5.5: Post Derby Monday - Hour 2

be impacted by the weather. Which, hey, that's good. There's nothing you can do about it. I mean, you know, that's out of your control. So also I ended up at a derby party after I left. I left probably and this is what I tip. Actually was there a

little longer this year than I typically am. But I thought, okay, do I want to stick around and wait for the erase, or do I want to get on the shuttle and get back and watch the race at a derby party where my family is, or you know, stick around and then you know, I feel like the shuttle would have been a real mess if I tried to leave like right after the derby, So was it a mess? Now I didn't stay. This is the first time, Oh you left before the derby?

derby started, So worked out good with timing. But you know, it's such a big deal that, like I would imagine that there probably is a lighter turnout to some of the parties if in fact weather's not great, But that

wasn't the case where I was. And again, like it's not good, you're not gonna cancel it, right, it's the derby, right, I mean it's kind of like rain or shine, which really did seem to kind of be the uh, the theme on Saturday, because you know, I finally just stopped having to ask people about the weather because they you know, they they're aware that it's raining, but that didn't wasn't something they were thinking about because plenty of places to

stay dry, and obviously, you know, it's, uh, it's out of your control. What are you gonna do? So did you stay uh? Did you stay dressed up and nice going to the parties or I usually give myself time to get home and get changed. This year I didn't, And I asked my wife. I was like, should I head out? You know, I don't know how long? You know, I said, I don't know how long you're gonna actually be there after the derby. I'd be getting there closer to right around the time the race happens. And she

was like, yeah, it's fine. There's a few other people dressed up to And I did feel a little lot, a little out of place, but you know, it was it was still all in fun. So we hopefully everybody had a good Derby weekend. I know I certainly did. And if you're somebody that's still recovering, maybe you're somebody that takes this Monday off because you know you have the vacation, the PTO whatever is, and you realize you might need a little extra time to get the batteries charged.

It's it is totally understandable. They had a.

got me ready for the race. I was able to cash out everything that I put in for that week, and I had twenty five to bet on the derby, so I.

becomes once Rodriguez went down. Sandman had kind of become my horse and it was sad.

of momentum. But and I don't, I mean, I shouldn't just assume that I'm going to have the opinion of this person that everybody else does, because you really never know. But I'd always heard that he's someone that everybody was gonna not like, and he was going to be really like, you know, obnoxious and you know, kind of make it

a stunt. But I didn't hear anything about that. He actually seemed the brief interview that I heard, he seemed, you know, like someone who genuinely was excited to be able to be in the position to have, you know, the wealth, to you know, have a horse that's in the derby.

more of a of a buzz horse. So you know, it's a big field. In the end, there was only nineteen that competed on Saturday. And if you're I mean, if you're in the derby, there's a good chance you're you know, you've done a lot in your career as a thoroughbred to you know, show that you're worthy, and that makes it to where you really never know what's going to happen. I mean, this wasn't like some big

long shot like we've had in previous years. But you know, I kind of feel like as much as I was pulling for Sandman on Saturday, once we got to the day, I mean, you know, again, I'm not selling this as some underdog story. Who would've ever thunk it? But when there is, you know, when there's a big mixture over many years of different types of winners, different types of results, I just think that makes it more of an intriguing race because you really see, you know, you really never

know what you're going to get, right. I mean, I think if you have a ten year stretch where it's just long shots that aren't believed to be you know, considered in the top fifteen, I mean, that would be wild, but it would be a really bad look for the event to where like people who cover this that you know, this is their world, they don't even know what the hell they're doing because this race is too long and they have too many horses in it to where it's

just I feel like that would leave it open for a lot of criticism. Now, if the favorites just win it every year, I mean, that's not a bad thing, but I also think that it becomes a little bit boring and stale to the outside folks that don't really get into horse racing other than the Derby. But if it's a mixed bag consistently and there's always that level of not really knowing what the hell's going to happen, I think that's that's good for it. Again, the Derby

