2025-06-09 - BBI

Thoughts on the House settlement; Mark Pope and Otegah Oweh re-live the moment the player returned to the fold; (11:00) UK hoops recruiting update; (20:00) Rick Bozich of Fox 41 WDRB in Louisville; (39:00) Jeff Drummond of Cats Illustrated; (59:00) Colby Wilson from Fox 45 WDKY and first -- try a little tenderness...

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're just going to BEBA.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
It is.

Speaker 3 (00:02):
Let's Bebia, but it's me too.

Speaker 4 (00:03):
Actually, no place I'd rather be. Welcome to The Big
Blue and Sider. Dicadrill with you on a Monday edition
of our program. Yep, that was otega Oway and Mark Pope.
As we lead things here on the Monday edition of
The Big Blue Insider. You start off with Kentucky basketball
whenever you can, or Kentucky football. It is that time
of year when talk show hosts and writers are looking

(00:25):
for things to talk about. No shortage of topics tonight
because not just of Kentucky football and basketball, a little
recruiting news coming up as well, College World Series stuff
the NBA. A former wildcatch shay Gilges Alexander had a
huge game last night. We're coming off the Belmont Aaron
Rodgers has signed. He's a Steeler if you care. But yeah,

(00:48):
there's still stuff to talk about, no question about it.
But we needed to start off first of all by
talking about the House settlement. Finally, finally it came through.
Now colleges have to set about deciding on and dealing
with the impact on athletics. The California judge Claudia Wilkins

(01:09):
Friday made the move that has changed the landscape of
college athletics arguably forever. Well, it's always going to be changing,
but now the schools have the freedom to pay athletes
directly a total of two point eight billion in NIL
back pay dating back to twenty sixteen. There are new

(01:33):
roster rules, there's a new enforcement arm that will include
a clearing house for future NIL agreements of six hundred
dollars or more. Mitch Barnhart releasing a statement over the weekend.
You may have seen that, but what this has done
basically is provide some of the guide rules that college administrators,

(01:55):
including Barnhart, have been craving. There are all kinds of
and whispers when this first started that and again I'm
not trying to carry the guy's water, but I've spoken
to the man about this kind of thing. Barnhardt was
accused of dragging his feet, trying to subvert NIL deals,

(02:16):
trying to keep people from getting what was coming to
them in the early days. And I've mentioned this before.
I was on a panel discussion show they threw together
over at k ET. I'm hundred enough that they asked
me to come in, not just because I don't live
too far away, but they've asked me to come. I've
been around for a little while, and you know, I
basically in one situation I deferred to Mitch about the

(02:42):
fact that getting schools to pull together in the same
direction is like hurting cats when it comes to the NCAA.
And when it comes to this sort of thing, you've
got a hundred plus schools playing D one football, You've
got three hundred plus schools I believe it is playing
D one basketball. Everybody has a different mission, So how

(03:05):
do you get everybody going in the right direction? And
what he didn't bring up, and I couldn't really get
into it that much because at the time it wasn't
as pronounced, but it sure became pronounced leadership from the
top of the NCAA. Again, the nca is the members institutions.
It's all the membership, but somebody at the top has

(03:25):
to organize stuff. And they were getting some of the
worst leadership at the top in the history of the
NCAA at the time. Well, now, thanks to what went
to court, they've all had to pull together and they
all have to, as Mitch says, navigate these challenges responsibly. Meanwhile,

(03:49):
maintaining high standards and support of varsity sports. Right so,
the College Sports Commission will oversee the process. It will
facilitate revenue sharing and ensure the name, image and likeness
deals between student athletes and third parties are fair and
comply with the rules. Nothing is going to be equal.
We know this, but they're looking for it to be equitable.

(04:10):
It's got to be fair the process for everybody. But
here is what you know, and here is what I know. Yeah,
there are going to be rules in place, and all
the same people to scream about society going to hell
in a handcard because there's no respect for law and order.
A lot of a lot of those people turn a

(04:32):
blind eye or encourage you to turn a blind eye
to rules governing this that, including the NCAA, And it's
all these rules are so stupid. Well yeah, some of
them are. But you know why they're there because the
rule book was the size it became because so many
people out there are dreaming up ways to cheat. And

(04:53):
right now with this new process in place, with the
CSC in place, with the new basically commissioner in place,
there are people well right now, I promise you trying
to figure out ways to cheat, and you know, well,
if you're not cheating, you're not trying. That's garbage. Yeah,
that's Look. I know you can wink at things that
happened in a NASCAR race, But if your kid was

(05:15):
playing on a team, and I hear from parents, I've
heard from parents my entire career. If your kid was
playing on a team against the team that routinely beat them,
and you know they were cheating somehow, yeah, you'd be
pretty upset about it. And it's happened. And look, you
know the stuff about well it used to be against
the rules to put cream cheese on a bagel for kid. Yeah,
that sort of stuff got ridiculous. And I couldn't believe

(05:37):
that that committee members who put the rules together sat
in a room and what they did was came up
at broad rules and then you know, well what about this?
Could you put peanut butter? Could you've been cheating? You
know all that kind of stuff. No, I'm amazed that
got that. That's stupid. But as I learned when I
worked in the old Southwest Conference for those communications, the

(05:58):
reason those rules are in those rule books is because
there were people out there dreaming up new ways to cheat,
and I don't mean putting cream cheese on a bagel. Remember,
Southwest Conference was the most corrupt conference by the time
it disbanded in the history of college athletics. SEC wasn't
too far behind before Mike's Live got there. And I

(06:20):
just got so sick of hearing that all the rules
were so hard to follow. No, they're not. And I
told the story before. David Kwood, Harlan product was the
number of two or three man at the NCAB by
the time he retired, came to work with us at
those communications, and once told me because I complained to
him one day, I said, Dave Man, that rule book
is three inches thick. He said, the rules that get

(06:43):
programs in trouble cover about twelve pages. I'm like balls,
he said no. I said, what's all that other stuff?
He said, Oh, it's stuff about transfers and red tape
and things like that. But he said, the rules that
get you in trouble cover about twelve pages. And he
suggested that the NCAA that they pull those twelve pages,
make a pamphlet out of it. Still give the schools

(07:04):
the big book, but make pamphlets and say have your
coaches carry every one of your recruiters should have this
in their back pocket. And it was a great idea,
and they turned it down. The NSAY turned it down.
I said, why, well, because they said, somebody somewhere is
going to break a rule that's not in the pamphlet.
And then they'll say, well, you didn't tell us weird

(07:25):
to worry about that rule, which to me is nonsense.
But that's just the way that they were thinking at
the time. So anyhow, I want to see how this
all shakes out with the House settlement, with the new
basically commissioner, and the way the money's doled out. But
I do worry about all these regional institutions because when

(07:47):
they start shutting down programs, and they will, it's already started,
that's going to mean opportunities for men and women that
they might have had to go to a D one
school now they're not going to have them. Maybe they
can go D two or three, maybe they go JUCO,
get partial scholaris or whatever. But some kids just talking
to be able to afford to go to school. And

(08:09):
I know, you know, you have a tendency to think,
or at least too many people in my line of
work look at college words, odd's just grooming ground for
the pros. One percent, maybe two percent of the kids
competing in college athletics top to bottom men and women
D one to D three two percent go pro. You
talk about the tail wagon the dog. When these idiots

(08:31):
think like that, it's just about going to the pros,
shut up. And I know I'm terribly biased because I
cover baseball, volleyball, women's sports, and some of the folks
who helicopter in and cover the college well series of
the bowl games or whatever, and they look at it
simply as minor league sports. Totally wrong, totally wrong. Go

(08:55):
a little deeper and you'll find out all right before
the break, we'll come back to We'll take all away,
Mark Pope. This was a clip on the UK Sports
Network social media accounts, Oh take it Away at one
of the Mark Pope satellite camps, asking his coach is
once in future coach now that he's back, to recreate

(09:18):
the moment that Pope heard that otakea Oway was returning
to the Wildcats.

Speaker 5 (09:23):
Do you want me.

Speaker 4 (09:25):
O good? So, first of all, I was on a plane.

Speaker 3 (09:30):
I was on a plane and I don't understand why
or how, but the call actually came through.

Speaker 5 (09:36):
And so take a call mean and he said.

Speaker 1 (09:39):
Coach, let's do this.

Speaker 4 (09:42):
I'm coming back, And I was looking around.

Speaker 1 (09:46):
I'm like, I think the pilot.

Speaker 4 (09:47):
Is about to throw me out the plane right now.

Speaker 1 (09:49):
So I was like, oh, Tega, I gotta call you
back later. We just hold that on. Fifteen minutes later,
called him back. He says, come back. Tears were to
up my face.

