It's time for coffee and Company. Fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day.
Holy crap, I don't know who the hell we think when we are get off our show idiots, the kids are playing or turn off.
The countries are.
Screwing it up. Gold Play inter Murals, Brother, gold Play Intermurals. They're supposed to be mature adults, but they're really not. Who's the kid here? Who's the kid here? Are you kidding me? Now? Here's Nick Coffee.
I listen to that show intro every day and I have for really the last I don't know, I mean, it's been the same. I feel like I took the same show intro from mid days to mornings to afternoons. So really the same exact intro has been in place here for me for seven years or so, and it's just routine now. I mean, it goes in one ear out the other every day. But I had somebody, you know, compliment the show intro the other day and that, and that reminded me, you know what, that is a pretty
good show intro. If it's not broke, don't fix it. Over time. You usually update those things and change it. But I feel like the clips that you hear as we get this thing started every day. Are are are very fitting with what this show actually is. We don't take ourselves too serious. You may hear at times and think, man, who the hell let these guys on the radio, And we're still wondering the same thing. But we show up every day and you know we're gonna keep doing and
until until they tell us that we can't. So welcome in. It is coffee and company. We are fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven to ninety nit coffee. That is me, the company man, mister John all On alongside. I mean, I'm trying to think of the order of those clips, and I'm not gonna have you replayed again. But you know, as far as context, the one at the very end, who's the kid here?
Are you kidding me?
That was added back in twenty sixteen because at that time, I mean, I don't know how old I sound, if I sound my age, which is thirty six, or if I sound a lot younger, if I sound older now, but I remember at the time, you know, I was twenty gosh in twenty sixteen, that was eight years ago. I was twenty four years old. So I wasn't like, you know, I mean, I was younger than John is right now, and I still think of him as this young pup. What are he twenty six now? Seven twenty seven? Yeah,
so you just said a birthday not long ago. So we used to occasionally get people to call and be like, who is this kid on the radio because they never had any live local sports on at noon on seven ninety so we kind of just leaned into it, like who's who's this kid?
Are you kidding me? And now I'm not really a kid?
You know, I can still play one on the radio and I enjoy doing that, but maybe now it can still fit because you know.
Like, am I the kid child's play?
Well?
No, you're.
I mean you're I feel like you bring more maturity than your age, if that makes sense, Like and I'm and I know a lot of people probably tell you that, Like I don't know if I take it for granted, because it's not like if you were somebody that At times, I mean, I never think of you being as as you know, I don't think of you being nine ten years younger than me until there's a comment or there's a conversation going on where you know, throughout something you said,
I realize, oh yeah, he wasn't even born then, Like I remember things that John wasn't alive for, or there's things that were really you know, you know, memorable to me when I was younger, or even just like a younger like a teenager, that he was a baby. So you know, you are you know, don't make him sound like an old and old.
You're an old soul.
I think that's probably the best way to describe it, right, You're not some old geezer, but yeah, you're an old soul. And I mean that as a compliment. So yeah, I used to think about mixing up the intro every now and then, but I'm glad I haven't given that thought in a long time because again, I think it still pretty much fits with what.
We do here every day, which if.
You're here with us right now, then you must enjoy it to some extent or you wouldn't be here right now. So how however you're listening, wherever you're listening, we appreciate it, even those of you that, of course, you know, listen on podcasts. We no longer get complaints. Well, and by saying that, I'm sure I've just invited somebody to send in a complaint. But the no music on the podcast like that, they.
Just took it for what it you know, that's the way it is for me.
Yeah, they just realized that, like that's I mean, what are we going to do. However, I'm not gonna I'm not gonna do it, and I'm and I would never ask.
You to do it.
But I kind of feel like we could. We could throw music in there and nobody would notice. It's one of those things that like, yeah, we wouldn't want to be the show that's like, oh, why are you guys putting music? Yeah, well, I mean you're you're the company man, so you're not going to go against company rules and I would never ask you to do so. But like I kind of feel like that was a little bit overblown, if that makes sense, Like there was probably some kind
of a legal lawsuit kind of thing put out there. Actually, here's my guest, and for those who don't know, we we can no longer play, we can no longer include music that is that is you know, own yeah, copy copywritten music in the podcasts.
And you may think.