is gonna be fine regardless of what happens. I just mean, if your goal is to always make it appealing to those that maybe wouldn't necessarily be interested in. You know, that leads to more growth. And again here I am acting like they needed. I mean, the viewership that they had on Saturday don't really surprised me. But you know, just seeing the number seventeen point seven million people tuning in to watch, I mean that is an yeah, that's

this is it's a record for NBC. And the peak of the race was twenty one point eight million, So at one point during the race, twenty one point eight billion, twenty one point eight million people were watching. And I mean you look around at viewership in sports and I sometimes nerd out on this, but I try not to bring it to the radio because I don't think it's that interesting and I don't know if i'd be good at finding a way to make it interesting and entertaining.

But we now have the ability to to to I wouldn't say not watch, but like you gotta for something to keep your attention and keep your interest, Like that's that's hard to do now because at any moment, you've got a device in your hand that you could easily just find something. You could pull up a game you could pull up your your Instagram feed, you could go to Twitter, or you could text somebody, I mean, you know,

or you can just you know. I just feel like back in the day, you didn't have something on you at all times that could easily distract you from something that you have found yourself really not that interesting. I mean, how many times have you set down to watch a game or a TV show even or movie maybe, or you're just out somewhere and you realize in the moment, oh, I'm not really even paying attention to what's on television.

I'm not really paying attention to what's around me. It's because without even really having the the you know, the confirmation upstairs mentally, you just you know, you weren't interested enough.

You knew you could do something that would interest you a little bit more So, I think the viewership that we see, the numbers we see when it comes to watching live sports, not to say the numbers aren't real, but you know, I think sometimes it's just background noise to people, right, and it's not really something that like is hey, this is it's it's not necessary, Like for example, when you are at a bar restaurant airport and they've just got it on ESPN, Like that counts for like

a linear television view but like how many people are really like locked in the sounds? Probably not even on. But if you're watching the Derby in that moment, it's appointment viewing because it's just a brief amount of time, right, Like, yeah, you know the Derby coverage, that's that's longer than two minutes obviously, But I don't know. I just think big events in this country that really, you know, are of this magnitude, like the Kentucky Derby, they still get insane viewership,

and in fact they get it. I mean there's more viewership because there's now different ways in which you can watch. If you're in your car on a road trip, you can pull off to the side of the road and watch it on your own because that's just now where

we are in twenty twenty five. So you know, not that I was expecting the Derby to have like a drop, but you know, it's the popularity is there, and the sport of horse racing is still viewed as something that is quote unquote struggling, and I wouldn't be in the note to even be able to dispute that or have a conversation about that. That's foolish of me to admit

to you guys, I'm just being real. Whenever I hear that the sport's in trouble, I assume it's because of, you know, the health issues with some of the horses over the years. Obviously Churchill had to close down one of the parks here in the state that they own not that long ago because it's some things going on. So maybe that's what people mean when they say that

the sport is, you know, quote unquote struggling. But when it comes to the appeal of Derby Day here at Churchill Downs in Louisville, that ain't slowing down, that is not having any kind of struggle. That thing's healthy and ready to roll as if they just left the office over at the Louisville Men's Clinic after a new visit with doctor Wood. I mean, you know what I'm saying, like it's it's in peak peak performance to just you know,

think and think of it that way. Didn't mean to spinning around to doctor Wood, but sometimes we just end up there. That's how naturally it comes to your mind exactly.

I would go with my dad. We would go like in the spring, like a lot of people around here, right, Like, it's not something maybe you do every day that they're open, but you know, you take advantage of having Churchill Downs kind of right here in your backyard. There was always of, you know, something that came to mind, a visual of what it was like, and you know, the experience because it's all I knew. And they made some slight, you know,

renovations over the years. It became more modern. So you know, I'm sure they've made some changes in my thirty six years on Earth, but really the last couple of years, that area that you're speaking of now is all brand new, and you know, it is insanely nice. And that's one of those things that I feel like, you know, we

talked about it last week. They are well within their right and very smart, I think, to appeal and really you know, cater to a group of people that you know, look at this as I'm gonna be one of the most you know, I mean I shouldn't, you know. I guess every individual there has a different story, but like it's just a place to be. It competes with some of the bigger events that you'll see in Hollywood and fashion and sports because you know, that's just what the

Derby brings. So, you know, I keep going back to the visual that I see over on Bowman Field, and I did see somebody post a clip I think it was on TikTok that just showed all the private jets that are sitting over there at the airport on Bowmen Field.