Speaker 6 (10:05):
Yeah, I mean, it's a lot because I knew.

Speaker 3 (10:08):
I knew a couple of things.

Speaker 6 (10:10):
One I knew I know how how.

Speaker 3 (10:14):
Excited you are and how much you want to go
play in that league. I know it's a dream of lifetime.
I know it's super humbling to see you. One understand
how much you watch it get better, how committed you
are to keep getting better. And second thing was to
see how much you understand I appreciate what you have
right now. That's special stuff.

Speaker 4 (10:36):
Man, Yes, sir, better but hold on.

Speaker 1 (10:39):
Hey, And he's been hiped.

Speaker 3 (10:40):
He was super hiped all the way until he heard
about the conditioning.

Speaker 5 (10:43):
Test on the first day summer workouts.

Speaker 3 (10:45):
And then it was like, whoa coach, Maybe I need
to go back to this journey West, y'all.

Speaker 4 (10:49):
Go see that when there's gonna be times at so
take it all away along with Mark Pope, Curtis City,
UK Sports Networking. As he said, you heard it off
the top. Always said there's no place I would rather
be and there there's no fan base that is happier
about that than the Big Boe Nation. We'll come back
with more of the Big Boon Insider coming up a
little bit later on in the show. Rick Bose, it's

(11:09):
from WDRB TV. We'll talk to him about the House settlement.
And Kobe Wilson from Fox fifty six that's ahead on
six thirty WLAP. Welcome back to the Big Blue Insider.
Dick Abriel with you coming up a little bit later
on Rick Bose, it's from Fox fifty six WDRB. I'll
tell you what surprise today on Twitter. I guess we
shouldn't be when you add up to years. But John

(11:31):
Clay announcing his retirement. You might have seen it earlier today.
I talked about it with Tom Leach on the Leach
Report earlier this morning. I had reached out to John
over the weekend to see if he could come on
and talk about the House settlement and other things. But
he said I can't today, I can do it tomorrow.
I don't know if that's because he's filling out paperwork
all day or whatever, or just at another commitment, obviously,

(11:54):
but John's gonna come on tomorrow, so we'll talk not
just about the matters of the day, but about his career.
And it's been a great one at the Herald Leader.
Came from the Kentucky Colonel as I did, and worked
his way up and he's done a really nice job.
So congrats to John. Not the only headline out there,
of course. Quick note on UK basketball recruiting. David Sisk

(12:17):
of Cats Illustrated, part of the Rivals Network, is reporting
that Turan Stokes is making a visit to UK. He
attends Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. A
consensus five star recruit and the top ranked player in
the class of twenty twenty six. He is from Louisville

(12:40):
but prepping in California, so well, we'll see if that helps.
But if a kid's prepping in California, then he is
used to being away from home, so he could wind
up anywhere. But on the Cats Illustrated site earlier today,
David Sisk who was a friend of the show reporting
that's Turan Stokes is currently on an official visit to

(13:03):
UK and was going to come last month but had
to reschedule. You know, when we talk about the House settlement,
you've got to talk about schools that just can't afford
to keep all of its sports programs. And you've already
seen one D one school perdue Fort Wayne announced the
discontinuation of baseball and softball. How about that because it's

(13:30):
going to save the school a million dollars and the
school itself, the entire university is looking at six million
in budget cuts. So it's a D one school dropping
sports and that's not directly related to the House settlement,
but it is indirectly, So brace yourself for more of

(13:55):
the same. Murray State will play for a spot in
the College World Series tonight down at Duke. Racers destroyed
the Blue Devils yesterday and forced a game three. It
will not be a College World Series that is overwhelmingly
sec acc but there is a lot of that because

(14:18):
LSU won eliminating West Virginia in two games. Arkansas beat
defending champion Tennessee in two games, four to three and
eleven to four. But that's it because Coastal Carolina jumped
up the thirteen seed and eliminated Auburn the number four seed,
in two games at Auburn, acc lost a spot when

(14:41):
at home. North Carolina lost in Game three to Arizona
four to three. Carolina had a three to two lead
in the eighth couple innings away from Omaha, bullpen collapsed,
Arizona wins. Another team from the West, Oregon State beat
a good Florida State team in Tallahassee. I'm sorry in
Corvallis in game three. So Oregon State the same program,

(15:05):
not same team, different team, same program that lost to
Kentucky in the Super Regionals here in Lexion last year.
Going back to Omaha. UCLA going back for the first
time in ten or eleven years, won the title in
thirteen beat the Cinderella team, well one of them, Moury
State's the other Texas San Antonio in two games. So

(15:27):
the Bruins move on and the Louisville Cardinals win in
Game three yesterday afternoon against Miami, which had the tying
and go ahead run on base in the ninth inning
and two guys struck out another guy to fly ball
and Louisville goes back to the College World Series NBA Playoffs.

(15:50):
You know this, Sey Gilgess Alexander is the MVP, and
he played that way last night. Oklahoma City, which blew
the first game against the Pacers, came outmped all over
Indiana early and beat the daylights out of the Pacers.
So now they head back to Indianapolis. But the series
is tied. But SGA thirty four points and didn't need

(16:12):
a million shots to get there. He had thirty eight
in the lost Thursday, but needed thirty shots to get there,
but only three assists. But last night, eleven of twenty
one from the floor. He had all of his points
via his driving is dribbling. They all came in the
paint or from mid range, but then he would fan
it out. He had seven or eight assists and six

(16:34):
of them led to three pointers by his teammates. So
SGA back at it, and he's the reason that Oklahoma
City was picked, the biggest reason. But Pacers beat him
up and ground him down in game one, So we'll
see if they'll try to do the same in game two.
In Game three, which happens Wednesday eight thirty start time,

(16:59):
and if you're interested. Tickets are going for as low
as six hundred and twenty three dollars. Okaysee is favored
by five and a half. On Wednesday night. Hope you
got a chance to see the Belmont Stakes over the weekend.
Sovereignty wins it over journalism by aza was third, same
finish in the Kentucky Derby, and once again journalism on

(17:20):
the lead as they turned for home. Sovereignty was sitting
right there, sitting chilly as they say, and overcomes journalism
and wins going away, wins by three lengths. I had
it simply because my buddy and I talked to Kenny McPeak.
You might have heard our interview with him on the
Big Blue Insider, Well Off Mike. He predicted and it

(17:41):
wasn't off the record because Kenny's got his own podcast.
He picked sovereignty to win the Kentucky Derby on his podcast,
and he picked sovereignty, and he picked sovereignty to win
the Bellmont. He told us he would win by four.
I think when one by three and so now what
a great rivalry developing between sovereignty and journalism. Clearly the

(18:02):
best two to three year olds in America and most
experts said, well, if he wins the Belmont, that stamps
Sovereignty as the champion three year old. Well they may
race again later in the fall. But I got to
thinking about this after the race. Yeah, Sovereignty won two
of the three legs of the Kentucky Derby. Journalism made

(18:26):
that great move in the Preakness and came through traffic
in one and had to head. Yes, Sovereignty has beaten
Journalism twice. But and as you know, Seignty didn't run
in the Preakness. But you know, if Sovereignty loses to
Journalism later this year, you could make the great case

(18:49):
for Journalism simply because he was the only horse to
race in all three legs at a triple crown and
finish first or second. So if he wins over Sovereignty
sometime in the fall, I'll bang a drum for journalism,
not just because that's been my profession through the years,

(19:09):
but you could make that argument. It would be fantastic.
It would have to take ahead to head win, but
it would make for really a great debate among those
of us who love throwbread racing. One other note before
we hit the brake, Aaron Rodgers is now a Steeler
that became official over the weekend. Adam Schefter of ESPN

(19:33):
recently reported that Rogers was the third choice for the Steelers.
How about that? If this is true, and I have
no reason to doubt it, because so much of these
stories were out there swirling, but the Steelers evidently, and
I think what Shifter's good at is kind of throwing
a net over everything that's out there. I don't know

(19:55):
how many times he personally breaks stories, but ESPN always
puts Schefter report, well, sometimes other people have reported. At
first anyhow Matthew Stafford was out there and the Steelers
wanted him, couldn't get him. Then they tried to re
sign Justin Fields. He took a better deal with the Jets,

(20:15):
ironically enough, which left the Steelers with Mason Rudolph and
they wanted more and they got it theoretically for Aaron Rodgers.
So the former Packer led my team to five conference
championship games but only one Super Bowl is now going
to be wearing the Steelers gold and black. We're backing

(20:38):
them in with Rick Bosic on six thirty WLAP Welcome
back to the Big Bluinsider joining us on our celebrity Hotlines,
A longtime friend of the show. He is Rick Bosich,
anchor reporter for Fox forty one WDRB in Louisville, and
so much to talk about right now. Believe it, it's June, Rick,
which used to be kind of a dead zone in sports.

