Knicks. All he did was win fifty games get him to the Eastern Conference Final. We will come back to that. But I heard Patino explain to somebody comparing media in Kentucky to the media in New York. And when he talked about us, he said,

they're like candy compared to New York. I always got to kick out of that, They're like candy compared to the media in New York. And that's true, you know, because New York is the most competitive media market in the world, and those men and women up there are battling for ratings, for eyeballs, for readers, still for clicks. So what's the best way to get those Well, not by saying everything's great. No, by attacking. And you know, if the team is winning and winning big, yeah, it's fine.

But if it's not, they attack, And that has happened now, of course with the Knick's coach who's now fired and it's kind of divided the media. Should he have been fired? Should he not? But of course one of the biggest targets right now, literally and figuratively is Karl Anthony Towns came over in the trade from Minnesota for Julius Randalls, so two Wildcats being swapped, and Towns was supposed to be the final piece of that puzzle. And you heard

Mike Sephaznik talk about this on the show. Are New York based superfan UK superfan the other day. I got some tweets and texts from you guys and joined that interview. I'm glad you did. But as Mike pointed out, Towns is built like the proverbial aircraft carrier, as Al McGuire used to call, but he is not the classic and I don't know how many of these guys exist anymore, low post bigs who set up shop in the bottom

of the paint and do all their work there. No, he's out on the floor, he's shooting threes, but he does. Every big man does that now in the NBA. DeMarcus Cousins was doing that in the NBA before he got hurt. So now he's the big he's the big target, he's the big paycheck, and he's the biggest target for criticism and Mike, not long after we taped our interview, he sent me a link to a SoundBite from WFN Radio knocking Boy, not just knocking destroying Carl Anthony Towns.

losing player. He complains, he is soft. He shows you flashes where he's the best player on the court, not enough, he doesn't play enough defense. He bitches and moans. He is, up until this point in his career, a loser who is making fifty million dollars, who is going to be a logjam. As far as them trying to get to the next level.

when you complain about us. And I'm not saying we're above reproach. You complain about us all we all you want. People have complained about me since I began my career, such as it is. But I just think it's interesting when I hear people complain about lexing and media and talk about us, And of course it's all relative. I know, if you grew up in this area and you grew up reading and listening and watching media people, you know what you like and you know what you don't like.

But trust me, it's nothing, nothing like it is in the bigger markets. For that reason, what if Mark Pope it was expected now to make a run for the national title? Legitimate run, as Cameron Mills pointed out yesterday, that's always the mission. What nobody expected that? And I wonder how many people expected a Sweet sixteen run based on a reaction by the Wildcat faithful. Probably not many. They were so happy with that team last year. Well what about this coming year? And we'll talk about the

preseason Top twenty five here in a minute. So what if Pope doesn't accomplish that, What if he doesn't get it done in the next three to five years, I guarantee you he won't be trashed away. Karl Anthony Towns has been trashed in New York preseason rankings right now they all two early preseason rankings are out there. And you may have noticed if you listened last night with camer Mills. I didn't bring this up because he loses his mind whenever you talk about polls. This is the

blind spot for him. He refuses to accept the fact it's for fun, for us that the consumer, and for the people doing the polls. It's a way to fill space and time. I always say, the internet's a bottomless pitt and we have to fill it right cbssports dot com as they're all too soon. Top twenty five preseason and number one is Saint John's talk about high expectations.

Thirty one and five. Last year, upset in the nca Tournament by Arkansas, but they get a bunch of transfers a guy from North Carolina, Bryce Hopkins from Providence, got a kid from Arizona State from Cincinnati, Stanford, Idaho State crying out loud an Naia player transferring in. They're bringing in a kid from overseas and a four star high school kid. Patino said he was going to ignore high school kids. He did sign one, and CBS Sports has them number one preseason. I will save you the time.

Kentucky is number twelve, and this is after well Tago Away made his announcement, but of course they cite him. Brandon Garret Garrison, all the transfers coming in and the four star freshman class Jasper Johnson, Malachai Moreno, and Brayden Hawthorne. So now you're wondering, well, who could be better than Kentucky? In between uk and Saint John's Well Houston three at the top seven scorers are back from a team that played for a national title last year. Brigham Young is third.

