2025-11-20- KSR - Hour 1

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Speaker 1: Comedy Off Broadway and Lexington Welcome Cincinny native and club favorite Josh Sneed November fourteenth and fifteenth. Then catch the return of the GT finalist Preacher Laws in November twenty first through the twenty third, and November twenty eighth and twenty ninth. Don't miss the Queen of Comedy and Lexington's own Adell given Sports. Tickets to all Comedy Off Broadway shows call E five nine two seven to one joke or visit Comedy Off Broadway dot com.

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Speaker 2: Comedy Off Broway.

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Speaker 3: This is Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage.

00:00:34
Speaker 4: Now here's Matt Jones.

00:00:36
Speaker 2: Welcome everyone.

00:00:37
Speaker 5: It is Kentucky Sports Radio Thursday. It is November the twentieth ime. Matt Jones here live at the Ksbar. We are here until noon today. Love to have you come out and say hello. Got my friend here from Carlisle County helped me with the book when I went out to the to the west coast or yeah, west coast of Kentucky.

00:00:55
Speaker 6: We don't get a lot of Carlisle County people come around.

00:00:58
Speaker 2: Here out there.

00:00:58
Speaker 5: State State Champ's right one years run State runner up and like what eighty two eighty three ceilings look at you.

00:01:06
Speaker 2: Well, they're very proud of it. Yeah.

00:01:08
Speaker 5: And now are they combining the two counties into one school. No, they're not gonna do that. They had talked about it and they fought it.

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Speaker 6: Carl Island on Livingston. What's the other county, Ballard?

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Speaker 5: Carlisle and Ballard that's out on the part of the state. People don't they need to know more about it. Clark's pumping shop fuld line eight five nine two eight oh twenty two eighty seven a vision auto glass text machine seven seven two seven to seven four five two five four in this distion sponsored by the TJ. Smith office you called t J. I'll make them pay. Those are the Mississippi River counties. A lot of people in Kentucky just don't even think about the fact that we have four counties that board the border the river. Big thing is can you get a port? That's what everybody wants to talk about. Can we get a port that's uh, that's that's a.

00:01:47
Speaker 2: Big issue there.

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Speaker 6: I remember in your book you talked about one of those counties has a bridge that goes to nowhere. It's like just a bridge.

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Speaker 5: Holton County well there's a no, no, no, you're thinking of a different part of the state. This is why I shouldn't let you be part. No, they Fulton County. You have to cross into Missouri or Tennessee. You have to cross into Missouri to get to the other part of Kentucky. We we have a little piece of Kentucky. It's like a little island that's on the other side of Missouri.

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Speaker 6: Which is really strange, very strange.

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Speaker 5: And most people don't know it. So yeah, that's uh, there's a there's an Indian burial ground up there in Ballard County, funny Wick, the Wickham what Wickliffe, Wickliffe Mounds. That's right, it's way out my way, even way farther way. Well, you leave today, you get there Monday. I mean, it's it's far away. For a second there. We thought we had a remote there next week, but Billy had the town rung.

00:02:40
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's an interesting.

00:02:41
Speaker 5: That's an interesting US. I don't know if you know about this. We're off topic, but that's okay. Wednesday before Thanksgiving, we are at Don Franklin, Columbia, which we were supposed to be out a few weeks ago, and for a scheduling reason I needed to change and we did it in Lexington instead of Columbia. And they said to me, hey, are you okay doing it the day before Thanksgiving? And I said, sure, I can go to Columbia, right, we can do a little.

00:03:10
Speaker 2: Dare County before Thanksgiving. So that's next Wednesday.

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Speaker 5: But Billy, on the drive goes, I said, where is that remote next Wednesday? And he said Columbus, Kentucky. And I was like, I don't know where that is. Where's Columbus, Kentucky? Andrew looked it up and it's like out in Ballard County, right, It's it's as far away as you can be. It's four hours and forty five minutes. And I said, Billy, I can't go the day before Thanksgiving four hours and forty five minutes away.

00:03:43
Speaker 2: Come back. Kentucky has a game that night. Yeah, they do. I'm like, what do you You expect us to go all the.

00:03:48
Speaker 5: Way to Columbus, all the way back and do that game the day before Thanksgiving.

00:03:54
Speaker 2: My family's gonna be here. I can't go all the way to.

00:03:57
Speaker 5: Columbus nine hours on the road. Billy's like, you agreed to it, and I said, I know I did not agree to that. I know I did not agree to go four and a half hours. Well, he had spelled wrong. He had Columbus and Columbia spelled wrong. Well, that's why he does things like bring that suitcase. Is he rights the wrong thing that Columbia has been a good friend with us. I love Columbia's great Columbus. That'd be sure Columbus is the great Taky. There are people listening from Columbus seven seven two seven seven four five two five for you can tell me where we would have stayed or where we would have been population one, one hundred and forty people Also was like they can't have a don for dealership in Columbus.

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Speaker 2: But anyway we are.

00:04:39
Speaker 5: We're here all right, A lot of stuff to get to our guy, our Irish soccer announcer is gonna join because they played tonight.

00:04:48
Speaker 6: Did you know that in the NCAA tournament? Okay, I don't know. The commerce tournaments still are in.

00:04:52
Speaker 5: Gavin Gavin's played, we play in Saint Louis. I think tonight. Okay, he's gonna get us ready for that game. Uh and uh and more. But let's start with you know a story you know, things are kind of a little hectic when people's like grandma's are writing them and asking them what's going on?

