10.14: That's Rick - Hour 1

we got a lot to discuss. I mean, Louisville football bounces back in a game where you just needed to win, and they did exactly that. And I really don't feel much different about them as I did last week or the week before, because it's not like I've watched this team from a personnel standpoint and felt like, well, you know,

they're just not any good. I mean, technically, when you lose two straight games, even though it's against good teams, like you're evaluated on winning and losing, and they were losing. They were making losing plays that really impacted the ultimate result, which again is winning or losing a game. So they still made I think a lot of crucial mistakes against Virginia, I mean not as much late in the game, and certainly they made the plays necessary to hold on and win.

But they also played Virginia, who is better that I think anybody really thought they were going to be this year. But still they're not SMU, They're not a Notre dame at their place. So the ultimate goal here was to just avoid a three game losing streak as you're set to host Miami in what is easily the biggest game

for you on your home schedule this year. I mean, not a whole lot of competition as far as home games this year for Louisville, but this one is the biggest one, and I wish that things were a little different for Louisville, but hey, having this take place coming off of a win is certainly better than coming off

of a loss, and the opportunities there. I think a win here, I mean, it's not going to erase the two losses you had earlier this year, but it could put you back in a spot where you can look at, I guess bigger picture potential goals and at least know that, hey, we've proven with a win that we can go take advantage of a huge opportunity weeks later when we play Clemson, who knew it, but the team that really killed you last year because that was your lone loss in acc

play and they stunk. Well, now they're undefeated and ranked and I'm not sure how good they are, but either way, there's opportunity there. So it's a big I mean, it's a big It's a huge game, and I've never felt like louisvill wouldn't be able to win this kind of a game because the opponent they're playing is just too good. Now, with that said, maybe that ends up playing out to be what happens. Maybe Louisville comes out and does play their best game of the season, and they don't make

crucial mistakes, they don't hurt themselves, they're not sloppy. But yet you just lost to Miami because Miami's better. Like that may happen, and that would be that would be, you know, better than getting blown out right, But it'll also make me even more angry to know that, like, you should have been able to burn one here. This should have been the game that you burned, meaning damn, you played really good against the team that a lot of people think is really good, and you came up ashore.

But it's not a loss that necessarily is going to kill you. Well now, to kill you, I mean, if you're somebody that is still holding out hope that you could potentially find yourself in Charlotte, still you got a lot of work to do. It's insanely improbable at this point. But I don't know, I'm gonna get probably I'm gonna get it out of my system today and I probably shouldn't.

Just you know, continue to emphasize all the things that this team has done for the last you know, really all season that just you know, are surprising and disappointing as far as just you know, not making smart plays, not being disciplined at times. And you know they won Saturday and that was great, better than losing. And yes,

it's a big week with this big opportunity. But still, I just i'd be a liar to tell you right now that I think they're gonna come out and be a team that we haven't seen all year, which is one that avoids critical mistakes and doesn't commit silly penalties. So I'll get it out of my system today and by tomorrow i'll probably be you know, I'm not gonna lie to you and say, hey, over in twenty four hours time, I'm now fully convinced louis is gonna win.

I mean, I hope that they do, but I just, you know, I can't lie to myself, So why would I lie to you and tell you that, Like, I have great confidence that they're going to be able to pull off what would be an upset. Now it's not a huge upset. They're only at this I think right now I can do a quick I know it opened up at four or four and a half, as you could expect Louisville underdogs against Miami, but I think now it's down to three we double check here on first

one that comes up for me is DraftKings. So according to the DraftKings right now, Louisville Miami, it is Louisville plus four. So I mean that tells you that odds makers think that this game is, you know, should be competitive, and I hope that it is because it would be a huge I mean, this is really the game that could send you in a different direction at a high

rate of speed. Beating Virginia, it avoided you from going I think, in the wrong direction at a high rate of speed because I think everybody you know, collectively and I don't mean fans and whatnot, people like me. I mean, I think this team, if they somehow messed around and made another crucial mistake, laid, they don't get that Jamal

ray Johnson touchdown and they lose. I think, you know, they're humans, they know that they had At that point, They're halfway through the year, and really at that point everything's kind of shot. I mean, yeah, you can still think, well, you know, we have six games left and we can

beat all these teams. Yeah, but like nobody's gonna believe it if you don't at least start to show that you're even close to getting there as far as a team that plays winning football and takes advantage of opportunities like the one that's coming up this week. So again, it really is huge. It's just it's huge because you didn't lose. It's not because it meant a whole lot. It's not because it you know, I still think they played relatively the same way they've played in previous weeks.

