It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven ninety Holy.
Crap, I don't know who the hell we think when we.
Are get off our show, idiot.
The kids are crying or trail off crying. The countries are screwing it up.
Gold Play Inner Murals, Brother, gold Play Inn Murals.
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?
All right? Happy hump day, ladies and gentlemen, Welcome in. I'm now hearing my voice for the first time today in these headphones. And these are, by the way, earbuds, not not headphones, which is what I prefer. And I feel like I'm doing a radio show that's not a talk show. I feel like I'm in between playing smooth jazz. Doesn't it sound like you know, does my voice sound deeper than usual? This kind of works? Actually? Yeah? Explaining about it, yeah, like maybe, I mean, it's hump day,
let's let's have some fun. I mean, who knows where we're going to go the next three hours. I do have a plan, believe it or not. I do prepare for this show. We're gonna have some fun. But yes, I mean I just tweeted this out. I amazed myself sometimes, Austin, because I'm still sick. I'm not well. My eyes are watery as if I've been crying all day, haven't cried any I'm congested. You can tell the voice is not at one hundred percent, but yet I'm still here. That's right.
I mean, sometimes I amazed myself with just my love of the game. You know what I mean, you know who you sound like to me?
Would I kind of get the vibe from when I hear you if I were just close my eyes very white, yes, yes, emphasis on the white.
You know what you've seen Joe Dirt right, of course. The radio what's it? Dennis Miller?
Dennis Miller, Yeah, he's where he's that he tells the whole story on his radio show. And if I can close my eyes, I can kind of imagine that that is I hope that's a compliment.
Yeah, that's that's a really good example of radio in a movie that that really, I think does give you a glimpse of what radio can do. As far as people just being so captivated by Joe Dirt story exactly.
I think it's one of the many reasons, one of the main reasons I fell in love with radio as like a kid, I'm like, wow, oh man, there's something about that that just seems so chill. Everyone's listening and you just never know who you can just pop about it nowhere and you can just tell a story about it.
And I know we have people that listen on podcast every day and we certainly appreciate that. But there's also something about the live part of it to where you know, even if you know you can get it later, if it's something that keeps you interested and you're you're into it, I mean, there's gonna be I mean, there's clearly, I don't want to say there's an incentive to get it live,
but it is just a different experience. And yes I'm biased, but radio, live talk radio, when it comes to storytelling and just you know, keeping people interested, it's I mean, clearly, I love it. That's what I do. It's all I know how to do at this point in my life. But yes, that's if somebody asked me to think of movies or television shows that have the radio component in it as far as like kind of what we do, and that's more of a I think that's music station.
But either way, and by the way, that used to be a thing. There used to be people who would talk a lot on FM music stations. Now that's kind of changed. It's just not the wall podcast now. Yeah, it's kind of not the way that it was anymore. But yeah, that's a little bit of a Howard Stern feel, which I didn't know at the time that I mean that I would ever want to do radio, But I remember Howard Stern, I mean, and it was on e television,
like his radio show was. I mean, I don't even I was a kid, so I doubt it was live, but I remember Howard Stern show. You know, they would talk about things that I knew I wasn't supposed to be listening to at that young age. But because it was on television, they weren't going to really show something that would be like, you know, X rated or even
R rated. I don't think so. I remember that being one of those things that I kind of like would hope that my parents wouldn't walk in on me while I'm watching it, because they would probably they probably wouldn't see anything right away. But they knew what Howard Stern was right, and they would think to themselves, wait a second, you shouldn't be watching this, But I just guts that girl sitting on the speaker. Yeah, I just got hooked on it. And then, of course, you know, later on
developed the love for radio. And I am not sure there is anybody better at it than the one and only Howard Stern. I don't I haven't listened to much of anything he's done recently in recent years, but as far as just a show entertainment, characters within the show good stuff.
So I would say that's like what the example of, like crash radio is kind of in your face, off the wall, like left back and forth, left or right, like you don't know which direction you're going in that sort of show.
Yeah, and this is very MTV and we'll get the
we'll get the party started here soon. But that is one of the things that I that I'm bummed about as far as currently like, radio is still a very very popular thing, believe it or not, despite what people tell you, more people listen now than ever because of the different ways that you can in fact listen, and people still listen in their car especially to the talk format, considering that that's you know, that that's something that is still very much popular when it comes to that kind
of stuff. So anyways, what I'm getting at those if you really tried to like go deep into a bit when it comes to radio, you really tried to do something something cool, something different, something unexpected, and bit's probably not even it can be a bit, but I mean something like you know, like a project or you know, just different things you could do within your show that you build up for. I mean, I feel like now you would just be kind of like mocked for trying
to do something like that by certain people. But anyways, I love radio and it's an honor to be able to do this every single day, and who knows, maybe today's my last day. I hope not. But Benetti told me that many years ago, and it hit me, hit me to my core. And I'm sure I've not reminded myself of this every day, but it does come to mind every now and then, and it keeps me hungry, keeps me in the moment, enjoying it because you really
never know when it's going to be your time. I mean sure, and it's unfortunately one of the industries where you can get the call, you can get the you can you know, you can get notified that it's over. And quite literally, it not be anybody who you work with it made the decision. And it could not be because they have found that you did anything wrong. I mean, it could be, and you could you could even be somebody that is like a big revenue producer for said company.
