Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:03):
It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Sports Talk seven nine day. Now here's Nick coffee.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
All right, five o'clock hour here on a Monday afternoon.
Happy Columbus Day to everybody. For those who celebrate. I'm
not really sure what a typical celebration is for Columbus Day.
But for those of you that do, in fact, you know,
do exactly that, I hope you enjoy yourself. In fact,
I'm curious what kind of party do you throw to
celebrate this big holiday. It's a federal holiday. There aren't
(00:45):
many of those out there. There's a lot of other
days that aren't necessarily recognized as you know, a federal holiday.
But I feel like they've got a little more, you know,
they seem to matter more to people. But today I
went to the zoo with my family because my wife
works for a bank, she's she didn't work today, my
kids out of school in daycare, and everybody, I'm sure
(01:06):
it seemed like everybody had the same exact idea, let's
go to the zoo, because it's maybe that's maybe that's
how people celebrate Columbus, Stay John. They go to the
Zoo's way to celebrate Columbus Day. It'd be random, but
I did not expect it to be as crowded as
it was. But chili, I mean, it kind of feels
like evening now, like today's that day we're with the
weather being what it was, Like I know it won't
(01:26):
be because we're not there yet, but today felt like
a day outside where when we when we leave here
at six six fifteen, it it's probably gonna be dark,
you know what I mean? Like, I know it's not,
but like today we had our first brisk chill here
and it has me excited because I like this time
of year and I like nice chili fall weather, and
that's that's what we got today. I love it too.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
And it's also campfire season.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Hell yeah, oh it's I don't know what it's going
to be like tonight. Maybe it'll be a little too
chilly for people to do it, but like in a
monday's a weird day. But hey, if you're gonna do
a bonfire on a random Monday, do it on Columbus Day, right,
that's your excuse. I'll have like a beer rankings like
you do.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
But if I did, camp fire beer would be number one.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, it's I mean, it's it's receiving votes for me,
but it's not you know, it's not in my top five,
but it's certainly it's certainly a good one. But what
makes it even better is whether like this right, of course,
good stuff, all right, A lot to react to from
the weekend, and we've been doing exactly that for the
last couple of hours. For those of you that are
just now joining us. Louisville football avoided a three game
losing streak, which was needed in a major way. They
(02:28):
found a way to win on the road at Virginia
in a game where you know, let's be real, if
they didn't punch that touchdown in late with Jamari Johnson
and they lose, it would have been bad. It would
have been a three game losing streak. It would have
been a much different postgame show than it was. But
you know, can you say you would have been surprised,
I mean, even up to that point before they took
(02:50):
the lead and held on and closed out the victory again,
and that matters. Like, being able to do that was
great for them, especially for their confidence. They needed this
when more than fans did, I mean, this team needed
to remind themselves they can go win football games despite
making mistakes, and they did that, so that's good. But
you know, I think it was the same type of
performance to where you found yourself in a spot knowing
(03:11):
that you probably shouldn't be in set spot. Right I
think we can look at Virginia and I know results
are all that really matters as far as wins and losses,
and right now these two teams have the same record,
but like, I think Louisville has a lot better players
than Virginia at certain positions. That's not to say they're terrible,
but I still feel like it despite a win, it
was still another game where you just should have been
(03:32):
a little bit more disciplined. You should have been, you know,
Dare I say more ready to play? Like people get
triggered by that. Like I don't know if it's because
it's they're sensitive to brom criticism or what it is,
but I've gotten pushed back like twice this year when
when I've mentioned that they didn't come ready to play.
And I guess that can mean a variety of different things,
but what I mean when I say that is they
(03:53):
came out and they didn't play well. Hence the reason
they weren't ready, and sometimes you can come ready and
just get steamrolled because you're playing really good teams. That
wasn't Virginia. I mean, lowl didn't score point in the
first quarter, and on defense, their quarterback was carving us
up on the ground with his legs like every other
quarterback seemingly has done this year. So you know, I
feel like they came out kind of looking like a
(04:13):
mess at times, despite also showing that they have a
lot of talent on offense at the skill position players.
Tyler Shuck. I think he's really really good and I'm
sad we only get him one year. Isaac Brown one
of the best freshmen in the country, and he got
the bulk of the carries and made the most of
it on Saturday. Jacorey Brooks not worried at all about
him being able to perform and make big plays. He's
(04:34):
really talented. Colin Lacy, he hasn't proven it as much
because of the injuries, but I still think he's a
good weapon to have. Jamari Johnson, I wish he got
more targets than he did because I think he's got
a chance to be special. So you know, those things
are worth mentioning, and it does, I think at times
make me go one way or the other. Meaning sometimes
(04:55):
I look at that and I'm like, Okay, well, hey,
if they can just finally, if they can just somehow
figure out a way to lean some things up, not
have the silly penalties like the Chris Bell penalties, especially
the one where he probably should have been thrown out
of the game, a critical hole because you know, your
offensive line just is not that good. In fact, at
times they look bad. I mean, like, if you could,
if you could fix those things, maybe don't run it
(05:19):
up the middle again on fourth and one, like Brom
told us he wasn't going to do it anymore, and
that he tried it again and it didn't work. Like
when I see that the you've you've got some pretty
good skill position players and you know, guys that I
feel confident in as far as their ability, and then
I say, okay, they can just tighten this up. That
gives me optimism that that that is viewed as a
silver lining per se. But then there's also, you know,
(05:41):
the other side of it, where it is me being
more real with myself and saying, yeah, all these things
are true as far as the all those players I
just mentioned and and me feeling pretty good about what
you have there. But at six games in, you're four
and two and still making avoidable mistakes and playing at
times sloppy football. That's who are Like, that's that's not
a fluke, that's not like, hey, we came out, it
(06:02):
was a it was a once in a lifetime bad
day for us. No, like, that's just that's your identity.
And yes, it's fixable, but it isn't as easy to
fix as as I thought, because they would have probably
already fixed it. So again, the opportunity against Miami's massive.
Maybe by the time we get closer to kick off,
I'll feel a little more optimistic about them actually going out,
going out and winning. I'm not saying that I don't
(06:23):
think they can, but I mean, I'm I'm I'm going
to I'm gonna call it like it is if this
team comes out and they, you know, not play mistake free,
because that's not realistic and I'm not asking them to
be perfect. But if you watch this team and you're
real with yourself, you know they're making mistakes and the
coaches are making decisions at times that like, like, what
are you doing like, you can't do that and expect
to be good teams. And I think Notre Dame is
(06:45):
a good team. I think has some music. Good team.
Miami's better than them as far as talent. I mean, yes,
they could have easily had two losses at this point
because they were lucky to get out of the Virginia
Tech game with that victory. And yes, you know, the
potential targeting call that wasn't called helped them. You know,
a no call essentially helped them survive at Cal. But
(07:07):
I also looked at what they did to come back
against Cal, and I know Cal's not great, but like
erasing a deficit like they did that quickly kind of
proves that, you know, maybe they had an off quarter
and off an off half, but like they still got
some really good players. And Miami has had years where
they look like, Okay, maybe the U's not back, because
I think when people say the U being back, I
(07:29):
think that means that they're relevant every year and they're
looking like they're going to be consistently in the mix
to win a championship. That's not realistic. But when they've
had moments here and there where they look like, okay,
this could be Miami's best teams since win, they've usually underwhelmed.
They they won year under Mark Rick, where they won
I think nine games and they won the and they
played in the ACC Championship, but that was like a
one time thing. But other than that, anytime you felt
(07:51):
like either it was going to be their year and
they came out and just proved us wrong right away,
or you felt like they're four games in and they
looked like they could really be good and then they
crap the best. Like you know, that's happened a lot.
If it doesn't happen this year, here's the reason why
cam Ward he's that special. He's a Heisman candidate. He's
one of the best quarterbacks in the country. And you
can go back and do a deep dive on Miami
if you want. One of the reasons why they've always
(08:14):
had talent and you always look at their roster, you
look at recruiting rankings and you think, like, man, they
should be good. When's the last time they had a
really good quarterback. When's the less time Miami had a
quarterback that you felt like was a surefire NFL Player's
been a long time, right, they have that guy now?
In cam Ward, and that's the kind of player that
can take you from being a talented team that underachieves,
(08:36):
maybe substantially or maybe slightly. But if you've got an
elite quarterback that can, you know, make special plays like
he can, that's where Miami could potentially be a championship
caliber team. I don't think they're going to win the
whole thing, but like I've seen enough of them to
know that if they do play well and beat anybody
left on their schedule, I'm certainly not going to be surprised.
So it's a tall task on Saturday, but it also
(08:56):
presents a huge opportunity, you know, for Louisville, even if
they don't come out looking like they have fixed a
lot of these issues they have with just being undisciplined
at times and committing some penalties that you feel like
are easy to avoid. Let's say they minimize that by
sixty percent and yet they're still in a close game
and they find a way to win. That's huge. I mean, look,
(09:17):
if you find a way to win regardless of how
many mistakes you make, I mean, that's what you want
is to get a win. So I'm not necessarily confident
that that's what ends up happening. But they're only a
four point dog right now, and I don't want to
put pressure on him because I'm somebody that truly doesn't
think what happened in previous seasons with different teams and
(09:39):
sometimes different coaches and teams that are now in different conferences.