Slightly better, communication was better on defense. They moved run English down to the sideline, and that clearly helped a little bit. But you are at a point now where I think, what do we have four or five straight weeks or the opponent has known quite literally, here's what we know. They're not good at. They're not good at stopping quarterbacks. They can run, and sure enough, with everybody being aware of that, teams can. Teams have still been

able to expose Louisville in that way. So like, yeah, I guess there's a potential fix they could implement, But don't you feel like they would have already done that if that was going to happen. I mean, Calandria, he was the leading rusher on the ground. He had let's see, eighty four yards I mean that's I mean, that's not great. So again they win twenty four to twenty and we'll probably not talk much more about Virginia after, you know, the first hour and a half or so, because I mean,

you move on now. You get a big opportunity. But the biggest takeaway for me from a positive perspective is that you avoided a three game losing streak, and I guess that's something.

around here. John and myself big fans of comp days. Yeah, but we didn't get one today, which I would have gladly taken one because I was clearly going to come to work. But I just looked it up on the This is a Commerce dot gov. It is the it is it mentions all the holidays that are federal government holidays where they recognize them, and there's eleven of them. I'm pretty sure this is the only one we don't get. We don't get a comp day. New Year's of course,

is a holiday. Martin Luther King Day, President's Day, Memorial Day, Juneteenth Independence Day, that's fourth of July, Labor Day, Columbus Day, which is today, Veterans Day will be next month.

getting ready to do it. We were at my mom's house yesterday, just hanging out and enjoying some time with the family and my mom, who you know, she's not had anybody in the school system since I graduated, and that was in two thousand and six. But she was aware that the holiday meant that we didn't have school, and we were like, well, I guess we would have woke up today. My wife would have probably gone to work.

I probably would have gotten the kids ready, taken tried to take I mean, I would have showed up at school, only for you know it to realize it was closed. So it was kind of like a last minute surprise that the kids and my wife had a day off. So we ended up going to the zoo earlier today. And you know, it was it was clearly what everybody else had in mind, because it was very crowded for ten o'clock when they opened on a Monday. But it was fun. But it was cold outside and it made

me very happy today. There are many people I am sure that walked outside and it made them sad because like they realized, oh, like yeah, the warm weather, Like it may get warmer later, the sun may come out, but like today, I think in this region Kentucky and you were hit with a brisk, cool temperature that made it quite clear that your summer days are over.

season will be here soon, and that's exciting, right. I mean, I'm choosing to go into the current, you know, the upcoming season, the debut season for Pat Kelsey, and yes, there's gonna be expectation. I'm not just gonna say, hey, if they're better than they were under Kenny Payne, then hey, we're doing okay. But like I also am going to probably find myself enjoying things that I used to take for granted. And that's like, you know, beating your exhibition opponents.

Louisville didn't have a winning record against exhibition opponents in the Kenny Payne era. Clearly that's not gonna happen with Pat Key, at least I hope it doesn't. But I am I'm kind of usually I can, I can, I can get a feel for myself as far as how I would react to this happening or that happening, but there's certain things that you really don't know until it happens. And I kind of feel like with louisvill basketball this year.

That's going to be me because it's just unusual to be in this situation where you're coming off of two, really three consecutive seasons of just misery, and yet now you have a team that one is going to be a lot more fun to watch. They're clearly going to be a lot better, but you know how much better that remains to be seen. And I'm okay with just like kind of like one thing you hear me say all the time, especially in football season, because you only

get twelve games. So when I play two of them, you know, I say, I like, I'm out there playing. But when Louisville, my team that I love and care about, when they play two of them against teams that nobody's heard of, to me, that's a waste and I feel like I've been robbed, like I didn't even get a chance to learn if we play, like, did we do anything of note today?

