2025-07-02 - BBI

and the baseball Wildcats as well. Sewn Wood's the unforgettable guard and the coach of La Famiya, the UK entry into TBT, the Basketball Tournament, and West n Bura chief Geary More will join us as well in our number two. It is summertime, but as always there is news about the Wildcats. It's the talking season, as you know when it comes to Kentucky football and coming up in a couple of weeks now, as he's seen media days down in Atlanta, so Mark Stoops will be front and center.

He's the last guy to talk though, believe it or not, so we will have to wait a few days to find out what he has to say about his team. Some preseason honors starting to come in, and the Atlon preseason All Conference Team for Kentucky. And you know it's not going to be great going into this season. How much expected of the Wildcats. So now you've got Atlon with a third team offensive lineman Joshua Broun. One of the new faces, Alex Afari named fourth team defense. He

has been moved to linebackers. He's an undersized linebacker. But coming up in a few minutes, we hear from a guy who was an undersized linebacker, Danny Trevathan, now in the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame. All he did was become an All Conference linebacker and go on to win a Super Bowl in the NA so it can be done. So Afari named fourth team defense. Also fourth team defense defensive back j Q Hardaway. So some preseason honors.

There will be more for the Wildcats. But unfortunately, as I said, not a lot expected of Kentucky this year, so you won't hear a lot preseason about Kentucky players. Good news on the recruiting front for the Wildcats. UK has managed to flip a four star wide receiver. He had said yes to Auburn, but now he says he will be a Wildcat. He's the fourth wide receiver to commit in the class of twenty twenty six. His name is Denarius Gray. He had been committed to Auburn since

January of twenty four. He had visited Washington, NC State and Old Miss and two four to seven sports reporting the Ladamion Washington really like what he saw in Danarius Gray, so they kept after him and now he says he will be a Kentucky Wildcat. So there's a long way to go before signing day, but that's a good sign. Looking at the baseball side of campus, Tyler Bell another Accolade first Team Freshman All Americans, so named by D

one Baseball. Tyler Bell right now is busy playing for USA Baseball, but maybe obviously the SEC All Freshman team and now a first team Freshman All American per D one Baseball. So congrats to Tyler Bell. There is a lot of information out there right now about UK's new blueprint for funds in athletics, the LLC model, but there's also news according to on three dot com Nick Roush, writing about the fact that UK has changed its employee ticket policy and pricing as a revenue sharing era kicks off.

It actually kicked off officially yesterday July one, the beginning of the fiscal year. Schools have got to come up with a way to cover that twenty million dollars a year that they have to pay out the student athletes, and so they're looking for new revenue streams. At UK, kids will require tickets to attend big games. Back in the day, up until this past year, if you had a kid and you wanted them to sit on your lap, it was ten bucks. Now every person has to have

a full priced ticket, regardless of age. Children two and under can still sit on appearance lap for free, though at volleyball, women's basketball, gymnastics, baseball softball, dis kound of tickets will be available for kids three to eighteen, senior sixty five and older. UK also phasing out in employee and faculty discounts this fall. Eligible employees get a twenty percent discount on up to two season tickets, as well as a twenty percent discount down from fifty percent on

the Associated K Fund donation for the seats. In twenty twenty seven, discounts on tickets and k fund donations no longer apply for men's basketball and football, women's basketball and baseball, single game and mission for our university employees will transition to a paid model in twenty twenty six. No more employee discounts from twenty twenty seven on, and other sports will follow suit, but a lot of changes. Men's and women's soccer games are still free, but there had to

be a way for Kentucky to cover this cost. And Mitch Barnard had said and has said more than once, and he also said it in an article on cbssports dot Com that they didn't want to immediately raise ticket prices across the board. He said he just didn't think that was fair that a fan base to tax them all the time every time they need more money. And he said, frankly, it's not going to be viable in the state of Kentucky because of the population in the state.