But if they make if they just decide to mix it up. And because obviously if you bring in more money than you're getting, you're getting certain cuts of it, and they can just decide to restructure. So it's part of the business. It's it's how it works. So I'm going to enjoy every second of it. And we've got roughly three hours with you today and we're going to make the most of it.
Well, how you feeling today, I mean it's like the whole body feel good. Are you feeling remnants of your whatever you had the last couple of days.
I mean, I'll be honest with you, I kind of feel like I feel like in the last twenty four hours, I've felt a little worse as far as just feeling kind of ick. But I'm on the meds and I don't know what the meds are specifically. I mean, I can, I can pull it out of my bag and see what it is. They got me taken, but probably got three or four, so little old kind of feel like it is a drug. Sure, I don't really know what
they you know, I don't. I mean, it kind of reminded me of my kids when I give them like children's tile and all. I don't know what it is, but they'll get all slap happy, like it's almost like they're on something. I kind of feel like that because I mean, I'm I'm I'm I'm I'm good, but my voice is not great and I'm real, I'm I'm kind of weak. I haven't really done much of anything today, which I guess was kind of how yesterday was, So I guess to answer your question, I'm probably a little
bit more. I'm probably the same as I was yesterday. But the voice, despite not doing any talking until today, it's it's fading a little bit. So I'm gonna try to keep it within a certain range throughout the show, not get too high, not get too low, just kind of keep it in, you know, keep it on cruise control. You can get too high.
And you kind of you might you actually just might like break the matrix of your voice and at some point like revert back to your normal voice, almost as if nothing happened.
There were a couple of times yesterday where I felt myself sounding like Mickey Mouse because I was just trying to emphasize something and I went a little too high and it didn't it didn't sound great. But look, I'll I know you guys are thinking, Man, this guy must love radio because he's he's sick, and here he is again, working his tail off for for for the for the love of the game. When I say the game, I mean I mean radio dashing through the snow like Santa Claus. Oh,
the weather is terrible out there too. It's cold as can be. We got more snow, but yet I'm here mm hmm. And I hope you guys can pick up on us like the only people in the office too.
Yesterday, I remember everyone was here when he came to There are people hanging from the ceilings putting in thermostats.
Now no one's here. It's a ghost town. Yeah, And I kind of like it that way. I don't know why. And I like the people that I work with but there's something about something about being here when whenever it's kind of empty. I don't know why that that's more and to me. But you know, people called being an introvert. I guess you know people call that studio.
It is something I meant to tell you yesterday when we were talking about it, because sometimes me and you, you and I like to borrow ourselves.
Back there and we keep it and we keep the lights.
Off absolutely, And I'll never forget one of the first things you ever told me in radio was I'm a maniac and I like to keep it dark.
Oh yeah, when you still remember that when it was in mornings.
But at any time I tell someone that I'm going to go back there in the morning.
There. Oh, you talked about Nick's studio. It's referred to as Nix style that I mean, I guess I've I mean, in fact, I've probably done more shows in this studio than anybody's done in any of the studios here, just because of postgame stuff. Right, Like you know, there's throughout a good chunk of the of the year we're doing well, not as much for basketball this year, so I guess I have just kind of made it my home, and you know, I'm honored that I Studio B. They're giving
it to me. I'll take it. That's right, I'll take it, all right. So I wanted to start with just some obser from college hoops last night, because, as I've told you guys for a couple of weeks now, we are rounding out the regular season. March madness will be here soon, and I'm excited for it, especially knowing that I've got a team that is alive, that certainly looks like a tournament team, and who knows, maybe they finish better than expected, which I don't know. I lied to you because I
was going to say finished better than expected. I expect them to go undefeated the rest of the way, and I don't think that's like asking too much. I think they've shown and kind of proven really that they are capable, and I don't think they'd have a problem being held to that standard of beating the teams that are left on the schedule. They're going to take you one game at a time because that's what they do, that's what
they should do. But when it comes to just, you know, this team being able to improve their situation for the selection committee, I really think it's going to come down to if they can get themselves there in the Semis with a chance to play Clemson, and if they can win that one and then get duked, then potentially they could they can improve their situation. So anyways, I can't wait for March madness, can't wait for the conference tournaments.
But you know, the regular season is also a lot of fun, and the fact that we only have five games left it makes me sad, especially knowing that we didn't even get a weekday game this week for Louisville. We don't get to see them in action again until Saturday when they host Florida State. But last night I was watching back and forth between a lot of the games that were on last night and the one that clearly is getting talked about more than anything is Kansas.