How about that they've got freshmen, They've got transfers. Perdue is fourth, Yukon fifth. Florida defending champion is six, but five of its top ten scorers back. Texas Tech is seventh, then Michigan Duke, Ucla, and Arizona, following Kentucky, Iowa State, Alabama, and Louisville at number fifteen. I've seen Louisville in the top ten in one of these way too soon surveys. So again, it's just for fun, and I doubt if this changes much now between the beginning of the season

and today, unless somebody gets hurt. But it's just for fun. Nobody's saying that Saint John's is a lot. But it's going to be fun to see what Patino does for an encore, just as it's going to be fun to see what Mark Pope does for an encore. And remember they play each other down in Atlanta. We'll talk about this in more, but Aaron Gershawn when we come back up next the College Football Hall of Fame ballot. I mentioned the other night Randall Cobb is on the ballot.

He'll get my vote, But as for who else I'm going to vote for, this is one of the toughest years I can remember, and so many of the players you and I have seen them play against Kentucky or we've seen them play in high profile games. That's all ahead here on the big Blue side. Six thirty Wlap Welcome back to the Big Blue Sider. Coming up at the bottom of the hour, Aaron Gershawn of the catch Pause, and then in hour number two, Sean Woods, the unforgettable Guard,

and West End Bureau Chief Gary Moore. We speak to each of those guys scheduling permitting on Wednesdays. I talked a little bit yesterday about the fact that Randall Cobb, the maybe best all around player in the history of Kentucky football, is now on the College Football Hall of Fame ballot the class of twenty twenty six, and he

is up against some serious, serious competition. But think about this now, Remember now, Tim kouch went in what was it last year, they put out these numbers, five point seven eight million players in college football since the first game Princeton versus Rutgers in eighteen sixty nine. No, I didn't cover it, but since then, only a total of one thousand, one hundred and eleven players eleven to eleven have earned induction into the College Football Hall of Fame.

That is point zero two percent, less than two to one hundredth of a percent of anybody who played the game in the last one hundred and fifty five seasons. And from the coaching ranks. Only two hundred and thirty seven individuals have been named to the College Football Hall of Fame. So amazing, amazing those numbers, which is why it's so tough to get in. I do have a vote as a member of the College Football Writers Association, and going through the ballot, yeah, I will vote for

Randall Cobb. And I know it's terribly parochial, maybe a little biased, but that's why there are people like me across the country with votes with ballots. So but as I said, I went through the names, and you know, they just conjured so many memories. But so many of these players played against Kentucky or we had seen them play somehow. In some of these names, you're gonna know regardless.

Morton Anderson, the great kicker from Michigan State. Eric b Enemy to Colorada running back nineteen ninety third in the Heighspan Trophy balloting. Courtney Brown, a great defensive end of Penn State, played against the Wildcats in the nineteen ninety eight outback Well actually played it on January one, nineteen ninety nine. But he was an incredibly good player, unanimous first team All American and Penn State's all time career leader in TFLs and sacks and played against Tim Couch

in Kentucky. How Mummy's team back then another Penn State player Kase Johnnick Carter. If you're a Bengals fan, you saw him play. Injuries meant he did not have a great pro career, but he unanimous first team All American and a Heisman runner up In nineteen ninety four. Brad culpeper Florida defensive tackle Wildcats had to play against Aaron Donald. Kentucky never played against him. He played at pitt and then of course went on to a great NFL career.

Super Bowl champion Elvis Doomerville, UFL defensive end, unanimous first team All American and twenty oh five winner of the Negerski Trophy. Led the nation in sacks that year with twenty and was ranked fourth in TFLs with twenty two. What may have won him that Nigersky Award was his performance against Kentucky that year. Cardinals won that game thirty one to twenty four. Good game and he was a difference maker six sacks in one game that broke the