It's just not as great as you know of other states. And a reminder, and we talked about this before the recent UK Board of Trustees meeting. The board approved a one hundred and forty one million dollar loan, which will include one hundred and ten million in capital investment loans. Thirty six million go to the improving of Kroger Field. They're also looking at exploring an entertainment district on campus. They're just looking at more ways to make money, and

we talked about that a lot. They got to cover this bill. The things they're gonna do very likely raise the rent on Kroger Field for other events, concerts, probably high school games. They don't have a you know, they're not going to make a lot more money on TV and radio or advertising if you will, so they got to look around and do whatever they can. Maybe you also charge more money for Rupp Arena for hosting NCAA

tournament events. But UK now with the model the LLC, which should make things easier, should allow UK to be more aggressive. And two schools in particular, Oklahoma and Mississippi State. According to cbsports dot com, they're athletics directors are examining what UK is doing right now. So there's a lot to it. Go to cbssports dot com. There's a really good article that will help you understand how the things work. But they, like I said, they got to cover that

somehow twenty point five million. They can't you, and they're not right now gonna jack up your ticket prices, So it's worth a look. Speaking of big money, Shay Gildess, Alexander is rolling in it now. He's got a brand new contract. He has re signed with the Oklahoma City Thunder after leading OKAC to an NBA Championship. It's first new deal four years, two one hundred and eighty five million,

called the Super Maximum Contract Extension. I would think so keeps him with the Thunder through twenty thirty thirty one. He is now the richest player per contract in league history. It's the richest annual salary for a player in league history. Pretty amazing. Led to the league in scoring thirty two point seven points during the regular season, average thirty points a game in THES and one of the few ever to win the MVP and Finals MVP in the same season.

Jordan did it four times, Lebron twice, Larry Bird twice and a few others but Sga in the conversation, and also the first player to win a scoring title NBA title in the same years since Shack did it back in two thousand. Michael did it six times, Jabbar, George, mikeh did it a couple of times, and Joe Folks, and it's just an incredible run for SGA, and that money is just crazy. And people are pointing out that Michael Jordan in his career made ninety three point nine million.

If you saw the Last Dance, you know, he made an extraordinary amount of money through Nike and other endorsements, and he kind of kept his salary down so the bulls will be able to spread it around a little bit and sign talent new players around him. But people also pointing out that, you know, Jordan played back in the nineties and the early oughts. So I looked it up to see how much money in today's dollars Michael

Jordan's ninety three million would be worth today. It would be worth one hundred and sixty two and a half million dollars. So SGA still got him. But as I said, Michael made so much money in endorsements and again kept his salary down a little bit just so the bulls could spread it around. Smart while we're talking about money, I would hope Shay gilgis Alexander is smart enough to keep an eye on his right now Malik Beasley under

investigation in a federal gambling probe. It was so bad that Beasley, well, first of all, had borrowed six hundred and fifty thousand dollars from a marketing agency, was part of actually a two plus million dollar advanced, but they wanted the money back and he couldn't pay it. And then came word that he couldn't pay fourteen thousand dollars in rent at his historic high rise apartment building in

downtown Detroit. A celebrity barber shop sued him for nearly twenty seven thousand dollars and one Cairo Cuts operates in Milwaukee. That's where he played for the Bucks for two or three years. And so, you know, I have this ongoing discussion with my buddy Doug Flynn, who now believes Pete Rose ought to be exonerated. Yeah, he bet on baseball, but he'd bet, as Doug said, well, so what baseball's in bed now? With fan duel and DraftKings in the

gambling outfit. Still, my argument is athletes should not be allowed to bet, especially within their own league, their own sport, because you just don't know when a guy is gonna get upside down with his or her finances and start looking around for a quick payday. I'llah fixing games. And every time you think now that ain't gonna happen, a Malik Beasley pops up. Guy was in terrible financial trouble and evidently allegedly turned to gambling. Keep that in mind.

Up next, I chat with Danny Trevathan, now member of the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame. Here in the Big Blue Sider six point thirty WAP. Welcome back to the Big bluon Sider. Coming up in a couple of minutes. Aaron Gershan of the Cat's pause, but not for long. He is going to be moving on. We'll talk about that, and we'll talk of course about the basketball and the football cats. Say. Speaking of basketball cats, Sean Woods, the

ex Wildcat, the unforgettable guard, will join us. He is also coaching the La Famia entry in TBT, the basketball tournament, and we'll talk about a roster addition, it popped up over the last few days. Also our West MBUA chief Gary Moore coming up in our number two. While I was taking a couple days off and of course over the weekend, had a chance to go to the Kentucky prof Football Hall of Fame banquet once again, and prior to the dinner, we talked with my pal Jim Dapolis,

who was inducted this year. He's always shown up at the banquet as a supporter, but some of us wondered why he wasn't in, and sure enough now he is. But we also got a chance to chat with Danny Trevathan the night of the banquet. We talked to Jim a few nights prior to the banquet. We talked to Danny the night of. He, of course, a really talented and popular Kentucky linebacker, played for the Wildcats from eight to twenty eleven, played under Rich Brooks and then Joker Phillips.