00:05:10
Speaker 2: Right, yes, yesterday.

00:05:13
Speaker 5: Was you know, there are moments where Big Blue Nation is at its best and then there are moments where I won't say it's at its worst, but you see the other side of like, okay, this is the other part.

00:05:24
Speaker 2: Of dealing with this job. And I think yesterday was that.

00:05:28
Speaker 5: I mean, people are understandably frustrated about the Michigan State game and lots of complaints, which is also understandable, but then the kind of like okay, what's going on went into wild effect. I mean it was like the old days in the sense of, you know, Dan Docketch got real like I came from the from the past to like come after.

00:05:52
Speaker 6: Me and call yeah, call.

00:05:53
Speaker 2: Big Blue Nation names.

00:05:56
Speaker 5: The national media, CNN had an article about how Michigan State was doing the future and Kentucky wasn't, in like a contrast in styles. I didn't even know CNN did sports. You had Gary Parrish, and you had all these guys like taking uh given their opinion on what's going on. And then of course, and I you know, I hate to say I told you so, But I told you so. The rumor mill started running wild as to what was going on with the chemistry of this team. I wrote on Twitter that I got nine different stories last night from people who told me they were one hundred percent sure they were true, and some of them were mutually exclusive. They could not have both happened, and I probably believed none of them are true.

00:06:43
Speaker 2: But everybody had like, you know.

00:06:45
Speaker 6: Kenny Walker's cousin told me, or it would be like my son's a friend of them, yeah.

00:06:51
Speaker 5: Oh, I had a lot of friends of the of like zach Toe, yeah, or you know, there were a lot of friends of, or cousins of, or housekeepers of a lot of that stuff. But I also would say it was inevitable that this would happen, and that Mark Pope did this. Mark Pope did what should be cardinal rule number one as a coach. Do not say something happened and not say what it is okay, or do not like, do not give no answers when people want answers, because when there is silence, people will fill the void. I probably said that to John Caliperry fifty times in those last few years. If you leave silence if you don't tell people the status of players injuries, and if you don't do that stuff, the void will be filled with something. And that has now happened. And that's where we are right now.

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Speaker 6: You're right, you know, everybody's trying to find an answer, like what's wrong. So when we don't know, they're going to fill that void, like you said, with just any crazy story that you wat you and then it gets passed around and just good gains momentum.

00:08:03
Speaker 5: And every time it gets set it's like the telephone game. Yes, changed a little bit, and also in people's mind gets more credibility because they're hearing it from a lot of people, even though it's probably the same story, just circling around and hitting everybody.

00:08:17
Speaker 2: Did you say your parents asked? Or somebody's parents.

00:08:20
Speaker 6: Yes, I mean it starts going around these message boards. It gets passed around and then all of a sudden, everybody believes it. It must be true, saying the church.

00:08:27
Speaker 2: Bulletin at the Nazarene church. What No, I'm just kidding. It wasn't.

00:08:31
Speaker 5: But that's the kind of thing that you could you could see.

00:08:35
Speaker 7: Yeah, I was going crazy yesterday. I had people asking me, people I haven't heard from it forever.

00:08:38
Speaker 2: Hey, is this true? Hey? I heard this, heard this.

00:08:41
Speaker 7: So and so told me this, And I agree that there's chemistry issues, But some of the rumors out there, I feel like they had a whole UFC fight card of teammates fighting each other. I heard every combination of player on the team fought each other at some point, and you know, all of that can't be true.

00:08:55
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm trying to think.

00:08:56
Speaker 5: Is there anybody I didn't hear any No scenario involved yellowch No, he maybe the one, maybe the one that it was not involved, But I heard a scenario involving I think every other player, maybe Malachi. Maybe it's something about those bench bigs that keeps them out of out of the midge mix. Now there's also the real world ramifications. Our assistant basketball coach responded to one of these on Twitter. So, uh, there's an account called man Boy, which I don't understand why that's the name of the account, but it is. It is Mark Maggart. You remember Mark Maggret from Back and Down, another name from the past coming people were coming out. Where were we gonna have TC cat to come back? Like like all the names from the past, are back. Uh, he wrote something sort of It didn't even really seem that that bad to me. It was just like if there are chemistry issues, and then he was he was I think speculating could Garrison leave mid semester or something like that. Jason Hart replies to the comment, and Jason Hart says, I don't normally respond, but chaos in the locker room is false. You're making things up, which is unfortunate. So that's good to hear. But I also don't know if that's the forum to respond to it in. But again, Pope did this Like the reason this is happening is because aa, you brought up the pregame Louisville thing, but then b because kind of the way he was acting after the game against Michigan State.

00:10:38
Speaker 2: It kind of leads to this, it does.

00:10:40
Speaker 6: It goes all back to how he handled the whole Louisville thing and his response after that game, his response after the game we won, the difference refronts he had to the media, end of the fan when he said something about Taylor Swift yes yeah, and then the response after the Michigan State game. All that has kind of led all of us to speculate and run wide with some of these stories.

00:10:57
Speaker 5: If you're gonna send the fans Drew on an adventure of guessing you can't get mad, where they take that adventure?

00:11:04
Speaker 2: Right?

00:11:05
Speaker 8: Uh?

00:11:05
Speaker 2: And he kind of did that.