To yourself, well, like everybody does that, Well no, no, Uh, no shows that that that are under the iHeart umbrella are allowed to do that anymore. And it's actually, you know, I know some people who work in bigger markets than this one that have like you know, tweeted out to their listeners how mad they are at their at at their employer meeting iHeart because like that was a huge part of their show.
We don't really fall into that.
But obviously there are some things that if podcast listeners only listen to the show that way, like, they may miss out on some context because sometimes the music that's playing is in fact fitting to whatever we're talking about. But my guess is that there was some kind of a somebody probably played like a song in its entirety or something, and you're not really supposed to do that. I'm not really sure how you can get, you know, in trouble for it. But all it took was like, hey,
corporate sending out something to everybody in every market. Hey, we can't do this anymore when it comes to podcasts, and you know that's why we're in this position.
But you know.
What that means is that you should maybe try to check out some of the show live if you can.
I mean, if not. I totally get it, but.
I you know, I just realized that as soon as I was mentioning our podcast listeners that I guess they finally just accept it. Hey, sorry, we can't include the music in the podcast, but it's you know, numbers are still pretty good, so it hasn't scared people away as far as those who listen. So you know again, I'll repeat however you're listening, wherever you're listening, we thank you.
All right.
We are loaded today and I don't have any guest schedule. I thought about reaching out to some of our regulars, but I've decided to move those folks.
Down the line. We usually are much more.
Guest heavy on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and that that needs to be the case today, So you guys can certainly react. I'll tell you how you can do that coming up here in just a moment. I'm pretty sure a lot of you already know, but if not, I will make sure you have all the info needed. If you want to ask a question, make a complaint, maybe you want to insult you make fun of me, or maybe you want to give me a compliment. Whatever you want, we'll
give you the option to do exactly that. But we obviously have to start with last night, and that was the first exhibition game for Pat Kelsey here at Louisville, as they took care of business in a major way, knocking off Young Harris one oh six to fifty nine in a game where they made twenty four to three pointers,
which of course would have been a program record. We had the postgame show last night, and I try not only on the football postgame shows, but the basketball ones as well, to give you the next day sort of a condensed version or maybe you know, some added thoughts, some belated thoughts, because when we start these postgame shows, I mean it's as soon as the game ends, so as the time we get it at the time we get it rolling, I'm I'm usually kind of collecting my thoughts,
kind of forming an opinion, kind of forming which which way I want to go and which you know, which opinions I want to share first. Now, last night, I mean the game was over by halftime, so I had a pretty good idea of of what I wanted to do and really just make it about how refreshing this is. I mean, you saw a team out there that played hard. They clearly have an identity they are, I think a
reflection of their coach, and that's a good thing. We had, you know, a situation for the last couple of years where I think at times these guys were a reflection of the guy on the sideline or the guys on the sideline, and that wasn't a good thing. So overall, I mean, you won one o six to fifty nine, and this team was fun to watch. I mean, I think the way you saw them play is certainly going to be the way they want to play every night
out Now. There's gonna be teams that are going to be much I mean, let's be real, every team you play the rest of the way, maybe outside of Spalding, who's who, they're not in town. They live here, they're down the street, but they'll be here at the Young Center on next Monday for the second exhibition game. So everybody that you're going to play outside of these two exhibition opponents is going to be able to challenge you in a way that that you know, young Harrison Spaulding won't.
And what I mean by that is they're going to try to take away the three point line. They're gonna try to slow it down they're gonna, you know, they're gonna dic they're gonna try to dictate things much more than young Harris did. And maybe young Harris did try to dictate style of play, that kind of stuff, keeping Louisville from getting in what they wanted to do, and maybe they just weren't effective at it.
I don't know, But.
Hard to not be super impressed with what you saw, and it's hard also not to compare it to what was here the last couple of years. And I don't remember talking a whole lot about it yesterday, but I'm sure it probably came up at some point as we did, of course talk basketball as we were getting set for
the first of exhibition game. But I wanted to just, you know, not think about the last two years and not really find myself comparing every little thing that Pat Kelsey and his group in the way they're doing things to what we had in the Kenny payinnair.
Like.
