Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Bobcat Enterprises and it's gonna be apparently a crazy weather day.
Storm's moving through two or three different times, and I
guess the worst of it is coming early evening to
late evenings, so possibility for tornadoes, that kind of weather.
So everybody stays safe out there as you get through
your day. After today, it's supposed to be nice for
(00:22):
the rest of the weekend ted cooler, so that would
be a nice change of pace for the weekend around
these parts. But it's not a weather show, it's a
UK sports show. And we will talk with Ben Roberts today.
He's been writing stories from the NBA Combine this week
where Oh take it Away, Kobe Brea are going through
the workouts for NBA teams. So we'll check in with Ben,
(00:46):
and then Dick Girardi will join us in the second
half of the show. He's the longtime turf rider, remember
the Buyer Speed Figure team that joins us on the
Triple Crown Days and Breeders' Cup Days, and we'll talk
a little bit about the weakness and some of the
stories around the second leg of the Triple Crown and
changing the timing of the races, et cetera. And maybe
(01:07):
work at a little college basketball as well, which Dick
has covered for many years when he was with the
Philadelphia Daily News. So wild Cat News of the Day
is a service of Giuseppes of Lexington. And what a
brutal beat last night for Kentucky baseball. This would you know,
Scott Van Pelt does the you know, bad beats for bets,
(01:32):
but this is one for just.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
You know, for a fan.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Kentucky jumps out to a five nothing lead, They were
still up seven to two midway through the game, and
then they lose it on a walk off, three run
homer with two outs and two strikes in the bottom
of the ninth, So ninth ranked Vandy prevails eight to seven.
A win would have gotten Kentucky to fourteen and fourteen
(01:57):
in the sec. In the ninth inning, a couple couple
of things that, you know, Kentucky has got to look
back on. In the seventh, I think it was they
had the bases loaded one out, and I think it
was Tyler Bell grounded into a double play, So they
missed a great opportunity there. And then in the ninth,
Simon Gergerson came in to pitch and he walked a
(02:20):
batter and hit a batter, and then he got one out,
and then he got a strikeout, and then he's got
against two strikes on the Vandy batter. I can't remember
who it was, but he hits a three run homer.
So Vandy gets three to win in the bottom of
the ninth off one hit, And those are the kinds
(02:41):
of things that you just can't do if you want to,
you know, win big games, advance in the postseason in particular,
which Kentucky's been playing, you know, much better baseball in
the second half of the season. So hopefully they can
bounce back from this. They'll play again tonight in Nashville
at seven Eastern, and then it'll be on the SEC
Network plus same tomorrow for a three Eastern wrap up
(03:03):
to the series in Nashville, and then next week's the
SEC Tournament. Darren Hedrick will have the call of all
of the action. But I was listening to Darren call
the final hopefully it was going to be the final
out in a Kentucky win last night, and you could
just feel the gut punch that he took when the
ball went out of the yard down in Nashville. So
(03:26):
hopefully Kentucky can bounce back from that tonight. They think
with what they did last weekend put themselves in a
great spot for the NCAA tournament bid. But you don't
want to cut those things too close. So this again
big missed opportunity last night. A couple more opportunities coming
up this weekend and then next week at the SEC
(03:46):
Tournament at the NBA Combine. We'll talk about this with
Ben in just a bit. But otega oways team and
Kobe Bray's team went up against each other and in
one of the scrimmages yesterday and both played well. Kobe
had sixteen four of eight from three five rebounds. Otaga
scored fourteen. He had five rebounds as well in a
(04:08):
couple of steals. So both showcased what they do best.
But see a story from Chris Fisher at katspaus dot
com and he talked to some of the twenty four
to seven sports representatives who are covering the Combine and
the consensus is that everybody feels Otega is coming back
(04:28):
to Kentucky, that he won't hear what he wants to
hear about being a first round draft pick. And one
of the analysts that Chris talked to compared Otaga's situation
to a just REGI what Chris writes to that of
Florida guard Walter Clayton Junior, who led the Gators to
the national championship after pulling out a last year's draft,
and he could have that kind of year two transferred jump.
(04:52):
According to the analyst that Chris talked to, Goy named
Isaac Trotter. So we will get into that with Ben
Roberts here in just a bit. Links to the stories
that we talk about each day you can find on
the bud Light Leach Report page at Tom Leitchky dot com.
Opening segment a whilecat News a service of Giuseppes of Lexington,
(05:14):
and they are at Giuseppes Lexington dot com. If you
want to see what the menu looks like, go to
Open Table to make your reservation for a night out
at Giuseppe sit in the lounge thery. If you can
get Dave Hall's live jazz music to a company your
meal every night, it really makes it extra special. But
the food is fantastic, so is the ambiance at Giuseppes.
We'll be right back with Ben Roberts on the Leech
(05:36):
Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Leach Report's presented by Bobcat
Enterprises with four locations here in Kentucky. When you need
to buy or rent a piece of heavy equipment for
a job site, or if you know somebody who does,
Bobcat Enterprises, just google them. You'll find the location that's
closest to you. Tractors, excavators, forklifts, et cetera. Zero turns for.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Your home too. With Bob KNT Enterprises joining us now.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Is Ben Roberts on the Club Blue Nil dot com hotline.
You read him in the Lexington Herald Leader Kentucky sports
dot com where you're reading a lot of coverage about
the Kentucky guys at the NBA Combine this week. You're
still there, Ben.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Yep, Yep.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
I know I'm still here, but I'm not not Chicago.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Came back last night.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Not in Chicago. Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
The the latest story, Well, we'll start with the freshest
story that's on Kobe Brea that fans can go to
Kentucky sports dot com right now and read about as
he's projected as a second round pick uh and had
a more typical Kobe game and his second game up
at the combine yesterday, and you had a nice chat
(06:47):
with him about what his one year at Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Meant to him. I guess just as a you.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Know, individual, what it meant to him, and then also
it certainly meant a lot to him as a player.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Yeah, I did.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
I mean, just starting as an individual, I think, you know,
I'm sure everybody heard what he said on the postgame
podium after the Tennessee game about, uh, he was keeping
his Kentucky jersey and.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
If anybody came to any equipment people.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Or anybody came to try to get it from him.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
They were gonna have some trouble.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
And asked him about that, and then he said.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
He did keep it, and it goes with them wherever
he goes.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
He's actually working with him to get a couple of
other jerseys, it sounds like from his time here, and
and wants to get them framed in a nice display
and wherever he settles, wants to wants to put that
on display there. So yeah, just throughout our conversation, just
talked about how much it meant to him, you know,
he he he.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
There were a couple of NBA folks who are are
big Kentucky fans. He was posing for pictures with them
and was just really eager to talk about Kentucky the
whole time he was up there. But yeah, from a
from a player's standpoint, you know, he was on draft
boards when he came from Dayton, even though everybody in
the country knew he could shoot the basketball. He did
at such a high level the previous season. But he
(08:09):
just really talked about and we talked about it.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Throughout the season.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Obviously, the way he transformed into a better defender and
a better team defender, and something that I think really
helped Kentucky down the stretch and something he obviously took
a lot of pride in, and it was something he
said he's been hearing from these NBA teams that that's
something they wanted to see from him, and they saw
it from him, and he thought he'd put it on display,
(08:34):
especially that.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
First game of the Combine too, even when he wasn't
you well.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Yeah, it's a probably a good lesson for young players
in a lot of sports in terms of what the
people at the next level that you aspire to get
to are looking at, and it is things about you know,
how hard are you working at you know, the things
you need to improve on. We know what your best is,
and you know that's that's interests us. But you you know,
(08:59):
we've got to be able to put you out on
the floor for a stretch where you don't give up
as many as you get. You know, in the case
of a guy like Kobe or you know, rebound you
get five rebounds yesterday, show as you can do a
few other things that so that we can put you
on the floor to take advantage of what you do best.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
And it's a great example of kind of in this
nil era where you're seeing a lot more guys stick
around in college basketball. You know, in the past, I
feel like a guy like Kobe who's in his fifth
year of college, that guy might not get drafted. You know,
once you reached a certain age, it seemed like you
weren't going to get drafted, or you would jump too
early and not get drafted. With him, you know, I
(09:39):
talked to Jenai Broom for a long time.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
He's another good example.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Of the guys who can really help their stock in
college just by by kind of working out other.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Parts of their game.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Mike Pratt used to talk about this in terms of
a phrase, do you want to visit the NBA or
do you want to stay in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And too many guys guys.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Visited the NBA in the because I think of you
for financial reasons, and now they don't have They aren't
his you know, pressured maybe to make that decision at
least in their own mind, and they do develop a
little more and give themselves a chance to stay in
the NBA.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Yeah, And jan I Broom was a perfect example of that.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
You know.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
I talked to him at the combine two years ago
after his first season at Auburn, and he was kind
of on the fence then. And he told me Wednesday
when I was up there that if nil weren't a thing,
he almost certainly would have jumped two years ago.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
And he wasn't.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Projected as a pick two years ago, and his game
then wasn't.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Where it is now.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Where I think now it's you know, he's still a
second round pick, but it's a lot better suited for
the NBA. What he learned over the last two years,
the way he was able to tweak some things at
this level, put him in a much better position to
stick with an NBA team. And that's a perfect segue
to otego because he basically said the same thing you
know he said. He said, there's nothing wrong with being
(11:06):
an undrafted rookie free.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Agent, but that's not what he's gonna do. He's going
to be drafted.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
He's going to stay in the NBA and have a
long career in the NBA. And if that's not this year,
then it's not this year, and he's gonna come.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Back and work harder than ever.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
And he basically made a declarative statement that he's going
to be a first round pick next year if he
comes back to school.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
That's where we will pick up.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
When we come back with Ben Roberts from the Lexington
Herald Leader Kentucky Sports dot Com. We're coming to you
from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return refresh and refuel
at Clarks and sign up for their new loyalty rewards
program too. We'll be right back with more from Ben.
