2024-12-09 - KSR - Hour 1

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Comedy Off Broadway in Lexington. Welcomes John Rudnisky November twenty second and twenty third, Then catch Jan Marcos Serrasi November twenty ninth and thirtieth, and don't miss John Reef December fifth through the seventh. Comedy Off Broadway opened in downtown Lexington in nineteen eighty seven, and they're still bringing the best and stand up comedy to the area thirty seven years later. Calle five nine two seven one Joke or visit Comedy Off Broadway dot com Offway.

00:00:34
Speaker 2: Myron Metcalf back in the mix here on KSR on another Mary Monday. Yeah, wow, what a weekend. It's been a weekend man, for all you Kentucky fans after everything that went down on Saturday. What a wild what a wild game? Bill? I know you you were. Did you do the postgame show after that?

00:01:03
Speaker 3: What's up? Myron? I'm glad to be with you today.

00:01:05
Speaker 2: I did.

00:01:06
Speaker 3: We didn't end until three am on Saturday night.

00:01:10
Speaker 2: My goodness, man, I was thinking about that. I was like, what is that like for players too? You know when you go everyone talks about going west coast to east coast, But like, you know, if you're Kentucky. You probably feel like it's you know, almost midnight or whatever it is your body does in a game like that. And I wondered, Billy, honestly, if that contributed to the start, right, Like I wondered, if like you being in a situation with this three hour time difference and you know, your body's saying it's ten o'clock really, and you know you don't play games that start at ten o'clock normally. So I did wonder if that had contributed to, you know what, what happened at the start of the game. But then you know they're down eighteen, they come back and one of the craziest comebacks I've seen. But wow, a lot to talk about today. Another mery Monday. You all know how I do it, myran Metcalf. I want to hear about something that made you smile. What's the number, Billy? What number did they call? Yeah?

00:02:12
Speaker 3: Let me let me get through, you know, kind of the start of the show.

00:02:15
Speaker 4: Here.

00:02:15
Speaker 3: You can call the Clark's Pumping Shop phone line. That's eight five nine two eight oho two two eight seven.

00:02:20
Speaker 2: Uh.

00:02:20
Speaker 3: You Normally you can text the a Vision Auto Glass text machine, but we don't have access to that, but we do want to remind you that the show is brought to you by the TJ. Smith Law Office. You call TJ, He'll make them pay. And uh, you're right, Myron. We've got a lot to react to after that big historic comeback win for the Cats on Saturday, and you know, it was a it was an eventful week playing Clemson and then good zaga.

00:02:44
Speaker 2: Did I mess up your start of the show, Like did you have a script you were supposed to read? And I just I walked all over.

00:02:49
Speaker 3: No, no, no, we got we got through it. No, we got through it. We just yeah, we just had to mention a couple of sponsors off the top. And I'm here really to make sure we get the other ads in. So, uh, we're glad to have you back, Myron.

00:02:59
Speaker 2: Yeah, you got to keep me in line. You know. Matt will tell you that, like, you got to keep me like, let me know when we got to do certain things, because I'll just keep going, you know what I mean. So I appreciate that Mary Monday calling. I want to hear about things that made you smile over the weekend. I'm sure it'd be a lot of Kentucky people excited about the game. Here is my thought, right, Can I be honest about back in time what I thought? Right? Because I think that game is gonna be the game you look at on selection Sunday. Not because of what Gonzaga means for a resume, right, like, not because of that, but because I think you may look back at that game and go, that's what it became Mark Pope's team, Right, And now I'm not saying it wasn't before, Right, Mike Prope gets the job, obviously, there were some people, there were some doubters. He quickly won a lot of people over with how he approached the job. Then he comes out in week one of the season and he beats Duke in the Champions Classic. There are a whole lot of people who were going in that moment, Wow, Forget if we doubted him, We certainly believe now. But I felt like Saturday's game really put Mark Pope's stamp on the program because you're down eighteen points and you're on the road. And yeah, it wasn't a quote true road game, but in Seattle, that is Gonzaga country. Even though I was shocked by how many Kentucky fans had gone out there, but you know that was one of those moments where if Kentucky doesn't respond in the second win or lose, like if they just get smacked in the face by Gonzaga and they lose by fifteen to twenty five points. There are teams, Billy, who haven't recovered from those moments. Like there are teams that you can look at in any season and go, oh, they got punched in the mouth and they never recovered, and then you just see them kind of limping through the season and you realize that they never found a way to kind of put that behind them. That could have been that for Kentucky, Like that could have been the moment where you look back on selections there and you go, they faced real adversity, they didn't respond, and now that becomes a shadow over the program the rest of the way I've seen it happen. It certainly can't happen instead. And I don't know what Mark Pope said to this team in the locker room. I'd be curious, what do you think he said, Billy, What do you think he told the team in the locker room? Like if you if you were a Mark Pope and you were giving a speech at halftime, what would you have said to a team down at one point by eighteen points against Gonzaga.