So Kansas last night got completely dominated at BYU, a game where they could have easily lost about forty points. In fact, last night it's the worst loss for Kansas and the history of their program as a ranked team when they played an unranked team. BYU is the only team in the last seven seasons to lead Kansas by more than thirty five And I'm just reading here from
ESPN Stats and Info. But this is Kansas's second Big twelve loss by thirty plus in the bill self are you got to keep in mind they entered Saturday morning being one of the top four seeds and now they're probably looking more so like a six to seven. And I still think this Kansas team is going to make the tournament. Who knows, maybe they get it rolling, but it does really sound like their issues are not at
all talent or injury or personnel. It's personality, which I guess maybe technically that can be personnel, but it's not the pieces in what they're capable of as far as players and you know their skill sets, their strengths and weaknesses. It's the personalities. And it certainly seems as if Kansas has given us a real reminder that in this new world where you have to be able to do it quickly,
and I mean get a team together quickly. Right, You've got like the days of a class coming in as four freshmen entering the program, and then they grow over time and by the time they're juniors and seniors. Man, we got a special group here. That's just not how it is anymore so. Being able to find players that can not only fit well together on the floor, right, and can play well together as far as their skill
sets really compliment one another. Right, you got a guard that's more of a distributor, a guy that can run your team, a floor general. And then you got another guard who can do a little bit of that, but also he's more of a scorer, a shooter, I mean, talent and you know, skill set, the pieces they matter, but they also have to work well together. They've got there's got to be I wouldn't even call it team chemistry.
I mean, I guess that's technically what it is. But a coach has to be able to take a lot of different pieces, Guys who don't really know each other, Guys who are coming to your program established they got a big check. That's probably why they're there at a place like Kansas or Louisville or Kentucky. Because that's the name of the game now, right. You bring in highly regarded freshmen that you think can help you right away.
And really, I think more than anything, the benefit of getting a star freshman is gonna be because if they're one and donees even if they weren't your leading scorer, but they were a part of your team in some way and they were successful. The more guys you put in the NBA that are one and done type players, the more likely you're gonna get other guys in the same situation to come and play for you. And that's
just good for your brand. And of course you know it's good to have NBA representation, and also it's good to have young talent, so you know you're gonna still see that, but not as it's not gonna be as emphesized as much as it used to be. You're gonna want to retain players that you know have proven they're good enough to play for your program. Therefore, they know they're gonna need money. They know that if you don't give them money, they're gonna get it elsewhere, so you've
got to make sure you pay them. But then you also are going to go out and build the rest of your roster with pieces that are available in the portal that can help you. And clearly you're always going to want to find guys that you know can play lay to your standard, that fit what you want to do. But one of the hardest things I would think is also going to be one of the most important things moving forward. Sorry, sorry, I had to get that cough
out of the way. Next time you got to jump in and just saying to sing a song or something, well, I really die, not gonna lie.
That cough kind of looked satisfying once I once it looked like you finally got it all out.
I don't know if it's all out yet. Okay, I'll be ready to jump back in. Man. As soon as I turned the microphone on to stop coughing in your ear, then it just comes back so like, so apologies and that hasn't happened at all today. But you know, this is the first time I've been talking non stop for fifteen minutes, So hang on a second.
That's what we got. When we have a flu season coming around, bird flu. I think that I don't know if that's what's causing everything. I know that's causing egg shortages. I don't know what that's causing the rough patch with Nick's voice.
All right, but I think we're good. Appreciate you feeling, and that's tough to just have your tap dancing out there on the fly. Whenever my voice just tat which the voice was there, it's now the voice is high. I don't know what's happening. I don't know what's.
Going on here telling you at some point during today, it's just going to break in and you're going to be it's just going to be like a normal voice.
Maybe I think I got a little too I started talking a little, I started projecting more than I need to with the voice being what it is today. So apologies there, and I feel like I was in a really good spot as far as how I was positioning my point and I'll get us back on the road here and finish where I was going, which was I think one of the most important things is going to be one of the more difficult things, which is figuring out how you can make it work with different egos.
It's not necessarily about what these guys can do. It's about can they play well together? And you don't know that until until you're here, until you've you've had them for a few months and you're in the midst of a season, like you can't there's no And you can do some some digging. You can talk to their coach, you can talk to their AAU coach like you can, you can do some vetting, but you really don't know until all these different pieces from different programs are together
if it's gonna work. So here's here's what has stood out to me is that Bill Self a guy who is clearly one of the best in the game. I don't think Bill Self like is a guy that I think like, And clearly since we've since we've really kind of gotten into this new world, things haven't been great for Bill Self. They now have. I think it's two straight seasons with seven or more losses in league play. He'd never had Kansas more than six losses in Big twelve play ever until I think the last two years.