It is the lead Triport and we are chatting with
Ben Roberts to the Lexington Herald Leader, Kentucky Sports dot Com.
(11:51):
Before we get back to Ben, let me play a
clip from Mark Pope's news conference earlier this week. And
he touched on a variety subjects, one of which is
how and why players that play for him make such
a big improvement in their second year.
Speaker 5 (12:06):
Our guys make a massive jump from year one to
year or two. Guys that kind of are in our deal.
You know, wherever I've coached, it's it's so fun. Year
two is so fun because year one is just this
on slide of learning decision making. As a broad brusher,
(12:27):
just overwhelmed with learning decision making. Learning decision making takes time, right,
learning dot to dot takes a little bit of time.
Learning how to make decisions takes a lot of time
and understand why and where and how and and and
and the skill set to actually do it. Second year
for me almost without failed. They they take massive leaps.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
So that was Mark Pope and Otega. Oh way, most
likely it feels will be one of those year two
guys for Mark Pope and Ben You were talking about
what Otega was saying this week about, you know what
is you know, commitment would be like I saw a
one story cam in yours or somewhere else about. You know.
One of the some of the feedback he got was that, Okay,
(13:08):
maybe get a little better shape. You're great as you are,
but how good could you be if you were in
even better shape. Pope talked about, you know, getting a
little quicker release on the shot, you know, and if
he does and he gets a little better shooting threes,
maybe he's up closer to forty percent from the three
point line. That kind of stuff is what would help
his game and what help Kentucky's team.
Speaker 6 (13:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
Yeah, he Otega told me the conditioning was, which was
a little surprised to me, but there was something that
he heard from NBA teams that they noticed that he
seemed tired at the end of games, and they said
in some of those games he still produced at a
high level, the Oklahoma game probably being the best example
of that down in Norman. Yeah, but imagine if you're
not tired, you know what you can do in situations
(13:52):
like that. And he said, you know, when he gets
to that level, they see him as like a three
and D guy, a guy that's going to be maybe
guard at Jason Tatum, maybe some of these bigger wings,
and they want him to want, you know, a physical,
physical players, and they want him to be able to
be able to hold up to that grind throughout an
entire game, and he had the three point shooting. You know,
(14:16):
the rate was pretty good this past season, better than
some expected, I think. But yeah, just getting a little
just fine tuning that shot, getting it off a little quicker,
especially in Pope's offense the way they like to run
it could get him one a lot more shots and
maybe a little better accuracy. And then also playmaking is
another thing that both Pope Enoteka talked about, just making
(14:40):
better decisions when he you know, people know he can
get in the lane. It's a matter of making better
decisions and really reading defenses better and knowing what they're
doing to you.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
When you get down there.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
And that's something I thought he made a big jump
watching him at Oklahoma in the second year to t
Kentucky this past season. But it's something NBA teams have apparent.
They told him they want to see.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
More of, which is interesting because I know more than
once Mark Pope mentioned that and like a pre or
a postgame interview or one of the Monday night shows
that he thinks that Otega can be and I think
he would use the phrase elite level playmaker. And sometimes
you know, you think, Okay, coaches just trying to you know,
build up his player, give him confidence.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
It could be that kind of thing, or.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Obviously in this situation, it's a student analysis because Otega's
here the same thing from the NBA folks exactly.
Speaker 6 (15:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
I mean, you know, we've seen him do it so
many times, but I'm reminded of Natoates. I believe it
was the SEC Tournament game when Alabama beat them, and
he just kind of talked about, you know, Lamn obviously
wasn't in that game, and Otega had one of his
worst games of the season, frankly, and he basically said
he just thought Alabama was a good matchup because they
had a lot of you know, bigger, longer, more physical
(15:54):
guys who could defend him. And you know, when you
make that next step, I feel like you're able to
make those plays against.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Those type of guys.
Speaker 6 (16:03):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
And you know here at Kentucky maybe by the SEC.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Tournament next year he is he is able to do that.
So yeah, there's and that's the thing with Otega is
you know, right now, maybe he's not drafted, but he's
the type of player where realistically, you know, you make
two or three tweaks to your game there, and he
could very well.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Be a first round pick next season.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
I don't think that would surprise anybody, and you can't
say that about a lot of guys in his position.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
I feel like that's a great point, and this is,
you know, he's a good example, especially that that feedback, well,
the feedback about playmaker and the feedback about conditioning getting
in even better shape.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
That's the kind of that's.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
The the good part of players being able to go
through this process. There's a risk, as you know, if
you're the coach that's coaching them in college, you could
lose them. But h in you know, in this scenario,
looks like Otega will come back with a great degree
of motivation and couple of you know, things to work on.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
Yeah, and I remember talking to Antonio Reeves throughout this
process a couple of years ago, and I think it's
obviously different players, but a good parallel. And Kentucky almost
loft from that off season. But when he came back,
you know, some of the key things that those NBA
teams told him.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
To work on. One was mainly his defense.
Speaker 6 (17:20):
I thought, you know, he.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Was such he was a much better, much more efficient,
much more all around player that second season, and you know,
put himself in a position to be drafted where he
wasn't going to be drafted here before. So I think
Otaga could follow a similar path with with probably an
even higher degree of upside.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
You can read Ben's story about Kobe Braa and the
one earlier about take Away at Kentucky sports dot com
and in the pages of the Lexington Herald Leader. Uh
and Ben, thank.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
You very much.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Yep, thanks a lot of Tom.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
It's Ben Roberts joining us here on the Club Blue
nil dot com hotline.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
We'll be right back with Dick Girardi.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
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the Good Life. Joining us now Dick Girardi and he
comes to his courtesy of Betonline dot AG. But a
long time writer covering sports, racing and more for the
Philadulphi Daily News and it's part of the team that
(19:03):
puts together the Buyer speed figures that Andy Bayer devised
and Dick. Before we get into talking a little bit
about the Preus, let me touch on a few other subjects,
one different from horse racing. I mean, being there in
Philly covered the Sixers. I'm sure at times when I
was growing up, the NBA game on Sunday afternoon was
(19:25):
every week. It seemed like it was either Nick Celtics,
Celtics sixers or Nick sixers. And we've got Nix and
Celtics tonight at Madison Square Garden. If I had won
the lottery, a couple of weeks ago here in Kentucky
and all that money, I'd be at court side tonight
for that one.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
That will be a crazy atmosphere for Game six.
Speaker 6 (19:45):
No question. I wish I was at the garden tonight, Tom.
That will be a wild seat. With the Knicks having
a chance to get to the Conference files, it's hard
to believe for the first time at a quarter century.
But yeah, it's just crazy me. I don't know what's
up with the six. Are they in the playoffs?
Speaker 1 (20:01):
But I saw them show up in the draft lottery
the show the other night.