00:05:31
Speaker 3: I think Mark Pope probably said, we got them right where we want them. Myron, this is this is a coach maybe you know he talks about like collecting data, collecting data in the first half to adjust in the second. And but Mari, they did it without a point guard. I mean their point starting point guards not in the game. Their backup point guard goes down, they have to put Jackson Robinson at the point. I mean, I think you're exactly right a seed line game when it comes to when you when you're putting the tournament together in March. I think a lot a lot of peop will look back at this game against a top ten good Zaga team that was up sixteen at the half. It's incredible looking back.

00:06:06
Speaker 2: Yeah, And the bracket is the bracket, right? Like for me, like that'll be the tangible element of this, right, does this make them a one seed or whatever it is? There's a very tangible component of this, But just in terms of like who you are, Like, that's one of those we blame coaches for everything, and I sometimes can't stand it if I'm being honest, right, because we want coaches to do it all in moments like that, and certainly coaches deserve blame, you know, if teams lose to a certain degree. But I also think there are moments where like players got to look at themselves in the mirror and say who are we? And I really thought it was that moment for Kentucky. I mean I tweeted that I felt like, no matter what Mark Pope said, the Kentucky Wildcats had to sit in that locker room and they had to say who are we? Like, what are we going to be with? Down sixteen and a half right down by as much as eighteen, you have your starting point guard is out, and defensively, you could see what happened without Lamont and the challenges that they had in that first half, Ryan Themhart and how good he was. Then Kirk Crisa goes out and now he's scheduled for surgery and out And definitely you are shorthanded and you have been punched in the face by Gonzagativ that scored fifty points in the first half. And I don't care what Mark Pope said, I mean meaning I don't think that was the most important element. Mark Pope could have given a Rocky Balboa speech, he could have given a Vince Lombardi's speech, He could have given the greatest speech in the history of speeches. Right, that to me was secondary to what Kentucky and the players in that locker room and the decision they were gonna make in that moment, how will we respond right now? And I think that changes a team to go from down that big at halftime on the road away from home, and then you claw back into that game. You could just see not only the momentum changing, you could see Gonzaga like you know what I mean. It was like, you know, I watched a lot of boxing, Billy right, and you can see how like sometimes early you'll have a fighter who's getting the best of the other guy for four or five six rounds, and then like in round seven, all of a sudden, the guy who's losing comes back and starts throwing haymakers, and you could see the fight change that happened against Gonzaga all of a sudden. You could see how rattled Gonzaga was. You could see how much pressure they suddenly felt because they went from a team that has scored fifty points in the first half and was up by sixteen to wait a minute, guys, we can't lose this lead. And anytime you can make an opponent feel like the goal is to preserve a lead and not win the game, you got them. And I think Kentucky did that because they're shorthanded, and I think Gonzaga is looking at them and going, why are you all still fighting? Why are you still throwing punches In the ninth and ten round, I thought we had you. This should be over, you should quit. And I think that's why that hath and whatever happened in that locker room will be impactful for the rest of the year for this team, Billy, because Mark Pope can only do so much. But those guys made a decision that they weren't going to go out like that, and that says a lot about who they are like to me on the court, people will say this is a national championship caliber team. I agree. When you can beat Gonzag in that situation, when you can beat Duke, you are on that level. Beyond that, this is clearly a team that has a level of fight and heart that Mark Pope can't do anything about it. That's not about Mark Pope. That's about those guys, and those guys decided, you know, Jackson and Andrew carn All, those dudes said, you know what, We're better than this. And I think that is the strongest message that that team is set. That's bigger than Duke. I mean, symbolically, that's a big win over Duke. Obviously in the catology, that's a big win over Duke. But in terms of like what's going to happen the rested away. You just lost to Clemson and now here you are down sixteen points eighteen is the largest deficit you have and you come back. That's the real stuff, man, That that can change a team's outlook. And I think that second half was that important for Kentucky. Billy.

00:10:24
Speaker 3: Yeah, there's no doubt. I mean, belief in yourself can be one of the strongest things out there. That's why I find myself on the biggest sports talk radio show in the Commonwealth with Meyer Metcalft, an ESPN radio host, because I believed in myself Myron to get to this point and you and you saw that really take shape in the eyes of these Kentucky players. But they did it a different way. You know, they shoot only twenty eight percent from three to seven of twenty five. They bust out the one three one zone in the second half that just confused Gonzaga just enough to allow the Cats to kind of find that belief and momentum. So it's it's really encouraging because you looked at this week, you hope that they could go one in one one. It's actually a loss to Clemson and a big win versus Gonzaga. But you know, I like what you're preaching about. These guys will be able to carry this comeback when on for the rest of the season, to say, hey, we can come back in any scenario despite when the odds are against us.