I didn't want to do that because I just, I mean, I just didn't want and nobody really wants to go relive that, of course, I mean, who would, right, It was disastrous, We all know that, and we did it for longer than we needed to. But seeing everybody last night doing the same, you know, doing what I was trying not to do. And at the time it was
hard for me. You know, I was watching the game at home with my wife and my kids, and obviously, you know, my son's just old enough now to where, like you know, he knows their rain in threes and he's losing his mind. He's having fun and he's enjoying it. But every little detail about Louisville last night I was I was impressed with. I mean not to say they're perfect. I mean, clearly I can find some things that potentially, when you play much better teams like we might need
to be worried about. But like last night, it wasn't really about that. It was just knowing you're It was the visual confirmation that you are in a way better place than you than you were previously. And we all knew that, but last night was a chance to see it. And I know they played in the Bahamas, but a lot of people probably didn't watch those games. I'm sure
many did, but you know it's a little different. It's you know, it's not at the Yump Center, right, It's not after these guys have practiced together for for many, many weeks and months. So you know, last night, the visual confirmation, it was, it was awesome, and everybody enjoyed it. But I could tell I wasn't the only one seeing
every little thing and comparing it to what we had prior. Example, the bench, I mean to see the energy from everybody on the bench, all eleven staffers that are there, either on the bench or behind the bench. I mean, they're into it as if they're about to check in the game at any moment. And look, some of those guys are because they clearly are going to play a lot of guys if they can meeting players, but every staff member,
I mean the intensity, the energy. They're all on the same level, the same wavelength, if you will, when it comes to their enthusiasm and to really just being locked in. And you know, that's one of many things again that stood out to me last night, and I realized just scrolling through Twitter listening to people in the postgame show that were either calling or texting, like it's almost impossible not to do it. I think it's I think it's
it's human nature. And it reminded me of something that that we've talked about before and This may sound like a reach, It may sound crazy to some, but I
believe it. Coaching changes are like breakups or divorces. They are, I mean they're not, but they are especially you know, for for for most transactions, if you will, whenever you move on from one coach to another, you're not single for a while, getting your life together and you know, resetting things emotionally, maybe trying to you know, maybe maybe maybe a bad breakup or a divorce puts you in therapy for a few years and you kind of got to reset and start anew to where if you end
up finding somebody five years after your divorce, maybe you're not thinking about your your previous partner as much because you've had a lot of time. Well that's not how this works unless you have like an interim coach, and we we actually have had some interim coaches for a while. You know, you had David Patchett for a year, you had Mike Bgeze for half a season, so I guess we have been there. But this time around, you went straight from Kenny Payne and that disaster to to Pat Kelsey.
So you know, when you don't really I mean, you go from one to the other. I think it's again, it's it's you can try to tell yourself not to draw comparisons, but it's almost impossible, I think. So it's not like people are oneing to go dance on the grave of those that advocated that Kenny Payne was deserving to be here, not only as long as he was, but maybe longer than he was. But it's it's impossible not to to find yourself, you know, looking at every
little detail. And maybe it's not every little detail for you guys like it is me. Maybe it's just, hey, the energy from from the from the players on the floor, the effort, the clear identity that they have and a clear you know, plan for how they want to play. It was just it was awesome, you know. And look, they won one oh six to fifty nine, and it's not a real game. They're gonna face much tougher competition. There's gonna be games where they don't make twenty four
threes and shoot it forty three percent from downtown. But there's also gonna be games where they do make twenty plus threes. I think, just because that's how this team is built. So, you know, I don't know how much I really learned about this team that I was surprised by, because again, it's hard to really know what you're learning whenever you're playing that type of competition. I mean, last night was really similar to what we saw in the Bahamas, to be honest with you, but it felt more real
because there were fans that were there in attendance. We had a postgame show. I mean, it's October. You know you're about to play a real game coming up here in two weeks, and in a little bit over two weeks you're gonna have a game against the number twelve team in the country, and that's the Tennessee Vall. So a nice way to get things started for Pat Kelcey last night. I kind of feel like we've had at least I have mentioned like three different times that we've
gotten the Pat Kelsey era started. And I guess technically it started the day he got hired BEFO, we're going to be real here. I mean, he became your coach at that time, and then you had, of course him putting the roster together. Obviously they played some exhibition games in the Bahamas. Louisville Live was you know, the first time you got a chance to show up at the Young Center and see Pat Kelsey there. Obviously not a game or anything like that. And then last night was
your first exhibition game. You'll have another one, but the actual first real game that counts for Pat is in thirteen days as they take on Morehead State. So if you guys have thoughts and things you want to share as far as what you took away from last night or whatever, you can certainly do that. I just you know, I wanted not to even bring up the previous two years at any point, but again, I felt better about my situation. And you know, it's not like I have
real trauma. I mean, it's I mean, I should stop saying PTSD because there are people who truly suffer from PTSD from like, real life awful things. Kenny Payne was a real life awful thing for all of us. But you know, it's it's sorts and it's over. You know, if that's the worst thing that ever happens to us, then you know it's still suck and it would still be something terrible.