Speaker 6 (20:05):
Yeah, there you go, Yeah they got they got the
third pick. I don't look, I don't know what's going
to happen after the first pick. We all know that's
going to be. But yeah, it's one of those years.
If you've got the first pick, you feel like you
hit a gold mine. But after that, who knows? To
be determined?
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Yes, And and that kind of segues a little bit
into the pregnus. I saw Randy Moss of NBC doing
a social media feature yesterday and he said, you know,
if it's not journalism, then there's several horses you can
see winning. So you know, you said if after Cooper Flag,
(20:40):
there's a lot of maybe candidates for the second pick
after If not Journalism, then it's it could be a
very wide open Preakness. But is it a one horse
race in your mind?
Speaker 6 (20:51):
I think it's going to be difficult for any of
these horses to beat him Tom. But the one horse
that does intrigue me is the eight Clever again. His
last number the one oh one, and Randy Moss does
He actually does the buyer figures for us at Oakland Park,
and I was at the dinner with him last night
and we're all convinced that's a good number. If he
(21:12):
can come back to that, that certainly makes him a contender.
The question is what happens if he's not loosing the lead.
I think he is going to be loose in the lead.
I think he's the fastest early, so I think if
there's an upset chance, I would say it'd be Clever again,
who races for. Steve Asmussen has won the Preakness twice
with two pretty good horses, Curl and then Rachel Alexander.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
The last three buyer speed figures for Journalism or one
O two of the Derby one O two in the
Santa Anita Derby and one O eight in the prep
for the for the Sanita Derby. I think was the
Lewis so three consecutive one hundred or you know plus
buyer figures is clever again the only other horse in
the race that has a triple digit buyer.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
That is correct. But interestingly enough, yeah, inside the buyer team,
we call what journalism has done omnifix. When the last
three figures of one horse are all better than any
figure any horse in the race is done, that's about
a ninety percent when so this is about as good
(22:15):
a chance as you'll get on the numbers as back
a horse like journalists.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
To me, and I've seen some interviews with Michael McCarthy,
the trainer this week where he thought it was more
the trip than the mud that compromised journalism, and I
thought he was exactly right in that, because when you
watch the replay going through the stretch the first time
Bafford's horse takes a right turn out of the gate
and knocks out you know, or compromises several of them,
(22:43):
Lucas's horse being won and journalism gets banged around, he
wouldn't as much compromised by the Bafford horse. Maybe it's
just got bounced around with kind of like a pinball.
He actually ends up behind Burnham Square, which I don't
think anybody would have predicted, and is the horse is
kind of throwing his head a little bit fighting recently,
and he got him to settle and got him into
(23:04):
a good spot and he made his run and maybe
some of what the energy he expended in the first
eighth of a mile maybe left him a little short
of having enough to fight off sovereignty and deep stretch. It's,
you know, possible, but anyway, I could see him improving
tremendously off that.
Speaker 6 (23:21):
Yeah, that's exactly my theory on the race. That first
hundred yards changed the position of the race. He's behind
Burnham Square, He's found a couple other horses. We're talking journalism.
They never would have envisioned it being by I know
him talking to Michael the week of the derby. He
was hoping to be say like fifth or six coming
out of the first term. Maybe what five lengths awfully
(23:43):
insteady is tense And you're right he did have to
use some energy early. When you go back and watch
that replay, and yeah, maybe that caught up with him
in the last hundred yards when he got passed by Sovereignty.
So yeah, I don't know what the track is going
to be like tomorrow time, because the weather forecast keeps changing.
I mean, it's been raining in Baltimore most of the week,
like it is all over the East coast. But if
(24:05):
he can get a dry track and a reasonably clean trip,
I just think there's no ways getting beatn this race again,
unless the eight is way better than even his last
race was. We're talking clever again. I just think he's
faster than all the rest of the horses. And yeah,
I do think he was compromised by those first hundred yards.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
If I can get journalism to just break for the
gates smoothly, I'm gonna feel good about making one of
the best bets ever. Because but so we're at the
previnous future odds on derby day. Then the pool closed
a half hour or so before the derby, and he's
sitting there at five to one, and I thought we'll
go down, And finally at five to six he hadn't
(24:45):
gone down, and I thought, well, I think he's going
to win the Derby, and I think he can win
it by open links, and if he does, he ain't
gonna be five to one into pregnous. So I took
a little of that and so I don't have to
bet the pregnance.
Speaker 6 (24:56):
Now that's awesome. D You got five to one on
a horse that, in my opinion, should be six to five. Now,
I don't know what he'll be because these as we
found out in the Derby, and it happens every year
in these Triple Crown races, the wind pools have very
little to do with the rest of the pools because
there's all this other money in there. But yeah, he
should be six to five even money, yet five to
one as a hell of a thing. Good luck to you.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
I love Dick Girardi with us courtesy off Betonline dot
ag our A Triple Crown coverage again this spring is
presented by Claybourne Farm here on the Leech Report, doing
the usual, unusually well for more than a century. And
we'll come back and talk a little bit more with
Dick Girardi here on the Leech Report Radio Network a
quarter before the top of the hour, and we are
(25:39):
presented each day by Bobcat Enterprises here on the Leech
Report and We are chatting with Dick Girardi.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
He comes to us from.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Bet online dot ag and they always have some interesting
prop bets for the Triple Crown races. And what's the
one or two that you would be most intrigued by
a bet online dot ag this time, Dick, Yeah.
Speaker 6 (26:03):
Same one I liked in the derby time the winning
margin over under a length and a half. I'm gonna
go over and look, journalism runs his best race. He's
gonna win by a bunch. You and I are both
obviously hoping for that. It's interesting in the derby that
ended up being a push because Sovereignty did win exactly
a length and a half. Uh. This is a crazy
prop that they put out this time at bed online.
(26:27):
Will a Preakness runner poop on the track?
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Just look?
Speaker 6 (26:34):
And this did happen during the derby, As they point
out on the prop, yes is plus one ten, No
is minus one fifty. I'm not sure who the arbiter
of this is, but it is prequel.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
If you if you're betting on that, you might want
to seek a little help after the race the next week.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
You need you need a you need a but you
know it comes to talk to Tom and I love.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Bed home Line dot ag. Before we get back to
the Preakness weekend and maybe some other good spots to
make a little money, we ask you about a couple
of other things. The debate is fired up again about
the spacing of the Triple Crown races with the decision
by the Sovereignty camp to skip the Preakness in point
(27:18):
for the Belmont Stakes journalism, the Derby runner up is
here in the second leg. What you know, You've covered
this sport a long time. What would your take be
on that debate?
Speaker 6 (27:30):
Yeah, I'm in favor of the Preakness like four weeks
and then the Belmont four weeks after that. But obviously
it doesn't matter what I'm in favor of. We've got
to get these racetracks to everything. The Derby's not going anywhere.
That's going to be on the first Saturday May. I
think time to think to look for here the Preakness
with NBC. Their telecast rights end after next year's Freakness,
(27:52):
which will be at Laurel Park while Pemico is being rebuilt.
So I think there's some discussion that Fox would like
to get involved in the previous NBC's got a long
term contract with Churchill that Derby's not going anywhere. If
that happens, let's say Fox gets it, then I think
there's a real good chance they'll move to Belmont because
let's feel, in reality, the Preakness is not worth nearly
(28:14):
as much without the Derby winner, and the Belmont is
not worth nearly as much without a potential triple pram,
and this year we had neither. So I think there
just had There's got to be a way to figure
this out. Whether NBC can't be thrilled either, right not
having the Derby winner in the previews, that's going to
hurt their ratings, But I think ultimately it's probably the
(28:35):
TV rights people. And as these two racetracks Belmont Park
Versus also going to reopen in twenty twenty seven, I
think maybe by the time there's two tracks reopen, we
can find a way to move this schedule out so
we get all the best sources all these three.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
That's that the way you in case even laid out,
makes a lot of sense. Now the other version, this
was my bold stroke. If NBC wants to keep the Preakness,
put the pre you say you're going put the Preakness
in July. Yep, that'll either move the Belmont or you
could just make it the third.
Speaker 6 (29:04):
Leg one percent. Yeah, I did think of that. Also. Again,
you want to make yourself as valuable as you possibly can.
And the state of Maryland is putting a lot of
money into refer that just I mean rebuilding Pimlica. They're
going to knock the old place down, so yeah, and
that's their most valuable property. That's why they're doing it.