about it than I probably should be. And it's because of the recent trauma that we've gone through as fans with you know, the previous you know regime and even the end of you know, the mac era and whatnot. But they're also gonna be huge op Like Louisville is gonna play Tennessee in Pat Kelsey's second career game as the coach here, they're preseason number twelve in the country, so like it's not gonna be all cupcakes, it's there's

gonna be. Really, there's not a stretch of play for Louisville this year in basketball where you go like two and a half three weeks where you play nobody, Like I mean, sprinkled in, there's gonna be again. Tennessee's your second game. Before long, you're gonna be in the Bahamas in the Battle for Atlantis, which is gonna be a you know, a very very competitive and challenging experience for them. Then they come back, they get Ole Miss, another team

that's in the preseason top twenty five. When they get to December, they play Duke in Kentucky in that month with you know, I guess some other mid major kind of programs. So hoop seasons here in the ap pole coming out again. It's the preseason poll. You quickly forget about it once you get a few weeks in and you see you know, teams moving around. But I will say it's always one of the reminders for me that

it's here, and that's exciting. So one thing we haven't brought up here in the first fifteen minutes of the show is what happened in Lexington this weekend. Patino did what I thought he was going to do once we were talking through it last week John about how he had confirmed his plans to go to Lexington for the Kentucky game. I mean, it made too much sense for him. Like I started, I think it was live on the air,

like five o'clock hour. We were talking about it on like Wednesday, and I'm thinking to myself, Yeah, there's no scenario. He's in Lexington and he's not with Mark Polpe at Blue Blue Madness, and he was, and he was wearing his Kentucky blue. He got a big ovation from the crowd. He cried, he took a jab at Louisville. He went on the radio with Matt Jones. Which of all things that took place this weekend, I'm not kidding you, that's the one thing that I still cannot believe happened. Can't

believe it at all. Find myself thinking about it every now and then, and I'm thinking, no way that happened, and it did. Hey, it's Rick's choice, like you know, he wants to do that. I'm you know, I'm friends with Matt. I don't mean that made Matt look great. I mean Matt with KSR and obviously others that have worked and helped KSR become what it is today is super successful media entity, a rare media entity that I really can't even think of a comparison, just because Kentucky fans.

There's a billion of them, it seems, across the world, and Matt is big blue Jesus to them. So one of the things that really helped them kind of explode and gave him, I think a few of their biggest booms. Meaning the KSR world was making fun of Rupertino. Now, Rick gave him plenty of content and material. I mean, you kidd me. Karen Seifer that whole thing, the Katina pal stuff. I mean, like, you know, it wasn't as if they had to go work for it, Like it

was things. It was things that happened, and they took advantage of it and made a lot of you know, hilarious content in the eyes of their fans. But like they built a huge part of what they have now on making fun of Rick Patino in like a personal way. And yet he goes back to Lexington and you know, he doesn't care, he doesn't know, and then he went on and I haven't heard any of it and I probably won't listen to it, but like that was a huge win. It was a dub for the KSR crew.

And what Rick got out of it, I don't really know. But either way, we all knew it was going to happen someday, and again he warned us. I mean, we knew last week he was going to be going to the football game. But then to see him, you know, out there crying, like the visual really did kind of

take me back a little bit. Not because I'm like heartbroken and I went and cried myself to sleep on Friday when I saw it wasn't anything like that because I've always known that Rick loved Kentucky more than he loved Louisville. I always knew everybody know, and Rick Patino didn't even really hide it from us when he was here. That the worst mistake he made, and I'm sure he didn't word it that way, but like, yeah, if he

could go back, he would have never left Kentucky. And I don't think anybody, even if you're a Louisville fan, would would say that that's the wrong thing. I mean, imagine what he could have built and what could have happened for him had he never left. So like we knew that, but then to see it play out, clearly a lot of fans bothered by it. And here I want to defend the younger fan base. And when I

say younger, I don't mean like little kids. But this whole thing with Rick has reminded me that I'm not that young anymore. Like there are people who are probably you know, I'm thirty six. You could be thirty one, thirty two years old, and your only memory and you're only not your only knowledge of Louisville basketball until it ended, was Rick Betino, meaning like until he left that it's all you knew it. So like you knew he coached Kentucky,

but you didn't. You didn't experience that, you didn't watch it, you didn't you didn't understand. I was a young kid when Rick was there, but I knew how good they were. I knew he was a rock star. Like, but I'm probably different than a lot of people because I've been

obsessed with this since since I can remember. Like it's something I mean, I didn't I wasn't old enough to watch Griff and those guys in the eighties, but it was like my religion as a kid, Like I knew all about that era, and you know it because I'm you know, I'm I'm a lunatic. I don't want to act like I'm better than anybody, but like, this is something I've been obsessed with my whole life, Louisville basketball.