00:11:16
Speaker 2: If you could pick anybody to give a halftime speech in that situation, like if Mark Pope could like call somebody, who would you want to give that time speech?

00:11:23
Speaker 3: That's a great question.

00:11:24
Speaker 2: Who would give the greatest halftime speech? I could putting out to the callers too, who would be I want to know about your Merry Mondays. But also if you could pick anybody ever, who's your halftime speech? For me? I think, Billy, it'd have to be like Morgan Freeman, you know what I mean?

00:11:40
Speaker 3: Oh, the voice of God to come in and.

00:11:45
Speaker 2: Walked in and my team is down like sixteen and a half and he gives one of those like Shawshank redemption speeches, like we're winning by thirty. I feel like, so I think that would be my pick. I am curious with other people.

00:11:58
Speaker 3: Yeah, I might go, like have a person I was thinking. I don't know why this is the first person I thought about, but like Matthew McConaughey could come in and like really fret that'd.

00:12:07
Speaker 2: Be a lot though he would do. Yeah, he do too much.

00:12:13
Speaker 3: I think I want to buy a buick every time I watch his commercial. I figure he can get me fired up for the game. But I like Morgan for a little better than that one.

00:12:21
Speaker 2: I mean Matthew mcconae. Like the problem with Matthew mcconaughe doing a halftime speech is he's gonna stay on the bench the whole game and at one point he's gonna try to check in. Like it's gonna get weird with Matthew mcconnae. I you know what I mean, that's the check Like when I see him at these Texas football.

00:12:35
Speaker 3: Games, I don't know he's ready to check.

00:12:39
Speaker 2: Yeah, but I'm like, bro, you don't play Like, why are you so close to the sideline in the action? Man, like take take a deep breath. But Morgan Freeman from me, Yeah, Matthew mcconae, I get that. Whoever. Whatever they said, though, it was clearly changed the vibe. Man in that locker room. We got how many minutes we got left?

00:12:56
Speaker 3: Man, Uh, we can do whatever you want. This is a soft break, so you can you can break now. We could go another five minutes. It's the next one. We'll have a heart out.

00:13:05
Speaker 2: So I got another thing to say here, and we got callers. We'll get to callers here. Through Throughout the show, I did a big piece on Mark Pope. Flew around the country to get and talk to people and talk to him and literally had to like chase him down by the way. I went to like I was on my way to Kentucky and they were like, no, he's at Peach Jam. I changed my flight, Billy, I go to Peach Jam in Georgia or South Carolina. Then I come back to Lexington. It was a lot, but we had a chance to sit down with Mark Pope this summer, and you know, we were talking about the job and everything. And you know, one of the conversations I had with him, I said, you know, Mark, this team has obviously the veterans the town. You got that, but I said, do you have any dogs?

00:13:47
Speaker 5: You know what I mean?

00:13:48
Speaker 2: Like, do you have any dudes? And I think that was the real question for Mark Pope coming into the season. It was the thing that I think he admitted he didn't know yet, you know what I mean, Like he didn't know. And I think if there's one thing that Kentucky certainly had under Cat, it's like you always had one, two, three guys where you said, I don't know what the situation's gonna be, but those guys are gonna be as good, if not better than anybody on the opposing team, just from a raw talent perspective. Right. We know that didn't always lead to wins, But I think that was the one question Mark polpe face, when you're down in a moment like this, who is it? Like, who's the guy you're gonna turn to you? Who are the players you're gonna say? All right, all right, Superman, you know, go into the phone booth. Right And by the way, Billy, on a side note, nobody saw a Superman changing in that dog on phone booth. Are you kidding me? Billy? Are you serious? This man has on glasses and slacks and he's a trench coat whatever he's wearing, and a briefcase and there's nobody near that phone booth that sees him changing. Billy, Yeah, you w I believe that. Come on, man, that's not that a phone move would be the worst way to try to conceal you being a superhero. But anyways, I digress. I don't know. I think that was the question. I don't think Mark polpe knew if he had any dogs. And I say this, I mean Andrew Carbs, he played great. I don't know that this team has those kinds of dudes, right, those takeover guys. But what I think they have and what I think they showed against Gonzaga is they can play team ball better than any team in the country. And what I think happened in the first half, and you saw this, Billy, when they got down, Kentucky started taking some bad shots, shots where you're going, Okay, these aren't shots that are coming out of what you do philosophically, these are shots coming out of desperation. I got to climb back into the game. What you saw in the second half was how good this team is when they're moving the ball, when they're making the extra pass, when they're playing selfless basketball. That's what you saw. I don't know if this team has outside of maybe Andrew Carr, maybe some others who you go, Okay, this guy is gonna be first team All SEC. I don't know what that'll look like when the awards are announced, but when they come together, I think what you saw in the second half is they can beat any team in America. I think that's the difference between the first half against Gonzaga and the second half. You're down your point guard, you're down a second point guard, you're down by eighteen points, sixteen at the half, you're on the road, you're not at home. You just got punched in the mouth, and you just gave up fifty points to Gonzaga in the first half. There's no way one dude's gonna pull you out of that. But I think Kentucky learning, I'm talking about the players, and maybe Mark Pope did too, how good they can be when they're playing together. But I think you saw it, Clemson. I think you saw in the first half against Gonzaga. When that's not the flow of the game, it gets really challenging. And now without your point guards and now injuries to those key positions, you're gonna have to continue to play that way to move forward in the schedule. We're gonna take a break here, hopefully get some calls. Got a whole lot to talk about. I want to hear your perspective on the game. I want to hear about who you would give the halftime speech opportunity to if you were Mark Pope at halftime of that game. We will be back after this, Welcome back on another Merry Monday with Mera Metcalf. No, Matt Jones and company. I don't know. I don't know if they're flying, what are they How are they getting back here?