So that's not good. But I still think he's a very good coach. But I think what he's run into is that he can't figure out how to get these guys to get along and play well together. He said as much last night that they all need to get away from each other. He thought that when they traveled for these two games in Utah BYU and Utah, that it would be a good I guess team bonding thing. But it's not working, and some guys are giving him
a pass, like Goodman who loves Bill Self. I mean he's I shouldn't say that because I think Jeff's been, you know, somewhat critical, but either way, it's on Bill's self to figure it out. He's got to figure it out. So I'll bring all this up to say that I really do believe and we'll look at this on the
other side. If you look at the teams that have had the best portal classes as far as currently playing right now, right the teams that were believed to have built their rosters the best from the portal heading into this current season, there's some that are I think exceeding expectations. There's some that are not even close to what people expected him to be. And I just think coaches are learning in this new world as well that I don't just need to go ahead and get a guy who
I know can give me fifteen and ten. I need to get a guy that can give me something close to that, but also is a good teammate. He's going to buy in, all right. I got to fix my voice.
As Nick's over there cough and his lungs out, we're going to talk about that.
That was me sending it to break. Oh oh, I didn't know that.
Now Back to Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on sports Talk seven to nine day.
My voice doesn't get better. You may us have to play music today on the show. I could do that. I've got to press a button. I've got a lozenge, so hopefully, yes, that can't hurt right, Well, halls, No, that was I mean, it's probably karma because I mean I thought i'd be able to just kind of you know, not project and be able to get through, but have one of those coughing spells, which wasn't fun and you know, not good for somebody who is supposed to speak until
six o'clock on this show. So anyways, it's coffee and company. We are fueled by Thornton's here on Sports Talk seven ninety and see that's where like I say that more than anything throughout the day on the show, because you know, it's so I really emphasize that. Usually I wouldn't say that. I yell, but there's a little there's a little something on it when I say it. But now I can't because I know if I do, it'll it'll be bad news.
Yeah, well it'll trigger another coughing spell when.
You hear me reset and let you know where we are. Just know I'm as excited as I usually am. I just can't really express it because if so, then again Austin's just gonna have to play music because my voice will will fade me. But thanks for hanging out with us.
We appreciate it. I'm not even gonna do it. I'm just gonna I'm just gonna talk because if I start to do what I typically do as far as you know, the things you're required to do, let people know where they're listening, how they can still listen, that kind of stuff, it's just gonna I'm gonna feel flat. Right So now
I'm in my own head. It's weird. But one thing we didn't talk about yesterday that I mean, it's probably one of the most talked about things on the planet right now, and that's what's going on with all of these plane crashes. Have you seen some of the videos. Yeah, I mean, it's not that it's being ignored, clearly, it's being talked about. As I just mentioned, it's probably up there as far as one of the most talked about
things in the country right now, maybe the world. But how did we go from having years and I mean years without anything like that when it comes to domestic flights in the United States to now. I feel like every couple of days there's a new one.
There's something going on. I don't know something, something's in the air and it's not plane.
And then you see that one of the air lines, it might be Southwest they have they're getting rid of, like twelve hundred employees or something, which I didn't immediately hear that and think, well, probably not a good time to do that because they need the employees to figure out what's going on. But still like just weird timing overall. And my wife has been all over me about getting my vacation days put in here at work, so you know,
I don't procrastinate, and we've got some time. I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, but I usually take nearly every bit of my vacation whenever we're not in basketball or football season. So really post Derby, I usually get about three trips in and we fly. But I'm telling I'm telling the wife, get those Greyhound passes, honey. They still have though we're a Greyhound family. This summer, I'm not getting on a damn plane. You see what's going on out there, That's my thing.
I want to say. One of my first ways to travel was a Greyhound. I've made the trip from Tucson, Arizona, to Hear and back at least two or three different times on a greyhound bus.
That builds character. Absolutely. I've never been on a Greyhound, but I'm all in on Greyhound right now. Give me the endorsement. Let I'll start, I'll start pimping Greyhound because I'm not getting on a plane. Man.
I think that there's, like I want to say, somewhere downtown there might be a technical Greyhound station. It used to be like an actual big hub, and from what I can remember, I.
Think they moved it. I know, maybe I don't know. I feel like I just saw the logo. There's still one in Louisville. I just don't think it's where. And maybe you know you're younger than me, but there was one that used to be kind of a I think it was one of the bigger Greyhound like hubs, not just around here, I mean like in the region, and it's not that anymore, I don't think. But yeah, greyhound
is still absolutely a thing. Mm hmm. I just I don't I've never I mean, I'm not afraid of flying, you know, to where, like I never, Like there's some people I know that have only flown maybe once or twice in their life, terrified of it. Yeah, and they did it, they survived, but there's still skin. We'll do anything they can and not do it. I'm not there. That's why I was, man, I'm close. That's what I was about to ask.