(21:01):
But first of all, this house settlement has shaken college
athletics to its core. We know it was coming, but
it's it's dramatically and drastically changing the face of college athletics.
How do you think it's going to impact right away?
What do you think is going to be the immediate
impact of this thing? Have you do you even have

(21:22):
any idea?

Speaker 5 (21:26):
And I don't think any of us really have any idea,
and even some administrators that I've talked to don't have
any idea. I think we're going to see more separation
from the you know, the top level schools, like the
schools in the SEC and the Big Ten, especially from
the rest of college sports. I worry about mid majors,

(21:47):
I worry about low majors. I worry about, you know,
the non revenue sports and what's going to happen to them.
We've heard all the stories that at different schools where
they'll be eventually moved to club club sports status because
all the resources have to be poured into the sports
that generate revenue.

Speaker 4 (22:06):
A couple of programs you covered on in Western Kentucky.
Bellerman is you know, you wonder.

Speaker 5 (22:13):
At this Murray State baseball team right now there they
going to beat Duke today to go to the College
World Series. What's going to be their status moving forward? Yeah,
Bellerman very ambitiously six years ago made the move from
D two to D one. Uh, they've already retrenched a
little bit by moving back from Freedom Hall back into
Knights Hall on campus. But you know, and the other

(22:35):
we hear these whispers. We've heard them from Greg thank you.
We've heard them from Charlie Baker, the head of the NCAA,
about expanding the NCAA tournament to get you know, that's
a code word for putting more major teams in there
with sub five hundred records in conference play and making
it harder for the for the teams that give the
tournaments so much of its character and flavor of the
opening weekend, the mid majors and low majors making it

(22:57):
harder for them. So the thing, it's going to be
twenty million. But you know what, Dick, we're going to
talk about this in six weeks, and it's that's not
going to be enough. There's it's never going to be enough.
That's what we see in this and we've seen forever
there's never enough money. And until they find some way
to solve their spending problems, it's it's not a revenue

(23:20):
problem because they will never have no And last.

Speaker 4 (23:23):
Week I was at Aku and e Ku hired a
new baseball coach and I was chatting with one of
the athletic administrators. Their budget, Rick at Eku, is twenty
three million. That's chump change to SEC schools. But they've
they've got to get it done and they've got to
compete at the D one level. And from this chunk
of money, they're going to get about two hundred and
seventy thousand dollars and you know, it's a lot for them,

(23:46):
but they're still expected to compete for the same trophies.

Speaker 5 (23:48):
Right theoretically they are. You know, we all know that
that can't continue forever. It just doesn't work. I mean,
I think we're headed more to it's professional college sports.

Speaker 6 (24:02):
That's what it is right now.

Speaker 5 (24:03):
And I think we'll see more of a professional model
in scheduling and structure of postseason play, and we lose.

Speaker 4 (24:10):
A lot of, for lack of a better term, the
charm that we've all enjoyed through the years. Now it's
not been fair. We know that to the athletes, this
could have been avoided. That's the sad part. This could
have all been avoided. I don't know what it could
have been.

Speaker 5 (24:26):
Avoided if college administrators hadn't clung to the right you
know sham for as many years as they did. Yeah,
and that's you know, you mentioned this in the beginning,
and you're so right. At the speed with which we've
gone from the previous system to the current system been numbing.
Nobody can really understand it when you hear some of

(24:47):
the numbers about things that you know, players are getting
two million dollars, three million dollar basketball players one hundred thousand,
two hundred thousand dollars college baseball players. So you know,
a million dollar softball player got Tennessee Texas Tech to
the College World Series. They lost, but that's right, nobody,
they would have no chance of getting there, but they
decided to spend some of their Nile money in the

(25:11):
college softball pitcher, and now we're talking about her, and
it worked.

Speaker 4 (25:14):
They got to the World Series Championship game.

Speaker 5 (25:18):
Yep, you're right, yeah, talking to Rick.

Speaker 4 (25:20):
Bozych of WDRBWDRB dot Com has covered Kentucky sports for many,
many years, earlier for the Career Journal and now for
Channel forty one Fox WDRB over in Louisville. Just to
your point about administrators, I really I did see m
Newton's radio show for years in the summertime, and I

(25:40):
really enjoyed CM and respected him a lot, but disagreed
with him on a lot of things. And one of
them was when we were talking about this very thing
about athletes and compensation, and I said, coach, you got
all these Tim Couch jerseys hanging in bookstores going off
the racks, and Tim's not getting anything. And oh no, no,
they bought the those jerseys because they were UK jerseys.

(26:02):
I'm gonna come on, man, you know, you had too
many old school administrators like that who kind of held
things back. He was so great for the game on
the one hand, but held things back on the other.

Speaker 5 (26:13):
You know. Yeah, And it wasn't just him, it was everybody.
That's the system they grew up with, and that's the
system they wanted to maintain and the one part of
it though that still sometimes gets to me though, and
I'm sure you can relate to this, which that the
value of an education has been totally pushed aside or

(26:36):
discounted in all this, and it is valuable. I mean,
for those of us who put kids into college and
watch them go for four years and graduate, we know
that that's a significant amount of money and for them
for so many people to act like that's irrelevances that
bothers me. Man, It drives me crazy because how many

(26:58):
of these guys are going to be professional athlete And
I worry about guys who There are a lot of
guys now who this year will be in their fourth
college and I want somebody to sit down and tell
me how the transferring of credits work so when they're
done with their four years, they're in a good spot
to get their degree, because the guys who are transferring

(27:19):
them many times usually aren't going to be the guys
who are pros because they didn't have success at their
previous job and how they set themselves up for the
rest of their lives. But that's the conversation, which is
at the you know, not at the top of the
priority list for the stuff we're talking about now.

Speaker 4 (27:34):
It's not even on the list. That's what bothers me.

Speaker 5 (27:38):
I know, it's not the list. You're right. I didn't
want to be that strong, but I mean, it's we
never talk about education anymore. All we talk about is
money and sports and the games. We don't ever talk
about the educational part of it.

Speaker 4 (27:51):
Yeah, well, you know, and you and me and our
other media brethren, we talk about this and that with
the coaches at the highest level at uku L. But
I know when you talk to people at Bellermant at
Western Kentucky, if I talk to people at EKAU at
Murray State Transylvania, they do talk about it, you know,
because I think that they should. Yes, and they're more

(28:12):
held account.

Speaker 5 (28:12):
That's what their recruiting advantage is. I know that Scottie
Davenport and Doug Davenport development. One of the things they
talk to their players about it is they have a
good business school and if you come here and in
the business school, we'll get you an internship in the
summer that oftentimes lead to a good job there. You
go and that's that's that's kind of the old school
way of looking at it. I find it refreshing. I
might be a dinosaur or whatever, but I think it's

(28:34):
in the long run. Nobody wants to look at twenty,
you know, fifteen, twenty, thirty years from now, what's your
career going to be, what are your connections in the
community going to be? They just want to talk about
how much money am I going to make in the
next six months or night. Yes, and very rarely is
it life changing money. It's momentarily life changing money, but
it's not life changing money for your entire life. Oh.

Speaker 4 (28:57):
In former UK quarterback Freddie Maggard worked at UK. He
created a program called four for forty, which meant the
decision you make about the next four years of your
life will directly impact the next forty years of your life.
And they had speakers come in and talk about everything
you just mentioned, Rick about the future, about how let's

(29:17):
face it, you're probably not going pro even if you do,
how do you handle your money, how do you handle
your life? And there it just isn't enough of that
going around, at least it doesn't appear to be. Right now,
we're talking to Rick Bosch from Fox forty one WDRB
and Louisville Back in a minute on six thirty WLAP
Welcome back, We're talking with Rick Bosch. He is a

(29:38):
sports reporter and anchor for Fox forty one WDRB over
in Louisville and has been covering a lot of college baseball.
Of like, there were people throwing dirt on the UL
baseball program. Rick the dam McDonald's got him back in Omaha.
That had to be a fun weekend, I would think.

Speaker 5 (29:56):
Yeah, it was a great weekend. Patterson Stadium siccessand fans
there for every game. Miami says, one of the traditional
powers in the game. The games were other than the
first game. They were close and the Cards, who really,
they're not in the top twenty five when the tournament started.
After beating Vandy is the number one overall seed the
previous weekend in Nashville. Came home and got it out

(30:17):
of three, two victory yesterday, and they're going to Omaha
where they're playing Oregon State. So you know, I look
at Dan McDonald's. He's not a coach, he's a difference maker.
He's been here since two thousand and seven. Yeah, and
this is a little sixth trip to Omaha. In the
first twenty years I lived here. If you Tony Louisville
was going to Omaha, I went to last There's no

(30:37):
reason for them to go Omaha. This is not a
baseball They don't have baseball weather, it didn't have baseball tradition.
And he turned it into a program that not only
you know goes to Omaha. They produced MLB guys. They
got six their six former louisll players in Major League
Baseball right now.

