2.19: Down With The Sickness - Hour 2

The other voice that is in great shape that you hear every day, but you may hear it a little more than you usually do is Austin Montgomery. That's me because you know, we've we've really recovered since that first segment where I just completely like I blew out a tire or something. I mean, I just couldn't. I was I was given a take, I was laying it out, I was setting it up like I wanted to, and then the voice was just gone.

me this about both these guys. But more so Dwight in recent years, which is is that guy the same on And I'm like, oh, absolutely, every like I think Dwight is the same guy on social media, on the radio, off the radio, at you know, the local bear knows. I mean, he's he's he's authentic and he's consistent.

college basketball. But heading into the season, we're believed to have done better than everybody else when it comes to the transfer portal, and Kansas is certainly one of them. Kansas, I think deservedly so, was viewed as the number one team in the country, but just about everybody because not only what they brought back, but what they brought in

via the portal. I mean, if you go and there's different, there's different I guess outlets that have their rankings as far as which classes they think are the best and whatnot, and there's different ways to do it, you know. To me, I think it's the one I wish we would have instead of recruiting rank and we'll never do this. But to me, just as a college basketball fan myself, and I'm sure everybody's different, I wish there was more of a all right, here's the best off season you know,

off season roster management rankings. That doesn't roll off the tongue by any means, but just how did you do as far as keeping guys that everybody knows you wanted to keep, and guys you brought in that were freshmen that could help you, and then of course guys in the portal. I don't think it's that difficult to look at those three components and put together a top twenty five in the off season. That doesn't necessarily mean you're saying these are the top twenty five teams in the country.

It's just that these are the teams that you know, really did a great job of navigating this new world of Okay, we got to keep the guys who want to keep. We want to make sure we still bring in some young talent from the freshman class. But also there's a lot of guys in the portal, and we got the good ones. So anyways, the transfer portal rankings from twenty four to seven sports. Here are the top five.

In fact, i'll give you let me see here, I'll give you the and wow, I don't remember Louisville being

as far down the list as they were. They're at twenty seven, and I remember there being a few different ways you could look at Louisville's class, right, I mean, Chucky wasn't the best guard on Wisconsin therefore to have expected him, well, I think he was, but he didn't have the best stats, and he wasn't necessarily I mean, Chuck's one of the best players in the country right now, but he didn't have the best numbers of the two guards that transferred ot to of Wisconsin, him and aj Stores.

Which anyways, we'll get back to Louisville in a second, but I'll just give you the top five here. Arkansas, Indiana, Kansas, Saint John's in Kentucky, rounding out the top ten West Virginia number six, Alabama number seven, Washington number eight, UCLA number nine, in Michigan number ten. So this is not going to be a way. Arkansas was the number one class and they're clearly underachieving because they're barely on the bubble.

Like I mean, you could say that, but I'm not going to say, Well, these coaches have the best classes and their teams aren't living up to it, so they must think. But I'm just bringing it up as a reminder that make getting the talent is important and that's not easy to do either because it's competitive, right. You've got to be able to pay these guys what others are going to be able to pay them, and you got to be able to sell them on the role that they can play within your system. And look, guys

in the portal, they got it made. It's a quick, fast moving thing. But once they've proven that they're good college players, they're they're gonna I mean, there are certain guys out there that I don't want to say they can pick wherever they want to go, but I would imagine the top twenty players overall in the portal every year. For the most part, can probably pick wherever they want to go. Now, where they want to go may not be the school that will will be willing to pay

them a huge amount of money. And that's going to matter because again, some of these guys that are sticking around in college, it's because of money only, right, That's the reason they're still in college is because they know they could still make more money playing maybe two more years of college hoops then they'll ever make playing professionally. Just because they're not NBA guys, they're more so gonna be and there's some wrong playing overseas, but you're not

gonna make the money. Some of these guys are gonna make. Like for example, Great Osibor, he ended up at Washington followed his coach Danny Sprinkle. Again, if your name is Danny Sprinkle, you're either going to do one of two things. You're gonna be a coach, You're gonna be a mail stripper. There's no way around it. Danny Sprinkle's a male stripper name. He's lucky he's a really good coach because well, he's not doing great this year, but did great at Utah State.