So even because I had that experience as a kid to kind of know that, hey, yeah, he's our guy now and he's more grateful for him because he was a hell of a coacher for a long time. He brought a lot of scandal and clearly Louisville still dealing with that as far as just the stain and the embarrassment of what went on when he was leading the program. However, I also knew that like Kentucky had him first, and he was very successful there and he loved his time there.

So for me, like I can, I can. I can understand it, even though it's like it's not something I love. I get it. If you're somebody that didn't experience it because you're a little bit younger, or you're a lot younger, I bet it broke your heart to see ri Patina wearing UK blue, I mean it like I get it, Like I tried my best this weekend to figure out how I was going to discuss this, because I don't want to act as if like who gives a damn what Rick does? Because at this point you should have

that mindset, but it's not easy to do. Let's put it this way. If you are somebody that is the younger generation, you know, even younger than me, or maybe you know, I say even younger, mean like I'm super young. But the only really great moments that you know of Louisville basketball are with him, and now he's you know, making it quite clear that his allegiance lies with blue and not red, and it really isn't that big of a shocker if you knew the true history of everything.

And I think also again, I think experiencing it made a difference for me. Like I remember whenever I was in the car with my dad going to basketball practice, whatever year it was that Rick got the job, like two thousand, two thousand and one, whatever it was, and I remember listening to has I mean, I wasn't listening to it who my dad was. And I remember, you know, him telling me about it a couple days beforehand, like

they might be hiring Ripertino. And then I guess that day when we were in the car going to practice, I think it might have been the day where like there was live coverage of it happening, like he's here, He's gonna be the coach. And I remember asking my dad like this is good, Like how do we feel about this because I knew this guy used to coach Kentucky, like this this is odd? Like what do we think Dad?

And he just, you know, with no hesitation, told me this was awesome because he's a hell of a coach. And sure enough he came in and the timing of him getting the job and what he did in his time here, until the scandal started happening was needed in a major way. Like Denny built this thing. Denny's why

Louis of Basketball is what it is. But even though he's clearly bitter about how it ended here and he's always gonna choose blue over red, I can't be a phony and tell you that I don't appreciate his tenure here. It wouldn't be Louisvillat. I mean maybe if they hired somebody else then things would have been even better. I don't know, but I do know that he gave them irrelevant. He gave the program some relevance at a time where

it was desperately needed. So, you know, I just wanted to say that because I think there are like, if you're somebody that's older, you're still unhappy about it, and you probably are thinking to yourself, well you Rick and go to hell, because here we are still dealing with things that happen on your watch and these people who we defended you two relentlessly because we I mean, Louisville fans heard it NonStop about the Katina pal To, the

ceiling lines and Karen Seife for fifteen seconds, and like no college basketball fans should be in a position where they're defending their coach to the rival fan base talking about how long he lasted on an Italian at an

Italian restaurant on the table. But we were there because of you, so to know that, like you're always defending him during his time, because they were relentless, and Rick him himself did a lot of things that gave them the ammunition to where we just never heard the end of the Katina pal jokes, right, and yet to see that he just went you know, it's not like he was like Rick. Rick doesn't relate to fans. Like. That's one thing that I tried to articulate as best I can.