He was an All Conference performer at Kentucky, led the SEC in twenty ten in tackles with one hundred and forty for He might have been the leader again his last year, but he was injured, missed a couple of games, and I'd forgotten about this. He went through the draft evaluation process after his junior year, came back for his senior year and it helped him. He was drafted in the sixth round by the Denver Broncos. Even though he

was quote unquote undersized. He was only two hundred and thirty seven pounds six feet tall, but so fast, and the Broncos saw that they signed him. He played for their Super Bowl champion team, super Bowl number fifty, led by Peyton Manning, and after four years he signed a free agent deal and finished his career the last six years with the Chicago Bears. Not as much team success

with the Bears, but certainly had a great career. Ended up with seven hundred and forty one tackles, ten sacks, deflected thirty nine passes, picked off eight, and even had a pick six. We got to see that in the video when he was introduced at the banquet, But as I said, I had a chance to chat with Danny prior to that. He was already wearing the purple jacket

you know in Canton it's a gold jacket. Well, the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame, it's a purple jacket, which is a good idea for one thing, it's regal, it's a royal color. But the other thing, now, you got a lot of UK guys, a lot of U of L guys put purple or put red and blue together. He got purple. Danny looked pretty good in it, and he remembered me. He was surprised that I remembered him. Of course I'm gonna remember him. He was one of the greats and followed in the footsteps of the great

Wesley Woodyard. We talked about that, among other things, the night of the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame. Here's yours, truly, and Danny Trevathan, Well, what was your reaction when somebody gave you the call?

did that. So hopefully he sees this, and you know, he he he realized how much you mean to some people.

call him whatever you want. But Rich Brooks never stopped singing his praises. And it wasn't just about you know, how fast he was, how good he was. He just loved him as a player, as a person, and as you can tell of the feelings were mutual between Brooks and Danny Trevathan. Good to see him, and congrats to Danny for now being part of the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame. Tip of the Captive Frank Minifield for

the event that he and his people put on. It's a lot of work but it comes off really well. Brian Milem stepped in for Rob Bromley, hosted to Dinner, did a marvelous job. So good night, a good weekend, and good to see Danny Trevathan. Aaron Gershaw next on six thirty WLAP Welcome back to the Big Bluinsider, joined now as we are each and every Wednesday, but not for long by Aaron Gershaw and the Catspaws. We'll visit

again with him next week. But your short time you got a job lined up down in Florida, as I understand it, I do.

bittersweet leaving Lexing thing because it's become home. But you know, it's part of life, and you know we're expecially for the next chapter, but definitely going miss talking you every week and being a part of things here. And you know I'll be watching every game possible though and have my thoughts.

on the trail. He's done a phenomenal job. And obviously that's where this wide receiver committed, this receiver, that's this position group. You know the foot from Auburn here the

four star. But you know they're letting the position coaches recruit their position, and then they're not necessarily keeping those coaches in a specific geographical area, like obviously Marrow took over Ohio and went into Michigan with Steve Clinkscale while the clink was here, and you know John Sumrall when he was here kind of handles Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Eddie Grant when he was the OC was going down to South Florida, and even the last couple of years,

Mike Steups was going down to South Florida. Now it's just wherever you find players, go get them, and you know they've got an Mark Stewart has a win in Texas. Coach Watson has a win in Texas, like Brad White I think has had wins in Georgia, and I believe Alabama. Like there's no specific state where these coaches are recruiting. They're simply being told, Okay, get with the scouting department and recruit the best possible players at your position and

bring them home. And that philosophy seems to be working out pretty well, and they're you know, they're just they fully embraced it.