Speaker 4 (30:53):
And it's not just you know, whatever conference they're in,
You've still got to win a regional and a super
regional to get to Home Maw. And we learned this
last and a few years with Kentucky. That's the key.
If you can host a super you got such a
good shot.

Speaker 5 (31:09):
And they did it this year, no doubt about it.
And you know this is the year they weren't supposed
to do it. They've stumbled a little bit down the stretch.
They lost the home game to Bellerman in May and
people were grumbling. They were on Dann McDonald's back. He
lost his mojo and they hadn't made the tournament the
two previous years. And I'm happy for him because he

(31:30):
forced himself into the program. And they got a lot
of Kentucky kids on the team. At the end of
the game yesterday, to the pitchers that pitched, one was
from Trinity and one was from Paduca Tillman, so they've
got some. And their number one starter from Bowling Green,
Patrick Forbes, so they've they've Kentucky baseball in general, high
school baseball in general has really gotten stronger over the

(31:55):
last ten or fifteen years. And the commitment made not
only by lit and Kentucky to baseball, but Western which
had a good team in made the regional and Murray State,
which could shock the world today beat Duke in the
College World Series.

Speaker 4 (32:08):
That would be cool.

Speaker 5 (32:09):
UHKU, two teams in Omaha.

Speaker 4 (32:11):
How about that? You know, I gotta admit that, dude,
I called the Kentucky Louisville game over here in Lexington,
and Kentucky blew them out seven run or seven inning
run rule. I thought, what is wrong with Louisville, especially
the bullpen, which has always been a strength, but just
a bad night. Got to throw out that bad race.
A few minutes left with Rick Bosices, let us talk

(32:32):
quickly about uh UK football. You get over here. I
see you hauling cameras and tripods like a good TV
guy does. Back in the day, when you were a
newspaper guy, you just had to haul a notebook and
maybe a computer. Uh. But that's the price of fame.

Speaker 3 (32:45):
I know that.

Speaker 5 (32:46):
But this I'm old Hall of Typewriter Dick.

Speaker 4 (32:50):
That's true me too, That's how I got started. Uh.
But a pivotal year for Mark Stoops. That's that's the
word around here. And as I've talked all summer and
we'll keep talking about it, he's a victim of his
own success. Isn't He raised the ceiling and raised the floor.
And how the pressure's on, isn't it?

Speaker 5 (33:08):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (33:08):
It is.

Speaker 5 (33:09):
And I saw they're projected by Vegas to win five
and a half games, and I'm not sure that'll get
it done from whether it gets five or six. You know,
once you get people accustomed to winning eight, nine, ten
and going to bowl games and having success and have
exciting teams, when that kind of goes away, people start
grumbling about it. And it's a success oriented world. And
he's making a lot more money now than he made

(33:30):
when he first started, and people expect more when your
salary goes up, and you know, South Carolina's kind of
bounced back. Missouri's gotten better, Vanderbilt's gotten better, his job
has become tougher. So Mark Stuts is a fighter though.
The one thing he beat the ass when he first
began to think. So we'll find out how motivated he
is and how much some of the changes he's made
within his staff will pay off.

Speaker 4 (33:51):
I know you don't come over for you come over
for games, not for the weekly press conferences. But they're
up online. I'm sure you take a peek at him
and his tone of late. I think trying to read
between the lines has been and I'm inferring that some
of the people he brought in didn't fit his way

(34:11):
of doing things, him and his staff, and he believes
this group now it's back to that blue collar ethic.
You know what I'm saying. Could it be that simple?

Speaker 5 (34:23):
It's only that simple if your entire team buies into it. Yeah,
you know, I mean last year they had some guys
who were really supposed to be really good players who
I thought kind of underperformed and talking about you know,
Dean Walker on the defensive line and a couple of
other guys and they can't have that. I mean, the
SEC is an unforgiving lead league, and your guy's got
to perform at the top level every week. And I

(34:46):
hope that's the case. If he's been preaching it since
the end of the last season, I think it'll be
the case. But you know, all the other teams are
are trying hard too, and they're spending money, and they're
ambitious and they don't want to fall behind. So it's
not going to be easy to reclaim her spont in
the SEC, especially now.

Speaker 4 (35:03):
With Texas and Oklahoma involved, and with Missouri looking like
a real program. Finally again, it was several years ago
South Carolina you mentioned, and now Kentucky second game of
the year's old miss and Lane Kiffin's got it going
down there. So uh, there was a period where teams
were backing up in the SEC, including Florida, which still

(35:24):
is struggling a bit for Florida standards, but not anymore
right top to bottom, no.

Speaker 5 (35:31):
Doubt about it. You know, like I said, Vanderbilt, they
be Kentucky two in a row. Billy Billy what's his name,
the guy from Florida. He's fighting for his job down there. Man.
He had a really good freshman quarterback last year, I mean,
and then after all those years it was a five
or six in a row, Kentucky had beating Louisville in football.

(35:54):
That was the game that I think really uh intensified
the narrative around coach Stops is that bron came in
there and beat Kentucky decisively and beat them with two
running backs. I mean, they had two guys run for
one hundred yards of that game. And Kentucky had always
been the team with the better, more powerful running game,
and then a little kind of out muscled them. So
you don't that's the thing about the game. That's the

(36:15):
last game of the year when you led you when
you have a dud like that, that's the last memory
that people walk out of the stadium with and and
they're not happy. So they need to get off to
a good start. And as you mentioned early some SEC games,
it's going to have to shock a few people.

Speaker 4 (36:28):
Yeah, just a couple of minutes Leven rig Bos that
you mentioned U of L And I think Kentucky fans
over have realized that the days that you could put
w by that and there were only a few years
over that that the brom family basically has made its
market U of l. That's going to be back to
a really fascinating rivalry, I think, don't you think?

Speaker 5 (36:53):
Oh yeah, because you know Jeff grew up in the state.
He had offered from Kentucky. I don't he left before
the series started, but he coached under Petrino when the
series was Uh, pretty chart between the two schools. Uh,
he knows how much it means. Uh, and he has
he now recruits against them, He now competes against them.

(37:15):
And uh he got beat at home. Uh his first
season here when Louisville was a ten win team, didn't
like it and came back and one last year. And
it's a big game for him too. He'll he'll that
Louisville will remain competitive in that game. But the struggles
they had understood Satterfield, even though he said the right things,

(37:35):
I never thought he grasps how important the game was. Really, No,
I didn't. He said the right things, but you know,
I don't think he really grasped everything that Louisville had
to go through to even get that series started and
how much this meant. Remember the first four games I
played and they didn't want to. They didn't want to play.
And you know there's a lot of you know, legitimate

(37:57):
competitive fuel between the two schools, and I never really
that's a satterfield grass now.

Speaker 4 (38:02):
And you got to give Stellenberger credit for agreeing to
play those first four and lexi and but it worked
because it move the U of L backers off their
butts and they got the money get together for the
football stadium over there. That's exactly the way Howard get
envisioned it. And he and Curry you wanted people to
stop talking about basketball recruiting in the summertime and talk

(38:22):
about foot correct and it worked.

Speaker 5 (38:23):
Can I say one more thing?

Speaker 1 (38:25):
Sure?

Speaker 5 (38:25):
I want to say congrats to John Klay. Yeah, you
know today he's retiring as a hair Leader columnist. John's
not only a great newspaper man, but he's a better person.
He's one of my best friends. It's been an honor
and my privilege to travel with him through the years.
We've gone to all kinds of games and events together
and covered a lot of horse races together. And we're

(38:47):
such a wild pair that we go out to dinner
and then after we go out to dinner and we
go to the Barnes and Noble for books, Matt John,
are we still going to be able to go to
Barnes and Noble together? Pographic like done it for a
long time and did it the right.

Speaker 4 (39:04):
Then Bose it's w dr B.

Speaker 5 (39:06):
Thank you sir, all right, thank you, Dick.

Speaker 4 (39:07):
I re number two is next here on six thirty
w l A P.

Speaker 7 (40:00):
The thing can anything to attack that snack thinking, don't.