Rick's not thinking about fans when he's doing anything, because Rick is one one of the most unrelatable people you'll ever meet. But like Joe and Shively, is not somebody Rick Patino's thinking about when he's out hanging out at Bigmou Madness. And that's not to defend him, it's just the truth. So you know, that's why whenever he was asked on Saturday at the Kentucky football game about you know, the night before, he made it clear that he loves his players and he loves the fans here. He just

wishes he got like an apology or whatever. So like I can't necessarily match the anger or frustration or just sadness, because like it's hard for me to be sad or disappointed about something that I quite literally always knew, Like I always knew that he would would face them over us. When when when it came to this time, whenever Cal's not in Lexington anymore, and you know, he's not at Loville anymore, and he's bitter about how it ended, like

it was all it was always the case. He even told us that at times when he was here, but we didn't, you know, we never you know, it's not something you think about in the moment, like hmmm, let me let me, let me be upset about something that may happen in twenty years. Like it's just not something you think about. So I understand why fans, certain fans feel the way they feel. It's just I, you know,

I'm not at all surprised that Rick did that. And there's a part of me that says, well, you know what, Rick and I have said this on the show, John, you can back me up for those who don't listen, regularly, like from day one. I said, Yeah, I kind of get it. That's a special thing for a player that won a national championship for you at Kentucky when you were kind of making your name as a coach. He's now coaching that program, Like I can, I think that would be a special thing for him.

to make that moment about him. He wanted to make the big Blue Madness, as Mark Pope did it for the first time as the Kentucky coach. He made it about Rick, did he not? He did? Like he absolutely did, and real quick, and I'll let you go into saying, but I just want to throw this in there because this is really important, and I will stand corrected if I am If this is not true. Rick was going to go to the football game and then it worked out with Big Blue Madness, like he did this, he

put this in motion. I don't think it was like Mark Pope and his first ever Bigmu Madness is going to make sure Patino's out there to be honored. It worked out, and I'm sure everybody had a good time with it. But like I'm sure he is happy for Pope. I believe that, genuinely, I do. But I also know Rick is gonna take advantage of an like it wasn't just him wanting to be all guys, I just want to be around you don't bring the attention to me, Like Rick wanted to make that a Rick event, and

he did it and it worked perfectly. It actually, more than anything, confirmed what I've already known. The guy's a master at all this. He can he can say whatever, he can do whatever, and we're all gonna like we're the fact that we're still talking about Rick Patino in twenty twenty four as much as we are is really it speaks to him he moves the needle. You know,

you play it. It's Rick Patino, for better or for worse, regardless if it's winning a big game or banging a chick at a restaurant, He's gonna move the needle and people are gonna.

Pope is not somebody that I think is cal Or Patino as far as like it's got to be about them, and I don't You're right, I don't even if there could be, there could have been other other players who played for Rick that somehow ended up in the same spot where they're coaching now, and they probably wouldn't have been cool with that. They would have like, all right, Rick, we'll we'll, we'll make this happen at some point, but

not now, you know what I mean. And I think Pope's fine with it not being about him, and that's I mean, that is a compliment. Now in a way, you kind of gotta make it a being like it's a larger than life position, so like you got to be comfortable. And I'm not saying he's uncomfortable, but like, I don't think he felt any way about like, well, you know what, I wanted it to be about me and not about Rick. I don't think he cares. And that's again, that's I think that speaks to his humility.

But our quick break, we're way too late for our first break. I apologize if you guys want to join the show, you can certainly a lot to react to. Five x two if i've seven one seventy nine hundred is the number. It's Coffee and Company, and we are fueled by Thornton's Right here on Sports Talk seven ninety it's right Coffee and Company rolling along here on a Monday afternoon. We are fueled by Thornton's Make sure you sign up if you have not yet to become a

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zero seven ninety. So we finished up the first segment just kind of talking about Patino's return to Lexington, and I'll just say it, Louisville fans needed Kentucky to lose to Vandy in a major way. I mean, to see them meeting the Kentucky fans just sad and you know, really beside themselves in regards to, you know, their football program. It was nice to see because you know, it wasn't great to see what happened on Friday, although I don't really know like what I mean, it was kind of weird.