(29:25):
So yeah, you got to find a way to make
these are the three we know this, these are the
three biggest races in the sport. You got to find
a way to make them as valuable as possible. The
Derby has already done it. I mean, they can't be
any more valuable than they already are down there, But yeah,
something needs to be done there.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
I go back and forth on the debate just in
my own mind sometimes, but yeah, you look at other sports.
Look at golf. They're playing the second major this weekend,
the PGA Championship down in Charlotte that used to be
in August.
Speaker 6 (29:51):
Yep. Yeah, and think of that golf too. They've they realized, look,
we can't compete with the NFL, So their tour championship
is over before the NFL season even starts. So you
got to think about, you know, who are you competing with?
What do you try to do? We have a DH
and baseball. We have a three point shot in basketball.
Things change, the sport has changed. Trainers like Bill Mott
(30:12):
and the number of others don't run their horses back
in two weeks. Let's adapt to the changing environment.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
With Dick Girardi from Betonline dot ag, longtime sports writer
for the Philadelphia Daily News, where he covered racing in
all kinds of sports, And let's talk a little bit
about the rest of Preakness weekend today or tomorrow. We've
talked about the Preakness. We both like journalism. Clever again's
maybe the right horse for the exacta.
Speaker 6 (30:38):
Right, Yeah, I'm gonna two eight. It's going to be
my main one, certainly, Baffer. It's not without a chance.
With the goal oriented. I don't think we really don't
have the shit.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Yeah, just two starts, the most recent one being on
the Derby Day undercard. So there's a lot of other
stakes races today and tomorrow at Pimlico. Is there a
good chance to make money anywhere else.
Speaker 6 (30:59):
Yeah, yeah, I'm going to I like the twelfth race
tomorrow time, the Dinner Party stakes. I like the sixth Ballnakoff.
Now he won this race last year. It was a
ridiculously soft course. They went to half at fifty two
and three quarters at one eighteen. I don't think it's
going to be that soft. But certainly this course has
taken a lot of brain this week and race off
(31:21):
the layoff is kind of a strange ride that day.
I think he's better than that. He's listed at ninety two,
he gets flabby and pratt for the first time. Good race,
I mean really good race. Trickery's in it, and he's
going to be the horse to beat the thirteen. But yeah,
I like the six Bollnakoff a little bit in race
twelve tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
So there's a chance to hit a little maybe daily
double into the Preakness with one hundred percent cooff in journalism.
Speaker 6 (31:45):
Yeah, a little sixty two action.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Yep, there you go, and ad a little savor with
clever again. Mentioned you've covered a lot of college basketball
over the years. Uh, this house settlement we keep hearing
is to happening. But will will that solve the issues
facing college basketball, or do they need something from Congress
(32:08):
as well.
Speaker 6 (32:11):
It's just chaos, tom right, I mean, you never know
who the rosters are anymore. It's just it's wild. Look,
I've been in favor for a long time. When the
players get packed, I just think there's got to be
some rational way to do this that makes the field
somewhat reasonable where you can retain your players. I mean,
(32:33):
I don't know how coaches even coach anymore. Like I'm
thinking of back the Jay Ray Vildova te's right where
he had guys for three and four years and with
red shirty people, that's not gonna happen again. So yeah,
I don't know. Maybe Congress has to do something, but
this is not I don't know that. This seems a
little untenable to me. What we're doing right now.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
We've just made one and done older.
Speaker 6 (32:55):
Exactly exactly right one and done to the next school
that it's the NBA. Yeah, and again, I really like
the fact that the players have some power now, But
I just didn't think it would be quite like this.
But they he can hang out on the NCAA and
they had every chance to enact decent legislation to make
sense of this. But they never believe the players were
(33:17):
going to get paid, so they just said, well, they're
never going to get paid. Well, actually they are, as
it turned out.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Yes they are, and they're getting if the settlement comes
through back pay too.
Speaker 6 (33:28):
Yes they are. They're being paid when the best players
are being paid well. And look, that's that's our system.
I know people that like you and I either grew
up with the different way the way it was and
loved watching players for four and five years. But we're
going to have to adapt and we are adapting, so
just get used to it. But yeah, I mean, coach
Pope and down there, I mean did a phenomenal job
(33:48):
this year in his first first year at UK. And
I guess some of the players are coming back out time,
you know better than me, But yeah, a who lot
of new ones too.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Well, they've got three for sure. They're kind of hanging
in the balance on O way.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
But it looks like he will be back as well,
So he's the last fish to land. Dick Girardi, thank
you so much. Enjoy the racing, you gotta thank He'll
likely be back with us on Belmont weekend as well.
Beat online dot ag is who He's providing the opportunity
for us to visit with Dick Girardi on these big
(34:23):
days of racing. The LPGA Legends are coming to Woodford
County next month. These are some of the top players
in LPGA tour history, Julie Inkster, Pat Bradley, Laura Davies
and others. You can get your tickets at Woodford Clubfoundation
dot org for the Woodford Legends Invitational Saturday June seventh
and Sunday June eighth. Tickets are just fifteen dollars a day.
(34:46):
Kids seventeen and underget in free. KVC Kentucky benefits from
the proceeds of this event.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
We'll be right back with.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Our final segment of the Leach Report, presented by Bobcat
Enterprises Stay while Cat History is presented by Kentucky wrote
show sports Cards and Memorabilia Romney Road in Lexington Roadshowcards
dot com. They say in two thousand and seven Patrick
Patterson signed to be a Kentucky Wildcat and went on
to have a great career here at UK, playing for
(35:15):
Coach Gillespie and coach Cal Kentucky's in the final five
for twenty twenty six wide receiver Justin Williams. He's going
to visit in a couple of weeks. Florida, Missouri, Florida State,
Indiana are the others in the final five season ticket
sales down for a UK football. John Hale had that
story in the Herald Leader this week. Not a surprise
(35:36):
we've talked to al fans are kind of in that
show me mode. I think if they start fast, tickets
will will sell really fast, especially in October when Texas
and Tennessee come to town. So that first month is going
to be very important for a lot of reasons for
the upcoming Kentucky football season. Club Blues the official fundraising
(35:57):
partner at UK, and they are introducing Club Blue Kids.
It's the ultimate club for young Wildcat fans. Go to
Club blueinil dot com, click on the kids tab and
you can register your young person. They'll get a T
shirt and a membership card and a lanyard, but also
access to exclusive events, meet and greets, athlete experiences and more.
Some big things are coming soon, So get signed up
(36:19):
at Club blueinil dot com for Club Blue Kids, where
future Wildcats wrap the blue with pride. We were talking
about the weather up in Baltimore for Preakness weekend.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
After today.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
I was looking at the site for WBAL TV station
there in Baltimore. They have it under fifty percent rain
and dropping throughout the day after twelve o'clock today and
then twenty percent or less all day tomorrow. So if
you're a racing fan, maybe we'll get a little bit
of decent weather for the Preakness. Big sports weekend. You've
got Preakness Day up in Baltimore, You've got the PGA
(36:55):
Championship playing out down in Charlotte. UK baseball with big
games against Andy tonight and tomorrow afternoon. Darren Heddrick will
have the call in the UK Radio Network on those,
So enjoy all the sports and we'll be back here
on Monday to talk about it.
Bobcat Enterprises and it's gonna be apparently a crazy weather day.
Storm's moving through two or three different times, and I
guess the worst of it is coming early evening to
late evenings, so possibility for tornadoes, that kind of weather.
So everybody stays safe out there as you get through
your day. After today, it's supposed to be nice for
(00:22):
the rest of the weekend ted cooler, so that would
be a nice change of pace for the weekend around
these parts. But it's not a weather show, it's a
UK sports show. And we will talk with Ben Roberts today.