Because I had cousins that came here from or I'm sorry, I came here when I still lived back in Arizona. This is twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen, and it was their first time ever flying, and they came to visit us in Arizona, and it's about a couple months before I moved back, and I actually just ended up catching a ride with them on the way back, just getting a kickstart on, you know, my life. But they absolutely hated it. They caught one batch of turbulence and they said never again.
When we picked them up from the gate, like they had this thing where you can see the people that are coming out from the gates like a welcome home, and was like a cam feed from right before they got to the escalator to come back down to you. And there was no like hey, or excitement or anything. It was just pure terror. On their face. I think they just gave us a hug and said, let's just go to a rental car place. We are not doing that again.
Yeah, I mean, I feel very fortunate when it comes to lying in any way, because I've never I've never had a bad I mean, I'm the worst experience I've had. I missed my flight once. That was my fault. I mean, I guess it will. It wasn't really actually wasn't my fault. It was more so because we got we got delayed and had we just barely missed it, but it wasn't It wasn't a big deal. We ended up getting a
flight like two hours later and it was fine. And then I had I got on a plane once and then had to get off the plane after we sat there for like an hour. That sucked, But again I knew other people have had way worse experiences. Yeah, so I consider myself pretty lucky. And when it comes to bad like rough flights. There was one flight when we
were coming back from Mexico. It might have been from our honeymoon, but we were in Dallas coming back to Louisville, and we hit a rough stretch that the roughest stretch i've ever I've ever experienced on a plane. But I looked around and I realized nobody else was really bothered by it, right, the employees weren't, So therefore I realized, that's probably not that crazy. So therefore, again I just consider myself lucky.
But that's exactly how I judge it when I'm in the air If if if the stewardess starts kind of freaking out, then I'll start freaking out. But if they just it's it's just normal, everyday thing for them, then that usually doesn't do much to me. I always remember when we flew back home for the summer. My mom has always been terrified of flying, and she would always had to take a always had to take a valume before we got on the flights. Shit, whatever, it helps massed out.
I mean, I've I've I've had many flights where I didn't have any anything to drink, because you know, it's five o'clock in the morning sometimes, but if the bar was open at the airport, I would get a drink just because it had come on nerves a little bit in And I don't see any beer ever topping the airport beer. As far as my annual beer rankings list. But yeah, I mean whatever whatever comes and nerves a little bit that that that's crucial for me. But I've
always liked flying. I don't know what it was. I mean, obviously, I I like everything about it other than you know, the slight fear whenever I'm up in the air. Sure I don't like.
I guess I've alleviated it from my mind. If something happens when I'm up there, I mean, what can I do? Yeah, just what are you gonna?
Well, So the most recent plane crash where nobody was really hurt at all, let alone dead, which is unbelievable. If you see the plane crash from you know, from from the outside, I mean that it's amazing. I mean it's it's unbelievable that nobody was hurt. But to then see the video of the people as it happens and then them getting out, I kind of feel like I would. And again, if somebody's gonna we live in a world now where somebody's gonna get their phone out and video it.
I mean, even though they may that maybe the last thing they do, they just want to, you know, they want to get it for the gram. I guess of course. So I'm not surprised that the footage has is out there and it's gone crazy viral. That's just where we are in society too. I'm not even really complaining, it's just, you know, I think seeing that scared me about flying more than if I hadn't seen that, If that makes sense, sure, just because it's so real, like, yeah, I've been on
a plane just like that. I I mean, I would be I would be scared to death. And I'm sure I'll fly again before too long and everything be okay. But this is the time where they really do need to emphasize to folks, despite all this that's happened in
the last couple of months, just awful. I mean, it's really I mean, I haven't looked into it enough to know exactly what's caused it specifically, but either way, they should never stop reminding us that flying is actually still one of the safest ways you can travel to go anywhere, absolutely, I mean, and it's hard to keep that in mind whenever you know you're in the air and you see the recent things that have happened in the last few months, but still you have a much better chance of getting
in an accident and potentially dying every day when you get in a car than you do when you get on a plane. Now, again, that probably didn't make you feel much better, but it's just I like being reminded of that, because if I'm not reminded of that, then then I get to worrying more than I should. And that's my biggest, one of my biggest issues. And I feel like if I would have if I was going to correct it at some point, I probably would have
already done it. I worry way more than I should about things.
What's what's the longest flight you've ever been on? Have you ever had to go like across seas? I know you've been to like Mexico and stuff like that. Have you ever had an eight hour flight to like Europe? Have you ever done anything like that actually overseas something like that. I feel like that would terrify me. I don't like being up there more than maybe about four hours. I think the most I've been on was like a straight shot from here to Vegas. That's about a four
or five hour flight, I think. And it's not that I'm I just don't like being cooped up in something small that long because I'm a big guy, got these long dancer's legs. I need to be able to like stand up, stretch or move. It's not comfortable, but like I could not imagine just while flying for ten hours seeing nothing but water because even also domestically, Yeah, that's ridiculous.