You know. I'm and when I say, you know, it's not like I'm going door to door polling people and you know, doing a real deep dive study as far as how fans feel about Rick going back to Lexington, meeting both Louisville and Kentucky fans. So like I'm basing it off of what you see on faceboo book and on Twitter and that kind of stuff, and just people that you talk to. And you know, I've got friends that are that are fans of Kentucky and they were

just stunned to like see that that happened. But you know, people around my age, I'm they loved Rick Pattino when he was there, because you know, if you were, if you're my age, Rick, he had a run there in the mid to late nineties. That I mean, I think you saw some of the best college teams ever. And if you're somebody around my age, you're probably just old enough to remember that, and it was special. And then of course he became the enemy, the villain because he

coached Louisville. So I'm sure there are many fans on the Kentucky said they don't really know how to feel about it, And then there were some that are really happy about it because they loved that era in the nineties. And then there's some that are probably in fact, I could think of a couple people I know that are still like, we should have never let that guy back in. He went to Louisville, he flipped us off whenever he was at the last time he coached it against us

in this arena. So I think you got a mixed bag as far as how people feel. But I also think that there are some people on the Kentucky side some fans that just love believing that it makes Louisville fans sad, Like their satisfaction is that they don't really have any like they don't have any emotion about Rick and maybe they know, like, man, I should go scrub my Twitter account because I've just been making jokes about

Karen Cipher and Katina Pale for years. Like hard for me to embrace this guy now whenever I've just been making fun of him. But you know what, here's where I'll find the satisfaction is that, Hey, if it's something that makes my rival sad, then I'm going to embrace it and rub it in their face. And that sounds, you know, pretty sick and twisted, but that's what this rivalry is. It's pretty sick and twisted, especially on the internet.

You kidding me, like it's a toxic wasteland. So you know, I try my best to explain as far as like I wouldn't like I didn't love it, like seeing it, but it also didn't bring me any like sadness or anger because I'm not surprised by it, and you know, I always knew like and somebody meant this on the text line I think they're right when it comes to

experiencing Rick as the Kentucky coach. Regardless, if you are on the blue side of the red side, I think you have an ability to view it and see it differently than those who did not remember it and weren't weren't old enough. But as far as him ever coming back here, that's that's that's one of the texts that came in on the Ellen and Federal Credit Union text line, is there ever going to be a day where he'll

be honored here? There should be, I think, but not anytime soon, like, not for a long long time, because it's just it's still it's still too soon, honestly, And he may not you know, he may not ever want to come back like he I mean, I could see Rick making it a big deal. If he did get invited, he'd he'd have a very public I wouldn't sho be shocked to be at a public Uh, you know, he turned it down publicly and made it a big deal

because that's what Rick does. So And by the way, the text was not saying that we should we should have him come back. In fact, it was the opposite, people saying that we should ever honor this guy, which, hey, if you feel that way, I you know, given the recency of what you know just happened and whatnot, then I'm sure. I mean, I get why you feel that way.

I really do. Are this tex, says Nick. Now that you've seen Kentucky lose to South Carolina and Vandy, are you still as worried as I am about playing them at the end of the year. I mean it's a weird game. Like I'm not looking at this game like any normal matchup, meaning, I'm not like looking at personnel and thinking, oh, what are we going to do when Kentucky imposes their will on the defensive line, or how are we going to stop Barry and Brown? Like all

those things are true. They've got really talented receivers, Barrian Brown being one of them, and of course defensively upfront they're really really good. But one, I'm not thinking about that a whole lot, because Lowell's gonna have to show me something this weekend for me to have any real belief that they're going to finish the season strong. Now, losing to Miami doesn't mean that you're terrible. I mean Miami's a top ten team, undefeated probably shouldn't be undefeated,

but they are. But like, if they look good and it's a step in the right direction when it comes to cleaning things up and just playing better football and not hurting themselves, then yeah, that'll be encouraging. But I'm to the point now where I got to see you before I believe it. And with that, as I wait to see something, I'm not thinking about the Kentucky matchup at all. So it answered your question. You know, last year has nothing to do with this year at all.