00:11:07
Speaker 7: And Pope's had three four speaking opportunities, and only Jason Hart on Twitter is the one denying her putting any kind of uh stuff out there from the coaching staff. Pope is the one in front of the microphones speaking for the coaching staff, but his assistants are having to go around him and reply on Twitter to let people know that things are okay.

00:11:24
Speaker 5: So he speaks at noon today. Yes, that's a little unusual. Usually he will speak once a week before a game. Am I correct?

00:11:34
Speaker 2: About? Well? The players did money? This is his one? Oh? This is his the player, This is his normal one.

00:11:43
Speaker 5: Wouldn't you say to him if you were giving pr advice, just deal with all this right now, just hit it head on. I'm not sure it's gonna make anything necessarily better, but maybe it'll quell because right now you have two different conversations going on, the are we good at basketball conversation and then the what's going on in conversation? And then those two kind of bleed into each other and you can at least end.

00:12:10
Speaker 2: Or at least tamper down one of.

00:12:12
Speaker 6: Those See I'm with you. I mean, it is November. There's a lot of basketball left, and if you don't hit it head on and get it out there, it's gonna it's gonna follow you like a dark cloud until you address it and tell everybody what's going on.

00:12:24
Speaker 2: And people like.

00:12:25
Speaker 5: Rumor there's dude, it's while these shows like Love and Kettle Island and all this stuff occur.

00:12:33
Speaker 2: Kettle Love, Actually you had Love in Kettle Island. That's a show I would watch if you've ever been.

00:12:38
Speaker 6: To Kettle Island where it's Kettle Island, it's up in the hallers of Bell County.

00:12:42
Speaker 2: Wow, I would watch that. I would want to see that in that love.

00:12:46
Speaker 5: But but point mean, like it's that's people like that stuff.

00:12:50
Speaker 2: Now.

00:12:51
Speaker 5: I wanna give it just a basketball point somebody, And I just want your thought on this, okay.

00:12:56
Speaker 2: And you don't.

00:12:57
Speaker 5: We'll probably go to break after I say this, so you can think about it. One person wrote and said, Matt, here's what I think is ultimately the biggest issue. Pope created a team completely built on analytics, and that all looks good on paper, but maybe he just forgot to go get us really good players. He said, let's be honest about what we have. We have two guys who in theory can be stars. One of them was an inconsistent player from pitt and he's hurt. The other one has yet to be on the floor. The third otega Oway, was while our most consistent player last year, would you say he was our best and he's not playing well. The other players, while great, are all kind of role players. Aberdeen was the fifth leading scorer at Florida. Diabaate was the sixth leading scorer at Alabama. Cam Williams was the sixth man at Tulane. Three guys or rookies, none of them were ranked in the top ten. Maybe we just don't have all that much talent. And this is what it is, and it's a team that looks good on paper, but when it actually comes to having great players on the floor, we just don't have as many as everybody else.

00:14:15
Speaker 2: What do we think about that?

00:14:17
Speaker 6: I mean, I think there's a little truth to that, for sure, But I also think the fact the whole team, the whole summer was all built around Jalen Lowe. He was beat supposed to be your guy, and when you yank him out, they've kind of been in a tail spin and haven't learned to recover yet.

00:14:30
Speaker 5: From that, you could make an argument that only one guy on this team has had the responsibility of being the best player on a power for a team.

00:14:41
Speaker 2: And that's Jaylen Lowe, and he's hurt.

00:14:44
Speaker 5: And just to contrast that to last year, Kobe Braa, Jackson Robinson, Andrew.

00:14:51
Speaker 2: Carr, Amari Williams. You know, Lamont.

00:14:57
Speaker 5: Butler were either the first, your store second best player on their team. And do we have one guy on this team besides Lowe and Oway who was the first or second best player. The answer is probably no.

00:15:12
Speaker 7: Well, I think the big problem, as we all know, is Oway as not being what he was supposed to be. Oway was the best player last year. He's the preseason player of the year, and he should not even been in the conversation for preseason player of the year with the way he started.

00:15:24
Speaker 5: I think he was our most consistent player and in some ways was our best. But I will say this, I always kind of thought the other guys were as good. It's just he was the most consistent, and now he's not consistent. So I'm not saying I totally agree with that, but that's an interesting read on the roster. It's a roster that you go, oh, all of these pieces are great, but then you say, well, is.

00:15:52
Speaker 6: There a guy you know during the summer we all thought this was a great roster because he was too deep in every position. That's a roster I thought win with two deep on six men, not necessarily.

00:16:04
Speaker 2: Well, we'll see. I've been concerned. This is an interesting point. I hadn't really thought about it like that, but that's an interesting thought.

00:16:11
Speaker 7: If I say, passed on people in recruiting because they're not a fit. If we don't have chemistry, why are we passing on good guys because they don't fit. If the guys off there was gonna be fit, well, that's a concern if you can't read the room in recruiting.

00:16:23
Speaker 5: If I'm nine two eight oh twenty two eighty seven, we will take a break right back.

00:16:27
Speaker 2: This is KASR. Welcome back. Excuse me, it's Tucky Sports Radio.

00:16:31
Speaker 5: If I'm nine to two eight oh twenty two eighty seven, uh, text machine is seven seven two seven seven four five two five four, A couple of you asking if I can get Mark Pope on. I haven't asked to be honest, because I think you have to ask those like selectively.

00:16:45
Speaker 2: And I'm not sure this is the perfect time.