He's been writing stories from the NBA Combine this week
where Oh take it Away, Kobe Brea are going through
the workouts for NBA teams. So we'll check in with Ben,
(00:46):
and then Dick Girardi will join us in the second
half of the show. He's the longtime turf rider, remember
the Buyer Speed Figure team that joins us on the
Triple Crown Days and Breeders' Cup Days, and we'll talk
a little bit about the weakness and some of the
stories around the second leg of the Triple Crown and
changing the timing of the races, et cetera. And maybe
(01:07):
work at a little college basketball as well, which Dick
has covered for many years when he was with the
Philadelphia Daily News. So wild Cat News of the Day
is a service of Giuseppes of Lexington. And what a
brutal beat last night for Kentucky baseball. This would you know,
Scott Van Pelt does the you know, bad beats for bets,
(01:32):
but this is one for just.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
You know, for a fan.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Kentucky jumps out to a five nothing lead, They were
still up seven to two midway through the game, and
then they lose it on a walk off, three run
homer with two outs and two strikes in the bottom
of the ninth, So ninth ranked Vandy prevails eight to seven.
A win would have gotten Kentucky to fourteen and fourteen
(01:57):
in the sec. In the ninth inning, a couple couple
of things that, you know, Kentucky has got to look
back on. In the seventh, I think it was they
had the bases loaded one out, and I think it
was Tyler Bell grounded into a double play, So they
missed a great opportunity there. And then in the ninth,
Simon Gergerson came in to pitch and he walked a
(02:20):
batter and hit a batter, and then he got one out,
and then he got a strikeout, and then he's got
against two strikes on the Vandy batter. I can't remember
who it was, but he hits a three run homer.
So Vandy gets three to win in the bottom of
the ninth off one hit, And those are the kinds
(02:41):
of things that you just can't do if you want to,
you know, win big games, advance in the postseason in particular,
which Kentucky's been playing, you know, much better baseball in
the second half of the season. So hopefully they can
bounce back from this. They'll play again tonight in Nashville
at seven Eastern, and then it'll be on the SEC
Network plus same tomorrow for a three Eastern wrap up
(03:03):
to the series in Nashville, and then next week's the
SEC Tournament. Darren Hedrick will have the call of all
of the action. But I was listening to Darren call
the final hopefully it was going to be the final
out in a Kentucky win last night, and you could
just feel the gut punch that he took when the
ball went out of the yard down in Nashville. So
(03:26):
hopefully Kentucky can bounce back from that tonight. They think
with what they did last weekend put themselves in a
great spot for the NCAA tournament bid. But you don't
want to cut those things too close. So this again
big missed opportunity last night. A couple more opportunities coming
up this weekend and then next week at the SEC
(03:46):
Tournament at the NBA Combine. We'll talk about this with
Ben in just a bit. But otega oways team and
Kobe Bray's team went up against each other and in
one of the scrimmages yesterday and both played well. Kobe
had sixteen four of eight from three five rebounds. Otaga
scored fourteen. He had five rebounds as well in a
(04:08):
couple of steals. So both showcased what they do best.
But see a story from Chris Fisher at katspaus dot
com and he talked to some of the twenty four
to seven sports representatives who are covering the Combine and
the consensus is that everybody feels Otega is coming back
(04:28):
to Kentucky, that he won't hear what he wants to
hear about being a first round draft pick. And one
of the analysts that Chris talked to compared Otaga's situation
to a just REGI what Chris writes to that of
Florida guard Walter Clayton Junior, who led the Gators to
the national championship after pulling out a last year's draft,
and he could have that kind of year two transferred jump.
(04:52):
According to the analyst that Chris talked to, Goy named
Isaac Trotter. So we will get into that with Ben
Roberts here in just a bit. Links to the stories
that we talk about each day you can find on
the bud Light Leach Report page at Tom Leitchky dot com.
Opening segment a whilecat News a service of Giuseppes of Lexington,
(05:14):
and they are at Giuseppes Lexington dot com. If you
want to see what the menu looks like, go to
Open Table to make your reservation for a night out
at Giuseppe sit in the lounge thery. If you can
get Dave Hall's live jazz music to a company your
meal every night, it really makes it extra special. But
the food is fantastic, so is the ambiance at Giuseppes.
We'll be right back with Ben Roberts on the Leech
(05:36):
Report presented by Bobcat Enterprises. Leach Report's presented by Bobcat
Enterprises with four locations here in Kentucky. When you need
to buy or rent a piece of heavy equipment for
a job site, or if you know somebody who does,
Bobcat Enterprises, just google them. You'll find the location that's
closest to you. Tractors, excavators, forklifts, et cetera. Zero turns for.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Your home too. With Bob KNT Enterprises joining us now.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
Is Ben Roberts on the Club Blue Nil dot com hotline.
You read him in the Lexington Herald Leader Kentucky sports
dot com where you're reading a lot of coverage about
the Kentucky guys at the NBA Combine this week. You're
still there, Ben.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
Yep, Yep.
Speaker 4 (06:17):
I know I'm still here, but I'm not not Chicago.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Came back last night.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Not in Chicago. Okay.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
The the latest story, Well, we'll start with the freshest
story that's on Kobe Brea that fans can go to
Kentucky sports dot com right now and read about as
he's projected as a second round pick uh and had
a more typical Kobe game and his second game up
at the combine yesterday, and you had a nice chat
(06:47):
with him about what his one year at Kentucky.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Meant to him. I guess just as a you.
Speaker 1 (06:53):
Know, individual, what it meant to him, and then also
it certainly meant a lot to him as a player.
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Yeah, I did.
Speaker 4 (07:00):
I mean, just starting as an individual, I think, you know,
I'm sure everybody heard what he said on the postgame
podium after the Tennessee game about, uh, he was keeping
his Kentucky jersey and.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
If anybody came to any equipment people.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Or anybody came to try to get it from him.
Speaker 3 (07:15):
They were gonna have some trouble.
Speaker 4 (07:17):
And asked him about that, and then he said.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
He did keep it, and it goes with them wherever
he goes.
Speaker 4 (07:23):
He's actually working with him to get a couple of
other jerseys, it sounds like from his time here, and
and wants to get them framed in a nice display
and wherever he settles, wants to wants to put that
on display there. So yeah, just throughout our conversation, just
talked about how much it meant to him, you know,
he he he.
Speaker 3 (07:44):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (07:46):
There were a couple of NBA folks who are are
big Kentucky fans. He was posing for pictures with them
and was just really eager to talk about Kentucky the
whole time he was up there. But yeah, from a
from a player's standpoint, you know, he was on draft
boards when he came from Dayton, even though everybody in
the country knew he could shoot the basketball. He did
at such a high level the previous season. But he
(08:09):
just really talked about and we talked about it.
Speaker 3 (08:11):
Throughout the season.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Obviously, the way he transformed into a better defender and
a better team defender, and something that I think really
helped Kentucky down the stretch and something he obviously took
a lot of pride in, and it was something he
said he's been hearing from these NBA teams that that's
something they wanted to see from him, and they saw
it from him, and he thought he'd put it on display,
(08:34):
especially that.
Speaker 3 (08:35):
First game of the Combine too, even when he wasn't
you well.
Speaker 1 (08:38):
Yeah, it's a probably a good lesson for young players
in a lot of sports in terms of what the
people at the next level that you aspire to get
to are looking at, and it is things about you know,
how hard are you working at you know, the things
you need to improve on. We know what your best is,
and you know that's that's interests us. But you you know,
(08:59):
we've got to be able to put you out on
the floor for a stretch where you don't give up
as many as you get. You know, in the case
of a guy like Kobe or you know, rebound you
get five rebounds yesterday, show as you can do a
few other things that so that we can put you
on the floor to take advantage of what you do best.
Speaker 3 (09:16):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
And it's a great example of kind of in this
nil era where you're seeing a lot more guys stick
around in college basketball. You know, in the past, I
feel like a guy like Kobe who's in his fifth
year of college, that guy might not get drafted. You know,
once you reached a certain age, it seemed like you
weren't going to get drafted, or you would jump too
early and not get drafted. With him, you know, I
(09:39):
talked to Jenai Broom for a long time.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
He's another good example.
Speaker 4 (09:42):
Of the guys who can really help their stock in
college just by by kind of working out other.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
Parts of their game.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
Mike Pratt used to talk about this in terms of
a phrase, do you want to visit the NBA or
do you want to stay in the NBA.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And too many guys guys.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
Visited the NBA in the because I think of you
for financial reasons, and now they don't have They aren't
his you know, pressured maybe to make that decision at
least in their own mind, and they do develop a
little more and give themselves a chance to stay in
the NBA.
Speaker 4 (10:20):
Yeah, And jan I Broom was a perfect example of that.
Speaker 3 (10:23):
You know.