there's no in between. And you know, just as a professional sports fan, like when you when you're all invested in free agency in the trade market, like when your team does nothing, you're not improving. So Kentucky knew with all the struggles that they've had as a program, something had to change, and they decided this is a change they had to make. And you know, time will tell

if it works or not. But I give them props for trying something different, and you know, it's obviously resulted in a in a plot of commitments here lately, and honestly, you know that you don't need that many more after this because you're going to be relying on that portal still. I know it's gonna you know, some of the fifth and sixtiar guys are going to get weaseled out not

fit here. You have red shirts, but some of these six and seventh year guys are are pretty much in the be out of the game now with COVID years ending. But you know, the portal is still just here forever, and they're going to leave a certain amount of spots open for that portal, and they have a lot of shoes to fill just with graduating seniors on this year's roster and then whoever leaves. So you know they've done a they've done a really good job recovering, you know, since Marat's departure.

You have that, and the reason they do that, it was explained to me many years ago, is certain coaches have certain relationships with people at different high schools in around the country, you know, the so called pipelines, if you will, and if you can, if you've got a guy who's got a great relationship, say with a coach. Joker Phillips had great relationships, especially in South Carolina. You know, So you go to the high school coach who goes to the player and says, I know this guy, he's

a great guy. Listen to him. And then you know, after that, oftentimes the head coach, the position coach will follow up. But that's the geographic way and the other ways you said is the position coach. And Jeff pi Correl's talked about this with us a number of times.

The best relationship these kids have nine times out of ten is with their position coach, as opposed to the head coach, who's usually the CEO, and he'll have a good relationship with kids, sure, but they live with a position coach, and so you can see the value in that, right, no question about it.

That's the coach they're going to be working with the most, and that's the coach at the end of the day they ultimately trust the most in their personal development on the field.

they go about business. And you know, I'm not, obviously not saying this move is going to turn Kentucky into one of those, but you want to replicate what the winners do, and I think this is the right most.

gotta think now he's happy it was. However, he's locked down with Damian Washington because nothing but kudos for him, right.

at Missouri. Trendrick Law is from Shreveport, Alabama, just like

la Damien Washington. So, you know, I think that it's really worked out so far in the relationship building process and in the recruiting process, and you know, obviously the biggest thing now it'll be on the field, But so far so the early returns there are really good, and it's really important to be really good, not just for recruiting and then what happened with coach Shorts, but we all know that room has had a lot of turnover at the coach at that wide receivers coach position has

had a lot of turnover during SUPs of tenure. I think he's number seven or eight, so it it would be really nice to farm some stability there.

football and basketball. Shake Gilgess Alexander hits the Jackpod with a huge contract. Meanwhile, Jackson Robinson signs with the Cavaliers. Is an undrafted free agent and he's got some things to work on, some things to prove. Lamont Butler gets a free agent contract as well, so things are kind of falling into place for some of Mark Pope's ballplayers. But man, the headline an ex Kentucky player that can only help the UK brand right with SGA.

impressive stuff from STA. But yeah, look, I mean Mark Pope, you gotta this is not a calver s folks thing.

So that's really impressive to send two guys to the NBA in your first year, two fiftier guys when you know, we've talked about it on here in the past, like the NBA is a little hesitant with these fiftier guys just because how you know, they're already twenty three, twenty four, Just how long are they going to last, like last in the league compared to some of these others because they've played so much college basketball, you know, a lot of them at the highest level for five years.

these fiftier guys some spots. I mean, Walter Clayton going eighteenth is mind boggling. But when you feel back the onion a little bit and you realize he's a fiftier guy, you know that's why. So it's still really impressive though, to send you know, five guys into the league, at least two being drafted. Look, Mary Williams got drafted to a spot where he is a real chance to make that team and possibly make an impact with some of their lack of center depth and some of the injuries

going on in Boston. So I'm really happy for all those guys, and really cool to have such a success for Mark Popen, really good returns year one. That's only gonna help him in recruiting, and you know, on top of the SGA stuff. But you know, I think specifically for this era of Kentucky basketball. To get two draft picks and three udfa's and year one with all being fiftier seniors is really good.

whether it was at a high schooler. But at some point during his you know, prep career, he you know, made a list of eight schools that he wanted to get offers from, and you know he mentioned the three three of the blue Bloods, specifically Kentucky, Kansas and Duke and he said, I got heard from absolutely none of them, and that kind of you know, put a chip on his shoulder, and you know, look a lot of kids. He was still a top one hundred recruit, four star kid.