I've always flown domestically and they always give you those if we happen to land in water, and then you can use your seat as like a float and you're supposed to take care of yourself before you do, like your partner.
Something like that.
If the little mask thingies come down, but something something would freak my anxiety out over eight hours and it's nothing but water like that terrifies me.
Yeah. I the longest flight I've been on, I had a direct from Cincinnati to either Vegas or Phoenix, and one of those two is a little bit further than the other. And that's the longest, and it was long. It was I mean, that's I'm sure before I die, I'll probably going a longer flight to somewhere maybe in Europe or maybe Hawaii or something. But I'm not going to be the one to really, you know, force the issue. It'll probably be something to where I get invited to go,
and I'll just have to suck it up. My mother is not real big on flying. I guess that's where I get it from. And I think she has always, you know, been fearful of flying. But she recently went, her and my stepdad went on a trip to Europe and that was you know, it's across the pond, as they say, right, and we're talking about being in the air for you know, basically a work shift eight hours
rough early. And she did it, and you know, I don't think it was fun, but you know, I was proud of her, and I'm sure she now is a little bit more open to like going on trips like that, because I would like to see the world more so than you know, what I've seen up to this point. And in order to do that, I'm gonna have to suck it up and you know, realize that, hey, it's gonna be a long, longer flight than what I'm used to. Or maybe i could get on a boat, but I'd
be more fearful of that. Oh you do you know about fear of the water. I won't go on cruises.
I've never been on one, but I'm kind of I'm scared of the deep ocean.
Oh, there's nothing more frightening to me. And I mean that if I'm on a boat and I can't see water or I can't see land, if I'm looking at something in a movie. I mean, movie is different because I know it's not real usually, but if I can't see anything but water and I see no land, I start to like choke. Yeah, I mean it's a it's a real. I mean, I got a couple of weird phobias. One of them I think I've probably just admitted. But there's not much people can do to like freak me
out right, Like you're not gonna take me. You could, you could abduct me and take me to the deep sea if you want, but I don't. I would. I prefer you not. But there's one other thing that I've never told anybody on I've never told it. I've never said on the air or anything. I've never clearly I'm do it. I don't like to make fun of myself, but I know that it would just be an invitation for somebody to mess with me, to kind of see like is he being serious? Is this really something that
freaks him out and scares him? And it does so much so that like I don't even risk it, you know what I mean, there's very there's a handful of people in my life that know what this specific fear is that I just and it's more of a phobia than it is a fear, Like it's not I mean, I guess both are kind of the same. And by the way, it's not elevators. I am scared of elevators, but I've kind of overcome that. Did you know, do
you really you know an elevator story. No, No, I got stuck in an elevator in Mexico and it's scary. Scared the hell out of me. And I did something I'm not proud of. I huh No, me and my wife got stuck in there and it it got it. We were stuck between floors. Oh and I mean we were in like a shopping mall in the you know if if they even call it the suburbs of like can kun to where I mean it was. You actually had to pay to go to the bathroom there, like
that's that's where we were where we were. Yeah, you had to pay, like you had to put money into this thing to be able to get into the bathroom. Did you get the money back like a like an all these shopping Oh no, no, they they know they charged you to go to the restroom and public there for it, because they don't have public restrooms in a lot of places there where we were. So anyways, I didn't know that, so the elevator gets stuck. To this day, I don't know why I was even on the elevator.
I think I was just too drunk. I mean, and I didn't you know, we were just out being tourists and whatnot, and the elevator got stuck, and like there's no button, Like you know what I'm saying, I have no self service. I'm in another country. I guess I could have called nine one one, but that probably would have been I didn't even I freaked out so much so that I didn't even think to do that. That would have been ridiculous anyway. But my wife, she's she's
working to try to calm me down. I don't know, I don't I barely remember it. I'm kind of blocked out, like I think, I just I just envisioned me making laps in this little elevator, trying to figure out how the hell we're going to get out. God, somehow we pried the door open just enough to where we could climb. I could grab the I could reach up to the level that we were slightly under and kind of pull
myself up. And I did that. Wow, And I ran away and left my wife only for like five seconds, and then I turned around and realized, uh, oh, because you know, I'm not tall, but she's shorter than I am, so like she was gonna need some help. And I came back, and I remember, like the next day, I was like, I realized I kind of ran off and left you. Kind of like my George Costanza Seinfeld thing where there's a fire at this kid's party and he pushes everybody down and runs out of the way. It's
kind of what I felt like. And she was like, oh, I totally. I was thinking like maybe she didn't notice it. I was like, I'm not sure if you realize it, but I think I kind of ran off and left you when that happened. She was like, oh, I noticed it for sure. I'm gonna I'm just gonna assume that it's because you were that scared. She said, I'll remember
that next time you're sick. Yes, I was gonna say, maybe maybe that's why she's not been not been as as you know, supportive I would have expected her to be when her man is ill.