00:17:34
Speaker 3: They're flying back?

00:17:35
Speaker 2: Do it?

00:17:35
Speaker 3: Yeah, they're flying. They're not driving the five six day trip it would take to come back. That's wild man, long way out there.

00:17:43
Speaker 2: Twenty four Like we got we got planes.

00:17:48
Speaker 6: Man.

00:17:49
Speaker 3: It was cool. Mark Pope shouted them out in the postgame press conference. They're like, see those guys over there. They drove all the way from Lexington for this game.

00:17:57
Speaker 2: He was probably a little bit like they didn't have to, but they did, you know what I mean? So Hey, yeah, what I love a good road trip and I'm glad they enjoyed it.

00:18:05
Speaker 6: Uh.

00:18:06
Speaker 2: We got some calls here on this merry Monday. Who's our first caller?

00:18:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, let's start with Ed on the line.

00:18:15
Speaker 2: Ed, how you doing? What's something that made you happy? Something? Hey?

00:18:17
Speaker 4: Ed?

00:18:17
Speaker 2: What's something that made you happy? Something that made you smile?

00:18:21
Speaker 4: Hey?

00:18:22
Speaker 7: Let me tell you this team now is playing like the team that I grew up with. I mean, the winning games are supposed to win, and games were if he they find a way to win. I couldn't be more thrilled, more happy. What about that one to three one zone, which coach cal would have never have done? Yeah, I mean it's just a great time to be a Wildcat. And as we get ready for the next victim to come up, another one will fight the dust Go Cats. And that's all I got to say.

00:18:56
Speaker 2: Now, I appreciate the call. Yeah, Billy, I'm sure like that's sort of vibe. Right, And you know that changed from first half to second half? Right? How are you feeling at halftime? Billy?

00:19:09
Speaker 3: I thought the game was over, Myron, I mean, and after a loss versus Clemson, you're out out Lamont Butler. I mean you think that this team, you know, is when they face adversity, they hit a wall. But you know, the really surprising thing is how different guys have responded. Jackson Robinson had one point against Duke, He was one for eight shooting in the first half versus Gonzaga, and yet he comes in and plays that second half. You know, Andrew Carr scores what three points total versus Clemson, and then he's able to score nineteen in the following game. Like these guys, it doesn't have to be their night each night, but they can respond when needed. So that was really encouraging.

00:19:45
Speaker 2: And just imagine too, if you go from that first from that Clemson loss, and imagine if you play that way in the first half and lose that game to Gonzaga. If you lose to Clemson in Gonzaga in that fashion and in Golenzago wins by t twenty points or fifteen points, that's a whole different conversation. Yeah right, that's not even just about the next game. That's a conversation about, Okay, who are these guys in the national picture. But instead you bounce back, and now you have the whole country saying I think that team cain a national championship. Who's the next caller?

00:20:17
Speaker 3: Tyler is on the line.

00:20:20
Speaker 2: What's up, Tyler? How you doing that on this Mary Monday? What's something that made you happy? Is something that made you smile?

00:20:26
Speaker 4: To be honest with you smiled as soon as I realized that my path is going to be hosted.

00:20:31
Speaker 3: Okay, man, I appreciate that.

00:20:33
Speaker 2: I appreciate that, okay uh.

00:20:36
Speaker 4: And as far as the game, really and truly seeing how this team has made up the makeup of this team, they're older, more experienced and mature, and I mean, really it's not surprising what happened against Kenjagga. But yeah, I think this team has some grit and some heart to it that we haven't had in a long time. And definitely.