00:16:48
Speaker 5: But I mean, if they keep losing, yeah, I think we're gonna we're gonna need to do that. One person writes Matt. I think that uh answer or the text is completely correct. I also am not sure if Jalen Lowe.

00:17:01
Speaker 2: Is the guy. Well, I don't know how you can say that. He's played a game and a half. Like, I mean, I liked him.

00:17:07
Speaker 5: I still think if he plays this year, we can still be really good. But I do think he's the key, and I've said that all summer. Still believe it. I just you know, he is the straw and without him we have I watched Alabama play last night.

00:17:25
Speaker 2: They won on the road at Illinois, great win.

00:17:29
Speaker 5: Last eight points a game were scored by file On and they couldn't stop him.

00:17:33
Speaker 2: They just could not stop him. He got what he wanted at the end of the game. We just don't have a guy. We don't have a guy.

00:17:38
Speaker 5: We don't have that guy. And at the end of a close game or even when you're like struggling to score, you need that guy.

00:17:48
Speaker 6: At least. I felt like if we had Low, he could at least create and get somebody a better look than what we've been getting.

00:17:53
Speaker 2: He did it against Louisville.

00:17:54
Speaker 5: Yeah, when we struggled, especially in the first half, he got us some points.

00:17:57
Speaker 6: A minute he came on the floor.

00:17:59
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:18:00
Speaker 7: I just my thing is still Ohway is the big reason for this. I still think Oway was a star.

00:18:06
Speaker 2: Last year.

00:18:06
Speaker 7: We had like twenty eight against Oklahoma. This tournament maybe twenty ncla tournament for me, as much as Low hurts them, him being basically zero at this point is the biggest issue.

00:18:16
Speaker 2: I just never saw him as a star.

00:18:18
Speaker 7: I mean, he took me over the tournament games, yeah, but I mean like he has taken he doesn't take over Eastern Lana.

00:18:23
Speaker 2: Listen.

00:18:23
Speaker 5: I'm not trying to say he's not really good, but I never saw him as a star. That I mean, I said on this show, I don't didn't really think he was sec presents.

00:18:33
Speaker 2: Play to me.

00:18:34
Speaker 5: Now, that doesn't mean I just felt like he was a dude who could give you fourteen every single game. But against a good team, do I think I mean, you get in a matchup with Louisville down to stretch, they got Michale Brown, you got Oway.

00:18:47
Speaker 2: Who you want?

00:18:49
Speaker 7: Here's always games the last week of the season, last year, twenty seven, twenty two, twenty four, twenty eight, twenty twenty. That is awesome and that is nowhere near on the roster. But did you ever did you just events, did you ever think that was Auburn, LSU, Missouri. He's done none of that against Eastern Illinois, Nichols or whoever else.

00:19:06
Speaker 5: Did you ever think, though, that was a guy that you would say, get us back in this game away, or was a guy who always Yeah, I just, I mean, I just I watched.

00:19:15
Speaker 7: Him in the Combine scrimmages and he looked like one of the best players on the floor. That guy is not in Lexington right now.

00:19:20
Speaker 2: Listen, I get it.

00:19:22
Speaker 5: I never thought that was a guy who clear out always gonna win the game for us. Now, he did get those lamps against Oklahoma, I'm not gonna that those were awesome plays.

00:19:31
Speaker 2: But I still thought he was a dude.

00:19:34
Speaker 5: Who hit his lanes, who would drive to the basket, who are shooters could space four and then it would give him driving lanes. I just you know, but regardless, he's not given that even.

00:19:48
Speaker 6: You know the Louisville game, that was that hardy guy. He was on all way and just totally had him flustered and did not let him get get free at all. I think teams now going into the game, instead of maybe concentrating always maybe the second or third option, they all now know he's supposed to be the first option, so they've put all their defensive I think it's a.

00:20:05
Speaker 2: Really good point.

00:20:06
Speaker 5: There's a difference between a first and the second option, and he is the first option.

00:20:10
Speaker 2: And I don't know if he's that.

00:20:11
Speaker 5: Maybe he will be maybe I hope so, but I don't know if he uh, if he.

00:20:16
Speaker 2: Is all right switching gears for just second.

00:20:22
Speaker 5: I'm more confident about what I said yesterday about Mitch than I really.

00:20:29
Speaker 2: This will be his last year. I just want that on the record.

00:20:32
Speaker 6: The Matt Baum to drop yesterday.

00:20:34
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we're going to be getting a new athletic director at the end of the year.

00:20:39
Speaker 6: So do you still feel like January first is when he.

00:20:41
Speaker 5: I don't know that. I can't say when he'll announce it, but I just feel like that's.

00:20:48
Speaker 2: Very very likely.

00:20:49
Speaker 5: I think there's a lot of things that point to it, including a couple of things just like you know, you remember he had a donation thing where he was donating so much for that complex and that ends at the end of this year, and like, there's just a lot of stuff that I think and just talking to people, I think there's good chances and new ad And then.

00:21:09
Speaker 2: The question would be who is that.

00:21:11
Speaker 5: My guess is, I think if you had to guess, it would be one of two people, which is either Dwayne Peevee or the guy who has Dwayne Peevee's job now, Mark Hill. I mean my guess is it's probably one of those two guys. And that sort of that consistency continues.

00:21:27
Speaker 7: Yeah, in the timeline with Michigan and that eight hundred thousand a year starting next year, I mean that kind of checks out if you're predicting what he would do to wrap up his time.

00:21:37
Speaker 5: What do you think about that eight hundred thousand dollars a year for two years to be the special assistant to the president.