So I've always wondered, like, I mean, so there is no button to press. I remember, if if there's anybody ever gets stuck in an elevator like that, you press the emergency button.
Like I'm assuming the fire department shows up.
It's not like if it's broken, it's not like it's just gonna restart again.
Like how do they get you? And I know I've seen Final Destination, know how they do it. I know they do it here in America. But where I was, I mean, I'm sure like what I did is what they have to do. You know what I'm saying, Fye like yeah, I mean, they just don't have the resources, the infrastructure that we would. I mean, honestly, it's probably
not even safe for them to have an elevator. And again I remember asking myself, why was I even on the elevator, like knowing that I'm scared of that, Why did I in the I was only going down like one level. I don't know. It might have been something about because we had to go I think that's what it was. That's what it was. In order to actually get to the restrooms, the public restrooms that you had to pay for, you had to pay and get on the elevator. That's what it was, and that's why we
didn't take steps. It's an executive yeah, I mean it was disgusting too, like it was, but you know they were they were. I mean, if you've ever been to like a real tourist place like Cankun or places like that, I mean it's I've never been on a cruise, but I've heard stories when you get off the ship at certain places where they have like the excursions and whatnot, you can go explore for a few hours, Like you
can't walk five feet without somebody trying to sell you something. Which, by the way, I've never used drugs in my life. I mean I've had I've had a few gummies. Maybe that counts as drugs, but like I'm not somebody that's ever I mean, I've I've just never been my thing. I'm not passing judgment on people who do use drugs. I would prefer that you didn't because you know, it's probably pretty dangerous and it can be addicting and obviously
there's different levels to you know, drugs. But anytime I've gone anywhere that's a tourist place, not even not even in like Mexico or Rivier Maya, Cankun, those places, even like New Orleans in New York City, New York, Yeah, Chicago, Like I look like I got it written on my four head. This guy wants to buy drugs, like I'll
be I'll be in a group of people. They'll be like six of us walking on Bourbon Street and I'm the one that they just they smell me from a mile away, asking me if I want to buy cocaine or something, and I'm like, do I look awesome? I mean, I don't know what it says about me, but maybe they just think I'm a sucker. But the best thing was what I I told some friends that this this happens to me all the time, and they were like, you're exaggerating it, and I'm like, watch, watch. And we
ended up getting to Cancun. This was actually a few years ago. We ended up in Cancun and we're walking down the street and within a few blocks there was one person that kind of came up discreetly, kind of like you know how you guys doing where you staying? Uh, you know, just trying, you know, being you know, buttering us up to try to sell something. And then got close enough singled me out and it's like, hey, buddy,
how you feeling like I'm feeling good? And he was like, what if I told you I could gets you feeling better? And then he showed me at some cocaine. I declined, of course, And but I but I like I my buddy thought I set him up, Like my buddy thought that I told to do that, because there's no way I could have told them that's what's going to happen. And there was eight of us and I was the one that they came after. So anyways, it's time for a quick break, time to once again let this voice rest.
And what I want to take a look at And this really doesn't prove anything. I just think it's interesting to take a look back at which teams were believed to have had the best portal classes heading into this college basketball season, as well as which players were believed to be the biggest gets. And some have been fine, some have not at all lived up to what you expected. And then there's some teams that had the best class and they stink. There's some teams that look like they
got gutted by the portal. They look like they may be the biggest losers in the portal and they're having phenomenal seasons. So you're never going to really know. But I'm telling you, man, things that didn't used to really I think matter and coaching matter a lot now and that's how you make it all work together. And that's easier said than done, clearly, quick break it's coffee and company. Feel about Thorton's on Sports Talk seven.
Ninety Now back to Coffee and Company, fueled by Thornton's on Sports Talk seven nine day.
I do want to give a shout out to Scott Davenport and the Bellerman Knights for snapping a seventeen game losing streak last night. They had a beat down win over Austin p ninety four to sixty eight. In fact, I think I think I saw it's their biggest win as far as margin since they've been a Division One team. So really really rough season for coach Davenport and the Knights. And we've had a few people here and there on the text line kind of bring up like, hey, because
obviously Bellerman. I don't know if they're the second team for a lot of folks around here. I mean, I know there's a lot of support for coach Davenport and for Bellerman here in the Louisville community. And you know, they haven't been talked about quite as much this year, and it's because if you were to talk about their season, it wouldn't be a good com So you know, I believe that coach Davenport is and has proven to be a phenomenal basketball coach. And I'm not here to glaze him.
He doesn't need that. I mean, he's a pretty popular guy here in town, and I know most people would agree with what I just said that he's a really
good basketball coach. But I think timing, like it is in life, it's really important in every aspect, and I think the timing for Bellerman going Division I was really terrible for them because when they made the decision to leave the Division two level and join the Atlantic Sun, I mean, the world was a lot different, meaning the college basketball world, really the college I mean college sports.