But you know what I mean.
So good vibes for Louisville Hoops, no doubt about that. And hearing Pat Kelsey talk last night. I mean again, maybe that's not a little thing, because I kind of feel like it's it's it's not a little thing. I feel like it's something that we probably will pay more
attention to than than we ever have. Right because when things were so bad, and you would listen to Kenny at any moment, rather it be a presser getting ready for a game, his radio show, press conferences after the games, like you would, you would hear him and it would make you feel worse. And you know, Pat Kelsey ends up losing some games that we feel like he shouldn't lose. We'll still pay attention to what he says, but like
you know, results matter. But right now, last night, for and his postgame presser, I feel like it was another like it was another opportunity to to, you know, take advantage of what this fan base is. Man, we're crazy. We will, in fact, like get excited about you talking about how awesome it was for you to experience the Young Center for the first time.
Again.
Little things that we used to just take for granted that wouldn't really be on your radar at all, are now on your radar at every turn because we didn't have it for a while and we realized how how
how you know how important the little things are. And I want to give credit to there's a Twitter account State of Louisville that put together a little montage here, and it's just comparing quotes from Pat Kelsey's press conference last night to things we heard in the first couple of years and I mean in the last couple of years.
And it's I.
Mean it's these are all quotes from Kenny that you probably remember that made you want to rip your hair out. But you know, like and again with Pat last night, it was nice to hear him go into detail and talk about like you can tell this guy is like he's he's gonna work his tail out, He's gonna succeed here, He's gonna die trying.
That's what it seems like.
And that is what you would expect for somebody who is in this position coaching the Louisville men's basketball program. But you know, we didn't we didn't have that previously. But this is about a minute in fifteen seconds, and I thought it was worth hearing.
Again.
This is I don't know who put it together for them, but the Twitter account is State of Louisville and I thought it was really really well done.
What I inherited was broken.
And I really appreciate the guys here at the Young Center that busted their tail to try to get the water right in the locker.
Room more than I could ever tell you. It was broken.
They operate with excellence, as does our administration.
It wasn't just basketball. It was broken beyond broke awesome.
You know. I think the crowd really really appreciate how we're playing. And guys were playing hard at heck, they're sharing the ball or banging shots. It was exciting.
They brought the fight we didn't. I can just tell you we didn't come to a fight. It was a fight, and it was the.
First time I heard the young roar what do they call it in Augusta National, the Tiger roar, the young roar, I'm down for it.
We didn't have the tyst that he wanted, so he didn't know if he wanted to play.
I loved, loved those two walk ons at the end of the game putting their teeth on that loose ball over there in the corner, and our bench just went nuts. That speaks to culture.
That's what young people do.
So number thirty five had one hundred and eighty seven free throws last year, Number twenty at one hundred and sixty one, and number twelve had one hundred and seventy. Like that's off the charts.
So again, like that hearing those clips back to back. I mean again, if you ever needed confirmation of like the little it may not have registered to you last night the past Kelsey just reeled off how many free throws in total? Three guys who played for Young Harris last year attempted like, you know why he knows that because he's he's a basketball sicko. I mean, he's obsessed with this and that's why. And that's what I mean. You need somebody like that around here, somebody who's going
to succeed or die trying. Somebody that may, in fact, you know, sacrifice their health and their well being because they love this so much. And that's not fair that that sounds, you know, a little dangerous, but hey, like this job is for everybody, and you know, unfortunately, I think we've we've always known that, but we really learned that the hard way with the previous regime. But exciting times, no doubt, we got a lot to get to today. I mean, how about Lamar Jackson last night? Pretty scary,
pretty scary for the rest of the NFL. That guy's got two MVPs already, and and he got better. He's gotten better. He's playing the best football of his young career. And I can say young career, I think, I mean, he's been in the league a while again, already has two MVP trophies in his trophy case. But like, if he continues to get better, or if he just stays the way he's playing right now, that's a dangerous thing
for the rest of the NFL. And it does kind of seem as if the conversation about Lamar nationally has shifted to where, all right, if anybody's out there claiming this guy is not one of the best things we've seen out there, then.