And I don't know if they're there for the day, if they're there for the weekend or whatever it may be, but like that's the kind of people that the Derby brings in, right, people who can just you know, I'm gonna make a trip, but I'm not catching a flight. I'm gonna use the private jet. I mean, like that's that's what the Derby brings. So, you know, in order to kind of continue to be this dominant monster that is the Derby, one of the biggest events in sports,

one of the old time. Hey I got to be there, man, that's a special thing. That's an event, it's a bucket list type of thing. I mean, all the changes they made recently have have been for good reason. And you know, certainly seems as if it's uh, if it's if it's working out for them.

and I just assumed that some of them are. But man, I tell you what of all of the eight different people that I stopped to just have a conversation with, I mean I went in without any real expectation of knowing where they're from, and they weren't from anywhere. Like one person was from the Northeast, one person was from Pittsburgh, one person was from Texas, one person was from Maine. There was a couple from Tennessee. So you know, you

never and that that alone. I'm a nerd for that kind of stuff, I suppose, but like just not knowing that just look just the the you know, you could be anywhere there and it'll be crowded, and just knowing that the all the folks that you're surrounded by could be from anywhere on the planet. And man, I tell you what, the you know, you really can tell if someone's maybe not from here, if they have an accident

or they don't or they're not speaking English. And that is something that also I noticed, you know, just on the walk walk to the shuttle. I mean I could tell that there were some folks that I don't know what language they were speaking, but it certainly wasn't English. And you know, they got me thinking, man, they could be from anywhere, you know what I mean. And that's just you know, the nerd in me is like, that's actually kind of cool.

bring up on the air right now. But then I tell you that my stepfather, who I'm very close to has been in my life for a long time, that he was going to Africa.

trip to do like he makes his own schedule. He loves adventurers, like, hey man, I gotta make a trip. I gotta go to like Wisconsin and drop something off. You want to ride with me? He's there, He's ready to roll, like he just you know, he's a good guy to go on a road trip because he'll blend and have fun with whatever is going on. So he has a friend that used to be his neighbor who moved away still lives here locally, but doesn't live next to him anymore. Well, he he has been engaged and

he was getting married. His wife is from Africa, and they were going to have the wedding that they had the wedding in in Africa where she's from. So so, you know, I think it was kind of one of those well you know, you want to come, you can come, and he took him up on it. Like so he and another buddy who's a neighbor that also knows the guy getting married, they just decided the hell with it.

So they went on a sixteen day trip to where they I mean they flew I think to They ended up flying from Louisville to Minneapolis, then to Paris, France, and then to somewhere in Africa, and then they had a long, long, like seven hour drive to get to sort of where her family's from. And then they ended up just doing a lot of like tourist type stuff throughout. I mean, he's sending me videos of him in a

car as an elephant walks by. I'm not exaggerating. Yeah, So we're talking about like travel and like people from all over the world. Well, you know, he's been gone for sixteen days. He was supposed to land today about right now. But when he gets to the airport that you know, the first the first flight away or the first flight back, you know, headed back home, many flights will have they canceled it. So he's actually not leaving until to night and he won't be back until tomorrow.