Like trends are brought up all the time in sports,
and I just am somebody that has never really thought
that they matter. But if you are somebody that does
value those in a major way, Jeff thrives in these moments.
Unfortunately for Jeff, right after these kind of moments, he
usually lays an egg and loses to a bad team.
(10:00):
That's just and he knows it too. I mean, the
reason he brought it up last year, we all knew it,
but he's the one who said it before I asked
a question at his press conference after they beat Notre Dame.
He knew that, like that Pittsburgh loss was one that
you know, has happened before, and he was trying to
avoid it and unfortunately he couldn't. So I I mean,
I'm I'm excited to see what Louisville can do in
this big opportunity that they have. It's just I'm not
(10:23):
there yet as far as feeling like, yeah, they're going
to come out and just you know, play a great
game of football, because they haven't done that yet. I mean,
and again I'm not asking for perfection. I just want
him to be a little bit more polished, a little
bit more in sync. And the communication defensively was better
that Ron English was no longer upstairs, he was down
(10:44):
on the sideline. But I still at times, you know,
they've got guys making good plays. They you know, they
only gave up. Was it twenty points to Virginia? I thought,
I thought, is it Corey Thornton that I know he's
a transfer from UCF. And I found myself now, yeah,
it's Corey Thornton who transferred to Louisville from uc HAVE.
He played a great game. It was nice to see
(11:05):
Quincy Riley out there again. And he's one of those
guys that even if he's not making a huge play,
he's somebody that the opposing offense is going to be
well aware of and it's going to change how they
play and what they do because they know how good
he is. Ashton was active, so the defense I think
took steps forward, but I still feel as if there's
plays and maybe this is where I am nitpicking. Maybe
this is me maybe expecting perfection. I don't think that
(11:26):
I am. But sometimes I see the other team make
a play and I don't think like, well, what are
you gonna do? That guy's just good. It's usually like, well, hey,
why were you Why did you take that angle? Why
were you out of position? Oh you got a third down? Stop, No,
you committed a silly penalty. Now they get a reset,
they get a fresh set of downs. Like those things.
I still want to see those tightened up. And there's
no better time to get those things fixed than now,
(11:46):
because again, a win here would be monumental. A win
here didn't guarantee anything, but it should definitely make this
team collectively have some belief in themselves that they may
not have right now. I mean, the human element is real.
These guys know that. Like, they just needed to get
out of there with a win against Virginia because they'd
gone two straight games where you know, they shot themselves
(12:08):
in the foot and that resulted in losses. So we'll
see what happens. But maybe as we get closer, I'll
get more confident. But right now, I'm just not there yet.
We haven't talked a whole lot about it, but it
was certainly needed on Saturday, meaning Louisville fans myself included,
I needed it, and that was to see Kentucky lose Tovandy.
(12:31):
And yes, Bandy's not what they once were, but like
they're still Vandy and they didn't even play great. Like
I did listen to a little bit OFKSR this morning
and I heard Matt mention that when Bama lost to Vandy,
Bandy was going blow for blow with them, like trading
shots and matching them, and just like never Bama could
never swing that game in their direction. And that's a
big credit to Vandy. That wasn't what happened on Saturday.
(12:52):
Like Kentucky just you know, they looked like a sloppy
football team that was undisciplined with penalties and made crucial mistakes.
Their defense is really really good, but you know, there's
a really bad performance for Mark Stoops and his team
and like they're right. I mean again, maybe it's just recency,
maybe because it's Vandy, but I feel like they're right
(13:13):
back to where they were post South Carolina as far
as like just wondering what are we doing here with
Mark Stoops? You're not going to fire and me you
can't afford it. It's too much money. And I'm not
even sure they're fans. Won and fired. But for Stoops
to come off of a bye and once again have
his team not ready to play and it results in
a loss to Vandy at home, I mean, that's like
worst case scenario for him, and that's exactly what played out.
(13:36):
We had some people earlier on the text line sort
of you know, asking because there's some level of desperation
between a few people. It's really just, you know, I
don't say it's two different people in the text line
that when they do text in ninety nine percent of
the time they're going to ask about the uku L game?
What do I think is going to happen? And I
wish I could tell you that, Oh yeah, this gives
me way more confidence in Louis's ability to beat Kentucky
(13:59):
because Vandy did it at Commonwealth. I mean, yeah, it's
another sign that they are in fact a team that
if they don't play well, they can lose to teams
even Vandy. But like I'd be a liar if I
told you that I think Kentucky lost to Vandy because
they don't have any good players. I wish I could
tell you I think Kentucky stinks and that they got
a bunch of bombs on their roster, but I don't.
I think they've got some good players. Defensively, they're loaded
(14:21):
a receiver, They've got two studs that you know, make
big plays at times but also make bone headed plays
at times. I don't know how good vandergriff is, but
he's not terrible. You know. Their offensive line has been
you know, solid for him. Despite looking terrible against South Carolina.
Since that game, they've actually played well. So you know,
I don't know what it means for the Louisville Kentucky matchup.
(14:43):
I'm not even really thinking about it just yet, but
Kentucky could have two more losses than they have right now,
and at that point, you know you are who you are.
But I still know that when Louisville goes to Lexington
at the end of the year to play them, they're
going to be going up against a team that like
has really good players. That it's gonna be there's gonna
be there's going to be some matchups that Louisville is
at a disadvantage at especially upfront, and that's been hard
(15:05):
to overcome for many, many years, and maybe this is
the year they can't overcome it. But we got a
long way before we get there. And when I say
it needed to happen, and it was great to see
them lose to Vandy, it's because it was not fun
to see Rick Patino in Lexington on Friday night, and
we should have known. I mean, I kind of find
myself going back to last Wednesday when I just got
to Charlotte talking about Rick, because he confirmed at that
(15:27):
point he was going to be in for the football game.
And then I'm thinking, Okay, well, yeah, there's no scenario
that he wouldn't be at Big Blue Madness. And then
I thought, but yeah, he'll probably just be like, you know,
in the background. And then I'm like, wait a second.
You're talking about Rick Patino, a guy who has never
missed when it comes to taking advantage of an opportunity
to make something all about him, and that's exactly what
(15:48):
he did. So I think because I started to realize
it before it happened, you know, and I've always known,
and I'll reset my thoughts because I did talk about
this at the very beginning of the show. But I
know we've got a new audience here now. But I've
always known Rick like Kentucky better than Louisville. I've always
known that he cherished his time there more so than
he did when he was here, even before he got
fired here, Like he loved his time at Kentucky because
(16:10):
it was a magical ride that he had there. He
was on top of the world, and he left for
the Celtics job, and clearly he I mean, he wishes
he didn't. He wishes he probably was still coaching at Kentucky.
So because I'm old enough to have experienced Patino at
both places, despite being really young when he was at Kentucky.
But I remember it like I knew he was the
(16:31):
coach of the rival, and I knew it was kind
of weird when he came here to Louisville, but I
knew he was a great coach, and clearly it worked
out for Louisville. I mean, so I it was the visual,
like the I remember. I mean, this is gonna sound dramatic,
but I'm just being honest with you. Is I'm scrolling
through Twitter on Friday night and I saw the first
video is from the guy from WHS eleven. I can't
(16:53):
think of his name, but he was the first person
I saw that posted a video of Patino there. And
I'm sure there were already pictures elsehere, but like, I'm
not consuming people covering big Blue madness. I mean, that's
I mean, there's no way in hell I would do that,
as most louisvill fans wouldn't. But it was Mason Herodesky.
I'm sure I'm not saying that correctly, and I apologize Mason,
(17:15):
but he's with WHS eleven. I'll get with Kent when
he comes on this week and get the proper pronunciation
because you know, he works hard and I see his
content and I just don't know how to pronounce his last name.
It's h O r O d y s k I Horadesky.
I'm just guessing here. But anyways, he's the one who
posted the video that showed Rick in his Kentucky blue
(17:36):
quarter zip. And the visual of that did kind of
like take me back a little bit, because you know,
first thing I thought of was like, wow, I'm not
sure I ever thought about seeing that, you know, because
to be fair, I have no problem with him going
by and you know, knowing Rick like we know Rick
and knowing how he is, That's what makes this different.
If this was a coach that we just like, it's
(17:58):
just hard for me to believe this was all of
about him honoring his former player, which I think there's
some of it that is that, but it's also Rick
wanting to make it all about Rick. He's always done
that since he's been at both places. That's just his nature.
So like, I don't give him the benefit of the
doubt that this is just some wholesome experience where he's
going back with his former player. I think he does
love Mark Pope, and I think it is a special
thing to him, but I'm also not willing to acknowledge
(18:18):
it that like that that's really what it was all about.
Like most coaches would not have done that. Most coaches
would have let Mark Pope have his moment, and Rick didn't.
And that's just Rick being Rick. It's not like he's
anti Pope. It's just that's how he is. He's always
been that way. So you know, seeing it was kind
of like, oh wow, like here it is, like now
(18:39):
it's real. I can I've seen the visual. But then
I realized, you know what, like that's that's that's Rick,
you know, like I've always known that he loved his
time at Kentucky, and now that Cal has gone, he
can you know, he can do this. I'm surprised in
a way that like Kentucky was as open to it.