And I'm usually somebody that like mocks those who bring up trends from previous years because I'm thinking, like, what would that have to do with this at all? Different teams, sometimes different coaches at times, but last year was the ultimate, Like, if we were gonna beat them, we should have done it then, and we didn't. So now I'm just like, yeah,

who knows if it ever happens again. I hate to be so defeated because you know it's your rival and you want to be able to You want to be able to have confidence and at least if you do lose, you can have some fun beforehand, getting yourself excited like you're gonna pull off victory, but like, I just can't do that right now. Maybe by the time we get

closer to it, it's different. But that's that's kind of where I'm at, And be fair, it's not just about like thinking, hey, if we were gonna do it, we would have already done it.

had a chance to beat Bama, couldn't hold on. They lost to LSU in a close game, so I mean, maybe you know, you chalk that up as hey, it's just an SEC game and it happens. But like they shouldn't have lost to Vandy. I mean, I know Vandy's playing better football and they're clearly in a better spot now than they've been in a long time with their with their co coach and just I mean, they're coming off with two straight SEC wins. He I mean, when's the last time Vandy won consecutive SEC games? I bet

it's been a long time. Not kidding, like, I bet I wouldn't. I have no clue, but I'm just thinking out loud here, I wouldn't be shocked to learn that Vandy won consecutive league games for the first time in

a decade. I mean, it's bandy and they're not that Vandy, but still, like Kentucky is better and has better players, and yet they underwhelm like and with and beating Ole Miss. That law or that win doesn't look as good now as it did because Ole Miss. You know, they they crap the bed and lost to LSU, which doesn't mean that win doesn't matter, but you know, like it doesn't look as good as it did when it happened, but it's still valuable and it still showed that, like this

Kentucky team can beat good teams. And then they turn around off of a bye and lose to lose to Andy. Like I wish I could tell you they stink, They're embarrassing. They're gonna get blown out the rest of the season, and when we come into Commonwealth Stadium, we're gonna bend them over to Like I wish I could say that

and believe it, but I don't. Like, even if they end up losing the majority of the games the rest of the way, because they still have to play Texas, they still have to play I guess, really, Texas is the only real Missouri's Is Missouri on their schedule or did I dream that?

Tennessee's the other team that is still highly ranked that they feel like, you know, they're gonna have a tough So like, let's say they get blown out by Tennessee and they get blown out by Texas and they split, and let's say they end up losing to Florida in the swamp, but then they beat Auburn at home the next week, Like at that point they'll have Murray State, so like they'll be limping in not feeling great about

their season. But I will still sit here and tell you that, like from a talent perspective as far as their personnel, like, they're gonna be tough for a lot of teams if they play well meaning Kentucky like defensively they are loaded, they're humongous, and they're productive, like their defense is not a huge problem for them. But offensively, they're disciplined, they're sloppy, and they're kind of like Louisville in a way as far as just they're not playing

clean football. They're not like, they're making mistakes that literally will cost you games in crucial times. And as a Louisville fan who's got a team that has done that some this year and just done things, you know, made mistakes and put themselves in a position they shouldn't be in.

Rather that be coaches making bad decisions, or the coach is not having them ready, lack of communication, or just guys making bad plays like that, that's a really frustrating place to be because again, the silver lining is that you don't feel like talent is why you have these

losses and why you've played the way you've played. But you get so far in the year that no longer is a silver lining because you've played enough football and you've maintained the identity that you've established, and that's what's got me with Louisville is I just think to expect them to come out and clean things up and be sharp and make winning plays and beat Miami. It's not

an insane thing to see happening. It's just you're just I think it's kind of I think it's kind of blind faith blind because they played six games and they haven't done that yet. Why would you think they'll do it now? Maybe it's the magical moment that Brom has every now and then when he's got a big opportunity to beat a team that's highly ranked. He's shown that

he did it last year. I mean, the last time Louisville was a home underdog was when Brom took it to Notre Dame, who was a top ten team, and that was a monster moment. So I mean he's shown the ability to do that at both schools Perdue and Louisville even But like this year, you played six games and you have an identity, and I think despite the win on Saturday, I didn't really see you shed some layers that I think form up the identity that has me concerned about this team not being close to as

good as they should be. But hey, they've got opportunities, right you got Clemson, you got Miami, you got Kentucky, and then pitt I mean, I don't look at Pitt as like this big, big opportunity, but right now they're unbeaten in their rank, so it is an opportunity. All right, quick break will come back on the other side, keep it rolling along. It's coffee and company. Fiel about Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. That's right, five