00:21:44
Speaker 2: Give me that job. Yeah, I don't like that assistant to the regional manager.

00:21:50
Speaker 6: Show up to some functions, shake some hands.

00:21:52
Speaker 5: I mean, I know somebody else had to approve that contract, but it's yet another contract where you go.

00:22:00
Speaker 7: With you on the candidates. But that eliminates so many people. If he's just gonna be lingering around, if you did want to get a new some new blood or some excitement, no one's gonna want him just sitting in the office in the corner making it her one thousand a year while you're trying to take over an athletic Yeah.

00:22:13
Speaker 5: I mean, if you're Dwaye Peevy or Mark Hill and you wanted to come in and like have your own game plan, having him sitting over there going.

00:22:21
Speaker 2: That probably doesn't help. That's true.

00:22:23
Speaker 5: I think Mitch has done a great job here, but nobody is irreplaceable, right, and so I do hope whenever he steps away, he steps away.

00:22:34
Speaker 6: Right, Let's let the new guy do his job.

00:22:37
Speaker 5: Oh, it to the new person to let them do their thing. Yeah, when it's time, we'll take a break.

00:22:43
Speaker 2: Very back's Chazar TJ. Smith, personal injury attorney called TJ.

00:22:48
Speaker 4: He'll make them pay now.

00:22:50
Speaker 3: More of Kentucky Sports Radio presented by Stockton Mortgage.

00:22:53
Speaker 2: Here's Matt Jones, Welcome back and Turny Sports Radio. I was dancing here, sitting here.

00:22:59
Speaker 6: But nothing.

00:22:59
Speaker 2: We didn't. Baby, it's is it? It's not button up? But that would be a Mitch Barnhart.

00:23:08
Speaker 5: That button, baby, Yeah, button the top button.

00:23:15
Speaker 2: Baby.

00:23:20
Speaker 5: We're gonna watch Masterpiece Theater. That's the Mitch Marnhart dance. A little different than loosen up my buttons, baby. Kyle says, uh, I usually don't disagree with Matt completely, but Drew is right about away being a huge factor of why we've looked so bad this year. Well, let me be clear, I don't disagree with Drew on that. The reason we'd look bad is it always not playing well. We're Drew and I probably disagree is whether or not always kind of has the potential to be like a number one option, like a star. But we may disagree on that. But is it the case that he is the reason a big reason we're struggling?

00:23:58
Speaker 2: I completely agree. Let me ask you, Shannon real quick. Yep.

00:24:02
Speaker 5: The Louisville Bats announced that for six games next year, in the middle of the summer, they're going to change their name to the Louisville Humidity, Right, and their jerseys are gonna be orange, and they're going to have sweat stains on them. Yep, and the numbers are gonna have dripping water on it, the Louisville humidity for six games. I put that out. There was a mixed response. Not everybody was negative. Not everybody's positive. I kind of like it, what about you, Shane?

00:24:36
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean this is the fun of minor league baseball, right, Anything they can do to get people to come out. Usually the dollar beer works fun for me to get me to go to the games.

00:24:44
Speaker 2: But I like it.

00:24:45
Speaker 3: You know, for six games there'll be the Louisville humidity, and it'll be something that fans can collect. The sweating baseball logo on a baseball hat.

00:24:52
Speaker 2: I think I'll buy one of those.

00:24:54
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean, I think I'm gonna buy one. I love having the jersey have pre pre proved sweat stains.

00:25:02
Speaker 2: I'm a fan. What about you?

00:25:03
Speaker 6: I'm a big fan. The Channon said it. Man, That's what makes minor league baseball's fun and special, when they have their little gimmicks and things they do to try to attract a crowd. You know, the humidity is so awful, that's probably when their crowds are the least. Now they'll do it a week where it'll be hot and sweaty, but people will go just to be a part of this.

00:25:22
Speaker 2: Yeah, Louisville site they call Louisville. I don't know what it's called, Like, is.

00:25:26
Speaker 5: It a heat pocket or a heat It's got a name because it's kind of got a little dip in the valley and you're on the river and all that.

00:25:35
Speaker 2: There's some there's some name for it.

00:25:36
Speaker 5: It's like a heat pack or something in that stadium's right there on it.

00:25:41
Speaker 2: So I kind of like it. Yeah, I love it. They got hats, imagine.

00:25:43
Speaker 7: I mean, you're not gonna wear a baseball jersey around town all the time, but got a nice Louisvill humidity hat with sweat dripping down the side. You like, orangs though some people don't like the old love that, but it's better than Louisville red it. The soccer team here, the election sporting they had like a bourbon barrel uniform. We remember the Ice I have Legends gear from years ago where they had theme nights. I think it's really really cool that that level of sports, you know, does some gimmick stuff to some more merchandise and get people involved.

00:26:08
Speaker 4: But you're right, man. It is kind of that Tennessee orange.

00:26:11
Speaker 3: It's not just It'snessee, it's that puk inside of a pumpkin orange.

00:26:16
Speaker 5: I mean, that's the orange. But I'm still gonna do it, I think because I I like it. I think it's a cool idea. I wouldn't have thought. I mean, you talk about it creative. Who would have ever thought to call something the humidity?

00:26:28
Speaker 4: Remember the wild health genomes that.

00:26:30
Speaker 5: Yeah, the genomes didn't work for whatever reason, the genomes that that was. I don't know if that was too far, just too nerdy.