You know you need help.
And look, I know he hasn't won a Super Bowl, and clearly he's hit a level and he's been at this level for a while that in the eyes of some without that Super Bowl ring, he'll look like somebody who has yet to get it done, has yet to really leave his mark on the NFL, which is nonsense, but you know what, that's just how it works. But right now, we'll see. I mean, this Ravens team, they look better than they've ever looked with since Lamar's been there.
I mean, Derrick Henry, the thought of the Titans letting that guy walk, Jerry Jones and Dalla Now we don't, we're good. I mean, he's still really, really special and you put him in Lamar Jackson together. That's again, that's scary for everybody else. All right, we didn't. I mean I was pretty much just you know, crying and dealing with Louisville's lost to Miami and just the three losses in mid to late October. It's you know, it's a gut punch. So you know, we'll get back into that
today if you guys won. I mean, louisll is back in action on Friday against Boston College. But what I wanted to get to today is the college football playoff race. Not like we're going to break down bracketology or anything like that, but maybe playoff race isn't the right way to describe it.
But I feel like we're in a really rare spot here. We're in the middle of October, late October.
Honestly October twenty second, and I don't think we know who the best team or maybe even the best two teams are in college football, and that feels rare. We know, I mean, the national champion is likely going to come from one of those that's in the elite tier, right, one of the usual programs that finds themselves competing for a national championship. But as far as who you would say right now is the best team in college football,
I don't know who you would even like. I think you could make the case for a handful of teams, but you could also, you know, you could also make the case against some of those teams, right, like Bama if they win the national championship at the end of the year. I mean, I'm not predicting it, but like, can we say that we'd be stunned? I don't think so.
You know, Georgia obviously they went in and knocked off Texas and they looked good doing it, but they've also been vulnerable this year, more so than they really have ever been under Kirby Smart at least, you know, since they got on such a great run there. Obviously, Oregon is the number one team in the country now, but you know, I don't know if they look like a team that you can claim, well, you know what, if they keep playing the way they're playing right now, nobody's
beating them. So it's kind of fun to be honest with you. Now, there are still what seven undefeated teams
right now? I'm sorry, there's ten undefeated teams, and I thought y'all who did a really good job of breaking down each of those undefeated teams as far as you know they're most likely loss if they get one, and really a good look at the strength of schedule, which I think will tell the story about you know how some of these teams are in fact undefeated, because I think there's teams with one loss that I would put ahead of nearly every undefeated team if I'm being honest
with you. So we're loaded, as mentioned, so stick around. Also, I don't know what I can add to it, but how about Mark Pope's car running out of gas this morning? I mean, you trust a guy to take over your program that doesn't know when he's got to fill up the gas tank? I mean, I mean he wouldn't televise the Blue White scrimmage fans who you know, don't have enough money to pay hundreds of dollars for tickets. They
couldn't even watch the Blue White game. Now, this guy's running out of gas on his way to work, could be could be uh troubled in Lexington before you even actually get to see him coach a game. I mean, you do what you want, but I'd be concerned if I was you, if I was a Kentucky fan. So
Lamar Jackson last night sensational. I mean, there have been three games in the NFL in the history of the league where a quarterback threw for five or more touchdowns and on fewer than twenty five pass attempts while also running for fifty yards fifty or more yards. And you know who's done all three of those, Lamar Jackson. So five or more touchdowns on fewer than twenty five passing attempts and also ran for over fifty yards. That's only
happened three times. Again, Lamar has done it every single time. And that's not really like, that's not that crazy of his status because at this point, like everybody knows just how rare he is. But you know he's also had Yeah, when you look, when you look at just the most most games, take away the rushing component and just look
at passing touchdowns. As far as the most games with five or more passing touchdowns and zero interceptions, Lamar has done it five times, which matches Aaron Rodgers and Peyton Manning. And the only guys that have done it more is Tom Brady and Drew Brees have done it eight times. So you know that's Lamar. You know, clearly we're looking at a statistic that only factors in passing touchdowns without
an interception. So the company within that impressive group is I mean, it's elite guys that you know clearly he would say, are great passers. And you know, Lamar, I used to be a little little sensitive to this because it was ridiculous for people to claim that he couldn't throw the ball like he wasn't. Like I mean again, it's still it's still thrown out there every now and then as a joke, and I get why people do it, but like, you know, not bad for a running back.