Like it's one thing to have Pope wanting him around,
(19:00):
but like Pope and I could be wrong here, but
I think that the Cal relationship at UK, like it
wasn't good when it ended at all. I mean, he
still tried to kind of finagle his way to stay
there and they told him no. So maybe I'm maybe
I'm jaded here and maybe this is me just seeing
(19:21):
this the way I want to see it. But I
think to see the official UK basketball Twitter account, to
see all the staffers that work for Kentucky like they're
sid people, and the official UK the university account all
just going above and beyond sharing all the love for Rick.
I swear I think that was a shot at Cal,
(19:42):
Like I think they all wanted call to see it
because Cal thought he was bigger than the program at Kentucky.
Cal thought it was Cal basketball, not Kentucky basketball, which
is really why it started to kind of, you know, sour.
So you know, it wasn't that big of a shocker
to see it in the grand same with things. But
you know, I'm sure there's many people that thought they'd
(20:03):
never see it, because you know, I'm not. I'm there
are people that are, you know, six seven years younger
than me that would that have no memory of Rick
being in Kentucky. And those people, you know, can be
thirty years old with kids, and like, I mean, these
aren't These aren't young young people. Like they didn't make
me feel old, but I did realize when I saw
so many Louisville fans that were a little emotional about it,
(20:26):
I think it reminded me that, yeah, if you've never
if you didn't know this thing for what it was.
I mean, I'm sure even though they were young and
they didn't experience it, they know he used to coach
at Kentucky. But like I think, if your only memories
of Louisville basketball because of your age, are with Rick
here and throughout his entire time here, man, the rivalry
was pretty heated, right him and cal or personal rivals
(20:48):
you throw in the fan bases that hate each other
like it's it was intense as it's ever going to be.
So if that's all you know, and then you saw that,
like I bet it did break your heart because you've
you've never really had to like acknowledge that. Yeah, uh,
like he's always probably loved Kentucky more. You may you
may have liked. I mean, it just wouldn't It never
come up, will probably never come up in your mind.
But because I am old enough to have known Rick
(21:10):
before he was here and knowing he was at Kentucky
and they were on top of the world, like it
still wasn't I'm still not happy or thrilled, but like
he's now going to be wearing all blue and may
never come back here wearing red, Like that's not you know,
that's unfortunate. But like I get it. Don't mean I
think it's great or that I've you know, you know,
it's just, you know, I found myself realizing why to
(21:33):
some people it was such a tough thing to see,
And in a weird way, I also get why him
going on KSR with Matt on Saturday. Like I've talked
to many people who who who I you know, know
well that are friends of mine or people that you know,
work in in in this industry, if you can call
it an industry, that like that's the one thing that
stood out to them more than anything. It's not that
(21:54):
he was there, not that he said what he said
about Louisville or anything, but that he went on KSR.
And I kind of get that too, Like that's what's
surprised me more than anything. And it's just because like
Rick's been pretty insulated throughout his life, like you know,
but I have a hard time thinking he's not aware
of like how KSR blew up to be what it
(22:17):
is today. I mean, nobody don't. I don't think there's
really a comparison as far as what they do. I mean,
it's an empire as far as you know, the website
that's been purchased and now owned by on three Sports,
the radio show that is all across this state, super successful.
So you know, like I don't want to act like
they've never done anything else other than this, but they
(22:39):
would tell you. And Matt may have even talked about
it today on the show. I'm not sure. One of
the biggest things that led to their explosive growth, Like
their biggest boom in growth was when they were covering
Rick Petina when making fun of him relentlessly. Matt covered
the trial with Karen Cipher. I mean, obviously he brought
Katina Pale on the radio, and we know how that
worked out. For somebody to not tell Rick that, or
(23:03):
if they did and he didn't care, that's what blows
me away. If I'm Matt, it's a win for him.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Man.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
That is a big dub for Matt and the KSR
crew because you know, here they are like, you know,
ragging on this guy for years and you know, benefiting
from it, and yet he still is willing to go
on their show whenever Rick won't go on anybody's show.
I mean, I'm not really sure he's wanted to be
on a lot of shows this day and age. But
that did surprise me that he that he wanted to
(23:31):
do that. But hey, maybe that was like him. Maybe
that was him showing Kentucky fans that he is quite
sincere when he says, no, I do love you guys,
and It'll always be Kentucky Blue, especially now that I'm
not at Louisville. I mean, that's what he said. So
maybe that was like, yeah, I know what these guys did.
I know they made all the jokes about fifteen seconds
(23:53):
of intercourse on a table at a restaurant, and they
brought aatina pal on to talk about to the ceiling
and all that. But I will to put it behind
me because I want you guys to know how much
I love Kentucky and I want you to love me.
Like maybe that's where his mind was. But then again,
like I don't like it's Rick Like I have a
hard time thinking he would he would ever approach it
(24:13):
that way. All right, quick break, we'll come back, keep
it rolling along. It's Coffee and Company. Feel about Thorn's
right here on sports Stalk seven ninetyf you want to
join us five way two five seven one seventy nine hundred.
We'll get to your calls on the other side. It's right,
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twenty five minutes left here before we get out of here.
We'll get back to the phone lines in just one second.
But Dennis rites in and says that he he just
(24:36):
assumed I was overdoing Louisville's strong schedule in Pat Kelsey's
first year. First of all, what do you mean, Dennis,
Like I've just like I was just making it up.
But he then goes on to say that after looking
at how many teams Louisville plays in the non conference
that are ranked, that it's a loaded schedule. I mean,
I think Pat Kelsey was was he felt a little
a little more justified in saying it. Last week at
(24:58):
the ACC tip off one, he was doing other interviews.
I know, he went on with Goodman and those guys
with the field of sixty eight, and he actually did
an interview with the Carolina station a little bit after that.
I had him on, and you know, that is one
of the observations is and it's an easy observation to
make when you look at Pat Kelsey in his first
year with a brand new team that he's got. I mean,
the schedule's loaded. I mean, I guess it could end
(25:19):
up not being as challenging as it looks, depending upon
how it plays out in the Bahamas. That's a big
factor in it. But even if you if you even
if you eliminate the battle, the battle for Atlantis, I mean,
they still have Tennessee With the second game of the year,
they play Ole miss, who is a top twenty team
(25:40):
and or a top twenty five team. I'm not sure
where they are, but I know they're ranked. And then
you also have you know, you have these aren't conference
games or these are non conference games, but like you
played Duke in December, who you know probably is going
to have the best player in the country. So it's
it's a challenging schedule, no doubt. And you know, I
(26:00):
would say it's gonna be tough for them to beat
some of those really good teams, but you never know,
and who knows. I mean, even if you get one
out of let's say you end up playing three top
fifteen teams, just with the Battle for Atlantis and with
Tennessee and whatnot, and you win one of those and
you're competitive in the other two, like you'll still have
to say you you know, you went one and two.
(26:21):
But I'm just gonna be honest with you, and I
think it may make some people uncomfortable, those who are willing,
those who were able to just eliminate the Kenny Payne
era from their brain. I mean, I'm trying to do
that as well. But like I'm gonna probably find myself
being a little more happy than I've ever been about
things that used to just be the norm things that
used to take for granted. So here I am realizing
(26:42):
how it sounds. Well, if you win one out of three,
usually Louisville basketball, and you know, in most instances of
my life, you would say, you know, we can win
all three. Unrealistic to do that when you're playing teams
that are that good. But like, been a while since
we've been good. Let's be real. So I'm curious to
see if I get labeled a you know, a fanboy
(27:04):
for Pat Kelsey or you know, I quickly become somebody
who people who assume is out to get a coach
or something, which is ridiculous. And I know that's we
don't need to go down there. But I knew right away,
and I think a lot of other people did. They
just don't want to admit it, and I get it.
But like it was pretty clear from the beginning with
the Kenny paaneair that that that was gonna be bad. Now,
nobody thought it'd be as bad as it was. But
regardless of what happens, we got to call it like
(27:25):
it is. So that's what we'll do, all right. If
I go too, if I've seven one seventy nine hundred
is the number if you want to give us a call.
Let's go to the phone lines, and now we will
welcome in. Will Will, how are you this afternoon?
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Hey man, Hey Will from the veil? Remember I said this, Okay, Okay, Patino,
he checks a lot of boxes. He pisses us off
as Louisville fans, he pisses your boy off in Arkansas.
He gets back into good graces. And I'm predicted, this
is my prediction. Okay, Well, all the hype trained Pope
(27:57):
has down there, they're gonna bounce him. And about two
years and guess who's gonna be the coach? Because chronologically
this man keeps himself in shape. He's gonna be I know, seventies,
but he's he's in pretty good shape based the best
I know. He's still gonna coach. He's gonna come back
and redeem. I'm saying he's gonna do all that winning.
(28:20):
But Patino is gonna be the next coach because Pope.
They're gonna bounce Pope once he starts losing. All this
love fest that's over and all this nostalgia. You can't
go back, man, you can't go back. But they will
go back to Patino. That's my prediction. In three years,
Pope's gonna do a pain a Kenny Payne and they're
(28:42):
gonna bounce him so quick out of there and they're
gonna be crying. Look at him now, dude, they're dying.