00:21:01
Speaker 2: Appreciate the call Tyler. I think Tyler brings up a good point. Billy, I don't know that the same thing happens if you have eighteen and nineteen year olds in that locker room and you're down sixteen and a half against Gonzaga. You know what I mean. I just don't know that you have the ability to regain your composure in that moment. But to have a bunch of veteran guys, I can see how these guys could believe and all the games they've been in throughout their careers, it's not over. It's hard to communicate that to young guys, like it's hard to tell a seventeen or eighteen year old it's not over. Because the thing about freshmen coming into this level is so many of those dudes, Billy when thirty and one, thirty and two, thirty and three, like, some of those dudes come in and they've lost less than ten games in their high school careers, you know what I mean. They don't even know what loss is. So to put them in a situation against Gonzaga and you're down sixteen at halftime and you haven't really ever lost many games, and you certainly haven't been down like that hard to get guys that young to respond. I think you also saw the value of having experience across that team and how that helped when it came to bouncing back big time against Gonzaga. Experience was a significant factor, and I think what happened in that game. We'll be back for more. Mary Monday with Myra Metcah Black Jones's back, baby, We'll talk to you soon.

00:22:36
Speaker 3: I'm here, Meyern, I'm right here, don't you. Aren't you loving the Algreen here?

00:22:39
Speaker 2: Yeah? I was. I was saying, have you been become a fan? Oh?

00:22:42
Speaker 3: I didn't hear that. I'm sorry. I absolutely I took your advice and played it with the with the lady friend at or.

00:22:51
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:22:52
Speaker 3: It was great.

00:22:52
Speaker 4: It was.

00:22:53
Speaker 3: It's great ambiance. I mean, it's set the mood, there's no doubt about it.

00:22:59
Speaker 2: Take something. Let me tell you something though, Yeah, what you just did. You can't go back to anybody else. You can't introduce Al to the relationship and then just take it away, you know what I mean? So I would say two three times a year, surprise it with some mal because you just you know, you can't just bring it in and then all of a sudden it's just gone. That's not how al Green works. Okay, So keep a consistent al Green theme. It'll help everything. Trust because Al never misses, Man never misses.

00:23:29
Speaker 3: Oh yeah, I kind of told on myself, and you're right now, I can't go back. Before we get to some of these calls, let me tell you about Don Franklin. Though Myron choose from thousands of new and pre owned vehicles right now from Don Franklin Auto. No matter your situation, Don Franklin has tools in the experience to help you find your perfect vehicle to fit your budget and lifestyle. Don Franklin has the largest inventory of new use certified pre owned vehicles in the state, with over five thousand vehicles twenty seven dealerships as across the Bluegrass. The Don Franklin family is there to serve all your auto needs. Plus, Don Franklin's tenure unlimited mile powertrain coverage is developing for most makes and models, so you can hit the road in a safe, reliable car. Don Franklin has a huge selection of new twenty twenty four and twenty twenty five vehicles, so check it out, score big at your local Don Franklin dealership, or steer your way over to Don Franklin Auto dot com. Don Franklin Auto Driven by Family. Back to you, Myron, Don.

00:24:25
Speaker 2: Don Franklin is a car salesman name, Ain't it? Like, Hey man, where you go? I'm gonna get this car from Don Franklin. Like that's a car salesman. I like simple car salesman names. You know what I mean?

00:24:38
Speaker 3: No, I did I agree with you?

00:24:39
Speaker 2: Like multiple syllable I'm not, you know, like some of these dealerships have. It's like three different names. I don't like all that. I go see Don Franklin to get my car. I like that. It's simple. So yeah, all you listeners, go see Don Franklin. We got some more calls on this Merry Monday, a lot of people reacting to Kentucky and what they were able to do. I'll just say this before we go to calls. This feels and I know we say this in college basketball every year because we're always talking about parody and all these different things. It's never real, by the way, right if you look at who's won national championships over the last twenty five years, there hasn't been as much parody as people think when it comes to who can actually cut down the nets. But I do feel like this is a year that feels somewhat wide open. I do, however, believe that of the I don't know, eight to fifteen teams, is that too much Billy in terms of who can win a national championship? Maybe fifteen is too high, But I do feel like Kentucky is sort of in that group of teams where you go, Okay, Kentucky, Auburn, Tennessee, Duke. I think is their teams that it feels like, are putting themselves in a position where you can say, maybe they'll end up separating themselves from the pack here in the next couple of months based on what we've seen so far. I mean of Kentucky with wins over Duke now said that come from behind winover Gonzaga. I don't think there's anyone with that resume so far this season, and just the SEC overall has been incredible. But I think we're going to have an amazing tournament and I think the best of the best. Once we get to sort of that elite eight, I think it will be fascinating to kind of see who's there and to see who comes out on top. But if Kentucky can beat Gonzaga and can beat Duke at neutral sites, then that means they can play with anybody.