NCAA single game sack record. Later on, he broke the NSA record for forced fumbles that season. Von Dunbar, running back for Indiana, played against the Wildcats. Robert Griffin third RG three from Baylor, consensus first team All American, blew his knee. He killed his NFL career, but a great player in college. Percy Harvin two, I'm first team All American for Florida. Remember watching him play against Kentucky. Kentucky had no answers for that guy. Nobody had answers for

that guy. Also, Garrison Hurst, running back nineteen ninety two from Georgia, was so great watching him play against the Wildcats. His senior year. He ran for one hundred and seventy one yards in a touchdown against Kentucky beat the Wildcats forty to seven, mark Ingram Alabama running back Believe it or not, Alabama's first ever Heisman Trophy winner, and he

graduated in twenty oh nine. Up until that point, Bama had never had a Heisman Trophy winner, but he was sec offensive player of the year, led the league in rushing and touchdowns. You know who else is on the ballot? Riot Leaf, Washington State first team All American quarterback, third in the Heisman Trophy voting. Remember the NFL draft that year came down to Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf. Colts made the right decision. Leif had terrible problems with his

personal discipline, shall we say when he got out. But a great college player, Marshawn Lynch Cal running back is on the ballot. You know who else is on the ballot? Kellen Moore from Boise State quarterback twenty ten first Team All American, finished his career as the winningest starting quarterback in college football history, still Boise States all time leading passer. Really part of that Boise team that put that program on the map. I'll tell you another guy who's got

to go in first ballot. I gotta think Cam Newton of Auburn and since his first team All American Heightsman Trophy winner in twenty ten led the Tigers to a national title. But the toughest game that year for Auburn go look it up. Prior to the championship game, Kentucky in lection It Wildcats had a chance just barely missed upsetting Auburn, which needed a game winning drive led by Newton in a closing seconds and a field goal to beat the Wildcats. And until the championship game. That was

their toughest game. I know they fell behind it to come back against Alabama, but they won easily over Alabama compared to the win over Kentucky. Ken Norton, Junior UCLA linebacker is on the ballot. His son He is the son of the boxer. Ken Norton Junior's son. At one point, he's a sports catch. At one point worked at WLKY and Louisville. How about that Antwine Randall l Indiana First Team All America quarterback in twenty one as a senior.

His team had a losing record. What was the first team All American and his last game of his college career was a win over the Wildcats. They were supposed to play Kentucky second weekend of September, then nine to eleven happened. That game was moved to the end of the year and Randall LL had a big game. His team carried him off the field. After winning over Kentucky, he became the first player in FBS history to throw for six thousand yards and rush for three thousand yards.

Ran for more yards in any quarterback in FBS history at that point. At the conclusion of his career, switched to wide receiver, had a nice pro career. Larry Severs Tennessee wide receiver, first team All American consensus nineteen seventy five at seventy six, but his last game as a collegiate a lost to Kentucky in Knoxville, sixth to nothing. Kentucky went on to the Peach Bowl. Tennessee did not get a bid and their coach was fired. But Larry

Sivers great player. Also in the ballot and Dominican Sue the great Nebraska defensive tackle Mantit Tew Notre Dame linebacker, unanimous first team All American. Unfortunately was best known because he got catfished. Also in the ballot Peter Warwick, great wide receiver from Florida State. Five years with the Bengals. If you're a Bengals fan, you watched him. So that's

what I'm saying. This is an incredibly talented ballad. Not sure who I'm going to vote for, but I will vote for Randall Copp Back in the minute with Aaron Gershean on six thirty wlap welcome back to the Big Blue and sider joining us now as he does each week. Aaron Gershan of the Cats pause, and before we talk about the current Wildcats, Aaron, I got to ask you about a former Wildcat. You covered Karl Anthony Towns when he was here, or at least, let's see, were you in Indiana by then?

look that clip. I actually I agree with the fact he could be frustrating and the shot selection sometimes is way off, and he's such a good player, and he is inconsistent, and I think those are all good takes. But to say he's what's holding them back, to tell them back this year is crazy to me, based on the fact they went further this year. And I know

the same team beat him. I get that, but and you know everyone's going to make the argument, oh, if Jason Tatum to get hurt, well in Game five, when Jason Tatum unfortunately did arraus achilles, the Knicks had all

the momentum before that injury occurred. They were in the lead, and they were probably still going to win the game, and they would have been up three to one, and then they still lost the game with Tatum backs without with Tatum out, so you know, and then they were able to finish off that series and dominate Game six, and you know, so to me, they actually took the next step this year, even if you want to call it a little lucky that you know, a superstar went down.

To me, the Knicks had bigger issues. It was their offense really, And you know, I don't necessarily agree with firing Tom said though, with given what he's done with this franchise that has been just awful until he arrived and they made the playoffs his first year, and they've been the playoffs all but one year he was there.