Speaker 4 (10:23):
I talked to him at the combine two years ago
after his first season at Auburn, and he was kind
of on the fence then. And he told me Wednesday
when I was up there that if nil weren't a thing,
he almost certainly would have jumped two years ago.
Speaker 3 (10:38):
And he wasn't.
Speaker 4 (10:39):
Projected as a pick two years ago, and his game
then wasn't.
Speaker 3 (10:42):
Where it is now.
Speaker 4 (10:43):
Where I think now it's you know, he's still a
second round pick, but it's a lot better suited for
the NBA. What he learned over the last two years,
the way he was able to tweak some things at
this level, put him in a much better position to
stick with an NBA team. And that's a perfect segue
to otego because he basically said the same thing you
know he said. He said, there's nothing wrong with being
(11:06):
an undrafted rookie free.
Speaker 3 (11:08):
Agent, but that's not what he's gonna do. He's going
to be drafted.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
He's going to stay in the NBA and have a
long career in the NBA. And if that's not this year,
then it's not this year, and he's gonna come.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Back and work harder than ever.
Speaker 4 (11:20):
And he basically made a declarative statement that he's going
to be a first round pick next year if he
comes back to school.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
That's where we will pick up.
Speaker 1 (11:29):
When we come back with Ben Roberts from the Lexington
Herald Leader Kentucky Sports dot Com. We're coming to you
from the Clark's Pumping Shop studio. Return refresh and refuel
at Clarks and sign up for their new loyalty rewards
program too. We'll be right back with more from Ben.
It is the lead Triport and we are chatting with
Ben Roberts to the Lexington Herald Leader, Kentucky Sports dot Com.
(11:51):
Before we get back to Ben, let me play a
clip from Mark Pope's news conference earlier this week. And
he touched on a variety subjects, one of which is
how and why players that play for him make such
a big improvement in their second year.
Speaker 5 (12:06):
Our guys make a massive jump from year one to
year or two. Guys that kind of are in our deal.
You know, wherever I've coached, it's it's so fun. Year
two is so fun because year one is just this
on slide of learning decision making. As a broad brusher,
(12:27):
just overwhelmed with learning decision making. Learning decision making takes time, right,
learning dot to dot takes a little bit of time.
Learning how to make decisions takes a lot of time
and understand why and where and how and and and
and the skill set to actually do it. Second year
for me almost without failed. They they take massive leaps.
Speaker 1 (12:47):
So that was Mark Pope and Otega. Oh way, most
likely it feels will be one of those year two
guys for Mark Pope and Ben You were talking about
what Otega was saying this week about, you know what
is you know, commitment would be like I saw a
one story cam in yours or somewhere else about. You know.
One of the some of the feedback he got was that, Okay,
(13:08):
maybe get a little better shape. You're great as you are,
but how good could you be if you were in
even better shape. Pope talked about, you know, getting a
little quicker release on the shot, you know, and if
he does and he gets a little better shooting threes,
maybe he's up closer to forty percent from the three
point line. That kind of stuff is what would help
his game and what help Kentucky's team.
Speaker 6 (13:29):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (13:30):
Yeah, he Otega told me the conditioning was, which was
a little surprised to me, but there was something that
he heard from NBA teams that they noticed that he
seemed tired at the end of games, and they said
in some of those games he still produced at a
high level, the Oklahoma game probably being the best example
of that down in Norman. Yeah, but imagine if you're
not tired, you know what you can do in situations
(13:52):
like that. And he said, you know, when he gets
to that level, they see him as like a three
and D guy, a guy that's going to be maybe
guard at Jason Tatum, maybe some of these bigger wings,
and they want him to want, you know, a physical,
physical players, and they want him to be able to
be able to hold up to that grind throughout an
entire game, and he had the three point shooting. You know,
(14:16):
the rate was pretty good this past season, better than
some expected, I think. But yeah, just getting a little
just fine tuning that shot, getting it off a little quicker,
especially in Pope's offense the way they like to run
it could get him one a lot more shots and
maybe a little better accuracy. And then also playmaking is
another thing that both Pope Enoteka talked about, just making
(14:40):
better decisions when he you know, people know he can
get in the lane. It's a matter of making better
decisions and really reading defenses better and knowing what they're
doing to you.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
When you get down there.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
And that's something I thought he made a big jump
watching him at Oklahoma in the second year to t
Kentucky this past season. But it's something NBA teams have apparent.
They told him they want to see.
Speaker 1 (15:01):
More of, which is interesting because I know more than
once Mark Pope mentioned that and like a pre or
a postgame interview or one of the Monday night shows
that he thinks that Otega can be and I think
he would use the phrase elite level playmaker. And sometimes
you know, you think, Okay, coaches just trying to you know,
build up his player, give him confidence.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
It could be that kind of thing, or.
Speaker 1 (15:25):
Obviously in this situation, it's a student analysis because Otega's
here the same thing from the NBA folks exactly.
Speaker 6 (15:32):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
I mean, you know, we've seen him do it so
many times, but I'm reminded of Natoates. I believe it
was the SEC Tournament game when Alabama beat them, and
he just kind of talked about, you know, Lamn obviously
wasn't in that game, and Otega had one of his
worst games of the season, frankly, and he basically said
he just thought Alabama was a good matchup because they
had a lot of you know, bigger, longer, more physical
(15:54):
guys who could defend him. And you know, when you
make that next step, I feel like you're able to
make those plays against.
Speaker 3 (16:01):
Those type of guys.
Speaker 6 (16:03):
Uh.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
And you know here at Kentucky maybe by the SEC.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Tournament next year he is he is able to do that.
So yeah, there's and that's the thing with Otega is
you know, right now, maybe he's not drafted, but he's
the type of player where realistically, you know, you make
two or three tweaks to your game there, and he
could very well.
Speaker 3 (16:22):
Be a first round pick next season.
Speaker 4 (16:23):
I don't think that would surprise anybody, and you can't
say that about a lot of guys in his position.
Speaker 1 (16:28):
I feel like that's a great point, and this is,
you know, he's a good example, especially that that feedback, well,
the feedback about playmaker and the feedback about conditioning getting
in even better shape.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
That's the kind of that's.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
The the good part of players being able to go
through this process. There's a risk, as you know, if
you're the coach that's coaching them in college, you could
lose them. But h in you know, in this scenario,
looks like Otega will come back with a great degree
of motivation and couple of you know, things to work on.
Speaker 4 (17:03):
Yeah, and I remember talking to Antonio Reeves throughout this
process a couple of years ago, and I think it's
obviously different players, but a good parallel. And Kentucky almost
loft from that off season. But when he came back,
you know, some of the key things that those NBA
teams told him.
Speaker 3 (17:17):
To work on. One was mainly his defense.
Speaker 6 (17:20):
I thought, you know, he.
Speaker 4 (17:21):
Was such he was a much better, much more efficient,
much more all around player that second season, and you know,
put himself in a position to be drafted where he
wasn't going to be drafted here before. So I think
Otaga could follow a similar path with with probably an
even higher degree of upside.
Speaker 1 (17:39):
You can read Ben's story about Kobe Braa and the
one earlier about take Away at Kentucky sports dot com
and in the pages of the Lexington Herald Leader. Uh
and Ben, thank.
Speaker 2 (17:50):
You very much.
Speaker 3 (17:51):
Yep, thanks a lot of Tom.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
It's Ben Roberts joining us here on the Club Blue
nil dot com hotline.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
We'll be right back with Dick Girardi.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
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making the hemp crup grow strong, so that's good for
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(18:21):
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(18:41):
checkout at Cornbreadthamp dot com. It's the code Tom twenty
percent off your first order corn Bread Hemp. This is
the Good Life. Joining us now Dick Girardi and he
comes to his courtesy of Betonline dot AG. But a
long time writer covering sports, racing and more for the
Philadulphi Daily News and it's part of the team that
(19:03):
puts together the Buyer speed figures that Andy Bayer devised
and Dick. Before we get into talking a little bit
about the Preus, let me touch on a few other subjects,
one different from horse racing. I mean, being there in
Philly covered the Sixers. I'm sure at times when I
was growing up, the NBA game on Sunday afternoon was
(19:25):
every week. It seemed like it was either Nick Celtics,
Celtics sixers or Nick sixers. And we've got Nix and
Celtics tonight at Madison Square Garden. If I had won
the lottery, a couple of weeks ago here in Kentucky
and all that money, I'd be at court side tonight
for that one.