And really, Lamar, you know, saying that after one of his NFL games many years ago, whenever he like he has done many times, put together a really good game and it really wasn't just because of his legs. He was out there throwing dots you know, he made the line pretty good for a running back, and like that's that's clearly you know, something people still mention from time
to time. But I hated even acknowledging anybody who would claim that he'd be better off moving positions, because what that did when he came out of college, it said that you just didn't watch him. And that's not to say that like you know, I mean to me, it was quite literally people who just knew that he put up crazy numbers and they saw the highlights where he's making guys look ridiculous because they can't tackle him, and those things are impressive. That's a huge component to what
Lamar does. But like you know, you didn't watch him in college if you felt like he needed to be at a different position, if you thought he just wasn't good enough at quarterback because you didn't trust his arm as far as the consistency and the accuracy, I disagree with you, but that's a different conversation. People who claimed that he needed to be at a different position just didn't watch him. Because if Lamar Jackson, let's say he was I don't know, maybe this is a little bit
of a stretch. I was going to say, let's say he was half the quarterback he is as far as his arm and what he can do there, I still feel like he'd be better off to be your quarterback and just be a guy that you lean on his
ability to run more than you do anything else. But I don't know, maybe if Lamar, I mean, Lamar is such a gifted specimen as far as athleticism, electrifying speed that like I feel like you you know, if you wanted to put him elsewhere, you may find that he could be pretty good at, you know, at doing a lot of different things just because of how gifted he
is as an athlete. I mean, there's a reason Bobby Patrino put him as a kickoff returner the first day he practiced, and there's also a reason why his mother called Bobby Patrino to make sure that never happens again. Right after that practice and the rest is history. He
became a quarter He's clearly a quarterback. And you know, look at him now and when you look at you know, those that have have had you know, I mean again you can you know, we don't need to just run through all these stats and numbers because it's probably something that Louisville fans who follow Lamar.
Are pretty familiar with.
But like any any type of argument that like he's not everything, he's you know, he's proven to be as far and again like the proof has been there. Like anybody, anybody that would try to downplay his success in the NFL right now, meaning what he's already accomplished and the way he's playing right now, I mean, it would be such a force. You know, there are people who used to be in the group of all right, you know, they're going to try to, you know, take a different approach.
They're going to try to be Devil's advocate and counter those who are talking about why Lamar is so great, And even those people can't do it now because he's playing the best football of his life and that's a
scary thing for the rest of the NFL. And there's a lot of football to be played, and I think Lamar is clearly the MVP right now as it stands, but again, a lot of football to be played, and I think it will be harder for him to get another one unless he keeps doing exactly what he's doing right now, because there will be people that claim.
Okay, we want because rather it be NFL.
NBA, MLB, and I don't know as much about MLB, but like Lebron, James quite literally should have been the Most Valuable Player award winner in the NBA for like a decade straight. I mean he would bounce from team to team and take a team that was terrible and they would then be in contention to win the National Champion, to win the NBA title, like he proved year in and year out for a good stretch of his career to be the most valuable player in the league. And
it wasn't even close. But they don't give it the same guy every year. And once you've won the won an award once, to get it a second time, you really have to go above and beyond where you already were, kind of like the Heisman Trophy, Like I don't think anybody will ever win the Husman twice again, don't think it'll happen. And if it was going to happen, it probably would have happened with Lamar, to be honest with you, So you know, like he needs a super Bowl, there's
no there's no doubt about it. But he could not win a super Bowl and maybe not even win you know, maybe not even get to a super Bowl. And at the end of the day, like he could, he could stop playing right now, and he still would be looked at, in my opinion as one of the best quarterbacks to ever play as far as what he can do out there and what he's accomplished, you knowtically on an individual basis.
And yes, despite his team's you know, his team not being in the Super Bowl since he's been there yet, and that's not something to completely ignore. But it's not like they're terrible, I mean, and again, this would be a real punch to the gut and I kind of fear that this may play out this way, but like who knows, Like let's say Lamar keeps doing what he's doing for the next few years, but yet they never make it there.
You know why.
It's probably because they're going to keep running into the current dynasty in the NFL, which is the Kansas City Chiefs, and like that would be it'd be a tough pill to swallow. But you know what happens in sports.
There are many.
Greats that probably would have collected a ring or two, but they happen to run into you know, Jordan and the Bulls in the nineties.
So we'll see how it plays out. There's a lot of football left.