But you know, their offensive times kind of similar to what we saw toward the end of the cal era, a little bit outdated, a little bit slow, and then the short rotations, and you could demply tell fatigue got the guys like Kat and Jalen Brompton and Josh Hart by the end of the year because they play such

a darn large low during the regular season. And that's not to say they need to be I'm not a load management fan, so it's not the fact like, yes, he can play his eighty two games, but playing forty minutes in seventy of eighty two games, yeah, I don't know if that's the best strategy. You've got to have a bench, and you've got to have depth. In Indiana had it in the next.

in good fun. But on your website, Isaac Trotter of two four to seven Sports as Kentucky seventh, not twelve, and gives Kentucky a huge shot at winning a national title. But that's what people expect. So that's Is it a big deal or no?

going to get in. So they come in twenty third and then they start the year red hot, and they go all the way up to number four, you know before they lost to Clemson. So you know, there's a lot of unknown last year, and I think it is a big deal that already in year two where last year they're really the expectation was just makes the tournament and let's see what we've got. This year, it's final

four busts in a lot of people's eyes. And when you build a roster this talented and with this much death, you have a guy in oteke Away who was all the second team all SEC last year, was your leading scorer, was in double figures in all but two or three games, coming back to lead the team. Like, yeah, it's going to come with expectations, especially you know, again, I think

we touched on it. Last week Auburn and Alabama got saved by the bell too on NBA Day, NBA deadline Day, getting file On back to Bama and then Pettiford back to Auburn. So you know, those two teams probably were fringe top twenty five. Now they're looking, you know, top fifteen to top twenty, but still they're not. I don't think they're gonna be as dominant as they were last year. Florida should be really, really good again. They've reloaded Arkansas,

you think is gonna be better. I still am skeptical about the shooting on that roster, so you know, the SEC is not going to take a drastic step back. But I think it's almost impossible for to be as elite as it was last year. I mean, I could be wrong, and I hope I'm wrong, because it was a heck of a lot of fun watching all these battles last year. But yeah, I see they I think they are on paper a top ten teams. But you got to now it's about managing those expectations and going

out and performing. We haven't really, we haven't really seen a Mark Pope led team have these high expectations and see how he handles, you know, keeping those rankings out of eyesight, out of earshot. We haven't seen that yet. So, you know, last year they were kind of like the underdogs. Even though they did get up into the top four and they beat some really good teams, no one was really no one really took them all that seriously. And you know, they went to the Sweet sixteen with a

pang groups. So it's gonna be different this here, coming in with high expectations, and if they.

have no business losing to. I mean, you just go back to his last year there at BYU. They lost the Brandon Garrison in Oklahoma State, who finished dead last in the Big twelve. They loft Oklahoma and won't take away That team wasn't any good. So you know there are some puzzling losses that happened that year, and go through his track record, I don't have them all in front of me. And then last year, of course, you know losing you know, Georgia ended up being a tournament team,

but a team he should be able to handle. You lose on the road to Texas when Texas was paying up as well and you had the game in control, and you know, I'm missing some of the other weird ones off the top of my head, but just just games. You feel like you should have had Vanderbilt on the road again, another tournament team, but you know you're down big, then you take an eight point lead. You should be

able to finish them off. So you know, that is one thing you look at going to next year, you look at how you know, maybe I don't know if it's hype. I don't know if it's what the messaging. Who knows. Maybe it was just off days from these particular teams and it's just all, you know, just not a trend we should be worried about. But yeah, that's definitely something.

has to play out of the floor. There's always going to be teams that I mean, no one had any expectations for Louisville last year and how could you. And you know, they ended up having a very nice year. I know the ACC was down, but you know they lost seven or eight games. That's a really really good year no matter how you slice it. So you know, there's always going to be a team that's overlooked. But you know, Kentucky this year, you know last year was

kind of in that boat. This year they're going to come in you know, was it on their chest and they're going to have to They're gonna have to perform. It's the first again, it's the first time we've really seen this with Pope, and it's going to be really interesting. And like you said, some cow Perry teams handled it really well and others, you know, not so all.