I can't mention Danny Sprinkle on a talk show and not immediately think that guy's in the wrong business. I mean, Danny Sprinkle, he's either a mattress actor, or he's or he's a stripper or I guess coaching, which we know exactly what Danny Sprinkle is going to be doing if coaching doesn't work out. But anyways, you think great Ousinber wanted to go to Washington, maybe, but clearly the money. And I'm look, I'm not saying he would have picked

Louisville by any means. Louisville clearly was a school that recruited him. But these guys, they may know I could go to Duke Kansas, Kentucky. But if there's a school willing to triple what these other schools are going to pay because they don't need me as much, then they're going to probably pick the school where they can make

life changing money. So I really want to emphasize that with the portal, you don't I mean, I don't know how a coach would know until they get into the season if the pieces they brought in are gonna work well together, not only when it comes to just basketball, but as individuals like that matters. That's one thing that has really stood out about the coaches that were hired at Louisville and Kentucky, Like Pat, you can tell there

is absolutely a big time culture within the program. And you know, it sounds corny to some, but it's evident, and I know I'm loving it. I can't get enough of it. But again, I'm I'm I'm a fan. I'm different than just the average you know, person watching this

team on television every every so often. But like to hear that they threw like a surprise baby sh shower diaper shower for Terrence Edwards who had a son, Like that's not surprising at all, because these guys seem like, I mean, they're family and that's what you want, and

that's that's not that uncommon. But I want you to consider how difficult Maybe maybe difficult the wrong way to describe it, because when I say it would be difficult to expect all these guys to get along like this and really become a family so quickly, it makes it sound like it's difficult because they have egos and that they're that you know that they're not easy to get along with them, They're not down to earth, and I don't know that at all. They all seem like good

human beings. I don't know them on a personal level, but like you would think, and by the way, we we wouldn't think this because we know this is all brand new. We know that we didn't even know who a lot of these guys were a year ago, and now they're helping us. Heal right, the revival is going on as we speak, and it's been awesome to see. We're gonna we're gonna remember this team, I think for a really long time. I mean that, regardless of what happens the rest of the way, I think we're gonna

remember these guys for a very long time. And if you are just now joining us, I'm not about to cry. I know it sounds like it it's my voice. It is just not it's not.

that Pat Kelsey's in his first year. You didn't know that this is a brand new team, and you're just watching them play and you're seeing how well they play together, You're seeing how selfless they are. You would never guess

that it's all brand new. So I just think seeing Kelsey's ability to do that early on, it makes me feel as if once again Louisvill's found themselves a coach that I think really has some components to his style and really his character and his personality, his brand, if you will, that are going to be really important in this new world, because that's what everybody's saying about Kansas.

They put together, I mean, they brought back Dwan Harris and Hunter Dickinson, and then in the portal they added guys like Rylan Griffin from Alabama, Shaquille Moore from Mississippi State, Zeke Mayo who was a big time transfer from I think it was South Dakota State, and then also aj Store was their big addition. He was Wisconsin's leading scorer last year. He was Chucky Hepburns backcourt made at Wisconsin,

and he's the guy everybody wanted. He was a guy that in fact was rated as one of the number one play Yeah, he was the number four overall player in the portal. He doesn't start for them, and he barely plays. In fact, he was in the game last night with the walk Ons whenever they were down you know, forty, not exaggerating, they were down forty. They lost ninety one

to fifty seven last night. And AJ Stoer this year, he's averaging six points per game and playing sixteen minutes per game as the number four player in the portal. And you know what, he's probably not dealing with that very well because he was a made man at Wisconsin. Dude averaged I mean, I think he was one of the leading scorers in the Big Ten last year. So like not to say he's a bad guy. And this isn't like a hey, we knew what we were doing. We took Chucky hepburn and they took AJ Store and

it worked out for us. Clearly that is what happened, did work out better for Louisville. But I mean, like, I just think the ability to know if a guy would be able to deal with taking a lighter role here and there, or just flat out being humbled and realizing, yeah, I could start at Wisconsin and score eighteen a game, which he did last year, but at Kansas, I can't really do that, and you know, how you handle that

is important to the team. So I'm sure they've got guys that transferred in that aren't having the kind of year that they wanted. And you got guys that have been there a little while now that probably are thinking, hey, this is my team. You came in, you got to adjust to me, and it's just a mess. I mean, Bill self all but essentially confirmed last night that these

guys don't like each other. And I just think be able to to be being able to know if your guys are going to be able to gel is almost impossible. But being able to lead and run your program and have them buy in because they believe in you and because they're buying into what you're doing like that. That's easier said than done. But I think that's where Pat Kelsey can really really excel. Among many other reasons why I think he can be a great coach here long term.