00:26:38
Speaker 6: Counterclock the counterclock.

00:26:39
Speaker 5: Counter clocks didn't really work either. I didn't know what they meant by that. But now I kind of like the humidity. I think that was a good call.

00:26:45
Speaker 3: Every game, it's not the entire you know, it's six games, six games.

00:26:49
Speaker 2: In the hottest time of the year. Two.

00:26:50
Speaker 7: They had every meteorologist in Louisville at the announcement wearing the jerseys.

00:26:54
Speaker 2: Oh they did well? Did they keep them separating? The photo? The two hated each other.

00:27:00
Speaker 7: We're they are I don't know people by faces Weinberg and Bailey.

00:27:05
Speaker 2: It's a Lexington Louisville thing.

00:27:07
Speaker 5: I don't know if two Louisville guys hate each other, Wineberg is the Louisville one.

00:27:11
Speaker 2: I think it's Wineberg and Bailey that have the that have the beef.

00:27:15
Speaker 7: I don't know my Louisville meteorologists, but that about twelve of them in a photo together wearing.

00:27:18
Speaker 2: Joe very controversial.

00:27:19
Speaker 5: And there are people who will take up There were people who will fight you for and against his way. All right, who's up first? Ed?

00:27:28
Speaker 2: Go ahead? Ed?

00:27:31
Speaker 8: Hey, good morning, guys, Good morning. I'm astonished that I'm up first.

00:27:39
Speaker 2: Well, you're here, so don't ruin it.

00:27:42
Speaker 8: I won't ruin it. Just I wanted to make a couple of three points real quick. Number one, Matt, you are exactly correct. Uh, every good team, since they ain't offer up up till now, every good team has a floor general as a as someone typically the point guard. There's the floor general runs the offense, is in charge on the floor and without Jayalen Lowe, who do we got we don't have one. It could be Aberdeen, but Aberdeen's got to quit trying to be a hero scoring the ball. He's got to facilitate the offense if he's gonna be the point guard.

00:28:25
Speaker 2: And what second.

00:28:28
Speaker 8: Second, we don't share the ball. We're watching My wife and I are sitting there watching the Michigan State game, and yellow it who needs to be playing a whole lot more because he hustles and does the little dirty work stuff. It plays good d He was wide open two times in a row down the floor, nobody guarding him within fifteen feet. Alway looks at him, stares at him, never passes him the ball.

00:28:53
Speaker 5: Yeah, I appreciate the call. I think those two things work together. I think those two things. You know, in his very few minutes against Louisville, people remember and understand to believe that the rush three, that was a bad shot, missing the free throw. But he had some dimes in that game, especially early. He had some passes where he found guys and we're gonna miss that. I don't know if Aberdeen's if that's something he can do or not. I think he probably can. You know, oh Way has a tendency to put that head down and go to the basket, and I'm okay with that, but you better finish, you know. If you're gonna do that, you gotta finish. And he hadn't finished like he did last year.

00:29:30
Speaker 7: Lowe's the only guy in the whole roster who can get anywhere he wants on the court. I mean, we saw that Louisville and he stepped on the baseline at the end. But if he had done that, he've even got down there and had a guy open in the corner. And that is what they're going to miss the most. Aberdeen, probably better defensively, might figure out point guard, but he'll never be able to do what Low could do and just get low and get inside and really go wherever he wanted distribute the ball.

00:29:51
Speaker 6: Yeah, the game changed the minute Low stepped on the floor. The offense change more efficient, better open looks. For some of the guys that everything changed. Now they don't have that. I mean, Aberdeen's good, but he can't do it at that level that locan do it.

00:30:04
Speaker 7: So if he doesn't play what, the ceiling is much lower. The floor is already much lower than I thought it would be me too, I've never dreamed a scenario of this bad.

00:30:18
Speaker 2: Without Low.

00:30:19
Speaker 7: It's hard to imagine them hitting their main objective.

00:30:22
Speaker 5: I'm gonna be you know, I feel like I've said this now three or four times. I'm gonna be interested to see what Pope says. But I am gonna be interested to see what popees is. Yeah, because they whether they say it or not, they know whether or not Low is playing by now right there. Any way, they don't know, No, I think they they've had all their imaging. They know, and we might find out today.

00:30:41
Speaker 2: It could be it.

00:30:42
Speaker 5: I mean today, by the time you listen to this podcast, it might already be out. But they know if he's gonna play, and if he's not gonna play, part of me wonders if part of the sadness of him is the realization of if he doesn't play, do we have we spend all this money. By the way, I still think they spent twenty two million dollars time.

00:31:01
Speaker 2: I'm just going on. I've said that forever now.

00:31:04
Speaker 5: Matt norland Or and other people disagree with me, and I'm not gonna say they're wrong because they have a lot of sources.

00:31:09
Speaker 2: I just don't I don't buy it.

00:31:11
Speaker 5: I know people who write those checks, and I don't think they wrote that big a check.

00:31:15
Speaker 2: So let's just with that said.

00:31:17
Speaker 5: Though we spent more than most people, maybe more than anyone certainly in the top two, and it doesn't look like that when they play.

00:31:25
Speaker 6: No, it's gonna be a recurring theme until they start playing better. There's no doubt about it.

00:31:29
Speaker 7: And I'm someone that said the money doesn't matter, but it matters when you're down twenty four and twenty. If you lose because the team shot well from three, bad matchup, whatever it's basketball, You've lose. Getting your teeth kicked in and your first two big games is inexcusable for what they spent, whatever it was.