They hated like you said, Uh, Matt Jones hated this man.
Oh he's grabbling back, grobbling.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yeah, well, I appreciate the call. I mean, I don't
predict that that happens. I don't see that happening. But
I'm also willing to say when it comes to Rick, like, really,
should anything surprise us? Let's just like, look at the
Rick Bettino Bingo card throughout his entire existence in our
world as a basketball coach. I mean I think, really,
(29:18):
can you say anything is unexpecting? Like he's nothing should
really shock us with Rick. I don't know how what
I worry about with Rick is I think Rick is
one of the I mean, Rick's one of the best
coaches of all time in college basketball, and I don't
really think that's a debate. He's great when it comes
(29:38):
to coaching basketball. He's a legend and everybody knows that.
I think if he Kentucky fans when they hated him,
the would acknowledge that they hated him. But you know,
I think those who despise him couldn't with a straight
face tell you that he's not an elite coach. But
I do think Rick, it's really going to be interesting
to see what he does this year at Saint John's
because you know, Rick still commands a presence. He still
(30:00):
has a presence about him to where he commands so
much respect that despite these guys now getting paid to play,
they're still going to fall in line and probably deal
with his way of coaching because they realize they're being
coached by a legend. But you know, how long does
that last? Right? Like, Rick hasn't really been in the
limelight as a coach that's doing something special in college
(30:24):
basketball at the highest level since when like twenty seventeen
he had a really good team that was a two
seed and they lost in the second round. But like,
people know who he is, But how long does that
does that work? And I'm not going to say that
he can't coach, like kids aren't going to give him
the effort level and the dedication and the buy in
because you know, they now get paid and they they
(30:46):
you know. I mean, I'm I don't think he's going
to fail at Saint John's, but I'm also not going
to be surprised, like the way he goes about things,
just to being so demanding, like the game has changed
a little bit, Not to say you can't be demanding
with your players, but you also have to be a
player's coach in a way that like I don't know
if Rick ever could be. Rick was a player's coach
because his players respected the hell out of him and
they would play their ass off for him, but they
(31:06):
did it out of fear, and I don't really think
you can you can not to say they were fearful
of him hurting them. But like you know, like Rick operate,
I mean, Bobby Patrino the same way. Like there are
all the coaches who are like that, and in some
of them, like Tom Izzo, he is somebody that I
think is a great example. Since the game has changed
and the portals here and kids get money, he's not
(31:27):
getting the same results. And it really doesn't mean that
there's something wrong with these coaches. It's just you have
to adapt and adjusted. It's a new world. And I
don't know if Rick, you know, if Rick's going to
be able to cause if that was to ever happen,
And I feel silly even talking about it this much.
No offense will, but I just that's a far fetched thing.
But again I don't know. I guess crazier things have happened.
But like Rick would have to be really good at
(31:48):
Saint John's and Pope would have to be really bad
at Kentucky for any scenario like that to line up.
And I just don't know what the chances are of
both those things happening, meaning Pope being that bad and
Rick being that good at Saint John's. I kind of
feel like this year with his roster, because he's put
together a really good roster. I mean, God never gets
talked about for reasons I don't really know, but there
(32:09):
are some people that think Kadari Richmond, who transferred from
a Seaton Hall to Saint John's. I mean, I know
you've seen this John. Some people have him as the
number one player in the portal, and like nobody talks
about him. So like Rick landed three top thirty guys
in the portal and he's a hell of a coach.
So maybe Saint John's is really good this year. But
like if they're not, I think it would be not
a sign that he's washed up and should retire. But like,
(32:32):
you know, I just have if you ask me, you know,
gun to my head in the next seven years, which,
by the way, he'd be really old if he coaches
seven more years, gun to my head? Does Rick Betino
go to another final for it? Is he not? I
would say that he doesn't. And it's not because he's
I think he's a bad coach. It's just I just
don't know how effective he's going to be this day
(32:54):
and age. He'll still win, and to be fair, he's
really good at, you know, preparing for the tournament game.
So like maybe if he gets there, that's all that matters.
Because it's a new world, it's a new season, it's
a fresh star. He's gonna have his guys prepared because
that's what he does. So like, maybe he can get
there as a four or five seed and find a run.
He's done it here before, He's done it to Kentucky.
But you know, I just not to act like he
(33:15):
would never be a good coach again. I just I
think his best days are clearly way behind him.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
I don't mean to humor this any further. But if
let's just say Mark Pope misses the tournament and Saint
John's makes like, I don't know, Elite eight or better
run this year, I'm not predicting that, just you know,
theorizing how quickly will the UK fans be, you know,
calling for him to come back if he makes that
deep of a run and Mark Pope doesn't.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Oh, I mean it'll I mean, I mean we can't.
I mean that is more realistic than him, like, you know,
becoming the coach here. Yeah, because I don't think anybody
would realistically think that they would even consider doing anything
with Mark Pope after one year. But if you know,
but the thin Kentucky fans are are different because Kentucky's
a different program when it comes to basketball, and it
(33:56):
it's it really isn't worth a whole lot for a
variety of reasons, but it still should be mentioned more
than it is when it comes to the Calip Perry
Kentucky fallout. Even to the end, he kept you relevant,
even to the end. He kept you filled with a
roster full of guys that you knew were going to
play in the NBA. Therefore, even if you had a
(34:17):
bad stretch of play, even if you felt like you
were way underwhelming than what you should be. He always
had a talented roster that at any moment, if they
mess around and beat anybody, you're not really that surprised, right.
They rarely hit their potential. But the ceiling was really
high with Cal's teams because of how loaded they were
with NBA talent. That's not going to be Mark Pope,
(34:40):
so Cal. Yeah, you can bring up the loss to
Oakland and the loss to Saint Peter's and whatnot, and no,
that matters a lot. Right, what you do in the
tournament is really and it's crazy, It really is insane
and kind of stupid, to be honest with you, I
wouldn't have it any other way because college basketball. I
don't want it to change. I love it. I love
the sport. But like we really only evaluate dudes for
(35:01):
what they do in the tournaments. Like that, that's like,
that's where you really got to. That's where you really
have a chance to kind of show who you are.
But the other stuff along the way it matters. It
doesn't have a value, and in fact, it's worth like it.
It means next to nothing if you continue to have
really good teams with really good players and they get
good seats, but then they bounce early. Like that's the
worst case scenario for a coach. Cal did it twice,
(35:22):
but you always knew you had a coach that could
get it done at any moment because he's proven it
to you before multiple Final four runs early on in
its tenure, and a championship, and I look, it didn't
seem as if he was going to get there, and
I think the departure needed to happen, and it was
a mutual thing, beneficial for both. But I think Kentucky
fans may at times this year if they do hit
a skid or they just you know, end up being
(35:45):
you know, a bubble team or something like that. And
I'm not saying they will be. I have no clue,
but like, if they are, I think it'll be pretty
telling to see how they react, because it won't mean
that Pope's destined to be terrible or be underwhelming, but
you don't have what you had for so long there,
which is a coach that even during bad times, you
knew was never gonna lack talent and you knew that
(36:07):
he could in fact win at a really really high
level because you watched him do it for many years
at your program. Mark Polp's never known anywhere, so you know,
he may he may be phenomenal. But that's gonna be
fascinating for me to observe from, you know, from the
outside as a Louisville fan. Is like, if this guy's solid,
but like it doesn't look like they got a chance
to like really do some damage deep in the tournament
(36:28):
or they're just you know, consistently like the fifth best
team in the SEC. Like that's where I'm curious to
see how they react because they expect to be better
than that, because again, they're Kentucky. And I don't say
that to mackam. I mean, I'm just being real, all right,
quick break, We'll come back on the other side, wrap
this thing up. I felt like a real outsider and
Charlotte last week at the ACC tip off whenever one
(36:50):
of the big talking points from just about everybody was
about how the ACC is a basketball league is disrespected
and they deserve more respect and it needs to be said,
and I just felt like, you know, or they could
be better and not really leave it up for opinion
and let like results speak for itself, but you know
that was a big talking point and not to say,
you know, hey, I told you so, because hey, preseason
rankings really don't mean anything, especially once you get you know,
(37:12):
it's a reference point, but you know they're wrong a lot.
But to seek the AP poll as far as conference, like,
I mean, the ACC has two ranked teams, Carolina and Duke.
SEC has nine, the Big Twelve has six, the Big
Ten has four, Big East test three, So I mean
(37:32):
that doesn't prove that, you know, the league's going to
be the fifth best conference, But like that's not a
surprise because again, like the best team in the ACC
not ranked as far as others receiving votes as Wake Forest,
and then after that you get all the way down
to like Miami. I mean, it's I think it's deserving
to only have those two rank To be honest with you,
I hope it changes. But like I think instead of
(37:54):
being in denial, we should like acknowledge it as a
league and get the basketball back on track. Meier said,
than done. But I mean I'm not at all surprised
that there's that many teams ranked ahead of the ACC.
All right, we're out of time. Everybody, enjoy your night
It's time for coffee and company, fueled by Thornton's on
Sports Talk seven nine day. Now here's Nick coffee.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
All right, five o'clock hour here on a Monday afternoon.