I think he was a number five player in Texas that year. He goes like a lot of people be envious of his position, but he had a chip on his shoulder because he wanted to go to a blue blood and he wanted to hear from a blue blood. And then he goes on, you know, say, okay, so I hit the transfer portal and one day later, you know, Mark Pope is visiting me in my hotel of Minnesota where I'm training. So it's like, well there's that blue blood dream clearly, you know. And that's the good part

of the transfer portal. We hear all the negative stories where you know, it's hurting mid majors and that's true at all, and it's you know, taking away some of the authenticity of the sport. And I agree with that as well. But there is the part of it too, where kids have these aspirations to play at places like Kentucky or Duke or Kansas or even you know, just schools like Florida or something like that, and maybe they weren't ready at that point in their high school career.

Maybe they were overlooked, and they go out and they prove themselves and then they get that opportunity. And I think that's exactly what Jalen Lowe's story is. And he's an impressive young man. He definitely is a confident young man and he likes he likes the share. So you got he's going to be intrigued. Really this whole group that they like to share. So they're very, very confident, and you know, it's it's fun to see.

two years. And you know, fans freaked out about the shooting splits a little bit, but you go look at what Pit was dealing with last year and you understand it a little bit. So I think I loved the addition from day one, and I was even more impressed getting to meet him in person for the first time.

The big Booing cider is everywhere. Coming up. Our number two with Sean Woods, the Unforgettable Guard and West n Bureau chief, give me Moore on six thirty think.

Hall of Fame. And when he was at UK, you were in your college coaching career, primarily as an assistant then as a head coach in Mississippi Valley State. And I was struck by Danny's comments about rich Brooks. So you were kind of keeping an eye on UK from afar, but you're a football fan. Danny talked about how hard he worked and the faith that rich Brooks showed in him. And as I told you off the air, when Brooks was first hired, a lot of people first of all,

didn't know who he was. Secondly thought he was too old. But I can tell you his players absolutely committed to playing for him, becase because of his relationship with these guys and the faith he had in them and the work ethic that he demanded, but coach them through. I mean, this guy, like you, it was a professional coach. And Travathan gives him so much credit for a ten year

pro career in a Super Bowl ring. What comes to mind when you hear about relationships be it football, basketball, whatever, between player and coach like that.

And most coaches, especially with basketball, you're only dealing with thirteen to fifteen guys, and football you're dealing with more, way more than that. And so to for coach Brooks, I mean, that's kudos for him to have strong relationships. And it's hard when you're dealing with different positions, different sizes of the balls. You got position coaches. Normally it's your position coaches that you get close with because the

head coach is overseeing everyone. But you know, for Rich Brooks to have close and intimate relationships with his players, of that magnitude speaks volumes. And you know, the biggest thing I get gratification I get with playing calls back, you know, just ask how I'm doing, you know, thanking you because it makes me feel and lets us know that we did make a difference. You know, because coaches, you know you it's two folds with coaches.

will win okay. Second of all, you gotta deal with the emotional ups and downs of the kids that you that you're coaching to help you get through those wins and losses. So when you're going through that type of deal, you know, most coaches forget about it. As a young coach, I did because I was just looking at the bottom

line and trying to get to the next job. But my personality offset all of that because I'm a genuine a person and I you know, even though I'm coaching hard, I still like to have intimate relationships with my players, you know, knowing where they come from. You know, when you're recruiting you know that they're going through because you're you're figuring out, you know, who is this kid? Do I want him to coach? You know, do I want him to become in my program? You know what type

of mindset does he have? And so you harness all that stuff and you take all that stuff in and that's what teaches you how to motivate, understand where they're coming from, so on and so forth. So you know, you have this thing. I have this thing and it's called I do have favorites as a coach, and it's it's a poem and it's and it goes like this.