Same thing with Mark Pope. I mean Mark Pope not only I think went out and found guys that fit what he wants to do as a coach as far as his style of play, and he went out and got some pretty good players too. But I think you can see these guys are I mean, they're they're they're

a pretty close team, right. You got Jackson Robinson and Lamon Butler hurt, but they're they're the biggest cheerleaders for their teammates when they're not playing, and that that that's one of those things where I kind of feel like I'm giving guys credit for like what you're supposed to do, but man, it's not happening everywhere. Right. That's always the kicker when you find yourself giving some you find yourself praise someone for doing something that really they're supposed to do.

It shouldn't be something you get extra praise for. But it happens because you realize it's not as it's not as it's not happening in a lot of places. I mean sports, there's a lot of ego involved there. That's just that's the human element of sports. So Arkansas, I

think Cal honestly is not built for the portal. I think his best teams are going to be teams that are led by a star freshman, and you've got to have really, really good ones in order to be you know, like cal can succeed with a star studded freshman class that's as good as advertised and a guy like the Arrow that sticks around for a while like that, that's

where cal Can really shine. But with guys playing as long as they do now, you're gonna have it much tougher time being elite if the if the core to your team is elite freshman, it's just I mean, look at Ruggers Indiana. Mike Woodson built a phenomenal team. He can't he can't make it all work together. He's not relatable. He I mean, I think these guys respect him, but like they're not buying in. Look at Indiana, They're one of the most disappointing teams in college basketball. We talked

about Kansas Rick Patino. He's doing a phenomenal job, which again is I think speaks to why Rick is the best college basketball coach of all time because he's won in every way and now he's doing it in a New World, and he's succeeding. I mean Louisville, Kentucky, Saint John's. I'd even throw West Virginia in there. They struggled because they're best player. The coach's son, Devrees. He got hurt

and hasn't played much at all this year. But they're doing better this year than I think most expected, and

they had a good portal class. And again I think it's because, by the way, Debree has a similar background to Pat Kelsey, a mid major guy, younger, relatable, not super young, but relatable, and you know, his ego didn't get him the job at West Virginia, so he knows like, look, I got to figure out how to make this work if it leads to me having to be more of, you know, a relatable coach than a drill sergeant, and that's what I'll do. You got to be able to adapt.

And I think coaches that if not, they are still hungry that have yet to reach like a final four or a deep tournament run, they're more humble and more willing to adapt because again they still want to make it and they know if they're going to do it in this new world, you've got to be able to adapt. You got to be able to mix it up. All right, quick break, We'll come back on the other side. Keep

this thing rolling along. It's coffee and company, and we are fueled by Thornton's right here on Sports Talk seven to ninety.

a sign of that happening as a young boy. One of those things happened when I was at a basketball camp and it was really rough. Oh but I don't remember what age, Like I could have been eight, I could have been twelve. I really don't know what happened. I'll tell you later, all right, we'll talk about it later, all right, because there may be there may be younger kids listening now, and I don't want to scare them, sure,

you know, but it's going to happen. And you know, And by the way, I also learned just with growing up and being a kid, Like everybody's different too, you know what I mean. Like it happens for some kids at a certain age, and it'll be a year or two earlier, a year or two later for others. You really, you really never know. But puberty happened for me long ago. It's just my voice is is not great. But I don't know if I'm just believing in the uh, the

confidence that you gave me. But I think you're right. I think I need to keep drinking water. I was I was just doing the lozenge, But I think the lozenge mixed with the water is good for us as far as keeping this thing at least able to perform.

it out pretty quick and it doesn't actually speed. But like, you know, gradually drinking a couple of bottles of water over time instead of just I mean chugging them is I mean, you can do that too if you want. But yeah, anytime I'm not feeling great and I'm feeling like something and I'm tired, like my skin is blotchy, I'm just like, you know what, you're probably just dehydrated. To get some water. Man, mix a water in, bro.