Speaker 4 (41:03):
Welcome back to the big Lewinsider. And earlier I mentioned
Aaron Rodgers that was a big story over the weekend.
He is a Steeler and in my thoughts immediately go
to my friends who are Steelers fans. Keith Farmer of
l e X eighteen and one and only Jay drum
Jeff Drummond from Cats Illustrated part of the Rivals Network.
He is that rare combination of Reds fan and Pittsburgh fan,

(41:25):
but it is Steelers, not Pirates, Jay Drumm, Are you
happy about this?

Speaker 6 (41:34):
I would say I have mixed feelings about this. I
have no idea how it will turn out, but if
nothing else, I think the team will be interesting with
Rogers at quarterback. I think that there's still a lot
of you know that the arm still looks really good.

(41:56):
My big concern is ahead and you know how things
will go with our offensive coordinator ur and uh just
kind of how he'll deal with some of the the
personalities in Pittsforton.

Speaker 4 (42:13):
You went out, though, and you've got a big time
and physically imposing wide receiver. The question when Rogers went
to the Jets was who's he going to throw to? Yes,
pretty good receivers in Green Bay, including DeVante Adams, but
you went out and got DK Metcalf. That's got to
count for something, right.

Speaker 6 (42:32):
Yeah, I would think so. I think that was a
big factor in him deciding to give it a shot
with the Steelers. If they didn't have DK, I don't
think they would have worked out, you know, a deal,
and who may have even decided to retire the way
things is going. But you've got one of the top

(42:52):
big receivers in the entire league and a guy that,
you know, a major downfield threat that Rogers hasn't had
in a while.

Speaker 4 (43:01):
We've talked before about and I always like to talk
about the genesis of people who root for this team
or that. A lot of people ask me why I
route for the Packers things like that, and it's not
that you grew up in Pittsburgh or that I grew
up in Wisconsin. Everybody has their reasons. And you became
a Steelers fan back when they were the best thing
going in the NFL. And one of the strongest ties

(43:22):
to that era, Terry Bradshaw blasted the Steelers or even
thinking about signing Aaron Rodgers. What do you think about
that as a Steelers fan.

Speaker 6 (43:34):
Yeah, I was a little surprised that Terry was so
strong with his criticism there, but you know, he's got opinions.
And if anybody is it titled the one if the
guy who's lived there can't about it, the ups and

(43:55):
downs about what Steeler football is all about.

Speaker 4 (43:57):
Yeah, one more Steelers question and we'll get to the
why cats Mike Tomlin. I don't know if he's the
best coach in the NFL, but if he left the
Steelers tomorrow, almost every team would have to think about
dropping whoever they've got and hiring him. What do you
think of the mix now Tomlin and Aaron Rodgers.

Speaker 6 (44:21):
Well, there's you know, their potential there. I know they've
both really admired each other for a long time. They
anytime the Attackers and Steelers have played, you can kind
of see the admiration and respect and even some gamesmanship
that goes on the wink and a smile out there
on the field. So hopefully this is the guy that

(44:42):
can kind of get Mike Tomlin back over the hump
in terms of, you know, having a chance in the playoffs.
It's been a while since the Steelers have been able
to win a playoff game and that's kind of been
the bugaboo they all they always have winning through them,
which is incredible. Yeah, that record he's got, saying his

(45:05):
entire career, but in Pittsburgh, it's all about what you
do in the postseason. So that's that's why they'll be measure.

Speaker 4 (45:13):
By talking to Jeff Drummond of Cats Illustrated, part of
the Rivals Network and on the website cats Illustrated dot
Com is a piece written or at least moderated by
Jay drum a c I round table asking does Mark
Stoops face the most important opener of his career? And Jeff,
with that giving away the story, we want people to

(45:33):
uh to subscribe obviously, but tell me what went into that,
who was part of it, and what was it like?
What was that roundtable like?

Speaker 6 (45:44):
Yeah, we're starting to gear up for you know, our
our football coverage with uh you know, camp will just
be right around the corner once you hit June. That's
he'll be honest, before we know it. But you got
to think about what what some of the big questions
would be going into this season. I thought this would

(46:05):
be interesting because typically your your first game as an
afterthought in a lot of this ways, and you're supposed
to win that game no matter you know who it
is in most seasons. But I think there's a little
bit of of, you know, extra weight to this one,

(46:25):
not only in the fact that Toledo is a really good,
solid MAC program capable of coming into Mexican and winning
that game, but I think the Cats have to look
good in that one too to kind of get the
fan base, you know, back motivating for the rest of

(46:46):
the season because right now, I don't know about the
people that you have to in general, but it's it's
ominous with everybody I talked about Kentucky football. It's just
the optimism is that it's low point since probably you know,
going into that year four with with Mark Steps, when
a lot of people thought that Kentucky might need to

(47:09):
start another coaching search, and you know, with what they
wound up with though after that was I think eight
consecutive trips to the postseason.

Speaker 5 (47:21):
With that one.

Speaker 6 (47:23):
It's it chrudged. Me is a little odd that things
have turned so quickly and and far, you know, as
far as the public opinion of Mark Stoops goes. But
you know, last year obviously a bad season. I don't
think the two years before you would consider bad, but

(47:46):
there was definitely the start of a little bit of
a downward trend. And when you combine that with the
you know, the infamous Tony Up comment and the Texas
A and M situation, I think that's just a lot
of people have kind of made up their mind that

(48:06):
this is the end of the road.

Speaker 5 (48:07):
And you know, I don't necessarily think that's the case,
but it's going to be hard.

Speaker 6 (48:14):
To win people back.

Speaker 4 (48:15):
Yeah, I agree. Well, I think there are a couple
of issues at play, and you mentioned the Pony Up comment,
which kind of ironically enough, that was sort of a
raw expression that is echoed by all the different and
slicker and kinder urgings by UK and really every university

(48:37):
out there to please consider relating to our collective and
be a part of You know, that's the same way
as saying pony up. But to hear the head coach
on his radio show really bluntly, that was a raw
emotional moment and it has followed him. You're right about that,
But I think there are two factors in play. Jay Drummers.
We talked to Jeff Drummon of cat Illustrated. Tell me

(48:59):
which you think first of all, Yeah, years gone by
a lull like this, people would be grumbling and a happy,
but not to the level.

Speaker 1 (49:07):
They are now.

Speaker 4 (49:08):
And I think a lot of that has to do
with social media. You know, if you have a feeling
or a hot take, you grab your keyboard, you hit
send before you even think about it, and you go
have lunch. But now you know, and you're not held accountable.
The other thing, Jeff and I didn't invent this, but
as somebody pointed out, Mark Stoops raised not just the

(49:29):
ceiling but the floor. You know, you and I've covered
this program back when flirting with six wins was a
big deal. Now that's considered failure and nine or ten
wins is almost expected, which used to be impossible back then.
And it's not as easy to schedule wins, as people think,
but it all comes into play. Does that make sense?

Speaker 6 (49:52):
Yeah, definitely. Well for years, I mean we heard this,
you hit you and I and many others. Just give
me the six wins, a chance to be in a
bowl gate and I'll never ask for anything more. You know,
that was the That was the typical UK fan response.
You're right when you do find a way to get

(50:14):
to a couple of New Year's Day, you know, bowl games,
When win team games a couple of times, you elevate
the thinking that he's kind of you know, I don't
know if this is the right term for it, but
it's a little bit of a victim of his own success.
Terms of the way the fan base has judged these

(50:37):
last two or three years. They they want a little
bit more, and I think even more than that. You know,
this has been the case for a long time in Kentucky.
It's important for them to to win in kind of
a fun way too, And the last couple of years

(50:57):
it's just felt like such a grid, especially on the
offensive side of the ball, trying to find ways to
move the football and score. I think that's a pretty
big part of it. While you turn on the TV
every Saturday. If you see people doing all kinds of
crazy things with their offense at Kentucky campaign to get

(51:20):
that point, yeah, and you know not to.

Speaker 4 (51:23):
Be pointing fingers, but I do believe it all starts
with the old line because people, of course fell in
love with the offenses that were keyed by the big
Blue Wall, the traditional, the original big Blue Wall. They
haven't seen that three years, so that is such a key.
And to circle back to your original point, Toledo coming
off an eight and five year you've got to assume

(51:44):
that they've had roster turnover. Everybody has roster turnover. But
that's a team that won their first three games last year,
including at Mississippi State, beat an SEC team on the road,
finished up with in overtime six overtime win over Pittsburgh
in a bowl game, and in the game above Sports Bowl.

(52:08):
So yeah, the group that's running this program, they know
how to get it done. They're going to see this
as an opportunity, aren't there to come in and pick
off an SEC team that's been wounded of late? Right?

Speaker 6 (52:21):
Yeah, I think they'll come in expecting to win.

Speaker 4 (52:24):
Yeah, you know that.