You know in a nutshell that I pay attention to the ones that pay attention to me, that that that that gives me everything that they got, that that ask questions, that do on the you know, and so on and so forth, not the one that you got to always get on. You know, they always the one, the rebellious one. Because it's just like in your family, if you pay attention to the worst kid in your family, what's that

say to the other kids that are doing right? The only way I can get your attention is to act out, Okay, And most times in coaching, you do spend more time with the kids that are acting out because you've got to always discipline them. You're trying to bring them into your office and get them to do better, so on and so forth, and you deal less with the kids that are having on the ball that takes care of business,

So you kind of miss out a little bit. But as coaches, sometimes we appreciate more the kids that we don't have to get on the most and do take care of business more so than the other one, except for we got to deal with the ones that don't take care of business the most because of discipline, action, so on and so forth. So it's complicated. You know, everybody thinks that they can be ahead coach, but it's more to it than just coaching the game that you're coaching.

You know, it's relationships. How do you motive they how do you get kids to evolve as adults in a growth period Because they left their parents at eighteen, they're leaving you at twenty two, and when they go out in the world, okay, you're the last adult and and major influence in their lives. So their products will view in addition to their growth growing up with their parents.

So you play a major deal. And when you get kids know that they grow up and really appreciate the trials and tribulations and the lessons that they got from their particular coach that speaks volumes. And when kids take that the rules and regulation that you empowered and instilled in them and go out into the real world, now that significant impact that you made is off the charts. And I think that's the situation that he was talking about with Coach Brooks.

at Sky County High School. And by the way, I mentioned that Danny Treason went into the Kentucky Pro Football Hall of Fame, I need to point out that Sean and his teammates, the Unforgettables, were charter members of the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame the UK Hall of Fame as the Unforgettables, And uh, that that had to be I don't think I've ever asked you about that, but that that had to be a special feeling to go in with those guys to share that and again as

a charter member of the UK Hall of Fame.

the biggest thing that he did. And every thing that we did we did four and with each other to accomplish the goals that we did because those goals were not were major feats, as you know, because nobody gave us any type of thought that we would do the things that we did coming in with the personnel that we had, and we were just constant overachievers. And in order to overachieve, especially with a team, you got to have great camaraderie and respect and love for one another.

And that's exactly what we did. And that's the reason why we're so tight now because it wasn't one person. We didn't have a superstar. Even when Jamal Mashburn was with us, he was our leading scorer, but he wasn't the leader. He was just the guy that scored that was the most consistent scorer for our team. But he was part of that that unforgettable deal, even though he was younger, but he was part of us. Reggie Hashen was part of us. Derek Miller was part of us.

Jeff Brastow was part of us. You know. So it was a collective deal, except we just happened to be the seniors at that particular time to play against Duke and stayed the longest in coach Betino's first three years. But man, Dick that our whole group is still a tight knit group. Our whole group is still still has major respect for one another. And so when we went into that Hall of Fame, that Innavro deal, it's like

we were one. We still are one. It was never seaw Woods's team, was never Pales team, Darren's team, Richie's team. It was our team. And everything that we did we did together. And so all the accolades that we received we received together. And that's the reason why we are who we are. And you know, that's the epitome of team.

You know, I think, you know, I go back to all the great teams that Kentucky they had a star, you know, back in the in the late eight you know, mid eighties you had Kenny Walker, he was a star. You know, Before that, you had Bowie or Turpen or something like that. You know, I'm saying that before that you had Jack, you know, who's considered the start. Right after Jack, you had cal Macy. But it was never a team. You know, before that, years ago, you had

Ruffs Once. You don't mention the only reason why pat Riley has mentioned more than anybody else is because pat Riley became a la Laker, the coach, so on and so forth. But that team is Ruffs Once, you know, which is considered one of the best teams in the history of Kentucky basketball, the Stem and five, you know, so on and so forth. So you know, as there been a lot of all Americans that come through Kentucky. Yeah,

but the best teams were the best teams collectively. And that's what we were part of, and that's what we were hanging I had on and that's the reason why so many people appreciated us, because it was so pure that nobody got more accolades than the next. We were just all in this thing together trying to figure it out.