Happy Columbus Day to everybody. For those who celebrate. I'm
not really sure what a typical celebration is for Columbus Day.
But for those of you that do, in fact, you know,
do exactly that, I hope you enjoy yourself. In fact,
I'm curious what kind of party do you throw to
celebrate this big holiday. It's a federal holiday. There aren't
(00:45):
many of those out there. There's a lot of other
days that aren't necessarily recognized as you know, a federal holiday.
But I feel like they've got a little more, you know,
they seem to matter more to people. But today I
went to the zoo with my family because my wife
works for a bank, she's she didn't work today, my
kids out of school in daycare, and everybody, I'm sure
(01:06):
it seemed like everybody had the same exact idea, let's
go to the zoo, because it's maybe that's maybe that's
how people celebrate Columbus, Stay John. They go to the
Zoo's way to celebrate Columbus Day. It'd be random, but
I did not expect it to be as crowded as
it was. But chili, I mean, it kind of feels
like evening now, like today's that day we're with the
weather being what it was, Like I know it won't
(01:26):
be because we're not there yet, but today felt like
a day outside where when we when we leave here
at six six fifteen, it it's probably gonna be dark,
you know what I mean? Like, I know it's not,
but like today we had our first brisk chill here
and it has me excited because I like this time
of year and I like nice chili fall weather, and
that's that's what we got today. I love it too.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
And it's also campfire season.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
Hell yeah, oh it's I don't know what it's going
to be like tonight. Maybe it'll be a little too
chilly for people to do it, but like in a
monday's a weird day. But hey, if you're gonna do
a bonfire on a random Monday, do it on Columbus Day, right,
that's your excuse. I'll have like a beer rankings like
you do.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
But if I did, camp fire beer would be number one.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Yeah, it's I mean, it's it's receiving votes for me,
but it's not you know, it's not in my top five,
but it's certainly it's certainly a good one. But what
makes it even better is whether like this right, of course,
good stuff, all right, A lot to react to from
the weekend, and we've been doing exactly that for the
last couple of hours. For those of you that are
just now joining us. Louisville football avoided a three game
losing streak, which was needed in a major way. They
(02:28):
found a way to win on the road at Virginia
in a game where you know, let's be real, if
they didn't punch that touchdown in late with Jamari Johnson
and they lose, it would have been bad. It would
have been a three game losing streak. It would have
been a much different postgame show than it was. But
you know, can you say you would have been surprised,
I mean, even up to that point before they took
(02:50):
the lead and held on and closed out the victory again,
and that matters. Like, being able to do that was
great for them, especially for their confidence. They needed this
when more than fans did, I mean, this team needed
to remind themselves they can go win football games despite
making mistakes, and they did that, so that's good. But
you know, I think it was the same type of
performance to where you found yourself in a spot knowing
(03:11):
that you probably shouldn't be in set spot. Right I
think we can look at Virginia and I know results
are all that really matters as far as wins and losses,
and right now these two teams have the same record,
but like, I think Louisville has a lot better players
than Virginia at certain positions. That's not to say they're terrible,
but I still feel like it despite a win, it
was still another game where you just should have been
(03:32):
a little bit more disciplined. You should have been, you know,
Dare I say more ready to play? Like people get
triggered by that. Like I don't know if it's because
it's they're sensitive to brom criticism or what it is,
but I've gotten pushed back like twice this year when
when I've mentioned that they didn't come ready to play.
And I guess that can mean a variety of different things,
but what I mean when I say that is they
(03:53):
came out and they didn't play well. Hence the reason
they weren't ready, and sometimes you can come ready and
just get steamrolled because you're playing really good teams. That
wasn't Virginia. I mean, lowl didn't score point in the
first quarter, and on defense, their quarterback was carving us
up on the ground with his legs like every other
quarterback seemingly has done this year. So you know, I
feel like they came out kind of looking like a
(04:13):
mess at times, despite also showing that they have a
lot of talent on offense at the skill position players.
Tyler Shuck. I think he's really really good and I'm
sad we only get him one year. Isaac Brown one
of the best freshmen in the country, and he got
the bulk of the carries and made the most of
it on Saturday. Jacorey Brooks not worried at all about
him being able to perform and make big plays. He's
(04:34):
really talented. Colin Lacy, he hasn't proven it as much
because of the injuries, but I still think he's a
good weapon to have. Jamari Johnson, I wish he got
more targets than he did because I think he's got
a chance to be special. So you know, those things
are worth mentioning, and it does, I think at times
make me go one way or the other. Meaning sometimes
(04:55):
I look at that and I'm like, Okay, well, hey,
if they can just finally, if they can just somehow
figure out a way to lean some things up, not
have the silly penalties like the Chris Bell penalties, especially
the one where he probably should have been thrown out
of the game, a critical hole because you know, your
offensive line just is not that good. In fact, at
times they look bad. I mean, like, if you could,
if you could fix those things, maybe don't run it
(05:19):
up the middle again on fourth and one, like Brom
told us he wasn't going to do it anymore, and
that he tried it again and it didn't work. Like
when I see that the you've you've got some pretty
good skill position players and you know, guys that I
feel confident in as far as their ability, and then
I say, okay, they can just tighten this up. That
gives me optimism that that that is viewed as a
silver lining per se. But then there's also, you know,
(05:41):
the other side of it, where it is me being
more real with myself and saying, yeah, all these things
are true as far as the all those players I
just mentioned and and me feeling pretty good about what
you have there. But at six games in, you're four
and two and still making avoidable mistakes and playing at
times sloppy football. That's who are Like, that's that's not
a fluke, that's not like, hey, we came out, it
(06:02):
was a it was a once in a lifetime bad
day for us. No, like, that's just that's your identity.
And yes, it's fixable, but it isn't as easy to
fix as as I thought, because they would have probably
already fixed it. So again, the opportunity against Miami's massive.
Maybe by the time we get closer to kick off,
I'll feel a little more optimistic about them actually going out,
going out and winning. I'm not saying that I don't
(06:23):
think they can, but I mean, I'm I'm I'm going
to I'm gonna call it like it is if this
team comes out and they, you know, not play mistake free,
because that's not realistic and I'm not asking them to
be perfect. But if you watch this team and you're
real with yourself, you know they're making mistakes and the
coaches are making decisions at times that like, like, what
are you doing like, you can't do that and expect
to be good teams. And I think Notre Dame is
(06:45):
a good team. I think has some music. Good team.
Miami's better than them as far as talent. I mean, yes,
they could have easily had two losses at this point
because they were lucky to get out of the Virginia
Tech game with that victory. And yes, you know, the
potential targeting call that wasn't called helped them. You know,
a no call essentially helped them survive at Cal. But
(07:07):
I also looked at what they did to come back
against Cal, and I know Cal's not great, but like
erasing a deficit like they did that quickly kind of
proves that, you know, maybe they had an off quarter
and off an off half, but like they still got
some really good players. And Miami has had years where
they look like, Okay, maybe the U's not back, because
I think when people say the U being back, I
(07:29):
think that means that they're relevant every year and they're
looking like they're going to be consistently in the mix
to win a championship. That's not realistic. But when they've
had moments here and there where they look like, okay,
this could be Miami's best teams since win, they've usually underwhelmed.
They they won year under Mark Rick, where they won
I think nine games and they won the and they
played in the ACC Championship, but that was like a
one time thing. But other than that, anytime you felt
(07:51):
like either it was going to be their year and
they came out and just proved us wrong right away,
or you felt like they're four games in and they
looked like they could really be good and then they
crap the best. Like you know, that's happened a lot.
If it doesn't happen this year, here's the reason why
cam Ward he's that special. He's a Heisman candidate. He's
one of the best quarterbacks in the country. And you
can go back and do a deep dive on Miami
if you want. One of the reasons why they've always
(08:14):
had talent and you always look at their roster, you
look at recruiting rankings and you think, like, man, they
should be good. When's the last time they had a
really good quarterback. When's the less time Miami had a
quarterback that you felt like was a surefire NFL Player's
been a long time, right, they have that guy now?
In cam Ward, and that's the kind of player that
can take you from being a talented team that underachieves,
(08:36):
maybe substantially or maybe slightly. But if you've got an
elite quarterback that can, you know, make special plays like
he can, that's where Miami could potentially be a championship
caliber team. I don't think they're going to win the
whole thing, but like I've seen enough of them to
know that if they do play well and beat anybody
left on their schedule, I'm certainly not going to be surprised.
So it's a tall task on Saturday, but it also
(08:56):
presents a huge opportunity, you know, for Louisville, even if
they don't come out looking like they have fixed a
lot of these issues they have with just being undisciplined
at times and committing some penalties that you feel like
are easy to avoid. Let's say they minimize that by
sixty percent and yet they're still in a close game
and they find a way to win. That's huge. I mean, look,
(09:17):
if you find a way to win regardless of how
many mistakes you make, I mean, that's what you want
is to get a win. So I'm not necessarily confident
that that's what ends up happening. But they're only a
four point dog right now, and I don't want to
put pressure on him because I'm somebody that truly doesn't
think what happened in previous seasons with different teams and
(09:39):
sometimes different coaches and teams that are now in different conferences.