He had hit a two eight five era you know, only I think twelve or thirteen innings, but still pretty solid there, and you know, had hit two eighty six by far his best on the ear. But it was kind of weird where he was on the bench for a while and then he comes back into play first base when they kind of gave up on Dylan Koon's and you know, maybe they should have played Hudson Brent.

It was kind of a kind of a weird year with him where you know, he boo chins and he's still being counted on at a relief at some points and probably you know, going into his last year, going somewhere where he has a more established, clear cut role, and you know it's going to be this this is the first off seasons where it's going to be so interesting to see what happens in the sense that Kentucky

has so much talents coming back. But now we're really you know, two years ago, you could have said the same going into the twenty twenty four year, and yes, the portal was active, but now it's now you're seeing the warcats come out and teams with no rules coming

in and throwing all these dollars out. And you know, you can't tell me that the LSUS the Mississippi States of the world are not going to be coming after Tyler Bell and coming after you know, Ryan Schwartz and Hudson Brown and Ben Cleaver like they Kentucky has some really darn good players that are half the return next year, and you know it's gonna be really interesting and hopefully

they can keep all of them. Because if they keep all of them, and even if they keep the vast majority of them, I think Minion what he said in his press conference is not far off. Like if they do the if they make the moves they have to make in the portal to you know, they're gonna need catching. They have no castres on next year's roster. They're gonna need to address the bullten issues that kill them this year.

They're gonna need probably one more starting picture. But if they do all that and then bring back what they have, like it's a top ten roster. It really is. I mean, just based on the returning talent and how they performed this last year. But it's gonna be really hard to keep the Tyler Bells, the Hudson Browns and Ryan Schwartz Ben Clee. Like, this is going to be the first kind of test for Kentucky baseball in their NIL situation.

And I think all fans and media like are curious to see how this thing goes.

to becoming a first round pick one day. And yeah, you can't tell me that the lss of the world are not And I'm not just I'm just saying all too because I know what the type of baseball war chests they have. But even like Arizona State, they have a ton of money they pour into baseball. Mississippi State now with a new head coach, starting a new era like Texas, I mean what they were able to do this year. I know they did disappointing end there in

the tournament. A lot of teams in the SEC did, But yeah, I would expect it's going to be uncomfortable for Mgione and this staff.

that's what happens. But you know Kentucky, yes they're in the SEC, and yes they've made the tournament three years in a row, gone to a College World Series. They just still don't have the work chefs that some of these other schools do. That some of these other schools do, and that's what's going to make it really tough to obtain all these really really good players they have to come back.

reasionable right state knocking out Vanderbilt UTSA beating Texas like that. Yeah, like all those things, like they're not being talked about enough, because it's an amazing story to show you how much this field has been leveled like this. You could never have thought any of this would happen five years ago. But now you're sitting here going in to Supers and the number one and two teams in the country are

gone towards you. The seven overall seat is gone, like some power power programs with a lot of money being knocked off by teams with not nearly as much money, but they're able to put their full team on scholarship and clean up in the portal when all the big big names are help.

these in these transfer portal battles. But at the end of the day, man, it's gonna be it's gonna be a big test. I genuinely like, I don't really have a good feel of what these baseball kids are able to pay. These guys, I just I'm sure just don't have a good feel. I think this will be a good learning curve for all of us to see what help they need. It will be a good message for everybody.

If you didn't know, you've got basketball teams with what thirteen skollies, women's basketball gets, fifteen, football eighty five whatever it is. Baseball forever has said eleven point seven scholarships. Now, if your school has programs involving grants where you can go out and get a kid with certain types of grant money, then you can. You could in the past, you know, add that to your recruiting budget. Basically, not every school can do that, and now and Kentucky did

it somewhat, but not nearly as much as others. They weren't able to. But now you don't have to worry about that because the rules are changing the total number of scholaries. Baseball can be fully funded in terms of schollies. You got to cut down and do away with walk ons, but you've also got the nil dollars figuring in. So I know athletic administrators don't like to call it the wild West, but give me a better term and I'll

use it. Our number two is Sean Woods and Gary Moore next done six thirty WLP.