So for instance, I was, I work for Claire Channel, I worked for w L e X, and you know, I had to sell me first before you know, and establish a relationship with me first before I could sell what I was selling. And it's the same thing with with with recruiting, you know, you're selling yourself first. It's about relationships first, and then you sell the university because most kids, I'm telling you right now, okay, they go

because the relationship they have with the coach first and foremost. Okay, then it's the university. The coach sells the university and what the universe can do for them. But it's the relationship and trust that you build first with the kid and his family, so on and so forth, same way you do when you walk into someone's business. You know, you create a relationship and a trust first, and then you get to the nuts and boats about what you have to offer with the you know, with the people

that that you're representing the same thing. And that's the reason why I became good because Mary Bobart really taught me the game about selling and I've always taken that with me as far as college is concerned and recruiting. And then when you get that person to buy your you know, your product and advertise with you what you have to do, you have to continue to what sell them, you know, and and and trusting them with the things

that you do and say same thing with coaching. You know, they have to trust and you have to keep your word and what you told them to get them to come play for you. So it just, you know, kind of came hand in hand and I became a natural at it. And that's the reason why recruiting was really easy for me, because first of all, I've always had a personality and second of all, you know what I'm saying.

I believed in what I was saying, and I believed in everything that I you know, the people that I work for and the things that we can do for the for our clients. Same thing with how I feel about what I could do for that kid if he came to play for me or us.

the next level. So I think it enhances our brands, as you know, and it keeps us out there because you used to be Remember in the eighties and nineties, Carolina had all the players in the pros. You know, they were dominate and have more players in the pros than any other school. Now it's Kentucky and it's Kentucky tenfold, and these guys are winning. I mean, you look at the playoffs. Almost every team in the playoffs coming down the stretch had a Kentucky player. So now Mark Pope

is doing it just in another at another level. And it's kind of different because you're getting the top players out of the transport portal more so than you are out of high school. But I'll tell you what Malakai Marino from when I'm hearing the pros love him. Okay, the other kid, Johnson, you know, he's a guy that can go get his own. The pros love that. So I think his two the two kids Kentucky kids that he that he has coming in, you know, is going to be has the potential to to make an impact

in the NBA. To one made the Olympic team, I mean the United States team and Johnson and Malachi was probably the best player out there, but it got hurt and he came back. But you know, Kentucky has struck again. He not only just in the transfer portal, but you know out of the high school rings. And the great thing is both of those kids are Kentucky kids, so enhances it even more.

Bureau chief. Gary Moore, long time West Coast Bureau chief when he worked for KLOS Radio in La now La means Louisville area, right around the sixty four. Here he is but a lot on his mind.

at ten eastern tonight. And in this day of triple digit velocity and throw until you your arm falls off, how is this thirty seven year old Kershaw four and oh with an ERA of three point oh three, just eight games off the il Well, he's pitching, not flamethrowing. Last week in Colorado, Kershaw allowed one run on two hits with no pitch harder than ninety point three miles an hour. We're talking the very definition of a crafty

lefty here. So I ask you, what do you think is more rare three thousand strikeouts which we may never see again after tonight, or a pitcher with three hundred wins.

first strike ad victim. He made his first start against our Cardinals, right, and the first victim was skipped Schumacher and Schumacher talked about when he saw the first couple of pitches, he thought, who is this guy? They had heard about this phenom, but they were, you know, they were skeptical. And really it wasn't his fastball. It was his curveball, which as you know, has been one of

his great money pitches. Oh, I'm telling you, and now three times Cy Young Award, winner, too World Series and MVP Gary, he'll be. Only the fourth left hander. That's what amazes me in baseball history to go for three thousand Carlton, Randy Johnson, C C. Sabbathia and he'll be, He'll be. This is even more amazing. Only the third to produce three thousand strikeouts in one uniform.

twelve conference meeting. It can now continue as an FBS conference or one A as we to call it PAC twelve Commissioner Teresa Gould said, quote, We're extremely excited to welcome Texas State as a foundational member of the New pac twelve Unquote. Well, she's one of the few outside of San Marcos, Texas who is amped up about it. Texas State, not Tech, or A and M or even utep Dick. Texas State wasn't even the top ten in the far inferior sun Belt. They weren't even one of

the top three last season. Never mind at San Marcos is over thirteen hundred miles to the American Pacific Ocean beaches. Now you gotta wonder does the Sunbelt have to find their replacement? Some say yes, some say no, it they do.