of that too much. All right, So yesterday we did talk about this breaking news during the show, and it kind of instantly scared me because I have a close friend who really isn't Most of his entire adult life, he's worked for Young here in Louisville, and I saw that they're moving their corporate headquarters away from Louisville, and I was hopeful that wouldn't impact him, And it sounds like it's not going to impact him. But man, I got to be honest with you as somebody who loves Louisville,

and I want Louisville to thrive. And I'm sure it's not maybe this way as much as I think it is. But what I was getting ready to say is that I think anybody who has like this impression of Louisville and they don't think positively of it, but they've never experienced it. I think when they come here, they really like it and they think it's great. And I know there are many people that have had that experience, but I'm sure there's some that maybe didn't love it. They

came here and you know, they didn't like it. But that's a them problem. Because Louisville's great, and you know, we got our issues like everybody else. But to know that that we've now lost so many corporations in Louisville,

it's just kind of sad. You know, I won't I won't pretend to know who to blame, and you know, I'm not going to act like this is one person's fault or you know, one or one specific thing has led to a lot of these corporations leaving, because I don't know, I'd be a fool to act like I have any information. But young brands leaving while you know, Brown Foreman laid off a bunch of people, Papa John's left for Atlanta a few years ago. I mean, that's

just that's a sad thing. I mean, I don't think we're doomed as a city, but there's no way to spend this as a positive. And you're seeing a lot of political leaders in Louisville and in this state that have that have really expressed how disappointed they are to see that decision coming from from Young. And really, again, just because I'm a Louisville fanatic meaning U of L I'm probably not the only one that's thought of it

this way. But it's a bigger issue for the city than it is anything else as far as like jobs, but like to know that both corporations that put their their brand their logo on your football stadium and your basketball arena have have left town. That's just kind of a bummer like that. Like again, the bigger issue is the amount of jobs that that have potentially been lost

here with the Young decision. And I know there's many jobs that that that if you didn't move to Atlanta, then you didn't keep your job, or maybe they got rid of your job because they had the ability to give it to somebody in Atlanta when Papa John's left. So, uh, just just a real bummer. And again, uh for for my buddy, who I means one of my best friends in the world, He's he's the best man in my

wedding I was. I mean, I saw that news when we came back from break yesterday about Young, and I just gotta I got a pit in my stomach thinking, oh, man, I would I would hate that. And again, I hate it for everybody else that potentially is losing their job, because that's a that's a scary thing. Man, that's your livelihood. You got to take care of your family. And I've been very fortunate in my life to not go through that.

But I'm sure, in fact, I know I will at some point and it'll be scary, and you know, it's just part of life. But that doesn't mean it's not going to be a scary situation for people whenever, whenever they go through that. But it sounds like when it comes to the UH, the decision to to to make this change and put I guess they're a headquarters moving it from Louisville to to Plano, Texas. I guess it's it's because they have that's where that's already where Pizza

Hut is, I guess. And it sounds like collaboration and culture was the real emphasis when they alerted everybody at Young that they were they were making this decision, a lot of the leaders of the company young. I guess I already lived kind of in that area near Dallas. And yeah, I just a just a sad thing for Louisville, I mean louis And And you know, I'm getting a little side tracked here, and I'm trying to I'm trying to keep this thing on the rails as best I can.

But Louisville is a place that if you think about it, I mean, I live in the Louisville area, Like I to me, I live in Louisville. If anybody asked me where I live, I live in Louisville, but technically my address is Shepherdsville, although I don't live in Shepherdsville. I live probably a mile and a half from the bullet Jefferson County line, but my address is Shepherdsville. But I've

grew up in Louisville, like Louisville's my home. But there's so many people that live so much further away from like Louisville than I do, meaning not just downtown, but the east end, I mean Riverport. Like there's so many Yeah, there's so many jobs in the Louisville and the Louisville metro area that people that aren't just from here work there, you know what I mean, Like there's people who come

from as far south. I mean, I know people who had a buddy whose dad worked at Toyota whenever whenever we were kids, and he would he would travel to Georgetown, Kentucky every day for work because he had a great it was a good gig and it was a better gig than he could probably get anywhere anywhere else. So, you know, Louisville having employment opportunities and and and you know, losing losing two big brands that really were I felt like they I mean, Young is a staple in Louisville.