But I'm just I'm thinking, like that's got to be an experience that like you'll, I mean, that'll change you, right, Like.

what's the accommodations, Like where we staying. Where were we staying? We talk in dc AC in the hotel, like, I'm you know what about Like I just to me, I'm so content and being a homebody. Although I do like traveling, Like there's a lot of trips I've gone on that I really enjoyed and remember forever, but like I had to be nudged to go, you know what I'm saying. Yeah, But anyways, I just got distracted because we're talking about people from all over the world and I haven't thought

I haven't thought to ask him. But whenever he's you know, he's been in different parts of Africa in the last you know, in the last ten days or so, and I'm just curious, like when he brings up where he's from and nobody knows, Like if he says Kentucky Derby, even to people that far away, like will they pick up and know what it is. I'm gonna ask him about that because it's one of those things where it

really wouldn't shock me if they did know. Oh yeah, I know what that is, because again it's the it's the Kentucky Derby.

be bored, Like what's the point. And then honestly, the first like trip I went on for work where I was by myself, I realized like it's actually kind of it's like it's like therapeutic in a way with yourself and it's also specially if you're young. I mean I was. I'm not young now like that, But when I did it for the first time in my young twenties, I remember being like not scared, like I was going to get hurt, but like, you know, I won't know anybody,

Like what am I going to do? And then you know, you kind of get out and you experience it, and there's there's something good about getting away. It's good for you, I think, to have some of that time by yourself where it's away and you're traveling. I just have never really had the stones to do it. And the more we talk about it, the more I'm thinking, okay, and I may need Sydney to kind of give me that push,

because I will. I want to rent the car, drive across the country with no goal of getting to a certain spot, just see where I end up in about a seven day trip, drop the rental off at whatever airport I'm I'm gonna fly out back to come home, and just you know, hit the road and go on an adventure. Like wouldn't that be fun? Yes, Like sounds awesome.

Not knowing where I would end up being, I mean, I know what direction I would head I would head west, but you know, I just I've always wanted to do that. And now the older that I get, and you know, I got kids and that it's not their fault, but like obviously just pack it up and leaving for a week isn't something that I can do as easily now as I could pre children get that now, Man, the

family alone good. I'd love an RV because I'm I'm not much of a camper, Like I'm not like they were probably no joke, like they were sleeping in huts like my stepfather and his crew, because that's that's what this trip was. Like. There's part of it to where they're like they're out hearing hearing you know, rhinoceroses in the in the wild as they sleep. I mean, like, no joke, very harrowing experience. Yes, so I'm not built for that, but like you know, I love to get

out and you know, props to your stepdad for doing that. O. Man, it's huge. I mean I've been like I do this with my mom and my dad. The older that like they get, the more I'm like, well, you better be careful. Are you taking care of yourself? Like if you can talk to the doctor. Why why are you sounding like that? Right? So, I've just been hoping he's been safe, but he's been.

He's been checking in and sending pictures and stuff. So one thing I hate, though, is that he's got an Android and I've got an iPhone, so the video quality of what he's sending me is compromise. But when I see it on his device, it'll look a lot better. Right, I'm gonna go show Austin some of these pictures during the break, and I mean, you won't believe, like sort of the atmosphere he's been around since he's been over there, it's pretty cool. But we'll take a break way too

long here. I apologize, but we'll keep it rolling. It's Coffee and Company. Feel about Portons right on Sports Talk seven ninety.

and still many scholarships that programs have to use. And as I've discussed for the last few weeks here and there, when you get to this point of the roster build and you've got the majority of your or your big your big you know, your big roles have been filled for the most part, but yet you're still trying to find some pieces that can help you, you know, really

in any way. Right But obviously you're not selling a prom you know, maybe you are, but like for example, Louisville right now, you know, James Scott's role just became available, and I think you could easily go find somebody that could help and would be worthwhile of bringing on an adding.