But Mahome's still being looked at as an MVP like candidate right now. Like I mean, it's ridiculous, I get it, but it's based off of, you know, like what he's done in his career, which he's special. There's no doubt Patrick Mahomes is one of the best quarterbacks we've ever seen in the NFL. He could stop playing today and I think we'd still say that now. I believe he is absolutely benefiting from having a really good coach and Andy Reid and you know, a really good tight end
in Travis Kelcey, and also you know Chris Jones. Let's be real, that guy's elite defensively, so, but you could say that about a lot of guys, right like Lamar early on in his career really benefited from a Ravens defense that was that was elite. So you know, that's
that's part of it. But currently, let's look at some stats here, because this is like again to say that, you know, to tell somebody who thinks Patrick Mahomes should be an MVP candidate, to tell them that they're ridiculous, Like that's a ridiculous thing to say, right because he's Mahomes, He's he's a legend already, But like, shouldn't it be based off of, you know, like what you're doing, like what kind of like not just winning, but like what
you're doing statistically, because right now you've got Patrick Mahomes, who's again right now if you just go look at like the you.
Know, the the odds.
I mean, he's co front runner, or he was until Lamar went off last night and put together maybe the best game of his season. But Patrick Mahomes right now is sixteenth in the NFL and passing yards completion percentage he's eighth, and for touchdown passes, he's tied for twenty first. He has the same amount of touchdown passes as Daniel Jones. And he actually is tied for first with interceptions. I need to look that up and see if maybe that's an old stat but he has the same amount of
interceptions as Gardner Minshew. So you know, Mahomes is great overall. Nobody would tell you differently, but like, why is he still viewed as somebody that is in the mix for the MVP with those numbers? Yes, his team's undefeated, but like, there are a better candidate. I mean, if the MVP is an overall award that doesn't go to specifically, you know, it doesn't have to be an offense or a defense guy can be one of either. Chris Jones is a better candidate for that award this year right now than
Patrick Mahomes's. So with all that said, you know, I know there's going to continue to be talking about, well is everything's going to get a Super Bowl and we're just gonna have to live with that, and maybe some can deal with that better than others, better than me, because like it just triggers me a little bit because there are still people that will claim that if he doesn't get a super Bowl, then like the rest of
his career is just, yeah, he's pretty good. He was all right, Like, no, you're watching somebody that is really there's no comparison. That's not to say he's the best ever, because I'm not saying that, but like the comparisons to
Mike Vick aren't even accurate anymore. Like he's better than Mike Vick was and it's been proven, and there's still some people that I think that hesitate to say that, and you know, I don't know why, but I used to go from last night's first exhibition game, Pat Kelsey and his team putting on a show, draining twenty four to threes, dominating the opponent like you're supposed to do, and then turning on Lamar Jackson on Monday Night football and watching him, you know, do his thing. All right,
quick break, we'll come back on the other side. Get at the text line. Also, if you guys want to give us a call, you can do that. Fib oh two five seven one seventy nine hundred is the number if you want to call in. You can also text in FIBO two sixty five three zero seven ninety on the llen N Federal Credit Union text line. Keep it locked right here on Sports Talk seven ninety. That's right Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk
seven ninety, wrapping up the three o'clock hour. Thanks for hanging out with us, don't forget take us with you wherever you go. Listen live on the Aheart Radio Listen live at seven ninety Louisville dot com. Nick Coffee, that is me the Company man John Alden alongside and let's hit the text line.
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Seven ninety is the llen N Federal Credit Union text line members get more at Ellen and FCU. You can learn more and open your account today at LNFCU dot com. All right, so we've had a couple of different folks, A couple of different people mentioned the attendance last night at the at the game, and one person kind of mentioned, Hey, I know you don't want to talk about attendance, but like, how do we get it better?
I mean, I don't know.
And it's not that I don't want to talk about it, because like I get that that is still something that is going to come up with fans, like, hey, do you think we'll have a great crowd, because crowds matter, right,
Having good attendance is important for your games. I think there's context that should always be considered when you talk about attendance, because I think you can have a good team that is playing a lousy opponent that you've never heard of on a random you know, on a Saturday at noon in football, or on a Wednesday at nine pm in basketball, and the people not going doesn't mean that they're out on your program, your coach and the players and the current direction of where things are going.
It's just people don't go to games like they used to. There's just not as much of an incentive to say that you were there. And I mean, you know, like last night, there were three different people that that I saw.