Speaker 2 (19:41):
That will be a crazy atmosphere for Game six.
Speaker 6 (19:45):
No question. I wish I was at the garden tonight, Tom.
That will be a wild seat. With the Knicks having
a chance to get to the Conference files, it's hard
to believe for the first time at a quarter century.
But yeah, it's just crazy me. I don't know what's
up with the six. Are they in the playoffs?
Speaker 1 (20:01):
But I saw them show up in the draft lottery
the show the other night.
Speaker 6 (20:05):
Yeah, there you go, Yeah they got they got the
third pick. I don't look, I don't know what's going
to happen after the first pick. We all know that's
going to be. But yeah, it's one of those years.
If you've got the first pick, you feel like you
hit a gold mine. But after that, who knows? To
be determined?
Speaker 1 (20:20):
Yes, And and that kind of segues a little bit
into the pregnus. I saw Randy Moss of NBC doing
a social media feature yesterday and he said, you know,
if it's not journalism, then there's several horses you can
see winning. So you know, you said if after Cooper Flag,
(20:40):
there's a lot of maybe candidates for the second pick
after If not Journalism, then it's it could be a
very wide open Preakness. But is it a one horse
race in your mind?
Speaker 6 (20:51):
I think it's going to be difficult for any of
these horses to beat him Tom. But the one horse
that does intrigue me is the eight Clever again. His
last number the one oh one, and Randy Moss does
He actually does the buyer figures for us at Oakland Park,
and I was at the dinner with him last night
and we're all convinced that's a good number. If he
(21:12):
can come back to that, that certainly makes him a contender.
The question is what happens if he's not loosing the lead.
I think he is going to be loose in the lead.
I think he's the fastest early, so I think if
there's an upset chance, I would say it'd be Clever again,
who races for. Steve Asmussen has won the Preakness twice
with two pretty good horses, Curl and then Rachel Alexander.
Speaker 1 (21:34):
The last three buyer speed figures for Journalism or one
O two of the Derby one O two in the
Santa Anita Derby and one O eight in the prep
for the for the Sanita Derby. I think was the
Lewis so three consecutive one hundred or you know plus
buyer figures is clever again the only other horse in
the race that has a triple digit buyer.
Speaker 6 (21:54):
That is correct. But interestingly enough, yeah, inside the buyer team,
we call what journalism has done omnifix. When the last
three figures of one horse are all better than any
figure any horse in the race is done, that's about
a ninety percent when so this is about as good
(22:15):
a chance as you'll get on the numbers as back
a horse like journalists.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
To me, and I've seen some interviews with Michael McCarthy,
the trainer this week where he thought it was more
the trip than the mud that compromised journalism, and I
thought he was exactly right in that, because when you
watch the replay going through the stretch the first time
Bafford's horse takes a right turn out of the gate
and knocks out you know, or compromises several of them,
(22:43):
Lucas's horse being won and journalism gets banged around, he
wouldn't as much compromised by the Bafford horse. Maybe it's
just got bounced around with kind of like a pinball.
He actually ends up behind Burnham Square, which I don't
think anybody would have predicted, and is the horse is
kind of throwing his head a little bit fighting recently,
and he got him to settle and got him into
(23:04):
a good spot and he made his run and maybe
some of what the energy he expended in the first
eighth of a mile maybe left him a little short
of having enough to fight off sovereignty and deep stretch. It's,
you know, possible, but anyway, I could see him improving
tremendously off that.
Speaker 6 (23:21):
Yeah, that's exactly my theory on the race. That first
hundred yards changed the position of the race. He's behind
Burnham Square, He's found a couple other horses. We're talking journalism.
They never would have envisioned it being by I know
him talking to Michael the week of the derby. He
was hoping to be say like fifth or six coming
out of the first term. Maybe what five lengths awfully
(23:43):
insteady is tense And you're right he did have to
use some energy early. When you go back and watch
that replay, and yeah, maybe that caught up with him
in the last hundred yards when he got passed by Sovereignty.
So yeah, I don't know what the track is going
to be like tomorrow time, because the weather forecast keeps changing.
I mean, it's been raining in Baltimore most of the week,
like it is all over the East coast. But if
(24:05):
he can get a dry track and a reasonably clean trip,
I just think there's no ways getting beatn this race again,
unless the eight is way better than even his last
race was. We're talking clever again. I just think he's
faster than all the rest of the horses. And yeah,
I do think he was compromised by those first hundred yards.
Speaker 1 (24:22):
If I can get journalism to just break for the
gates smoothly, I'm gonna feel good about making one of
the best bets ever. Because but so we're at the
previnous future odds on derby day. Then the pool closed
a half hour or so before the derby, and he's
sitting there at five to one, and I thought we'll
go down, And finally at five to six he hadn't
(24:45):
gone down, and I thought, well, I think he's going
to win the Derby, and I think he can win
it by open links, and if he does, he ain't
gonna be five to one into pregnous. So I took
a little of that and so I don't have to
bet the pregnance.
Speaker 6 (24:56):
Now that's awesome. D You got five to one on
a horse that, in my opinion, should be six to five. Now,
I don't know what he'll be because these as we
found out in the Derby, and it happens every year
in these Triple Crown races, the wind pools have very
little to do with the rest of the pools because
there's all this other money in there. But yeah, he
should be six to five even money, yet five to
one as a hell of a thing. Good luck to you.
Speaker 1 (25:18):
I love Dick Girardi with us courtesy off Betonline dot
ag our A Triple Crown coverage again this spring is
presented by Claybourne Farm here on the Leech Report, doing
the usual, unusually well for more than a century. And
we'll come back and talk a little bit more with
Dick Girardi here on the Leech Report Radio Network a
quarter before the top of the hour, and we are
(25:39):
presented each day by Bobcat Enterprises here on the Leech
Report and We are chatting with Dick Girardi.
Speaker 2 (25:45):
He comes to us from.
Speaker 1 (25:47):
Bet online dot ag and they always have some interesting
prop bets for the Triple Crown races. And what's the
one or two that you would be most intrigued by
a bet online dot ag this time, Dick, Yeah.
Speaker 6 (26:03):
Same one I liked in the derby time the winning
margin over under a length and a half. I'm gonna
go over and look, journalism runs his best race. He's
gonna win by a bunch. You and I are both
obviously hoping for that. It's interesting in the derby that
ended up being a push because Sovereignty did win exactly
a length and a half. Uh. This is a crazy
prop that they put out this time at bed online.
(26:27):
Will a Preakness runner poop on the track?
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Just look?
Speaker 6 (26:34):
And this did happen during the derby, As they point
out on the prop, yes is plus one ten, No
is minus one fifty. I'm not sure who the arbiter
of this is, but it is prequel.
Speaker 1 (26:45):
If you if you're betting on that, you might want
to seek a little help after the race the next week.
Speaker 6 (26:52):
You need you need a you need a but you
know it comes to talk to Tom and I love.
Speaker 1 (26:57):
Bed home Line dot ag. Before we get back to
the Preakness weekend and maybe some other good spots to
make a little money, we ask you about a couple
of other things. The debate is fired up again about
the spacing of the Triple Crown races with the decision
by the Sovereignty camp to skip the Preakness in point
(27:18):
for the Belmont Stakes journalism, the Derby runner up is
here in the second leg. What you know, You've covered
this sport a long time. What would your take be
on that debate?
Speaker 6 (27:30):
Yeah, I'm in favor of the Preakness like four weeks
and then the Belmont four weeks after that. But obviously
it doesn't matter what I'm in favor of. We've got
to get these racetracks to everything. The Derby's not going anywhere.
That's going to be on the first Saturday May. I
think time to think to look for here the Preakness
with NBC. Their telecast rights end after next year's Freakness,
(27:52):
which will be at Laurel Park while Pemico is being rebuilt.
So I think there's some discussion that Fox would like
to get involved in the previous NBC's got a long
term contract with Churchill that Derby's not going anywhere. If
that happens, let's say Fox gets it, then I think
there's a real good chance they'll move to Belmont because
let's feel, in reality, the Preakness is not worth nearly
(28:14):
as much without the Derby winner, and the Belmont is
not worth nearly as much without a potential triple pram,
and this year we had neither. So I think there
just had There's got to be a way to figure
this out. Whether NBC can't be thrilled either, right not
having the Derby winner in the previews, that's going to
hurt their ratings, But I think ultimately it's probably the
(28:35):
TV rights people. And as these two racetracks Belmont Park
Versus also going to reopen in twenty twenty seven, I
think maybe by the time there's two tracks reopen, we
can find a way to move this schedule out so
we get all the best sources all these three.