It's just I think it'll on what the buyer is looking for, right, Like what it really comes down to, like how many how many out there are truly you know, are looking to be an energy guy off the bench and play, you know, maybe eighteen minutes and really just you know, defend and hopefully you know, clean up around the rim like James did. I mean, you might be

able to find somebody to do that. But you know, the majority of the guys that hit the portal, they want a big role, they want an opportunity to play, and you can always sell that. You come here, you compete,

you'll get what you earn. But I think you know, these guys realize what the roster looks like when they're I mean, that's a huge That's probably one of the biggest things that is an obvious when it comes to what is considered by a player before he makes a decision that really isn't talked about a whole lot, and that is that who do you already have on your roster by position, right, because that that clearly is going to matter. So anyways, we've got some updates here on

the hoop side of things. We'll start with Kentucky because just as it was reported I believe by Matt no Orlander of CBS Sports that they're, you know, their roster was essentially you know done. Maybe it's maybe it's not, because they've now added a transfer big man who actually is from Lexington originally Rhyese Potter, who played last year at Miami of Ohio. He I believe was at Lexington

Christian Academy. But according to On three Sports, the seven foot one big man has has given Mark Pope a commitment. And I guess this came together kind of kind of quickly, and he was a known name, a known prospect here locally,

but at the time that he was entering college. I mean, his offer list was pretty impressive, but it might have been better had at that point coaches already had the ability to go and decide not to be young, if that makes sense, right, Like they could decide, Okay, you know, I'm not going to bring in four freshmen to replace the veterans I just lost. I'll bring in a freshman or two, but I got to go get some guys

that have played a lot of basketball. So maybe this move is the kind of move you'll see Guys coming out of high school just have to make like, Hey, look, I I know I'm not going to get early playing time and I'll probably get recruited over every year until I get a chance to actually show what I can do. And your chance to show what you can do is probably going to be at a place like, you know, Miami Ohio. So a big guy gives them some front court depth. He played fifty six games in two years

there at Miami Ohio. Didn't put up big numbers, but obviously he's just somebody that gives you, you know, some good, some good presence around the rim. He'll have two years of eligibility left, and you know, I don't know exactly what type of schools he picked Kentucky over, but this is to me, like, this is what you're looking for in this situation, because you know they're already you know,

they're already set for the most part on that roster. Right, They've got Jalen Lowe and Jaden in the in the portal, they brought in Jalen low cam Williams Diabate from Bama. Jayden Quainton's the big from Arizona State, and they've got the foreign guy who I can't know Gelbick is his name, I don't remember where it is. He's actually from in Europe. And then they brought in Aberdeen who was kind of

their last big piece to transfer from Florida. And then now Reese Potter and then of course returning otega Oway, Garrison Chandler, Trent Noah, and then the freshmen are Mala

Comorino and Jasper Johnson. So you really didn't have I mean, maybe what one scholarship available, and I just think, you know, best case scenario, maybe not best case scenario, but like realistically speaking, when you're filling out that role, a guy like Reese Potter is the kind of guy that like you hope you can find because again Potter just met her,

you know, the sales pitch about coming to Kentucky. I mean, these guy's probably content knowing that he'll be backing up you know, Quaintance, probably maybe playing also behind guys like Garrison and whatnot. So I mean like last year when Louisville got big Frank Frank anselim Iby, I mean that commitment didn't get a whole lot of attention because his

numbers weren't really that impressive. But you found somebody who was willing to say, yeah, I'll come to Louisville and embrace being a guy that may not play a lot, but I'll be ready if you need me. I'm a grown up, I'm experienced, and I'll do whatever the team needs. And it's not that guys out there will be anti doing whatever the team needs, but guys want to play.

And the reality is, even if you're not a twenty two year old transferring for your final season, a lot of guys know right the writing's on the wall as far as what they're walking into. And look, if you are good enough, and it's like proven in practice, doesn't matter what people envision your role is going to be, you'll play. So Kentucky's added another player and I don't know if they even have a scholarship available after this,

so that might make them totally totally complete. Now on the Louisville side of things, there's two new names I guess that we should keep an eye on as far as you know, guys that could be taken up these these final these final scholarships that are that are out there. You've got a Miami let's see, you've got a Miami transfer who I got. To be honest, I'm not super familiar with him, however, you know he's available. And again,