He gets fired after coaching his team to fifty wins in their first appearance in the Eastern Conference Final in more than two decades. I know you're a Pacers fan, but as a professional coach man, you got a feel for that guy, don't you.

as he could take them, you know. I mean, look what they did at Dwayne Casey years ago at at Toronto, you know, coach of the year, and he got fired, you know, and Tim is one of the best coaches in the NBA.

you got to punish somebody. And they're not going to punish the players because they all have contracts, so it's easier to punish the coach. Is that too simple?

do you do as a coach. I mean, he's got to depend on a GM to go out and hire guys. But at your level high school, in college, how do you avoid that?

talent or better talent than you. So it's kind of different. But as an NBA guy, you're stuck unless you the GM and the coach or you got a lot of school and and and decision making. You know, you you doing what you know. Sometimes a player show up and you don't even know that there was a trade man done until the player gets there. So you know that's that's a heck of a feeling right there, you know what I mean? Special got things going, yeah, and you know, yeah, it's tough.

or they're just doing things differently. You've got so much movement now, and you covered high school basketball all year on TV side, and you saw teams that have, well this kid was at this school last year and the year before somewhere else. Uh do you think we'll ever get back to routinely seeing teams with the core of talent, of kids who have played together for most of their careers or has that gone forever?

I'm saying. I mean, because these kids have so much leverage and so much freedom to either demand money or go search for it, and then they can leave with no nothing.

the pros what he needs to do. You know, I'm sure like old way, you know, he went to the Combines and you know, got an evaluation of what he needs to work on us and improve his draft status. So what do you think he's gonna do when he comes back to Kentucky he wants to take you know, he's I'm sure his people told Mark this is what they're looking for, this is what he needs to be doing the show that he's worthy to build the NBA. You know what I'm saying, mid first round of late

first round draft pick. So how is his mentality going to change when he comes back? You see what I'm saying. I gonna be the same old way, all bought in humble or is he gonna come in with a chip on the shoulder saying, you know, as a prima donna like you need me. You know, I played this good at the end of the year, So now I got to show these guys that I can do this and that. And it may be against what Mark is doing well.

what I bring to the table. And then you know, I've got you know, over twenty some guys playing professional basketball too, played in the NBA, So I think I know what I'm doing a little bit, and that gives me a little more credibility than most because I've been where they're trying to go.

head coach at Scott County High School. We've been talking about roster development coaches being hired and fired and dealing with agents and parents and things like that, and you know, the fact that you've got that experience is so key. And I also wonder Sean, you and I have talked before about the fact that you are a terrific point guard in college, one of the better point guards in America really when you look at what Kentucky accomplished while you were there, and but as you pointed out, you

were not a point guard in high school. You did what your team needed you to do to win. Will you share that or how much will you share that with kids? Because that I think that's a great parable.

for the most part. So it's actually good for me because yeah, we may have a six two six y three center, but he's going to have guard tendencies to be able to you know, dribble pass and shoot, which allows my team to be more effective and more dangerous from a matchup situation because I can play five out

and and everybody's a threat. So you know, that's why it's you know, it's so fun to play for me and watch our style of play because we play so fast and everybody will be able to dribble, pass and shoot, which allows us to play faster, more entertaining, and everybody's having a good time instead of going down there and one guy only can do this and one guy can

only do that. I've never liked to coach that way, so you know, if you were a shooter, good, but most shooters don't play defense very much or they're not great ball hounds. Well, that's where the school of Rick Patino comes in to play the Billy Donovans and things like that. The individual workouts to improve your skill level. So that's when I'm big on and that's what I'm going to be doing while I'm high school coaching at Scott count of High School.

do that, you know what I'm saying. You know, you got you got your individual workouts and waits before before you go to class, and then you know, you get out, you know, practice at three thirty four o'clock and you got practice, you know, and you know that's what that's that's what we're doing, you know right now, And I'm sure a lot of high school coaches are doing that.

You know, that's the only way you can do it because from from eight fifty to three fifty, you know, they're in school unless you have them in a study hall or gym class or something like that that most of your players are in that you can get some stuff done that way too. So you know, there's ways of skin. There's plenty of ways of skin a cat. You just got to be creative.

Will we see that? Will we see that at Scott County High School?