Like trends are brought up all the time in sports,
and I just am somebody that has never really thought
that they matter. But if you are somebody that does
value those in a major way, Jeff thrives in these moments.
Unfortunately for Jeff, right after these kind of moments, he
usually lays an egg and loses to a bad team.
(10:00):
That's just and he knows it too. I mean, the
reason he brought it up last year, we all knew it,
but he's the one who said it before I asked
a question at his press conference after they beat Notre Dame.
He knew that, like that Pittsburgh loss was one that
you know, has happened before, and he was trying to
avoid it and unfortunately he couldn't. So I I mean,
I'm I'm excited to see what Louisville can do in
this big opportunity that they have. It's just I'm not
(10:23):
there yet as far as feeling like, yeah, they're going
to come out and just you know, play a great
game of football, because they haven't done that yet. I mean,
and again I'm not asking for perfection. I just want
him to be a little bit more polished, a little
bit more in sync. And the communication defensively was better
that Ron English was no longer upstairs, he was down
(10:44):
on the sideline. But I still at times, you know,
they've got guys making good plays. They you know, they
only gave up. Was it twenty points to Virginia? I thought,
I thought, is it Corey Thornton that I know he's
a transfer from UCF. And I found myself now, yeah,
it's Corey Thornton who transferred to Louisville from uc HAVE.
He played a great game. It was nice to see
(11:05):
Quincy Riley out there again. And he's one of those
guys that even if he's not making a huge play,
he's somebody that the opposing offense is going to be
well aware of and it's going to change how they
play and what they do because they know how good
he is. Ashton was active, so the defense I think
took steps forward, but I still feel as if there's
plays and maybe this is where I am nitpicking. Maybe
this is me maybe expecting perfection. I don't think that
(11:26):
I am. But sometimes I see the other team make
a play and I don't think like, well, what are
you gonna do? That guy's just good. It's usually like, well, hey,
why were you Why did you take that angle? Why
were you out of position? Oh you got a third down? Stop, No,
you committed a silly penalty. Now they get a reset,
they get a fresh set of downs. Like those things.
I still want to see those tightened up. And there's
no better time to get those things fixed than now,
(11:46):
because again, a win here would be monumental. A win
here didn't guarantee anything, but it should definitely make this
team collectively have some belief in themselves that they may
not have right now. I mean, the human element is real.
These guys know that. Like, they just needed to get
out of there with a win against Virginia because they'd
gone two straight games where you know, they shot themselves
(12:08):
in the foot and that resulted in losses. So we'll
see what happens. But maybe as we get closer, I'll
get more confident. But right now, I'm just not there yet.
We haven't talked a whole lot about it, but it
was certainly needed on Saturday, meaning Louisville fans myself included,
I needed it, and that was to see Kentucky lose Tovandy.
(12:31):
And yes, Bandy's not what they once were, but like
they're still Vandy and they didn't even play great. Like
I did listen to a little bit OFKSR this morning
and I heard Matt mention that when Bama lost to Vandy,
Bandy was going blow for blow with them, like trading
shots and matching them, and just like never Bama could
never swing that game in their direction. And that's a
big credit to Vandy. That wasn't what happened on Saturday.
(12:52):
Like Kentucky just you know, they looked like a sloppy
football team that was undisciplined with penalties and made crucial mistakes.
Their defense is really really good, but you know, there's
a really bad performance for Mark Stoops and his team
and like they're right. I mean again, maybe it's just recency,
maybe because it's Vandy, but I feel like they're right
(13:13):
back to where they were post South Carolina as far
as like just wondering what are we doing here with
Mark Stoops? You're not going to fire and me you
can't afford it. It's too much money. And I'm not
even sure they're fans. Won and fired. But for Stoops
to come off of a bye and once again have
his team not ready to play and it results in
a loss to Vandy at home, I mean, that's like
worst case scenario for him, and that's exactly what played out.
(13:36):
We had some people earlier on the text line sort
of you know, asking because there's some level of desperation
between a few people. It's really just, you know, I
don't say it's two different people in the text line
that when they do text in ninety nine percent of
the time they're going to ask about the uku L game?
What do I think is going to happen? And I
wish I could tell you that, Oh yeah, this gives
me way more confidence in Louis's ability to beat Kentucky
(13:59):
because Vandy did it at Commonwealth. I mean, yeah, it's
another sign that they are in fact a team that
if they don't play well, they can lose to teams
even Vandy. But like I'd be a liar if I
told you that I think Kentucky lost to Vandy because
they don't have any good players. I wish I could
tell you I think Kentucky stinks and that they got
a bunch of bombs on their roster, but I don't.
I think they've got some good players. Defensively, they're loaded
(14:21):
a receiver, They've got two studs that you know, make
big plays at times but also make bone headed plays
at times. I don't know how good vandergriff is, but
he's not terrible. You know. Their offensive line has been
you know, solid for him. Despite looking terrible against South Carolina.
Since that game, they've actually played well. So you know,
I don't know what it means for the Louisville Kentucky matchup.
(14:43):
I'm not even really thinking about it just yet, but
Kentucky could have two more losses than they have right now,
and at that point, you know you are who you are.
But I still know that when Louisville goes to Lexington
at the end of the year to play them, they're
going to be going up against a team that like
has really good players. That it's gonna be there's gonna
be there's going to be some matchups that Louisville is
at a disadvantage at especially upfront, and that's been hard
(15:05):
to overcome for many, many years, and maybe this is
the year they can't overcome it. But we got a
long way before we get there. And when I say
it needed to happen, and it was great to see
them lose to Vandy, it's because it was not fun
to see Rick Patino in Lexington on Friday night, and
we should have known. I mean, I kind of find
myself going back to last Wednesday when I just got
to Charlotte talking about Rick, because he confirmed at that
(15:27):
point he was going to be in for the football game.
And then I'm thinking, Okay, well, yeah, there's no scenario
that he wouldn't be at Big Blue Madness. And then
I thought, but yeah, he'll probably just be like, you know,
in the background. And then I'm like, wait a second.
You're talking about Rick Patino, a guy who has never
missed when it comes to taking advantage of an opportunity
to make something all about him, and that's exactly what
(15:48):
he did. So I think because I started to realize
it before it happened, you know, and I've always known,
and I'll reset my thoughts because I did talk about
this at the very beginning of the show. But I
know we've got a new audience here now. But I've
always known Rick like Kentucky better than Louisville. I've always
known that he cherished his time there more so than
he did when he was here, even before he got
fired here, Like he loved his time at Kentucky because
(16:10):
it was a magical ride that he had there. He
was on top of the world, and he left for
the Celtics job, and clearly he I mean, he wishes
he didn't. He wishes he probably was still coaching at Kentucky.
So because I'm old enough to have experienced Patino at
both places, despite being really young when he was at Kentucky.
But I remember it like I knew he was the
(16:31):
coach of the rival, and I knew it was kind
of weird when he came here to Louisville, but I
knew he was a great coach, and clearly it worked
out for Louisville. I mean, so I it was the visual,
like the I remember. I mean, this is gonna sound dramatic,
but I'm just being honest with you. Is I'm scrolling
through Twitter on Friday night and I saw the first
video is from the guy from WHS eleven. I can't
(16:53):
think of his name, but he was the first person
I saw that posted a video of Patino there. And
I'm sure there were already pictures elsehere, but like, I'm
not consuming people covering big Blue madness. I mean, that's
I mean, there's no way in hell I would do that,
as most louisvill fans wouldn't. But it was Mason Herodesky.
I'm sure I'm not saying that correctly, and I apologize Mason,
(17:15):
but he's with WHS eleven. I'll get with Kent when
he comes on this week and get the proper pronunciation
because you know, he works hard and I see his
content and I just don't know how to pronounce his last name.
It's h O r O d y s k I Horadesky.
I'm just guessing here. But anyways, he's the one who
posted the video that showed Rick in his Kentucky blue
(17:36):
quarter zip. And the visual of that did kind of
like take me back a little bit, because you know,
first thing I thought of was like, wow, I'm not
sure I ever thought about seeing that, you know, because
to be fair, I have no problem with him going
by and you know, knowing Rick like we know Rick
and knowing how he is, That's what makes this different.
If this was a coach that we just like, it's
(17:58):
just hard for me to believe this was all of
about him honoring his former player, which I think there's
some of it that is that, but it's also Rick
wanting to make it all about Rick. He's always done
that since he's been at both places. That's just his nature.
So like, I don't give him the benefit of the
doubt that this is just some wholesome experience where he's
going back with his former player. I think he does
love Mark Pope, and I think it is a special
thing to him, but I'm also not willing to acknowledge
(18:18):
it that like that that's really what it was all about.
Like most coaches would not have done that. Most coaches
would have let Mark Pope have his moment, and Rick didn't.
And that's just Rick being Rick. It's not like he's
anti Pope. It's just that's how he is. He's always
been that way. So you know, seeing it was kind
of like, oh wow, like here it is, like now
(18:39):
it's real. I can I've seen the visual. But then
I realized, you know what, like that's that's that's Rick,
you know, like I've always known that he loved his
time at Kentucky, and now that Cal has gone, he
can you know, he can do this. I'm surprised in
a way that like Kentucky was as open to it.