higher profile with a PAC twelve. That could be a sleeping giant because that's a state chock full of money, chock full of football players, and I got to think that they're going to get some big time donors involved as well. So don't sleep on Texas State. And I do hope the best for your for your toppers.

worth seventy two cents over there. Now you gotta love tennis to go over there and get reamed like that. And I say to heck with all this tariff stuff, fix that. So a buck equals a pound again. So we've already had some great first round matches. The number two seed in defending champ, Carlos Alcaaz, got taken to five sets on Day one. Fifth seeded American Taylor Fritz dealt with the fastest serve in Wimbledon history, one hundred and fifty three miles an hour from Frinchman Giovanni Peragard,

and he still won. He won that point too, by the way, and he wont to comeback five set win.

world do you turn that? But you talked about how tough it was on one of the men Cocoa Golf already eliminated. I gotta wonder, Gary, how much does that affect the secondary cost of these tickets? You know, the number two seed beaten by a young, up and coming Ukrainian. But I will pay attention as we get closer to the holiday weekend.

THEBA affiliate with the Detroit Tigers. For four home games beginning this month, the Sea Wolves will become the Moon Mammoths, inspired by the nineteen ninety one discovery of wooly mammoth bones in the nearby lake by local resident George Moon. Along with the requisite new uniforms and merch, they also get a new mascot for these four games, a purple wooly mammoth named fuzz E Mammoth. Because can you really have a minor league team without a mascot? Of course not.

Forty seven minor league teams applied to have John and his staff rebrand their club, but Erie's team president Greg Coleman won them over with an email which, by the way, I've put on nine to five to five Gary on X to show you his eleven reasons why they should be picked, including the fact that when Coleman was down, I sixty five with the Bowling.

Wolves in Erie, Pennsylvania to US west of eleven. Good reasons to create that, one of which was the Sea Wolves played baseball no out in near Let's see, which, Yeah, that's a problem here, we can help you fix.

He has told me about meetings that the minor league executives have and they all they call it stealing, but they borrow ideas from each other and it's so much fun and I just love it.

law enforcement. Bootlegger's identity is still so popular down there. They do it every Thursday night for the home games in Bowling Green, which clearly inspired here the Louisville Bats to become the Louisville Mashers as well as the Julips two different bourbon themed identities. And there over there, clearly your Lexington Legends got a great idea on July seventeenth.

Coming up here very soon, the Legends will become the Kentucky Bourbon Barrels in collaboration with the Hartfield and Company Distillery, including barrel themed uniforms and a new cap with Mighty LECs, the mustached baseball mascot who's now a mustached bourbon barrel Bourbon and Baseball Dick. This is a classic case of knowing thy.

I'm gonna bottle it. I gotta bottle of it upstairs of Bourbon from the Heartfield. It's not blands, it's not you know, wood for reserve. It's good and it's fun and it's located in what used to be an automobile dealership.

wanted to do. Ordinary white bread instead of peanuts, was tossed into the crowd, and the concession stands sold only vanilla ice cream the entire night. They gave out free tickets to anyone named John or Oliver and Dick. There was no kiss cam. They only showed people in khaki pants and a tucked in shirt. By all accounts, a meh time was had by all.

new from Taiwan. She rides an eight foot unicycle, balances bowls on her head, somehow tosses them up there with their hands and feet. Well, she fell. I've seen her at rupp Aerna a couple of times. Can't favorite during halftime in Minneapolis, Indiana Fever versus the Minnesota Links at the Target Center. Last night, she fell early in the app. Yeah, hurt her wrist. Tried to walk it off, being a show woman that she is, but then took a knee.

Medical personnel rushed in. They brought out a wheelchair, took her off the court. Never lost consciousness, but yeah, she was in and of course I got to wonder what he did for the rest of halftime. But I don't know about you, but every time I'd watch her, I'm thinking, Man.

played by Leslie Nielsen. Vincent Price turned it down, Christopher Lee turned it down. But my favorite note on this Gary Kareem Abdul Jabbar right the co pilot Roger Murdoch.

and he said, I need thirty five grand done. And that's why Kareem Abdul Jabbar was in that cockpit next to Peter Graves, who originally turned down the role. Thought it was disgusting because the little kid, you know, and his family read and then they go, you gotta do this. It's hilarious. You like oysters. That's how it all came together.