00:31:44
Speaker 2: But you're right.

00:31:44
Speaker 6: Like we said yesterday, it is plausible that Pope's attitude has been because he knew he knows Low is done for the year, and he doesn't know where to go next. How to fix that problem.

00:31:55
Speaker 5: If he's done for the year, go find a point guard. There's gotta be a big World's got to be one somewhere.

00:32:01
Speaker 6: Mario's got eligibility left.

00:32:03
Speaker 2: We need to keep moving. Yeah, I don't know if he's good, though.

00:32:07
Speaker 7: He's got he's with us. We can't lose Him's.

00:32:09
Speaker 2: Right, Who's up next, Craig, Craig, Go ahead.

00:32:12
Speaker 9: Craig, Hey, Fellaws, thanks for taking my call. Appreciate everything you guys are doing. A Couple of comments in the question. When Logan went down the second time, it almost felt like, Uh, it was the worst. It was the worst thing that could happen if we were aspiring to be national champions. I mean, I settled, I settled all my future bets for championship.

00:32:41
Speaker 2: You've already cashed them all out?

00:32:44
Speaker 9: Oh, for for being a champion? Yeah, as far as final four, for as far as as far as final four appearances. No, but I don't. I just didn't see any hope in that. Secondly, with Pope and how and how with these two losses, he it is incredibly unsettling to see how despondent he is. Yeah, it almost seems like this job is suddenly becoming too big for him. And let's talk about that.

00:33:19
Speaker 5: I want to hold I want to I want to hold onto that thought for a second because I do want to talk about that. It was your your you're It's a point Gary Parrish talked about earlier today and I want to go over that. So, Uh, I appreciate the God. I think that's a really good point to raise. If you're a bourbon lover and a UK fan, why don't you grab a bottle of Club Blue bourbon ryde it supports the athletes through jmi's n LL services. Ryan and Drew helps select the Club Blue Bourbon recipe. So when you rink drink it, it's like you're drinking a little piece of rome.

00:33:47
Speaker 2: That's actually not a good that's shouldn't put that in there. They shouldn't put that in there.

00:33:54
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00:33:56
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00:34:26
Speaker 2: That's cool.

00:34:27
Speaker 5: I hope that wasn't a surprise because it's in the copy your Grat's Grimzmin Grimsman. If you don't know yet, surprise be right back. Welcome back, teke you. Sports Radio AFM nine two to eight zero twenty two eighty seven text machine is seven seven two seven seventy four five two five four. Okay, So Gary Parish talked about what the caller said about Mark Pope. Uh, and I really liked what Gary said. Gary sort of went through the progression and he said, Okay, by the end of Cow's time here, he was kind of disconnected from the fans.

00:35:01
Speaker 2: I think we all would agree with that.

00:35:02
Speaker 5: And then he said Mark Pope really made it like his goal to become connected with the fans. And Gary even mentioned KSR but the media of the fans. I think that's completely true. He made that a priority. The problem with that and by the way, that was good, he needed to do that. But the problem with that is, according to Gary, you feel then when the criticism comes right and he's also right about that. You know, one of the things that makes being connected to a fan base is you got to be amongst them, You got to be part of it. And that means you see when they come after you. I can relate to that because that's also me. It would be like, you know a lot of times people say I don't care what the general public say is I don't see it. Well I do, and like that's hard when you to be really connected, you also have to like almost ingest the criticism. And Gary's point was Mark is now feeling that, right, He's feeling the criticism because he so wants to be connected and that can be hard. And I think that's very true, right, I mean.

00:36:11
Speaker 2: I I in order to do his job right, he needs to do this.

00:36:17
Speaker 5: But this is the downside of it, is you can feel when things are not going.

00:36:22
Speaker 6: For I think a lot of our fan base is feelings about Pope may dictate on what he does in the next couple of weeks. How does he battle back from this? What's he gonna say to us? How's he gonna respond? I mean, I am I'm gonna be opening my eyes and listening to what he says today. You know, he always happens right after this show comes out, right at noon, right at noon.

00:36:43
Speaker 2: Always I would go to all of them, but they put him right at noon. Yeah.

00:36:46
Speaker 7: He also he hears the criticism. But you know when they lost to Georgetown endo in count he was furious, like, we do not lose in this arena, Like he gets it, which means he also knows we don't lose to Louisville. About twenty years and it would ended up being close. But I mean most the game they were down bad, so he knows how bad he's dropped the ball more than any coach in that spot.

00:37:04
Speaker 2: Probably would.

00:37:05
Speaker 5: Let me ask you a question real quick about my other team, the Cincinnati Reds. They announced yesterday Elie Dale la Cruz played half the season last year with a partially torn quad, and I was glad to hear that because he didn't play very well towards the end and I was worried. But if he had a partially torn quad, I get it now. Some Reds fans are very angry and they say, why'd you let him do that? And they're mad at the Reds. How do you let him play with a partially torn quad? What I don't understand, Ryan, is like I feel like guys when they get hurt, they can't like neither way like people criticizing me the way. If they don't play well, they're not tough. If they do play, why'd you let him play?

00:37:45
Speaker 2: Yep? Right, I actually think.

00:37:47
Speaker 5: It's kind of cool that this dude who may one day be worth five hundred million dollars and right now he's playing for eight hundred thousand still wanted to play through a partially torn quad.