Like it's one thing to have Pope wanting him around,
(19:00):
but like Pope and I could be wrong here, but
I think that the Cal relationship at UK, like it
wasn't good when it ended at all. I mean, he
still tried to kind of finagle his way to stay
there and they told him no. So maybe I'm maybe
I'm jaded here and maybe this is me just seeing
(19:21):
this the way I want to see it. But I
think to see the official UK basketball Twitter account, to
see all the staffers that work for Kentucky like they're
sid people, and the official UK the university account all
just going above and beyond sharing all the love for Rick.
I swear I think that was a shot at Cal,
(19:42):
Like I think they all wanted call to see it
because Cal thought he was bigger than the program at Kentucky.
Cal thought it was Cal basketball, not Kentucky basketball, which
is really why it started to kind of, you know, sour.
So you know, it wasn't that big of a shocker
to see it in the grand same with things. But
you know, I'm sure there's many people that thought they'd
(20:03):
never see it, because you know, I'm not. I'm there
are people that are, you know, six seven years younger
than me that would that have no memory of Rick
being in Kentucky. And those people, you know, can be
thirty years old with kids, and like, I mean, these
aren't These aren't young young people. Like they didn't make
me feel old, but I did realize when I saw
so many Louisville fans that were a little emotional about it,
(20:26):
I think it reminded me that, yeah, if you've never
if you didn't know this thing for what it was.
I mean, I'm sure even though they were young and
they didn't experience it, they know he used to coach
at Kentucky. But like I think, if your only memories
of Louisville basketball because of your age, are with Rick
here and throughout his entire time here, man, the rivalry
was pretty heated, right him and cal or personal rivals
(20:48):
you throw in the fan bases that hate each other
like it's it was intense as it's ever going to be.
So if that's all you know, and then you saw that,
like I bet it did break your heart because you've
you've never really had to like acknowledge that. Yeah, uh,
like he's always probably loved Kentucky more. You may you
may have liked. I mean, it just wouldn't It never
come up, will probably never come up in your mind.
But because I am old enough to have known Rick
(21:10):
before he was here and knowing he was at Kentucky
and they were on top of the world, like it
still wasn't I'm still not happy or thrilled, but like
he's now going to be wearing all blue and may
never come back here wearing red, Like that's not you know,
that's unfortunate. But like I get it. Don't mean I
think it's great or that I've you know, you know,
it's just, you know, I found myself realizing why to
(21:33):
some people it was such a tough thing to see,
And in a weird way, I also get why him
going on KSR with Matt on Saturday. Like I've talked
to many people who who who I you know, know
well that are friends of mine or people that you know,
work in in in this industry, if you can call
it an industry, that like that's the one thing that
stood out to them more than anything. It's not that
(21:54):
he was there, not that he said what he said
about Louisville or anything, but that he went on KSR.
And I kind of get that too, Like that's what's
surprised me more than anything. And it's just because like
Rick's been pretty insulated throughout his life, like you know,
but I have a hard time thinking he's not aware
of like how KSR blew up to be what it
(22:17):
is today. I mean, nobody don't. I don't think there's
really a comparison as far as what they do. I mean,
it's an empire as far as you know, the website
that's been purchased and now owned by on three Sports,
the radio show that is all across this state, super successful.
So you know, like I don't want to act like
they've never done anything else other than this, but they
(22:39):
would tell you. And Matt may have even talked about
it today on the show. I'm not sure. One of
the biggest things that led to their explosive growth, Like
their biggest boom in growth was when they were covering
Rick Petina when making fun of him relentlessly. Matt covered
the trial with Karen Cipher. I mean, obviously he brought
Katina Pale on the radio, and we know how that
worked out. For somebody to not tell Rick that, or
(23:03):
if they did and he didn't care, that's what blows
me away. If I'm Matt, it's a win for him.
Speaker 4 (23:09):
Man.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
That is a big dub for Matt and the KSR
crew because you know, here they are like, you know,
ragging on this guy for years and you know, benefiting
from it, and yet he still is willing to go
on their show whenever Rick won't go on anybody's show.
I mean, I'm not really sure he's wanted to be
on a lot of shows this day and age. But
that did surprise me that he that he wanted to
(23:31):
do that. But hey, maybe that was like him. Maybe
that was him showing Kentucky fans that he is quite
sincere when he says, no, I do love you guys,
and It'll always be Kentucky Blue, especially now that I'm
not at Louisville. I mean, that's what he said. So
maybe that was like, yeah, I know what these guys did.
I know they made all the jokes about fifteen seconds
(23:53):
of intercourse on a table at a restaurant, and they
brought aatina pal on to talk about to the ceiling
and all that. But I will to put it behind
me because I want you guys to know how much
I love Kentucky and I want you to love me.
Like maybe that's where his mind was. But then again,
like I don't like it's Rick Like I have a
hard time thinking he would he would ever approach it
(24:13):
that way. All right, quick break, we'll come back, keep
it rolling along. It's Coffee and Company. Feel about Thorn's
right here on sports Stalk seven ninetyf you want to
join us five way two five seven one seventy nine hundred.
We'll get to your calls on the other side. It's right,
Coffee and Company. About thirty minutes, well a lot about
twenty five minutes left here before we get out of here.
We'll get back to the phone lines in just one second.
But Dennis rites in and says that he he just
(24:36):
assumed I was overdoing Louisville's strong schedule in Pat Kelsey's
first year. First of all, what do you mean, Dennis,
Like I've just like I was just making it up.
But he then goes on to say that after looking
at how many teams Louisville plays in the non conference
that are ranked, that it's a loaded schedule. I mean,
I think Pat Kelsey was was he felt a little
a little more justified in saying it. Last week at
(24:58):
the ACC tip off one, he was doing other interviews.
I know, he went on with Goodman and those guys
with the field of sixty eight, and he actually did
an interview with the Carolina station a little bit after that.
I had him on, and you know, that is one
of the observations is and it's an easy observation to
make when you look at Pat Kelsey in his first
year with a brand new team that he's got. I mean,
the schedule's loaded. I mean, I guess it could end
(25:19):
up not being as challenging as it looks, depending upon
how it plays out in the Bahamas. That's a big
factor in it. But even if you if you even
if you eliminate the battle, the battle for Atlantis, I mean,
they still have Tennessee With the second game of the year,
they play Ole miss, who is a top twenty team
(25:40):
and or a top twenty five team. I'm not sure
where they are, but I know they're ranked. And then
you also have you know, you have these aren't conference
games or these are non conference games, but like you
played Duke in December, who you know probably is going
to have the best player in the country. So it's
it's a challenging schedule, no doubt. And you know, I
(26:00):
would say it's gonna be tough for them to beat
some of those really good teams, but you never know,
and who knows. I mean, even if you get one
out of let's say you end up playing three top
fifteen teams, just with the Battle for Atlantis and with
Tennessee and whatnot, and you win one of those and
you're competitive in the other two, like you'll still have
to say you you know, you went one and two.
(26:21):
But I'm just gonna be honest with you, and I
think it may make some people uncomfortable, those who are willing,
those who were able to just eliminate the Kenny Payne
era from their brain. I mean, I'm trying to do
that as well. But like I'm gonna probably find myself
being a little more happy than I've ever been about
things that used to just be the norm things that
used to take for granted. So here I am realizing
(26:42):
how it sounds. Well, if you win one out of three,
usually Louisville basketball, and you know, in most instances of
my life, you would say, you know, we can win
all three. Unrealistic to do that when you're playing teams
that are that good. But like, been a while since
we've been good. Let's be real. So I'm curious to
see if I get labeled a you know, a fanboy
(27:04):
for Pat Kelsey or you know, I quickly become somebody
who people who assume is out to get a coach
or something, which is ridiculous. And I know that's we
don't need to go down there. But I knew right away,
and I think a lot of other people did. They
just don't want to admit it, and I get it.
But like it was pretty clear from the beginning with
the Kenny paaneair that that that was gonna be bad. Now,
nobody thought it'd be as bad as it was. But
regardless of what happens, we got to call it like
(27:25):
it is. So that's what we'll do, all right. If
I go too, if I've seven one seventy nine hundred
is the number if you want to give us a call.
Let's go to the phone lines, and now we will
welcome in. Will Will, how are you this afternoon?
Speaker 4 (27:37):
Hey man, Hey Will from the veil? Remember I said this, Okay, Okay, Patino,
he checks a lot of boxes. He pisses us off
as Louisville fans, he pisses your boy off in Arkansas.
He gets back into good graces. And I'm predicted, this
is my prediction. Okay, Well, all the hype trained Pope
(27:57):
has down there, they're gonna bounce him. And about two
years and guess who's gonna be the coach? Because chronologically
this man keeps himself in shape. He's gonna be I know, seventies,
but he's he's in pretty good shape based the best
I know. He's still gonna coach. He's gonna come back
and redeem. I'm saying he's gonna do all that winning.
(28:20):
But Patino is gonna be the next coach because Pope.
They're gonna bounce Pope once he starts losing. All this
love fest that's over and all this nostalgia. You can't
go back, man, you can't go back. But they will
go back to Patino. That's my prediction. In three years,
Pope's gonna do a pain a Kenny Payne and they're
(28:42):
gonna bounce him so quick out of there and they're
gonna be crying. Look at him now, dude, they're dying.