I mean that that you see their logo as soon as you cross into Louisville from from from the bridge, and I mean it's KFC for Crying out Loud and and Papa John's I mean it wasn't as much of a visible thing, but people just knew. In fact, most

people probably knew Papa John was a Louisville guy. And like the branding for that is, I mean, let's be honest, like Papa John being like the mascot for his own pizza company whenever he was involved and him you know that place of course exploding in popularity, then putting their name on the stadium, Louisville football having a great run during that exact time like that was that was huge

for Papa John's, like they benefited from that. Now their situation is a little bit different, but still, I mean, to lose those two big brands and not have them employ many people here and it is just sad And I don't know what the fix is. I don't really know who to blame, but it it is really a bummer. And for those asking when the naming rights for the

arena are up, I have no clue. I've never even heard anybody talk about like I've always for some reason, again it's just me not paying attention to it and

not ever thinking about it. I've never even thought about Louisville needing a new sponsor for their Just because their headquarters are in Atlanta now doesn't mean that I'm sorry in Texas now doesn't mean that they would no longer want to continue to have because look, there's value, I mean they say the I mean the Young Center is is an is a known thing, and to be honest, it worked out better I think for for the Yum Center, that the name Yum is really what is what people use.

as all these corporate jobs. I think people legitimately thought that KFC was changing their name because the headline from Yahoo Financi or Yahoo business said something along the lines of the you know the K they're taking the K away, which was really them saying that they're not going to be in Kentucky. Right, But I do think some people thought that that meant they're not going to be called KFC anymore, which that's clearly not the case.

anybody who does that? Oh? I know Tony Vannetti, Like that's him, you know what I mean, Like he's he's a different he's a different breed. But anyways, well, uh, we'll get this thing back on track real quick. We got to get to a break in a moment. But we'll fill the rest of this segment with a food conversation because we talked a lot about fast food yesterday, as far as just you know how expensive it is.

We really started talking about drinks, like certain fast food places for some reason, they have certain soft drinks that are just better than others. As far as hey, I can go to Burger King and get a coke, but I know if I get a coke at McDonald's it's going to be much better. KFC.

It's just I've been dealing with it. But today, after I got finished with some errands this morning, I started to, you know, I just got hungry, like I haven't eaten in a long time.

need to get fast food. For convenience, for time, whatever it may be. I want to go. I want to I want to go see the kernel. I want to go. I want to go. Get a bucket from the kernel, get some of the some of that original recipe. Just a bucket of chicken.

Oh wrong restaurants. Sorry, we thought this was we thought this was popops. Yeah. Oh way, and Indy's really good too.

always been a staple of KFC. I've never been a big potato wedge guy anyway. But the people who I mean, they fought like hell to keep them from taking away the potato wedges.

and then I guess you know the bracketology updates. But they have such good wins when it comes to value that I mean, they could lose here and I'm not sure it would do a whole lot to damage their resume. Now again, it would probably impact seeding, and that certainly matters, but they are just in a unusual spot to where they do have, you know, more losses than they probably should have. And I don't mean they have more losses like than you know, they're clearly a team that has

flaws like anybody else, and they can be beat. But when you look at all the good teams that they've been able to come to beat this year, to then see losses to teams that you kind of feel like you know they're better than it's kind of a head scratcher, But then again, they've had injuries and that's a factor. But they've also picked up some of their best wins while playing without some really good players that were injured, so it's not like they're real difficult to figure out.

I think honestly, you should never just expect them to really loose to anybody, regardless of the matchup, regardless of their injury situation. But you also know that on any given night, if a team is able to slow it down a little bit, be really physical, that can make them vulnerable. And certainly when you don't have Jackson Robinson and Lamont Butler, you're just clearly more vulnerable to lose to teams, regardless if you're at home or on the road,

because you know those are really good players. So they're favored by five and a half tonight, which part of me says, Kentucky at home at rop like that they'll win by fifteen. But then again, you know, you just really don't know what to expect without having two really important pieces. Vandy did beat them at home, but Bandy's been a much different team when they've been at home than they are on the road. I'm not sure if they've won a road game in the SEC. Play Vandy

right now, Yeah, they have not. They've only the only win they have away from home in the SEC is their first SEC game they played on January fourth, when they beat LSU, who is quite literally one of the worst teams in the conference outside of I mean, the bottom three in the SEC. Unfortunately, Oklahoma's now there just because they've fallen off a cliff. That's a team that