00:26:35
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:26:35
Speaker 3: Absolutely, And you know we saw Missouri beat Kansas over the weekend. I mean, we could have eight nine teams in the SEC that you could put into that conversation. You know, you're kind of touching on a point. I did want to ask you, Myron, and that's you know, how does this Kentucky team compare to these other top national teams. I'm guessing you're looking at it and seeing that it's wide open. You know, it is still early in December, but you've traveled around a little bit. You're the college basketball reporter for ESPN, So I mean, does this team have that type of talent?

00:27:03
Speaker 2: Let me tell how much I've traveled, man. I had a stretch last week where I was at ten airports. I'm sorry, I was at seven airports in ten days. Oh it's a lot, man. So I've seen seen a lot of teams, but I mean, I think Kentucky can play with any of them. You know, I thought Auburn was maybe the best team in America. They go and play Duke and it's like, all right, well Kentucky beat that Duke team, you know what I mean? So Kansas, there are a lot of questions about Kansas that were going into that game. I think Bill Selva is still trying to figure out his rotation. But that's a good team. I don't think they've come close to peaking yet. I think Iowa State is a very good team. Tennessee will be number one today, I believe when the Associated Press rankings are announced. I'm not ready to completely dismiss Yu Kon, but I have a hard time putting them in that category after what they said, after what happened in Maui, and then yeah, I think Gonzaga is probably the team I would have said coming into that game is going to be the team that maybe is right there at number one, number two if they beat Kentucky, and then Kentucky does that. So I mean you can legitimate, legitimately say that Kentucky can play with any team in America, and you know, can I think if you told me the NC Double A Tournament was today, there wouldn't be a team in the field where you said, all right, that team can overwhelm them, because again, I think they have a lot of depth, they have a lot of experience, they have resilience, and then clearly the talent showed as well. I don't want to make it seem like I don't think they're very talented. I do. I just think their strength is actually in their ability to come together, and they showed that during that run in the second half who's our first our next caller.

00:28:47
Speaker 3: Yeah, let's go to Sean on the Clark's Pump of Chat phone line.

00:28:50
Speaker 2: What's up, Seane?

00:28:53
Speaker 6: I'm doing good morning.

00:28:56
Speaker 2: Yeah, man, what made you happy? What made you smile? What made me.

00:29:02
Speaker 6: Happy is I got to eat dinner last night with all four of my children and Kentucky gun Zaga always makes me smile.

00:29:10
Speaker 8: Uh, Billy.

00:29:11
Speaker 6: If Matthew McConaughey is your motivational speaker and it makes you want to buy a few, if that's not good because he sells Lincoln and I believe my motivational halftime speaker would be would be it would be Mark Pope because I don't know what he has said at halftime, but man, it must be good because it's working for these cats and I love this team, and uh, I'm just looking forward to.

00:29:34
Speaker 8: The rest of the season.

00:29:36
Speaker 2: Who would be your halftime guy? Who would you bring in? Who are a halftime It would be Mark.

00:29:41
Speaker 6: It would be Mark Pope, Mark Pope because he's doing a great job. So that's who I want.

00:29:45
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's true.

00:29:48
Speaker 6: Appreciate you guys, Thank you, Sean.

00:29:50
Speaker 2: Appreciate the call. I might bring in Mark, Rocky Balboa, maybe Rocky, like Rocky.

00:29:55
Speaker 3: That's a high talent fee to get.

00:29:58
Speaker 2: But that would be I mean, I mean Sylvester Asrocky. I mean that way.

00:30:02
Speaker 3: He's got to be in character too.

00:30:04
Speaker 2: Yes, isn't he always in character?

00:30:07
Speaker 6: Yeah?

00:30:07
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's kind of who he is alone.

00:30:09
Speaker 3: You know, our guy Ryan LeMond is known to give a good pep talk every now and then. Do you think he could rally the troops or you think that.

00:30:15
Speaker 2: Would fall flat in that situation? Yeah? Nah, I don't know. I don't know. Ryan, Like you're down sixteen at half, like you you gotta be like rooty levels in that moment, you know what I mean? That's not just a pep talk, that's like a you gotta be epic. And I don't know if there are that many people who could have pulled that off, but I would love to know exactly what Mark Pope said to that team. What's what's the who's the next caller?

00:30:40
Speaker 3: All right, let's go to Clint.

00:30:42
Speaker 2: Clint, Clint, you're on, it's very Monday. Hey, what's something? Hey, what's something that made you happy? Something that made you smile?

00:30:51
Speaker 9: I woke up this morning. That's always a blessing.

00:30:54
Speaker 2: Ain't that beautiful. Isn't that enough, Clint, Like we take that for grant. Ye, so many people did not get to wake up. I think that's a great answer.