00:37:55
Speaker 6: I give him a lot of credit. You know, if they were out of the playoff picture, maybe he would have shut it down. But he wanted to play to help them. They were fighting for playoffs, about to get in the playoffs, and they did. You know, he wanted to help his team, help his family. Should be praising the guy, I don't think so. Why it's not bad, right?

00:38:09
Speaker 7: I agree with you that if he hadn't play it and then the playoff push, it'd be rubbed some dirt on it.

00:38:13
Speaker 2: Why is he just sitting there? Go out there and help your team. Yeah, he does that, and you know better than me.

00:38:17
Speaker 7: I don't know how he played during the stretch, but they were in that hunt till there was not.

00:38:20
Speaker 5: He was not his normal self, but he was better than whoever would have replaced it.

00:38:25
Speaker 2: You know. So what about you, Shing? You're a baseball guy.

00:38:27
Speaker 3: I mean that that's impressive, especially at his position. You've got to be very athletic at shortstop and then you know, running the bases.

00:38:33
Speaker 4: I didn't notice that you would think somebody with a partially.

00:38:36
Speaker 5: He wasn't slower. They were doing that. They were showing during that stretch that he didn't run his fast well now.

00:38:41
Speaker 2: We know why.

00:38:42
Speaker 6: Yeah, still faster than well over half the people in the big.

00:38:46
Speaker 4: Leagues shunting at all on That is impressive.

00:38:48
Speaker 2: Right, So what's your quad? Is that this thing right here?

00:38:50
Speaker 6: That's that muscle right there? I think top of your thighs.

00:38:52
Speaker 5: That's my weakest muscle. It is God, I don't do well with this muscle. This is the muscle. And I start working out that I that it says, okay, what are you doing?

00:39:03
Speaker 2: Stop? That's that's the muscle.

00:39:05
Speaker 5: Like when you're doing squads, right, squats Lunges.

00:39:08
Speaker 2: Lunges are not when Kentucky's losing in games, you got a lunch.

00:39:13
Speaker 5: If you were to say to me, Matt, what is what is hell? It is a world where you only do lunges.

00:39:20
Speaker 2: I hate it.

00:39:21
Speaker 5: I can barely like so so tearing that I can't imagine anything.

00:39:27
Speaker 2: So you wouldn't have put or done lungees in the first place.

00:39:30
Speaker 5: When my lunges are sore, I just say I'm not moving this weekend.

00:39:35
Speaker 2: So so as a quad, I think I'm staying. I'm not playing well Like she had and said.

00:39:39
Speaker 6: You know, you run every game. That had to kind of hurt every time he was trying to run and you know, beat out a base hit or go to the second base. Deal a baby.

00:39:46
Speaker 2: Lunges.

00:39:47
Speaker 6: I hate lunges. That's could be one of the worst things. Ere what are the those those up downs wherever they call those?

00:39:52
Speaker 5: But those should be illegal? Actually, amen, my my trainers, Sonny. She's a wonderful woman, but she is way too into burpies, and like sometimes I sometimes think, you know, I need to get started again, and then I'm like, she's gonna.

00:40:06
Speaker 2: Make me do a burpie.

00:40:07
Speaker 6: Then I'm not going.

00:40:08
Speaker 2: And I think I would rather sit here. Think he'll do a.

00:40:13
Speaker 6: It's a terrible thing. It's awful. It's the worst exercise in the history of exercise.

00:40:17
Speaker 2: Yeah, so that's why we're on a radio show sitting down.

00:40:20
Speaker 5: Down to Ellie for playing through greed. And I don't understand, my guy, Lance mcallisters, like this shows the Reds are a terrible organization.

00:40:28
Speaker 6: What do you want to I mean, trying to help the organization play?

00:40:32
Speaker 5: You just say no, let's play Saint Tots, Santiago Espinal Moore.

00:40:36
Speaker 2: Who's next, George, George, Go ahead, George.

00:40:41
Speaker 10: Good morning, gentlemen, I think the the biggest trouble to me is the bait and switch we've had with Mark Pope and his offense. I mean, we were promised a modern, free flowing, you know, shoot a lot of threes ball movement offense, and what I saw against Michigan State was worse than anything we had in Col's last two or three years. I mean, it is completely not what we were promised. It's not what he typically does. He built a roster that can't play the way he wants to play. Issue struggling, it's his issue.

00:41:21
Speaker 2: Yeah, I agree.

00:41:22
Speaker 5: I think the real issue is did you build the right roster?

00:41:26
Speaker 2: And oh way, what do you like? Why don't you play?

00:41:29
Speaker 5: Would you start Morino next game?

00:41:31
Speaker 2: Oh?

00:41:31
Speaker 7: Yes, I probably would have started him last game. I said on our pregame for Michigan State, Brandon Garrison, this is your last opportunity to prove you deserve that spot, and it did not go well. That clip of him giving up those offensive rebounds is burned into my brain. I can't get it out of there. So yes, I would go Marino. I'd go more Yellovich and Quaintans. We don't really mention him, but he's still projected mid December. That could certainly help when he gets here.

00:41:53
Speaker 2: That can help Garrison his time.

00:41:57
Speaker 7: Maybe ticket he went the wrong way, like he's supposed to gonna be better, He got worse.

00:42:01
Speaker 2: Sprinted in the wrong direction.

00:42:03
Speaker 5: All right, we're gonna come back out number two here at KS Bark grill Le's Kentucky Sports Radio