You know, the confidence is down. So right now, all I'm doing is building confidence, building a toughness from a mental standpoint, and and and really demanding them to play at a higher level than they've ever played before. And they're uncomfortable right now. They're struggling a little bit. But some of them are starting to get it and start to feel that they're getting better, and which that's what

it's all about, you know what I mean. You know, you know, right now I'm the bad guy because you know, they I'm putting them in a situation they're not used to. But they'll see it in the long run, how how it's paid, how it's going to pay off, because they're you know, everybody's uncomfortable, you know what I mean. And the talent level is not where I want it to be right now, but it will be in a short

amount of time. But you know, you just got to roll with what you got to roll with, and no matter who it is, Like I got that from Coach Patino, you got to figure out a way to maximize what you got. And we're not talented enough right now to just go head to head with somebody. We got to create pace, We got to create our whole deal to

offset some of our deficiencies. And that's just to you know, speed the game up, money the game, pressure the basketball to create more more more possessions, uh, until we get some size in athleticism. So that's yeah, we're gonna play almost exactly the way. And you know, as well as I do. It's gonna be fun, it's gonna be nation.

for first point go out. When he got to orlandos right, played in pros.

WLAP Welcome back to the Big Blue and Cider. It is Wednesday, and that means we look to the west, to our Westen Bureau Chief Gary Moore was on the West coast for many, many years, too many KLOS Radio, too many, and now he's back in LA, the Louisville area and he checks in every week.

and middle school punk. I rode my Stingray bike to many a Murray State game was bat boy for many a visiting team like let's see Purdue, Vandy, Brown, North Dakota and so on. The Racers were called then the Thoroughbreds. Yeah, in baseball, you remember that as long as coach Reagan was there. And for this year's Murray State team to reach its first ever Super Regional and to beat the likes of old miss in Georgia Tech to accomplish it, Dick,

it feels like all those fields of dreams. I spent many an afternoon upon finally coming Game one Racers Duke Saturday afternoon in Durham one pm on ESPN U.

man for so long at Murray State. And I remember the first time I did at Murray State baseball game and I'm like, they made a mistake here. It's just Thoroughbreds. But yeah, for some reason he wanted him to be called the Thoroughbreds and not the racers. And yeah, I mean somewhere he's smiling, and Buddy, I've covered baseball at Ole Miss. To win a game there, oh, to win a regional there is mean football is first at Ole Miss, but baseball second, not basketball. It's tough. And they did it.

stats from last weekend. Twenty seven innings from the starters or all the pitchers, and they just had ten hits, allowed, only four earned runs, forty three k's with a three to zero record. That's a kind of performance you definitely want this time of year. So starting Friday three o'clock ESPN two, it sold out Patterson Stadium, the Cards host of Miami and acc foe they did not play this year.

The Canes are thirty four and twenty five overall, Cards are thirty eight and twenty one, but Louisville's twenty seven and seven at home, So give me the car Ds to reach their sixth trip to Omaha. Who do you like in this one?

And again you never can't quite tell with the midweek, But as you know, in the postseason, it's about everybody, not just the starters, it's the entire staff because comes down to pitching depth. And evidently Louisville got healthy, and I give him a real chance like you do. Third Swig.

leads in the most heart wrenching form ever. Stats guru Corey Price tweeted Sunday night was UK's twelfth lost this season by just one skinny Measley run but you know, Nick had to replace practically every key member of last year's World Series team. So hats off for me anyway for even getting to the regional to begin with. So I ask you, now, what our priorities one, two, and three?

about that, especially in the SEC. But when the house settlement comes down, you know, and then the scholarships are a little more spread out, Kentucky needs to get aggressive, and I think it will. But that's one thing minji On has done lately really well, is use the portal and build with parts and elements that he believes need to be landed for his style of play, you know, And you can argue and I go crazy when they make the third out of third base and that kind

of stuff. But since he really changed the way he does business, they've known nothing but success forth Swig.

your way out of it. You know, they had no home runs in that game on Monday night when he scored twelve runs.

were number seventeen the week of April twenty second. So the standard has been the set. But as you know, and Nick and the Batcats know all too well, it's hard to repeat these banner years back to back.

movement of these players, and yeah, that does break. It has brought some parody, but it has made the rich get richer at the expense of schools like Western Kentucky. But it's always fun when a school jumps up and as a like that.

always the hottest ticket any year for Dodger fans. So you'd think that that was the case again last weekend, right, Not so fast, my friend down the five Freeway in Anaheim, the Savannah Bananas sold out two nights at the Big A lowest ticket price on StubHub for a pair of tickets for the Bananas two hundred and nine dollars fifty two cents. How about a pair of Dodgers Yankees tickets

lowest price won seventy one. Seventy two bananas were also given the Royal Disneyland treatment, marching down Main Street with Mickey Goofy and Donald Duck not the other done. In a great La Times story by Anthony Leon. Over the weekend, Banana's owner and ringmaster Jesse Cole, talked about going to Disney World when he was a kid and what that emotional experience did for him. He said, quote, our success is not judged by revenue. It's not judged by sales.