00:31:03
Speaker 9: Uh today, Well, yeah, it's I think someone almost hit to it. This team's really player driven. I think that's one of the biggest differences from past teams is this team has really taken on leadership roles where we didn't see those, uh in the past teams. You know, with these young guys, they're really dependent on the coach, more on more or less than on each other. So I think that's the biggest point that I've seen so far in this year.

00:31:30
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, I appreciate the call. I mean you see it in a moment like that, right, I mean Jas Robinson is point guard. Yeah, you're playing a really good Gonzaga team that I don't know if people remember, but they destroyed Baylor. I mean not not like they lopsided, like when they get out in front like that. Billy Gonzaga destroys teams and how they shut the water off on that team. And there are a lot of people saying, oh, Gonzaga just missed threes. What are you talking about? Could you imagine Billy what the national common would have been, like if Kentucky had been up by sixteen and had lost that game, Like if Kentucky had a halftime lead of sixteen points and had found a way to lose, do you think anybody in America would have said, well, Kentucky just misshots. Absolutely not. People would have said that was a collapse. They would have given Gonzaga full credit, as they should. And if you didn't watch that game, then say so. But if you watched it, you saw the It wasn't just the one three one zone and now people are saying that that was big. It was that Mark Pope was switching from that one three to one to man on the same possession. So you had guys who were coming down to court for Gonzaga ready to adjust to a one three one, and then just as they got comfortable, Mark Pope would switch to man. And because he has so much linked on the floor, there were never a lot of mismatches. I mean there were multiple possessions. If you watched that game where Andrew Carr, Jackson, Robbinson, these big long guys on ryannimhar and that's how they shut the falsot off. I mean they shut the falsot off on and it changed the entire game. How much more time we got in this segment?

00:33:05
Speaker 3: We got time for one more call if you wanted to take one more and then we can hit the brake.

00:33:08
Speaker 2: Here a right, let's go, let's go to the next call.

00:33:10
Speaker 3: All right, so let's go to Todd on the line.

00:33:14
Speaker 2: Todd, how you doing on this merry Monday?

00:33:17
Speaker 4: Man?

00:33:17
Speaker 2: What's something that made you happy? Something that made you smile?

00:33:21
Speaker 5: What made me happy is I'm forty nine. I'm lucky enough to still have both of my parents alive and I got to spend yesterday with my eighty four year old mother.

00:33:29
Speaker 2: That's a beautiful thing, man, That's a beautiful thing. I love that answer. What else? What else? What'd you think of the game?

00:33:35
Speaker 5: The game?

00:33:36
Speaker 4: I like.

00:33:41
Speaker 5: The individual ball. They did the exact opposite against the Gonzaga and they came together as a team to overcome the deficit.

00:33:49
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, I appreciate the call. I think everyone kind of saw that, Billy, that this was the team that didn't do it with one person saying I got it, that it was the whole team that said we got it. And I think that's how they have to play well. That's how they beat Duke at the end. You know, that was team defense, and that's how they won against Gonzaga two.

00:34:12
Speaker 3: And another guy that struggled versus Clemson but played well versus Gonzaga was Brandon Garrison. There were times when Amari Williams really disappeared, and he was a guy that I thought they played better defense. You know, Myron, I want to ask you, if you fracture your foot in game, would you still be able to contest the layup as Kerk Crisa did in the second half of that game, because I tell you what I'd be on the ground. I wouldn't be contestant.

00:34:34
Speaker 2: I don't know what that man is made of. Man to be able to do what he did in that heart, that's an unfortunate thing. You know. It's they're saying I think three to six weeks, but you know, you hope it's it's shorter. But man to be able to come together like that after losing another point guard, it is just remarkable, man, just remarkable. We'll take a break here and we'll be back with more of your calls on this Merry Monday with Myra metcalf A. Oh come on, al, I'm so in love with you. You know about this billy. Oh yeah, you.

00:35:09
Speaker 3: Myron, here we go.

00:35:12
Speaker 2: That's all right with me. Al just talks to you. That's what I love about al Billy, Like Al is just talking to her, like he's not these aren't even songs, Like he's just sitting across from her and he's talking to her. Because like that was a time, Billy when we had real love songs in music. And maybe I sound old, that's okay, but like real love songs. And that's what I appreciate about the old school and Al Green and just everything that he did. But I was an old soul billy. I was like nine years old and I had Al Green's greatest hits. I don't know if that's normal or not, but I did. Like a lot of kids listening like sort of the newer music, I was all old school R and B. Man, So love to hear some Al Green on a Mary Monday.

00:36:00
Speaker 3: Man, you got into the catalog early, Iron You got in there early.

00:36:04
Speaker 2: It's changed your life. But it's changed your life too.

00:36:06
Speaker 3: Right, it has. And you know, I'm looking forward to the podcast. You know, we don't get the music on the podcast anymore so you'll just get a little a cappella Myron medcalf right there.