I mean I guess technically the world was a lot different than as well, But I mean, had they known that you'd have to start rebuilding your roster every year, and that you were going to have to start paying players to one keep them around or even get them to come to your school, whether it be from the portal or from the high school ranks. I don't know if they would have made the decision to go Division one. Maybe they would have. And here I am just thinking,
like it's strictly a Scotty Davenport decision. But you know, he has bosses, there's athletic director, there, there's a president, so there's a lot more that goes into it than just deciding for the basketball program. But obviously basketball is a big deal over there, and they've been very successful at the D two level, and let's not act like they weren't successful. As soon as they made the transition,
they became somewhat of a national story. I mean, they didn't dominate the headlines in college basketball, but they became somewhat of a national storyline when they won their league in the second year in it and then couldn't go to the tournament because of the stupid rule. I mean, you'll never ever convince me that that makes any sense. But again, it's one of many things the NAA has always enforced that just doesn't make any sense. That's kind
of their tagline, right, they don't make sense. They're not consistent. So you know, I don't I don't know what the future holds for Bellerman hoops. They're in the league that they should be able to be competitive in, even with the challenges that everybody at that level has, right because if you are somebody that is, let me see if I can Bellerman. Right now, they're three forty six out of three sixty three in the three sixty four in the Ken Palm. I think that kind of tells you
just how rough things have been for them. So the only other Division one win they have this year is against Bowling Green that happened on Saturday, November twenty third, So they've had a rough, rough, rough season one in fourteen league play now. But the other schools like Lipscomb, I guess Lipscomb's not a good example because they are one of the better teams in that conference. But Queen's West, Georgia, Stetson, Florida,
Gulf Coast e KU. Look, some of these schools I'm mentioning you guys may not even be familiar with, but they're gonna they have the same challenge lenges that Bellerman is going to have, which is, if you have a really good player at that level, guess what, they're probably not going to be there very long because they're going to be able to go to a higher level and probably be able to make more money than what you
could pay them as an Atlantic Sun program. So, you know, I don't think it's a coincidence that as soon as they made the jump and things were a little different. In fact, they were a lot different where you didn't have the portal like you do now and you didn't have nil they were successful. I mean, I believe it was in twenty Yeah, in twenty twenty one, that was their first year in Division one. They were fourteen and eight. That was the weird year where we didn't play a
whole lot of games. They went ten and three in their league in the first year as a Division one program. In the Atlantic Sun's second year, they won the league. They were twenty and thirteen overall, eleven and five in league play, won the conference tournament, and couldn't go to the Big Dance because of the stupid rule. So I've always believed that Scott Davenport is a phenomenal basketball coach, phenomenal guy as well. I mean I can tell you first hand going to his camps when I was a kid,
just getting to know him a little bit. I mean, I would love for my son to play for Scotty Davvenboord, I wish I could have played for Scotty Davenport. So I was happy to see that he did get the breakthrough win last night, and I'm hopeful that that can give them at least a little bit of momentum to maybe finish strong and hopefully be in a better position next year because it's been a rough season for him.
And really, let's be honest moving forward, I mean, the selling points for Bellerman are harder to sell now because well I put it this way. The selling points are still there, but I think it finding the guys who really value while the Bellerman experience is the way to go for you is gonna be hard because again, they don't have a big an Aisle budget, And you know
that matters now, It just does. And I think Scotty has always been great at building teams, I mean getting god, I mean, his best teams that I can think of at that Bellerman have been teams that, you know, you see guys that played there for three or four years, and they were they were a little bit better and a little bit more impactful as their career went on.
And then sure enough, every so often he'd have a team that was pretty special to where they could be competing for the Division two national championship or maybe winning it like they did roughly ten years ago or whenever that was. So, I just you know when it's I saw Dylan Penn leave after they won the conference tournament in the portal and he went to like it wasn't as he left to go to like a high level school, but like Bellerman being a brand new school again at
that point. And this is something I should have mentioned. When they weren't eligible to go to the tournament like that, that's a good reason for guys to leave like that. That's absolutely when they don't have to sit out and they clearly want to play in the big Dance. I don't even think Scotty would fall to them if they decided. Now, again, they knew when they signed up that they weren't going to be able to play in the tournament, but then
things changed. They could leave without sitting out. So maybe maybe once that they can sell that, hey, we win this tournament, we can go to the big Dance, we can be the potential sin Sorella. Maybe that helps him a little bit, but I didn't want to give You know, some people talking like, do you think maybe they've give him a boot?
No?
I mean Bellerman knows they have a phenomenal basketball coach, and I think Scotty Davenport will be the coach there until he doesn't want to be anymore. And that's the way it should be. Just my thoughts. But we got two more hours left, so stick with us. It is coffee and Company and we are fuel about Thornton's two more hours to go. If you are just not joining us, my voice, I know it sucks, but you mean cough
being you, Yeah, well done. I don't know if my voice is ever great, but certainly not great today, So bear with me.