Speaker 6 (52:25):
I think the previous season they went to Illinois and
played a very competitive game, and the two years before
that played a Notre Dame in Ohio State. So they're
not going to come in here and intimidated in any way.
So that was part of our question too. You know,
most of us say, you know, they've got to beat Toledo, right,

(52:47):
you know, it's almost an afrogat. I think that all
of the fans still think that way. But it's not
going to be easy, to be a very challenging game.
But I think I think if Kentucky can take care
of business and then rest of passion, maybe it helps
turn the mindset and the attitude around going into that
big Week two game against Old Miss.

Speaker 4 (53:09):
He is Jeff Drummond of Cats. Paul kef I'll start
that again. I'll cut that out. He is Jeff Drummond
of Cats Illustrated. We'll come back and talk basketball with
Jay Drumm in just a moment here in the Big
blon Sider six thirty WLAP. Welcome back. We're talking with
Jeff Drummond of Cats Illustrated. And before I ask you
about the basketball catch you cover a lot of UK baseball.
You pop into our booth. We get to see you

(53:31):
when you're shooting photos of the home games and the
College World Series is taking shape. It is not the
SEC party that it was last year. Still some set
teams involved. But I like the fact that Coastal Carolina
is going back, and honestly, that program has been more

(53:51):
successful than people give it credit for. I think this
is their ninth trip to Omaha. But you got to
Murray State making a bid tonight.

Speaker 5 (54:00):
You know.

Speaker 4 (54:00):
I love seeing SEC success, Jeff, but I think I
like seeing the not that Coastal is a little guy,
but I like seeing sure of the off brands get
in there too, you know what I mean.

Speaker 6 (54:13):
Yeah, it's It's certainly been an exciting tournament. You've got
a lot of parody, for sure, and the SEC did
a little bit of a faith plant in some ways.
But the more I watched of it, I think it
might be coming to how to Arkansas and m SU

(54:34):
look like the cream of the crops in the field
that's going to be going to Omaha. And then then
you'll have a little bit of a drop off in
my opinion, because you had such a big upset with
Vanderbilt Texas and North Carolina going down arguably, you know,
at one point, you could have considered those top three
teams in the country.

Speaker 4 (54:55):
There's an ongoing social media argument now with some of
the national heads about too many SEC teams getting in
UH pointing at without naming him, Kentucky with only thirteen
conference wins. But you know, when you're locked into a
conference like that, strike to schedule, you know, conference wins,

(55:17):
it's all going a factor. And I was amazed Kentucky
got in the tournament.

Speaker 6 (55:20):
Frankly what they made it to the regional final. So
I don't know why they used Kentucky as an example
because they I think they outperformed probably what they were
expected to do, especially with that drubbing of Clemson to
make it for the regional final, and quite honestly, they

(55:41):
should have gone to the supers. Yeah, they found they
found a way to blow both games through West Virginia.
I don't think they could have probably advanced much further
than that, but you know, they're they're animetics. UH saved
them this year and it was one time that a
committee really put the money where the mouth was behind

(56:05):
these things like the RPI and strength of schedule. Kentucky's
numbers were definitely worthy of the tournament.

Speaker 4 (56:12):
Yeah, and he got to tip your captain, nickmn Je
And he went to school or back to school on
analytics a few years ago and changed the way he
scheduled when he does business. So a few minutes left
Jef drumming to catch illustrated. Right now, Mark Pope's got
his satellite camps going on, his father's son camps going on.
That's what basketball coaches do. But one of his players

(56:33):
is otega Oway taking part. I had a clip on
earlier with the Oway teasing Pope about the phone call
he made to Mark telling him he was coming back,
and Pope said he literally the coach had tears in
his eyes when he heard that. I guess you can
understand that. But always return impressed.

Speaker 1 (56:54):
Some of the.

Speaker 4 (56:55):
Preseason way too soon posters. Some have him in the
top ten. Some are saying they could make a run
at the national title. Is that is that too soon
to say? You think?

Speaker 5 (57:06):
No?

Speaker 6 (57:07):
I think that's fair, And especially when Mark Ope endorses
the idea, he says that should be the expectation. And
I think he knows that he's put together a roster
of talent definitely capable of making it there. It's just
a matter now if it all comes together in jail.

(57:28):
He'll have as much talent as anybody in the country.
I don't think anybody will be able to point to
a roster and say this one he has definitely better
than Kentucky's. But we've just got to see how the
pieces fit, how they fit into his particular style, and
you know, will they have enough kind of star power
at the top and the leadership that's going to be

(57:50):
needed to get there.

Speaker 4 (57:51):
Well, I think they've got that in a way in
terms of star power. And he's gonna have to be
the leader because I always agreed with Larry Brown's that says,
back when you want a title with Kansas, and he
kind of clashed with Danny Manning, who didn't want to
be a leader, and Larry Brown said, no, your best
player has to be a leader. I think Away can
do that. My question to you is, I think you

(58:14):
were there when Pope doubled down on the number of
three pointers he wants his team to take in a
news conference a couple of weeks ago. Is that a
concern do you think with this team three point shooting
because it was not last year?

Speaker 6 (58:28):
Well, I think that the only concern for me is
the number they get up because they just for one
reason or another, they weren't able to get their goal
numbers of being around thirty a game, you know, as
close to I think twenty a game, and a lot
of teams were able to overextend on defense and kind

(58:48):
of I think the term that Pope's a lot was
chased them off the line. I think the pieces this
year are built and in a way that people won't
be to be that as much. Because you've got two
or three guys that will play a lot of minutes.
You try to overextend and come out, you know, be

(59:10):
on the free point line, they're gonna put it on
the floor and go buy you and attack them were
so I think that's gonna lead to a lot more
kind of penetrating kick fight three. Yeah, and they ought
to be able to get closer to that number that
Hope would.

Speaker 5 (59:25):
Like to have.

Speaker 4 (59:26):
Well, I'll let you go with this. I think last
year fans, I know, really enjoyed they were. They were,
of course disappointed by the end of the year. Everybody
always is unless their team wins it all. But the
way they got there was so uplifting to the big
Blue nation, you know, and of course, the way the
head coach does business compared to the last guy, and

(59:47):
when the last guy was going to the final four
and all nobody complained. But when it got a little
bit hard to digest, and you know, it all kind
of fell apart. But do you think fans will be
a little tougher on the head coach this year? Because
you might have heard, I know you listened to his
calling show from time to time last year and there
were folks who called in and were gently trying to

(01:00:10):
explain to him why he was making a mistake the
way he subbed people, and of course, you know Mark
dug In and gently explained why or animatedly explain why
he does the way he does things. But do you
think it gets a little bit tougher and the fans
get a little bit tougher on him this year?

Speaker 6 (01:00:28):
Yeah? I could see that. I don't know if the term,
you know, the honeymoon's over, I don't know if that
would be the right way to put it. But they
kind of gave him a year of grace, I think,
to rebuild that entire roster with you guys, and most
Kentucky fans knew they won't probably weren't going to the

(01:00:51):
Final four or contending for a title in that first year.
But I think the expectations will ramp up a little
bit with this kind of But I like the fact
that Mark Pope will kind of meet those questions had
on and deal with them in a way that kind
of disarms people, Whereas you know, the previous guy had

(01:01:15):
a little bit of pushback and fight it at any
time anyone dared to question something he was doing. So
I think that that buys Mark Pope a little bit
more good will. And the fact that he's a former
player too and a champion uh shoot factor into that.
But I think people will want to see a few

(01:01:35):
things kind of six to see I don't know six
the right word, but a few adjustments on his part
that helped them optimize, especially the the regular season, so
they don't take as many offices and maybe have a
little bit better speed going into the tournament.

Speaker 4 (01:01:53):
I can't imagine, although anything's possible, something coming up within
the Big Moon Nation or UK Bash that might catch
Mark Pope completely off guard, but you never know.

Speaker 1 (01:02:04):
He is.

Speaker 4 (01:02:05):
Jeff Drummond follow him on Twitter at j drum UK
and at Katchillustrated dot Com.

Speaker 6 (01:02:11):
Thank you, brother ad.

Speaker 4 (01:02:13):
Take care Up next Kobe Wilson from Fox fifty six
here in Lexington, stay with us here on six thirty
WLAP Welcome back to the Big Moon Sider joining us
here on the Celebrity Hodline. We talked to Kobe Wilson
a while back, haven't had a chance to chat on here.
We see each other all the time at news conferences. Kolbe,
how's your summer going so far? Fox fifty six by

(01:02:34):
the way, sports anchor.

Speaker 2 (01:02:36):
Yep, you know it's going well. It feels like it's
our downtime. I always say after the Derby that's the
time to like just kind of relax for a second.
But then it's like, well, summer league's coming up.

Speaker 6 (01:02:47):
You still got off.