two five seven one seventy nine. One hundred is the number. If you want to give us a call, you can text in on the llen N Federal Credit Union text line. If five O two six five three zero seven ninety this test. This text says, Nick, I typically agree with you when it comes to being real and at times seemingly pessimistic, but I am surprised you're not more excited as Louisville. Finally, avoid Finally, you might be doing talk to text here because I'm I'm going down and it

starts to make less sense. But I think what you're saying is that you thought I'd be more pleased with Saturday, and I'm happy that they won. Trust me, I am, and you know that's a start. And even whenever they were losing to teams like Notre Dame in SMU, I mean, it's not as if I haven't been able to find, you know, bright spots. But I think when you're losing and yet you're highlighting things that are good, doesn't that

you know, maybe you know everybody's different. I'm sure you guys are, you know, not as twisted up there in the head as I am. But when I know that we have a quarterback that is only here one year and I think he's really good. I think he's special. And we've got a freshman in Isaac Brown who is one of the best freshmen in the country, one of the best running backs in the ACC, and he's a true freshman. I mean Jacory Brooks, that guy's been great.

Jamari Johnson, I mean game winning touchdown, and I hope they target him more. He's special, you know, stan Kwan Clark on defense, I think the guy's are really good. Ashton Jelatti finally got loose and made some big plays.

So I guess where I may be different than you, is that to feel you know that good about this team when it comes to some of the players they have and some of the ability this team should have, and yet to see them still making silly mistakes and not being a you know, a super you know, polished team like you know that, that frustrates me. So I'm happy that they won, and I'd rather than be four and two than three and three heading into this big game.

It's just I'm not going to at least now. Maybe maybe I find some mojo and things are different in a couple of days, but I just think right now, for me, I just I'm not gonna lie to myself for a lot of you and say that I know that for sure they're going to come out and automatically just start eliminating some of the silly mistakes that they've made. And look, some of it's been bad officiating here and

there and that, but that happens. And I think the reason we found ourselves talking so much about officiating is not because there haven't been bad calls, but it's because there's been some big calls and crucial moments that didn't

go our way. And you feel as if that was a big factor and why you lost and you're not wrong necessarily, but I think Louisville, if you just go back and watch, I think, you know, if you're honest with yourself, Louisvill's made some big mistakes and just played poorly at times in certain areas that if they didn't do that, then we wouldn't have to worry about a crucial call here there that you know, kind of seems like it dictated if you if you want or lost.

So I'm hopeful that they'll that they'll, you know, they'll come out ready to play. And you know, there's no better time to to kind of really tighten some things up and play clean football and not make crucial mistakes and crucial moments because you can, you can eliminate it all and still loose because you're playing a team that is as good as Miami. I mean, cam Ward is the real deal, and uh, it will be a big

challenge on Saturday, no doubt. Or before we get to the top of the hour, let's go to the phone lines. FABO two five, seven, nine hundred is the number if you want to give us a call, and we will go to to Michael who's joining us here on Sports Talk seven ninety's up.

wanted to see Rick Patino as that drama was. You know, it's said that you know, went to Louisvilive. It was a fun time, but it's nothing compared to Big Blue Madness.

been that way Louisville's been. There's been moments in my lifetime where louis of basketball was in a better spot than Kentucky, and Kentucky still had a better event to start their season because that's just kind of what they do.

So yeah, I appreciate the call. We're up against it here at the top of the hour, and I don't really want to spend a whole lot of time on Louisville Live comparing to Big Blue Madness, because I'm just not somebody that if you want to eventually have Louisville's basketball program being the ultimate event, that, like everybody in the country knows, they'll never be as good as what they do. Like, I just don't think that's realistic, and

I don't really think it's needed. And I think they did a lot with Louisville Live as far as resources and making it look really, really awesome. Now that it looks as good as Kentucky's, that's up to each individual person who experienced both. But I think they, you know, I just you know, I don't know what to tell you. Kentucky's big Blue madness whenever they hire a new coach and Rick Patino comes back and it's not a paid event, like you just get a ticket for free, I believe,

like I'm not surprised. It was a raucous atmosphere and probably always will be. All right, quick break, we'll come back on the other side. Two more hours to go right here on sports Stock seven ninety