One on Twitter.
A couple of people texted in a screenshot of like what it would have cost them with fees to go to last night's game against Young Harris and it wasn't cheap. Now a lot of it's really just with stupid ticketmaster fees man and there are some other resell ticket reselling sites that that that you can get around that much of a of a of an expense to you know, have them email you a barcode, which is just insane
that they're able to do that. But like, I just don't blame anybody who decided not to go because they didn't want to. I mean, it would be nice to be there to see Pat Kelsey coach this team on on the sideline for the first time, but like, I'm sure there's people that said, Hey, it'd be a different conversation if everybody's like, yeah, I'm out, I don't want to go again. You need good attendance, You need a
good crowd. But I just, I mean, I think there was a reason last night there was no I mean, it'd be really rich if Pat Kelsey in his first postgame press conference to call out the lack of attendance, but he would never do that. But he did highlight the noise and those that were there, how much they were into it whenever you know, this team was draining threes and forcing Young Harris to call a time out,
Like that's the way he should look at it. And I'm sure he knows going in that it's been such a long time since the Young Center had really good crowds for basketball, because you know, the obvious what the program has been in a terrible spot, and that's not something that you can just expect to have everybody come back for when you're playing an exhibition game in October
against a team nobody's heard of. So that's not you know, there wasn't really a I guess the question more so is like how to you know, I don't know, I mean as far as how we can get to a point where you play that exhibition game last night and get a crowd of twenty thousand people there or you know, not that much, but maybe right around there. Like, I don't know if that's possible. I mean, I guess technically it's possible, But I think you could be coming.
Off of.
A really good debut season for Pat Kelse where they made the tournament and got all the way to the second weekend. And if in a year from now, they're coming off of that successful first season and they're playing young Harris again and it's on a Monday night at seven o'clock in mid to late October, you'll probably have more people there than you did last night. But the scenario where with these games you have a full crowd or close to it, it's just not realistic and it's not needed.
Now.
Again, you'd like for everybody to be there, but that's not That's just not how it is anymore. And it's not just Louisville, like it's not. I mean, I don't know what Kentucky's gonna have for their crowd against Wesleyand do they play tomorrow?
I think that's I don't know when.
I think it is tomorrow.
It's not tonight.
Yeah, they play soon here coming up in their first exhibition, and I'm sure they'll have a decent crowd. I mean, it wouldn't shock me. But you know, if there are a bunch of empty seats wouldn't shock me either. I don't think it means that their fan base isn't pleased with with Mark Pope. It's just people, you know, and they've had their share of games with a bunch of empty seats too. I mean, of all the things we do that that's really petty, And that's really what makes
this rivalry what it is a lot of pettiness. I mean, there's there's a lot of things that make it what it is. But you know, it's so obvious we make fun of our rival for things that we would defend our program for I if the shoe was on the other foot. And it's so consistent, it's so childish and it's so petty. But that's that's what a rivalry is. So you know, it's not that I you know, let me let me clarify, like I'm not telling you, hey, we can we should never talk about attendance.
But it's just I don't see.
It as a red flag issue the way a lot of other people do. And I just can't relate to those that are, you know, their experience as a fan, rather it be watching on TV or being at the game, if their experience is worse because of some empty seats, Like I just again, I you know, I just can't relate.
Now.
If you end up having a really good team this year and we get to February and nobody's going to games and it's you know, you got ten thousand people there, then you know, maybe that is maybe there is a conversation to be had as far as like, hey, what's going on? Why don't people go anymore? But as far as last night, even with all the good stuff going on, even with all the momentum with Pat Kelcey, I think this fan base is clearly supportive of this guy and
believes he can get this thing turned around. But that doesn't mean that everybody who has that mindset that is very supportive and excited, they all didn't have to be there last night. I mean, it's that's you know, that's the way I see it.
But you know, I'm sure others disagree. All right.
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dot com where you can give them a call. BABO two nine hundred pets All right, two hours left a lot more to get into. Let's talk a little Louisville football as they try to avoid another loss here on the road at Boston College, a game they certainly should win. But you know, it's kind of back to that Virginia vibe where you don't really have a whole lot to gain by winning. But man, a loss would be I mean,
he'd be the worst law. You'd no longer be able to say that everybody that's beach is a good team if Boston College beat you, because I don't think they're particularly a good team, all right, Stick with us right here on Sports Talk seven ninety