Speaker 2 (01:02:48):
Season basketball moves going on baseball and softball courts, and
then we've been at the We've been at Kentuckistrock Park
in John Stadium religiously this past week with state state
champions on softball. So it's been it's still been pretty busy,
but it's been good. Other than the cicados, I'm ready.

Speaker 6 (01:03:05):
For those to go.

Speaker 4 (01:03:07):
Yeah, we can't forget about the high. The high school
sports is still happening out there, and a lot of
drama mixed for good television. So does horse racing. And
you mentioned the Kentucky Derby and Colby by way of background,
played college soccer in Portland, but it's from southern coup
from the LA area or Daz a football coach. But uh,
you have had to learn horse racing and you've got

(01:03:30):
tweets pinned on your Twitter page about the Belmont you
cover the Derby. How did you come to find horse
racing as a journalist. I mean, it's an intimidating sport
to cover. Did you even know much or care about
horse racing before you got here?

Speaker 2 (01:03:47):
You know, it's funny because coming from the West Coast,
everyone knows about the Kentucky Derby just because it's the
Kentucky Derby, but no one knows what goes into it
the behind the scenes. You don't know owners or trainers
or you know, you don't know any of the x's
and oh detailed stuff. So, like you said, I knew
absolutely nothing coming to Kentucky. All I knew is you
better get caught up pretty fast because it's horse racing

(01:04:10):
country here. But I will say I mean going on
my I just covered my second derby is absolutely incredible.
Everyone asked me like, how is it. Everyone I talked
to They're like, it's on my bucket list. But you really,
I can't even put into words what it's like. I'm
just like, you have to come. But as a journalist,
I mean, it's been super fun and I feel like
just even in the morning times going out to the barns,

(01:04:31):
you get to know these trainers, You get to know
familiar faces, and then you really like become attached in
a way a little bit. Like the only trainer I
talked to ahead of this derby was Billmont actually trainer
and so, and then last year the only trainer I
talked to was Kenny McPeek. No, for me, it's been
like it's been like a two out of two over
here with me. So it's been super fun. But no,

(01:04:53):
I've absolutely enjoyed it.

Speaker 4 (01:04:55):
It can be intimidating, but those are two of the
best trainers to talk to because Kenny a little younger
than Bill, but he he so understands and embraces, you know,
the value of getting the message out about horse racing.
He's got his own app he's got his own podcast.

(01:05:16):
I spoke to him the Monday morning after the derby
for crying out loud. He made time for me because
he said that's important. And Bill Mott, as you know,
is one of the great gentlemen in racing nights get
a horses won two jewels of the Triple Crowns. So
that that helps, doesn't it?

Speaker 6 (01:05:32):
Well?

Speaker 2 (01:05:33):
Absolutely, And I think you know, everyone's trying to understand
now the way of the world, and with media like
it's always it's now going to that like short form
type of media like going on TikTok and all those things.
So I think these trainers are kind of understanding too, like, well,
this is kind of we have to adjust in a way.
So I think Kenny mcteek is certainly doing that. And
then Bill Mott, I mean, he's just the world class guy.
When I interviewed him, he was on he was on

(01:05:54):
top of his horse and I was down at the
bottom on the ground, just had my microphone high and up.
But he was it's an all around great guy. He
was just he really just was talking about just trying
to enjoy the moment, and I can tell he certainly
done that up to this point.

Speaker 4 (01:06:08):
Talking to Kobe Wilson in Fox fifty six. She covers
really everything for Channel fifty six. Well, we're not supposed
to call it that anymore. I know, consultants say call
letters w DK. Why bumped into you over at EKU
When Jan Weisberg was named the head coach, I covered
her so far back, I go, I covered him as
a player, but his resume is just staggering when you

(01:06:32):
look at everything he's accomplished. But I think, really, and
you probably remember this the story a couple of years
ago when he was a head coach at Birmingham Southern
and the school closed, not didn't drop baseball. The school
shut its doors. Everybody, we're out of business, but the
baseball team wouldn't go away, and he spoke passionately about

(01:06:55):
what it was like to be the head coach and
keep that team together, throw all the emotional ups and downs,
which is something quite frankly, I hadn't really considered when
I knew he was the coach. When it was going on,
I said, yeah, I remember that guy, but what is
players must have been going through. I thought that was
a great storyline, didn't you?

Speaker 2 (01:07:16):
Absolutely? And I think those are the kind of guys
you want to lead a program, because that just shows
you if it's more it's beyond the x's and o's.
For him, it's about culture. It's about you know, building
young men into into men that are going to go
off in the world one day. And you can certainly tell,
just based on his press conference and the people that
were there, that he's not just coming in there to

(01:07:37):
change a program, but also people. And I think that
was a big time higher from the Colonel.

Speaker 4 (01:07:42):
Yeah. I agree, he's only got five players right now,
but well when we talk to him, I guarantee he's
got more bocking.

Speaker 2 (01:07:50):
Oh yeah, I'm not saying he's way too experienced. He
knows exactly what he's doing.

Speaker 4 (01:07:53):
Oh yeah, yeah, Well, speaking of a guy who knows
what he's doing, Mark Pope as Otaga, Oh way back
in the fold. And again you've only been I think
here for a couple of years. But one of your
pinned tweets is video I guess you shot it after
the Louisville game of the past Kentucky players throwing l's
down after the U of L game. What's that been

(01:08:15):
like for you to sort of assimilate into the big
Blue Nation scene. I mean, you're on the outside looking
in as a reporter. But yeah, uh, it's it's a
big story, isn't it.

Speaker 2 (01:08:27):
It has been incredible. I mean, of course, when I
first got here it was cal Perry's last year, so
just just to even cover a Hall of Fame coach
and be at one of the biggest blue bloods, it
was incredible. And then of course this whole Mark Pope
thing comes along, and you know, Big Blue Nation doesn't
really know what to expect. I heard all the all
the talk going into when his name first popped up,

(01:08:49):
and then of course the second he took the job,
BBN just embraced them. But I will say what just
completely changed my perspective on Kentucky, Kentucky basketball and what
this this fan base is about, was Mark Pope's introductory
press conference. I mean I actually had chills from the
bus to just help pack out, help pack out the

(01:09:11):
gym was I actually couldn't believe that. I think I
was in like a in disbelief for probably half of
the press conference before I could actually snap back into
what I was actually doing.

Speaker 4 (01:09:21):
Yeah, I frankly I was into disbelief as well. And
I remember talking to people who had been there at
Repperina early and they said, yeah, the Reperena people expected
maybe they needed to prepare four or five sections, you know,
for fans coming in, but I mean to leave out,

(01:09:44):
to shut the doors and leave thousands on the sidewalk.
I've been here forever, Klobe. That was one of the
most incredible things I've ever seen, you know, I mean,
how do you describe that to you to your fans
and friends back home?

Speaker 6 (01:09:57):
You can't.

Speaker 2 (01:09:58):
I Frienson video pictures and you can tell they're like,
oh my goodness, because it just that doesn't happen in
any other program. So the second they see that, they know, okay,
it's she's a tucky. But until you're part of it.
I actually had my best friend from the West Coast.
She came to Lexington that for the Arkansas name when
cal Perry came back, and her her boyfriend's are long

(01:10:21):
just a sportsman in general, so they were like, we
have to come back for this moment. And even them
coming here, she knows absolutely nothing about basketball. She's just
here for the good time. But she even had the
most incredible time and was like it just feels so
much different. And I mean, she's the West Coast girl
that Lakers games, you name it right, and she came here.
She came here and even was like, it's just it's

(01:10:42):
just different.

Speaker 4 (01:10:44):
She is Colby Wilson. She is an anchor reporter for
Fox fifty six here and lexingon We'll come back and
talk more sports with Colby on the other side of
the break here on six thirty WLAP Welcome back. We're
talking with Colby Wilson. She covers sports for Fox fifty
six w DK Why. You might see her work on
the anchor desk or out in the field, but like

(01:11:04):
every TV sports reporter has to be kind of an
expert on everything. Although soccer was your game in college.
Oh yeah, and you've made a lot of trips to
the soccer pitch out there way out I guess technically
is not Richmond Rode but at there by seventy five.
What has that been like for you and give Lexington

(01:11:26):
kind of an update on soccer taking rut that level
of soccer for men and women taking root here in Lexington.