00:36:15
Speaker 2: I would do an a cappella album if they want me to. I mean, listen, you want me to just sing old school R and B. I do it. I do it free, you know what I mean. I don't like doing things for free, but I would.

00:36:27
Speaker 3: Somebody set that up. We need to make that happen. If Myron's willing to do it free, I will say. Something that should be free is corn bread Hemp. Give the good life of corn bread Hemp this holiday seasonally for myself over here, whether it's aches or pains, restless nights, or a care free moment without the hangover. Cornbread Hemp has something for everyone, even the favorite family dog. From now on until Christmas Day, visit cornbreadhep dot com for twenty days of cornbread cheer. New offers roll out every other day and sellouts are gonna happen, So don't wait to grab gifts raised with care and rooted in Kentucky tradition, comfort and joy, or just to click away. Visit cornbreadhemp dot com today. Cornbread Hemp, this is the good life.

00:37:07
Speaker 2: That was like pipping the Jordan right there, man, that was that was pretty good. That was good. I mean that that they got to put that on your year in review. Now all you do, y'all do year end reviews over there?

00:37:20
Speaker 3: No, no, I haven't had a review in in seven years is here being here, so maybe that will change.

00:37:27
Speaker 2: Just save that though, for like, if you know, put that on your year in review because that that was special. We'll take a few more calls here and I got a story on the other side of this next break. But who's our next caller?

00:37:38
Speaker 3: All right, let's go to Tracy on the line.

00:37:41
Speaker 2: Doing traynay. What's something that made you happy? Some that made you smile?

00:37:48
Speaker 8: Well, I'll be glad to tell you two things that made me happy, and I'll give you a halftime speaker as well. But Mary Monday is so much better when you got m Square to be in the host.

00:38:02
Speaker 2: Hey man, you've always been so supportive of it. I appreciate it.

00:38:07
Speaker 8: Well you're on it and come back every any and every time you can. I appreciate happy thing this weekend. It was nice to see us make free throws and call timeouts and we had them instead of just let them roll.

00:38:24
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's new, hunh is that new well.

00:38:28
Speaker 8: You know, I don't I don't want to keep burying col I mean I think we should we should move on. We ought to spend more energy talking about the new and the good and not whining about some things that bothered us in the past, because that's not productive. So I don't want to do that. But whenever you've got a pocket full of timeouts and you don't use one, that's just frustrating. I mean, let's let's be the you know, let's be the adult in the room just saying every thing that made me smile, thing that made me smile. I don't want to say it's because Duke won, but Louisville lost, So how about that?

00:39:06
Speaker 2: Okay, okay, and you had a halftime speech guy too, who's your halftime speech?

00:39:11
Speaker 4: Oh?

00:39:11
Speaker 8: Yeah, halftime speech. I don't know how he can get past William Wallace, I mean, Mel Gibson, the William Wallace beach. When you got a gut bunch of guys and kills running out to fight guys in armor. Yeah, I mean, that's that's go ahead.

00:39:25
Speaker 2: Heart No, yeah, braver. My high school coach showed that to us. My high school coach showed us that before a game we lost by three touchdowns though, so it didn't work out for us, but I do think it would work out for other people. I appreciate that call. Yeah, Billy, Like he showed us the Brave Heart opening scene and we were so hype and then we lost Big We lost Big Guy.

00:39:47
Speaker 3: Well, you know, motivational speeches can't do it all for you out there, but it's not can certainly help.

00:39:53
Speaker 2: It worked for us. So here's how I see the Mark Pope win on Saturday, Like, Duke was you introduce uh Mark Pope to the family, right, you bring Mark Pope home for the holidays. You're like, hey, somebody I'm seeing.

00:40:09
Speaker 3: You know, thing's been going well, right, yeah, first meeting.

00:40:12
Speaker 2: You know, and then your auntie, I don't know about your family, My family, Auntie and uncle like, okay, who is this? Okay kind of grilling you know the person a little bit. Yeah, yeah, but it's good. It's a good time. You know, Everyone's like, hey, you know, she was nice, he was nice.

00:40:25
Speaker 7: Cool.

00:40:26
Speaker 2: I think the the Gonzaga game, Kentucky went Facebook official with Mark Pope Instagram official, you know what I mean? Like you until you post that first photo on social media it's not official in this generation, right. I think that's what it was like. It like, hey everybody, Uh, this is my new person. We've been together for X number of months and then you once because once you put it on the ground, Billy, it's official.

00:40:55
Speaker 3: Facebook official. She's here to stay.

00:40:58
Speaker 2: Yeah, so Duke was you brought Mark Pop home for the holidays and I think Saturdays. Whinever Gonzaga was, Okay, we don't we don't post this on Instagram. It let the whole world know that we are together. We'll be back after this break.