Speaker 1 (28:48):
That's that the way you in case even laid out,
makes a lot of sense. Now the other version, this
was my bold stroke. If NBC wants to keep the Preakness,
put the pre you say you're going put the Preakness
in July. Yep, that'll either move the Belmont or you
could just make it the third.
Speaker 6 (29:04):
Leg one percent. Yeah, I did think of that. Also. Again,
you want to make yourself as valuable as you possibly can.
And the state of Maryland is putting a lot of
money into refer that just I mean rebuilding Pimlica. They're
going to knock the old place down, so yeah, and
that's their most valuable property. That's why they're doing it.
(29:25):
So yeah, you got to find a way to make
these are the three we know this, these are the
three biggest races in the sport. You got to find
a way to make them as valuable as possible. The
Derby has already done it. I mean, they can't be
any more valuable than they already are down there, But yeah,
something needs to be done there.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
I go back and forth on the debate just in
my own mind sometimes, but yeah, you look at other sports.
Look at golf. They're playing the second major this weekend,
the PGA Championship down in Charlotte that used to be
in August.
Speaker 6 (29:51):
Yep. Yeah, and think of that golf too. They've they realized, look,
we can't compete with the NFL, So their tour championship
is over before the NFL season even starts. So you
got to think about, you know, who are you competing with?
What do you try to do? We have a DH
and baseball. We have a three point shot in basketball.
Things change, the sport has changed. Trainers like Bill Mott
(30:12):
and the number of others don't run their horses back
in two weeks. Let's adapt to the changing environment.
Speaker 1 (30:18):
With Dick Girardi from Betonline dot ag, longtime sports writer
for the Philadelphia Daily News, where he covered racing in
all kinds of sports, And let's talk a little bit
about the rest of Preakness weekend today or tomorrow. We've
talked about the Preakness. We both like journalism. Clever again's
maybe the right horse for the exacta.
Speaker 6 (30:38):
Right, Yeah, I'm gonna two eight. It's going to be
my main one, certainly, Baffer. It's not without a chance.
With the goal oriented. I don't think we really don't
have the shit.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Yeah, just two starts, the most recent one being on
the Derby Day undercard. So there's a lot of other
stakes races today and tomorrow at Pimlico. Is there a
good chance to make money anywhere else.
Speaker 6 (30:59):
Yeah, yeah, I'm going to I like the twelfth race
tomorrow time, the Dinner Party stakes. I like the sixth Ballnakoff.
Now he won this race last year. It was a
ridiculously soft course. They went to half at fifty two
and three quarters at one eighteen. I don't think it's
going to be that soft. But certainly this course has
taken a lot of brain this week and race off
(31:21):
the layoff is kind of a strange ride that day.
I think he's better than that. He's listed at ninety two,
he gets flabby and pratt for the first time. Good race,
I mean really good race. Trickery's in it, and he's
going to be the horse to beat the thirteen. But yeah,
I like the six Bollnakoff a little bit in race
twelve tomorrow.
Speaker 1 (31:38):
So there's a chance to hit a little maybe daily
double into the Preakness with one hundred percent cooff in journalism.
Speaker 6 (31:45):
Yeah, a little sixty two action.
Speaker 1 (31:47):
Yep, there you go, and ad a little savor with
clever again. Mentioned you've covered a lot of college basketball
over the years. Uh, this house settlement we keep hearing
is to happening. But will will that solve the issues
facing college basketball, or do they need something from Congress
(32:08):
as well.
Speaker 6 (32:11):
It's just chaos, tom right, I mean, you never know
who the rosters are anymore. It's just it's wild. Look,
I've been in favor for a long time. When the
players get packed, I just think there's got to be
some rational way to do this that makes the field
somewhat reasonable where you can retain your players. I mean,
(32:33):
I don't know how coaches even coach anymore. Like I'm
thinking of back the Jay Ray Vildova te's right where
he had guys for three and four years and with
red shirty people, that's not gonna happen again. So yeah,
I don't know. Maybe Congress has to do something, but
this is not I don't know that. This seems a
little untenable to me. What we're doing right now.
Speaker 2 (32:52):
We've just made one and done older.
Speaker 6 (32:55):
Exactly exactly right one and done to the next school
that it's the NBA. Yeah, and again, I really like
the fact that the players have some power now, But
I just didn't think it would be quite like this.
But they he can hang out on the NCAA and
they had every chance to enact decent legislation to make
sense of this. But they never believe the players were
(33:17):
going to get paid, so they just said, well, they're
never going to get paid. Well, actually they are, as
it turned out.
Speaker 1 (33:22):
Yes they are, and they're getting if the settlement comes
through back pay too.
Speaker 6 (33:28):
Yes they are. They're being paid when the best players
are being paid well. And look, that's that's our system.
I know people that like you and I either grew
up with the different way the way it was and
loved watching players for four and five years. But we're
going to have to adapt and we are adapting, so
just get used to it. But yeah, I mean, coach
Pope and down there, I mean did a phenomenal job
(33:48):
this year in his first first year at UK. And
I guess some of the players are coming back out time,
you know better than me, But yeah, a who lot
of new ones too.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
Well, they've got three for sure. They're kind of hanging
in the balance on O way.
Speaker 1 (34:01):
But it looks like he will be back as well,
So he's the last fish to land. Dick Girardi, thank
you so much. Enjoy the racing, you gotta thank He'll
likely be back with us on Belmont weekend as well.
Beat online dot ag is who He's providing the opportunity
for us to visit with Dick Girardi on these big
(34:23):
days of racing. The LPGA Legends are coming to Woodford
County next month. These are some of the top players
in LPGA tour history, Julie Inkster, Pat Bradley, Laura Davies
and others. You can get your tickets at Woodford Clubfoundation
dot org for the Woodford Legends Invitational Saturday June seventh
and Sunday June eighth. Tickets are just fifteen dollars a day.
(34:46):
Kids seventeen and underget in free. KVC Kentucky benefits from
the proceeds of this event.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
We'll be right back with.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
Our final segment of the Leach Report, presented by Bobcat
Enterprises Stay while Cat History is presented by Kentucky wrote
show sports Cards and Memorabilia Romney Road in Lexington Roadshowcards
dot com. They say in two thousand and seven Patrick
Patterson signed to be a Kentucky Wildcat and went on
to have a great career here at UK, playing for
(35:15):
Coach Gillespie and coach Cal Kentucky's in the final five
for twenty twenty six wide receiver Justin Williams. He's going
to visit in a couple of weeks. Florida, Missouri, Florida State,
Indiana are the others in the final five season ticket
sales down for a UK football. John Hale had that
story in the Herald Leader this week. Not a surprise
(35:36):
we've talked to al fans are kind of in that
show me mode. I think if they start fast, tickets
will will sell really fast, especially in October when Texas
and Tennessee come to town. So that first month is going
to be very important for a lot of reasons for
the upcoming Kentucky football season. Club Blues the official fundraising
(35:57):
partner at UK, and they are introducing Club Blue Kids.
It's the ultimate club for young Wildcat fans. Go to
Club blueinil dot com, click on the kids tab and
you can register your young person. They'll get a T
shirt and a membership card and a lanyard, but also
access to exclusive events, meet and greets, athlete experiences and more.
Some big things are coming soon, So get signed up
(36:19):
at Club blueinil dot com for Club Blue Kids, where
future Wildcats wrap the blue with pride. We were talking
about the weather up in Baltimore for Preakness weekend.
Speaker 2 (36:32):
After today.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
I was looking at the site for WBAL TV station
there in Baltimore. They have it under fifty percent rain
and dropping throughout the day after twelve o'clock today and
then twenty percent or less all day tomorrow. So if
you're a racing fan, maybe we'll get a little bit
of decent weather for the Preakness. Big sports weekend. You've
got Preakness Day up in Baltimore, You've got the PGA
(36:55):
Championship playing out down in Charlotte. UK baseball with big
games against Andy tonight and tomorrow afternoon. Darren Heddrick will
have the call in the UK Radio Network on those,
So enjoy all the sports and we'll be back here
on Monday to talk about it.
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