Speaker 2 (01:11:34):
Yeah, well, I mean it's been super fun, Like you said,
playing soccer in college in all my life, it's definitely
more natural for me to talk about and kind of
be Immerston, but Lexington Sporting Club. It's been so much fun.
I host a thirty minute show called Around the Pitch
for Fox each week on both teams, and just getting
to know these players. I think the cool part for
me is one I have a lot of connections that

(01:11:57):
I found out with these players. I've played against at
least four of the of the women's team, and then
on the men's side, a lot of them played at
Oregon State when I played at Portland, so we have
made those mutual Oh yeah, so we've made a lot
of mutual connections. And like I interviewed a girl not
too long ago and we played each other in club
Soffer women in high school kid. So it's been it's
been super fun to make those connections. But no, this

(01:12:19):
this club, I think they're they're really going in the
right direction. They've got a solid fan base that really
cares about them and the direction that they're going. And
you know, like anything that's new, you have your growing pains,
you got things you have to work through, which I
think after you know, the women's first USL Super League
inaugural season, uh, they're learning and now that season has ended,
so they're trying to kind of rebuild their roster up

(01:12:41):
for next season. And then the men, I think they're
they're finding their ground as they go. I mean again,
a new team, new faces, new head coach, new staff.
So it's just those those first year of growing pains.
But I'm excited to see where this club is going
in the future for sure.

Speaker 4 (01:12:55):
Yeah. How have the crowds been.

Speaker 5 (01:12:58):
The crowds have been.

Speaker 2 (01:12:59):
They've been good. You know, I've definitely the men's side
gets more fans than the women. I think they're still
trying to put the word out there and build that.
But you know, it's a great environment. And when I
walk in, you got fan zone, you got stuff for
the kids. I mean, it's like a hat in it spot.
It kind of feels like busy bees when you walk in.
And I mean it's a huge stadium, so that's going

(01:13:19):
to take time to put people in the seats. But ultimately,
I would say they've got they've got a big crowd
for the first year. It's been pretty impressive.

Speaker 4 (01:13:28):
Yeah, and they've got social media presidence. They're trying to
do everything right, you know, but in this day and age,
when you're competing for eyeballs and attention. Ye, it's a challenge.
We're talking to Kobe Wilson from Fox fifty six, covers baseball, football, basketball, soccer,
played soccer. Mark Stoops in his program are under intense

(01:13:50):
scrutiny right now. Are you looking forward to the upcoming
season because this could be one of those years when
you've got to really take the temperature, read the room,
whatever you want to call it, when it comes to
the D one football program you cover.

Speaker 2 (01:14:06):
Absolutely, Yeah, No, I definitely hut. I would say, you know,
last year was my first year covering four and eight.
Not not not ideal, not always fun when you're at
games and you know we're we're on the losing side
of things. But I am looking forward to it. I
think it's like you said, it's a rebuild year, but
I think it is a make or break here for
Mark Soups. I think he knows that. I mean, these coaches,

(01:14:27):
My dad's a football coach. They know how it goes.
You don't want, you don't win, you don't have a job,
and I think he knows that before anybody else. But
I'm interested to see how this incoming trendfer class, how
they do I mean of course you mentioned zat Calzatta.
I mean, he has sec experience. It's going to be
interesting to see how, you know, he competes now because

(01:14:48):
the other schools are doing the same thing Kentucky's trying
to do. I mean, just look at what Vandy did
last year. So I think I am excited because I
want to see if he really did adjust to this,
you know, nil and all that stuff like other teams
did last year. And I'm interested to be kind of
how it all plays out.

Speaker 4 (01:15:04):
It's interesting that you bring up Vandy, which beat Kentucky
and also beat Alabama and by Vandy standards at a
terrific year when six and six in a regular season.
But like I said, Vandy standards which used to be
Kentucky standards before you got here, of course, but you
knew that, and now fans want so much more. But

(01:15:25):
fans be fans, right, I mean.

Speaker 2 (01:15:28):
Absolutely, And at the end of the day, we know
how fans are. They just want they just want to win,
whatever it takes to win. If you're winning, they love you,
and if you're not, you got to go. And that's
just that's just how they are. And so you know,
with a Vandy thing, but I do think that shows
that it is possible. Bandy. It's for people that.

Speaker 6 (01:15:47):
Keep up with the SEC.

Speaker 2 (01:15:48):
They were never, like you said, it was always Kentucky standards.
Just get to a bowl game and you're probably good.

Speaker 1 (01:15:53):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (01:15:53):
But you know, now they're a top team in the SEC.
And that was just in the snap of a finger
that they got that point. So it does so hope
that with this NIL and transfer portal stuff it can happen.
So it is possible for Mark Soops, but they just
kind of go out there and do it at this point.

Speaker 4 (01:16:10):
Yeah, it's all going to fall into place. But the
problem is, uh, for a while there you had teams
that were backing up in the secs. Tennessee was not
the usual Tennessee, not even what it is now Florida,
and Florida's still trying to get back and Kentucky has
taken advantage of that. You know, Missouri now is getting strong.

(01:16:31):
Those mid level teams South Carolina, those are the programs
Kentucky used to beat up on. Now they're making life
tougher for Mark Stoops and company. But there's only one
way to get around that.

Speaker 2 (01:16:42):
Right, Uh yeah, and that's NIL. Unfortunately, I mean it's because,
I mean that's what it is now.

Speaker 5 (01:16:49):
It's a free for all.

Speaker 2 (01:16:50):
It's not like how it used to be just recruiting,
and these kids are going to a school where they
know they're just going to compete and play. I mean,
it's all about money now. And so now that everyone's
getting on board, I don't really know if we can
look at the SEC how we used to like, Oh,
it's just your Missouri, it's just your Bandy, it's just
your South Carolina. Like I know, I think everyone's going
into this with kind of on the same level, and

(01:17:12):
I think, of course that's what makes it so hard.
But if you don't adjust, then you've really got no shot.

Speaker 4 (01:17:18):
I was talking to Jeffdrummond earlier on the show tonight
about this and about the Kentucky schedule. He brought it
up the opener with Toledo, which is a sneaky good
team and beat Mississippi State last year, beat Pittsburgh last year.
I'm sure they've got a revamp roster too, but that
second game, not to be looking ahead is all miss
My point is we're going to know really quickly. I think,

(01:17:38):
aren't we about this football team?

Speaker 2 (01:17:41):
Absolutely? Which you know, in a way I think is
good for them. I think I think that gives you
time to see what you've got, to see how you
compete against the high level SEC team. I mean, of
course they got it done on the road last season,
but I think it's going to be an eye opener
for Mark suston his staff and then you see, you
see really where you're at early on, so at least

(01:18:01):
you're fully aware and you're not finding out this mid season.

Speaker 4 (01:18:05):
I would like to know if your dad comes to
town and she's a game and maybe he can help
break down UK football for us at some point being
a professional coach.

Speaker 5 (01:18:15):
Yes, for sure.

Speaker 2 (01:18:17):
And it's funny getting to talk to him. And actually
funny story I think I had mentioned to you last time,
but he my dad was actually on staff with Bob's
soups at Oklahoma, so he's good friends with Mark and
so in the summer, he when in the summer when
he was here, he actually went to a practice and
you know, caught up with Mark and Mike and I
think Bowlwear also two with that ou so that there

(01:18:37):
was that connection. So he he's actually good friends with Mark,
so he's definitely in support of him. And wants to
see him do well.

Speaker 4 (01:18:46):
So he's already a fan. He's already sympathetic, isn't he.

Speaker 6 (01:18:50):
Oh? Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (01:18:50):
I mean as a coach, you got to be kind
of sympathetic for anyone you know, they know too well
how this how this business goes, and it's a it's
a tough business to be in.

Speaker 4 (01:18:59):
Yeah, oh yeah. But with coaches, it's like, I like
the way this guy does things. And I've talked to
a lot of people who have come in from the outside, analysts,
people at former players, and they do like Stoops in
his philosophy and his approach. And I can't imagine her
dad is any different.

Speaker 3 (01:19:15):
She is.

Speaker 4 (01:19:15):
Kobe Wilson watched for her work on Fox fifty six
w dk Y and follow her on Twitter at Kolbe
with two Eyes, Wilson with two ends. Easy enough, thank you,
Seeing down the road, Thank you Jack, and thanks to
my guest Kobe. Jeff Drummond to Rick Bosich. While college
football is going to be on top of us before

(01:19:36):
we know it, so hey, just buckle up and hang on.
It's going to be an interesting ride, going to be
a bumpy ride for the football Cats this year. We
may get right back to the middle of the season,
windows basketball start. We'll take it as it comes. That's it.
Good night from the garage in Lexington.

Speaker 1 (01:19:54):
You want to hold it?

Speaker 6 (01:19:55):
Yes?

Speaker 1 (01:19:55):
Please, Yes? And the child at Tandon anything any.

Speaker 7 (01:20:19):
Such tacting, donnything, can anything, anything, then change tact. Doth

(01:21:25):
think to back them? Tap? Then don't do