It's judged by the moments we create. How do we make someone feel something unquote selling out stadiums that their regular tenants can't even sell out. Heals a lot of magic memories to me. And they got some sellout dates coming up here in Louisville in I think a few weeks.

sold tickets and made a lot of money. I mean, yeah, I mean, I think southern California is the perfect venue or situations like that. You lived out there, you know what I'm saying. Sure, but you know the banana ball you can see on ESPN Plus now they got their own streaming network. It's incredibly entertaining. And I think I may have told you this before, but Kentucky had a picture on his staff. A guy from New Jersey, good dude, Alex Degan. He was a six foot eight, well it

is six foot eight. Wanted to be an Air Force pilot too tall, so transferred to Kentucky from Air Force. And when he got out, or at least one summer, he played for the Bananas and he told me he enjoyed it. He said they want me back. I said, he going to go. He goes. I'm not much of a dancer, so you've really got to have all the skills set to be a banana.

knew who it was. McAfee said on his Teen Boys show tell he told John to shut the f up and quote suck it, buddy, unquote. McAfee was invited to New York and Madison Square Garden for the series game five by Ben Stiller, who's one of the celebrities booed there at game four, but McAfee chickened out. Madison Square Garden, of course, is where many a snowflake like McAfee milks.

of things like this every now and then. You've got to think before you speak.

We're chatting with our Western Bureau chief, Gary Moore. We have heard two guys in the six back time for a couple of hot reds and Gary, a fun farewell to in rest in peace to Jim Marshall, who was a great, great NFL player back in the sixties and seventies yep, and was known for essentially two things, being an NFL iron Man yep. And going the wrong way with a fumble and returning his sixty six yards into his own end zone for a safety. You know he

got the wrong way tag. NFL films ranked him in the two thousands as the second best player not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, but Gary. When Brett farre broke the iron Man record for consecutive regular season games, he broke Jim Marshall's record. Not a QB, not a wide receiver, but a defensive Lineman two hundred and seventy consecutive regular season games, and you gotta wonder, will we ever see a guy like that again, a defender like that.

I mentioned this earlier. I went through the list of guys who were in the College Football Hall of Fame ballot, including Randall Cobb, who will get my vote. But well, you talk of had a tough, tough list from which to choose. However, I didn't know if it'll be this year or whenever, but I think it's got to be a no brainer for Mike Leach. Oh yeah, they waive the rule used to be a certain winning percentage for a coach. And of course he died suddenly, way too young.

But here's a guy who thanks a lot to how Mummy revolutionized college football. Yeah, and you know, I don't care about wins and losses. That guy belonged to the Hall of Fame, no question.

he's a fun individual as well. I think the percentage was six hundred and they lowered it down to five ninety five winning percentage, but he should have been in any way regardless of that. That's a crazy rule.

And that's because Rich Brooks did the groundwork, the dirty work, and they're all standing on his shoulders and a lot of people are standing on Mike Leach's shoulders right now. And when he died, I got Neil Price on the phone and I swapped stories with him. Now the Mississippi State playbo play voice, and he adored talking to Mike Leach is because they would talk about everything but football, both on and off the air. And we only got to know Mike a little bit when he was here.

But I give how Mummy credit because he gave Leach the title offensive coordinator. Mike Leach never called a play that can help build a game plan, coach the quarterbacks, but how Mummy called the plays. But Mummy knew that the rest of the country media born would look at Mike Leach and sure enough, Gary, you might remember this.

When Kentucky was on TV, cameras would always find Mike Leach in a press box like they do with all coordinators, right right, and you know there he is the offensive coordinator for this you know, air raid offense and all that. Now it was Mummy, but it helped Mike Leach move along. And when Oklahoma needed an OC, who did they hire Mike? I know? And what happened? They won a national title. Look at the body of work.