Louisville of course lost to. And I don't think that one's going to end up being a quad one but quad one loss, I should say, But yeah, Lshue, South Carolina, Oklahoma and Georgia I think are clearly the bottom of the SEC, and so expecting Vandy shorthanded or not to be Kentucky and RUP is a stretch. But anyways, we'll talk a little more about that matchup as we get

into the five o'clock hour. Some other college basketball stuff I want to get to because Mick Cronan, I mean, when I tell you what he said last night, one of the many things he said last night after their loss, you'll agree with me. I think that he's the only college basketball coach that you can see or actually you can hear what he said. We'll play it for you, and you can't be surprised because yeah, Mick Cronan is the only guy that would say something like that, because

that's just Mick Cronan being Mick Cronan. But anyways, what I want to get to before we get to the top of the hours to talk to you once again about my friends over at the Louisville Men's Clinic, Because fellas, there's a lot of different ways they can help you become healthier, happier, and improve your quality of life. And also there's certain things they can help you with that will help your partner or maybe just help your relationship

with your partner. And I'm not just talking about a reptilitysfunction. That obviously is something that I feel like if you'd struggle with that, you know, right, I don't mean could be wrong. I've yet to have any issue with that, but I'm sure at some point maybe I will when I get older. It's pretty common and I know that there's a variety of ways that I can treat it with the louis of Men's clinic. But it's probably not

an easy conversation to have with somebody that's a stranger. Right, You don't just want to call a number and you know, tell somebody, hey, I'd like to make an appointment that you go in and you see you see somebody who you've never met. They're a stranger to you, and you're telling them about that kind of a problem. It's not not something you're probably comfortable doing. But they know that, right, this is what they do. They're professionals. They're going to

make the experience as comfortable as possible. They're going to tell you about the different ways they can help treat a rectaldisfunction, and they have an intimacy guarantee. If you don't perform, then you don't pay them anything. That's how much they believe in what they do. So it's the louis of Men's Clinic. You can give them a call at FABO two four four four four thousand, or check

them out online at Louisville Men's Clinic dot com. They can help you with low testoster and that's where they've helped me. I've got my levels where they should be for someone in my age range, and it's definitely impacted my life in a big way. And there's all kinds of different ways that you can you can be happier and healthier with your levels of testoster being where they should be. But man, just getting better results at the gym right, not having as much belly fat like man boobs,

that kind of stuff. Like, I didn't really change a whole lot about my lifestyle at all. I just started getting my testosterone levels where they needed to be, and that led to me losing some more weight. That led to me getting better results at the gym. We're talking, you know, higher sex drive. You're no longer lethargic and wanting to go to bed after dinner at six thirty.

So you can be in your late twenties thirties experienced that and you may just think, well, hey, there's no way it could be testosterone, because I'm not an old man. You educate yourself. I had to educate myself, and I owe it all to doctor Wood at the Little fal Men's Clinic, who kind of explained to me in a variety of ways that like, this is a very common thing for people in this age range. I think the mindset is, you know, if you're not sixty five or older.

Then there's no way you're old. You're still young. You that you're not in a wheelchair or something like that, you're not a grandpa with a cane. But again it's not I mean testosterone levels need to be at a certain range and it starts to decrease when you get to be around you know, late twenties, early thirties, and it can slowly but surely as you get older from there start to have a bigger impact on you. And a lot of guys out there just don't. They don't

even think of it. They or maybe they just put it off and they're in denial. And look, you can do what you want. I'm just telling you firsthand that it can help you become happier, healthier, and really impact your life in a variety of ways. So when I tell you if the Little of Men's Clinic has changed my life, I'm not exaggerating, I'm not embellishing. I'm not doing it because they're a partner. I'm doing it because

I'm telling you that, because it's the truth. They can also help you when it comes to weight loss, therapy, hair restoration. So they've got a lot of services they can help you become a happier and healthier man. It's the Louis of Men's Clinic again. Louis of Men's Clinic dot COM's the website. The number is five O two four four four four thousand, quick break five o'clock hours coming up next, we'll try to finish strong here on Sports Talk seven to ninety