They hated like you said, Uh, Matt Jones hated this man.
Oh he's grabbling back, grobbling.
Speaker 2 (28:57):
Yeah, well, I appreciate the call. I mean, I don't
predict that that happens. I don't see that happening. But
I'm also willing to say when it comes to Rick, like, really,
should anything surprise us? Let's just like, look at the
Rick Bettino Bingo card throughout his entire existence in our
world as a basketball coach. I mean I think, really,
(29:18):
can you say anything is unexpecting? Like he's nothing should
really shock us with Rick. I don't know how what
I worry about with Rick is I think Rick is
one of the I mean, Rick's one of the best
coaches of all time in college basketball, and I don't
really think that's a debate. He's great when it comes
(29:38):
to coaching basketball. He's a legend and everybody knows that.
I think if he Kentucky fans when they hated him,
the would acknowledge that they hated him. But you know,
I think those who despise him couldn't with a straight
face tell you that he's not an elite coach. But
I do think Rick, it's really going to be interesting
to see what he does this year at Saint John's
because you know, Rick still commands a presence. He still
(30:00):
has a presence about him to where he commands so
much respect that despite these guys now getting paid to play,
they're still going to fall in line and probably deal
with his way of coaching because they realize they're being
coached by a legend. But you know, how long does
that last? Right? Like, Rick hasn't really been in the
limelight as a coach that's doing something special in college
(30:24):
basketball at the highest level since when like twenty seventeen
he had a really good team that was a two
seed and they lost in the second round. But like,
people know who he is, But how long does that
does that work? And I'm not going to say that
he can't coach, like kids aren't going to give him
the effort level and the dedication and the buy in
because you know, they now get paid and they they
(30:46):
you know. I mean, I'm I don't think he's going
to fail at Saint John's, but I'm also not going
to be surprised, like the way he goes about things,
just to being so demanding, like the game has changed
a little bit, Not to say you can't be demanding
with your players, but you also have to be a
player's coach in a way that like I don't know
if Rick ever could be. Rick was a player's coach
because his players respected the hell out of him and
they would play their ass off for him, but they
(31:06):
did it out of fear, and I don't really think
you can you can not to say they were fearful
of him hurting them. But like you know, like Rick operate,
I mean, Bobby Patrino the same way. Like there are
all the coaches who are like that, and in some
of them, like Tom Izzo, he is somebody that I
think is a great example. Since the game has changed
and the portals here and kids get money, he's not
(31:27):
getting the same results. And it really doesn't mean that
there's something wrong with these coaches. It's just you have
to adapt and adjusted. It's a new world. And I
don't know if Rick, you know, if Rick's going to
be able to cause if that was to ever happen,
And I feel silly even talking about it this much.
No offense will, but I just that's a far fetched thing.
But again I don't know. I guess crazier things have happened.
But like Rick would have to be really good at
(31:48):
Saint John's and Pope would have to be really bad
at Kentucky for any scenario like that to line up.
And I just don't know what the chances are of
both those things happening, meaning Pope being that bad and
Rick being that good at Saint John's. I kind of
feel like this year with his roster, because he's put
together a really good roster. I mean, God never gets
talked about for reasons I don't really know, but there
(32:09):
are some people that think Kadari Richmond, who transferred from
a Seaton Hall to Saint John's. I mean, I know
you've seen this John. Some people have him as the
number one player in the portal, and like nobody talks
about him. So like Rick landed three top thirty guys
in the portal and he's a hell of a coach.
So maybe Saint John's is really good this year. But
like if they're not, I think it would be not
a sign that he's washed up and should retire. But like,
(32:32):
you know, I just have if you ask me, you know,
gun to my head in the next seven years, which,
by the way, he'd be really old if he coaches
seven more years, gun to my head? Does Rick Betino
go to another final for it? Is he not? I
would say that he doesn't. And it's not because he's
I think he's a bad coach. It's just I just
don't know how effective he's going to be this day
(32:54):
and age. He'll still win, and to be fair, he's
really good at, you know, preparing for the tournament game.
So like maybe if he gets there, that's all that matters.
Because it's a new world, it's a new season, it's
a fresh star. He's gonna have his guys prepared because
that's what he does. So like, maybe he can get
there as a four or five seed and find a run.
He's done it here before, He's done it to Kentucky.
But you know, I just not to act like he
(33:15):
would never be a good coach again. I just I
think his best days are clearly way behind him.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
I don't mean to humor this any further. But if
let's just say Mark Pope misses the tournament and Saint
John's makes like, I don't know, Elite eight or better
run this year, I'm not predicting that, just you know,
theorizing how quickly will the UK fans be, you know,
calling for him to come back if he makes that
deep of a run and Mark Pope doesn't.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Oh, I mean it'll I mean, I mean we can't.
I mean that is more realistic than him, like, you know,
becoming the coach here. Yeah, because I don't think anybody
would realistically think that they would even consider doing anything
with Mark Pope after one year. But if you know,
but the thin Kentucky fans are are different because Kentucky's
a different program when it comes to basketball, and it
(33:56):
it's it really isn't worth a whole lot for a
variety of reasons, but it still should be mentioned more
than it is when it comes to the Calip Perry
Kentucky fallout. Even to the end, he kept you relevant,
even to the end. He kept you filled with a
roster full of guys that you knew were going to
play in the NBA. Therefore, even if you had a
(34:17):
bad stretch of play, even if you felt like you
were way underwhelming than what you should be. He always
had a talented roster that at any moment, if they
mess around and beat anybody, you're not really that surprised, right.
They rarely hit their potential. But the ceiling was really
high with Cal's teams because of how loaded they were
with NBA talent. That's not going to be Mark Pope,
(34:40):
so Cal. Yeah, you can bring up the loss to
Oakland and the loss to Saint Peter's and whatnot, and no,
that matters a lot. Right, what you do in the
tournament is really and it's crazy, It really is insane
and kind of stupid, to be honest with you, I
wouldn't have it any other way because college basketball. I
don't want it to change. I love it. I love
the sport. But like we really only evaluate dudes for
(35:01):
what they do in the tournaments. Like that, that's like,
that's where you really got to. That's where you really
have a chance to kind of show who you are.
But the other stuff along the way it matters. It
doesn't have a value, and in fact, it's worth like it.
It means next to nothing if you continue to have
really good teams with really good players and they get
good seats, but then they bounce early. Like that's the
worst case scenario for a coach. Cal did it twice,
(35:22):
but you always knew you had a coach that could
get it done at any moment because he's proven it
to you before multiple Final four runs early on in
its tenure, and a championship, and I look, it didn't
seem as if he was going to get there, and
I think the departure needed to happen, and it was
a mutual thing, beneficial for both. But I think Kentucky
fans may at times this year if they do hit
a skid or they just you know, end up being
(35:45):
you know, a bubble team or something like that. And
I'm not saying they will be. I have no clue,
but like, if they are, I think it'll be pretty
telling to see how they react, because it won't mean
that Pope's destined to be terrible or be underwhelming, but
you don't have what you had for so long there,
which is a coach that even during bad times, you
knew was never gonna lack talent and you knew that
(36:07):
he could in fact win at a really really high
level because you watched him do it for many years
at your program. Mark Polp's never known anywhere, so you know,
he may he may be phenomenal. But that's gonna be
fascinating for me to observe from, you know, from the
outside as a Louisville fan. Is like, if this guy's solid,
but like it doesn't look like they got a chance
to like really do some damage deep in the tournament
(36:28):
or they're just you know, consistently like the fifth best
team in the SEC. Like that's where I'm curious to
see how they react because they expect to be better
than that, because again, they're Kentucky. And I don't say
that to mackam. I mean, I'm just being real, all right,
quick break, We'll come back on the other side, wrap
this thing up. I felt like a real outsider and
Charlotte last week at the ACC tip off whenever one
(36:50):
of the big talking points from just about everybody was
about how the ACC is a basketball league is disrespected
and they deserve more respect and it needs to be said,
and I just felt like, you know, or they could
be better and not really leave it up for opinion
and let like results speak for itself, but you know
that was a big talking point and not to say,
you know, hey, I told you so, because hey, preseason
rankings really don't mean anything, especially once you get you know,
(37:12):
it's a reference point, but you know they're wrong a lot.
But to seek the AP poll as far as conference, like,
I mean, the ACC has two ranked teams, Carolina and Duke.
SEC has nine, the Big Twelve has six, the Big
Ten has four, Big East test three, So I mean
(37:32):
that doesn't prove that, you know, the league's going to
be the fifth best conference, But like that's not a
surprise because again, like the best team in the ACC
not ranked as far as others receiving votes as Wake Forest,
and then after that you get all the way down
to like Miami. I mean, it's I think it's deserving
to only have those two rank To be honest with you,
I hope it changes. But like I think instead of
(37:54):
being in denial, we should like acknowledge it as a
league and get the basketball back on track. Meier said,
than done. But I mean I'm not at all surprised
that there's that many teams ranked ahead of the ACC.
All right, we're out of time. Everybody, enjoy your night
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