Louisville right now is not looking for somebody. I mean, to be great if you can go get the best player in the portal, but like with what you've already added, you don't need to go out and get a guy that's had twenty points per game in his college career in order to be somebody that you you know, you know that can make you a good team. You kind of already have that. You're really just kind of putting

the finishing touches on your roster. I feel like, but Miami transfer Paul Jobe, it's djo b e t I'm just gonna guess that it's Jobe, but I you know, I wouldn't be I was going to say it would wouldn't be wrong if I would not be surprised if I'm way wrong. But he has heard from a lot of schools, including Louisville. He's a six to seven guard who is from France, and he averaged five and a half points in two point six boards per game as

a sophomore. So I will see what develops here. I mean again, he's got a long list of schools that he's talking to, so it's so tough to kind of know really where the interest level truly is. I mean, hearing that players are hearing from a coach really doesn't tell you much of anything, and sometimes you find out

that like it may not even actually be true. So I'm not saying that's the case here, but again, it's it's it's a little difficult to uh, a little difficult to know exactly who's who's really a priority at certain times. But yeah, let's see the there was one more name outside of uh Let's see. Yeah, so outside of uh de Joba, you've got Britt Harris, who is a transfer to guard from USC Upstate. Don't know Louisvell's interest level, but again, he's somebody that they've at least reached out to.

He averaged eleven point six points per game. And then Bobba Miller is still out there, and you know, that's somebody that I I mean, I think of all names that we know, Louisvill's at least had interest in and and and has have been listed. Uh, this would be the perfect scenario to kind of replace James Scott. I mean, I don't think these two guys do the same thing. But you know, because James Scott's a guy that just a guy that's physical, probably could be a little more physical.

But again last year, I mean he was thrown in and played a lot of minutes, and I think he did a really good job given kind of the you know, given the circuit stances. But Bobba Miller is a more skilled big He kind of fits I mean, he kind of fits Pat Kelsey's offensive style, you know, in a perfect way, to be honest with He's six eleven two oh four but not exactly a physical presence and does most of his work, you know, away from the rim.

But I just to me, he's the kind of guy that, yeah, if you could get him, hell yeah, that would give you a really good, talented piece. And I would imagine that just from viewing the roster post James Scott. If an addition is Bobby Miller, I'd say people probably view your roster as if you got better, if that's like a trade off. But I just have a hard time seeing Bobby Miller, you know, looking at Louisville as a place he'd really want to be at, knowing that you know,

he's going to be competing with Cason Pryor. I mean, who knows, Honey Frew also as a front court player that is likely going to play a lot of minutes. So you know, but hey, look if money, if money is a big factor, I'd say Louisville is in good shape there. And you know, sometimes guys may be not worried about necessarily. Okay, I'm not going to go here because I don't want to compete against that guy. I want to go where maybe I know for sure I've

got more minutes to walk right into. So it's tough to determine the it's tough to predict, but those are the names out there and again Louisville. You know, they're clearly going to try to use their scholarships as best they can, and wouldn't be a shocker if the last two, if there is maybe there's just one, maybe there's two that end up committing. It wouldn't be a shocker to me if you end up, you know, getting commitments from guys and we think, okay, who the hell's that, because

that's how it works sometimes. Now, all right, quick break, we'll come back and let you hear the other the back end of our Derby montage from our coverage on eight forty whas on Saturday, So stick around for that and a lot more. We'll take you up till six o'clock on Sports Talk seven ninety.

got some suggestions for you, Tony. You know you've always been a fan of NASCAR, right, so just another month, you know, you're gonna have the chance to drive south and admire dayteen for example, you know, and perhaps you could get take one of those luxury airplane adventures where you get your own little personal cabin on the plane with the shower and all that stuff, and they give you the robe.

this radio station. As a matter of fact, you want to get free of the daily grind and spin that chunk of gold burning a hole in your pocket. Whatever the cruise man does and the next stage of life, we wish him the absolute best and know he'll be great at it. While we'll miss him dearly. We want to know retirement is gonna be t tastic heavy retirement happy Derby one.